'Through Persia on a side-saddle' [‎223] (258/360)

TO KUHAK AND THE FRONTIER COMMISSION 223
As soon as my brother set eyes on him he recognised
him as the Governor of a village, the same man who two
years ago had begged a belt or a blanket, or even a pair
of old boots from him, running after him in the fervour
of his entreaties. This time the Baluch demanded a re
volver, and on being asked what he had done to merit
such a gift, he said, " I have certainly performed no ser
vice, but generosity is noble, oh Sahib, and we Baluchis
all expect presents from Europeans "!
As many of our marches lay through a desert region our
camels had often to go without a drink, but they kept very
well on the whole, as they were fed every evening, and
were not obliged to pick up their own livelihood, as the
Baluchi camels have to do. At sunset they were driven
into camp with much shouting and yelling, two men and
a boy being in charge of every seven camels. The
animals then knelt down in circles, each keeping to its
own mess, and the men driving off any outsiders who
attempted to force themselves in. A big lump of ard-i-jo,
z.e. a dough made of coarse barley-flour, was placed in the
middle of each party, and the creatures would sniff at it,
trying to extract bits from it before the time to serve it
out arrived. When all were in their places, the men and
boys made up balls of dough, thrusting them into yawning
mouths, which opened out to a surprising extent, and
always reminded me of mediaeval pictures of dragons.
All the camels behaved in the most orderly way during
this process, swallowing their portions in turn, the favoured
one taking the hands of their drivers into their capacious
jaws, and sucking them clean from the dough adhering
to them.
This custom of feeding the camels was an excellent one,