30 Captain Postans on the Biliichi tribes inhabiting Sindh, 
with him, the latter by means of a small skin slung under his 
horse’s belly. Hardy, and innured to a trying climate, horses 
and men will undergo an almost incredible degree of fatigue 
and exertion in these raids, of which they are passionately fond. 
Neither age nor sex are spared to accomplish their pillaging 
purposes, and on these occasions they often kidnap children, 
who they bring up as slaves. When itis known that achapao 
of Bilachis is out, or has been seen in the desert, the whole 
cultivated country is in a state of alarm, for, like a flight of 
locusts, it is impossible to say where the descent may occur. 
It was found totally impossible to impress these people with 
any sense of their being culpable in the lawless life they led ; 
they owned without the slightest hesitation, and rather, in- 
deed, with a sense of merit, that they were born and nurtured 
in robbery and murder, and considered them lawful and honor- 
able vocations. One miscreant, who, for his awful catalogue 
of crimes, was particularly denounced, and considered fully 
deserving of extreme punishment, exultingly shewed his sword, 
a murderous weapon, and declared that he counted one hun- 
dred lives to the blade. At a distance of thirty leagues from 
the Damki and Jekrani haunts, the poor inhabitants trembled 
for their safety, for no police existed to protect them. Strange 
to say, the leader of these very men was an old chief, far above 
his countrymen in sagacity and experience, with a great degree 
of dignity in his manner; and Bigar Khan, for so he was called, 
was a far superior man to any real Biltichi whom the author 
has met with. Though living in this uncontrolled way, these 
tribes nominally owned the authority of the Khan of Kelat, 
though of course they paid no tribute beyond military service 
when required. The Amirs of Sindh were so afraid of them, 
that they gave them good lands within their own territories. 
The Birdis, an exceedingly troublesome and restless tribe, 
inhabitated a tract of rich country to the north and east of 
Shikanpur, and, before our arrival in Sindh, were almost 
as annoying as the two clans before mentioned; but being 
at deadly feud with all about them, they were more confined 
in their operations. The author recollects a striking instance 
of the exiraordinary state of society amongst these people, 
which may be quoted. On one occasion, having to transact 
