aking notes!

It came on to snow as we approached the place, and shortly after sunset
my caravan entered the neat, beautifully-kept roads of Quetta, and
behold, joy!--I heard for the first time since August last the whistle of
a railway engine. This was on February 3rd, 1902.

I met with unbounded civility and hospitality from everybody in Quetta as
well as at Chaman, our most north-westerly point on the Afghan boundary.
For those who believe in the unpreparedness of England, it may be stated
that, from this point, we could with ease lay a railroad to Kandahar in
less than three weeks.

A most charming invitation from the Honourable the Agent to the
Governor-General and Chief Commissioner in Beluchistan, Col. C. E. Yate,
C.S.I., C.M.G., etc., took me almost directly to Sibi, where the annual
horse show and Beluch Durbar were to take place. A great many
locally-bred animals were exhibited, some very good indeed. Camel, horse,
and cow races enlivened the show, and a very weird representation of a
Beluch raid was performed with much _entrain_. At the Durbar, the leading
Chiefs were presented by Col. Yate with handsome gold and silver
embroidered coats, waistcoats, scarves and turbans, and the scene was
very impressive.

One could not help again being struck by the dignified, manly behaviour
of the Beluch on one side, and their frank respect for the British
officers,--a respect indeed well-deserved, for a finer set of men in
every way than our Political Service Officers can be found nowhere. It
is a pity we have not similar men _all_ over India.

From Sibi I travelled by rail across country to Calcutta, where I arrived
at the beginning of March, having completed my journey overland--if the
short crossing from Baku to Enzeli be excepted--from Flushing (Holland).

[Illustration: Beluch Boys off to the Races--Horse Fair at Sibi.]

It never does to boast. I was feeling somewhat proud to have travelled
such a long distance with no serious mishaps or accidents, when, much to
my sorrow, Sadek, my Persian servant, returned one evening to the hotel
dreadfully smashed up. He had been attacked in the bazaar by three
Englishmen of Calcutta, two of whom had held him down on the ground while
the third kicked him badly in the head, body and legs. It appears that
these three ruffians had a grievance against Persians in general, hence
their heroic deed against a man who had done them no harm.

It was indeed too bad to have to regist