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Machine transcription
few chosen courtiers went on an extensive
tour in Europe and Western Asia. It was
a very expensive affair, indeed, and could not
be justified in view of the then conditions
prevailing in the country and the exhausted
condition of the treasury. It is estimated
that this tour cost no less than £ 1,000,000.
To the outside world this may not
appear extraordinary, but to one who
is familiar with the meagre resources of
Afghanistan, so backward in commercial and
industrial organization, the expenditure of
this large sum cannot but be a matter of
indignant surprise. Well-wishers of the
country, who were alive to the needs of the
situation, protested strongly against the pro-
posed tour, but the strong-headed King,
although professing great enthusiasm for
national welfare, preferred his personal enjoy-
ment to public considerations, and paid no
heed. One can easily understand why the
best brains of the country did not form
part of the King's entourage on his European
trip.
On his return from Europe, people
thought that he would inaugurate an era of
6
Roughly two thirds of characters agree with a modern printed edition of the same text. Much of the disagreement is editorial, not misreading. Treat the transcription as a finding aid and read the page image before quoting. How this was measured.