'Travels in Beloochistan and Sinde; accompanied by a geographical and historical account of those countries, with a map.' [‎43] (85/476)

KELAT.
43
done from a want of clothing ; and the men who had come with us
from Lus were rendered by it so utterly incapable of making the
least exertion, or being in any way useful to us, that it made us re
solve on sending them back and hiring others. I was rather sur
prised to find that those from Bombay stood the cold better, although
Bela has a much more inclement winter than that part of Hin-
doostan.
Our shivering party, including ourselves, formed a wonderful con
trast to our sturdy landlord and his brother, who set off a little after
daylight in the morning to the adjacent mountains to cut fire-wood,
with which they returned late in the evening, bringing us a present
of a bag of snow, having heard us speak of it as novel; it was the
first I had seen, except at a distance on our route up, for nearly
seven years, and brought my native green isle, if possible, more
forcibly to my remembrance, with all its tender ties and dearest
hopes : the feelings attach an inseparable idea of home to any thing,
however unimportant, which we have been accustomed to behold in
our more juvenile days. At that time, removed as I was from even
the pleasures of a social intercourse with the civilized world, this
sentiment operated with still greater force ; and I contemplated the
snow with a mixed sensation of satisfaction and regret. Our land
lord laughed heartily at the expression of our thanks for the treat
he had brought us : " why," said he, with the utmost simplicity,
" should you place such a value on a little snow ; if you will accom-
" pany me one day to the mountains, you may see a whole country
" covered with it." I was, of course, silent, for it would have been
useless, as well as impossible, to have explained my feelings at the
moment to the person who addressed me.
11/7/ February, We had a complimentary message from the Daro-
gha or manager of Meer Mustapha Khan (the brother of the Khan
of Kelat), regretting that indisposition precluded him from personally
shewing us any civility; but, at the same time, requesting that we
would not hesitate to command his services, in case he could be of
use to us. We sent a reply, thanking him for his politeness, and pro-
g 2