'Through Persia on a side-saddle' [‎251] (290/360)

10 QUETTA WITH THE BRITISH COMMISSION 251
that on April 16th I was sitting wrapped up in a thick
cloak during the afternoon, while Captain Kemball, who
was in the same place during the year before, had found
his thermometer at 95° on this particular date.
We were steadily climbing up day by day, and at Gidr
had reached an elevation of 5)3°° feet, necessitating the
opening of our boxes of warm clothing, and at night the
temperature was below freezing-point. The plains about
nere were overgrown with strongly smelling wormwood
or absinth, on which the flocks feed, and it is used as fodder
for horses when dried.
On April 22nd we reached Kalat, the capital of Baluchi
stan, which is at a height of some 7,000 feet, too high
up for rice to grow, and where wheat and barley ripen later
than in England.
We rode through a low pass in the hills, and at once
came in sight of the picturesquely placed fort and palace
built on a ridge of rock above the town, which is an assem
blage of flat-roofed mud houses.
The name Kalat signifies f the City' in Baluchi dialect,
and the wild tribes regard their Khan, or ruler, with a con
siderable amount of reverence. The brother of the latter,
with part of the army carrying lances, came out to escort
Colonel Holdich to his quarters, and we found our tents
pitched near the rows of low mud barracks in which Goor-
khas and Pathans were quartered, and not far from the mud
bungalow of the Resident. The valley, some eight miles
in length, was well cultivated, and there were young crops
in plenty, the whole place looking green and springlike,
and having water in abundance. We had spinach, lettuces,
onions, and cauliflowers from the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. garden, and it
was a pleasure to see apple, pear, and apricot trees in