aw a Mesjid,
and several more were found on descending on the other side as well as a
graveyard.

A curious white Mesjid was to be seen here shaped like an 8, and erected
on the site where a Beluch had been killed. A conical mountain to the
south, the Mudonek Ateng, was famous, my camel driver told me, because a
Beluch fakir is said to have remained on the top of it for 25 days
without food or water. A small stone shelter could be seen on the top of
the mountain, which, they say, had been the fakir's abode during his long
fast.

There is very little of special interest on this well-known part of the
route near Quetta. We rose for several miles to a higher pass (5,700
feet), and were then on a higher flat plateau with a high range
stretching half-way across it from south-south-east to north-north-west.
One's attention was at once drawn to the north-east by two renowned peaks
in British Beluchistan, the Chiltan, and further off the Takatu Mount. At
their foot on the other side lay Quetta. In front of these we had the
Hilti range stretching north-west to south-east, ending in Mount Barag on
the north, and the two Askhan hills.

This part seemed more populated, and we left to the east the tribe of
Gurghena, comprising four villages at intervals of about one mile from
one another. The last was situated in the wide valley to the west of the
Hilti range. Other villages could be seen further in the valley extending
towards the south, which were supplied with water by a river flowing
along the valley. A few _ghedan_, or low grass huts, were scattered about
the valley, and some black tents 51/2 feet high, with one side raised like
an awning by means of sticks. A pen for sheep was erected near them with
tamarisk branches and sticks.

We were very thirsty and went to one of these tents. The woman who
occupied it gave us some water, but, although in abject poverty, angrily
refused to accept a silver coin in payment, saying that Beluch cannot be
paid for hospitality. Water costs nothing. God gives water for all the
people alike, and, if they were to accept payment, misfortune would fall
upon them.

Further on we passed the village of Paden, with cultivation all round and
plenty of water. The chief had quite an imposing residence, with a tower
and castellated entrance gate, and the characteristic cylindrical mangers
for horses in front of his dwelling. But although more elaborate, even
this house--the largest I had seen--was abs