TRADE AND COMMUNICATIONS
49
along the coast. The commonest sheep in the country are white.
Brown and grey sheep, known as bor and hirg, are especially valued for
their wool, which is made into overcoats (shill). Four-horned sheep
are not uncommon in Dasht and Nigwar. No system of forest reserva
tion has yet been introduced. The commonest trees are the tamarisk,
which abounds in river-beds, and the acacia. No minerals of economic
value have yet been found.
The people comprising the artisan class are generally landholders
also. They have no stock in trade, and merely supply manufactured
articles from the material furnished to them. The
weaving industry is moribund, owing to the impor- Trade and
communications.
tation of European cloth. A few coarse cottons are,
however, still manufactured. Kerchiefs, used by the women to put
over their hair, are made from floss silk obtained from Sarbaz in Persia.
Horse-cloths, sword-belts, and shoes are embroidered in silk. The
pottery is of the roughest description, consisting of round pitchers and
earthen jars.
In 1902-3 the imports to the Makran ports from India were valued
at 62 lakhs and the exports at 7 lakbs. These figures, however, include
the trade with the ports of Sonmiani and Ormara in Las Bela. No
statistics are available regarding the trade which is carried on with
places in the Persian Gulf, Arabia, and Africa. The chief centres are
Gwadar, where the largest transactions take place, Pasni, Turbat, and
Isai. Wholesale trade is carried on entirely by Hindus from Sind and
Khojas from Cutch Mandvi. The retail trade is mostly in the hands
of Hindus, but a few of the indigenous inhabitants and some Babis
from Kalat are also engaged in it. The principal exports are raw wool,
hides, cotton, matting, dates, salted fish, fish-maws, and shark-fins ; and
the chief imports are piece-goods and grain, including large quantities
of wheat, rice, and jowdr.
The communications consist solely of caravan routes, most of which
are exceedingly bad, especially those from north to south, which cross
the hill ranges at right angles. The main road from Quetta to Bampfir
in Persia passes through the Panjgnr valley; another important route
between Karachi, Las Bela, and the west traverses the Kolwa and
Kech valleys and eventually also reaches Bampfir. Routes from
Gwadar and Pasni converge on Turbat northwards. The latter has
been recently improved under skilled supervision, and is being con
tinued to Panjgùr through Buleda. Another track from Turbat reaches
Panjguir through Balgattar. Steamers of the British India Steam
Navigation Company carrying the mails call at Pasni and Gwadar
on alternate weeks. Both these places have post and telegraph
offices.
The production of grain in the country is probably insufficient for
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