worst fruit of
the religion of Islam. I will quote from the Government Report of
British Baluchistan: "Throughout the Province, but especially among the
Afghans and Brahuis, the position of woman is one of extreme
degradation; she is not only a mere household drudge, but she is the
slave of man in all his needs, and her life is one of continual and
abject toil. No sooner is a girl fit for work than her parents send her
to tend cattle and she is compelled to take her part in all the ordinary
household duties. Owing to the system of _walwar_ in vogue among the
Afghans, a girl, as soon as she reaches nubile age, is, for all
practical purposes, put up for auction sale to the highest bidder. The
father discourses on her merits, as a beauty or as a housekeeper, in the
public meeting places, and invites offers from those who are in want of
a wife. Even the more wealthy and more respectable Afghans are not above
this system of thus lauding the human wares which they have for sale.
The betrothal of girls who are not yet born is frequent, and a promise
of a girl thus made is considered particularly binding.

"It is also usual for an award of compensation for blood to be ordered
to be paid in this shape of girls, some of whom are living, while others
are not yet born.

"Similar customs prevail among the Jhalawan Brahuis, but they have not
yet extended to all the Balneh tribes, though there are signs that the
poorer classes are inclined to adopt them. The exchange of girls,
however, among the Baluchis and the framing of conditions, regarding any
offspring which may result from the marriage, indicate that among this
race also, women are regarded in much the same light.

"These details may appear to be beside the mark in discussing the
classification of women as dependents or actual workers, but I relate
them with the object of showing that woman in Baluchistan is regarded as
little more than a chattel. For where such a state of parental feeling
or rather want of feeling is to be found, is it surprising to find that
woman is considered either as a means for increasing man's comforts, in
the greater ease with which they are procured by her toil, or an object
for the gratification of his animal passions?

"A wife in Baluchistan must not only carry water, prepare food, and
attend to all ordinary household duties, but she must take the flocks
out to graze, groom her husband's horse, and assist in the cultivation.
So far is this prin