dents at New Harmony, and have left names which will ever be respected by all students in the natural sciences. Speaking of these gentlemen, who, we believe, to be now all numbered with the dead, another name of one departed, whose talents were of service to the Prince, should not be passed unnoticed by us, who long reckoned him among our most intimate friends, as a steady, enlightened, and public-spirited man, we mean, Colonel William Thorn, K. H., one who distinguished himself in the wars of India under Lord Lake, shared in the daring enterprises of Major-General Sir Robert Gillespie, to whom he was Brigade-Major, and ultimately became Lieutenant-Colonel of the 23d Light Dragoons. He was author of Campaigns in India and in Java, and of a Life of General Gillespie. To the scientific ability of this officer is due the beautiful map, marking the Prince's travels up the Missouri to the rocky mountains, and his various excursions in the United States. Finally, of the plates composing the magnificient atlas, and the smaller illustrations in the two volumes, amounting in all to forty-eight, besides vignettes, we have only to say, that they are by the hand of Karl Bodmer, an artist who accompanied Prince Maximilian, and whose talents are at once attested by the portraits of natives and the landscape scenery, which we believe to be unrivalled in any book of travels yet published.

On the Biluchi Tribes inhabiting Sindh, in the Lower Valley of the Indus and Cutchi. By Captain T. POSTANS.

(Concluded from Vol. xxxvii. p. 402.)

The style of living, as seen among the Sindhian Bilúchis, is totally devoid of the little comfort even adopted by the inhabitants of India. Each district wherein they are located, possesses a small capital or head-quarters of the chief, which is only distinguished by the presence of a small mud fortification, from the usual reed and mud-built hovels comprising the Bilúchi villages all over the country, which have an appearance of dirt and discomfort, unlike anything to be seen in the

least important even of our Indian districts. Their fields, in many parts of Sindh and Cutchi, have a small mud tower in their centre, whence the possessor with his retainers guards his produce from the predatory attacks of his neighbours; and a striking proof is thus afforded of a rude and unsettled state of society. In their houses (if they can be so termed) and persons, the Bilúchis are filthy in the extreme, and appear to be totally regardless of all beyond the mere every-day wants of an animal existence. It is no uncommon thing to see whole families sharing the shed, or, as it is called, Marri, which, composed simply of the reeds growing on the banks of the river, or the dried stalks of the Juwari, gives an inadequate shelter from the intolerably scorching sun of Sindh to themselves, their cattle, and horses, a charpái, or rude cot made of the Múnj grass of the country, being the only furniture. Yet there is no cause for this apparent misery, since many of them inhabited a fertile country, and possessed some of its richest portions, but the lazy and indolent habits with which they were embued, forbode their turning any attention to the improvement of their condition. Their food is principally composed of Juwari flour cakes, curds, and sour milk (the country being particularly rich in kine), and animal food, when they can obtain it. They prefer goats flesh to mutton for its strong flavour, and use spiritous liquors when attainable. The costume of the Bilúchis in Sindh had undergone considerable alterations during the last dynasty, and differed greatly from that still adopted by the mountaineers and wild tribes. of the desert. The turban gave way to a curiously-shaped cap, which appears to have been a bad imitation of a Persian head-dress, which looked much like an inverted hat, offering no protection whatever to the face, though the crown extended somewhat beyond the summit. This is composed of the most gaudily-coloured cotton stuffs (or silks with the chiefs), and looked upon as an indispensable ornament. They affect exceedingly wide Turkish drawers, which are closely buttoned at, and fall over the ancle. The surcoat is of white thin cotton, or mixed woollen and cotton in winter, and the waist is ornamented with an enormous roll of silk or cotton cloth of bright colours, the chiefs adopting the lúnghi, a beautiful de

scription of half silk and cotton manufacture, for which Tattah was once so famous, and which was coveted at the most brilliant courts of India. Over this is buckled a strap of broad deer-skin leather, with numerous appendages of all the pouches and paraphernalia required for the matchlock, highly ornamented with metal studs (gold and silver with the chiefs), and bright embroidery. The sword is an indispensable article of costume, and never abandoned. These people are passionately fond of arms, and are lavish in their expenditure to procure them. The Amirs sent emissaries, even as far as Constantinople, to obtain sword blades and matchlock barrels, though very beautiful ones were manufactured in the country. The shield, composed generally of rhinoceros horn, is large and flat, and usually suspended between the shoulders. The people dye their garments generally with indigo, and thus are enabled to wear them until they literally drop off, though the Cutchi tribes do not even take this precaution, and wear their flowing robes until they become literally black with grease and dirt. In person the Bilúchis may be considered as a fine race of men, and are decidedly handsome. Those living in the hotter climate of the plains have somewhat deteriorated from the unusually large size and muscular strength for Asiatics peculiar to the mountaineers, but they are still a portly people. Amongst all classes corpulence is considered a great mark of beauty, and is encouraged to a ridiculous extent. Nasir Khan, the late head of the Hyderabad family, though only in the very prime of life, and a strikingly handsome fair complexioned man, was so unwieldy with obesity, that it was with difficulty he could walk across his hall of audience, and on rising, or attempting to rise, from his seat, was obliged to be assisted by his courtiers. The author has observed some extraordinary and frequent instances of longevity amongst the Bilúchis located in Upper Sindh and Cutchi, far beyond what is usually seen in India, which with the large size and stature of this people united, warrant the conclusion, that the dry soils and climate, notwithstanding a degree of heat which is at times unequalled, is rather congenial than otherwise to the human constitution, certainly more so than the swampy banks of the river; yet the deadly simúms of the

Upper Sindh and Cutchi countries are certain death to all but a Bilúch, who, without any hesitation, exposes himself fearlessly to them, at a period when he tells you the very crows even are obliged to leave the country. For eight months in the year Cutchi is, however, a fine climate, and for five as cold as the most fastidious need require. The author, speaking from experience, would prefer Shikarpore, with a good protection from the sun, to any climate in Sindh, though the range of the thermometer there is 115° to 120° in the shade from May to August. The Sindhian Bilúchis are of very dark complexion, with fine oval contours of countenance, aquiline nose, and large expressive eyes. Unlike Mahomedans generally, they cultivate the growth of the hair on the head as well as the beard. In Sindh, the former is confined under the cap by a knot and comb, being thrown back from the forehead; but in Cutchi and the mountains, it is allowed to fall in wild luxuriance over the shoulders, and is often twisted in with the folds of the turban, imparting a peculiarly wild and savage appearance. A slight sketch of one or two of these figures would tend better to elucidate their appearance than an inadequate description. The hair is dyed black when it becomes grey, and holy characters use the henna plant to induce a red tinge to the beard and hair. The costume of the women is simply a pair of full drawers, confined by a string at the waist, and a loose shirt over them, reaching to the knees, and open at the bosom. Over the head is thrown a loose cloth. Their condition is that of perfect slavery, doing the whole of the hard work and drudgery for their lazy lords, who, occupied in the unceasing amusement of smoking or talking in groups, pass their time away. The Bilúchi women are hard featured and plain, bearing in their manner and countenances strong proofs of the degradation to which they are exposed.

The Jutts do all the laborious work of the cultivation; for though the Bilúchis possessed the land, they considered themselves, like the military class in India, above such menial occupations. This people profess the Mahomedan religion, and are, for the most part, of the Suni faith, though the chiefs were of the Sheah persuasion; totally ignorant, however, of

any beyond the mere outward forms of their profession, they leave the whole to Scynds, Pirs, and other holy men, who are well paid, and encouraged to settle amongst them; so great is their reverence for these sacred characters, that they find a safe conduct at all times for themselves, and those whom they choose to protect, even through the most murderous clans, and in localities where no other stranger dare venture to trust himself; and are always employed as mediators to settle quarrels. If a Bilúch have the promise of a Scynd, he considers himself safe; but he knows full well the little value of that of his deadly enemy. Of course, under such circumstances, many claim the prophetic descent, who are little entitled to it; and, indeed, most of these men in Sindh and Bilúchistan are as ignorant as all around them, though, such is their enthusiasm, that many learn the sacred volume by rote, without being able to translate a single word, and thus acquire the title so much coveted of "Hafiz," or remembrancer. For the Koran they hold a superstitious reverence, commensurate with their ignorance of its contents; and a Bilúchi falls on his knees when the sacred volume is produced: he would not dare even to touch it; but when he takes an oath, the book is put upon his head by the priest or scynd. Each tribe has its spiritual pastor, and a great portion of Sindhian cultivated territory was held in enam or gift by these men. A great authority, on Sindhian matters, has said (Mr Crow), "that the Sindhian has no liberality but in feeding lazy Scynds-no zeal but in propagating the faith-no spirit but in celebrating the edes or festivals,—and no taste but in ornamenting old tombs:" this is certainly true of the Bilúchis. Reputed holy and rapacious mendicants flourish amongst them whilst living, and their tombs become places of pilgrimage after death. In their fanatical zeal, they carry proselytism to the extent of often forcibly circumcising Hindús; and those of the latter, who held the principal offices as revenue collectors under the late Bilúchi government, were invariably obliged to adopt the beard and full costume of the Mahomedan. The exactions of holy mendicants in Sindh are a real source of evil to the country; and so great are their numbers, and so distinct is