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91 shines brilliantly causing the snow to thaw. In the evening it freezes again, and the roads are like polished glass, very slippery, and men, horses and camels are apt to fall and be injured. This is the time for village children to skip over the sheets of ice, using nailed shoes instead of skates. The sun shining on the snow causes a good deal of snow-blindness, if care is not taken, but the most trying time is when the sky is overcast, and a great wind rises, which nothing can keep out of the houses. Then at sun-down the temperature falls below zero and continues to fall as the night advances, and even with a huge fire burning in the middle of the room, one is warm only on the side nearest the fire while the other side continues to be chilled with the continuous draught which comes in through every crevice as the wind surges against the house in heavy waves. Those outside, who bear the brunt of this wind, suffer considerably, and often lose feet, hands or nose with frost-bite. At this time wolves, too, driven by hunger, come down from their natural fastnesses to seek food, and are sometimes so desperate that they attack and kill men, when they find them helpless with cold or fatigue, and carry off children, sheep and goats, when and where they can get them. The clear rare air makes distances very deceptive to the eyes, and mountains at a considerable distance appear very close. Days of bright, clear sunshine are very tiring owing to the crisp biting air, when the thermometer runs down to double figures below zero, and the scintillations of light reflected from the myriad particles of frozen moisture sparkle like drops from a lamp-lit fountain, which greatly affect the naked eye. Earthquakes are common in the Kabul district, but thanks to the mode of construction of the houses, which are built in