'Travels in Beloochistan and Sinde; accompanied by a geographical and historical account of those countries, with a map.' [‎417] (459/476)

APPENDIX. 417
own tribe, as he finds that the rapacious exactions of the former from the
subject, are more enforced to enrich his coffers, than they could possibly be
through his countrymen, who being accustomed to free and independent
tenure of the land, are not so likely to assist in that system of plunder for
which the Moghuls are proverbial.
fhe police of Heerat is strict, not so much for the sake of morality, as
for the fines which come into government; and no one can appear in 'the
streets after dark. This city is, of all others in Khorasan, celebrated for
cheats, who allure the unsuspecting stranger into their houses to partake of
an entertainment, and then lay him by the heels on a false charge of seduc-
tion ot their female relatives, and breach of hospitality, for which the ac
cused person may consider himself fortunate to escape with a mulct of five
hundred rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. . On these occasions they previously inform themselves of
the state and condition of the person, and levy accordingly; half of this
fine goes to the informer as a reward for his ingenuity, and the other half to
the minister and government.
I remained at Heerat nearly a month in my assumed character of a horse-
dealer, and declared I should go to Mushid on pilgrimage, a common cir
cumstance among people of that class, who visit this country. I deemed it
expedient to announce this as my intention, being thereby furnished with an
excuse for leaving Heerat at any time ; and what was to me of great mo
ment, without encumbering myself with a number of horses, which I na
turally said I could purchase on my return; by this means I only found it
necessary to buy two during my sojourn there.
18^ and 19t/i May. Having procured a guide from my Hindoo agent, I
left Heerat on the 18^ of May at five p. m. ; we passed westerly between
gardens for about five miles, when the path opened out to cultivated ground,
which by degrees diminished, as we left the city and drew near the moun
tains. At twelve miles we picketted our horses, and lay down to sleep.
We moved on again before day-light westerly, passed the large village of
Sekhwan at twenty-two miles, and going one mile through it, stopped at a
small dervishes' village: the road was good the whole way, but it blew a gale
of wind, and the clouds of sand were very troublesome. I had now the
satisfaction of knowing that we had passed the Uffghan frontier, and had
entered the dominions of the King of Persia, in which, after my numerous
escapes, I felt a comparative degree of security to what I had enjoyed for
some months. We halted for two hours, and advanced in the afternoon
3 h