evil demons circling over the earth; the black wall of the great sand-storm coming up before the wind and hiding the sun; the red sandstone peaks, where

"Faint and sickly winds for ever howl around;"

are traces even in Arabia. Considerable doubt may easily be thrown on this view; but suffice it here to note, that the traveller may meet numbers of Brahuis without venturing into or beyond the dangerous defiles of the Hala. The budgerows bring over Arabs from Muscat to Kurrachee, and Persians from the Gulf. Artisans from Kutch and Guzerat are to be found in considerable numbers; as also merchants and contractors from the Punjaub. It is even recorded that a Frenchman once made his appearance in the cantonment, but found no one who could speak with him except Mr Frere, the able and accomplished commissioner in, or governor of, the province; and in our day a veritable Tübingen Ph. D. was there, with whom we might presumptuously dispute on questions of philology, but with whom we could always become one again over longing recollection of the Eberhardkarls-Univers

ität.

Living at Kurrachee, a sort of Central Asiatic fever is apt to seize upon the mind. Every evening we gazed on the line of savage, habitationless, precipitous mountains standing so distinct against the clear calm sky, until the desire to pass beyond them became a passion which compelled "the power to roam." Each morning the strong sunlight fell into every rugged pass and jagged cleft; and even through the wavy heats of the day, between the circling sandstorms, there were seen, dimly looming, those great frontiers of the forbidden land. Singular feelings were aroused by the thought that it was possible to set off any day from our door, and walk or ride on to Tartary, or almost to the Pole, with scarcely any interruption from the dwellings of men. When the caffilahs began to start on their return journey northwards or westwards, it seemed easy to accompany, for a short distance, the gaunt camels, which moved slowly, and with almost spectral motion, across the sands, that gleamed like a golden sea under the great sunlight, like a silvery plain under the full moon. Even the indefinite danger of the attempt gave it enchantment. The vast circling pillars, which the wild Eastern imagination regards as

the flaming wilderness of rock, where no signs of life refresh the eye; the sun-blacked Belooch haunching his ill-conditioned but trusty mare in a cloud of dust, as he half threatens with his braggart sword; the pains of the scorching ride; the annoyance of the noisy arrangements; the dangers of the night encampment ;--might not such things be remembered with pleasure long after they had ceased to trouble, while many singular pictures would remain, from that of the green mountain-valley, or the short Brahui goat-herd drawing water from the deep-sunk well, or the comely Belooch woman handing to her lord the frugal draught his flocks afford, to the white domes of musjid and minar, where

"Mid far sands
The palmtree-cinctured city stands?"

But even the most reckless is apt to hesitate about starting into a country from which, he is informed, travellers have very little chance of ever returning. No doubt a caffilah of Affghans may promise to protect him, but who is to vouch for the Affghans, and how is he to return when he leaves them? No certain information could be obtained in regard to the safety, or even possibility, of travelling in Beloochistan, for though its frontier was within twenty miles' distance, that country was eschewed and ignored. The only satisfactory account of it was to be found in the travels of Lieutenant (afterwards Sir Henry) Pottinger, who in 1809, when the country was utterly unknown to Europeans, disguised himself as an Eastern horsedealer, and, partly in company with Captain Christie, partly alone, penetrated from Sonmeanee on the coast to Khelat, and from thence passed into Persia by way of Noosky and Bunpoor, travelling for some time in only his shirt and drawers, enduring other almost incredible hardships,

and making many narrow escapes. At a later period, Sir William Harris, the noted African traveller, failed even in an attempt to reach Hinglaj on the coast of Mekran, and had to make a very hasty retreat on a swift horse. Our interference with Khelat was supposed to have irritated the Belooches against us, while their unavenged success in massacring our soldiers there might reasonably be supposed to have made them presumptuous. One Englishman, we were informed, had recently contrived to travel a long way on the coast of Mekran, and another had passed through the Bolan; but both had died in consequence after their return to Sind, and nothing whatever seemed to be known of the state of the rest of the country.

These facts, which constituted our whole knowledge on the practicability of the attempt, were not very encouraging; but it was our fate to accomplish it, and with ease. "Inshallah!" we said, "we shall try; probably they will take us for mad, and receive us with veneration.' Perhaps the southern Belooches are not so fierce as those of the north; perhaps, from the contiguity to British territory, the British traveller is covered by the broad shield of his country's reputation; perhaps percussion-cap firearms are more formidable than matchlocks; perhaps these savages are not very savage after all; or perhaps this contributor may be destined to an exit not usual in uncivilised countries;-some or all of these causes may have contributed to his safety during a few weeks' excursion through Las, and small portions of Jhalewan and Mekran.

The notion of travelling with a party of Affghans was given up, because, being ignorant of the Pooshtoo language, we could not hope to keep up pleasant friendly relations, or easily detect any treachery which they might meditate.

It was impossible to find any companion who could be persuaded that it was his destiny to "do" Beloochistan ; and the more so, because no officer could obtain leave for any such outrageous purpose. Of course it was necessary to have

camel-men and servants, but the former of these were not easily ob tained, and the latter, already in employ, objected strongly to crossing the frontier, after they consulted the bazaar upon the subject. These difficulties were at last got over, but the want of any one on whom we could rely in an emergency, was but ill compensated for by the number of attendants. A small hill-tent, grain for a horse, as well as provisions, &c., required to be carried, and so it was found necessary to take one riding and four baggage-camels, these being attended by three camel-men, two of them Sindees, and the other a Sind-Belooch. A horse-keeper, a cook, and a personal servant, together with a negro peon, made up a very respectable small caffilah"; but in all probability these attendants, excepting the negro and horsekeeper, would have been worse than useless in any fighting other than with the tongue. The disastrous Somali expedition has shown well how little dependence can be placed on Eastern servants when a sudden attack has to be withstood. The smaller the number, the more likely are they to stand by their master when required, and the more unlikely to give notions of his wealth which may arouse cupidity. It is always best to have them as much as possible from different castes, for then their mutual dislike and jealousy act as a check on the evil practices in which they may be inclined to indulge. It was rather difficult to get these servants started on the journey, for at the last moment the most of them hung back and wished to escape. Also just after crossing the border they caused considerable trouble, but once well into Beloochistan, the "law of thumb" (no other law being recognised there) could be applied to them in a very decided way. Their terror was not much to be wondered at, for though the border was so close to the British cantonment, only a week before we started, a tribe of Belooches carried off four hundred head of cattle belonging to British subjects, which cattle were grazing on debatable ground, and the bazaar at Kurrachee was full of very exaggerated accounts of the occurrence.

Once

fairly in the strange country, they felt themselves so helpless, and so dependent for protection on their European head, that they became perfectly obedient, and gave little or no trouble. Indeed, at times they showed a disposition to presume upon our leadership, and once we detected them in an attempt to bully a goatherd and his wife out of a kid, by threatening our indignation in case of refusal. Eastern servants, it is well known, are not much addicted to truth, and constantly glorify their masters with an eye to glorifying themselves. If you have three hundred rupees per mensem, your servants solemnly declare that you have got a thousand, and readily invent details of expenditure in order to give their statement verisimilitude. Of course they were cautioned against indulging in this kind of exaggeration in Beloochistan; and with considerable tact and wisdom they confined themselves to most fabulous statements regarding their master's ferocity, and skill in the use of arms and medicine. It is very doubtful whether there is such a miscreant in existence as they made us out to be. As to firearms, we could do little more than hit a barn-door within a reasonable distance, or rather a hyena close to our tent, for there are no barns there; but they seemed to have lied themselves into the notion that we could exterminate a whole tribe, and then, like Hotspur, cry "fye upon this quiet life." Such exaggeration, however, though absurd enough, was of the greatest possible use, and often procured us a dinner from men who refused either to sell or exchange. For poetic invention, our ghorawal lah, or horse-fellow, was the king of the party; and on one occasion, with his aid alone, we actually terrified a hostile encampment of about fifty persons into giving us the breakfast which at first they refused in no very respectful way. On another occasion a small roving tribe commenced to plunder our camels, and had broken open one box ; but as we rode slowly up, in ignorance of what was going on, the same discreet servant's account of us induced the depredators to make off hastily, and so prevented a collision which could not

have been agreeable, and which might have put an end to further progress. The danger of such incidents as this last mentioned, contributed, on the whole, rather to increase the tedium than the excitement of the journey. Of course, it is rather exciting to know that you are in danger of being stopped and robbed, or fired at by matchlockmen securely posted in rocks above; but then, when the danger rarely makes its appearance, it is not pleasant to have to keep beside the baggage-camels. Wherever the country was said to be very dangerous, we did not wander far from our servants and camels, and they only progressed at the rate of two miles an hour, taking almost an entire day, when there was little or no moonlight, to make a journey of twenty miles. Where the people of the district were found or represented to be tolerably quiet, and information could be obtained of any encampment, village, or well, which might serve as a place of rendezvous, our plan was to start off the camels and servants for that place at daybreak, either providing them a guide or leaving them to find their own way, as seemed best in the circumstances. We then set off on horseback, accompanied by our ghorawallah, who had a smattering of several of the languages spoken in Beloochistan, on the riding-camel, which we could mount whenever tired of horseback, and on which there was secured a small water-skin, perhaps some provisions, ammunition, and a few medicines. In some parts it was necessary to place a bhoomia, or guide, upon the camel, but most usually we two started alone on our adventures with hearts "prepared for any fate." The hours of the morning were usually spent in shooting, there being an abundance of hyena, antelope, black partridge, duck, geese, teal, flamingo, and, wherever there was a river with water, crocodiles. As the sun rose and its heat became intense, we sought some encampment-for we soon became adepts in discovering these uttered a most friendly Salaam Aleikoom to the men composing it, who, generally speaking, had never seen a white man before, and with

out giving them time to recover from their surprise, seated ourselves in the shadiest and most comfortable corner we could find-taking care, however, to keep our fowling-piece between our knees, and a smaller weapon of destruction in our belt, in case of any of those little accidents which are apt to happen in Belooch families. Once seated, most usually everything went on well, for curiosity, especially among the fairer sex, was the prevailing passion. Though most devout Mohammedans, the women wore no veils; they talked quite freely, and sometimes did not even hesitate to examine closely the hair and texture of the skin of the white stranger-a liberty which, we need scarcely say, was not indiscriminately accorded. When the questions came too thick and fast, our faithful attendant made a diversion by informing the savages of our skill in medicine, which was very small indeed, but superior to any other they could command, and immediately all the halt, the maimed, and the feverish demanded aid from the strange and wonderful hakim. This justified a call for refreshment, which usually consisted of goat's or buffalo's milk, and roast, or rather broiled, kid. That finished, and a pipe smoked, the medical cases were examined, and anything was done for their relief which could be effected in the circumstances. Then, perhaps, weapons were examined, a strange song was sung, or a dance gone through, and we departed to seek out new encampments, or to find the well to which our camels had gone. Not unfrequently night would find us bewildered in jungle, among perplexing rocks, or seeking for the well, and no well appearing. In such cases the fires of some encampment usually appeared after dark, and, making our way to it as well as we could, we supped there, and fell asleep beside a fire, watching the stars through the scanty covering of bushes, with our gun for bedfellow, but gratefully acknowledging that, after all, the Belooches were much better than they got credit for being, that they, too, had human hearts beating under their dusky skins, and had been taught to keep faith with the stranger and sojourner in their wild land.

These were pleasant days; many strange sights were seen and curious adventures experienced, some of which we shall describe in a future Number. When compelled to keep beside the baggage-camels, the journey had far less interest. The slow wearisome swinging on the camel became almost intolerable during the great blinding and burning heat of the day. At the villages and towns, of course, a different course of life was pursued. Our tent there was pitched outside the walls, and under some convenient tree, for, owing to their great jealousy of strangers, the authorities invariably objected to our sleeping inside; but they allowed us to lounge about the bazaars during the day, and to have interviews with various parties. Perhaps even this might have been denied, had it not been for some letters of introduction (written in Persian) which we had contrived to obtain from merchants in Sind and from British authorities. These last we applied for just before starting, and had forwarded by a runner, being aware that an Order in Council of the Governor-General forbids all aid and encouragement to (if it did not even actually prohibit) any passage by Europeans beyond the western frontier of British India.

The peculiarities of travelling in Beloochistan cannot well be appreciated without some general idea of the character of the country, and that is not very easily conveyed. Α desert country, a mountainous country, a fruitful country, a cold country, and a hot country, are designations which suggest tolerably distinct ideas; and we shall suppose, in order to give a notion of Beloochistan, large samples of all these countries well shaken together, thrown down at the head of the Arabian Gulf, allowed to settle into a land, covered with snow and ashes, and then broken up again in an irregular way. It is as nearly a primeval country, "without form and void," as it is possible to conceive any country to be. The Beloochees themselves account for its present condition by a very characteristic story. Above their country there are stony Khorassan and the great desert of Seistan, where the winds at a certain season are so hot

and dry that when, a man's body is exposed to them, the skin and veins will crack until the blood pours out, and in a very short time it becomes a mass of putrefaction. Now, they say that Allah made Beloochistan the most perfect land on the face of the earth, a land where reigned eternal spring or autumn (for if the Belooch who speaks happens to be hungry, he says it was an eternal time of date-ripening, whereas if he be satisfied, he sets it vaguely down as an eternal time of tree-budding), and so lovely, that when the angels flew over it they were always in danger of forgetting His commands; but that Iblis, enraged at such a prospect of bliss for the favoured Belooches, tearing up great ranges of mountains to the north, cast these down upon the beautiful country, and, not content with that, like a dog scraped down upon it with his heels a good quarter of the desert of Seistan. Probably a philosophical German would find this story to be a myth, arising from the ancient and still continued bitter enmity between the Belooches and Persians. But it suits the state of matters so admirably that the wise man will feel inclined to believe it when he hears it related by an excited native, in some beautiful little valley green with grass, shaded by graceful tamarind trees, refreshed by a clear perennial stream, and lively with flocks of sheep and goats, but sunk deep in a great range of red, barren, rugged, flaming mountains. He may also do well to sympathise with the violent conclusion, quoted from the Koran, "O Iblis ! but Allah has said, 'Thou shalt be driven away with stones.""

Everything about the country is strange to the European, and requires a peculiar mode of life. For a distance of about sixteen miles from Kurrachee, to the Hubb river,which forms the boundary between Sind and Beloochistan, there is a road marked out, though otherwise it cannot be said to be made, and close to the river there is, not a gallows, but a stone durrhumsallah, or open building, for travellers, the last sign of civilisation, and warning the traveller that he is about to enter on a region where stone houses are un

known, and where the entire system of law and order, for there is rule of a kind even in the most savage countries, -is totally different from any to which he has been accustomed. During the greater part of the year the Hubb consists only of detached pools of stagnant or half-stagnant water, in many of which crocodiles may be found; and in its bed there are many "sunny spots of greenery," which form a fruitful subject of dispute between the pastoral inhabitants of either side. On the Belooch side, low jungle and grass stretch up for three or four miles to the Hala-here called the Pubb mountains-which rise up in savage cliffs to about the height of two thousand feet. Not till the traveller passes these can he be said to have fully encountered Beloochistan. Darkness fell as we approached the pass which led through them towards the north. At their western extremity, where they dipped into the sea, the soft clear light of fading day, which still smiled upon the valley but left the hills in gloom, contrasted so strongly with the deep shadows of the mountains and their rugged sides dimly seen in the brown air, that no more fitting portal could have been conceived into grim solitudes peopled by wild nomads, savage beasts, or even by giant shades, as Dante's antichi spiriti dolenti. But then at the eastern extremity there slowly rose no modest maiden moon, but the full-orbed Queen of Night, which soon obscured even the brightness of the stars, flowed down the valley behind, silvered the jagged mountain-tops, and broke down here and there between the cliffs into the pass through which we rode.

That, however, was an easy lukh, or pass, compared with some which we passed through; and thankful were we to escape leaving a camel in any, with its fore-shoulder dislocated, to be devoured by vultures and hyenas. The ranges are often double, or even triple, and the track-for it cannot be called a path-winds up beds of streams, among splintered rocks, along chasms, and up small precipices, in a way which keeps the poor camels, who require to be specially trained for such work, in a state of grievous terror and groaning.