"أسفار في بلوشستان والسند؛ مع تقرير جغرافي وتاريخي لهذين البلدين، وخريطة." [‎٩‎٧] (٤٧٦/١٣٩)

OFFER OF SOOLTAN SAHEB'S LADY.
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posed to go on to the northern countries, or remain at Kelat ? What
number and description of horses we required ? If we were trading
for ourselves, or by whom employed? Our replies to all which he
noted down as we made them on a piece of paper, and in fact from
his whole conduct to us, there could not be a doubt but that he had
lately been instructed by the Khan or his brother to ascertain who
we were. We left him seemingly quite convinced of our pretensions
as horse-dealers, and had it been likely we should stay much longer
in Muhmood Khan's territories, the Darogha's report of us to that
chief might have had a very favourable result, in enabling us to
carry on the disguise we had assumed, with still less probability than
before of a discovery. Among the other news of the day, he men
tioned that a party of fifty horsemen had passed through Kelat the
preceding evening, on their way from Kandahar to Kutch Gundava,
to claim, on behalf of the minister of the King of Kabool, the re
lease of the family, and restoration of the effects of the late Roohool-
lah Beg. This interference tends to establish Meer Mustapha Khan's
avowed reasons for putting the Babee merchant to death, as well
founded; and it must be added, in justice to that chief, that he has
ever been reputed a very just governor. We afterwards heard that
this mission did not succeed, as Mustapha Khan returned a verbal
answer to the minister's furman *, informing him in the coarsest lan
guage, that he was an ignorant brute, for even fancying that he would
be weak enough to pay any attention to his commands, and recom
mending him not to depute any of his people again on such errands,
if he had any regard to their being treated with common politeness.
In the evening we received a message from the lady of Sooltan Saheb,
desiring that we would send any valuable property we might have
with us to her house, where it should be taken the utmost care of,
as it was dangerous to keep it outside on account of the thieves: we
* A Furman means a royal mandate, but was here applied in derision to the minister's
-epistle.
O