190 Account of a Journey to Beylah. [March, 



than the chief of a wild tribe of Noomrees. He wore an under dress 

 of crimson and gold kincaub, with trowsers of striped silk, and over 

 this a mantle of pale blue satin richly embroidered with gold and 

 silver thread, colored silk, &c, in the pattern peculiar to the Cashmere 

 shawls. His turban formed of splendid kincaub was extremely large, 

 and adorned with a feather of open gold work, set with emeralds, 

 sapphires, rubies, &c. and another ornament richly set with jewels* 

 similar to what I believe is called in Europe a sevigni, from which 

 hung several strings of large pearls. A gold-hilted sword, with a 

 shield ornamented wHh chased gold knobs lay before him, and com- 

 pleted his equipment. After the presents had been exhibited, which 

 appeared to excite the admiration of all present, I took leave, and 

 attended as before by a party of soldiers, amongst whom I distributed 

 a few rupees, as is customary on these occasions, returned to the house. 



During the week I remained at Beylah I had several long conversa- 

 tions with Ularacky, the Jam's minister. Ularacky is the second chief of 

 the Jamootry, the particular tribe to which the Jam belongs, and 

 has been chosen by the Jam's mother in consequence to conduct 

 the government of the province under her superintendence ; he is 

 a fine intelligent old man, without any of the prejudices against 

 Europeans which generally exist in the minds of those natives of 

 India who have had no intercourse with them ; but being surrounded 

 by chiefs belonging to the other tribes, who are jealous of his influence 

 with the reigning family, he is obliged to act with the greatest caution. 



Beylah contains about 800 houses constructed of sticks and mud, 

 and between four and five thousand inhabitants ; it covers a small piece 

 of elevated ground rising above the banks of a river of some size, 

 flowing from the N. E. which joins the Poorally about a mile farther 

 to the westward, and with the exception of the N. E. quarter, which 

 is surrounded by a ruinous mud wall, is entirely undefended. The 

 palace of the Jam is within the walls, and is the only brick building in 

 the place. About Beylah a large portion of the land is under cultivation ; 

 and the face of the country presents a pleasing succession of grassy 

 plains and small woods, which with the advantage of being placed 

 nearly at the junction of two rivers, and at an equal distance from the 

 mountains on either side, renders it the best spot in the province that 

 could have been selected for the site of the capital. The Poorally passes 

 about a mile to the westward of it, and spreading over a large extent 

 of surface forms several swamps, which are fed by numerous springs ; 

 in some of them rice is cultivated, and the ground about their banks 

 is every where much broken by deep gullies worn by the water 

 flowing into them in the rainy season. 



