rmed a long smooth oval with no marked cheek-bones and
vivid, dark, intelligent eyes, small but well-open, showing the entire
iris. The lips were the most defective part of their faces, being unduly
prominent, thick and coarsely-shaped.

The hair grew in a very normal way on their faces, and they possessed
very good arched eyebrows, slightly coarse but well-defined, and in most
cases meeting at the root of the nose. In fully-formed men the beard was
thick and curly, but did not grow to any great length. On the skull the
hair was jet-black and was soaked in oil, so that it had the appearance
or being perfectly straight.

Ample trousers, the usual long shirt and Afghan boots (which are not
unlike European military boots), made up the attire of the masculine
members of the community.

The women had, on a smaller scale, very similar features to those of the
men, and at a distance their oval faces appeared quite handsome, but on a
closer inspection the lineaments were much too elongated to be
attractive. They had a somewhat pulled appearance. Both men and women
were tall, slender and of very wiry build.

After sunset the women, with their heads wrapped up in a sort of white
chudder, thrown gracefully behind the shoulders and reaching down to the
feet, began to prowl about in a great state of excitement, carrying big
balls of flour paste and small wicker work plates, like shields, covered
over by a cloth. They lighted a big fire in one of the small domed ovens,
and after beating the paste on the wicker shields till it had spread into
a thin layer, they quickly took it up with their hands and, kneeling over
the blazing furnace, stuck the paste against the roof of the oven. They
used long leather gloves for the purpose. While being baked the bread was
constantly sprinkled with water from a bowl close at hand.

Nearly each house has its own outer oven, but the one I was near seemed
to be used by several families, judging by a string of clamouring women
who impatiently--and did they not let the others know how
impatiently!--waited with all necessaries in hand to bake bread for their
men. The respective husbands and sons squatted around on their heels,
languidly smoking their pipes and urging their women to be quick. A deal
of good-natured chaff seemed to take place during this daily operation,
but the women were quite in earnest and took themselves and the process
very seriously. They seemed much concerned if one piece got to