Democratic Sentinel, Volume 3, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 February 1879 — The Afghans. [ARTICLE]

The Afghans.

The Afghans are tall, of large and well-knit frames, muscular and hardy. Their strong, heavy features and dark skins give them a fierce expression of countenance; their black eyes—“their lids tinged with antimony to add force, beauty and dazzling brilliancy to them ” —are full of fire, so that their swift, bold and flaming glance is very impressive. They wear their hair shaved from the forehead to the top of the head, the rest falli r g in black thick masses to the shoulders. The dress oi the people is of cotton, or of cloth called barek, made of camel’s-hair, and is worn in two long and very full robes, the material used by the wealthy classes being of silk or cashmere; blue or white turbans and slippers complete the costume. The garments of the young chiefs are often quite gay with gold-lace or goldthread embroidery. This ornamentation is done by the women in the harems, who are very skillful with the needle. The beauty of young Afghans is frequently spoken of by Eastern writers, but it would seem from the nature of things as though this glowing description must be overdrawn; just as the handsome, pensive young Uncas of our well-beloved West Indian romancer, James Fenimore Cooper, can hardly be recognized in the modern Modoc. Still, abundant testimony claims a dark and hardy beauty for the Afghan in his prime.— Z. B. Gustafson, in Harper’s Magazine for March.