These might have been
mistaken for European troops if most of them had not had on their
bare feet the pointed Kabuli shoe, and had not had their short
trowsers so tightly stretched by their straps that they threatened
every moment to burst and fly up above the knee."
The adventurous O'Donovan thus describes an Afghan cavalryman whom
he met unexpectedly, near Herat, in 1880: "He wore a dark-colored
turban, one end of the cloth pulled up in front so as to resemble a
small cockade. His uniform was blue-black, and he wore long boots. A
broad black leather cross-belt, with two very large brass buckles,
crossed his breast. He had sabre, pistols, and carbine."
[Illustration: Zool Kuddar, an Adam Khel Afreedi.
Mousa, a Kizilbash, Born in Peshawur.]
The actual fighting strength of the army of Afghanistan cannot be
definitely stated. Major Lumsden, who has represented the British
Government in that country in various diplomatic capacities, stated
(some years since) that the regular army of the Ameer consisted of
sixteen regiments of infantry, three of cavalry, and seventy-six
field guns. The infantry regiments numbered about 800 men each; the
men were obtained by compulsory levy.
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