Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 13, 1902.djvu/280

 264 Balochi Folklore.

about to enter the fire he threw his arms round her, calling out to the king not to burn such a beautiful woman. Naina Bai acted on the hint given her, and swore that she had never been embraced by any man save the king and this mad beggar. This was literally true, as the beggar was her lover, and apparently the oath was quite satisfactory to the powers which preside over ordeals, for she went through unscathed and was cleared. In neither case does the ordeal seem to have been quite a trustworthy test of guilt or innocence.

Belief in omens, in divination by soothsayers, in the casting of lots, and in witches, is very general. One of the omens which I have most frequently noticed refers to the black and white shrike, or giydnchh. If this bird is seen on the left-hand side on starting, the omen is inauspicious, and the party will often turn back and make a fresh start. It is supposed to mean bloodshed, perhaps the death of one of the party. But if hunting or shooting is the object of the expedition it is all right, as blood is what is wanted, and the shrike on the left-hand means good sport. The left is always the unlucky side. A bad omen is always called chapi, that is left-hand, or sinister. The soothsayer, or augur, is a well-known institution. Men who have this gift are known as rammall. The augury is generally made by inspecting the blood-vessels on the shoulder-blade of a sheep [hinjri or bardast) just after it is killed. For draw- ing lots, dried goat's or sheep's dung is generally used. Every man drawing, marks his own piece with his nails so as to recognise it.

It may be said, as a general statement, that the Muham- madan religion, though nominally followed, has not much effect on the wilder and nomadic Baloches. Sayyids and MuUas are not found everywhere, as among the Afghans ; on the contrary, they are hardly known except among the more settled tribes. The oath on the Qur'aii is, however,