The entire country traversed by the travellers before they arrived at Bela was a morass, interspersed with jungle. The "Djam," or governor of that town, was an intelligent man. He put numerous questions to the English, by which he showed a desire to learn, and then confided the task of conducting the travellers to Kelat, to the chief of the tribe of Bezendjos, who are Belutchis.
The climate had changed since they left Bombay, and in the mountains, Pottinger and Christie experienced cold sufficiently keen to freeze the water in the leather bottles.
"Kelat," says Pottinger, "the capital of the whole of Beluchistan, whence it derives its name, Kelat, or the city, is situated upon a height to the west of a well-cultivated plain or valley, eight miles long and three wide. The greater portion of this is laid out in gardens. The town forms a square. It is surrounded on three sides by a mud wall about twenty feet high, flanked, at distances of 250 feet, by bastions, which, like the walls, are pierced with a large number of barbicans for musketry. I had no opportunity of visiting the interior of the palace, but it consists merely of a confused mass of mud buildings with flat roofs like terraces; the whole is defended by low walls, furnished with parapets and pierced with barbicans. There are about 2500 houses in the town, and nearly half as many in the suburbs. They are built of half-baked bricks and wood, the whole smeared over with mud. The streets, as a rule, are larger than those in towns inhabited by Asiatics. They usually have a raised footway on either side for pedestrians, in the centre an open stream, which is rendered very unpleasant by the filth and rubbish thrown into it, and by the stagnant rainwater which collects, for there is no regulation insisting upon it being cleaned. Another obstacle to the cleanliness and comfort of the town exists in the projection of the upper stories of the houses, which makes the under buildings damp and dark. The bazaar of Kelat is very large, and well stocked with every kind of merchandize. Every day it is supplied with provisions, vegetables, and all kinds of food, which are cheap."
According to Pottinger's account, the population is divided into two distinct classes – the Belutchis and the Brahouis, and each of these is subdivided into a number of tribes. The first is related to the modern Persian, both in appearance and speech; the Brahoui, on the contrary, retains a great number of Hindu words. Intermarriage between the two has given rise to a third.
The Belutchis, coming from the mountains of Mekram, are "Tunnites," that is to say, they consider the first four Imans as the legitimate successors of Mahomet.
They are a pastoral people, and have the faults and virtues of their class. If they are hospitable, they are also indolent, and pass their time in gambling and smoking. As a rule, they content themselves with one or two wives, and are less jealous of their being seen by strangers than are other Mussulmen. They have a large number of slaves of both sexes, whom they treat humanely. They are excellent marksmen, and passionately fond of hunting. Brave under all circumstances, they take pleasure in "razzias," which they call "tchépaos." As a rule, these expeditions are undertaken by the Nherouis, the wildest and most thievish of the Belutchis.
The Brahouis carry their wandering habits still farther. Few men are more active and strong; they endure the glacial cold of the mountains equally with the burning heat of the plains. They are of small stature, but as brave, as skilful in shooting, as faithful to their promises, as the Belutchis, and have not so pronounced a taste for plunder.
Pottinger says, "I have seen no Asiatic people whom they resemble, for a large number have brown hair and beards."
After a short stay at Kelat, the two travellers, who still passed as horse-dealers, resolved to continue their journey, but instead of following the high road to Kandahar, they crossed a dreary and barren country, ill-populated, watered by the Caisser, a river which dries up during the summer; and they reached a little town, called Noschky or Nouchky, on the frontier of Afghanistan.
At this place, the Belutchis, who appeared friendly, represented to them the great difficulty of reaching Khorassan and its capital, Herat, by way of Sedjistan. They advised the travellers to try to reach Kerman by way of Kedje and Benpor, or by Serhed, a village on the western frontier of Beluchistan, and from thence to enter Nermanchir. At the same moment the idea of following two distinct routes presented itself to both Christie and Pottinger. This course was contrary to their instructions; "but," said Pottinger, "we found a ready excuse in the unquestionable advantage which would result from our procuring more extensive geographical and statistical knowledge of the country we were sent to explore than we could hope to do by travelling together."
Christie set out first, by way of Douchak. We shall follow his fortunes hereafter.
A few days later, while still at Noutch, Pottinger received letters from his correspondent at Kelat, telling him that the emirs of Scinde were searching for them, as they had been recognized, and that his best plan for safety was to set out immediately.
Upon the 25th of March Pottinger started for Serawan, a very small town near the Afghan frontier. Upon his way thither Pottinger met with some singular altars, or tombs, the construction of which was attributed to the Ghebers, or fire-worshippers, who are known in our day as Parsees.
Serawan is six miles from the Serawani mountains, in a sterile and bare district. This town owes its existence to the constant supply of water it derives from the Beli, an inestimable advantage in a country constantly exposed to drought, scarcity, and famine.
Pottinger afterwards visited the Kharan, celebrated for the strength and activity of its camels, and crossed the desert which forms the southern extremity of Afghanistan. The sand of this desert is so fine that its particles are almost impalpable, and the action of the wind causes it to accumulate into heaps ten or twenty feet high, divided by deep valleys. Even in calm weather a great number of particles float in the air, giving rise to a mirage of a peculiar kind, and getting into the traveller's eyes, mouth, and nostrils, cause an excessive irritation, with an insatiable thirst.
In all this territory, Pottinger personated a "pyrzadeh," or holy man, for the natives are of a very thievish disposition, and in the character of a merchant he might have been involved in unpleasant adventures. After leaving the village of Goul, in the district of Daizouk, the traveller passed through the ruined towns of Asmanabad, Hefter, and Pourah, where Pottinger was forced to admit that he was a "Feringhi," to the great scandal of the guide, who during the two months they had been together had never doubted him, and to whom he had given many proofs of sanctity.
At last, worn out by fatigue, and at the end of his resources, Pottinger reached Benpor, a locality which had been visited in 1808 by Mr. Grant, a captain in the Bengal Sepoy Infantry. Encouraged by the excellent account given by that officer, Pottinger presented himself to the Serdar. But instead of affording him the necessary help for the prosecution of his journey, that functionary, discontented with the small present Pottinger offered him, found means to extort from him a pair of pistols, which would have been of great use to him.
Basman is the last inhabited town of Beluchistan. At this spot there is a hot sulphureous spring, which the Belutchis consider a certain cure for cutaneous diseases.
The frontiers of Persia are far from "scientific," hence a large tract of country remains not neutral, but a subject of dispute, and is the scene of sanguinary contests.
The little town of Regan, in Nermanchir, is very pretty. It is a fort, or rather a fortified village, surrounded by high walls, in good repair, and furnished with bastions.
Further on, in Persia proper, lies Benn, a town which was formerly of importance, as the ruins which surround it sufficiently prove. Here Pottinger was cordially received by the governor.
"On approaching," says Pottinger, "he turned to one of his suite and asked where the 'Feringhi' was. I was pointed out to him. Making me a sign to follow him, his fixed look at me, which took me in from head to foot, proclaimed his astonishment at my costume, which in truth was strange enough to serve as an excuse for the impoliteness of his staring. I was wearing the long shirt of a Belutchi, and a pair of trousers which had once been white, but which in the six weeks I had worn them had become brown, and were all but in rags; in addition to this I had on a blue turban, a piece of rope served me as a girdle, and I carried in my hand a thick