BEL 



202 



BEL 



but the plunder and devastation of n country are viewed at 



highly hi): : nml accordingly they are much 



addi< .rsions, which they execute with 



surprising activity ami quickness. Their manner* are pas- 

 toral. They usually reside in ghcdans or tents, made of 

 black felt or coarse blanket, -I retched over a frame of wii-ker- 

 work. An assemblage of such ghedans is called a tomnun, 

 .lage, and it* inhabitant* rciu>iitute a kheil, or society. 

 Like all other pastoral upturns, they ore hospitable, indolent, 

 and fond of hunting. Unless occupied by some favourite 

 amusement, they will spend whole days in lounging from 

 one ghedan to another, smoking and gambling. They have 

 commonly two wives, and sometimes more. They treat 

 their women with attention and respect, and are not so 

 scrupulous about their being seen by strangers as most Mo- 

 hammedans, although they by no means allow them to 

 appear in public at all times. They are avaricious, revenge- 

 ful, and cruel. 



The Brahooes, who principally inhabit the province of 

 Jhalawan. and are also dispersed towards the north as for 

 as the desert, ore a still more unsettled wandering nation, 

 always residing in one part of the country during tin- sum- 

 mer, and emigrating to another during the winter season : 

 they likewise change their immediate places of abode many 

 times every year in quest of pasturage for their Hocks, a 

 practice which is rare among the Belooches. But many of 

 them are husbandmen, and laborious hard-workers. On 

 the plains to the south of Kelat they till large tracts of land, 

 and sell grain, cheese, and ghee, with a few coarse blankets, 

 carpets, and felts. They are not less hospitable, nor less 

 faithful in adhering to their promises, than the Belooches; 

 but they are more quiet and industrious ; less inclined to 

 rapine and violence, though at least equal in bravery ; and 

 their manners are mild and inoffensive, though uncivilized 

 and uncouth. They ore grateful and faithful, and exempt 

 from revenge, cruelty, and avarice. The task of the family 

 is divided among both sexes, nearly as in most countries in 

 Europe. The men tend the docks and till the ground : the 

 women are occupied in milking, making butter, cheese, and 

 ghee, and working carpets, felts, and coarse white cloth. 

 Both sexes mingle more together than is usual in the coun- 

 tries of western Asia. Buth nations are Soonee Musulmans, 

 and consequently many of their usages are regulated ac- 

 cording to the precepts of the Koran. 



The DC want and Juths live dispersed among these two 

 nations, the former about Kelat, the latter in Kutch Gun- 

 dava. The Dewars, or Dehkans (i. e. the villagers), are 

 agriculturists, and do not migrate. They speak the com- 

 mon pure Persian. In stature they are bclmv the middle 

 size, with blunt features, high cheek-bones, and full checks. 

 They are quiet and harmless in their disposition, and civil 

 and obliging to strangers, but not given to hospitality. 



The Juths, who form the great bulk of the population of 

 Kutch Gundavii, show, by their manners, appearance, and 

 customs, that they are descended from the aboriginal Hin- 

 doos. The .Juths, like the Dewars, have been converted to 

 the Mohammedan faith. 



The inhabitants of Luss speak a language similar to that 

 of Sinde, and strongly resemble the Hindoos, especially in 

 their apathy and the want of energy in their counten.'. 



The inhabitants of the sea-coast of Mukran are a puny 

 and delicate race, when compared with the Belooches and 

 Brahooes. Their blacker complexion may probably be attri- 

 buted to their frequent intermarriages with the Arabs nf 

 the opposite coast. In the interior of Mukran some postural 

 tribes wander about, but we hardly know anything of them, 

 as well as of the pastoral inhabitants of Bushkurd. In the 

 towns and places of commerce a great number of Hindoos 

 are settled as merchants, and they are commonly the 

 wealthiest inhabitants. 



The commerce of Beloochistan is not of much importance. 

 |K>rts groin from Kutch Gundava and Luss, dates from 

 Mukran, and horses from Kelat and Gundava. The im- 

 ports consist principally of nome metals, spices, and manu- 

 red good* of silk and cotton ; to which salt from Moul- 

 tan may be added. 



The 'government of Kelat is despotic, but limited i>\ a 

 feudal s\.i.-ni. The sirdars or chiefs of the tribes are bound 

 to nuii'-h their quota of soldiers, and to attend the court. 

 They are partly hereditary, and partly chosen by the tribes 

 themselves. In the western districts the authority of the 

 khan is only nominal ; and government is in the hands of 

 the sirdars, who are commonly chosen by the people, but do 



not enjoy extensive authority. Tbo tribes here are, pro- 

 perly speaking, a number : .biics, in which 

 member feels that he has a right ' - his own 

 wrongs, and of g . all matters of public 



(Poltinger, Travel* in Helf>oc/n< ,itde; Co- 



nolly's Juuriify to the North if h. Burnes's 



Travels to Bokhara : .I/,// o/ 'dalrnl )u,ln AinjwMuith.) 



BKLOl'OL or BYKI.O I'UIA K. the capital of a circle 

 in the prm ' aurkoff, in Euro|.an Kiiia. 



conlluence of thu Vira and Knga, tributaries of ; 

 it i-, of modern date and surrounded by a ramp:. 

 and a moat. It contains eight churches of wood, : . 

 houses, besides forty-six wooden storehouses, had in 1 . 

 population of 9050 souls, mostly of the agricultural class, 

 which has now increased to about 10,000: it ha- 

 distilleries ot brandy, and has 'yearly markets, but it is not 

 a place of much trade or of any note for operative indi. 

 It is about 140 wiles (- 1- vcrMs acrjrdmg to Georgij to the 

 N.W. of Uiarkoff. in 5T 5' N. lat., and 34" : 



BELO'PTFRA, in zoology, a fossil genus establish. 

 Ueshayes and described by lilamulle as an animal entirely 

 unknown, containing in the back part of its musculu 

 velopc a symmetrical calcareous or bony shell, formed of 

 a thick solid summit very much loaded behni'l, an-1 a Iront 

 tube more or less complete, the cavity of which is conical 

 and annular, the shell or bone having wing-bhapcd appen- 

 dages without any anterior shield-like prolong 



!)< Blainville divides the genus inl.i tw The 



first tt -IHVICS whose \ung-khaped appendages ore 



united below the summit, and whose cavity is symeuhat in 



lapo of a scuttl (hoite) ; of this seciion Beioptera 



sepiuidea is given as an example. 



Side \ww. End vie*. Internal cavity. 



(Velpptera -piokli%] 



The second includes species whose wing- shaped appen- 

 are distinct, and wlio&e cavity is completely conical 

 with traces of chambers and of a siphon. Of this division 

 Beioptera belfmnttidea, is given as an illustration. 



optera 



De Blainville observes that this genus ought to be placed 

 at the end of the tepiacea or cullies ; and that the first of 



. idently very much allied to the bor< 



those animals, while the second approaches the belemnile*. 

 After all, the probability is, that these bodies are only 

 portions of the bones of some of the cuttle-fishes ; and this 

 appears to have been the opinion of Cuvier. 



If a perfect bone of the common species of our coasts be 

 closely examined, n structure very analogous to the conical 

 circularly-grooved cavity of Beioptera, although in ;t more 

 expanded form, will be observed. These fossils hau 

 found in the London clay, and other beds above the chalk. 

 Volt*, in his memoir on Bclcmnites, makes Beioptera 



,,1,'n a distinct genus under the name of Belottepia. 

 BKI.OS Kl'IA I.OPTHRA.] 



BEI.SIIAM, THOMAS, a dissenting minister of th 

 persuasion, was born at Bedford. April IS, 1750, 

 U.S. (in ins iii.'tln-r's -i'!i' he wis descended from the Karl 

 of Anglesey: his father, the Rev. James Belsham, was a 

 sical attainments. Two of his Latin poems, 

 Triumpfiiun and ('mm-liti, have been praised by com- 

 petent judges. This gentleman, intending to bring up bis 



