BELMULLET. 



BELOOCHISTAN. 



994 



design of Palladio ; the governor's palace, also a fine structure ; a rich 

 hospital ; a good public library ; a gymnasium ; a high school for the 

 education of females, and several elementary schools for the children 

 of both sexes. It is also adorned with several marble fountains. The 

 manufactures include silk fabrics, hats, leather, and earthenware. 

 Fairs are held in February and April. Marshal Victor, one of 

 Napoleon's generals, took his title of Duke of Belluno from this town. 



The following towns in the province may be mentioned : Cadore, 

 or Piere-di-Cadore, population about 2000, on the right bank of the 

 Piave, 22 miles N.N.W. from Belluno, is noticeable as the birth-place 

 of Titian. Attronzo, population 3100, about 30 miles N.E. from 

 Belluno, has in its vicinity the richest zinc mines in Italy and an 

 extensive pine forest. Agordo, population 2600, on the left bank of 

 the Cordevole, a feeder of the Piave, about 12 miles N.W. from 

 Belluuo, is famous for its copper mines, the richest in Italy, which are 

 situated in the valley of Imperiua near the town. Mel, or M > ', 

 population 4000, on the right bank of the Piave, about 9 miles S.W. 

 from Belluno, possesses a market. Ftltre, or Fdtria, population 5500, 

 situated '>n elevated ground near the left bank of the Colineda and 

 the rigli' oank of the Piave, 17 miles S.W. from Belluno, has a cathe- 

 dral, n college, and an ecclesiastical seminary. Some trade is carried 

 on in corn, wine, and oil. There are silk-twist and wax bleaching 

 factories. This town has some fortifications. Marshal Clarke, one 

 of Napoleon's generals, was created Duke of Feltre. 



(Balbi's Geographic.) 



BELMULLET, county of Mayo, Ireland, a post and market-town, 

 and seat of a Poor-Law Union in the parish of Kilcommon and barony 

 of Erris, is situated at the extremity of an isthmus which connects 

 the Mullet with the mainland, and separates Blacksod Bay on its 

 southern side from the smaller bay called Broadhaven on its northern 

 side. It is in 54 14' N. lat., 9 55' W. long. ; 199 miles W.N.W. from 

 Dublin, and 40 miles N.W. from Castlebar. The population of the 

 town in 1851 was 935, exclusive of 400 persons in the auxiliary work- 

 house and 6 in the bridewell. The town has sprung up almost entirely 

 since 1825, and the export trade has increased since that time from 

 100 tons to near 2000 tons. A fishery pier has been also erected. A 

 canal has been cut across the isthmus, which is here only 400 yarda 

 broad, so as to connect the two bays. The estimate for the work was 

 9000^., towards which a parliamentary grant was obtained to the amount 

 of 50001. The houses are generally well built, and slated. Quarter and 

 petty sessions are held in the town, and there are a chapel, a school- 

 house in which a Protestant congregation meet, a dispensary, a bride- 

 well, and stations of the coast guard and the revenue police. Bel- 

 mullet Poor-Law Union comprises 15 electoral divisions, of the extent 

 of 177,933 acres, and had a population in 1841 of 22,922, in 1851 of 

 14,338. A monthly fair is held in the town. 



BELOOCHISTAN, or the country of the Beloochees, extends along 

 the coast of the Indian Ocean from the river Indus nearly to the 

 mouth of the Persian Gulf, beginning on the east with Cape Monze, or 

 Ras Mooaree, and terminating near Cape Jask on the west. In the 

 interior it extends farther east and west, so that its extreme bounda- 

 ries are the meridians of 57 50' and 69 10' E., and the parallels of 

 24 50' and 30 40' N. Its average length is upwards of COO miles, 

 and it average breadth about 300 miles : the whole area is about 

 liim.riOO square miles. 



The central parts of Iran (Persia) are occupied by extensive desertn, 

 which extend from south-east to north-west upwards of COO miles, 

 and in breadth in some places from 400 to 500 miles. These deserts 

 nre inclosed on all sides by a wide border of mountain tracts. Beloo- 

 chistan forms the most southern part of this border, and separates 

 the deserts from the Indian Ocean. A considerable part of the 

 deserts is included in its boundary, and is called the desert of Beloo- 

 chistan. 



The desert forms its northern boundary, except at its north-eastern 

 corner, where an elevated mountain region extends southward, and 

 t.Tininating in a single range on the shores of the Indian Ocean, divides 

 ISvl'.ochistan from Sinde ; but a considerable tract lying on the 

 declivity and at the foot of the mountains is under the dominion of 

 the Khan of Kelat, and forms the province of Cutch Gundava. The 

 western boundary of Beloochistan is likewise formed by mountain 

 ranges, which begin on the coast and stretch northward to the desert, 

 dividing the Persian province of Kerman from the Beloochee 

 districts of Kohistan and Bushkurd. 



The Hala Mountains, which begin at Ras Mooaree and rise abruptly 

 t<> a conspicuous height, run for about 100 miles north-east. Tliis 

 portion of them is sometimes called the Lukkee Mountains, which 

 separate the plains on the Indus from those of the province of Lus, and 

 are traversed by the Lukkee Pass near 26 N. lat. Near this parallel 

 the principal chain begins to run due north, and continues thus to 

 the most northern extremity of the country, where they are crossed 

 by the celebrated Bolan Pass. At the same place (26 N.) a high 

 lateral chain branches off to the north-west, in which direction it con- 

 tinue* for upwards of 200 miles, declining afterwards gradually to the 

 north and north-east, till it terminates nearly at the most northern 

 point of Beloochistan with the Ajrum range. At a short distance 

 from the Ajnun range the Tukkatoo Mountains begin, and running 

 > Hala range, which is hero called the Umbar Moun- 

 tain*. The highest summit of the Tukkatoo range, called the peak 



ooo. I>IV. ^ 



of Tukkatoo, is estimated to attain a height of 11,000 feet above 

 the sea. 



These ranges inclose a tract of upland country varying in breadth 

 from 100 to 200 miles, and comprehending the provinces of Jhalawau 

 and Sarawan, with the intervening district of Kelat, and the two dis- 

 tricts of Mustoong and Shawl, which form the most northern angle 

 of Beloochistan. The province of Shawl was in 1839 temporarily 

 annexed with the adjoining provinces of Mustoong and Cutchee to 

 the dominions of Shah Soojah, the Afghan ally of the British 

 government. 



Throughout a considerable part of thia upland district the surface 

 is covered with a succession of high mountains and narrow valleys, 

 with only small levels between them. The highes tpart of this moun- 

 tain tract is about Kelat, where the elevation may probably be 8000 

 feet above the level of the sea. To the south as well as to the north 

 of it are some plains of considerable extent, which, like a succession 

 of terraces, seem to decrease in elevation as they recede from the cen- 

 tral mass. These plains are generally divided from one another by 

 ridges twenty miles and upwards in breadth. That part of the pro- 

 vince of Sarawan which is to the west of the mountains, and borders 

 on the desert, has a large portion of level ground stretching out in 

 extensive plains. 



In the higher parts of this upland country snow falls from October 

 to the end of February ; and from the close of November to the 

 beginning of February the whole country is covered with it ; at the 

 same time the frost is very intense and commonly attended with 

 north-east winds. A good deal of rain falls in February or March ; to 

 this succeeds the dry season, which lasts to September. September 

 and October are showery, and so is the whole cold season except 

 during frosty weather, when the air is keen and bracing. The heat 

 is never unpleasant, except occasionally a few days at the close of the 

 summer, and in the country bordering on the great desert. 



The mountains consist of hard black or gray rocks, and the soil in 

 the plains and valleys is mixed with such a profusion of pebbles and 

 stones that there is often no appearance of mould ; yet in some places 

 the crops of wheat, barley, and jawaree (Holcm sorglium) are plentiful, 

 and other places afford excellent pasturage for sheep and cattle. 

 Wheat is sown in August and September, and reaped the June fol- 

 lowing. Rice is only planted in the low valleys, where there is a 

 supply of water to keep it flooded, which is only practicable in the 

 southern districts. In the northern districts there is no stream larger 

 than a rivulet, except when swollen by heavy rains or melted snow. 



Kelat, or A'elaut-e-A'ausseer, is the residence of a khan, whose 

 dominion extends over a country larger than England. This town is 

 inclosed with a wall of mud, and stands partly on the declivity 

 of a hill, on which the citadel is built. It is a place of considerable 

 strength, and contains about 20,000 inhabitants. The town was 

 stormed by a British force under General Willshere, on the 13th 

 November 1839, when Mehrab Khan, the Kelat chief, was slain. This 

 was alleged to be in consequence of the attacks of the Beloochees on 

 the British troops in the early part of the year, when advancing into 

 Afghanistan through the Bolnn Pass. Newaz Khan, a former cand ; 

 date for the khauship, was placed in power by the British. After 

 some months the friends of Nussur Khan, son of Mehrab Khan, 

 having acquired strength, besieged Kelat, and forced Newaz Khan to 

 abdicate. A British officer, Lieutenant Loveday, was taken prisoner, 

 and after a captivity of some months was put to death. Kelat was 

 retaken and occupied for some time by the British in 1841. 



Among the smaller towns are Sarawan and Khnran, in the province 

 of Sarawan, and Zuhurco in Jhalawan. In the district of Shawl is 

 Quettah, a place of some trade, situated at an elevation of 5637 feet 

 above the sea-level. Quettah is described as " a most miserable mud 

 town, with a small castle on a mound, on which there was in 1839 

 a small gun on a rickety carriage." (Hough's ' Narrative of the 

 Operations of the Army of the Indus.') 



At the northern extremity of the upland country the plains of Iran 

 approach nearer to thoae on the Indus than at any other place ; and 

 as a smaller number of mountain ridges here opposes the progress of 

 the traveller, this district has been chosen for the common line of 

 communication between the high plains of Iran and those on the 

 Lower Indus. Two papses begin at the town of Quettah in Shawl. 

 One traverses the Hala Mountains in a southern direction, and leads 

 to the town of Dadur in Cutch Gundava. This is the Bolan Pass, 

 so famous in the late Afghan war. The Bolau Pass is about 60 miles 

 in length, traversed by the Bolau River. It is a stupendous rocky 

 defile, traversed by a bad road covered with loose flints, surmounting 

 at first by a scarcely perceptible ascent, and afterwards by a difficult 

 acclivity, the great Brahoo chain of hills, as the northern part of the 

 Hnla Mountains is sometimes called. On the north it opens upon 

 the district of Shawl, a wide plain bounded by noble mountain ranges 

 intersected by many sparkling streams and dotted with orchards and 

 vineyards. The highest part of the Bolan Pass is about 6000 feet 

 above the level of the sea. (Kaye's 'Afghan War.') The other road 

 passes from Quettah south-west to Mustoong, thence south to Kelat, 

 and from Kelat in a south-eastern direction to Gundava, the capital 

 of the province of Cutch Gundava. The latter pass is practicable for 

 loaded camels. 



The province of Cutch Gundara extends on the eastern side of the 



