512 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1816. 



slaves which he had, should work 

 so diligently, without any person 

 to loolc after tiiem. " W'iiy not," 

 said he, " thv y are clotlied, fed, 

 and treated like the other mem- 

 bers of my family, and if tliey do 

 not labour, tliey are well aware 

 that bread will be scarce, and 

 they must then suffei' as well as 

 ourselves J it is their inteiest to 

 have plenty, because they know 

 whatever may fall to my lot, they 

 get a .share of it." Captain Chris- 

 tie assented to the ju--tiiess of 

 these observations, but added, 

 that he should have thouglit them 

 lil-ely to run away. ■' Nothing 

 of ilie kind," replied the old Sir- 

 dar, " tliey are too wise to at- 

 tempt it: in the first place, they 

 don't know the way to their own 

 country; liutexen admitting they 

 did, why should they wisli to re- 

 turn ? They are much happier 

 hei'e, and have less woildly cares; 

 yere they at hon.e, they must 

 toil full as hard as they now do; 

 beside which^ they would have to 

 think of theirclothes, their houses 

 .and their food ; situated as they 

 now are, they look to me for all 

 those necessaries ; and, in short, 

 that you may judge yourself of 

 their feelings, I need only in- 

 form you, that the severest pu- 

 nishment we can inflict on one of 

 them, is to turn him about his 

 business." 



The common dress of the Be- 

 looches is a coarse white or blue 

 calico shirt, open about fourteen 

 inches down the front, buttoning 

 round the neck, and reaching be- 

 low the knee; tneir trowsers are 

 made of the same cloth, or a 

 striped kind of stuff called Soosce, 

 and puckered round the ancles : 



on their heads they seldom wear 

 any thing except a sn\all silk or 

 cotton quilted cap, which is made 

 to sit to the shape of the sk\dl, 

 and over this, when in full diess, 

 they add a turband, either check- 

 ed or blue, and a Kummurbund 

 or sash, of the same colour, round 

 their waists. The chiefs and their 

 relatives likewise appear in winter 

 with an Ulkhaliq, or tunic, of 

 chintz, lined and stuffed with 

 cotton ; and the poorer clas-ses, 

 when out of doors, wrap them- 

 selves up in a surtout made of a 

 peculiar kind of cloth, manufac- 

 tured from a mixture of goat's 

 hair and sheep's wool. The wo- 

 men's attire is very similar to that 

 of the men, their shifts are usual- 

 ly cotton cloth, dyed red or brown, 

 very long, quite down to the 

 heels, open in front below the 

 bosom, and as they wear nothing 

 under them, their persons are 

 considerablyexposed ; their trow- 

 sers are preposterously wide, and 

 made of silk, or a fabrication 

 from that and cotton mixed. The 

 young women, both married and 

 unmarried, have a very ingenious 

 method of fastening their hair up, 

 by dividing it into different locks, 

 twisting them round the head, 

 and inserting all the ends in a 

 knot on the crown ; it looks very 

 tidy, and at a short distance I re- 

 peatedly mistook it for a cap. 

 The old women tie handkerchiefi j 

 round their heads, flowered wit li 

 worsted or silk. VVhen they f ;o 

 abroad, both young and old mu f- 

 fle up their faces so as not to be 

 seen, but in their houses tV ley 

 are not, as I have already stat ed, 

 at all particular ; and whej i. I 

 was at the village of Nooshk) ' , i 



was 



