618 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1815. 



aptly called Rcg.in, wliose inha- 

 bitants had gone to Gurmsyl 

 (which district lies north-north- 

 west of this place) owing- to the 

 scarcity. Here Ave halted on the 

 western brink, and witii nnich 

 digging and difficulty ]>rocured 

 two Mushks, or skins, of water. 

 I imagine the direct course from 

 tlie well we left \esterday morn- 

 ing to Regan, would liave been 

 about west ; but our guide, fear- 

 ing to lose himself, kept to the 

 southwardj where lie could at in- 

 tervals descry the mountains. 



2d April. I set out from Regan 

 just as the day began to dawn, 

 and having made a westerly march 

 of twenty-one miles, lialted at 

 three in tlie afternoon. The de- 

 seit was not near so sandy, and 

 in many places was composed of 

 a hard black gravel without a 

 trace of verdm-e, or even a busii 

 to be seen. In the latter part of 

 my route I could distinctly trace 

 with my eye, a chain of lofty 

 mountains stretching all round in 

 front from south-west to north- 

 west : and Avlien we alighted off 

 the camels, my guide shewed me 

 the break in them tln-ough whicli 

 we were to gain egress from this 

 inhospitable waste. 



I experienced this forenoon a 

 violent tornado o}' gust of wind, 

 accompanied by a torrent of rain 

 which continued for half an hour, 

 and was absorbed by the earth as 

 it fell. It came on most unex- 

 pectedly, and had the guide not 

 appiized me of its strength, we 

 shoidd probably have fared worse 

 thai; we did, for it would have 

 been an act of temerity to have 

 tried to sit on tlie camels during 

 its impetuous fury. Before it 

 began, the sky was clear, save a 



few small clouds in the north- 

 west quarter, and the only ante- 

 cedent warning it afforded, was 

 the o|)pressive sultriness of the 

 air and a vast number of whirl- 

 winds springing up on all sides ; 

 tlie moment tlie Bi.ahooe saw 

 these wliiilwinds disperse, which 

 they did as if by magic, and a 

 cloud of dust approaching, he ad- 

 vised us to dismount, and we had 

 hardly time to do so and lodgeour- 

 selves snugly behind the camels, 

 when the storm burst upon us 

 with a furious blast of wind : the 

 rain fell in the largest drops I 

 ever remember to have seen, and 

 the air was so completely dark- 

 ened, that I was absolutely unable 

 to discern any thing at the dis- 

 tance of even tive yards. Moorad 

 hapiiened to jilace himself about so 

 many paces in front of me, and 

 when I looked up, during the 

 lieiglit of the tenijiest, I saw 

 notliiiig of him, and therefore 

 concluded lie had siiifted his po- 

 sition, but when it was over I 

 found him still in the same spot. 

 These bursts are by no means 

 rare, and though unpleasant at 

 the instant, have their attendant 

 advantages, as they cool and pu- 

 lify the atmosphere, vvliich would 

 otherwise be (piite intoleraisle at 

 any season, and is so notwithstand- 

 ing their prevalence, throughout 

 the hot months from June to 

 September. 



Within that period, the winds 

 in this desert are often so scorch- 

 ing and destr\ictive, as to kill any 

 thing, either animal or vegetable, 

 that may be exposed to them, and 

 the route by which I travelled is 

 then deemed impassable. This 

 wind is distinguished every where 

 in Beloochistan, by the different 



names 



