AT the present moment, when Indian affairs are exciting such intense interest, and there no longer remains any doubt of our empire in the East having been threatened by a Mohammedan plot, it may not be amiss to relate such personal incidents of a journey in Beloochistan as may serve to illustrate the character and life of a Mohammedan people, who have never experienced the ameliorating influences of European civilisation and government. Already, in this Magazine,* reference has been made to the general character of the country, but its inhabitants also well deserve a little special notice. The only work recently published, at all relating to the subject, is General Ferrier's narrative of his Caravan Journeys and Wanderings in Persia, Beloochistan, &c.; but his instructive, difficult, and interesting journey was made no less than twelve years ago, and he failed utterly in his attempt to pass through, or even to enter, Northern Beloochistan. Before advancing beyond the Helmund, when on territory subject to the Sirdar of Kandahar, he and his party of about a dozen Affghans were furiously attacked by Belooches, nomads in that district of Seistan, and had to retreat, keeping up a running fight, in which five of their number were not only killed, but also cut into pieces. This disastrous commencement induced him to return to Herat; so he saw only the worst phase of the character of the Belooches, as presented to the Affghans, their detested foes, and made no acquaintance with them among their own mountains. Perhaps it may be thought that he had seen quite enough of them, and that any closer intercourse was far from desirable, especially since it was in that neighbourhood that Dr Forbes was murdered a few years before, under the notion that a European's dead body would turn into gold. Be that as it may, this French traveller is hardly a competent witness against the

country; his brief account of it, drawn from his Affghan friends, is probably too unfavourable. All reports agree in representing the Northern Belooches as the most fierce and lawless; and I enjoyed an important safeguard, in the contiguity of territory under British rule, thongh that excited suspicion as to the object of the visit. Hence, as little as Ferrier's, did my excursion, ten years later than his, afford any very direct evidence as to the present state of the tribes upon the central plateaus of the Brahuic range. It brought me, however, in contact with many nomads, and with a number of savage tribes, both Belooch and Brahui, quite sufficient to show the character of life in Central Asia.

So far from having to withstand any serious wanton attacks, I had myself in part to blame for the only quarrel which became really alarming, and threatened to end in bloodshed. It occurred in the following wise, near the village of Lyaree, when we were returning across Las, and felt ourselves comparatively safe. Arriving at a well and suitable camping-ground after nightfall, we found a party of ten or a dozen Brahuis, also travellers, encamped under one of two large tamarind trees, and enjoying themselves in the blaze of a huge fire, which gave quite a picturesque yet cheerful aspect to the scene. I was sitting near them, before the fire, and we seemed to be getting on very well, when one of the men who were setting up my tent complained that it could not be set up, and in fact that we could not encamp under the other tree unless the Brahuis removed from it a camel which they had tethered there. This animal having gone wild, had severely bitten its master's shoulder, on which account it had been secured by itself; and it did not seem to have altogether quieted down. One of my servants, who could speak with the Brahuis in their own language, had already asked them to remove it to

some other trees close by; a request which they had refused, on the plea of their having been the first to take possession of the ground. This was churlish and unjustifiable, because that one camel of theirs interfered with our occupying the only comfortable spot in the neighbourhood; so I told him to represent this to them, and to insist on its removal. No sooner had he commenced with "Master says," than the chief of the Brahuis broke in with an interruption, which, translated into ordinary English, was very much equivalent to this: "Your master says; but what the devil do we care what your mas ter says?" I confess to being irritated at such rudeness, but it was as much in joke as in earnest that, in return, I threatened to shoot the animal if it were not removed, and crammed bullets into the barrels of my fowling-piece, which happened to be loaded with shot. This stirred the Scythian blood, for with yells they snatched up their arms. Two of them who had matchlocks established themselves on the heap of their camel-saddles and goods in order to have advantage of a rest, while a third proceeded to hand them up a light, and the others, with knives and swords in their hands, stood grimly, ready, in all appearance, to do battle, and to face dark death. Calling hastily on my servants and dogs, I threatened instinctively, rather than otherwise, to shoot down the man who was handing up a light, and by this means induced him to drop the brand. Then we stood looking at each other, both parties being rather at a loss as to what should be done next. On glancing back, I was gratified to see that my party seemed prepared to make a stand, and that a negro, the best armed of them, had quietly established himself behind a box, on which he rested his matchlock, steadily pointing it at our foes, and ready to discharge. This tableau vivant, as seen in the flashing light of a large wood-fire, must have been rather striking, although it was far too nearly exchanged for mortal combat to allow of that consideration being entertained at the time. The difficulty was how to extricate myself from Hemma into which

my folly had rushed, without either provoking the Brahuis to fight, or yet giving in to them; and finding they waited to see what we were going to do, I ordered the vexatious camel to be cut loose, and driven off with a firebrand, while I stood ready to shoot at it or at its owners, as occasion might require. This was introducing a new element of confusion, on the effect of which it was impossible to calculate; but when the Brahuis, who had cooled down a little, understood what was going to be done, they proposed a truce, and finally agreed to remove the camel rather than fight it out, or risk the loss of a valuable animal. Had the affair come to blows, the probability is, that three of them would have fallen at the outset, but that, if the remainder had pushed on to close quarters, they would have avenged their friends. Fortunately, in the excitement of the moment, I never hesitated or thought of consequences, and this carried me through. It was not necessary to set any watch that night, for both parties regarded each other with intense suspicion, and slept very little. Before I awoke next morning the Brahuis were gone, but the chief left a message for me, to the effect that it was not any dread of us which had kept him from fighting. He also, he said, was a stranger in that part of the country, and whichever party might have been victorious, the people of the neighbouring village, attracted by the firing, and only too glad to increase their wealth under any pretext, would have fallen on that party as thieves and robbers. Unquestionably there was much truth in this; even victory might have been disastrous to our surly friends; but I

question whether any such considerations occurred to them in the excitement of our quarrel, or could have exercised much influence over their minds at a time when they manifested a certain wild-beast rage very different from, though not inconsistent with, their usual quiet sullen demeanour. My own share in this business may not have been ther prudent or defensible, it must be remembered that here is much bra

vado of fighting, it is often safest to outbrave it, and to have given way would have been to weaken authority over my own party.

There was soon occasion to notice that the Affghans, in their accounts of the country, had an eye to deterring Europeans from entering into it. On the way between the Sind frontier and Soumeanee, I encountered two kaffilahs of these people, at one of which I was refused a drink of water, which they had in abundance; while the head man of the other told me that the town just mentioned, which was within thirty miles from where we stood, was ten days' journey distant, and could only be reached by passing among inhospitable tribes! He must have known nothing about the existence of maps. On the other hand, Azim Khan, governor of Soumeance under the Jam of Bela, received me not only politely, as was to be expected from his position at a seaport, and within sixty miles of Sind, but even with cordiality, throwing no obstacle in the way of our proceeding up the country. Intercourse with this chief was rather amusing, from the formality with which it was conducted, in imitation of Indian rather than after Belooch manners. When visiting him, he came out to meet me, led me into his house by the hand, and seated me on a carpet, in the midst of a circle of his followers, with a dignity and solemnity which were quite appalling, especially as preludes to the unsubstantial refreshments of betel-nut and a hookah. When he came to my tent, he had to be treated in a similar way. One of his first proposals was the offer of two armed men to guard my baggage, but this was declined. Next he gave me a dumbah, or fat-tailed sheep, rice, and some dried fruits from Khelat; and when I offered a present in return, he said that I was on a journey; that, consequently, it was his duty to give, not to take; and that if ever he went into my country, he should expect similar treatment. At this magnanimous speech a murmur of admiration arose from his vassals, as if they desired to say, "See what generous country you have reached!

a noble chief is Azim Khan !" tly do I wish that such a laud

The

able principle could be impressed on the proprietors of those European institutions which Goldsmith (surely imitating Johnson) called "base retreats of venal hospitality." Khan offered to do anything in his power to assist me in going to Bela or Khozdar, or even Khelat, and gave me a letter which he said would remove all difficulties from under my feet. Rather inconsistently, he proceeded to warn me against certain chiefs, and all roving tribes, and, as he did so, began industriously to polish the blades of his sword and dagger. His place was not to be envied, for Soumeanee has been ruined by the rival port of Kurrachee. It was a small confused mass of sandhills, crumbling mud-houses, halfempty shops, and dunghills; the population chiefly composed of a few hundred listless, uncomfortable-looking men and horribly ugly negro women; only the ruler and his relatives showing any signs of Belooch blood. The drinking water was execrable; the fishing-boats were mostly out of repair; very few pattimars continued to arrive at it from Bombay, with iron implements, betel and cocoa nuts, while not many more buglahs came from Muscat and the Gulf with sweetmeats, dates, almonds, and slaves.

Advancing up from the sea, the letter of Azim Khan was useful in the territory of the Jam of Bela wherever there was cultivation and settled dwellings; but among the inhabitants of the jungle, and also those of the mountains on both sides of the province, it could do nothing; the former being too poor, and the latter too independent, to care about principalities and powers. Those of the jungle, or rather the most of them, were called Sassi-Sumri, and resembled Sindees both in language and appearance, though not in manners and dress. They had usually neither houses nor tents, being content with a shelter of bushes overhung by a piece of matting. Notwithstanding this exposure, they, and especially many of their young women, were of rather fair complexion. Their flocks of buffaloes and goats are moved about from place to place in search of water and pas