100 ANECDOTE OF A BELOOCHEE CHIEF. 



held him in durance there, he related an anec- 

 dote of a Beloochee chief, the Governor of 

 Lheree, as follows : — 



^'Suspicions being entertained by Mr Ross 

 Bell, Political Agent in Upper Sindh and Be- 

 loochistan, regarding Mullah Mahomed, Go- 

 vernor of Lheree, a considerable town in Cutch, 

 rather to the eastward of Bhag, who was sup- 

 posed to be in treasonable correspondence with 

 the young Khan of Kilat, then a fugitive in 

 the mountains, — Mr Ross Bell, who ruled Upper 

 Sindh and Beloochistan with an iron hand, de- 

 termined on seizing him ; this, however, was 

 not to be accomplished by force, for, had force 

 been attempted, the Mullah would have fled to 

 the hills and bid defiance to pursuit ; so the po- 

 litical agent employed other and surer means. 

 Mr Bell is described as a man of ' "vdgorous 

 talent, resolute, unhesitating, devoid of public 

 morality, and vindictive ;' so, to attain his end 

 and capture the Mullah, he corrupted his Naib, 

 one Mahomed Shurreef, a great villain, who for 

 a sum of money seized and gave up his chief to 

 the British authority. To make sure of the 

 prisoner, in case of attempts at rescue, a strong 

 escort of fifty Sindh horsemen and thirty Be- 



