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 their 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.  This affords a double prospect 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.”

“In these desperate undertakings the predatory robbers are not always successful, and when any of them chance to fall into the hands of exasperated villagers, they are mutilated and put mercilessly to death.  The fact,” concludes Pottinger, “of these plundering expeditions being an institution in Baluchistan must serve to show how slight is the power wielded by the paramount rulers, and what risks to the safety of both person and property must be run by those engaged in the business of trade in such a country.”

Chabas visited me towards evening, accompanied by his son, a clever-looking, bright-eyed lad about fifteen years old.  Noticing that he wore a belt and buckle of the 66th Regiment, I inquired where he had procured it, and was told that it had been purchased from a Gwarjak man, who brought it down from Kharan shortly after the fatal disaster to the regiment at Maiwand.  The kindly old chief now pressed my acceptance of a fine fat goat—­a very acceptable gift, considering the impoverished condition of the camp larder.  We then visited the fort and village, under his guidance.

Jebri and its neighbourhood are well cultivated.  The system of agriculture practised in this part of Baluchistan is simple, but effective, the fields being divided off by ridges of earth and raised embankments to an accurate level.  They are then further subdivided longitudinally by ridges thrown up about seven or eight paces apart.  This is done for purposes of irrigation.  The soil is then ploughed and manured, the former operation being generally carried on by means of bullocks.  Tracts of land not irrigated by streams, but which are dependent on rain and the rivulets which come down from the hillsides after it, are called “kash-kawa,” and are found scattered about the valleys here and there near the tent-encampments of the nomad tribes, who plough a piece of land, sow it, and return to gather in the crop when it is matured.  The implements of husbandry in general use are a light wooden plough of primitive construction, consisting of a vertical piece bent forward at the bottom and tipped with an iron point, and a long horizontal beam, which passes forward between the pair of bullocks that draw it, and is fastened to the yoke.  A harrow, consisting of a wooden board about six feet long by two wide, is also used, being dragged over the ploughed land attached to the yoke by iron chains.  If found not sufficiently heavy, the driver stands upon it.  A spade or shovel, exactly like its English counterpart, and a reaping-hook, or sickle, having its cutting edge furnished with minute teeth, complete the list of a Baluchi’s agricultural tools.