Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1857-10-15
NEW SERIES, NO. 94.
TTRMS }sI.ho strictly i'm advance
lEICblN, $500 at the years end.
Men of Central Asia.


possible for Europeans to hold any intercourse
with them or the people beyond, who are Off
shoots from the same original stock, although
bearing different names and Influenced by
higher degree of help selfshness and PRIDE Of
all the people, however, known to travellers
who had the boldness to brave unheard of dan
gers for the sake of penetrating into the inte-
rior, the Beoches are the most extrao rdinary.
Belcche is absolute in his family They are
as savage as wild beasts, and being nomads,
range with unrestrained freedom over the des
erts. Complete liberty is au itnperious necessity
OF their nature and they are as proud Of hor-
ible crimes as good men are of their benevolent
acts The law of savage revenge is the only
one strictly observed. When blood has been
shed, eternal hatred, which outlives generations
In families in which the deed occurred is the
result. A reconciliation, cemented by marriage,
or the kind offices eff Pe1-wh ch means a.
holy man-does not change the never dying
purpose of having revenge. To crafty this
one all absorbing sentiment, the Baloche will
track his victim with quiet perseverance per
fectly amazing, and ultimately, either openly or
by snare glut his savage sou by cutting the
throat of ha one he has been seeking, With a.
refined barbarity incredibly cruel.
| When two Belochos of adverse tribes, in
spired by family hatred, who never even saw
each other undertake to seek redress in their
way, they have marvellous instinct in finding
the foe. They scent each other like pointers.
but, in coming in sight for the first time, they
regard each other with an esparent quiet de-
meanor and in silence for moment /; but this
calm is death warrant for one of the two.
They have no pity If unarmed, they will
tear each other like tigers, or strangle each
other without making the lesat cry. This is
a pecularity of the people of Seistan a region
traversed by Alexander the Great in his all
conquerng progress towards India.
These horrible members of the human fam
lily are splenddIy developed, handsome, ner-
vous impulsive, with an olive complexion, and
an expression of ferocty. They pretend to be
Mussulmans, but their religious notions are
mixture of Islamism, Christianity and Idoatry.
A certain something, called Peer Kisri, is next
in authority to God. When they swear by him,
then, and only then, can they be trusted. Mo-
hammedals considered prophet.
In their marches, they move with rapidity
quite unknown to other cnuntres, as they i'll
au,wa.k EoISe a&d instances are cited wk-rs
person. has thus tired out three horses in sue
cession.
These dreadful men eat but little, They
believe implicitly in arguries-so that the cry
of wild ANIMAL the sight of serpent, bird
on the wing flight of birds or troop of
wild asses which separate two divisions, is sut-
fcient to stop them short in the midst of
journey They will never leave place VIII ere
they happen to be- before the sun, under which
they were warned by auguries has set and ris'
en- again. This delay is to allow Fate time to
alter her intentions. When an opportunity fo
pillage arrives, their activity is intense. On
dromedary they sit back to back, to have a
complete panoramic view Of every movement
of living things on earth. or the heavens above
Prisoners they cannot conveniently carry
away are killed, without apology on the spot.
for the chance of stealing a pocket handker-
chief, they will go many miles, fight in pools
of blood, and endure hardshps that no others
could bear. So inveterate is the thieving pro-
pensity, that two friends, two brothers, or even
father and son, take care not to sleep near each
other, so distrustful are they, well knowing
each will attempt to steal from the other, il
they are TOO near, They will sometimes swear
very solemny by Peer Kisri, not to approach
each other till the hour of starting. 1t is moi
an uncommon circumstance for Beloche to
murder his companion, and that, too, without
the faintest glimmerings of remorse, for his
dress. which may not be worth fifty cents.
Europeans-for they have no knowledge Of
America-are considered as cast-aways, deriv
ing their origin from genii, who, being ir
league with the devil, has taught them how tc
make gold, endowed them with the power 0
the evil eye, and the faculty of finding hdder
treasures. Of this latter grace, they are more
and more confirmed, because every traveller who
has visited their country, is invariably cropping
among old ruins, turning over fallen columns
e and making notes in d book.
8
, RESPECT ABILIrY --ss Cato. does YOU nov