Sec. ii] TO WARAWI AND UP THE GULF COAST 227
the local chief, a strong and energetic man, capable of asserting authority among an unruly community, and intelligent enough to give proof of his loyal disposition. So the two days spent under his protection in a camp immediately outside his fortified mansion passed undisturbed, while negotiations were proceeding between him and Zal Mirza Khan, the head of the large Tarakuina clan, concerning our passage to Ishkanan.
The first day of our halt was spent in examining some old remains reported in the close vicinity of War-awl. The first to be visited was the ruined fort known as Demaghah-i-gara, situated on the shoulder of a precipitous limestone spur which descends from the 1(6114-Zalimi range about i miles to the north-west of Warawi. On ascending to it over the steep rock slope I came upon a succession of small structures, five in all, manifestly sepulchral, but quite distinct from any I had come across elsewhere. They are all of quadrangular shape, built with walls of roughly hewn limestone slabs still standing to heights of 4 to 5 feet ( Fig. 78 ) . Each is divided by a thin middle wall into two narrow recesses, with covering slabs separating these again into two stories. It was clear that these recesses or niches could have been intended only for burials. The lowest of these tomb structures was badly decayed, and the others showed signs of having been opened at one time and plundered. No bones or funerary deposits could be traced without excavation, and for this no labour was available at the time. Two of the less damaged structures measured about 9 feet 8 inches square, another 16 feet by 9 feet 3 inches, and the highest 15 feet by 9 feet 10 inches. These two larger ones appeared to have held four niches or cubicles in each of the two stories. All the structures are orientated from north-west to south-east and have openings on the south-east. The large slabs used for the outside walls measured up to 4 feet in length and were set in mud plaster. From the size of the niches it is clear that they were intended to hold complete bodies, not fractional burials, as in all the dambs met with since Makran. As to the date of these sepulchral structures I could form no opinion.
The ruined fort, which tradition, as the word gara ( i.e. gabrhâ) in the name shows, ascribes to pre-Muhammadan times, is situated at an elevation of about 200 feet above the foot of the narrow rocky spur where this forms a small terrace flanked by precipitous cliffs. The walls, all built with rough blocks of locally quarried limestone, form an irregular quadrangle and are very badly decayed. The longest face, which runs north-east and south-west, measures about 180 feet and appears to have been protected by a bastion near the southern corner. A somewhat larger bastion at the northern extremity of the circumvallation guards approach from the very narrow neck of the spur. The scanty potsherds comprised coarse red and dark-brown ware, all plain, with a few green
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