FOOTNOTES
[1] Their drainage to the westward and southward flows to the Tigris and the Shat-ul-Arab, or river of the Arabs, formed by the junction of the two rivers of Mesopotamia.
[2] Riddle. What is the cause of delay in our joining you in Sistan?
Reply. There is a Rúdbár in the way.
[3] We were here joined by an escort of fourteen horsemen, eighty footmen, and ten artillerymen with one gun; and were roused at daylight by a fearful bray from the trumpets of the last arm of the service, which, by the way, was the only one dignified with uniform. They are to escort us across the Turkman-infested country lying between this and Shahrúd. We set out at 4.30 A.M., in rather loose order, the artillerymen with their gun, preceded by a detachment of horse, leading the way.
[4] They proved to be the advanced guard of the detachment escorting the caravan, for owing to the depredations of Kurd robbers, such protection was now necessary on this road.
[5] On descending this pass, we left the elevated plateaux of Persia behind us, and entered on the valley of the Tigris, quite a different country and climate. The change is sudden and complete, by a drop of three thousand feet from the cool breezes of Karriud to the hot blasts of Zuháb.
APPENDIX.
A.
SYNOPTICAL GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY OF THE BRAHOE LANGUAGE
This language is spoken throughout Balochistan as far west as Kej, Panjgúr, and Jalk, up to the borders of Sistan, and is written in the Persian character.
There is no inflection for gender or case. The plural is formed by the addition of ák if the singular ends in a consonant, as kasar, a road, kasarák, roads; of k alone if the singular ends in a vowel, as urá, a house, urák, houses—húlí, a horse, húlík, horses—are, a man, arek, men—dú, the hand, becomes dík, the hands; and of ghák if the singular ends in the mute h, as bandah, a man, bandahghák, men.
The cases are formed by the addition of certain distinguishing particles to the nominative, as is shown in the following typical forms of declension:—
| Singular. | Plural. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. | kasar | a road. | Nom. | kasarúk | roads. |
| Gen. | kasarná | of a road. | Gen. | kasarúkná | of roads. |
| Dat. | kasar e | to a road. | Dat. | kasarúk e | to roads. |
| Acc. | kasar | a road. | Acc. | kasarák | roads. |
| Abl. | kasaryún | from a road. | Abl. | kasarakyán | from roads. |
| Voc. | ore kasar | O road! | Voc. | ore kasarúk | O roads! |
| Singular. | Plural. | ||||
| Nom. | urá | a house. | Nom. | urák | houses. |
| Gen. | uráná | of a house. | Gen. | urákná | of houses. |
| Dat. | uráte-e | to a house. | Dat. | urák e | to houses. |
| Acc. | urá | a house. | Acc. | urák | houses. |
| Abl. | urátyún | from a house. | Abl. | urákyán | from houses. |
| Voc. | ore urá | O house! | Voc. | ore urák | O houses! |
| Singular. | Plural. | ||||
| Nom. | húli | a horse. | Nom. | húlik | horses. |
| Gen. | húlíná | of a horse. | Gen. | húlikná | of horses. |
| Dat. | húlíte-e | to a horse. | Dat. | húlik e | to horses. |
| Acc. | húlí | a horse. | Acc. | húlik | horses. |
| Abl. | húlityún | from a horse. | Abl. | húlikyún | from horses. |
| Voc. | ore húli | O horse! | Voc. | ore húlik | O horses! |
The dative affix of the last two declensions te really means into; the simple affix e means at, to, and the forms úráe and húlíe are also used in this case.
| Singular. | Plural. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. | bandah | a man. | Nom. | bandahghák | men. |
| Gen. | bandahná | of a man. | Gen. | bandahghákná | of men. |
| Dat. | bandah e | to a man. | Dat. | bandahghák e | to men. |
| Acc. | bandah | a man. | Acc. | bandahghák | men. |
| Abl. | bandahyán | from a man. | Abl. | bandahghákyán | from men. |
| Voc. | ore bandah | O man! | Voc. | ore bandahghák | O men! |
The singular bandah is often pronounced bandagh, and the plural bandaghák.
| Singular. | Plural. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. | arwat | a woman. | Nom. | arwaták | women. |
| Gen. | arwatná | of a woman. | Gen. | arwatákná | of women. |
| Dat. | arwat e | to a woman. | Dat. | arwaták e | to women. |
| Acc. | arwat | a woman. | Acc. | arwaták | women. |
| Abl. | arwatyán | from a woman. | Abl. | arwatákyán | from women. |
| Voc. | ore arwat | O woman! | Voc. | ore arwaták | O women! |
There are several exceptions to these rules for forming the plural. Thus már, a boy, becomes mák for márák, boys—bángo, a cock, becomes bángák, cocks—kóchak, a dog, becomes kochaghák, dogs, &c.
Nouns are qualified by an adjective set before them, and then declined as a compound word, as chuno már, a little boy—chuno már ná, of a little boy—chuno mák, little boys—chuno mák e, to little boys, &c., sharo masar, a good girl—sharo masarák, good girls, &c.
Degrees of comparison are expressed by the use of the ablative case with the positive, as e juwán húlí are (or e), that is a handsome horse—dá juwán húlí asite, this is a (more) handsome horse—dá kul húlíyán juwán are (or e), this is the handsomest of all the horses—are arwatyán balo e (or are), the man is larger than the woman—arek arwatákyán balo arer, men are larger than women—bandaghák zorak arer, vale dá bandagh kulyán zorak asite, the men are strong, but this man is stronger than all—dáfk arwaták zorak arer, vale bandaghák zorak asitur, these women are strong, but men are stronger—hísun áhinyán khuben e, gold is heavier than iron.