Notwithstanding these mysterious warnings, however, I visited the village towards sunset, alone with Gerome, fearing lest the sight of my escort should arouse the ire and suspicions of the natives.  There was little to see and nothing to interest.  Gwarjak is built without any attempt at order or symmetry.  Many of the houses had toppled over till their roofs touched the ground, and the whole place presented an appearance of poverty and decay strangely at variance with the smiling plains of grain, rice, and tobacco around it.  Not a human being was visible, for our appearance was the signal for a general stampede indoors, but the dirty, narrow streets swarmed with huge, fierce dogs, who would have attacked us but for the heavy “nagaikas” [A] with which we were armed.  We were evidently cordially hated by both men and beasts!  On return to camp I gave orders for a start at four the next morning.  There was no object to be gained by remaining, and the natives would have been only too glad of an excuse for open attack.

The remains of an ancient city, covering a very large area, are said to exist near Gwarjak, about a mile due south of it.  I could, however, discover no trace of them, although we came from that direction, and must have traversed the supposed site.

After the fatigue and anxiety of the day, I was enjoying a cigar in the bright moonlight, when a messenger from the village arrived in camp.  He had a narrow escape.  Not answering the challenge of the sentry for the second time, the latter was about to fire, when I ran forward and threw up his rifle, which discharged in the air.  A second later, and the man would have been shot, in which case I do not suppose we should ever have seen Quetta.  The message was from Malak, inviting me to a “Zigri,” a kind of religious dance, taking place just outside the village.  After some reflection, I decided to go.  It might, of course, mean treachery, but the probability was that the chief, afraid of being reported to the Indian Government for his insolence and insubordination, wished to atone for his conduct before I left.

Under the messenger’s guidance, and attended by Gerome and a guard of five men with loaded rifles, I set out.  Both the Russian and myself carried and prominently displayed a brace of revolvers.  A walk of ten minutes brought us to a cleared space by the river.  In the centre blazed a huge bonfire, round which, in a semicircle, were squatted some two or three hundred natives, watching the twistings and contortions of half a dozen grotesque creatures with painted faces, and long, streaming hair, who, as they turned slowly round and round, varied the performance with leaps and bounds, alternately groaning, wailing, and screaming at the top of their voices.

[Illustration:  A “ZIGRI” IN GWARJAK]