Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 December 1878 — Notes on Afghanistan. [ARTICLE]

Notes on Afghanistan.

The greatest length of Afghanistan is 750 miles, the least 540, while its greatest breadth is 550 miles, and its least 370; so that it is rather larger than the whole United Kingdom put together. It is mountainous all through, with a series of elevated flat-bottomed valleys. It has no large rivers, and those it contains are generally fordable at all seasons. The climate varies; at Ghuzni it is extremely severe in winter, the thermometer sinking to 10 or 15 degrees below zero, while it always begins to freeze in October. At Cabul, in the middle of October, the thermometer is always below zero at night, while from June to September the climate is very hot. At Candahar it is also hot in summer, but in winter the climate is perfect, as is also that of Quetta. All the so-called roads are very bad, and there are no bridges. The population is about 5,000,000, entirely Mohammedans, almost exclusively of the Sunni creed. The regular army consists, for Cabul, of 31,000 men; Candahar, 18,000; Herat, 22,000. Total, 71,000, of whom 45,000 are irregular horsemen. —London Vanity Fair.