MASSON'S ADVENTURES IN BALOCHISTA N.

THIS volume forms a kind of supplement to the previous work of Mr. MASSON; and embraces a second journey from Karachi, a port near the mouth of the Indus, to Kalat, the capital of Eastern Balu- chistan ; an account of the traveller's residence there, with a narra- tive of the subsequent insurrection, the imprisonment of Mr. MAs- sore and Lieutenant LOVEDAY the Resident, and the dismissal of Mr. MASSON to the English at Quetta, where he appears to have been arbitrarily confined under very frivolous circumstances. To this narrative of personal adventure is added an elaborate " Me- moir " on the geography, condition, manners, and productions of Eastern Balochistan,—that is, the wild country stretching from the Indus towards Persia, and bounded by the Indian Ocean, and the range of mountains through which runs the celebrated Bolan Pass.

Although part of the route has been already described by Mr. MASSON, it derives some interest from the deaths and changes in- troduced by the devastating war West of the Indus, so retribu- tively revenged. The principal features of the volume, however, are the outbreak at Kalat, and the alleged mismanagement which rendered it successful ; together with the characters and conduct of Lord AUCKLAND'S Politicals ; one of whom, Lieutenant LOVE- DAY, used to keep dogs to worry the inhabitants of Kalat when they offended him ; whilst Captain BEAN, the Resident at Quetta, and Sir WILLIAM M.NAGHTEN, the Envoy, appear to have con- sidered themselves entitled to imprison British subjects at their pleasure.

It may be in the memory of our readers that the army suffered greatly in its first advance upon Candahar, from harrassing attacks and the want of provisions. These evils were attributed to the treachery of the Khan of Kalat, who had undertaken to furnish supplies and restrain the native tribes so far as he was able, but neither engagement was fulfilled. To punish his treachery, a force under Ge- neral WILTSHIRE was detached at the first convenient opportunity. Kalat was carried by storm, and, according to Mr. MAssoN, suffered the "usual horrors of war" ; the Khan, with a few faithful chieftains, fell sword in hand, defending his house ; his family were put aside, and another chieftain appointed to the sovereignty, with Lieutenant LOVEDAT for a viceroy over him. From information and observa- tion collected on the spot, Mr. MASSON denies the treachery of the Khan ; and tells a long story inculpatory of BURNES and others in being grossly duped by native traitors and intriguers. The inten- tions of the Khan, we think, are shown to have been honest : the ex parte charge against Bustin merely amounts to an absence of extraordinary vigilance and penetration; for when a monarch's own ministers and agents conspire to misrepresent and betray him, and he fails in his engagements upon the vital points, ordinary vigilance must be baffled. However, the death of the reigning chief, and the deposition of his family, caused a bad feeling among the Baloch tribes of Kalat ; which was aggravated by Lieutenant LOVEDAY. This officer appears to have been a thoughtless and indifferent or incapable person, rather than designedly cruel ; puffed up with notions of his national, military, and official dignity ; with little respect for a countryman not of his immediate clique, and very great contempt for foreigners, especially Asiatic foreigners. When Mr. MASSON called upon him, he treated him with something like indignity, and allowed himself liberty of comment upon the traveller in his absence. But on the outbreak, national feel- ing and the Lieutenant's necessity brought them together. Mr. Ileum, in a long narrative of disaster and distress, tells a similar story of weakness and lassitude to that of Lieutenant EYRE at Cabul ; as if the original folly and injustice of the war weighed upon its agents throughout to lead them to their doom. Into the long account of the siege and its consequences we shall not enter. Suffice it to say, that the insurrection in favour of the son of the former ruler was successful; Lieutenant LOVEDAT and Mr. MASSON were made prisoners, and robbed of their property ; and the Lieu- tenant was eventually murdered. This fate Mr. MASSON escaped by having been sent to Quetta, as a bearer of letters ; where Cap- tain BEAN, the Political Agent, arrested and imprisoned him for four months, after which he was released. This was done by the consent or authority of M'NAGIITEN, on a vague charge or on no charge,— his presence at Kalat at the time of the outbreak, (though it was well known he had for years been travelling in those countries, and been employed by the Company); his being a Russian spy ; and (by M'INIAGHTEN) his travelling in " countries subject to the Crown of Cabul, without permission to do so, either from the British Government, or from his Majesty Shah Sooja ool Moolk." The hard conclusion we are driven to draw, however, is that the true if unconscious motive was personal pique at Mr. MASSON having interfered with the views of the warlike clique which sur- rounded Lord AUCKLAND; coupled with the fact, as we believe, that originally Mr. MASSON was a man in a humbler sphere of life, and might therefore, they thought, be oppressed with impunity.

This account will enable the reader to understand the scope of the following extracts referring to the scenes in question, without any particular remark.

MEMORIALS OF WAR.

The sun had not risen when we descended upon the plain, with the little town ( Wad) before us; and the first objects presenting themselves to our sight were three new tombs, covered with white cement, erected over the remains of Wall Mahomed, Taj Mahomed, and another of the Wad chiefs, who had fallen at the same time with their ill-fated lord, Mehrab Khan. They were buried on the open plain, beneath a mulberry-tree, and contiguous to each other. In death they had been united, and their countrymen now reverenced them as shedidan or martyrs.

I may acknowledge that I approached the town with clouded feelings. I was conscious there was no cause for apprehension ; still there was the awkward- ness of a meeting with the relatives of the slain to be encountered ; and, worse than all, I knew that the calamity, which had involved so many chiefs of the family in destruction, might, with due understanding, have been averted. On crossing. the dry bed of the torrent, on which Wad stands, we came upon the houses inhabited by the chiefs now living ; and the first person we met was a darogah of Isa Khan, who conducted us to the vacant house of Mir Mame, a son of Taj Mahomed, above noted as one of the slain at Kalat. Mir Ratimat was with Khan Mahomed, in attendance upon Shah Nawaz Khan, the new ruler of Kalat is Zidi. The darogah hastened to report our arrival to the family of Isa Khan, leaving me to my reflections on the strange accident of being quartered in the house of a chief who had fallen by the hands of my countrymen.

PRANKS OF POLITICALS.

About this time an accident occurred, which served, perhaps, to precipitate the revolt which speedily followed. Among the many tyrannical acts, of which Lieutenant Loveday stood accused by the general voice of the country, was that of worrying people with-his dogs; and to describe the horror in which he was held on that account, would be an impossible task. Yet, so incredible did such a charge appear to me, and so revolting was it to every notion of hu- manity, that I felt inclined to conjecture trivial circumstances had been mag- nified, and an accidental mishap construed into a premeditated det-d. I was frequently told, that since I had been at Kalat he had discontinued to use his dogs; and when I expressed anxiety to proceed, I was entreated to remain, that Lieutenant Loveday might behave himself decently. However, any restraint he might have imposed upon himself, in consequence of my presence, did not suffice to prevent the ebullition of his passion ; and a miserable and fatal testimony confirmed, beyond power of denial, how justly he was feared and disliked. Yaiya, a dehwar or agriculturist of Kalat, employed as a begar, or forced labourer, in some works connected with the house in progress of erection, incurred the displeasure of Lieutenant Loveday; who gave the necessary signal to his dogs, and they inflicted several wounds on the wretched individual. He was carried home in a grievous state, and in a few days died. The consterna- tion excited by this man's unhappy fate among the community of Kalat, to be conceived must have been witnessed ; the dread of vengeance limited the ex- pression of public feeling to low and sullen murmurs, but rumour spread the catastrophe with rapidity over the country, and there indignation was loudly avowed and revenge determined upon.

CHAMBER, COMPANY, AND CONFINEMENT AT KALAT.

During our abode in the house from which we had just been transferred, I had reconciled my mind to the belief that our lives and occupation of it would cease together. I bad been mistaken, and we were reserved for further scenes and perils. The apartment which now confined us was called the Chamber of Blood, and deservedly, as being that where state-offenders were usually put to death. The last slaughter of this kind committed within its walls was, I be- lieve, that of the late Khan's Ghilji minister, Daoud Mahomed. Its appellation, and the uses to which it bad been devoted, were calculated to suggest but gloomy anticipations for the future; yet, dispelling associations so cheerless, it was spacious, and commanded a fine view of the valley in front, and of the en-

circling hills of Arbui. • • • • Walt Mahomed sat with us until evening. He was brother to the late Nur Mahomed, shaghassi of Mehrab Khan, and one of his most effective adherents. Nur Mahomed was slain at the capture of Kalat, while gallantly fighting, after having previously sacrificed his wives and other females of the family. Wali Mahomed alluded to the disasters which had fallen upon his house, but assured Lieutenant Loveday that he should be kindly treated, and should experience what generosity a Baloch was capable of. I suspect Wali Mahomed was not permitted by the darogah to act as handsomely as he wished.

We were inundated with tales of the plunder of Lieutenant Loveday's house, and indeed during the day witnessed the many conflicts that took place on its roof between the spoilers themselves. It seemed to be considered by the mul- titude rather as a good joke than an atrocious act. Two or three persons killed themselves by drinking vitriol instead of wine; and this accident brought bottles and their contents into such distrust that numbers were made over to us. So great a store had we of both wines and liquors of various descriptions, that Lieutenant Loveday consigned them to the charge of Diwan Ramu, who had, on his own part, contributed a teapot, jug, and other articles of plated ware, which were not much prized after it was discovered they were not silver. He also provided Lieutenant Loveday with a few articles of his own clothing, and the young Khan sent him a chair and his postin; the latter, however, de- prived of a number of jewels which had been sown over it, the youth asserting they belonged to him and not to Lieutenant Loveday. Wali Mahomed had promised a bed to Lieutenant Loveday, but it was not sent : and neither be nor I had any thing to sleep upon but the coarse carpet spread under us. Our food was supplied twice daily from the Khan's kitchen, and was the sane he

himself partook of. Tea and coffee were furnished by those who had rifled our late abode ; so that, on the whole, our fare was what we had least to com- plain of. Lieutenant Loveday's house was most rigidly examined, the floors were all dug up, excavations were made in the cellars, and the wells were minutely searched. The pair of bull-dogs, the ministers of his anger, were literally cut to pieces.

DELICATE DISCOURSE.

At noon there was a numerous meeting at the darogah's tent. It was noisily conducted, and terminated by the repetition of fatiha, and the determi- nation to kill both of us, and advance upon Quetta. We soon learned the cir- cumstance from the conversation of our guards, who, in anticipation, assigned to each other our respective garments, one selecting Lieutenant Loveday's postio, another fixing on my and so forth. Lieutenant Loveday under- stood enough of the Brehm dialect to comprehend the drift of what was said, and became dejected. He bad never, I believe, really feared that worse could happen to him than mere detention as a hostage for Rehimdad, a Bakker prisoner.

THE GREAT MAN AT QUETTA.

In the morning 1 followed Lieutenant Hammersley to Captain Bean's resi- dence, and had a long conversation with him on the affairs of the Brabuis, as well as on the situation of Lieutenant Loveday. I regretted, for the latter officer's sake, that I was too plainly addressing a weak man, puffed up with absurd conceptions of his official importance, and so uninformed of the nature of things that it was wasting words to speak to him. He had nut the polite- ness to ask me to be seated, and gave audience much in the same way as a heavy country magistrate in England would do to a poacher.

Urging the necessity of making every effort to relieve Lieutenant Loveday, I noticed the interest taken by the darogah, and others in the rebel camp, as to Rehimdad, one of the Bakker prisoners, and proposed that some assurance should be made about him, with the view of creating among his friends an in- terest in the preservation of Lieutenant Loveday. This did not accord with Captain Bean's notions ; but he said he would write to the darogah now, which I understood he had not before done, and likewise to Molandad, (Lieutenant Loveday's keeper.) offering him a sum of money to effect the escape of his charge. I knew this would be useless, still it might be tried.

When I alluded to the subject of my return, Captain Bean said there was no reason for it, and he should write to the darogah that he had detained me for a few days to know better about bis affairs. I observed, that to give me a fair chance, if I was to return at all, it was right I should be punctual. He replied, my return could not save Lieutenant Loveday, nor improve his condition ; moreover, I had brought no letter from the darogah. Ile affected to believe that no harm would befal Lieutenant Loveday, as the Brahuis never killed their prisoners.

Captain Bean finally informed me, that he had been so good as to provide an abode for me while I might remain at Quetta, and be directed a person to show the way to it. 1 was conducted to the upper apartment of a Hindu's house, and immediately an armed guard of troopers and chaprassis was placed over it. Beyond doubt I was a prisoner, though Captain Bean had not let fall a word to intimate his intention ; and I could but smile at the oddness of a man invi- ting me to breakfast, and then sending me into confinement.

It may be observed as regards the following passage, that Mr. MASSON had lost all his property in the insurrection of Kalat.

A BRITISH TRAVELLER'S FARE AT QUETTA.

I had now, awaiting the result of these several applications, to linger in confinement, which Captain Bean's inhumanity made as annoying as possible. His first intention seemed to be literally to starve me, and on one occasion I passed two entire days and three nights without food. As I scorned to refer to him on such a point, I might have fasted longer, had not one of the guard, unsolicited by me, gone and reported the circumstance. Colonel Stacey, be- sides, a ho was in the camp, and the only officer who, in face of the known rancour of Captain Bean, had the courage to call upon me, made some repre- sentation to the political officers, which procured a promise that I should be kept from dying of hunger, and the consequence was, that two cakes of dry bread were brought to me morning and evening from the bazaar. On this fare I subsisted several days, until a second representation from Colonel Stacey procured me the addition of three-farthings' worth of sheep's entrails also from the bazaar, and brought in an earthen platter ; a mess, certainly, which any dog in Quetta might have claimed for his own. I thought this kind of insult was carried too far, and sent the foul mess to the camp. Colonel Stacey did more than 1 wished as I had merely written to him to witness it; for he showed it to his brother officers, and then had it conveyed to Lieutenant Hammersley, the assistant of Captain Bean. This brought Lieutenant Hammersley in baste to me, and he exclaimed, very innocently, Good God! why did you send that mess to Colonel Stacey ? Why did you not send it to me? It will disgrace us.' I thought that was a subject for his consideration, not mine, and told him so; when, after some conversation, he proposed to make me an ad- vance of one hundred rupees, to which I consented ; and I may also observe, that some time after ! repaid him the amount. At the commencement of my in- carceration, a felt cloak had been stripped from the back of a Hindu walking in the street, and this was intended to cover me by night. I could not use a gar- ment filled with vermin, and suffered somewhat from cold, until Colonel Stacey kindly supplied me from his limited camp stock with such articles as relieved me from cold, and enabled me to change my clothes."

These particulars we give as we find them, knowing nothing. of their correctness. Mr. MASSON has addressed the Company with respect to his imprisonment and subsequent discharge; and some inquiry is referred to India, with a view to compensation. This, if obtained, may satisfy our traveller; but the principle of his case involves another party besides Mr. MAssox and the Company, and that party is the British public. As the case stands before us, the whole proceedings seem to have been grossly illegal. If Mr. Mas- BOP had committed treason or any other offence, be it so ; accuse him, and let him be properly committed on the charge. But the reason assigned by M‘NAGHTEN cannot stand for a moment. The power of "his Majesty Shah Sooja ool Moolk " over any British subject travelling in his dominions must depend upon the terms of treaties, and at the most could only allow him to send the alien out of the country ; but the Company or its officers could have no more right of detention and imprisonment than over an Englishman in Turkey or Spain ; and what Captain BEAN did to Mr. MASSON yester- day may be done to any of our rea4ers by Captain Somebody else tomorrow. We are not disputing the necessity which may occasion- ally arise in particular circumstances for diplomatic authorities pos- sessing full power under full responsibility for controlling British subjects abroad, (the want of such power originated the war with China): but let it be exercised legally and regularly, with a record at every step, which the officer may afterwards be put to answer. It is rather too much to trust the liberty, and it may happen the fortunes of British subjects, to the weakness, the caprice, or even the personal prejudices, of subordinate officers, exercising their authority at a distance from any control of public opinion, and puffed up with the consequence which power in an isolated or pro- vincial place is apt to generate even in strong minds.