BAKDS AND MINSTKELS. 65 



but the liair, of wliich they are very proud, is 

 twisted into a knot on the toj) of the head. The 

 national cap covered with brocade is, to my 

 thinking, far inferior to the turban in grandeur 

 of appearance. 



The Beloochee women wear a full petticoat, 

 gathered in at the waist, and trousers, a cloth 

 tied round the neck and under the arms, which 

 covers the bosom, a muslin Diqyutta being 

 thrown over the head. They are a very dirty 

 people, and wear blue cloths, as such do not 

 show the dirt, they say. 



The Beloochees, in common with the Rajpoots 

 of Cutch, maintain bards and minstrels, who 

 sing of the deeds of their great departed, and 

 are by no means neglectful of their own interests 

 in respect to the living, whom they praise in the 

 most sickening manner; indeed, I liave known 

 that really sensible Prince, Meer Ali Moorad, sit 

 for hours, listening with evidently intense satis- 

 faction to the most absurd tirades of adulation, 

 in wliich he was made to appear the greatest of 

 warrior monarchs, far surpassing Alexander and 

 every hero of antiquity known to them. The 

 Luris are a tribe who follow the vocation of 

 bards and minstrels ; and I remember one of 



VOL. n. 6 



