the Jam, who received them with kindness; nevertheless the. expedition narrowly escaped being frustrated almost in its beginning, by the circulation of suspicious as to its real motives. The address of our countrymen got over this difficulty, and they were admitted to an interview with the great man, which is thus described:

"About half-past one o'clock, we were sent for to pay our respects to the Jam. We found him seated in his durbar, or hall of audience, surrounded by nearly one hundred and fifty persons, the greater number of whom curiosity had drawn together, as his attendants formed a very small part of them; he received us very courteously, and stood up on our entering, and also on taking leave. In the course of conversation he put many curious though pointed questions to us, relative to the religion, customs, and castes of the English; and whether the French were a similar people in their usages: he observed he had often heard, from those of his subjects who had been in India, of our eternal wars with that nation, and also of our superiority at sea, which he asked if we still retained: he likewise enquired the name of the king of England, the method of organization and extent of his navy and army, the distance of his capital from Constantinople, the form of government, &c., &c., &c.

"To all these queries we afforded him the most explanatory answers we could at the moment, but the same simplicity which had dictated them, rendered it totally impossible for us to make him perfectly comprehend the different points he had spoken on: he was astonished beyond expression at many of our descriptions, and appealed to the two Hindoos who had attended us to the levee, for a corroboration of them; they assured him we had by no means exaggerated in any thing we had related, that had ever come under their notice; but he shook his head with an air of incredulity, and observed, you tell me of a vessel that will carry one hundred guns, and one thousand men on board of her; it is morally impossible! Where are the latter to get food and water? The king has scarcely so many guns in his Tope Khann, (or arsenal); and the crews of two such ships would overrun the whole of my country. We reiterated our assurances of the truth of all we had told him regarding the navy of England, and briefly stated its effects in the battle of Trafalgar; to this he replied: As you say it has been so, I am bound to believe it; but had the holy Prophet foretold it, the Noomrees, (the people of Lus,) would have demanded proof of it from him.'

Under the protection of a rude chieftain of the Belooches, they proceeded on their journey through Khozdar, Soherab, and Rodenjo, and arrived in safety at Kelat, the capital. The town of Rodenjo has its name from the following circumstance: Two merchants having accidentally met at this place in au

extremely

extremely cold winter night, the camels of one of them being laden with madder, and of the other with indigo called in the Belooche language Roden and Jo, the merchant whose camels bore the latter, exchanged some of this valuable article to a great disadvantage for a quantity of the former, with which he made a fire, and thereby preserved his life; while his more parsimonious fellow traveller would not apply the smallest particle of his remaining merchandize to the same purpose, and perished from cold.

The capital, Kelat, is well described at p. 40, et seq.

Here again the party narrowly escaped detection; but it seems to be the character of most of the Asiatic nations to make but few observations and enquiries, except they have some personal object in view. Their ignorance is in consequence extreme. Of this one example has before been given, and at Kelat the travellers were asked, whether the European governor of Bombay was a Hindoo or a Mussulman; and one person expressed a wish to be informed how old the Company' was, conceiving the Company to be an old woman with an immense deal of money.

The Baubees, a tribe of Affghans, here called Uffghans, will excite the reader's attention at p. 46., as will the description of Kelat, at p. 48, 49.

The Belooches, their language, domestic habits, manners and religion, occupy entirely the fifth chapter. They are certainly a most singular people, and the account of them is remarkably entertaining; but we must here notice with some disapprobation, the immense space assigned in the book to the contents prefixed to each particular chapter, seemingly inserted with no other view than to swell out the volume. In this present chapter, no less than two quarto pages are occupied by the heads of contents.

Of the customs of this people, that appears to be the most remarkable which is called the Chupao, which means a lawless incursion for the sake of plunder, into the territories of their neighbours. Their hospitality is very great, but they have the singularity when they receive a guest to ask him four several times how he does. The vice of drunkenness seems unknown among them; but they stupify themselves with opium and bhung (Cannebis Sativa). Their amusements are chiefly hunting and shooting. Some of their greyhounds are valued as highly as 501. sterling each. Their funerals and marriages are regulated by the Koran.

The following is the author's account of the Chupao :

"The lawless incursions, during which these outrages and cruelties are committed, are here called Chupaus,' and as they

are

are almost always conducted under the immediate superintendance and orders of the chiefs, they form a considerable source of profit to them. The depredators are usually mounted on camels, and furnished according to the distance they have to go with food, consisting of dates, sour cheese and bread; they also carry water in a small leathern bag, if requisite, which is often the case in the midst of their deserts. When all is prepared they set off, and march incessantly till within a few miles of the point where the chupao is to commence, and then halt in a jungle, or some unfrequented spot, in order to give their camels rest. On the approach of night, they mount again, and as soon as the inhabitants have retired to repose, they begin their attack by burning, destroying, and carrying off whatever comes in their way. They never think of resting for one moment during the chupao, but ride over the territory on which it is made, at the rate of eighty or ninety miles a day, until they have loaded their camels with as much pillage as they can possibly remove; and as they are very expert in the management of these animals, each man on an average will have charge of ten or twelve; if practicable, they make a circuit which enables them to return by a different route from the one they came. This is attended with the advantage of affording a double portion of plunder, and also misleads those who pursue the robbers, a step generally taken, though with little effect, when a sufficient body of men can be collected for that purpose."

After leaving Kelat, the travellers proceeded on their route, in the direction of Kandahar, through a very bleak and barren country. Their first halt was at Nooshky, and here they found it expedient to deliberate about their further progress. A better idea can hardly be formed of the singular people among whom they here found themselves, than from the perusal of the following anecdote:

"A luckless wight, a mountaineer, made his appearance in the place with two asses, laden with assafoetida plants, that he had gathered, and brought in for sale, and the people were so eager to purchase, that they ran in a body and overwhelmed him and his merchandize in the sand, where there was a vigorous scuffle and scramble kept up for half an hour: every soul joined in it, except the Sindar and the Mingul Chief, both of whom, like Captain Christie and myself, enjoyed a hearty laugh at the tumult. The poor fellow who was so unceremoniously handled, extricated himself and his animals as quickly as possible, and shortly after came to prefer his complaint to the Sindar, for the treatment he had met with. It was asserted on all hands that the Hindoos, who wanted it to retail again, were the first to commence the attack on the panniers, and that they also secured the greatest part of the spoil; they were therefore ordered to satisfy the Brahooe, which they did with some tobacco and sugar."

The

The gentlemen after much discussion, came to the final de termination, of separating at this place, in order to pursue two different routes, as promising a more effectual accomplishment of their object, as well as a greater acquisition of geographical knowledge. Captain Christie accordingly, as superior officer, gave instructions to the author of this narrative, to proceed to Kirman, in the Persian territories, from whence the journey to Sheeraz, was easily practicable. He himself proposed to find his way through Kaboul to Heerat, and thence as he could through part of Khorasan, by Yezd to Ispahan.

We have now to accompany Lieutenant Pottinger through the remainder of his fatiguing and perilous journey. He pursued a direction almost due West, to the frontiers of Beloochistan. Some singular places of worship, or perhaps of sepulture, are noticed at p. 126. A curious account of the moving sands of the desert occurs at p. 133, and a whirlwind, not unlike that described by Bruce, is there also described. At Kullugan, p. 159, the author found it expedient to assume the character of a Peerzadub, or Religious Devotee. The extreme ignorance of these people is manifest from the following:

"About ten o'clock I spread my shummul in a corner, and stretched myself upon it, in the expectation that the assembly would follow my example and retire; but my attention was presently drawn to an argument that afforded me high amusement. This was between two of the villagers one of whom most vehemently asserted that the sun and moon were actually the same luminary: his opponent urged as far as I could understand, many incontestable proofs to the contrary, and at length losing all patience, called silence to some others who had intermeddled in the dispute, and exclaimed: 'Let him be; I will give him his answer.' He then sneeringly demanded how he could reconcile with his position the sun and moon being visible at the same moment in opposite sides of the heavens: the other was posed a little, but either feeling unconvinced, or determined, as a point of honor not to give in, he coolly rejoined that the latter was the reflection of the former. The debate would probably have continued some hours, had it not been suggested to refer to me: I feigned sleep, but found that I should have had to listen to a minute recapitulation of the whole matter, to escape which I acknowledged that I had overheard the discussion, and although far from being a competent umpire, was inclined to disagree with the last speaker. This opinion was received as conclusive, and the assembly broke up. This anecdote furnishes a remarkable example of the ignorance of these people, and is hardly reconcileable with our ideas of the reasoning faculties bestowed on

*Country blanket.

man,

man, to suppose that beings possessing a knowledge and belief of their Maker, and acquainted, however rudely, with the common forms of life should be capable of such gross absurdity."

As we proceed with our interesting traveller through the province of Mukran, we are obliged to encounter a people familiarized with every species of inhumanity, of which a shocking example presents itself at p. 152, where also a singular clan who are called Loorees, having a marked resemblance to the European gypsies are described. The next principal place is Bunpoor, the chief of which place had, in the preceding year, shewn kindness to Mr. Graut, but did not seem disposed to shew equal hospitality on the present occasion, but who rather defrauded the author of the little property which remained. He was therefore not sorry at leaving Bunpoor in safety in his advance to Kirman.

In his further progress the traveller had to pass a tremendous desert, p. 185, where his sufferings from thirst were really dreadful, and he makes the following remark upon this sad privation.

"I can affirm with perfect confidence, from my individual experience, that the absence of this (water) is the most insupportable of all the wants of what are termed the necessaries of life. A person may endure with patience and hope the pressure of fatigue and hunger, heat or cold, and even a total privation of natural rest for a considerable length of time; but to be scorched under a burning sun; to feel your throat so parched in your mouth, from the apprehension of suffocation which it causes, and not to have the means of allaying these dreadful sensations, are in my ideas the extreme pitch of a traveller's calamities."

As he entered the territories of Persia, Mr. P. had new diffi culties to encounter, p. 188; these however he found means to surmount, and after various and vexatious delays, perils which interrupted his progress and endangered his life, he passed through the province of Nurmansheer, the considerable city of Bunim, and arrived safely at Kirman, where his fatigues and difficulties -were happily terminated. The description of Kirman and of the manners of its governor and its inhabitants is peculiarly entertaining, p. 209 et seq. Here are celebrated manufactures of shawls, matchlocks and felts. The cruelties exercised under the form of justice are, it is to be hoped, without parallel.

"The prince sat in judgment upon some people who were accused of murdering one of his servants; and the state of alarm and suspence in which the whole of the inhabitants were kept during the day is scarcely conceivable. The city gates were shut, at least to the egress of the public, and no business was transacted by the public officers of the government. People were sent for as witnesses,

without