his neighbour to the north, though
generations have given to him too a bold and manly bearing. It would be
difficult to match the stately dignity and imposing presence of a Baluch
chief of the Marri or Bugti clans. His Semitic features are those of the
Bedouin and he carries himself as straight and as loftily as any Arab
gentleman. Frank and open in his manners, fairly truthful, faithful to his
word, temperate and enduring, and looking upon courage as the highest
virtue, the true Baluch of the Derajat is a pleasant man to have dealings
with. As a revenue payer he is not so satisfactory, his want of industry
and the pride which looks upon manual labour as degrading making him but a
poor husbandman. He is an expert rider; horse-racing is his national
amusement, and the Baluch breed of horses is celebrated throughout northern
India. Like the Pathan he is a bandit by tradition and descent and makes a
first-rate fighting man, but he rarely enlists in the Indian army. He is
nominally a Mahommedan, but is neglectful of the practices of his religion.
The relations of the modern Baluch with the government of India were
entirely transformed by the life work of Sir Robert Sandeman. (_q.v._).

[Sidenote: Strategic interest.]

The strategical position of Great Britain in Baluchistan is a very
important factor in the problem of maintaining order and good
administration in the country. The ever-restless Pathan tribes of the
Suliman hills are held in check by the occupation of the Zhob valley;
whilst the central dominant position at Quetta safeguards the peace and
security of Kalat, and of the wildest of the Baluch hills occupied by the
Marris and Bugtis, no less than it bars the way to an advance upon India by
way of Kandahar. Nominally all the provinces and districts of Baluchistan,
with the exception of the ceded territory which we call British
Baluchistan, are under the khan of Kalat, and all chiefs acknowledge him as
their suzerain. But it may be doubted if this suzerainty was ever complete,
or could be maintained at all but for the assistance of the British
government. The Baluch is still essentially a robber and a raider (a trait
which is common to all tribes), and the history of Baluchistan is nothing
but a story of successful robberies, of lawless rapine and bloodshed, for
which plunder and devastation were accounted a worthy and honourable
return.

[Sidenote: Climate.]

Extensive changes have taken place in the climatic c