THE BALOCH. 



107 



cenary from Mekran or Maskat. A comely, 

 brown man, with regular features, he is dis- 

 tinguished from the Arab by the silkiness and 

 the superior length of his flowing beard, which is 

 carefully anointed after being made glossy with 

 henna and indigo. He adheres to his primitive 

 matchlock, a barrel lengthened out to suit the 

 weak powder in use, damascened with gold and 

 silver, and fastened to the frail stock by more 

 metal rings than the old Trench 1 Brown Bess ' 

 ever had. The match is about double the thick- 

 ness of our whipcord, and is wound in many a 

 coil round the stalk or stock. A curved iron, 

 about four inches long, and forked in the upper 

 part to hold the igniter, plays in a groove cut 

 lengthways through the wood and the trigger, a 

 prolongation of the match-holder, guides the fire 

 into the open priming-pan. When the match is 

 not immediately wanted it is made fast to a bat- 

 ten under the breeching. (A parenthesis. Were 

 I again to travel in wet tropical lands, I should 

 take with me two flint-guns, which could, if 

 necessary, be converted into matchlocks. Of 

 course they would shoot slow, but they would 

 not want caps, and they would prove serviceable 

 when the percussion gun and the breech-loader 

 would not.) This mercenary carries also two 



