494 Roree in Khypoor. [No. 114. 



Hina leaves are ground in a mortar or stone hand-mills and immersed 

 an hour in warm water until they acquire the consistency of thin paste. 

 "Women mix it with the paste and apply it to their riuglets to conceal the 

 ravage which time has made with them, and it gives their hair a dis- 

 agreeable smell. 



The hina paste is strained and applied to the beard with paper and 

 cotton cloth which are passed under the chin and over the head, and a 

 warm situation, particularly a hot bath, favours this troublesome opera- 

 tion. It is left on four or five hours to produce a good colour. After- 

 wards the beard is thoroughly washed with warm water, combed clean 

 and dried, and covered with a decoction of indigo leaves made into paste 

 like hina and tied on the beard for double the period. It is generally 

 put on at night and washed off in the morning, and the beard combed 

 and cleaned. The dye should be applied once a week, to procure the 

 colour, but is not usually renewed oftener than the tenth day. 



The national head-dress is a circular cap called Shuhzadpooree. It 

 is about eight inches in height and made of silk or cotton thread of seve- 

 ral colours according to the prevailing fashion and taste of the wearer. 

 Scarlet was the favourite colour at Hydurabad in 1839. The crown is 

 flat with a sharp projecting rim, and of a different colour from the rest 

 of the cap, and sometimes covered with brocade. A gay coloured band, 

 the depth of the cap, goes round it with the exception of two inches in 

 the front which is of another pattern. Caps are made upon very small 

 blocks, and worn on the brows so that they just cover the crown of the 

 head. They cost from six annas to five rupees, and common people 

 wear one, three months, or until the threads fall in pieces, and are dis- 

 coloured from dirt and grease. 



Many Puthans, Moghuls and other foreigners, who have settled in Sind, 

 adopt the Belooch cap, and dress to identify themselves with the con- 

 querors of the country and to procure respect and security from oppres- 

 sion, and even Hindoos, in Government employ, wear it. The Ameer 

 occasionally presents his servants with a cap or a dress, and they could 

 not neglect his gifts without giving offence. 



Suyads sometimes wear a three-cornered cap made of rich crimson 

 silk sprigged with flowers, or covered with gold brocade, and a handsome 

 one may be purchased at Shatta for 4 or 5 rupees. They are stiffened 

 with paste or buckram and fold up like an English cocked hat. 



A few Belooch have adopted the turban, but they usually prefer the 

 national cap. Poor Sindees have cotton turbans either white or dyed 



