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But Mir Khudadad may be said to have no policy. As the French say, "Il change sa nationalité comme je change de chemise," and is to be bought by the highest bidder. Although the Khan's subjects are heavily taxed, there is no protection whatsoever of life or property in or around Kelát.
Owing to the nomadic nature of the Baluchis, the barrenness of their country, and consequent absence of manufactures and commerce, permanent settlements are very rare. With the exception of Quetta, Kelát, Beïla, and Kej, there are no towns in Baluchistán worthy of the name.
He put numerous questions to the English, by which he showed a desire to learn, and then confided the task of conducting the travellers to Kelat, to the chief of the tribe of Bezendjos, who are Belutchis. The climate had changed since they left Bombay, and in the mountains, Pottinger and Christie experienced cold sufficiently keen to freeze the water in the leather bottles.
The pestilent stenches of his capital cannot ascend to this height, only the sweet scent of hay and clover-fields, and the distant murmur of a large population, while a glorious panorama of emerald-green plain stretches away to a rocky, picturesque range of hills on the horizon. His Highness Mir Khudadad, Khan of Kelát, is about sixty years old.
The soil hereabouts is light and sandy and particularly favourable to the cultivation of grapes, of which there are no less than five kinds. Apricots, peaches, plums, and pomegranates are also grown, and supply the markets of Quetta and Kelát. Madder and tobacco are also exported in large quantities from Mastung, which possesses a neatly built and busy bazaar.
The village itself is neatly laid out, and contains about three hundred inhabitants. The different aspects of the country north and south of Kelát are striking. We had now done with deserts for good, for at night lights were seen twinkling all over the plain, while in the daytime large tracts of well-cultivated land continually met the eye.
A detailed account of the eight days' journey from Gajjar to Kelát would weary the reader.
The morning was therefore devoted to cleaning up, and getting out a decent suit of wearing-apparel; while my Beïla escort, who evidently had uncomfortable forebodings as to the appearance of the Beïla uniform in the streets of Kelát, polished up arms and accoutrements till they shone like silver, and paid, I noticed, particular attention to the loading of their rifles and revolvers.
My interpreter's services were then called in, but it was not without demur and a long consultation with his suite that Malak consented to accompany me to Gwarjak on the morrow. Matters were finally arranged, on the understanding that I did not remain more than one day at Gwarjak, but proceeded to Kelát without delay.
A few days later, while still at Noutch, Pottinger received letters from his correspondent at Kelat, telling him that the emirs of Scinde were searching for them, as they had been recognized, and that his best plan for safety was to set out immediately. Upon the 25th of March Pottinger started for Serawan, a very small town near the Afghan frontier.
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