Travels into Bokhara (Volume 3 of 3) / Being the Account of A Journey from India to Cabool, Tartary, and Persia; Also, Narrative of a Voyage on the Indus, From the Sea to Lahore, With Presents From the King of Great Britain; Performed Under the Orders of the Supreme Government of India, in the Years 1831, 1832, and 1833

by Sir Alexander Burnes

COPY OF A LETTER FROM HIS MAJESTY’S MINISTER FOR THE AFFAIRS OF INDIA TO MAHARAJA RUNJEET SING, DELIVERED TO HIS HIGHNESS AT LAHORE, ON THE 20TH OF JULY, 1831.

To His Highness Maharaja Runjeet Sing, Chief of the Seik Nation, and Lord of Cashmere.

Maharaja,

The King, my most gracious master, has commanded me to express to your Highness his Majesty’s acknowledgments of your Highness’s attention in transmitting to his Majesty, by the esteemed and excellent Lord, Earl, Amherst, the splendid manufacture of your Highness’s subjects of Cashmere.

The King, knowing that your Highness is in possession of the most beautiful horses of the most celebrated breeds of Asia, has thought that it might be agreeable to your Highness to possess some horses of the most remarkable breed of Europe; and, in the wish to gratify your Highness in this matter, has commanded me to select for your Highness some horses of the gigantic breed which is peculiar to England.

These horses, selected with care requiring much time, I now send to your Highness; and as their great weight makes it inexpedient that they should undergo the fatigue of a long march in a hot climate, I have directed that they shall be conveyed to your Highness by the Indus, and such river of the Punjab as may be most easy of navigation.

The King has given me his most special commands to intimate to your Highness the sincere satisfaction with which his Majesty has witnessed the good understanding which has for so many years subsisted, and which may God ever preserve, between the British Government and your Highness.

His Majesty relies with confidence on the continuance of a state of peace, so beneficial to the subjects of both powers; and his Majesty earnestly desires that your Highness may live long in health and honour, extending the blessings of beneficent government to the nations under your Highness’s rule.

By the King’s command.
(Signed) Ellenborough.

Runjeet Sing’s stud.

As the contents of the document were unfolded, the Maharaja gave evident symptoms of his satisfaction; and when the letter was half read, he said that he would greet its arrival by a salute; and a peal of artillery from sixty guns, each firing twenty-one times, announced to the citizens of Lahore the joy of their King. His Highness then expressed his intention of viewing the presents; and we accompanied him. The sight of the horses excited his utmost surprise and wonder, their size and colour pleased him: he said they were little elephants; and, as they passed singly before him, he called out to his different Sirdars and officers, who joined in his admiration. Nothing could exceed the affability of the Maharaja: he kept up an uninterrupted conversation for the hour and a half which the interview lasted: he enquired particularly about the depth of water in the Indus, and the possibility of navigating it; and put various questions regarding the people who occupy its banks, and their political and military importance. I alluded to the riches of Sinde, which seemed to excite his utmost cupidity. He introduced us to all the representatives of the neighbouring states, and concluded by asking if we should like to see his own stud. About thirty horses were immediately brought, and passed in review order before us. They were caparisoned in the richest and most superb manner; and some of them were adorned with very valuable jewels: he named each horse, and described his pedigree and points, as he was brought up. They were of all countries; and from their necks being tightly reined up, certainly looked well; but they were not the stud which one would have expected at Lahore—all the horses appeared to be under-limbed. The exertion which his Highness underwent seemed to exhaust him, and we withdrew. Nature has, indeed, been sparing in her gifts to this personage; and there must be a mighty contrast between his mind and body. He has lost an eye, is pitted by the small pox, and his stature does not certainly exceed five feet three inches. He is entirely free from pomp and show, yet the studied respect of his Court is remarkable; not an individual spoke without a sign, though the throng was more like a bazar than the Court of the first native Prince in these times.

Hall of audience.

The hall of audience, in which the interview took place, was built entirely of marble, and is the work of the Moghul Emperors; part of the roof was gorgeously decorated by a pavilion of silken cloth studded with jewels. The Maharaja himself wore a necklace, armlets, and bracelets of emeralds, some of which were very large. His sword was mounted with the most precious stones. The nobles were likewise dressed for the occasion with jewels; and all the Court appeared in yellow, the favourite colour of the nation, which has a gaudy but striking effect.

Military spectacle.

On the following morning, the Maharaja intimated his wish for our presence at a military review in honour of passing events. We found his Highness on the parade ground, seated on a terrace, a short distance from the walls of Lahore. Five regiments of regular infantry were drawn up in line, three deep. Runjeet requested we would pass down the line and inspect them. They were dressed in white, with black cross belts, and bore muskets, the manufacture of Cashmere or Lahore: there was a mixture of Hindoostanees and Seiks in every corps. After the inspection, the brigade manœuvred under a native general officer, and went through its evolutions with an exactness and precision fully equal to our Indian troops: the words of command were given in French.

Conversations.

During the spectacle, his Highness conversed with great fluency, and asked our opinions on his army and their equipments. His muskets, he said, cost him seventeen rupees each. He was particularly desirous to know if a column of British troops could advance against artillery. From these subjects he passed to that of the revenue of Cashmere; he had just got thirty-six lacs of rupees, he said, from it this year, which was an increase of six lacs. “All the people I send to Cashmere,” continued he, “turn out rascals (haramzada); there is too much pleasure and enjoyment in that country;” and when he considered the importance of the place, he believed he must send one of his sons, or go himself. This is the style of Runjeet Sing’s conversation; but his inquisitive disposition, and pertinent questions, mark the strength of his character. He found out, among our establishment, a native of India, who had been in England, whom he first interrogated in our presence, and afterwards sent for privately, to know if the wealth and power of the British nation were as great as had been represented. We left his Highness, on observing preparations for breakfast,—a meal which he usually takes in the open air, and in presence of his troops, and even sometimes on horseback. His passion for riding and performing distant journeys is great; and, on such occasions, he will take his meal on the saddle rather than dismount.

French officers.

We took up our abode in the garden-house of M. Chevalier Ventura, another French General, who was absent on the Indus with his legion. The building had been constructed in the European style; but the Chevalier has added a terrace, with ninety fountains, to cool the surrounding atmosphere. Our intercourse with the French officers was on the most friendly footing; and it continued so during our residence at Lahore. Among these gentlemen, M. Court struck me as an acute and well informed person; he is both a geographer and an antiquarian. M. Court, as well as his brother officers, was formerly in the service of one of the Persian Princes, and travelled to India as a native, which gave him an opportunity of acquiring the best information regarding the intervening countries. He showed me the route from Kermenshah, by Herat, Candahar, Ghuzni, and Cabool, to Attok, constructed topographically with great care; and he informed me, at the same time, that he had been less anxious to obtain a complete map of that part of Asia, than to ascertain one good route, with its détours, and the military and statistical resources of the country. The French have much better information of these countries than ourselves; and M. Court, in explaining his map to me, pointed out the best routes for infantry and cavalry. This gentleman has likewise employed a residence of four years in the Punjab to illustrate its geography; he has encountered jealousy from Runjeet Sing, but still managed to complete a broad belt of survey from Attok to the neighbourhood of our own frontier. I doubt not but the antiquities as well as the geography of the Punjab will be illustrated by this intelligent gentleman; who, to his honour be it said, adds to a zeal in the pursuit, the strongest desire to disseminate his own knowledge and stimulate others. The fruit of M. Court’s labours, I believe, will, ere long, be given to the public by the Geographical Society of Paris, or some other of the learned bodies in that capital.

City of Lahore.

In our evening rambles at Lahore, we had many opportunities of viewing this city. The ancient capital extended from east to west for a distance of five miles; and had an average breadth of three, as may be yet traced by the ruins. The mosques and tombs, which have been more stably built than the houses, remain in the midst of fields and cultivation as caravansaries for the traveller. The modern city occupies the western angle of the ancient capital, and is encircled by a strong wall. The houses are very lofty; and the streets, which are narrow, offensively filthy, from a gutter that passes through the centre. The bazars of Lahore do not exhibit much appearance of wealth; but the commercial influence of the Punjab is to be found at Umritsir, the modern capital. There are some public buildings within the city that deserve mention. The King’s mosque is a capacious building of red sandstone, which had been brought by Aurungzebe from near Delhi. Its four lofty minarets still stand, but the temple itself has been converted into a powder magazine. There are two other mosques, with minarets, to proclaim the falling greatness of the Mahommedan empire; where the “faithful,” as every where else in the Punjab, must offer up their prayers in silence.

Tomb of Juhangeer.

But the stranger must cross the Ravee to behold the finest ornament of Lahore—the “Shah Dura,” or tomb of the Emperor Juhangeer, which is a monument of great beauty. It is a quadrangular building, with a minaret at each corner, rising to the height of seventy feet. It is built chiefly of marble and red stone, which are alternately interlaid in all parts of the building. The sepulchre is of most chaste workmanship, with its inscriptions and ornaments arranged in beautiful mosaic; the shading of some roses and other flowers is even preserved by the different colours of the stone. Two lines of black letters, on a ground of white marble, announce the name and title of the “Conqueror of the World,” Juhangeer; and about a hundred different words in Arabic and Persian, with the single signification of God, are distributed on different parts of the sepulchre. The floor of the building is also mosaic. The tomb was formerly covered by a dome; but Bahadoor Shah threw it down, that the dew and rain of heaven might fall on the tomb of his grandfather Juhangeer. It is probable that this beautiful monument will soon be washed into the river Ravee, which is capricious in its course near Lahore, and has lately overwhelmed a portion of the garden wall that environs the tomb.

Shalimar.

The next, though by no means the least, object of interest at Lahore is the garden of Shah Jehan; the Shalimar or “house of joy.” It is a magnificent remnant of Moghul grandeur, about half a mile in length, with three successive terraces, each above the level of the other. A canal, which is brought from a great distance, intersects this beautiful garden, and throws up its water in 450 fountains to cool the atmosphere. The marble couch of the Emperor yet remains; but the garden suffered much injury before Runjeet Sing obtained his present ascendancy. The Maharaja himself has removed some of the marble houses; but he has had the good taste to replace them, though it be by more ignoble stone.

Conversations of Runjeet Sing.

As we were proceeding one morning to examine the tomb of Juhangeer, we found Runjeet Sing seated on the plain, and surrounded by his troops. He sent one of his officers to call us; and we passed about half an hour with him. He gave us an account of the inroads of the Afghans into the Punjab, and told us that we now sat on their ground of encampment. Zuman Shah, the blind king at Lodiana, he said, had thrice sacked the city of Lahore; he also talked of his designs on India, and the vicissitudes to which kings are subject. The Maharaja was the plainest dressed man at his Durbar; his clothes were shabby and worn. On the evening of the 25th, his Highness gave us a private audience, in which we saw him to great advantage; for he directed his Court to withdraw. On our arrival, we found him seated on a chair, with a party of thirty or forty dancing girls, dressed uniformly in boys’ clothes. Dancing girls. They were mostly natives of Cashmere or the adjacent mountains, on whom grace and beauty had not been sparingly bestowed. Their figures and features were small; and their Don Giovanni costume of flowing silk most becoming, improved as it was by a small bow and quiver in the hand of each. The “eyes of Cashmere” are celebrated in the poetry of the East, of which these Dianas now furnished brilliant specimens, in gems black and bright; disfigured, however, by a kind of sparkling gold dust glued round each organ. “This,” said Runjeet Sing, “is one of my regiments (pultuns), but they tell me it is one I cannot discipline;” a remark which amused us, and mightily pleased the fair. He pointed out two of the ladies, whom he called the “Commandants” of this arm of his service, to whom he had given villages, and an allowance of five and ten rupees a day. He shortly afterwards called for four or five elephants to take these, his undisciplined troops, home. Runjeet then commenced on more important subjects; and ran over, among other things, the whole history of his connexion with the British Government. It had at first, he said, excited great suspicion and discontent among the Seik Sirdars; but he himself was satisfied of its advantage from the outset. Sir John Malcolm, he continued, had first stood his friend in 1805; and Sir Charles Metcalfe had completed his happiness. Sir David Ochterlony had further cemented the bonds of friendship; and the letter which I had now delivered to him from the minister of the King of England partook more of the nature of a treaty than a common epistle, and had gratified him beyond his powers of expression. He here recurred to the riches of Sinde, expressing an earnest desire to appropriate them to his own use; and put the most pointed questions to me regarding the feelings of Government on such a subject. Runjeet is very fond of comparing the relative strength of the European nations; and, on this occasion, he asked whether France or England were the greater power. I assured him they were both great; but he had only to remember our power in India to be satisfied of the military character of Britain. “Well, then,” added he, “what do you think of my French officers?” After this, he wished to know if I had heard of his campaigns across the Indus against the “Ghazees,” or fanatics of the Mahommedan religion; and said that he owed all his successes to the bravery of his nation, who were very free from prejudice, would carry eight days’ provision on their backs, dig a well if water were scarce, and build a fort if circumstances required it; a kind of service which he could not prevail on the natives of Hindostan to perform. “The bravery of my troops, as you are aware, conquered Cashmere for me; and how do you think,” said he, “I dispose of the shawls and productions of that country in the present glut of trade? I pay my officers and troops with them; and as I give a Chief, who may be entitled to a balance of 300 rupees, shawls to the value of 500, he is well pleased, and the state is benefited.” From the shawls of Cashmere, Runjeet passed to the praises of wine and strong drinks, of which he is immoderately fond: he begged to know if I had drank the supply which he had sent me, which, as a recommendation, he assured us was mixed with pearls and precious gems. This, I should mention, is a common beverage in the East; a fashion which probably had its origin in the giver desiring to make the grounds as well as the contents of the bottle acceptable: pearls would form a good glass for the butler. We continued, till it was late, conversing with Runjeet in this desultory manner; when he produced a splendid bow and quiver, as also a horse richly caparisoned, with a shawl cloth thrown over his body, a necklace of agate, and a heron’s plume stuck on his head, saying, “This is one of my riding horses, which I beg you will accept.” He also gave a similar present to Mr. Leckie; and while we were looking at the animals, one of the dray horses was brought forward, dressed out in cloth of gold, and bearing an elephant’s saddle on his back! I could not suppress a smile at the exhibition. Runjeet then sprinkled sandal oil and rose water over us with his own hands, which completed the ceremony. As we were moving, he called us back to beg that we would attend him early next morning, and he would order a review of his horse artillery for our amusement.

Horse artillery.

We met his Highness at an appointed hour on the parade ground, with a train of fifty-one pieces of artillery which he had assembled on the occasion. They were brass 6-pounders, each drawn by six horses. The command was taken by a native officer, who put them through the movements of horse artillery, and formed line and column in every direction. The evolutions were not rapidly performed; but the celerity was considerable; and no accident in overturning or firing occurred throughout the morning. There were no waggons in the field, and the horses and equipments were inferior. The guns, however, were well cast, and the carriages in good repair: they had been made at Lahore, and had cost him 1000 rupees each. As the troops were passing in review order, he asked for our candid opinion regarding the display. “Every gun which you now see costs me 5000 rupees annually, in the pay of the officers and men, and in keeping up the horses. I have 100 pieces of field artillery, exclusive of battering guns and mortars, and my French officers tell me I have too many. I can reduce their number,” added he, “but it is a difficult matter to increase it.” We had not sat much longer with him, when he said, “You must breakfast with me;” an honour with which we would have rather dispensed, but there was no retreating. The chairs were removed, and a velvet cushion was placed for each of us in front of the Maharaja, and the simple fare of this potentate produced. It consisted of various kinds of rice, with milk, sugar, and some preserved mangoes; all of which were served up in leaves sewed together. Runjeet selected the choicest parts, and handed them to us himself; politeness compelled us to keep him company. The thumb and fingers are certainly a poor substitute for the knife and fork. When breakfast was finished, Runjeet asked if we would accept a dinner from him; and immediately gave instructions for its preparation, and we had it sent to us in the evening. It was much the same as the breakfast, and served up in a similar manner.

Runjeet Sing is, in every respect, an extraordinary character. I have heard his French officers observe that he has no equal from Constantinople to India; and all of them have seen the intermediate powers.

Character of Runjeet Sing.

We continued at Lahore as the guests of the Maharaja till the 16th of August, and had many opportunities of meeting him; but I do not think I can add any thing to the history of his rise, drawn up by the late Captain William Murray, Political agent at Ambala. The most creditable trait in Runjeet’s character is his humanity; he has never been known to punish a criminal with death since his accession to power; he does not hesitate to mutilate a malefactor, but usually banishes him to the hills. Cunning and conciliation have been the two great weapons of his diplomacy. It is too probable, that the career of this chief is nearly at an end; his chest is contracted, his back is bent, his limbs withered, and it is not likely that he can long bear up against a nightly dose of spirits more ardent than the strongest brandy.

Audience of leave. Precious stones.

On the 16th of August we had our audience of leave with Runjeet Sing, but my fellow traveller was unable to attend from indisposition. Captain Wade accompanied me. He received us in an eccentric manner, under an open gateway leading to the palace. A piece of white cloth was spread under our chairs instead of a carpet, and there were but few of his Court in attendance. In compliance with a wish that I had expressed, he produced the “Koh-i-noor” or mountain of light, one of the largest diamonds in the world, which he had extorted from Shah Shooja, the ex-King of Cabool. Nothing can be imagined more superb than this stone; it is of the finest water, and about half the size of an egg. Its weight amounts to 3½ rupees, and if such a jewel is to be valued, I am informed it is worth 3½ millions of money, but this is a gross exaggeration. The “Koh-i-noor” is set as an armlet, with a diamond on each side about the size of a sparrow’s egg.

Runjeet seemed anxious to display his jewels before we left him; and with the diamond was brought a large ruby, weighing 14 rupees. It had the names of several kings engraven on it, among which were those of Aurungzebe and Ahmed Shah. There was also a topaz of great size, weighing 11 rupees, and as large as half a billiard ball: Runjeet had purchased it for 20,000 rupees.

Presents.

His Highness, after assuring us of his satisfaction at a communication having been opened with so remote a quarter of India as Bombay, as it cemented his friendship with the British Government, then invested me with a string of pearls: he placed a diamond ring on one hand, and an emerald one on the other, and handed me four other jewels of emeralds and pearls. He then girt round my waist a superb sword, adorned with a knot of pearls. A horse was next brought, richly dressed out with cloth of gold, and golden ornaments on the bridle and saddle. A “khilut,” or robe of honour, composed of a shawl dress, and many other manufactures of Cashmere were then delivered to me, as well as presents of a similar nature for Mr. Leckie. Three of our attendants were likewise favoured by his Highness; and in his munificence, he sent a sum of 2000 rupees for distribution among the remainder of the suite. Maharaja Runjeet then produced a letter in reply to the one which I had brought from his Majesty’s minister, which he requested I would deliver. It was put up in a silken bag, and two small pearls were suspended from the strings that fastened it. It occupied a roll from four to five feet long. The following is a verbal translation of the letter; nor will it escape observation, that, with much which is flowery and in bad taste to a European, there is some display of sterling sense and judgment. The titles which I had the honour to receive from his Highness will not pass without a smile.

Copy of a Letter from Maharaja Runjeet Sing, to the address of his Majesty’s Minister for the Affairs of India. Delivered on the audience of Leave.

Runjeet Sing’s reply.

“At a happy moment, when the balmy zephyrs of spring were blowing from the garden of friendship, and wafting to my senses the grateful perfume of its flowers, your Excellency’s epistle, every letter of which is a new-blown rose on the branch of regard, and every word a blooming fruit on the tree of esteem, was delivered to me by Mr. Burnes and Mr. John Leckie, who were appointed to convey to me some horses of superior quality, of singular beauty, of alpine form, and elephantine stature, admirable even in their own country, which had been sent as a present to me by his Majesty the King of Great Britain, together with a large and elegant carriage. These presents, owing to the care of the above gentlemen, have arrived by way of the river Sinde in perfect safety, and have been delivered to me, together with your Excellency’s letter, which breathes the spirit of friendship, by that nightingale of the garden of eloquence, that bird of the winged words of sweet discourse, Mr. Burnes; and the receipt of them has caused a thousand emotions of pleasure and delight to arise in my breast.

“The information communicated in your Excellency’s letter, that his gracious Majesty the King of England had been much pleased with the shawl tent of Cashmere manufacture, which I had the honour to forward as a present, has given me the highest satisfaction; but my heart is so overflowing with feelings of pleasure and gratitude for all these marks of kindness and attention on the part of his Majesty, that I find it impossible to give them vent in adequate expressions.

“By the favour of Sri Akal Poorukh Jee[13], there are in my stables valuable and high-bred horses from the different districts of Hindoostan, from Turkistan, and Persia; but none of them will bear comparison with those presented to me by the King through your Excellency; for these animals, in beauty, stature, and disposition, surpass the horses of every city and every country in the world. On beholding their shoes, the new moon turned pale with envy, and nearly disappeared from the sky. Such horses, the eye of the sun has never before beheld in his course through the universe. Unable to bestow upon them in writing the praises that they merit, I am compelled to throw the reins on the neck of the steed of description, and relinquish the pursuit.

“Your Excellency has stated, that you were directed by his Majesty to communicate to me his earnest desire for the permanence of the friendship which has so long existed between the two states, and which has been so conducive to the comfort and happiness of the subjects of both. Your Excellency has further observed, that his Majesty hopes that I may live long in health and honour to rule and protect the people of this country. I beg that you will assure his Majesty, that such sentiments correspond entirely with those which I entertain, both with respect to our existing relations, and to the happiness and prosperity of his Majesty and his subjects.

“The foundations of friendship were first established between the two states through the instrumentality of Sir C. T. Metcalfe, a gentleman endowed with every excellence of character; and after that period, in consequence of the long residence of Sir C. T. Metcalfe in Hindostan, the edifice of mutual amity and good understanding was strengthened and completed by his attention and exertions.

“When the Right Honourable the Earl of Amherst came on a visit to Hindoostan and the Simla Hills, the ceremonials and practices of reciprocal friendship were so well observed, that the fame of it was diffused throughout the whole country.

“Captain Wade, since his appointment at Lodiana, has ever been solicitous to omit nothing which was calculated to augment and strengthen the feeling of unanimity between the two powers.

“The Right Honourable Lord William Bentinck, the present Governor-general, having arrived some time since at Simla, I took the opportunity of deputing respectable and confidential officers, in company with Captain Wade, on a complimentary mission to his Lordship, with a letter enquiring after his health. These officers, after having had the honour of an interview, were dismissed by his Lordship with marks of great distinction and honour. On their return, they related to me the particulars of the gracious reception they had met with, the excellent qualities of his Lordship, and also the sentiments of friendship and regard which he had expressed towards this state. These circumstances were very gratifying to my feelings. Through the favour of the Almighty, the present Governor-general is, in every respect, disposed, like the Earl of Amherst, to elevate and maintain the standard of harmony and concord subsisting between the two Governments; nay, from his excellent qualities, I am disposed to cherish the hope that he will be even more attentive to this subject than his predecessor. Mr. Burnes and Mr. John Leckie, before mentioned as the bearers of the presents from his Majesty, have extremely gratified me with their friendly and agreeable conversation. The mark of kindness and attention on the part of the British Government, evinced by the deputation of these officers, has increased my friendship and regard for it a hundredfold; a circumstance which, having become known throughout the country, has occasioned great satisfaction and pleasure to the friends and wellwishers of both states, and a proportionate regret in the hearts of their enemies. All these particulars I hope you will bring to the notice of his gracious Majesty.

“I am confident, that, through the favour of God, our friendship and attachment, which are evident as the noonday sun, will always continue firm, and be daily increased under the auspices of his Majesty.

“I have dismissed Mr. Burnes and Mr. John Leckie with this friendly letter in reply to your Excellency’s, and hope that these officers will, after their safe arrival at their destination, fully communicate to you the sentiments of regard and esteem which I entertain for your Excellency. In conclusion, I trust that, knowing me always to be anxious to receive the happy intelligence of the health and prosperity of his Majesty, and also of your own, your Excellency will continue to gratify me by the transmission of letters, both from the King and from yourself.”

(True translation.)

(Signed) E. Ravenshaw,
Depy. Pol. Secretary.

Departure from Lahore.

On presenting this letter his Highness embraced me; and begged I would convey his high sentiments of regard to the Governor-general of India, I then took leave of Maharaja Runjeet Sing, and quitted his capital of Lahore the same evening in prosecution of my journey to Simla, on the Himalaya Mountains, where I had been summoned to give an account of my mission to Lord William Bentinck, then residing in that part of India.

Umritsir; its temple.

We reached Umritsir, the holy city of the Seiks, on the following morning,—a distance of thirty miles. The intervening country, called Manja, is richly cultivated. The great canal, or “nuhr,” which was cut from the Ravee by one of the Emperors of Hindostan, and brings the water for a distance of eighty miles, passes by Umritsir, and runs parallel with the Lahore road. It is very shallow, and sometimes does not exceed a width of eight feet: small boats still navigate it. We halted a day at Umritsir, to view the rites of Seik holiness; and our curiosity was amply gratified. In the evening we were conducted by the chief men of the city to the national temple. It stands in the centre of a lake, and is a handsome building covered with burnished gold. After making the circuit of it, we entered, and made an offering to the “Grinth Sahib,” or holy book, which lay open before a priest, who fanned it with the tail of a Tibet cow, to keep away impurity, and to add to its consequence. When we were seated, a Seik arose and addressed the assembled multitude; he invoked Gooroo Govind Sing, and every one joined hands;—he went on to say, that all which the Seiks enjoyed on earth was from the Gooroo’s bounty; and that the strangers now present had come from a great distance, and brought presents from the King of England, to cement friendship, and now appeared in this temple with an offering of 250 rupees. The money was then placed on the Grinth, and a universal shout of “Wagroojee ka futtih!” closed the oration. We were then clad in Cashmere shawls; and, before departing, I begged the orator to declare our desire for a continuance of friendship with the Seik nation, which brought a second shout of “Wagroojee ka futtih!” “Khalsajee ka futtih!” May the Seik religion prosper! From the great temple, we were taken to the Acali boonga, or house of the Immortals, and made a similar offering. We were not allowed to enter this spot, for the Acalis or Nihungs are a wrong-headed set of fanatics, not to be trusted. In reply to the offering, the priest sent us some sugar. The Acalis are clothed in turbans of blue cloth, which run into a peak: on this they carry several round pieces of iron, weapons of defence, which are used like the quoit. These bigots are constantly molesting the community by abuse and insult, or even violence; a week does not pass in the Punjab without a life being lost: but Runjeet suppresses their excesses with a firm and determined hand, though they form a portion of the establishment in a religion of which he himself is a strict observer. He has attached some of the greatest offenders to his battalions, and banished others. Our conductor, Desa Sing Majeetia, father of our Mihmandar, a Seik of the confederacy, and a kind old man, was very solicitous about our safety, and led us by the hand, which he grasped firmly, through the assembled crowd. From the temple we made the tour of Umritsir, which is a larger city than Lahore. This place is the great emporium of commerce between India and Cabool. The traders are chiefly Hindoos, before whose door one wonders at the utility of large blocks of red rock salt being placed, till informed that they are for the use of the sacred city cows, who lick and relish them. In our way home we visited the Rambagh, the favourite residence of the Maharaja when at Umritsir. His passion for military works also shows itself here, and he has surrounded a pleasure garden by a massy mound of mud, which he is now strengthening by a ditch.

Beas or Hyphasis.

At a distance of twenty-three miles from Umritsir, we came on the Beas or Hyphasis of Alexander. The country is varied by trees, but not rich, and the soil is gravelly. On the 21st we crossed the Beas, at Julalabad, where it was swollen to a mile in width from rain. Its current exceeded in rapidity five miles an hour; we were nearly two hours in crossing, and landed about two miles below the point from which we started. The greatest depth was eighteen feet. The boats used in this river are mere rafts with a prow; they bend frightfully, and are very unsafe; yet elephants, horses, cattle, and guns are conveyed across on them. We passed in safety, but an accident, which might have proved serious, befel us in one of the small channels of this river. It was about thirty yards wide, and eighteen feet deep, and we attempted the passage on an elephant. No sooner had the animal got out of his depth, than he rolled over, and precipitated Mr. Leckie and myself head-foremost into the water, wheeling round at the same time to gain the bank he had quitted; Dr. Murray alone retained his seat: but we were not long in regaining terra firma, without any other inconvenience than a ducking. We did not again attempt the passage on an elephant, but crossed on inflated buffalo skins supporting a framework.

Kuppertulla. Seik Chief.

Our halting place was at Kuppertulla, ten miles from the Beas, the estate of Futtih Sing Aloowala, one of the Seik chiefs, who was present with Lord Lake’s army in 1805, when encamped in this vicinity. He is yet a young man. He received us with great respect and kindness, and sent his two sons to meet us as we approached. Fête. He came himself in the evening on a visit, and on the following day, when we returned it, he gave us a grand fête in his garden house, which was illuminated. The display of fireworks was varied, and we viewed it with advantage from a terrace. Futtih Sing is the person whom Sir John Malcolm describes in his “Sketch of the Seiks” as requiring his dram, and years have not diminished his taste for liquor. Immediately we were seated he produced his bottle, drank freely himself, and pressed it much upon us; it was too potent for an Englishman, but he assured us, that whatever quantity we drank, it would never occasion thirst. We filled a bumper to the health of the Sirdar and his family, and were about to withdraw, when he produced most expensive presents, which could not in any way be refused; he gave me a string of pearls, and some other jewels, with a sword, a horse, and several shawls. Futtih Sing is an uncouth looking person, but he has the manners of a soldier. His income amounts to about four lacs of rupees annually, and he lives up to it, having a strong passion for house building. Besides a board of works in two of his gardens, he was now constructing a house in the English style, but has sensibly added a suite of rooms under ground for the hot season. When we left Futtih Sing, he urgently requested that we would deliver his sincere sentiments of regard to his old friend Sir John Malcolm.

Doab of the Sutlege.

We made three marches from Kuppertulla to Fulour, on the banks of the Sutlege, a distance of thirty-six miles, passing the towns of Jullinder and Jumsheer. The former place is large, and was at one time inhabited by Afghans. It is surrounded by a brick wall, and the streets are paved with the same material. Jullinder gives its name to the “Doab,” or country between the Beas and Sutlege, while the other Doabs are named by compound words, formed by contracting the names of the rivers. Between the Chenab and Behut, we have the Chenut; between the Ravee and Chenab, the Reechna; and between the Beas and Ravee, the Barree. From Jullinder to the banks of the Sutlege, the country is highly cultivated and well peopled. All the villages are surrounded by mud walls, and many of them have ditches to bespeak the once unsettled state of this land. The houses are constructed of wood, with flat roofs covered over by mud, and have a hovel-like appearance.

Fulour.

The town of Fulour, on the banks of the Sutlege, is the frontier post of the Lahore Chief, and here we left our escort and Seik friends, who had accompanied us from Mooltan. We distributed cloths to the commissioned and non-commissioned officers, and a sum of 1000 rupees among the men, which gratified all parties. The Maharaja continued his munificence to the last, and, before crossing the Sutlege, he had sent us no less than 24,000 rupees in cash, though we had declined to receive the sum of 700 rupees, which had been fixed for our daily allowance after reaching Lahore.

Antiquities.

Before I finally quit the Punjab, I must not omit a few particulars regarding its antiquities, which must ever attract attention. It seems certain, that Alexander the Great visited Lahore, and to this day the remains of a city answering to Singala, with a lake in the vicinity, are to be seen S.E. of the capital. The tope of Manikyala, first described by Mr. Elphinstone, and lately examined by M. Ventura, has excited considerable interest in the East. The French gentlemen were of opinion, that these remains are of an older date than the expedition of Alexander, for the coins have a figure not unlike Neptune’s trident, which is to be seen on the stones at Persepolis. In my progress through the Punjab, I was not successful in procuring a coin of Alexander, nor any other than the Bactrian one which I have described; nor have any of the French gentlemen, with all their opportunities, been so fortunate. I am happy, however, in being able to state the existence of two other buildings like the “Tope” of Manikyala, which have been lately discovered among the mountains, westward of the Indus, in the country of the Eusoofzyes. The opening of these may throw light on the interesting subject of Punjab antiquities.[14] By the natives of this country, the most ancient place is considered to be Seealcote, which lies upwards of forty miles north of Lahore. It is said to be mentioned in the Persian Sikunder Namu.

Cross the Sutlege.

At noon, on the 26th of August, we left Fulour and marched to Lodiana, crossing the river Sutlege, or Hesudrus of antiquity. It is yet called Shittoodur or the Hundred Rivers by the natives, from the number of channels in which it divides itself. Where we passed, its breadth did not exceed 700 yards, though it had been swollen two days before our arrival. The greatest depth of soundings was eighteen feet, but the average was twelve. It is a less rapid river than the Beas. The waters of the Sutlege are colder than those of any of the Punjab rivers, probably from its great length of course, and running so far among snowy mountains. This river is variable in its channel, and often deserts one bank for the other. The country between it and the British Cantonment of Lodiana, is intersected by nullas, one of which, that runs past the camp, formed the bed of the Sutlege fifty years ago. This river is generally fordable after November. Lord Lake’s army crossed it in 1805, two miles above Lodiana; but the fords vary, and the watermen look for them annually before people attempt to cross, as there are many quicksands. When the Beas falls into the Sutlege, the united stream, called Garra, is no longer fordable. The boats of the Sutlege are of the same description as those on the Beas: there are seventeen of them at the Fulour ferry. The country between the Sutlege and Lodiana is very low, which I observed to be a characteristic of the left bank of this river, till it meets the mountains. One would expect to find this depressed tract of ground alluvial, but it is sandy.

Exiled Kings of Cabool.

At Lodiana, we met two individuals, who have exercised an influence on the Eastern world, now pensioners of the British, the ex-Kings of Cabool, Shah Zuman, and Shah Shooja-ool-Moolk. The ceremonial of our introduction to Shah Shooja corresponded nearly with that described by Mr. Elphinstone; for, in his exile, this fallen monarch has not relinquished the forms of royalty. The officers of his court still appear in the same fanciful caps, and on a signal given in Turkish, (ghachan, begone,) the guards run out of the presence, making a noise with their high-heeled boots. The person of the Shah himself has been so correctly described, that I have little to say on that subject. In his misfortunes, he retains the same dignity and prepossessing demeanour as when king. We found him seated on a chair in a shady part of his garden, and stood during the interview. He has become somewhat corpulent, and his expression is melancholy; but he talked much, and with great affability. He made many enquiries regarding Sinde, and the countries on the Indus, and said, that “he had rebuked the Ameers for their suspicion and jealousy of our intentions in coming to Lahore. Had I but my kingdom,” continued he, “how glad should I be to see an Englishman at Cabool, and to open the road between Europe and India.” The Shah then touched upon his own affairs, and spoke with ardent expectations of being soon able to retrieve his fortunes. In reply to one of his questions, I informed him that he had many well-wishers in Sinde. “Ah!” said he, “these sort of people are as bad as enemies; they profess strong friendship and allegiance, but they render me no assistance. They forget that I have a claim on them for two crores of rupees, the arrears of tribute.”

Reflections.

Shah Shooja was plainly dressed in a tunic of pink gauze, with a green velvet cap, something like a coronet, from which a few emeralds were suspended. There is much room for reflection on the vicissitudes of human life while visiting such a person. From what I learn, I do not believe the Shah possesses sufficient energy to seat himself on the throne of Cabool; and that if he did regain it, he has not the tact to discharge the duties of so difficult a situation.

Shah Zuman.

The brother of Shah Shooja, Shah Zuman, is an object of great compassion, from his age, appearance, and want of sight. We also visited him, and found him seated in a hall with but one attendant, who announced our being present, when the Shah looked up and bade us “Welcome.” He is stone blind, and cannot distinguish day from night; he was as talkative as his brother, and lamented that he could not pass the remainder of his days in his native land, where the heat was less oppressive.

Shah Zuman has lately sunk into a zealot: he passes the greater part of his time in listening to the Koran and its commentaries. Poor man, he is fortunate in deriving consolation from any source. When taking leave, Shah Zuman begged I would visit him before quitting Lodiana, as he was pleased at meeting a stranger. I did not fail to comply with his wishes, and saw him alone. I had thought that his age and misfortunes made him indifferent to all objects of political interest; but he asked me, in a most piteous manner, if I could not intercede with the Governor-general in behalf of his brother, and rescue him from his present exile. I assured him of the sympathy of our government, and said, that his brother should look to Sinde and the other provinces of the Dooranee empire for support; but he shook his head, and said the case was hopeless. After a short silence, the Shah told me that he had inflammation in the eyes, and begged I would look at them. He has suffered from this ever since his brother caused him to be blinded with a lancet. As he has advanced in years, the organ seems to have undergone a great change, and the black part of the eye has almost disappeared. It is impossible to look upon Shah Zuman without feelings of the purest pity; and, while in his presence, it is difficult to believe we behold that king, whose name, in the end of last century, shook Central Asia, and carried dread and terror along with it throughout our Indian possessions. Infirm, blind, and exiled, he now lives on the bounty of the British Government.

Journey to the Himalaya.

After a ten days’ recreation at Lodiana, where we mingled once more with our countrymen, we prosecuted our journey to Simla, on the Himalaya mountains, a distance of about 100 miles, which we reached in the course of a few days. We here beheld a scene of natural sublimity and beauty, that far surpassed the glittering court which we had lately left:—but my narrative must here terminate. At Simla we had the honour of meeting the Right Honourable Lord William Bentinck, the Governor-general of India; and his Lordship evinced his satisfaction at the result of our mission, by entering at once into negotiations for laying open the navigation of the Indus to the commerce of Britain, a measure of enlightened policy, considered both commercially and politically. I had the honour of receiving the following acknowledgment of my endeavours to elucidate the geography of that river, and the condition of the princes and people who occupy its banks.

Conclusion.

“Delhi, 6 December, 1831.

“Political Department.

“TO LIEUT. ALEXANDER BURNES,
&c. &c. &c.

“Sir,

“I am directed by the Right Honourable the Governor-general to acknowledge the receipt of your several letters, forwarding a memoir on the Indus, and a narrative of your journey to Lahore.

“2. The first copy of your map of the Indus has also just reached his Lordship, which completes the information collected during your mission to Lahore, in charge of the presents from the late King of England to Maharaja Runjeet Sing.

“3. The Governor-general, having perused and attentively considered all these documents, desires me to convey to you his high approbation of the manner in which you have acquitted yourself of the important duty assigned to you, and his acknowledgments for the full and satisfactory details furnished on all the points in which it was the desire of government to obtain information.

“4. Your intercourse with the chiefs of Sinde, and the other Sirdars and persons with whom you were brought into contact in the course of the voyage up the Indus, appears to the Governor-general to have been conducted with extreme prudence and discretion, so as to have left a favourable impression on all classes, and to have advanced every possible object, immediate, as connected with your mission, as well as prospective; for, while your communications with them were calculated to elicit full information as to their hopes and wishes, you most judiciously avoided the assumption of any political character that might lead to the encouragement of false and extravagant expectations, or involve you in any of the passing intrigues. The whole of your conduct and correspondence with the chiefs of the countries you passed through in your journey, has the Governor-general’s entire and unqualified approbation.

“5. In like manner, his Lordship considers you to be entitled to commendation for the extent of geographical and general information collected in the voyage, and for the caution used in procuring it, no less than for the perspicuous and complete form in which the results have been submitted for record and consideration. The map prepared by you forms an addition to the geography of India of the first utility and importance, and cannot fail to procure for your labours a high place in this department of science.

“6. The result of your voyage in the different reports, memoirs, and maps above acknowledged, will be brought without delay to the notice of the authorities in England, under whose orders the mission was, as you are aware, undertaken. His Lordship doubts not that they will unite with him in commending the zeal, diligence, and intelligence displayed by you in the execution of this service, and will express their satisfaction at the manner in which their views have been accomplished, and the objects contemplated in the mission to Lahore fully and completely attained.

“I have the honour to be, &c.
(Signed) “H. T. Prinsep,
“Secretary to the Governor-general.”

A
MEMOIR ON THE INDUS,
AND
ITS TRIBUTARY RIVERS
IN
THE PUNJAB.

NOTICE
REGARDING
THE MAP OF THE INDUS.

A new map of the Indus and Punjab Rivers from the sea to Lahore seems to require some notice explanatory of its construction, and I have to offer the following observations on that subject:—

The River Indus, from the southern direction in which it flows in its progress to the ocean, presents few difficulties to the surveyor, since an observation of latitude serves to fix the daily progress in the voyage, and its comparatively straight course admits of easy delineation. The map rests on a series of observations by the stars. I should have preferred altitudes of the sun; but, with a people so suspicious as we encountered, it was impossible to use an instrument in daylight, and I should have required to halt the fleet twice to procure equal altitudes, since the sun was south of the equator during the voyage. Many of the large places, such as Tatta, Sehwun, Ooch, Mooltan, &c., where we necessarily halted, have been laid down from a mean of eight or ten stellar observations.

The longitude and general delineations in the curvature of the river rest on a minute protraction of its turnings, observed with care every half hour, and sometimes oftener, with the approved compass by Schmalcalder. The attention given to this important portion of the undertaking may be imagined, when I state that my field books exhibit, on an average, twenty bearings each day from sunrise to sunset. I was early enabled to rate the progress of the boats through the water, by timing them on a measured line along the bank, and apportioned the distance to the hours and minutes accordingly. We could advance, I found, by tracking, or being pulled by men, at one mile and a half an hour; by gentle and favourable breezes at two miles, and by violent winds at three miles an hour; while any great excess or deficiency was pointed out by the latitude of the halting place.

The base on which the work rests, is the towns of Mandivee and Curachee: the one a seaport in Cutch, and the point from which the mission started; the other a harbour in sight of the western mouth of the Indus, which we saw before entering the river. Mandivee stands in the latitude of 22° 50´, and Curachee in 24° 56´ north; while their longitudes are respectively in 69° 34´, and 67° 19´ east, as fixed, in 1809, from the chronometers of the Sinde mission by Captain Maxfield.

Assuming these points as correct, the line of coast intermediate to them has been laid down from my own surveys in Cutch; while that of Sinde rests on observations of the sun’s altitude at noon and the boats’ daily progress, determined by heaving the log hourly. We sailed only during the day, and at all times along shore, often in a small boat, and were attended by six or eight pilots, who had passed their lives in the navigation of those parts.

The great difference in the topography of the mouths of the Indus, from what is shown in all other maps, will no doubt arrest attention; but it is to be remarked, that I call in question no former survey, since the river has been hitherto laid down in this part of its course from native information; and I can bear testimony to the correctness of such portions of the Indus as were actually traversed by the mission of 1809. From the jealousy of the Government of Sinde, we had to pass up and down the coast no less than five times, which gave ample opportunities to observe it; and I have a strong fact to adduce in verification of the chart as it now exists. On the third voyage we ran down so low as the latitude of 20° 30´ N., and were out of sight of land for six days. At noon, on the last day (17th of March), while standing on a due northerly course, I found our latitude to be 23° 50´, or a few miles below that mouth of the river which I had resolved to enter. I immediately desired the pilots to steer a north-easterly course for the land. We closed with it at sunset, a couple of miles above Hujamree, the very mouth of the Indus I wished to make. At daylight we had had no soundings in fifty fathoms, at seven A.M. we had bottom at forty-two fathoms, and at eleven in thirty-four. By two in the afternoon we were in twenty-one fathoms, and at dusk anchored in twelve feet of water, off Reechel, having sighted the land at half past four.

In delineating the Delta of the Indus below Tatta, I have not only had the advantage of sailing by a branch to that city, but approached it on land by one route, and returned by another. I also ascended the Pittee, or western mouth of the Indus, for thirty miles. The opposition experienced from the Sinde Government gave rise to these variations of route: they long tried to impede our progress; but the result of their vacillation has happily added to our knowledge of their country, in a degree which the most sanguine could not have anticipated. In addition to my own track, I have added that of the Sinde mission, from Curachee to Hydrabad, and thence to Lueput in Cutch. My own surveys in Cutch, which extend high up the Koree, or eastern branch of the Indus, together with every information, compel me to place the Goonee or Phurraun River (which is the name for the Koree above Ali bunder), in a more westerly longitude than in the maps hitherto published. Sindree and Ali bunder lie north of Nurra in Cutch, so that the river cannot extend so far into the desert as has been represented.

From Hydrabad upwards, and, I may add, in all parts of the map, the different towns rest on the latitudes as determined by the sextant. Most of them are in a higher parallel than in the maps, but it was satisfactory to find, on reaching Ooch, that the longitude of that place, as taken from my own protraction, coincides pretty well with that which has been assigned to it by Mr. Elphinstone’s surveyors, who must have fixed it from Bhawulpoor. This was not the case with Bukkur; but, as the latitude of that place was twenty-two minutes below the true parallel, I have reason to be satisfied with the result above stated. I likewise found that the Indus receives the Punjab rivers at Mittun, in the latitude of 28° 55´, instead of 28° 20´ north, as given in the map of the Cabool mission: but no one can examine that document without acknowledging the unwearied zeal of its constructor, and wondering that he erred so little when he visited few of the places, and had his information from such sources.

The Punjab rivers have been laid down on the same principle as the Indus. The Chenab (Acesines), which has been erroneously styled Punjnud, after it has gathered the other rivers, is very direct in its course; but the Ravee (Hydräotes), on the other hand, is most tortuous, and appears in its present shape after incredible labour for twenty days spent in its navigation. The latitude of its junction with the Chenab, and that of the city of Lahore, which stands in 31° 35´ 30´´ north, and in 70° 20´ east longitude, have materially assisted me in the task. I have also placed the confluence of the Jelum, or Behut (Hydaspes), with the Chenab, twelve miles above the latitude in which it has hitherto stood. The survey eastward terminates on the left bank of the Sutledge (Hesudrus), with the British cantonment of Lodiana, which I find stands in 30° 55´ 30´´ north latitude. I have used the longitude of the latest and best map, and placed it in 75° 54´ east.

With the Indus and Punjab Rivers, I have embodied a survey of the Jaysulmeer country, which was finished in the year 1830, when I visited Southern Rajpootana with Lieut. James Holland. The province of Cutch, with the configuration of the Run, rests on my own surveys made in the years 1825, 1826, 1827, and 1828.[15]

MEMOIR OF THE INDUS.

CHAPTER I.
A GENERAL VIEW OF THE INDUS.

Inland navigation to Lahore.

There is an uninterrupted navigation from the sea to Lahore. The distance, by the course of the river, amounts to about a thousand British miles: the following papers detail its practicability with minuteness, but not more so, I trust, than the great importance of the subject deserves. They also describe the state of the countries and people.

Depth of water.

The Indus, when joined by the Punjab rivers, never shallows, in the dry season, to less than fifteen feet, and seldom preserves so great a breadth as half a mile. The Chenab, or Acesines, has a medium depth of twelve feet, and the Ravee, or Hydräotes, is about half the size of that river. These are the minima of soundings on the voyage; but the usual depth of the three rivers cannot be rated at less than four, three, and two fathoms. The soundings of each day’s voyage are shown by the figures on the map.[16]

Boats.

This extensive inland navigation, open as I have stated it to be, can only be considered traversable to the boats of the country, which are flat bottomed, and do not draw more than four feet of water, when heavily laden. The largest of these carry about seventy-five tons English: science and capital might improve the build of these vessels; but in extending our commerce, or in setting on foot a flotilla, the present model would ever be found most convenient. Vessels of a sharp build are liable to upset when they run aground on the sand-banks. Steam-boats could ply, if constructed after the manner of the country, but no vessel with a keel could be safely navigated.

Period of a voyage to Lahore.

The voyage from the sea to Lahore occupied exactly sixty days; but the season was most favourable, as the south-westerly winds had set in, while the stronger inundations of the periodical swell had not commenced. We reached Mooltan on the fortieth day, and the remaining time was expended in navigating the Ravee, which is a most crooked river. The boats sailed from sunrise to sunset, and, when the wind was unfavourable, were dragged by ropes through the water.

Steam most available for the Indus.

There are no rocks or rapids to obstruct the ascent, and the current does not exceed two miles and a half an hour. Our daily progress sometimes averaged twenty miles, by the course of the river; for a vessel can be haled against the current at the rate of one mile and a half an hour. With light breezes we advanced two miles an hour, and in strong gales we could stem the river at the rate of three miles. Steam would obviate the inconveniences of this slow and tedious navigation; and I do not doubt but Mooltan might be reached in ten, instead of forty days. From that city a commercial communication could best be opened with the neighbouring countries.

Return voyage.

A boat may drop down from Lahore to the sea in fifteen days, as follows:—to Mooltan in six, to Bukkur in four, to Hydrabad in three, and to the seaports in two. This is, of course, the very quickest period of descent; and I may add, that it has never been of late tried, for there is no trade between Sinde and the Punjab by water.

Political obstacles to trading on the Indus.

There are political obstacles to using the Indus as a channel of commerce. The people and princes are ignorant and barbarous: the former plunder the trader, and the latter over-tax the merchant, so that goods are sent by land, and by circuitous routes: this absence of trade arises from no physical obstacles, and is to be chiefly traced to the erroneous policy of the Sinde government. There are about 700 boats between the sea and Lahore; and this number suffices for ferrying, and all other purposes.

Military importance of the Indus.

The defence of the Indus, the grand boundary of British India on the West, is nowise affected by these trifling impediments, and we can command its navigation without obstruction from both Cutch and the Sutledge. The military advantages of the Indus are great: it is navigable for a fleet from Attok to the sea. The insulated fortress of Bukkur is a most important position.

CHAP. II.
A COMPARISON OF THE INDUS AND GANGES.

I have recorded with care and attention the information which I have collected regarding the Indus and its tributaries; yet the magnitude of that river must be decided by a comparison with the other great rivers of the world. An European, in the East, may appropriately narrow his field, and confine such a comparison to its great twin river, the Ganges, which, with the Indus, folds, as it were, in the embrace our mighty empire of British India. At this time, too, in a publication which has appeared at Calcutta, by Mr. G. A. Prinsep, regarding the introduction of steam navigation into India, we have late and valuable matter, both of an interesting and scientific nature, regarding the peculiarities of the Ganges; which, with the previous papers of Rennell and Colebrooke, afford very precise information regarding that river. I have ventured, therefore, however incompetent, to lay down the observations that have occurred to me regarding the Indus, that the requisite comparison might be instituted.

The Ganges and Indus, rising in the same mountains, traverse, with an unequal length of course, the same latitudes: both rivers, though nearly excluded from the tropics, are yet subject to be annually flooded at a stated and the same period. The quantity of water, therefore, which these rivers respectively discharge, will determine their relative size; and we shall afterwards consider the slope or fall by which they descend to the ocean. Sicriguli, on the Ganges, and Tatta, on the Indus, seem to be the preferable sites for drawing a comparison, since both places are situated at a point before the rivers have subdivided to form a delta, and after they have each received the whole of their tributary streams. The Indus certainly throws off two branches above Tatta, the Fulailee and Pinyaree; but they are only considerable rivers in the rainy season.

It appears, then, from Mr. G. A. Prinsep’s essay, that in the month of April the Ganges discharges, at Sicriguli, about 21,500 cubic feet of water in a second. The average breadth of the river at that place is given at 5000 feet, which is also the velocity in a second of time; while its average depth does not exceed three feet. That in this result we form a pretty correct estimate of the magnitude of the Ganges, is further proved by the state of the river at Benares in the same month (April), where, though contracted to a breadth of 1400 feet, the depth exceeds thirty-four feet, and the discharge amounts to 20,000 cubic feet per second, which differs in but a trifling degree from that at Sicriguli.

In the middle of April, I found the Indus at Tatta to have a breadth of 670 yards, and to be running with a velocity of two miles and a half an hour. It happens that the banks are steep on both sides of the river in this part of its course; so that the soundings, which amount to fifteen feet, are regular from shore to shore, if we except a few yards on either side, where the water is still. This data would give a discharge of 110,500 cubic feet per second; but by Buat’s equations for the diminished velocity of the stream near the bed, compared with that of the surface, it would be decreased to 93,465 cubic feet. Some further deduction should be made for the diminished depth towards the shores; and 80,000 cubic feet per second may be taken as a fair rate of discharge of the Indus in the month of April.[17] It is a source of regret to me that I am unable to extend my observations to the river during the rainy season; but I had not an opportunity of seeing it at that period, and do not desire to place opinion in opposition to fact. I may mention, however, that at Sehwun, where the Indus is 500 yards wide, and thirty-six feet deep, and sweeping with great velocity the base of a rocky buttress that juts in upon the stream, there is a mark on the precipice which indicates a rise of twelve feet during the inundation. This gives a depth of eight fathoms to this part of the Indus in the rainy season. If I could add the increase of width on as sound data as I have given the perpendicular rise or depth of water, we should be able to determine the ratio between its discharge at the opposite seasons; but I have only the vague testimony of the natives to guide me, and dismiss the subject.

From what has been above stated, it will be seen that the Indus, in discharging the enormous volume, of 80,000 cubic feet of water in a second, exceeds by four times the size of the Ganges in the dry season, and nearly equals the great American river, the Mississippi. The much greater length of course in the Indus and its tributaries, among towering and snowy mountains near its source, that must always contribute vast quantities of water, might have prepared us for the result; and it is not extraordinary, when we reflect on the wide area embraced by some of these minor rivers, and the lofty and elevated position from which they take their rise: the Sutledge, in particular, flows from the sacred Lake of Mansurour, in Tibet, 17,000 feet above the sea. The Indus traverses, too, a comparatively barren and deserted country, thinly peopled and poorly cultivated; while the Ganges expends its waters in irrigation, and blesses the inhabitants of its banks with rich and exuberant crops. The Indus, even in the season of inundation, is confined to its bed by steeper and more consistent banks than the other river; and, as I have stated, seldom exceeds half a mile in width: the Ganges, on the other hand, is described as an inland sea in some parts of its course; so that, at times, the one bank is scarcely visible from the other,—a circumstance which must greatly increase the evaporation. The arid and sandy nature of the countries that border the Indus soon swallow up the overflowing waters, and make the river more speedily retire to its bed. Moreover, the Ganges and its subsidiary rivers derive their supply from the southern face of the great Himalaya; while the Indus receives the torrents of either side of that massy chain, and is further swollen by the showers of Cabool and the rains and snow of Chinese Tartary. Its waters are augmented long before the rainy season has arrived; and, when we look at the distant source of the river, to what cause can we attribute this early inundation but to melting snow and ice?

The slope on which the Indus descends to the ocean would appear to be gentle, like that of most great rivers. The average rate of its current does not exceed two miles and a half an hour; while the whole of the Punjab rivers, which we navigated on the voyage at Lahore, were found to be one full mile in excess of the Indus. We readily account for this increased velocity by their proximity to the mountains; and it will serve as a guide in estimating the fall of the river. The city of Lahore stands at a distance of about 1000 British miles from the sea, by the course of the river; and I am indebted to Dr. J. G. Gerard, for a series of barometrical observations, made some years ago at Umritsir, a city about thirty miles eastward of Lahore.

The mean of eighteen of these observations gives us the height of the barometer at	28,861·3
The corresponding observations at Calcutta give	29,711·5
Making a difference of	850·2

I am informed that the height of the instrument registered in Calcutta may be twenty-five feet above the level of the sea; and as the city of Umritsir is about the same level as Lahore (since both stand on the plains of the Punjab), it must have an elevation of about 900 feet from the sea.

Having now stated the sum of our knowledge regarding this subject, it remains to be considered in what, and how great a proportion, the slope is to be distributed among the rivers from Lahore downwards. By a comparison with the Ganges in Rennell’s work, and the late treatise to which I have alluded, and assisted by the same scientific gentleman, to whom I have before expressed my obligations, we cannot give a greater fall downwards from Mittun, where the Indus receives the Punjab rivers, than six, or perhaps five, inches per mile: nor can we allow more than one fourth of 900 feet as the height of that place above the level of the sea; for the river has not increased here in velocity of current, though we have neared the mountains. Mittun is half way to Lahore, about 500 miles from the sea, and nearly 220 feet above it. The remaining 680 feet we may fairly apportion to the Punjab rivers, from their greater rapidity of course; which would give them a fall of twelve inches per mile.

In these facts, we have additional proof of the greater bulk of the Indus, as compared with the Ganges; when at the lowest, it retains a velocity of two and a half miles, with a medial depth of fifteen feet, and though running on as great, if not a greater slope than that river, never empties itself in an equal degree, though much more straight in its course. The Indus has none of those ledges, which have been lately discovered as a peculiarity of the Ganges, and which are described in Mr. Prinsep’s work as “making the bed of that river consist of a series of pools, separated by shallows or sand-bars, at the crossing of every reach.” Were the Indus as scantily supplied with water as the Ganges, we should, doubtless, find a similar state of things; and, though the bed of the one river would appear to far exceed in magnitude that of the other, we find the Ganges partaking much of the nature of a hill-torrent, overflowing at one season, insignificant at another; while the Indus rolls on throughout the year, in one majestic body, to the Ocean.

Before bringing these remarks on the Indus to a close, I wish to add a few words regarding the effect of the tide on the two rivers. In the Ganges it runs considerably above Calcutta, while no impression of it is perceptible in the Indus twenty-five miles below Tatta, or about seventy-five miles from the sea. We are either to attribute this occurrence to the greater column of water resisting the approach of the sea, “whose vanquished tide, recoiling from the shock, yields to the liquid weight;” or to the descent of the delta of the one river being greater than that of the other. The tide in the Indus certainly runs off with incredible velocity, which increases as we near the sea. It would appear that the greatest mean rise of tide in the Ganges is twelve feet: I found that of the Indus to be only nine feet at full moon; but I had, of course, no opportunity of determining the mean rise of the tide as in the Ganges. The tides of Western India are known to exceed those in the Bay of Bengal, as the construction of docks in Bombay testifies; and I should be disposed to consider the rise at the mouths of the Indus and Ganges to be much the same. Both rivers, from the direction they fall into the ocean, must be alike subject to an extraordinary rise of tide from gales and winds; and, with respect to the whole coast of Sinde, the south-west monsoon blows so violently, even in March, as to break the water at a depth of three or four fathoms from the land, and long before its depressed shore is visible to the navigator.

CHAP. III.
ON SINDE.

Sinde; its extent.

The first territory which we meet in ascending the Indus is Sinde. The subversion of the Cabool monarchy has greatly raised the political importance of this country; and, while it has freed the rulers of it from the payment of a yearly tribute, has enabled them to extend widely the limits of their once circumscribed dominion. The principality is at present in the zenith of its power, and comprises no less than 100,000 square miles, extending from the longitude of 69° to 71° east, and from the latitude of 23° to 29° north. The Indian Ocean washes it on the south, and a diagonal line of 400 miles is terminated a short distance below the junction of the waters of the Punjab with the Indus. The eastern portion of this fine territory is sterile and unproductive; but the Indus fertilises its banks by the periodical swell, and the waters are conducted by canals far beyond the limits of inundation.

Its chiefs and revenue.

The territory is divided among three different branches of the Belooche tribe of Talpoor, who are nearly independent of one another. The principal family resides at Hydrabad, at the head of which is Meer Moorad Ali Khan, and, since the death of his three elder brothers, its sole representative.[18] The next family of importance consists of the descendants of Meer Sohrab Khan of Khyrpoor, whose son, Meer Roostum Khan, is the reigning Ameer, and holds the fortress of Bukkur, with the northern portion of Sinde. The third family, descended of Meer Thara Khan, at the head of which is Ali Morad, resides at Meerpoor, and possesses the country south-east of the capital. These three chiefs are, properly speaking, the “Ameers of Sinde,” a name which has been sometimes applied to the members of the Hydrabad family. The relative importance of the Ameers is pointed out in their revenues: fifteen, ten, and five lacs of rupees are the receipts of the different chiefs; and their aggregate amount, thirty lacs of rupees, shows the annual revenue of Sinde. The treasure, it is said, amounts to about twenty millions sterling, thirteen of which are in money, and the remainder in jewels. The greater portion of this cash lies deposited in the fort of Hydrabad, and is divided between Moorad Ali and the wives of his late brother, Kurm Ali.

Its power and conquests.

If we except the Seiks, the Ameers are more powerful than any of the native princes to whose dominions the territories of Sinde adjoin; for on every side they have seized and maintained by force the lands of their neighbours. To the westward they hold Curachee as a conquest from the chief of Lus, and are at present meditating an extension of their boundary towards Sonmeeanee, that they may keep the trade to Candahar entirely within their own dominions. To the north-west they seized the fort of Bukkur, and the fertile territory of Shikarpoor, from the Afghans; and, though it latterly belonged to the powerful family of Barakzye (who now hold Cabool, Candahar, and Peshawur), they have hitherto engaged in annual but fruitless attempts to retake it. A force of 6000 men were encamped at Sewee, in the plains of Cutch Gundava, when we passed Shikarpoor; but they were unable to meet the Sindians in the field. On the north-east the Ameers hold Subzulcote and a large portion of the Daoodpootra country. To the eastward, they captured the fortress of Omercote, in 1813, from the Joodpoor Raja, and have since pushed their troops far into that Prince’s territories. If we exclude a portion of that country which belongs to Jaysulmeer, they now possess the whole country south of that capital to the Runn of Cutch, Parkur included. On the side of Cutch alone their progress has been arrested by the British Government.

Its military strength.

The value of these conquests is greatly enhanced by the trifling increase of expense which they have entailed on the government; for, except in the forts of the Desert, neither garrisons nor troops are kept in pay to protect them, while every attack endangering their security has been hitherto successfully resisted. The conduct of the Sindian in the field is brave; and if we are to judge by results, he is superior to his neighbours. They parried off an inroad of one formidable army from Cabool by a retreat to the Desert; and they defeated a second with great slaughter in the vicinity of Shikarpoor. Destitute as they are of discipline, and unable, assuredly, to cope with regular troops, we must admit that they excel in the art of war as practised by themselves and the adjacent nations. The Sindians, unlike other Asiatics, pride themselves on being foot soldiers, and they prefer the sword to the matchlock: their artillery, formidable in number, is contemptible in strength; their cavalry does not deserve the name: horses are scarce, and of a very diminutive breed. Various surmises have been made regarding the strength of their army, but they seem to me vague and indefinite; for every native who has attained the years of manhood, the mercantile classes alone excepted, becomes a soldier by the constitution of the government; and he derives his food and support in time of peace from being pledged to give his services in war. The host to be encountered is therefore a rabble, and, as infantry, their swords would avail them but little in modern warfare with an European nation. On an attack from the British Government, it is probable that the rulers of Sinde, after a feeble resistance, would betake themselves, with their riches, as of yore, to the Desert, a retreat which would cost them, in this instance, their country. They might foment for a while conspiracy and rebellion, but the misfortunes of the house of Talpoor would excite compassion nowhere; for their government is unpopular with their subjects, and dreaded, if not hated, by the neighbouring nations.

In the decline of other Mahommedan states, the prosperity of Sinde has exalted it in the eyes of foreigners.

Its external policy.

Of the princes bordering on Sinde, the Ameers have most intercourse with Mehrab Khan, the Brahooee chief of Kelat and Gundava, who, like themselves, was formerly a tributary of Cabool. By this alliance they have skilfully interposed a courageous people together, with a strong country between their territories and that kingdom. The Afghans have endeavoured by bribes and promises to bring over the Kelat chief to their interests, but he has not been hitherto persuaded, and professes himself, on all occasions, ready to assist the Ameers in the protection of that part of their frontier adjoining his dominions. He is related by marriage to the Hydrabad Ameer; and the Brahooees and Beloochees, considering themselves to be originally descended from one stock, may be therefore supposed to have one common interest. With the Seiks at Lahore there is no cordiality, and but little intercourse: they dread, and with reason, Runjeet Sing’s power, and they are likewise anxious to avoid giving offence to any of the Cabool family by a show of friendship. They owe the Maharaja no allegiance, nor has he hitherto exacted any; but it has not escaped their observation, that, of all the countries which adjoin the Sindian dominions, there are none from which an invasion can be so easily made as from the Punjab, and it is very doubtful if they could withstand an attack conducted by the Seiks from that quarter. With the Rajpoot chiefs on their eastern frontier their intercourse is confined to the exchange of presents.

Its internal state.

The internal resources of Sinde are considerable; nor must we look to the confined revenues of her rulers for an index to that wealth, as in their struggle for supremacy, the Ameers received many favours from their Belooch brethren, which have been repaid by large and numerous grants of land. By deteriorating the value of what remained as their own share, they hope to allay the cupidity of their neighbours. Trade and agriculture languish in this land. The duties exacted on goods forwarded by the Indus are so exorbitant that there is no merchandise transported by that river, and yet some of the manufactures of Europe were to be purchased as cheap at Shikarpoor as in Bombay. We are informed in the Periplus of the Erythrean sea, that the traffic of Sinde, when ruled by a powerful prince in the second century of the Christian era, was most extensive, and it is even said to have been considerable so late as the reign of Aurungzebe. The present rulers, possessing as they do such unlimited authority over so wide a space, might raise up a wealthy and commercial kingdom; but the river Indus is badly situated for the trader, and has no mouth like the Ganges accessible to large ships: it is separated, too, from India by an inhospitable tract; and a very vigorous and energetic government could alone protect commerce from being plundered by the Boordees, Moozarees, and other hill tribes to the westward. The Indus can only become a channel for commerce when the chiefs possessing it shall entertain more enlightened notions. At present much of the fertile banks of this river, so admirably adapted for agriculture, are only used for pasture. Flocks and herds may be driven from the invader; but the productions of the soil can only be reaped in due season, after care and attention. I now proceed to describe the state of parties at present existing in Sinde.

The Hydrabad family.

The Hydrabad family, from having been visited by several British missions, is better known than any of the others. It includes the southern portion, or what is called “Lower Sinde.” Since its first establishment, in 1786, it has undergone great change; and the reins of government, from being wielded by four brothers, have been left without bloodshed in the hands of the last survivor. But the struggle for dominion, so long warded off, has been bequeathed to a numerous progeny; and on the death of Moorad Ali Khan, who has attained his sixtieth year, the evil consequences of the founder of the family, raising his brothers to an equality with himself, will be felt in a disputed succession, and perhaps in civil war.[19] One Ameer died without issue; two of them left sons who have now attained to manhood, and the remaining Ameer has a family of five children, two of whom, Noor Mahommed and Nusseer Khan, have for years past sat in durbar on an equality with their cousins, Sobdar and Mahommed. The different parties of these four young princes form so many separate factions in the court of Sinde, and each uses that influence and policy which seems best suited to advance its ends. Three of them, as the eldest descendants of Ameers, might claim a right of sharing as their fathers; but the second son of Moorad Ali Khan has greater weight than any of them, and the government of the Ameers of Sinde could never, as it first stood, be considered an hereditary one.

Meer Nusseer Khan, and Meer Mahommed.

Meer Nusseer Khan, to whose influence I have just alluded, has been brought forward by his father in the intercourse with the British, and though fourth in rank below the Ameer himself: he is the only person who, with his father, addresses, on all occasions, and is addressed by, the British Government. He openly professes his attachment to the English, and informed me by letters, and in two public durbars, that he had been the means of procuring a passage for the mission by the Indus to Lahore. Strange as it may appear, it is said that his parent, otherwise so jealous of the British, had strenuously advised this line of procedure in his son; nor was it disguised from me by many who had opportunities of knowing, that the Prince acted under the hope of assistance from our Government when the hour of difficulty arrived. Nusseer Khan maintains likewise a friendly intercourse with several members of the fallen monarchy of Cabool; and while we were at Hydrabad he was despatching presents to Kamran at Herat. This prince is a mild and engaging man, much attached to the sports of the field. He has more liberality than talent, and less prudence than becomes one in the difficult part which he will shortly have to perform. His success will depend on the possession of his father’s wealth, for money is the sinew of war; and the good will of a venal people like the Sindians is not to be retained by one who has spent his inheritance. Noor Mahommed, the eldest brother of Nusseer Khan, cultivates a closer friendship with the Seiks than any other of the Talpoor family, but he has neither partisans nor ability to achieve an enterprise. He is, besides, addicted to the grossest debauchery and the most odious vices; but it is always to be remembered that he is the eldest son of the reigning chief.

Mahommed and Sobdar.

Meer Mahommed seems to hope, and not without cause, that the services of his father, Gholam Ali, will secure to him his rights. He sent a messenger to me privately with an offer to enter into a secret treaty with the British Government, which I declined for obvious reasons. Sobdar is the rightful heir of Moorad Ali, being the eldest son of the founder of the house. He is no favourite with the Ameers; but, besides a treasure of three millions sterling, and lands which yield him three lacs of rupees annually, he has many chiefs and partisans, who cling to him from a remembrance of his father’s virtues. He is, too, the ablest “scion of the stock,” and by one rebellion has already asserted his rights. The contest will probably lie between Sobdar and Nusseer Khan; and if these two choose to govern as those who preceded them, they may revive the title and retain the power of the Ameers of Sinde. At present, Meer Sobdar conceals his plans and intentions from dread of his uncle; and I may mention, as a specimen of Sindian jealousy, that because I asked several times after his health (according to the formality of this court), seeing him seated on the right hand of the Ameer, he was displaced at our second interview to make room for Meer Nusseer Khan. Should Moorad Ali attain “a good old age” these opinions may prove fallacious, as the stage will then be occupied by other competitors, who are at present in their childhood, and from among whom some one, more daring than his relations, may meet with success and power.

The Khyrpoor family.

The Khyrpoor chief, Meer Roostum Khan, succeeded to his father, who was killed in 1830 by a fall from a balcony. He is about fifty years of age, and has five sons and two brothers. This family is so numerous that there are at present forty male members of it alive, descended in a right line from Meer Sohrab Khan. The chief maintains greater state than the Hydrabad family. The territory is extensive and productive, extending on the east bank from a short distance above Sehwun to the latitude of 28° 30´ north, and on the west bank from Shikarpoor to within fifteen miles of Mittun, on the verge of the Punjab, skirting to the westward the mountain of Gendaree and the plains of Cutch Gundava. There is little cordiality existing between the Khyrpoor and Hydrabad Ameers; and the breach has been lately increased by some disputes relative to the duties on opium, of which the former have hitherto, and in vain, claimed a share. The whole family expressed themselves cordially attached to the British Government; and evinced, by a continual succession of kindness, and even munificence towards our party, that they were sincere in their sentiments: none of them had ever before seen an European. The treasure, which amounts to three millions of money, is held by Ali Moorad, the youngest brother of Meer Roostum Khan, who having access to it, as the favourite son, seized it on Sohrab’s death, and still retains it. With this exception, the family are united, and have no subject of dissension.

The influence of the chief of Khyrpoor in the affairs of Sinde is considerable. No undertaking which has reference to the well-being of the country is planned without his being consulted; and hitherto no operations have been carried on without his sanction. The refusal of Meer Sohrab to enter into a war to protect the Daoodpootras, and prevent encroachment by the Seiks, defeated the plans of the Ameers; for though the families are independent of one another, they will only act when united. Meer Roostum Khan is on much better terms with his neighbours than the Hydrabad family: he has agents from the Jaysulmeer and Beecaneer Rajas, and from the Daoodpootras, resident at his court, and has more intercourse with the Seiks at Lahore. Meer Roostum is prepared, however, on all occasions with his troops to protect from invasion the boundaries of Sinde as they at present exist; and has readily furnished his quota of troops when the Afghans have endeavoured to retake Shikarpoor from the Hydrabad chief.

Meerpoor family.

The Meerpoor family, at the head of which is Ali Moorad, has the least influence of the Sinde Ameers. His immediate vicinity to Hydrabad, and his less fertile and more circumscribed boundary, have kept it more under the subjection of the principal Ameer. The territory, however, is exactly situated on the line of invasion for an army from Cutch; and this Ameer might render material service to any expedition. The family is allied to Sobdar; and will, in all probability, follow that prince’s fortunes on a change of government.

Condition of the people.

With reference to the condition of the people in these different chiefships, much has been said by various writers; and I would have willingly passed it unnoticed, did not the means of observation, which I enjoyed for so many months, lead me to dissent from some of their opinions. The Sindians are passionate and proud; and all of them would be considered deceitful, in so far as they praise and promise without sincerity. Their passion proceeds from their savage ignorance, and their pride from jealousy: their deceit does not deceive each other, and, consequently, ought not to deceive a stranger. I found those in my employ most honest and faithful servants, and passed from one extremity of Sinde to another without any other guard than the natives of the country, and without losing a trifle, though our boats were boarded by crowds daily. The Sindians are governed by their princes, after the spirit of the country; and if they could discern how much the advantages of civil life, and the encouragement of industry and art, rise superior to despotic barbarism, we might look upon Sinde and her people in a different light: but these rulers, who seized it by the sword, must be excused for so maintaining it. Where the principles of honour are not understood (as has ever been too much the case in Asiatic governments), men must be ruled by fear; and it is only as the subject gets liberal and civilised, that he can appreciate the advantages of free institutions, and deserves such or any share in the government of his country. The inhabitants of Sinde are miserably poor, both in the towns and villages; for when we except a few Belooche chiefs, and some religious families, who are attached to the court, there is no distributed wealth in the land but among a few Hindoo merchants. The people of that tribe share no greater evils than their Mahommedan brethren, and enjoy as much toleration and happiness as in other Moslem governments. If they were formerly treated with rigour, the age of fanaticism has passed; and the Hindoo Dewans of Sinde now transact the entire pecuniary concerns of the state, while the Shroffs and Banians, who are also Hindoos, pursue their vocations without interruption, marry off their children, when they attain the prescribed age, to inherit, after their demise, the substance which had been realised by commerce.

Its extent of population.

It is difficult to fix the population of Sinde, and I bear in mind that I have seen the fairest portion of the country in my progress through it by the Indus. The large towns are neither numerous nor extensive: Hydrabad, the capital, has about 20,000 people, but it is exceeded by Shikarpoor: Tatta, Currachee, and Khyrpoor have 15,000 each; Meerpoor, Hala, Sehwun, Larkhana, and Roree (with Sukkur), have each about 10,000; Muttaree, Ulyartando, and Subzul, with five or six others, have 5000 each; which gives a population of nearly 200,000 souls. The number of people in the delta does not exceed 30,000; and the parts away from the river, both to the east and west, are thinly peopled, for pastoral countries are not populous. The villages within reach of the inundation are, however, large and numerous; and, including the whole face of the country, there cannot be less than a million of human beings. One fourth of this number may be Hindoos; and the greater portion of the Mahommedans are descended from converts to that religion.

CHAP. IV.
ON THE MOUTHS OF THE INDUS.

The Indus.

The Indus, like the Nile and the Ganges, reaches the ocean by many mouths, which, diverging from the parent stream, form a delta of rich alluvium. At a distance of sixty miles from the sea, and about five miles below the city of Tatta, this river divides into two branches. The right arm is named Buggaur, and the left Sata. This separation is as ancient as the days of the Greeks, and mentioned by the historians of Alexander the Great.

Two great branches forming its delta.

Of these two branches, the left one, or Sata, pursues nearly a southern course to the ocean, following the direction of the great river from which it is supplied; while the right, or Buggaur, deviates at once from the general track of the Indus, and reaches the sea, by a westerly course, almost at right angles to its twin river.

The Sata.

The eastern branch, or Sata, is the larger of the two, and below the point of division is one thousand yards wide: it now affords egress to the principal body of the water; and though it divides and subdivides itself into numerous channels, and precipitates its water into the sea by no less than seven mouths within the space of thirty-five miles, yet such is the violence of the stream, that it throws up sand banks or bars, and only one of this many-mouthed arm is ever entered by vessels of fifty tons. The water sent out to sea from them during the swell of the river is fresh for four miles; and the Gora, or largest mouth, has cast up a dangerous sand bank, which projects directly from the land for fifteen miles.

The Buggaur.

The western arm, which is called Buggaur, on the other hand, flows into one stream past Peer Putta, Bohaur, and Darajee, to within five or six miles of the sea, when it divides into two navigable branches, the Pittee and Pieteanee, which fall into the ocean about twenty-five miles apart from each other. These are considered the two great mouths of the Indus, and were frequented till lately by the largest native boats. They are yet accessible, but for three years past the channel of the Buggaur has been deserted by the river; and though it contains two fathoms of water as high as Darajee, it shallows above that town. In the dry season it is in some places but knee-deep, and its bed, which continues nearly half a mile broad, has at that time but a breadth of 100 yards. The name of Buggaur signifies “destroy.” While this alteration has diverted the trade from Darajee to the banks of the Sata, the country near the Buggaur is as rich as it was previously; and though the branch itself is not navigated, yet there are frequently two fathoms in its bed, and every where a sufficiency of water for flat-bottomed boats. During the swell it is a fine river, and will in all probability shortly regain its former pre-eminence.

Delta; its size.

The land embraced by both these arms of the delta extends, at the junction of the rivers with the sea, to about seventy British miles; and so much, correctly speaking, is the existing delta of this river. The direction of the sea-coast along this line of rivers is north-north-west.

Delta may be considered longer.

But the Indus covers with its waters a wider space than that now described, and has two other mouths still further to the eastward than those thrown out by the Sata, the Seer, and Koree, the latter the boundary line which divides Cutch from Sinde, though the rulers of that country have diverted the waters of both these branches by canals for irrigation, so that none of them reach the sea. With the addition of these forsaken branches, the Indus presents a face of about 125 British miles to the sea, which it may be said to enter by eleven mouths. The latitude of the most western embouchure is about 24° 40´ N., that of the eastern below 28° 30´, so that in actual latitude there is an extent of about eighty statute miles.[20]

Dangers of navigating the delta.

The inconstancy of the Indus through the delta is proverbial, and there is here both difficulty and danger in its navigation. It has in these days, among the people of Sinde, as bad a character as has been left to it by the Greek historians. The water is cast with such impetuosity from one bank to another, that the soil is constantly falling in upon the river; and huge masses of clay hourly tumble into the stream, often with a tremendous crash. In some places the water, when resisted by a firm bank, forms eddies and gulfs of great depth, which contain a kind of whirlpool, in which the vessels heel round, and require every care to prevent accident. The current in such places is really terrific, and in a high wind the waves dash as in the ocean. To avoid these eddies, and the rotten parts of the bank, seemed the chief objects of care in the boatmen.

Peculiarities of navigation.

It is a fact worthy of record, that those mouths of the Indus, which are least favoured by the fresh water, are most accessible to large vessels from the sea; for they are more free from sand banks, which the river water, rushing with violence, never fails to raise. Thus the Buggaur, which I have just represented as full of shallows, has a deep and clear stream below Darajee to the sea. The Hoogly branch of the Ganges is, I believe, navigable from a similar cause.

Individual mouths.

I shall now proceed to describe the several mouths with their harbours, depth of water, together with such other facts as have fallen under notice.

The Pittee.

Beginning from the westward, we have the Pittee mouth, an embouchure of the Buggaur, that falls into what may be called the bay of Curachee. It has no bar; but a large sand bank, together with an island outside, prevent a direct passage into it from the sea, and narrow the channel to about half a mile at its mouth. At low water its width is even less than 500 yards: proceeding upwards, it contracts to 160, but the general width is 300. At the shallowest part of the Pittee there was a depth of nine feet at low water, and the tide rose nine feet more at full moon. At high water there is every where a depth of two fathoms to Darajee, and more frequently five and six, sometimes seven and eight. Where two branches meet, the water is invariably deep. At a distance of six miles up the Pittee there is a rock stretching across the river: it has nine feet of water on it at low tide. The general course of the Pittee for the last thirty miles is W.N.W., but it enters the sea by a channel due south. The Pittee is exceedingly crooked, and consists of a succession of short turnings, in the most opposite directions; even from south to north the water from one angle is thrust upon another, which leaves this river alternately deep on both sides. Where the banks are steep, there will the channel be found; and, again, where they gradually meet the water, shallows invariably exist. This, however, may be remarked of all rivers which flow over a flat country. There is no fresh water in the Pittee nearer than thirty miles from the sea: the brushwood on its banks is very dense, and for fifteen miles up presses close in upon the river. We navigated this branch to that extent, and crossed it in two places higher up, at Darajee and Bohaur, where it had two fathoms’ water.

Pieteeanee.

The Pieteeanee quits the Pittee about twenty miles from the sea, which it enters below the latitude of 24° 20´. It is narrower than the Pittee, and in every respect an inferior branch; for there are sand banks in its mouth, which overlap each other, and render the navigation intricate and dangerous. We found it to have a depth of six feet on its bar at low tide, and fifteen at full; but when once in its channel, there were three fathoms’ water. At its mouth it is but 300 yards wide, and higher up it contracts even to fifty; but it has the same depth of water every where till it joins the Pittee. The Pieteeanee runs north-easterly into the land, and from its shorter course the tide makes sooner than in the Pittee, which presented the singular circumstance of one branch running up, and the other down, at the same time.

Inferior creeks.

Connected with these two mouths of the Indus, there are three inferior creeks, called Koodee, Khow, and Dubboo. The two first join the Pittee; and the Koodee was in former years one of the great entrances to Darajee, but its place has been usurped by the Pieteeanee, and it is now choked. Dubboo is only another entrance to the Pieteeanee.

Indus navigated by flat-bottomed boats.

However accessible these two branches have been found, neither of them are navigated by any other than flat-bottomed boats, which carry the entire cargo to and from the mouth of the river, inside which the sea vessels anchor. It was an unheard-of occurrence for boats like the four that conveyed us (none of them twenty-five tons in burden) to ascend so high up the Pittee as we did, a distance of thirty miles; but assuredly we encountered no obstacles.

Jooa, Reechel, and Hujamree.

Of the seven mouths that give egress to the waters of the Sata, or eastern branch, below Tatta, the Jooa, Reechel, and Hujamree, lie within ten miles of each other. One of these mouths has been at all times more or less navigable; and while they are the estuaries of the waters of the Sata, still a portion of those thrown off by the Buggaur, or other grand arm, reach them by inferior creeks during the swell, forming an admirable inland navigation through all parts of the delta. The mouths of the Jooa and Reechel are choked; but the latter was at a late period the most frequented of all the branches of the Indus. It was formerly marked by a minaret, which has, I suppose, fallen down, as this fact is particularly mentioned by our early navigators. There is yet a village, near its mouth, called Moonara, or minaret. The Hujamree is now accessible to boats of fifty tons. Its port is Vikkur, twenty-five miles from the sea, which, with Shah-bunder (still further eastward), seems alternately to share the trade of the delta. This season Shah-bunder is scarcely to be approached, and the next season Vikkur will perhaps be deserted. We entered the Indus by the Hujamree mouth, and disembarked at Vikkur. At the bar we had fifteen feet of water at high tide, and a depth of four fathoms all the way to Vikkur, even when the tide was out.

Khedywaree.

The Khedywaree is the next mouth eastward of Hujamree, with which it is connected by small creeks; it is shallow, and not much frequented by boats but to cut firewood.

Gora, or Wanyanee.

Of the remaining mouths of the left arm, the next is Gora, the largest of all the mouths. It derives its supply of water direct from the Sata, which near the sea feeds numerous small creeks, and is named Wanyanee. From the Hujamree we passed by a narrow creek into this mouth of the Indus. The Gora (or, as it is also called towards the sea, Wanyanee,) has every where a depth of four fathoms. It is not more than 500 yards wide, and runs with great velocity. Its course is somewhat crooked, but it pursues a southerly line to the sea, and passes by a fine village on the left bank called Kelaun. Though the Gora possesses such facilities for navigation, yet it is not to be entered from the sea by the smallest boats, from a dangerous sand bank, to which I have before alluded. It is clear that such sand banks are thrown up by the impetuosity of the stream; for the Reechel, till it was deserted by the great body of the Indus, had as large a bar as is now opposite Gora, which has entirely disappeared with the absence of the fresh water. This branch of the Indus in the last century was open to large boats; and a square-rigged vessel of 70 tons now lies near it on dry land, where it has been left by the caprice of the river.

Khaeer and Mull.

Below the Gora we have the Khaeer and Mull, mouths communicating with it. All three disembogue within twelve miles of each other. The Khaeer, like the Gora, is unnavigable. The Mull is safe for boats of 25 tons; and being the only entrance now open to Shah-bunder, is therefore frequented. The boats anchor in an artificial creek four miles up it, called Lipta, and await the flat-bottomed craft from the port, distant about twenty miles north-east.

The Seer.

About five-and-twenty miles below Mull we meet the Seer mouth of the Indus, but have salt instead of fresh water. There are several minor creeks that intervene, but they do not form any communication. The Seer is one of the destroyed branches of the Indus. A dam has been thrown across it below Mughribee, fifty miles from its mouth; and though it ceases to be a running stream on that account, the superfluity of fresh water from above forces for itself a passage by small creeks till it regains the Seer, which thus contains fresh water twenty miles from its mouth, though it is but a creek of the sea. The river immediately below Mughribee is named Goongra; higher up it is called Pinyaree, and leaves the parent stream between Hydrabad and Tatta. The Seer is accessible to boats of 150 candies (38 tons) to a place called Gunda, where they load from the flat-bottomed boats of Mughribee. With some extra labour, these same boats could reach the dam of Mughribee; and from that town the inland navigation for flat-bottomed boats is uninterrupted to the main Indus, though it becomes more difficult in the dry season. The dam of Mughribee is forty feet broad. The Seer at its mouth is about two miles wide, but it gets very narrow in ascending; within, it has a depth of four and six fathoms, but below Gunda there is a sand bank with but one fathom water on it. There is a considerable trade carried on from this branch of the Indus with the neighbouring countries of Cutch and Kattywar; for rice, the staple of Sinde, is to be had in abundance at Mughribee.

The Koree, or eastern mouth.

The Koree, or eastern branch of the Indus, completes the eleven mouths of the river. It once discharged a portion of the waters of the Fulailee that passes Hydrabad, as also of a branch that quits the Indus near Bukkur, and traverses the desert during the swell; but it has been closed against both these since the year 1762, when the Sindians threw up bunds, or dams, to inflict injury on their rivals, the inhabitants of Cutch.[21] Of all the mouths of the Indus the Koree gives the grandest notion of a mighty river. A little below Lucput it opens like a funnel, and at Cotasir is about seven miles wide, and continues to increase till the coasts of Cutch and Sinde are not visible from one another. When the water here was fresh it must have been a noble stream. The depth of this arm of the sea (for it can be called by no other name) is considerable. We had twenty feet of water as high as Cotasir, and it continues equally deep to Busta, which is but eight miles from Lucput. A Company’s cruiser once ascended as high as Cotasir; but it is considered dangerous, for there is an extensive sand bank at the mouth called Adheearee, on which the water at low tide is only knee deep. There are also several sand banks between it and Cotasir, and a large one opposite that place. The Koree does not communicate with the Seer or any other mouth of the Indus, but it sends off a back water to Cutch, and affords a safe inland navigation to small craft from Lucput to Juckow on the Indian Ocean, at the mouth of the gulf of Cutch.

Advantages of these to Sinde.

The Sindians, it will therefore appear, have choked both eastern branches. There being no communication by the Indus and the Koree, the trade of Sinde is not exported by it. It finds a vent by the Seer; but this has not given rise to any new town being built on its banks. Such, indeed, is the humidity, that this country is only tenable for a part of the year.

The sea outside the Indus; its dangers.

We here complete the enumeration and description of the mouths of the Indus. Out from them the sea is shallow; but the soundings are regular, and a vessel will have from twelve to fifteen feet of water a mile and a half off shore. The Gora bank presents the only difficulty to the navigation of these coasts, from Mandivee, in Cutch, to Curachee. Breakers are to be traced along it for twelve miles. The sailors clear it by stretching at once out of sight of land, and keeping in twelve fathoms’ water till the danger is over: they even state that a vessel of twenty-five tons would be wrecked on a course where the depth is ten fathoms. This bank is much resorted to by fishermen; and it may generally be distinguished by their boats and nets.

Coast of Sinde exposed.

The coast of Sinde, from its entire exposure to the Indian ocean, is so little protected against storms, that the navigation is much sooner suspended than in the neighbouring countries. Few vessels approach it after March; for the south-west monsoon, which then partially commences, so raises the sea that the waves break in three and four fathoms water, while the coast is not discernible from its lowness till close upon it, and there is a great risk of missing the port, and no shelter at hand, in such an event.

Tides of the Indus.

The tides rise in the mouths of the Indus about nine feet at full moon: they flow and ebb with great violence, particularly near the sea, where they flood and abandon the banks with equal and incredible velocity. It is dangerous to drop the anchor but at low water, as the channel is frequently obscured, and the vessel may be left dry. The tides in the Indus are only perceptible seventy-five miles from the sea, that is, about twenty-five miles below Tatta.

Country at the mouths of the Indus.

There is not a more miserable country in the world than the low tract at the mouths of the Indus. The tide overflows their banks, and recedes to leave a desert dreary waste, overgrown with shrubs, but without a single tree. If a vessel be unfortunately cast on this coast, she is buried in two tides; and the greatest despatch can hardly save a cargo. We had proof of this in an unfortunate boat which stranded near us; and, to add to the miseries of this land, the rulers of it, by a barbarous law, demand every thing which is cast on shore, and confiscate any vessel which, from stress of weather, may enter their ports.

Curachee, why preferred to the Indus.

The principal sea-port of Sinde is Curachee, which appears remarkable, when its rulers are in possession of all the mouths of the Indus; but it is easily explained. Curachee is only fourteen miles from the Pittee, or western mouth of the Indus; and there is less labour in shipping and unshipping goods at it, than to carry them by the river from Darajee or Shahbunder in flat-bottomed boats. Curachee can also throw its imports into the peopled part of Sinde without difficulty, by following a frequented and good level road to Tatta. The unshipment, too, at that port, supersedes the necessity of shifting the cargo into flat-bottomed boats; and the actual distance between Curachee and Tatta (about sixty miles) is half exceeded by following the windings of the stream to any of the harbours in the Delta. As the ports in the river and Curachee are both subject to Sinde, it is conclusive that that sea-port has advantages over those of the river, which have led to their being forsaken by the navigator. In former years, before Curachee was seized by the Sindians, the exports from the Delta were more considerable; since then all articles of value are brought to Curachee by land, and there shipped. The opium from Marwar is never put into a boat but to cross the Indus on its way to Curachee.

The sea boats of Sinde.

The boats of the Indus claim attention. Including Curachee and all the ports of the country, there are not, perhaps, a hundred dingees, or sea vessels, belonging to the dominions of the Ameer. These boats are of a peculiar construction—of a sharp build, with a very lofty poop; the large ones never ascend the rivers, and are principally used at the port of Curachee, and sail from thence to Muscat, Bombay, and the Malabar coast: they carry no guns. A smaller dingee is used at the mouths of the Indus, chiefly for fishing: they are good sea-boats, and sail very quickly. The fisheries in the mouths of the Indus being extensive, and forming a source of commerce, these craft abound.

Flat-bottomed boats.

The traffic on the Indus, commencing from its very mouth, is carried on in flat-bottomed boats, called doondees. They are large and unwieldy, and never exceed 100 kurwars (fifty tons) in burthen, and, when laden, draw only four feet of water. They have two masts, the larger in front; they hoist their sails behind them, to prevent accident, by giving less play to the canvass. The foresail is of a lateen shape; that aft is square, and very large. With these set, they can stem the current, in a good wind, at the rate of three miles an hour. We came from the sea to Hydrabad in five days. When the wind fails, these boats are dragged, or pushed up by spars against the stream. With ropes, they can be pulled a mile and a half in the hour; and they attach these to the mast-head, to have a better purchase. The helm is shaped like the letter P, and in the larger vessels is managed by ropes from each side; at a distance, it seems quite detached from the doondee. These vessels are also furnished with a long supple oar astern, which they work backwards and forwards, the steersman moving with it on an elevated frame. It is possible to impel the doondee with this oar alone, and nothing else is used in crossing the different ferries. When coming down with the stream, this oar, too, is again in requisition, they work it to and fro, to keep the broadside of the vessel to the current. In descending the river, the masts are invariably struck, and the helm even is stowed away. I can compare these boats to nothing so correctly as the drawing of Chinese junks; the largest are about eighty feet long and eighteen broad, shaped something like a ship high astern and low in front, with the hull slanted off at both ends, so as to present less resistance to the water. They are floating houses; for the people who navigate them take their families, and even their herds and fowls, along with them. All the boats on the river, large and small, are of the above description. In navigating the doondees, the boatmen always choose the shallow water, and avoid the rapids of the river.

Indus navigable for steam vessels.

From the account of the River Indus at its mouths, which is above given, it will appear that it would be accessible to steam-boats of a certain size and build; but I am thoroughly satisfied that no boat with a keel could ever navigate this river with any hopes of safety. The flat-bottomed boats are constantly grounding, but they sustain no injury; while boats differently constructed would be at once upset by the violence of the stream, and destroyed. It is not to be doubted, however, that steam-vessels could be adapted to this navigation as well as the existing boats on the river; and had not coal been found both at the head and mouth of the Indus, fuel could be supplied from the great abundance of wood which the banks of this river every where furnish. The Americans use wood for this purpose; and the supply of brushwood on the Lower Indus is abundant.

Military remarks on the Indus.

I make allusion to the navigation of this river by steam, because I am aware it is an object of interest; but, in conducting any expedition against Sinde, I feel satisfied, from what I have seen, that there would be little advantage, in a military point of view, derived from the river Indus below Tatta. It would be impracticable to march a force through the Delta, from the number of rivers; and it would be equally impossible to embark it in flat-bottomed boats, for there are not 100 of them below Hydrabad; few are of burthen, and the very largest would not contain a company of infantry. The vulnerable point of Sinde is Curachee, and a landing might be effected on either side of the town without difficulty. The Creek of Gisry, to the south-east, has been pointed out[22] as a favourable place, and I can add my concurrence in the opinion; but a force would easily effect its disembarkation anywhere in that neighbourhood. For a land expedition, the route from Cutch to Ballyaree, by the Thurr, seems to me the most feasible. While I represent the mouths of the Indus as unfavourable for conducting an attack from India on Sinde, I do not wish to be understood as hazarding at this time any opinion on like obstacles presenting themselves in an attack from its banks on India.

Supplies of the Delta.

With regard to the supplies which an army is to expect in the lower parts of Sinde, my report will be more favourable. Grain, that is, rice and bajree, will be found in great abundance. Horned cattle and sheep are numerous. The pasturage is not good, but near the sea abundant. Almost all the villages are mere hamlets; for Darajee, Lahory, and Shahbunder, which figure on the map as places of importance, have none of them a population of 2000 souls. The two first, indeed, have not that between them; and there are not ten other places that have a hundred souls below Tatta. Camels would be found in great abundance, as also horses: these are of a small and diminutive breed, but the camels are very superior. From the number of buffaloes, milk and ghee are to be had in great abundance, and all the rivers abound in fish. The country is peopled to the sea-shore; but the inhabitants are thinly scattered over its surface in temporary villages; and near many of the mouths experience great inconvenience from the want of fresh water, which they bring from a distance for themselves and cattle: the banks of the Gora form the only exception. The people consist chiefly of erratic and pastoral tribes; for though the Indus presents such facilities to the cultivator, there is not a fourth of the cultivable land below Tatta brought under tillage; it lies neglected and overgrown with tamarisk.

CHAP. V.
ON THE DELTA OF THE INDUS.

Delta of the Indus.

Herodotus said of Egypt, that it was the “gift of the Nile;” the same may be said of the country at the mouths of the Indus. A section of the banks of the river shows a continued succession of earth, clay and sand in layers, parallel to one another; and deposited, without doubt, at different periods. It would be perhaps hazarding too much to state, that the whole of the Delta has been gradually acquired from the sea; but it is clear that the land must have greatly encroached on the ocean. Nothing is more corroborative of this fact than the shallowness of the sea out from the mouths of the Indus, and the clayey bottom and tinge of the water.

Inundation.

The country from Tatta, which stands at the head of the Delta, to the sea downwards, is in most parts influenced by the periodical swell of the Indus: the great branches of this river are of themselves so numerous, and throw off such an incredible number of arms, that the inundation is general; and in those places which are denied this advantage by fortuitous circumstances, artificial drains, about four feet wide and three deep, conduct the waters through the fields. The swell commences in the latter end of April, and continues to increase till July, disappearing altogether in September: a northerly wind is supposed to accelerate it. It begins with the melting of the snow in the Himalaya mountains, before the rainy season. At other times the land is irrigated with the Persian wheel, which is turned by a camel or bullock, and in general use every where. One eighth of the Delta may be occupied by beds of rivers and inferior streams. Ten miles from the sea, the country is so thickly covered with furze and bushes, that it is incapable of being brought under tillage. Close upon the sea coast, however, there is abundance of green forage, which furnishes pasture to large herds of buffaloes. These animals reward the herdsmen with an abundant supply of ghee; but his labour is incessant, for he must bring fresh water from the interior for himself and his herd.

Towns.

In a tract peopled by a pastoral race, there are few permanent towns or villages. When we except Darajee, Vikkur, Shahbunder, Mughribee, and one or two others, the inhabitants reside in temporary villages called “raj,” which they remove at pleasure; their huts are constructed of reeds and mats made from rice straw; each house is surrounded by a grass “tatty” or fence, to exclude the cold wind and humid vapours which prevail in this low country, and are considered noxious. These are the houses of which Nearchus speaks, and are, I believe, peculiar to the river Indus. They very much resemble the huts of tumblers in India.

Population.

It becomes a difficult matter to form any correct opinion as to the number of inhabitants in such a country, where the body of the people are wanderers, and not confined to narrow limits: huts are, however, to be seen every where, and, excluding the city of Tatta, the population of the Delta cannot be rated at less than 30,000 souls; of this estimate, one third may be composed of those who reside in the fixed towns. This census gives seven and a half to the square mile.

Tribes.

The erratic tribe, in the Delta of the Indus, is called Jut; these people are the aborigines of the country; they are a superstitious race of Mahommedans, and exceedingly ignorant. The different banks of the rivers are peopled by watermen of the tribe of Mooana; they are emigrants from the Punjab, and are employed in navigating the boats, or fishing in the sea or river. There is also another tribe from the same country, called Seik Lobana, whose occupation it is to make reeds and mats. They also kill wild animals and game, but are held in no estimation by the rest of the people. Jookeas or Jukreeas, an aboriginal race from the mountains over Curachee, are to be found, but they are not numerous. Some of their chiefs have land assigned to them. There are also a few Beloochees. On the fixed population there is little to remark; it is chiefly composed of Hindoos, of the mercantile caste, who carry on the foreign and internal commerce of Sinde. They do not differ from their brethren in India.

Jokeea tribe.

The only tribe which calls for further comment, is that of Jokeea. These people are the descendants of the Suma Rajpoots, who governed Sinde in former years. They became converts to the Mahommedan faith when the Hindoo dynasty was subverted, and still retain the Hindoo name of their tribe, and claim consanguinity with the Jhareja Rajpoots of Cutch. They are mountaineers from the west bank of the Indus, not very numerous, and little favoured by the government. They can bring 2000 men into the field.

Fisheries.

The fisheries in the river, and out from its different mouths, are extensive. They are chiefly carried on by hooks, and some of the fish caught are of enormous dimensions. One species called “Kujjooree” is killed for its sound, which, with the fins of small sharks that abound near the Indus, form an article of export to China. The river fish are likewise abundant; of these, the most remarkable is the “Pulla,” a kind of carp, delicious in flavour, and only found in the four months that precede the swell of the river. Another species, called the “Singalee,” and about the size of a small haddock, likewise abounds. On the approach of the tide, they make a noise under the ship, louder than a bull frog. They have a large head, and are very bony. They exist in all the rivers of Western India, and are not peculiar to the Indus.

Animals.

I am not aware that there are any animals peculiar to the Delta of the Indus. Otters abound; camels are numerous, and superior; buffaloes are reared in great numbers; horned cattle and sheep are plentiful. The dog, too, is here elevated to his proper situation, and is an attendant on man. They watch the flocks, and are of a ferocious description, and will not allow a stranger to approach a “raj” or village; they swim the rivers with great dexterity.

Productions.

The staple production of the Delta of the Indus is rice: it is to be had of many different kinds, but its value seems to depend chiefly on its preparation for the market. Bajree and all other Indian grains are raised. From extensive plantations of cane, “goor,” a coarse kind of sugar, is produced; which, with wheat, barley, and moong, are reared by irrigating the fields from cuts to the river, some months before the periodical swell, and form what may be called a second crop. Saltpetre is found in the Delta, but it is not exported, though formerly an object of commerce to the East India Company.

Climate.

The climate of Lower Sinde is sultry and disagreeable. The thermometer ranges as high as 90° in March, and though the soil is a rich alluvium, the dust blows incessantly. The dews are very heavy and dangerous. It is in every respect a trying country to the human constitution, and this was observable in the premature old age of the inhabitants. I could not hear of their being subject to any marsh fever, or other evil effect from the inundation; they confined their complaints to the inconvenience and annoyance which they suffered from insects and musquitoes generated in the mud.

CHAP. VI.
THE INDUS FROM TATTA TO HYDRABAD.

Indus from Tatta to Hydrabad.

From the city of Tatta, which stands at a distance of three miles from the river, we cease to have the Indus separated into many channels. On the right bank it is confined by low rocky hillocks of limestone formation; and on the left there is but one narrow branch, the Pinyaree, which is accessible to boats from the town of Mughribee, when the superfluous water of the floods follows its course to the sea. Yet the general width of the channel is less than half a mile; at Hydrabad it is but 830 yards, at Tatta less than 700, and below the village Hilaya, fifteen miles from that town, it does not indeed exceed 600. The greatest depth of water lies opposite the capital, and is five fathoms; the least at Tatta, where it is but fifteen feet; generally, there is a depth of twenty feet.

Its sand-banks.

The Delta of the Indus is free from sand-banks; from Tatta to Hydrabad, they occur every where, and, as the sides of the river are here more frequently shelving than steep, it is difficult to discover the deep channel, which perplexes the navigator. Many of these sand-banks are but knee deep in the water, and are constantly shifting their position; the current being less rapid than near the sea, they are not easily swept away. In several places they have become islands, and divide the stream into two channels, one of which will always be found navigable. This subdivision of the river has occasioned many of these branches being given as separate rivers in our maps, but, as I have before stated, none such exist, excepting the Pinyaree. In the floods there is a narrow channel above Triccul, communicating with the Fulailee branch, which insulates Hydrabad at that season.

Course and extent.

The distance by land from Tatta to Hydrabad is less than fifty miles, nor do the windings of the stream increase it, even by water, to sixty-five. Its course is south-west by south, and rather direct, with one decided turn, below Jurruk, where it throws off the river leading to Mughribee. We made the voyage against the stream in two days.

Towns, &c.

There are not a dozen places between Tatta and the capital; the only one of note is Jurruk, situated near some low rocky hillocks, nor does it boast a population of 1500 souls: none of them are fortified.

Country.

This country, which might be one of the richest and most productive in the world, is devoted to sterility. Hunting preserves, or, as they are called, “shikargahs,” follow one another in such succession, as to leave no land for tillage; and the fences which confine the game approach within a few yards of the Indus. The interior of these preserves forms a dense thicket, composed of tamarisk, saline shrubs, and other underwood, with stunted trees of bramble, which are not allowed to be pruned or cut; so that the banks of the Indus, if in the hands of a formidable enemy, afford cover from which an expedition conducted by water might be constantly and grievously harassed. The roads through this tract are equally close and strong.

Neglected as is this portion of Sinde, it is not destitute of supply; grain is cheap and plentiful everywhere. Tatta and Hydrabad are the ancient and modern capitals of the country.

Productions.

The productions of the soil in the gardens of Tatta exhibit the fertility of this land: the vine is successfully reared, as also the fig and the pomegranate. There are apple-trees in abundance, and though the fruit is small, it increases in size about Hydrabad. In the few patches of cultivation may be seen indigo, tobacco, sugar-cane, with wheat, barley, and all the other Indian grains; but it is the policy of the rulers of Sinde to keep every thing in a state of nature, that their territories may not excite the cupidity of surrounding states. Agriculture and commerce are alike depressed.

Trade.

With regard to the trade of this country, it may be said there is little or none anywhere but at Curachee. The Indus is as if it existed not; and, though grain is sent by it to the delta, no advantage is taken of the river to convey goods to Hydrabad. The imports are landed at Curachee, and the most valuable export, which is Malwa opium, is shipped from the same port. The merchants, in prosecuting their journey to Candahar, and the upper provinces of the Indus, quit the Sindian territories with all dispatch. The only encouragement which the chiefs give to trade is in opium, yet they levy the exorbitant duty of 250 rupees for a camel-load. The revenue from this article alone amounted last year it is said to seven lacs of rupees; a sum equal to the land revenue of the Hydrabad Ameer.

Means of improving it.

Nor do there exist any hopes of improving or increasing commercial intercourse by this river, till the rulers of it have more just notions of policy, and some one of them, more enlightened than the rest, discovers that the true riches of a country are to be found by encouraging the people in industry and art. At present there is no wealth in Sinde but what is possessed by its rulers; and had the people the inclination, they have not the means of purchasing the manufactures of Europe. The case was otherwise in the beginning of this century, when the East India Company traded at Tatta by a factory, and the rulers, intimidated by their lord paramount in Cabool, did not object to the transit of goods to that and other countries. Sinde must follow the fate of that portion of Asia; and, if any of the Dooranee tribes be yet able to seize the crown of Cabool, we may expect a change for the better in the dependent provinces at the mouths of the Indus.

Boats, deficiency thereof.

At present there are not vessels sufficient for any considerable trade: between the capital and Tatta they do not exceed fifty, many of them small and used for fishing, others old and worn out, that cross the stream in certain places as ferry-boats. Encouragement would soon remedy what may be considered a defect in a military, as well as a commercial point of view. Sinde has no wood for ship building, that which is used being imported from Malabar.

CHAP. VII.
FROM HYDRABAD TO SEHWUN.

Sehwun, its position.

The town of Sehwun stands at a distance of two miles from the west bank of the Indus, and is exactly 1° of latitude north of Hydrabad, for it is crossed by the parallel of 26° 22´. The voyage is performed in eight days, against the stream, and the distance is 105 miles.

Indus, its course and depth.

The river, in this part of its course, is named “Lar,” which, in the Belooch language, means south: it flows about S. S. E., being resisted at Sehwun by rocky mountains, which change the direction of the stream. Its banks are very low, and the country bordering on them frequently overflowed, particularly on the eastern side: the western bank is more firm, but seldom exceeds eight feet in height. This expansion of the river diminishes its general depth to eighteen feet: during the swell the increase is twelve feet additional; the width is frequently 1000 yards and upwards. About six miles above Hydrabad, the Indus divides into two channels, one of which is fordable, and the other but 400 yards wide, which points to this as the place for crossing an army. At Sehwun the rocky buttress of the Lukkee hills hems the waters into a channel of 500 yards; but the depth is nearly forty feet, and the current rapid.

Fulailee River.

The river throws off no branches, in this part of its course, save the Fulailee, which leaves the Indus twelve miles above Hydrabad, and passes eastward of that city: it is only a stream during the swell. It was dry at Hydrabad when we were at that city, and but a 100 yards wide, and knee-deep where it separated from the Indus; yet it is a very considerable river in the wet season, and fertilises a vast portion of Sinde by its water, which it may be said to exhaust between Hydrabad and Cutch. The maps give most erroneous ideas of the Indus, for the numerous branches which appear to leave the river are only water courses for the periodical swell, many of them artificial, dug for the purposes of irrigation. The river for nine months runs in one trunk to Tatta.

Current, and effects of it.

The current never exceeds three miles an hour in this part of the Indus, unless at some places where it is confined, when its rapidity undermines its banks, and carries villages along with it. The towns of Majindu and Amree, on the right bank, have both been swept away, the former no less than eight or ten times within the last twelve years; but the people retire a few hundred yards, and again erect their habitations. Hala, on the eastern side, has shared a like fate; but the channel of the river lies to the westward, where the banks are more steep, and the left bank of the river, though consisting of a flat field of sand, is only inundated in the swell. At that period, for eight miles eastward of the Indus, it is not possible to travel from the number of shoots the river casts off. The Indus itself is here pretty constant in its course; and, though the country eastward would, as I have observed, favour the escape of the water in that direction, it clings for some time to the Lukkee mountains.

Its military importance.

This section of the river is of great importance: about two miles below Sehwun these mountains run in upon the Indus, leaving two practicable passes over them. The one leads across a depressed part of the range, called Buggotora, westward of the village of Lukkee (which signifies a pass), and might be obstinately defended: it is not a gun-road. The other passes between the river and the mountains, and is a cart-road, running in a valley among the lower rocks, at the base of the Lukkee mountains. The ground is very strong for about two miles.

Crossing the Indus.

I have before mentioned that the river near Sehwun is confined to a narrow bed. The right bank is very remarkable, consisting of a natural buttress of solid rock, about fifty feet high, which extends for 400 yards along the river, and, slanting upwards, is barely accessible to a foot passenger. The Indus passes with such a sweep under the base of this rampart, that, though but 500 yards wide, I question if a bridge could be thrown across it. There is a more favourable place immediately north of this precipice, where the breadth is but 100 yards greater, and the water more still. Thirty or forty flat-bottomed boats would always be found at Sehwun: they lie on the left bank, which is flat and sandy. There are good roads from Sehwun to Hydrabad on both sides of the Indus; and there is a footpath along the base of the mountains to Curachee.

Navigation of the Indus.

The river can only be navigated by dragging the boat against the stream, for there is very little wind in the upper parts of Sinde: the progress by this method is sure, and averages from fifteen to twenty miles a day. It would be impossible, without steam, to conduct any military expedition against the stream of the Indus, for the labour of dragging the boats would be great, from constant accidents, by ropes breaking, and the vessels being hurried into the stream. The case would be very different in an army descending the Indus. Trading vessels, however, would not be liable to any such impediments. We only counted 180 boats in our progress from Hydrabad to Sehwun.

Towns, country.

Of the country and towns which intervene between Sehwun and the capital, a few words will suffice. There are none of any size but Sehwun itself: Muttaree, sixteen miles from Hydrabad, contains 4000 people; and Hala, Beyan, Majindu, and Sen about 2000 each. The other places are few, and thinly peopled: three or four of them have frequently one name. The country is much neglected, the banks of the river are, in most places, covered with tamarisk, towards the hills it is open. Cotton, indigo, wheat, barley, sugar, tobacco, &c. are produced by irrigation in the dry season; but the limited extent of the cultivation may be discovered, by their being but 194 wells, or cuts, from the river on one side of the Indus, between Hydrabad and Sehwun, a distance of 100 miles, where the greater part of the soil is rich and cultivable. In a few places the land is salt and sterile. Rice is only produced during the swell, and yet provisions are dearer here than in the neighbouring and less favoured country of Marwar. The people live chiefly on fish and milk.

Sehwun.

The town of Sehwun bears alone the marks of opulence in this portion of Sinde; and it is indebted for its prosperity to the shrine of a holy saint from Khorasan, by name Lal Shah baz, whose tomb is a place of pilgrimage from afar to Hindoo and Mussulman. A branch of the Indus, called Arrul, runs immediately past the town, in its course from Larkhana; but this will be described in the next chapter. Four years since, the Indus passed close under Sehwun; but it has retired, and left a swamp on all sides of the town. About Sehwun the country is rich and productive, and the bazar is well supplied. Looking north, the eye rests on a verdant plain, highly cultivated, which extends to the base of the mountains: mulberries, apples, melons, and cucumbers grow here; the grain crops are luxuriant, and, for the first time, we saw gram. The melons are tasteless, I presume from the richness of the soil: cucumbers grow in Sinde only at Sehwun. The climate is sultry, oppressive, and disagreeable.

Lukkee mountains. Runna.

The Lukkee mountains run in upon the Indus at Sehwun, extending from near the seaport of Curachee, and gradually encroaching upon the river, till they meet in a bold buttress. The elevation of this range does not, I think, exceed 2000 feet; their formation is limestone; the summits are flat and rounded, never conical: they are bare of vegetation, and much furrowed by watercourses, all of which present a concave turn towards the Indus. There is a hot spring near Sehwun, at the village of Lukkee, situated at the base of these mountains, adjoining one of a cold description: the hot spring is a place of Hindoo pilgrimage, and considered salutary in cutaneous disorders. There is a spring of the same kind in the neighbourhood of Curachee, at the other extremity of the same range, so that similar springs would probably be found in the intervening parts. On this range, and about sixteen miles westward of Majindu, on the Indus, stands the fortified hill of Runna, a place of strength in by-gone years, but, till lately, neglected. The Ameer of Sinde has repaired it at considerable expense; but, from what I could learn, Runna owes its chief strength to the absence of water from the bleak mountains which surround it, and the copious supply within its walls.

CHAP. VIII.
THE INDUS, FROM SEHWUN TO BUKKUR.

Bukkur, its position.

The insulated fortress of Bukkur is situated on a rock in the Indus, between the towns of Roree and Sukkur. It is a degree and twenty minutes north of Sehwun, being in latitude 27° 4´; and in longitude it is 56 miles eastward of that town. The distance by the river amounts to 160 miles, and we voyaged it in nine days.

Indus.

Between these points the Indus flows in a zigzag course, nearly south-west, till it is impeded by the Lukkee mountains, below Sehwun. The intervening country is richly watered by its meanderings, and, from the lowness of the banks, the tract is disputed by the river and its ramifications, and formed into numerous islets of the richest pasture. On the least approach of the swell, both banks are inundated and irrigated: the superfluous water often forces for itself a passage into the desert by Omercote, and joins the eastern mouth of the Indus or Koree, which passes Cutch. The channel of this watercourse commences above Bukkur, and passes four miles eastward of that place, the ancient city of Alore.

Fertility of the country.

About twenty-five miles below Bukkur, the Indus sends to the westward a branch called Nara, that washes the base of the Hala, or mountains of Beloochistan, and, after pursuing a parallel course of many miles, rejoins the river at Sehwun. Its waters are courted, and distributed by canals, which add to the blessings bestowed by nature on this flat and fertile land. The eastern bank, though less favoured than the opposite one, is highly cultivated, and most of the towns and villages stand on the verge of canals, which bounteously distribute the waters of the periodical swell, and attest the industry and assiduity of the inhabitants.

Current, depth, &c.

The river but rarely flows here in one undivided stream; with a width of three quarters of a mile, in some places, it preserves a depth of fifteen feet in its shallowest bed. There is nothing approaching to a ford in any part of its course: two hundred boats would be found at the various villages in this part of the river. The declivity on which the Indus runs to the ocean must be gentle, for above the delta it glides sluggishly along at less than two miles and a half in the hour. From Sehwun upwards, the Indus is called “Sira,” which means north, in contradistinction to the southern portion, which is called “Lar.” Mehran is a foreign term, with which the natives of the country are not acquainted.

Eastern bank of the Indus.

The immediate vicinity of the Indus is alike destitute of beauty and inhabitants. It is overgrown with tamarisk shrubs, and the villages are purposely raised at the distance of two or three miles, to avoid the calamities of inundation; yet there were an hundred wheels at work on the verge of the river. The eastern bank, from Sehwun to Bukkur, is by far the best peopled portion of Sinde; but the inhabited places which do occur are rather numerous and thriving than large and wealthy: many of them have 500 houses. This territory is subject to the chief of Khyrpoor, and is enriched by a canal forty feet broad, called “Meerwah,” which conducts, by a southerly course, the waters of the Indus from the neighbourhood of Bukkur to a distance of ninety miles, where they are lost in sands, or deposited in the fields. There are numerous other canals beside the one which I have now described; and, while their banks are fringed with villages and agriculture, they likewise afford the means of transporting, by boats, the produce of the soil. In the fair season, when dry, they become the beaten footpaths of the people, and are excellent cart-roads, preferred at all times to the common pathway, which, from the exuberance of vegetation in this country, is generally impeded by bushes.

Western bank of the Indus.

The western bank of the Indus, which is intersected by the Nara, is called Chandkoh, from a Belooche tribe of that name, and yields the greater portion of the land revenue of the Hydrabad Ameers. This branch, which leaves the Indus below Bukkur, in the latitude of Larkhana, in its passage to the main stream, forms a small lake, called Munchur, which abounds in fish. Further down, it changes the name of Nara into that of Arrul, before falling into the Indus; it is a narrow river, about 100 yards broad, and only navigable during the inundation. Numerous cuts, the chief of which is the Larkhana canal, extend the cultivation beyond its banks; and, in addition to the swell of the Indus, this district is watered by rills from the lofty mountains to the westward. The lake of Munchur is environed by fields of wheat in the dry season: its waters then partially subside, and leave a rich mould on which good crops are reared.

Fort of Bukkur.

The fortress of Bukkur is constructed of brick, on a low rocky island of flint, at a distance of 400 yards from the left bank of the Indus, and about fifty less from the eastern side of the river. Its walls are loop-holed, and flanked with towers, that slope to the water’s edge: they do not exceed twenty feet in height. There is a gateway on each side of the fortification facing Roree and Sukkur, and likewise two wickets. The interior of the works is crowded with houses and mosques, many of which, as well as parts of the rock itself, appear above the wall. In shape it approaches to an oval, and is about 800 yards long, and 300 in diameter. At some places the rock has been pared and scraped; but Bukkur has no strength in its works, and is formidable only from its position. The garrison consists of 100 men of the Khyrpoor Ameer: there are fifteen pieces of artillery, few of which are serviceable. The walls enclose the entire island, with the exception of a small date grove on the northern side, where a landing might be effected without difficulty, from the right bank, and the place would fall by escalade; or it might be previously breached from the bank of the river. There is a depth of four fathoms on both sides of the island; but the eastern channel becomes shallow in the dry season, and is said to have been once forded. The navigation of the Indus at Bukkur is dangerous, from eddies formed under the fortress itself; and several other rocky islets below it; but the watermen are considered the most experienced in Sinde, and, as a boat never attempts to pass up or down without a pilot, there are but few accidents.

Roree and Sukkur.

The town of Roree, which faces Bukkur, stands close on the bank of the Indus, on a flinty precipice forty feet in height, over which the houses tower. A road cut in the rock, down to the edge of the river, at a place where it does not approach the precipice, is the point of embarkation for those passing to Bukkur; but a landing would be difficult and dangerous when the river is high. The town of Roree has about 8000 inhabitants, chiefly Hindoos. To the eastward of it, several detached hillocks of flint present a most bleak and barren appearance, but add to the strength of the country; beyond their limits a grove of date trees extends for three or four miles to the southward of the town, shading numerous orchards and gardens. Sukkur, which stands opposite Roree, is about half the size of that town: both have been considerable places in former years, and the ruins of minarets and mosques remain. The bank of the river at Sukkur is not precipitous, and the town runs in from it, instead of extending, like Roree, along its banks. These two towns doubtless owe their position to Bukkur, which, as a protection in troubled times, added to the courage and hopes of the inhabitants.

Khyrpoor and Larkhana.

The only modern towns of note which require remark, are Khyrpoor and Larkhana, on the left and right banks of the river, nearly under the same parallel of latitude, both distant from it about fourteen miles, and watered by canals from the Indus. Khyrpoor is a modern town, built by the Talpoor chief, Sohrab, who seized on the northern part of Sinde, after the subversion of the Caloras. It contains a population of about 15,000 souls, but is merely a collection of mud hovels heaped together in narrow lanes. It is destitute of fort or defence, unless a mud wall about a foot thick, which surrounds the house of the Ameer and his family, can be considered in that light. The country near it is flat and bushy, and a low dyke has been drawn round the town, to keep the inundations of the river at a distance. Larkhanu, which stands on the western bank, is the capital of the Pergunna of Chandkoh: it has about 10,000 people, and is the head quarters and rallying point of the Sinde Ameers on their N. W. frontier. It has a small mud fort; and an inefficient train of artillery, about twenty in number, frightens the refractory in the neighbouring mountains, and maintains the peace of Sinde. It is governed by a Nuwab, the individual next in rank to the rulers of the land.

Productions.

The productions of Sinde are very similar in different parts of the country, and the same kinds of grain are produced here as at Sehwun. There is a shrub very like the wall-flower called “syar,” that grows in this tract, and the juice of which is considered a valuable medicine for the diseases of children. The wheat-fields are invariably surrounded by a low dyke, like rice ground: tobacco grows very luxuriantly near Roree. The greatest want in Sinde is grass, which is choked by the tamarisk; to which the people set fire, and derive, by such means, an abundant crop. There are but few trees in Sinde; the babool[23], even, does not attain any considerable size; the neem[24] and sirs, so abundant in India, are rarely seen, and the banian[25] tree is a stranger. The shrubs of the thurr, the kejra, khair, bair, akra (swallow-wort), and tamarisk, grow every where. I have already alluded to the date grove of Roree.

CHAP. IX.
THE INDUS FROM BUKKUR, TILL JOINED BY THE PUNJAB RIVERS.

The Indus.

The waters of the Punjab, united in one stream, fall into the Indus at Mittun, in the latitude of 28° 55´ north. From this point to Bukkur, the river pursues a south-westerly course, is direct in its channel, but frequently divided by sand banks. Various narrow, crooked branches also diverge from the parent stream, retaining a depth from eight to fifteen feet of water, which are navigated by boats ascending the Indus, in preference to the great river itself. They extend throughout the whole intervening space which I have now under review.

Its breadth and depth.

The Indus is widely spread in many parts of its course above Bukkur. It often exceeds a thousand yards in breadth, and at Mittun was found to be even double that width. The depth was not proportionally diminished: in some places it exceeded sixteen fathoms, and four fathoms were to be found every where; which, it is to be recollected, was at a season when the waters are lowest. There was no greater acceleration of current than in the lower parts of the river, and the serpentine course of the narrows just mentioned proves the great flatness of this country.

Boats of the Indus.

From Bukkur the Indus is navigated by a different description of boat from the Doondee, called “zohruk,” and admirably adapted to the transport of troops, both horse and foot, from being as roomy before as astern: they are not numerous, but we met ninety-five of them in our voyage to Mittun. We made the passage in these boats from Bukkur to Mittun in nine days, a distance of 170 miles by the river.

Country on its banks.

The country which this portion of the Indus traverses is of the richest nature, particularly on the eastern bank, where it is flooded from innumerable channels, which are generally cut in those parts of the river running east and west, that the water may be thrown south into the interior. On the right bank, about twenty-six miles above Bukkur, a navigable canal called the “Sinde,” the work of the emperors, conducts a great body of water to Shikarpoor and Noushera, and joins that of Larkhanu. On that side of the river the cultivation is limited, as the districts of Boordgah, Ken, and Moozarka, which succeed each other, are peopled by wandering and unsettled Belooche tribes, who lead a pastoral and plundering life. The territory on both sides chiefly belongs to Sinde, for the boundary line stretches, on the right bank, to within fifteen miles of Mittun, and adjoining the dominions of the Seik; but it overlaps that on the left, which terminates lower down in the latitude of 28° 33´, twenty-five miles above Subzul. This stripe of land on the left bank forms a portion of the territories of the Daoodpootra chief, Bhawul Khan; and the district immediately below that chief’s territory in Sinde is named Oobaro, and inhabited by the Duhrs and Muhrs, who are the aborigines of the country, and known by the name of Sindees.

Shikarpoor, Subzul, and other places.

The town of Shikarpoor, which stands thirty-two miles from Bukkur, is by far the largest in this tract, indeed in Sinde, for in size it exceeds the capital, Hydrabad. The country around it is very productive, but in the change of masters, from the Afghans to the Sindians, its revenue has deteriorated to half a lac of rupees annually: the government is oppressive. It still carries on an extensive inland trade, for the greater portion of its merchants and people are Hindoos, and have agents in the surrounding countries. Shikarpoor is surrounded by a mud wall, and the governor of the place holds an important post, and with it the title of Nuwab. This town and district fell into the hands of the Sindians about eight years ago, and is the only unsettled portion of their country, the Afghan family to whom it belonged making frequent attempts to recover it. The frontier town of Subzul on the left bank of the Indus, and twelve miles inland, is about one fifth the size of Shikarpoor: it contains a population of 5000 souls, and like it is surrounded by a mud wall. There are no other places of note but these which I have mentioned. Mittun, or, as it is sometimes called, Mittun Kote, has not a population of 1500 people, and its fort has been demolished.

Swell of the Indus.

It will be observed in this part of its course, as well as elsewhere, that there are no towns or places of size in the immediate vicinity of the Indus; which is owing to the annual swell of the river rendering it impossible to cultivate or raise a crop within its reach. This leads to the waters being conducted inland by canals, the banks of which being frequently overflowed render the country untenable. The neighbourhood of Subzul Kote has been deserted on this account, and the great quantity of water forces for itself a channel from this direction upon the watercourse at Alore. The Indus is very variable in its rise in different years, and for these two by-gone seasons has not attained its usual height.

Cattle, animals, &c.

The number of horned cattle to be seen in this part of the Indus is exceedingly numerous. Buffaloes are so plentiful as to be only a fourth the value of those lower down the river, and the very best may be purchased for ten rupees each. Deer, hog, and partridge abound, and the water-fowl above Bukkur are numerous, even in this season (May).

Tribes bordering on the Indus.

I have mentioned the districts lying westward of the Indus, and the predatory habits of the inhabitants. The Boordees occupy all the plains north of Shikarpoor, to the borders of the Brahooee country, or Cutch Gundava. They are emigrants from Kej and Mekran, and of the Belooche family of Rind. They are a fair and handsome race of men, more like Afghans than Beloochees: they do not wear the costume of Sinde, but roll a cloth in folds loosely round their brows, and allow their hair in long tresses to hang suspended, which gives them a savage appearance. They took the name of Boordee, from a noted individual in the tribe, according to the Belooche custom, for the various tribes are nothing more than descendants of some person of note. The chief place of the Boordees is Duree, but they have no large towns. The whole “Oolooss,” or tribe, is rated at 10,000 fighting men, and till their chiefs were taken into the service of the Ameers, they were constantly marauding: petty robberies are yet committed. Their language is a corrupted Persian: of the other tribes, the Juttooees, Moozarees, Boogtees, and Kulphurs, with many more, they differ from the Boordees only in name. The Juttooees are to be found in Boordgah: the Moozarees, whose chief town is Rozan, extend as far as Dera Ghazee Khan, but their power is now broken, though they plundered in former times the armies of Cabool. The Kulphurs and Boogtees occupy the hills called Gendaree, which commence below the latitude of Mittun, and run parallel with the Indus.

CHAP. X.
THE INDUS FROM MITTUN TO ATTOK.

The Indus above Mittun.

While on our progress to Mooltan, by the Chenab or Acesines, I made various enquiries, and sent different people to acquire precise information, regarding the Indus above Mittun. The Cabool mission in 1809 came upon that river, at Oodoo da Kote, about 100 miles north of the point in question; and I was desirous of connecting my own surveys with that place, and thus complete our knowledge of the Indus from the sea to Attok.

Description of it.

The river runs, in this part of its course, nearly due south, and is free from danger and difficulty in navigation. It is here generally known by the name of Sinde or Attok, and traverses a country much the same as I have described near Mittun, being often widely spread from the lowness of its banks. Its breadth is considerably diminished; for at Kaheree, when Mr. Elphinstone crossed it in January, the soundings did not exceed twelve feet, with a breadth of 1000 yards, while the Indus, after it has received the Punjab rivers, rolls past Mittun with a width exactly twofold. On the left bank, too, the soundings were found to be four fathoms deep.

Province of Dera Ghazee Khan.

On the right bank of the river the province of Dera Ghazee Khan occupies the country as far as the mountains. It is a fertile territory, and the capital which bears its name is one of the largest towns on the Indus. It is surrounded by gardens and date groves, and stands in a very rich country: it has been long numbered among the conquests of the Seiks, who farmed it, till lately, to the Khan of Bhawulpoor at an annual rent of six lacs of rupees; but as the district originally produced but four, every species of extortion was practised which led to its late resumption. The tract being remote from Runjeet Sing’s dominions, he is anxious to hold it without requiring the services of his troops; and the Maharajah has given Dajil and some portion of the territory to the Brahooees, its former owners, on condition of military service.

Commerce, in line of route.

The productions of Demaun, and the countries westward of the Indus, are sometimes brought by Dera Ghazee Khan, and crossed to Ooch; but the more frequented route lies higher up, and passing the ferry at Kaheree leads to Mooltan. The river is not used in the transport of any portion of the trade, for the hire of boats is exorbitant, and it is sent on camels or bullocks. Madder (called munjoot) is an article of export from this part of the Indus, and used to dye the fabrics of Bhawulpoor.

Expeditions, why they avoided the Indus.

It is a remarkable fact that the various expeditions that have been conducted from the upper provinces of the Indus, to the countries lower down, have taken the rivers of the Punjab, as far as they went, in preference to the Indus itself; but we are certainly not to infer therefrom that the greater river is shut against navigation. The conquests of Alexander led him beyond the neighbourhood of the Indus, and in the case of the emperors their capital was long fixed at Lahore, and several of their fleets against lower Sinde were fitted out at Mooltan, always a city of great importance in the empire, and on a river as accessible to the boats of the country as the Indus itself.

Bridge of boats at Attok.

The Indus has been crossed at Attok, and an account of it, and that fortress, will be found in Mr. Elphinstone’s work; but the means which the ruler of Lahore has used of late years to transport his army to the right bank of the river, and which I heard from his officers, and afterwards had confirmed on the spot, deserve mention. Runjeet Sing retains a fleet of thirty-seven boats, for the construction of a bridge at Attok, where the river is only 260 yards wide. The boats are anchored in the stream, a short distance from one another, and the communication is completed by planks, and covered with mud: immediately below the fortress of Attok, twenty-four boats are only required, but at other places in the neighbourhood, so many as thirty-seven are used. Such a bridge can only be thrown across the Indus from November to April, on account of the velocity of the stream being comparatively diminished at that season, and even then the manner of fixing the boats seems incredible. Skeleton frame-works of wood, filled with stones, to the weight of 250 maunds (25,000 lbs.), and bound strongly by ropes, are let down from each boat, to the number of four or six, though the depth exceeds thirty fathoms, and these are constantly strengthened by others to prevent accident. Such a bridge has been completed in three days, but six is a more usual period. We are struck with the singular coincidence between this manner of throwing up a bridge, and that described by Arrian[26], when Alexander crossed the Indus. He mentions his belief regarding Alexander’s bridge at Attok, and except that the skeleton frame-works are described as “huge wicker-baskets,” the modern and ancient manner of crossing the river appears to have been the same. The Afghans farmed the construction of a bridge at Attok for the sum of 14,000 rupees; but the Seik has put a stop to the ruin of habitations and houses which it invariably caused, and keeps up an efficient supply of materials. An army which does not exceed 5000 men is crossed at Attok by the ferry boats with less labour than by a bridge.

CHAP. XI.
THE CHENAB OR ACESINES JOINED BY THE SUTLEGE OR HESUDRUS.

Chenab or Acesines.

The Acesines of the Greeks, or the modern Chenab, is lost in the Indus at Mittun, having previously gathered the waters of the Punjab rivers. The junction is formed without noise or violence, for the banks are depressed on both sides, and the river is expanded: an eddy is cast to the eastern side, which sinks the water below the usual level, but it does not occasion danger. The Euphrates and Tigris, when joined, pass to the ocean under the name of the “river of the Arabs,” and the appellation of Punjnud, or “the five rivers,” has been bestowed on this portion of the Chenab; but it is a designation unknown to the people living on its banks, and adopted, I conclude, for geographical convenience.

Joined by the Sutlege.

Under the parallel of 29° 20´ north latitude, and five miles above Ooch, the Chenab receives the Garra, or joint stream of the Beas and Sutlege (Hyphasis and Hesudrus of antiquity). This junction is also formed without violence, and the low banks of both rivers lead to constant alteration in the point of the union, which, but a year ago, was two miles higher up. This circumstance renders it difficult to decide on the relative size of these rivers at their junction; both are about 500 yards wide, but the Chenab is more rapid. Immediately below the confluence, the united stream exceeds 800 yards; but in its course to the Indus, though it expands sometimes to a greater size, the Chenab rarely widens to 600 yards. In this part of its course it is likewise subject to change. The depth is greatest near its confluence with the Indus, exceeding twenty feet, but it decreases in ascending the river to about fifteen. The current is swifter than the Indus, running at the rate of three and a half miles an hour. The Chenab has some sand banks, but they do not interrupt its navigation by the “zohruks,” or flat-bottomed boats, forty of which will be found between Ooch and Mittun, a distance of forty miles, and a five days’ voyage.

Banks of the Chenab.

The banks of the Chenab seldom rise three feet above the water’s edge, and they are more open and free from thick tamarisk than the Indus. Near the river there are green reeds, not unlike sugar-cane, and a shrub called “wahun,” with leaves like the beech-tree, but the country is highly cultivated, and intersected by various canals. The soil is slimy, and most productive: the crops are rich, and the cattle large and abundant; the villages are exceedingly numerous, and shaded by lofty trees. Some of these are the temporary habitations of pastoral tribes, who remove from one place to another, but there are many of a permanent description on both banks. Their safety is nowise affected by the inundations of the river or those of the Indus, for the expansion of these has been exaggerated, and it rarely extends two miles from the banks of either river.

Ooch, its productions, &c.

The only place of note on the Chenab, below its junction by the Garra, is Ooch. It stands four miles westward of the river, and no doubt owes its site to the junction of two navigable streams in the vicinity. The country around it is highly cultivated: the tobacco plant in particular grows most luxuriantly; and after the season of inundation, the tract is one sheet of green fields and verdure. The productions of the gardens are various; the fig, vine, apple, and mulberry, with the “falsa,” which produces an acid berry, may be seen, also the “bedee mishk” (odoriferous willow). Roses, balsams, and the lily of the valley, excite a pleasing remembrance, and there are many plants foreign to India. A sensitive shrub, called “shurmoo,” or “the modest,” particularly struck me: its leaves, when touched, close and fall down upon the stalk, as if broken. The mango does not attain perfection in this soil or climate, and seems to deteriorate as we advance north. Indigo is reared successfully. Wheat and other grains are cultivated in preference to rice, which does not form here, as in Sinde and the lower provinces of the Indus, the food of the people, though it may be had in great quantities.

CHAP. XII.
ON BHAWUL KHAN’S COUNTRY.

Its extent.

The small territory eastward of the Indus, which lies between the confines of the chief of Lahore and the Ameers of Sinde, belongs to Bhawul Khan Daoodpootra. His frontier to the north may be loosely said to be bounded by the Sutlege, or Garra, but at Bhawulpoor it crosses that river, and, running westward to a place called Julalpoor, comprises a portion of the country between the Sutlege and Acesines, the Acesines and the Indus. The Rajpoot principality of Beecaneer bounds it to the east. It has Jaysulmeer to the south, and, on that part where it approaches Sinde, a tract of four miles in either country is left without tillage, to prevent dispute on the marches.

Its nature.

The greater part of this country is a barren waste of sand-hills. In the vicinity of the rivers, the tract is rich and fertile, watered, like the other banks of the Indus, by the annual swell. The towns are few in number, and scantily distributed, but there are numerous hamlets on the Acesines. Bhawulpoor, which stands on the left bank of the Sutlege, has a population of about twenty thousand people, and is the mercantile capital; the walled town of Ahmedpoor, further south, and about half the size, is the residence of the chief, as it lies closer to Durawul, an ancient fort in the desert (without a town), and the only place of strength in the country. Durawul is mentioned in the histories of Sinde as a fortress worthy of Alexander: it was taken by Mirza Shah Hoosein, in the year of the Hejira 931; but an account of the siege proves its position to have been more formidable than its strength: it is built of brick.

Power and importance.

The influence of the chief of Bhawulpoor is as limited as his territory, his power having been crushed by the Seiks, and only saved from entire overthrow by a treaty, which prevents Runjeet Sing from crossing the Sutlege. The revenues do not exceed ten lacs annually (excluding Dera Ghazee Khan; which, properly, belongs to the Seik), three of which are demanded in tribute by the Lahore chief, for his lands north of the Sutlege; yet Bhawul Khan maintains some state, and has about two thousand regular troops (such as they are), with a train of artillery, to second the efforts of his feudatories in the field; and his forces collected would exceed twenty thousand men. The present chief inherited a large patrimony in treasure.

Daoodpootras, their descent.

The Daoodpootras are a tribe of Mahommedans from the district of Shikarpoor, on the right bank of the Indus, which they held in the earlier part of Aurungzebe’s reign. They crossed the river, and achieved, by daring acts of bravery, the conquest of the lands now held by them, from the Duhrs, Muhrs, and other Sindee tribes, and have been settled in Bhawulpoor for five generations. As the name Daoodpootra implies, they are descendants of one Daood or David; but the chiefs claim a lineage from the holy line of Abbas, the uncle of Mahommed. The chiefs of the tribe are named Peerjanee, and the common people Kihranee. The community are not allowed to assert their right to the same holy descent as their masters, which casts some doubt on the lustre of their parentage. The whole tribe does not exceed fifty thousand souls. They are a fair and handsome race of people, but disfigured by long bushy tresses of hair, which they allow to hang over their shoulders.

The reigning family.

Bhawulpoor was tributary to Cabool as long as that kingdom lasted; and the chief had the title of Nawab, but was nearly independent. The three last rulers have taken the name of Bhawul Khan, from a saint of great repute in Mooltan; and the designation of Nawab has been changed to that of Khan, by which title he is familiarly known to his subjects. The present Bhawul Khan is about thirty years old, and much beloved by his people: he has a turn for mechanics, and gives great encouragement to trade and agriculture. He succeeded, about five years ago, to the prejudice of his elder brother, who now holds an office under him; his power is firmly fixed, and he has a family of three sons. The form of government is despotic, and there is no chief of any great importance in the country but the Khan himself; and the style and formality of his court keep even these humble, and at a respectful distance.

Trade of Bhawulpoor.

The manufactures of Bhawulpoor consist of loongees, which are celebrated for the fineness of their texture. The weavers are Hindoos, a numerous class in this country, and who enjoy more toleration in their trade than their religion. The merchants of Bhawulpoor deal extensively in goods of European manufacture, which they receive from Pallee, in Marwar, by way of Beecaneer and the desert, and send into the Dooranee country by the route of Mooltan and Leia, crossing the Indus at Kaheree. The Hindoos of Bhawulpoor, and, indeed, of all this country, are a most enterprising race of men: they often travel to Balkh and Bokhara, and sometimes to Astracan, for purposes of commerce: they take the route of Peshawur, Cabool, and Bamean, and, crossing the Oxus, exchange at Bokhara the productions of India, for that quarter of Asia and Russia, which are annually brought by the merchants of that country. They spoke highly of the Uzbek King, and praised Dost Mahommed, of Cabool, for the protection he afforded to trade. The Sutlege, or, rather, the joint stream of it and the Beas, called Garra, on which Bhawulpoor stands, is a navigable river, though not used in the transport of its merchandise. It does not lie, however, on any available line of route, except that of Sinde; from which country, as I have before repeated, there is no trade with the upper provinces of the Indus. Of the name of this river, the Beas, I may add, that it is a contraction of Bypasa, in which we have nearly all the letters of Hyphasis, the designation of it found in the ancient authors.

CHAP. XIII.
THE PUNJAB.

Extent of Runjeet Sing’s territory.

The territories of Maha Rajah Runjeet Sing stretch from the Sutlege to the Indus, from Cashmere to Mooltan, and comprise the whole of the countries watered by the Punjab, or five tributary rivers, eastward of the Indus. The power of the Maha Rajah over this tract of country is consolidated: he commands the fastnesses of the mountains, and its alluvial plains. So entirely has the Seik nation altered its constitution, under this chief, that, within a period of twenty years, it has passed from a pure republic to an absolute monarchy. The genius of one man has effected this change, though contending with powerful opposition, from a religion, that inculcates, above every other, democracy and the equality of all.

Changes in the Seik government.

This change of habits has been general, and the fortunate prince who achieved it, is not more pre-eminent among his nobles, than they are among their followers; from whom they receive a respect bordering on veneration. We have now no convocations at Umritsir, the sacred city of the Seiks, where the affairs of the state were discussed and settled, and none of the liberty which the followers of Gooroo Govind proudly claimed as the feature of distinction in their tribe. It is evident that the change will affect the energies of the Seik nation, for they sprang from a religion which was free from the worn-out dogmas of Hindooism, and the deteriorated Mahommedanism of their neighbours, the Euzoofzyees: their bravery was coeval with that religion, and based upon it; their political greatness sprang from their change of faith, and though that has been changed, the Seiks are yet left with peculiar tenets, and continue to all intents and purposes a distinct people.

Policy of Runjeet Sing, and state of his army.

The power which Runjeet Sing acquired has been preserved by his policy: he has a disciplined army of infantry, with a due proportion of cavalry and artillery. The system is unpopular in the country, and the Seik Sirdars view with distrust the innovation, and the innovators. The French officers, when deprived of their patron, would find it necessary to stand aloof, from motives of personal safety; and, if they left the country, the wreck of their labours would soon perish in the general tumult. At present their battalions manœuvre with regularity and precision: they are well accoutred and dressed, but destitute of the most essential quality of a soldier,—discipline. Their payment is irregular: they undergo cheerfully the mechanical duties of the soldier, and have shown their gallantry on service; but there is no tie between the army and the government, and the greater and more glorious victories of the Maha Rajah were achieved before he had regular troops.

Seik Sirdars, or chiefs.

The Sirdars of the Seik nation lose their power in their own feuds. Runjeet has not failed to foment these, and turn them to advantage; and, as a mediator of differences, he has always despoiled both parties to aggrandise himself: he considers it justifiable to profit by the vices and bad qualities of human nature, and cares not how much he promises, and how little he fulfils. The Maha Rajah, however, has portioned out, with a liberal hand, the lands and conquests among his Sirdars, and conciliated them by this means; few of them place any reliance on his character: they are aware of his power, and dread to give him offence.

Revenues of the Punjab.

The revenues of the Punjab and its dependencies amount to about two and a half crores of rupees annually: the principal item in this sum is derived from Cashmere, which furnishes thirty-six lacs of rupees. I may add, that all the jagheers and revenues of religious persons are included in the net sum I have named. The revenue is collected by arbitrary exactions, at the will of the collector, as in other native governments. They are presumed, at the outset, to be dishonest, and, aware of the fact, rifle the peasant, and are prepared to be rifled in return. The exactions, as regulated by Runjeet himself, are mild, and his late acquisitions about Mooltan are in a most prosperous condition. Cashmere, on the other hand, is described as the very essence of bad government: the people are oppressed, and the Maha Rajah is afraid to trust other but menial servants with that valuable ornament of his crown.

Revenues might be increased.

The revenues of the Punjab might be increased by annexing to it the provinces immediately westward of the Indus, some of which have been subdued by Runjeet Sing; but he has shown, in this instance, his usual foresight and discrimination. Across the Indus, he would encounter a most fanatical people, the Euzoofzyees, who would occupy the time of his army; he contents himself, therefore, with an annual tribute of some horses and rice from Peshawur. Lower down the Indus, he farms the province of Dera Ghazee Khan to the Khan of Bhawulpoor.

Military resources.

The military resources of the Punjab are great: it yields more grain than is sufficient for the consumption of its inhabitants; but the scarcity of population prevents the full measure of its production. Camels, mules, horses, and cattle abound, and all of them, except the cattle, which are small, are of a superior description. The roads, from one extremity of the country to the other, admit of wheeled carriages, except among the mountains: the Indus, and all the other rivers are navigable, though not navigated. They have ferry-boats in abundance, and there are also materials for their further construction; these rivers are frequently passed on skins, but these are more in use among the mountains than the plains.

The paucity of Seiks, in a country ruled and governed by them, is remarkable. The mother earth of the tribe is the “doab,” between the Ravee and Sutlege; but there are few of them to be found thirty miles below Lahore. There are no Seiks westward of the Hydaspes; and to the eastward of Lahore, where they are said to predominate, they do not certainly compose a third of the population. The Punjab, indeed, is a poorly peopled country, in proportion to its fertility, though it is probable that it has increased in population under the present ruler.[27]

CHAP. XIV.
THE CHENAB, OR ACESINES, JOINED BY THE RAVEE, OR HYDRAOTES.

The Chenab described.

The Acesines is the largest of the Punjab rivers, but its size has been exaggerated. Ptolemy informs us that it is fifteen furlongs wide in the upper part of its course; and Arrian states that it surpasses the Nile when it has received the waters of the Punjab falling into the Indus by a mouth of thirty stadia. Alexander warred in the rainy reason, when these rivers are much swollen, and when the inundation had set in for two months. We have already exposed the latter part of this amplification, in confining the Chenab to a breadth of 600 yards, and a depth of twenty feet. There is no perceptible diminution in the size of this stream, from the Sutlege upwards, for that river increases the depth without adding to the breadth; and the Chenab, south of the Ravee, will be found, as I have before described it, only with the shallow soundings of twelve feet. Its banks are so low, that it is in some places spread as much as 1200 yards, and looks as large as the Indus. At Mooltan ferry it was 1000 yards across, and below its junction with the Ravee, above three quarters of a mile; but these are exceptions to the general feature of the stream.

Its banks, &c.

The Chenab receives the Ravee, or Hydraotes, below Fazilpoor, under the parallel of 30° 40´ north latitude, nearly 180 miles from Ooch, by the windings of the river, and upwards of 53 miles from Mooltan; in the neighbourhood of which city it passes on its course to the Indus, by a direction about south-west.[28] The redness of its water has already been mentioned, and that of the Ravee has even a deeper tinge. It runs quicker than the Indus, or any of the Punjab rivers, and its banks on both sides are open and richly irrigated by larger canals of running water, dug with great labour; on the right bank, from Mooltan upwards, there is a desert of low sand-hills, which does not admit of cultivation, and presses in upon the cultivated land at the short distance of two miles from the river. It is a mistake to believe that this desert commences so low as Ooch, and occupies the “doab” of the Indus and Acesines; for that tract has many large villages, and is rich and fertile across from one river bank to the other. The distance between the two rivers is about twenty-five miles, nor does it become desert till it widens beyond that space below Mooltan.

Boats of the Acesines.

At Mooltan the Acesines is navigated by the “zohruk;” but the vessel differs in some degree from that used in the Daoodpootra country: the waist is little more than a foot above water; they are much smaller, and hoist a mat-sail on a small mast. As there is no trade, ferry-boats are only to be had, if we except the few which bring down salt from the Jelum or Hydaspes. We embarked in a fleet of ten boats, while such an additional number are not to be procured on this part of the river. Wood, &c. These vessels are built of the dyar, or cedar wood from the mountains in which the Punjab rivers have their source: the supply which the inundation roots up and floats down, is sufficient for all purposes, without any one carrying on a professed trade in it. While the boats here are constructed of this wood, they are repaired with the “talee” tree, which may be found near every village; and, though this country is not well wooded, an army might soon procure a supply by cutting trees from the villages near the river, and floating them down to any place of rendezvous.

Crossing the river.

The natives of this country cross the rivers without boats, on skins or bundles of reeds; and whole families may be seen passing in this apparently insecure mode. I have observed a man, with his wife and three children, in the middle of the stream, the father on a skin dragging his wife and children, who were seated on reeds, and one of them an infant at the breast: goods, clothes and chattels form a bundle for the head; and though alligators do certainly exist, they are not numerous, or such as to deter the people from repeating an experiment, to say the least of it, not free from danger.

District of Mooltan.

The greater part of the country bordering on this part of the Acesines is included in the district of Mooltan, which, besides the city of that name, contains the modern town of Shoojurabad. The government, when tributary to Cabool, has been described in the worst terms; but Runjeet Sing has recruited its population, repaired the canals, and added to their number, raising it to a state of opulence and prosperity to which it had been long a stranger. The soil amply repays the labour, for such is its strength, that a crop of wheat, before yielding its grain, is twice mowed down as fodder for cattle, and then ears, and produces an abundant harvest. The indigo and sugar crops are likewise rich, and one small strip of land five miles long, which we passed, afforded a revenue of 75,000 rupees. The total revenue amounts to about ten lacs of rupees a year, or double the sum it produced in 1809. The tobacco of Mooltan is celebrated; but, for an Indian province, the date-tree is its most singular production. It yields a great abundance of fruit, which is hardly inferior to that of Arabia; for the trees are not weakened by extracting a liquor from them, as in Lower India. I imagine that they owe their maturity to the great heat of Mooltan; for dates seldom ripen in India. The mangoes of Mooltan are the best of Upper India, and their good qualities seem also to arise from the same cause, as the mango is usually but an indifferent fruit beyond the tropics.

CHAP. XV.
THE RAVEE, OR HYDRAOTES, BELOW LAHORE.

The Ravee.

The Ravee is the smallest of the five Punjab rivers, but, in connection with them and the Indus, forms a navigable channel from the sea to Lahore. It joins the Chenab in the latitude of 30° 40´ north, near the small village of Fazil Shah, by three different mouths, all of which have eight feet of water. From Lahore downwards, the Ravee preserves a breadth of about 150 yards, and, as its banks are high and firm, there are but few places where it is more expanded. This river is so winding, that sails cannot be hoisted, and a day’s voyage often gives but a direct progress of three or four miles, when the turnings of the river have been sixfold. Lahore is only 175 miles from the mouth of the Ravee, but, by the river, the distance exceeds 380 British miles.

Its navigation.

The Ravee is fordable in many places during eight months in the year, but its general depth is about twelve feet, and I am satisfied that a vessel drawing four or five feet of water could navigate this river. The boats of the country do not draw more than two or three, but they are the common flat-bottomed craft already described. There is no obstruction to these vessels in any season of the year, yet the Ravee is not used by the merchants, and the boats are only built for purposes of ferrying. Below Lahore there are fifty-two of them, we ascended in these vessels, none others being procurable. The voyage occupied twenty-one days, and was exceedingly tedious. I am disposed to think that it is the extreme crookedness of the river which prevents its being navigated.

Peculiarities of the Ravee.

The Ravee is a foul river, much studded with sand banks, many of which are dangerous quicksands. The zigzag course it pursues, bespeaks the flat nature of the country it traverses; its banks are more firm and decided than those of the Indus, or any other of the Punjab rivers. Near Lahore, they rise sometimes to a perpendicular height of forty feet; in many places they attain half that elevation, and give to the river much the appearance of a canal. The country bordering on the Ravee is little liable to be flooded; and it is worthy of remark, that there are no cuts from this river, for the purposes of agriculture, below Lahore. Its current is something less than three miles an hour. The water is of a reddish colour, like the Chenab; but it is liable to change, as we remarked in our voyage, from the fall of rain in the mountains. This river is sometimes called Iräoty, in which we recognise the Hydraotes of the Greeks.

Towns, and their inhabitants.

The banks of the Ravee are open, and peopled from its mouth upwards; but the villages, for half the distance to the capital, are of a temporary description, the moveable hamlets of the pastoral tribe before mentioned, called Jun or Kattia. From Futtipoor they are numerous, and the country is cultivated; but the space below that town is uncultivated. The tract between the Ravee and Sutlege is of the same sterile and unproductive description as on the northern side of the river towards the Hydaspes. Saltpetre is manufactured in considerable quantities on both sides of the Ravee.

Lahore.

Lahore is the only town of note on the banks of the Ravee, but the river has lately forsaken its immediate vicinity, and this ancient capital now stands on a small branch. The position of Lahore is good, in a military and commercial point of view. It is equidistant from Mooltan, Peshawur, Cashmeer, and I may also add Delhi. It stands in a most fertile country; and an army of 80,000 men has been supported on the resources of its neighbourhood, while the people assert that provisions have not increased with the increased demand. The city now contains about 80,000 inhabitants. It is surrounded by a strong brick wall and ditch, that may be flooded from the river. There are twelve gates, and as many semicircular outworks. It could not withstand a siege, from the density of its population; but might afford security against irregular troops. Umritsir is superior in size and strength to Lahore: it is a mud fortification of great thickness, and about seven miles in circumference, and also protected by the strong citadel of Govindghur. It has a population of about 100,000 souls. Tolumba is a small town near the estuary of the Ravee, with a population of about 1500 people. It has a weak brick fort of a circular shape, and stands in a thick grove of date trees two miles south of the river.

Drawn by W. Purser. Engraved by E. Finden.

Sindree on the Eastern branch of the Indus.

SINCE SUBMERGED BY THE EARTHQUAKE OF 1819.

From a sketch taken on the spot by Capt. Grindlay in 1808.

CHAP. XVI.
A MEMOIR ON THE EASTERN BRANCH OF THE INDUS, AND THE RUN OF CUTCH, CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF THE ALTERATIONS PRODUCED ON THEM BY AN EARTHQUAKE IN 1819, ALSO A DESCRIPTION OF THE RUN.

[I cannot introduce more appropriately than on the present occasion, the following paper, which was drawn up some time since. It is necessary to mention this circumstance, as a few of the facts communicated are already before the public, and have been noticed by Professor Lyell.[29] Of the Run of Cutch I am not aware of any other account having been published, though it is a tract without parallel on the globe.]

Cutch, its position.

In the north-western extremity of our Indian possessions, and under the tropic, is situated the small and sterile territory of Cutch, important to the British from its advanced position, but of more attraction to the student of history, from its western shore being washed by the waters of the classic Indus. Cutch is a country peculiarly situated.—To the west, it has the inconstant and ever-varying Indus; to the north and east, the tract called Run, which is alternately a dry sandy desert and a muddy inland lake; to the south, it has the Gulf of Cutch and the Indian Ocean, with waters receding yearly from its shores.

Alterations in its western coast by an earthquake.

The physical geography of such a province is full of interest; for, besides the alteration in its fluctuating boundaries, it is subject to earthquakes, one of which has lately produced some unlooked for changes in the eastern branch of the Indus. To particularly detail and explain these, is the object of the present memoir. Former fertility. Cutch at present labours under disadvantages inflicted on it by the vindictive hatred of a jealous and cruel neighbouring Government. Previous to the battle of Jarra, in the year 1762[30], the eastern branch of the Indus, commonly called the Phurraun, emptied itself into the sea by passing the western shores of Cutch; and the country on its banks participated in the advantages which this river bestows throughout its course. Its annual inundations watered the soil, and afforded a plentiful supply of rice; the country on its banks being then known by the name of “Sayra.”

Sindians destroy it, by damming the eastern branch of the Indus.

These blessings, which nature had bestowed on this otherwise barren region, perished with the battle of Jarra; for the Sindian chief, irritated at the unsuccessful result of his expedition, returned to his country full of vengeance, and inflicted the deepest injury on the country which he had failed to humble. At the village of Mora he threw up a mound of earth, or, as it is called, a “bund,” across that branch of the Indus which fertilised Cutch, and by thus turning the stream, which so much benefited its inhabitants, to flow into other branches of the river, and by leading it through canals to desert portions of his own dominions, he at once destroyed a large and rich tract of irrigated land, and converted a productive rice country, which had belonged to Cutch, into a sandy desert.

Injury of the “bund” or dam, on the tract near.

The mound which had been raised, did not entirely exclude the water of the Indus from Cutch; but so impeded the progress of the main stream, that all agriculture depending on irrigation ceased. In process of time this trivial remnant of prosperity disappeared, and the Talpoors, who succeeded the Kaloras in the government of Sinde, threw up other mounds; and about the year 1802, the erection of one at Ali Bunder excluded the waters of the Indus, even at the period of inundation, from the channel which had once conveyed them past Cutch to the sea. Since then, the stripe of land which once formed the fertile district of Sayra ceased to yield a blade of vegetation, and became a part of the Run of Cutch, on which it had formerly bordered. The channel of the river at the town of Lucput shallowed[31]; and, above Sindree, filled with mud, and dried up. Lower down it changed into an arm of the sea, and was flooded at every tide.

The Raos, or Princes of Cutch, possessed at one time military stations in three different places of Sinde,—Budeenu, Ballyaree, and Raomaka-bazar,—yet they submissively bore these indignities, as well to their own detriment as that of their subjects. They used no exertion to recover that which nature had bestowed on their country, or to wipe off those injuries which had been offered, at variance, as they no doubt were, with the law of nations, which requires “that different nations ought, in time of peace, to do one another all the good they can, and in time of war, as little harm as possible, without prejudice to their own real interests.”[32]

Earthquake of 1819 overwhelms Sindree: forms a lake.

In this state of indifference, there occurred, in June, 1819, a severe shock of an earthquake, by which some hundreds of the inhabitants of Cutch perished, and every fortified stronghold in the country was shaken to its foundations. Wells and rivulets without number changed from fresh to salt water; but these were trifling alterations, compared with those which took place in the eastern branch of the Indus, and the adjacent country. At sunset, the shock was felt at Sindree, the station at which the Cutch Government levied their customs, situated on the high road from Cutch to Sinde, and on the banks of what had been once the eastern branch of the Indus. The little brick fort of 150 feet square, which had been built there for the protection of merchandise, was overwhelmed by an inundating torrent of water from the ocean, which spread on every side, and, in the course of a few hours, converted the tract, which had before been hard and dry, into an inland lake, which extended for sixteen miles on either side of Sindree. The houses within the walls filled with water, and eight years afterwards I found fish in the pools among them. The only dry spot was the place on which the bricks had fallen upon one another. One of four towers only remained, and the custom-house officers had saved their lives by ascending it, and were eventually transported to dry land by boats on the following day.[33]

Raises up a mound called “Ullah bund.”

But it was soon discovered that this was not the only alteration in this memorable convulsion of nature; as the inhabitants of Sindree observed, at a distance of five miles northward, a mound of earth or sand, in a place where the soil was previously low and level. It extended east and west for a considerable distance, and passed immediately across the channel of the Indus, separating as it were for ever the Phurraun river from the sea. The natives called this mound by the name of “Ullah bund,” or the mound of God, in allusion to its not being, like the other dams of the Indus, a work of man, but a dam thrown up by nature.

These wonderful events passed unheeded by the inhabitants; for the deep injury which had been inflicted on Cutch in 1762 had so thoroughly ruined that part of the country, that it was a matter of indifference whether it continued a desert, or became an inland lake. A feeble and unsuccessful attempt was made by Cutch to establish a Custom-house on the newly raised dam of “Ullah bund,” but to this the Ameers of Sinde objected, and Sindree being no longer tenable, the officers were withdrawn to the mainland of Cutch.

An overflow of the Indus destroys it in 1826.

Matters continued in this state till the month of November, 1826, when information was received that the Indus had burst its banks in Upper Sinde, and that an immense volume of water had spread over the desert which bounds that country to the eastward, had likewise burst every artificial dam in the river, as well as the “Ullah bund,” and forced for itself a passage to the Run of Cutch. Actual state of the river. In March, 1827, I proceeded to investigate the truth of what I have stated, to examine the natural mound, and to endeavour to account for these constant alterations in physical geography. I journeyed from Bhooj, the capital of Cutch, to Lucput, a town on the north-western extremity of the province, situated on the Koree, or eastern branch of the Indus. Here I embarked in a small flat-bottomed boat, and sailed up the river. At Lucput, and for twelve miles up, it was about 300 yards wide, and from two to three fathoms deep, retaining all the appearance of a river. At Sundo, a sand bank so called, which is about four leagues distant from that town, the channel shallowed to four or five feet, for two miles; but then regaining its depth, I entered on a vast inland lake that bounded the horizon on all sides, amid which the remaining tower of Sindree stood, like a rock in the ocean. At Sundo the water was brackish, at Sindree it was quite fresh. Hence I proceeded to “Ullah bund,” which I found to be composed of soft clay and shells, elevated about ten feet from the surface of the water, and cut through like a canal, with perpendicular banks on either side. The channel was about thirty-five yards broad, and three fathoms deep; and a body of fresh water, a portion of the real Indus, rolled down it into the lake which I had traversed, below “Ullah bund.” Here the stream took on once more the appearance of a river, and I found several boats laden with “ghee” (clarified butter), which had descended it from Wunga, and thus corroborated all which I had heard, that the bunds of the Indus had been burst, and that the communication between the great river and its eastern and long-forsaken branch was once more restored. I learned likewise that the far-famed fortress of Omercote had been partially overwhelmed in this inundation; for instead of being an öasis in the desert, as had long been supposed, this birthplace of the great Acbar is a small brick fort only three or four miles distant from the Indus, and between which and Lucput, so late as May, 1829, there was a communication by water.

Ullah bund described.

The “Ullah bund,” which I now examined with attention, was, however, the most singular consequence of this great earthquake. To the eye it did not appear more elevated in one place than another, and could be traced both east and west as far as it could reach; the natives assigned to it a total length of fifty miles. It must not, however, be supposed to be a narrow stripe like an artificial dam, as it extends inland to Raomaka-bazar, perhaps to a breadth of sixteen miles, and appeared to be a great upheaving of nature. Its surface was covered with saline soil, and I have already stated that it consisted of clay, shells, and sand. The people universally attributed this bund to the influence of the earthquake, and also assigned the shallowness of the river at Sundo to the same cause.

Opinions regarding the effects of the earthquake.

The inland lake which had been thus formed, extended for about 2000 square miles, and its limits were well defined, since the roads from Cutch to Sinde passed on either side of it. The one led from Nurra to Loonee and Raomaka-bazar, and the other from Lucput to Kotree Garee and the Jattee. I am disposed to believe that this sheet of water has collected from a depression of the country round Sindree; for the earthquake had an immediate influence on the channel of the river below “Ullah bund,” which became deep enough to be navigable for boats of 100 tons from the sea to Lucput, which had never been the case since 1762. While the basin of Sindree, as I may call it, was depressed, it is evident that the mound of “Ullah bund” was raised at the same time, as the description already given will have satisfactorily shown.

Subsequent alterations in the Indus.

In the month of August, in the year 1827, I proceeded a second time to the eastern branch of the Indus, to make further investigations regarding a subject on which many individuals, as well as myself, had taken an interest. Great alterations had taken place in this changeable country; the river and lake were deeper in all places by two feet, the channel through “Ullah bund” was much widened, and the sheet of water was now entirely and every where salt. The stream which passed “Ullah bund” was fresh, but greatly diminished in size: in the time that had intervened between my visits, the south-westerly winds had prevailed, and blown the sea water in upon the fresh, which, appeared to account for the change that had taken place.

Besides the facts which have been recorded, it appears clear that a portion of the waters of the Indus have a tendency to escape by Lucput and Cutch. We find an inundation of the river seeking an old channel which had been deserted by them for sixty-five years.[34]