Accounts were this day received that Sir John Keane had been detained some days at Jerrikh, two marches from Hydrabad, but had arrived at Kotra, on the right bank of the Indus, and nearly opposite Hydrabad. The following day, native reports reached us that the Beloochees had floated across the Indus on rafts supported on Kedgeree pots,[19] and routed the British forces; but we unanimously concluded that the Ameers were on far too bad terms with his excellency to think of crossing the river and taking such pot luck with the British.
Shah Soojah, who had reached Shikarpore, with his contingent, some days before our arrival at Rohree, was now marching on the right bank of the Indus towards Larkhana, which place (a city of the Hydrabad Ameers) he occupied with little resistance.
No baggage being allowed to precede our column on the line of march, and the weather becoming exceedingly hot, we suffered severely from the heat before our tents came up, which they rarely did before mid-day, and on a long march not till considerably later.
The soil in this district is fertile and well cultivated, and the population must be considerable, judging from the numerous well-inhabited villages we passed, where the natives regarded us in a friendly light, and brought abundance of supplies into camp. The rule of the Ameers is far from popular amongst the Scindians; and the tribes of marauding Beloochees, whom the Ameers confessed their inability to restrain, are of course viewed with horror by the peaceful agriculturists, who therefore hailed us in the light of deliverers. Their intercourse with our camp-followers, who, having long worn the collar, were no doubt willing to see it encircle strange necks also, tended to encourage this amicable disposition.
The fifth march from Rohree, we closed with the river near Noona Goth, where the lower range of the Hala mountains were distinctly seen, trending, apparently, in a direct line towards the Indus. These mountains, the Scindians told us, were about forty miles distant. The seventh march, we reached Kanjaree, a frontier town of the Hydrabad district, where, in the course of the morning, a courier arrived from Sir J. Keane, announcing the submission of the Hydrabad Ameers. They had held out, it appeared, until the appearance of the British forces on the bank of the river opposite the capital, when, after frequent unsuccessful negotiations, a treaty was at length concluded by Colonel Pottinger, with the modification that no British troops should be quartered in Hydrabad. In signing this treaty, the Ameers declared they were acting in opposition to the wishes of their soldiery, and that in doing so they sealed irrevocably their own doom.
Thus ended our chance of a golden harvest in Hydrabad, then known to be one of the richest cities of the East; the policy which saved it for a few years ended in annexing the lands to the British possessions, and in consigning the rulers to captivity: but the merits of this subject now form a matter of debate between two of the most gallant and accomplished soldiers of the age, Sir C. Napier and Colonel Outram.
We now turned our heads and thoughts towards Afghanistan with a pleasanter prospect for the ensuing summer than that of passing it under canvas in Scinde, which is notoriously one of the hottest and most unhealthy parts of the world.[20]
We reached Rohree in a week, retracing the route by which we had advanced, and found that the bridge of boats across the Indus had been completed, and that the part of our force which had remained behind at Rohree, commenced the transit on the 14th of February.
Having halted three days, we crossed the river at sunrise in single files, dismounted, and leading our horses, such being deemed the safest method. The passage was effected without a single accident, even to the baggage. The bridge was firmly constructed, and well moored, reflecting credit on Captain Thompson, of the Bengal engineers, under whose direction it had been formed. The stream near the left bank ran with great velocity; but as we approached Bukkur Island, there was little or none; beyond the fort, the bridge was scarcely a hundred yards in length, and the current very weak. Four hundred and ninety yards were mentioned, in general orders, as the distance bridged; but the portion of the island we crossed must have been upwards of two hundred and fifty yards in breadth.
We now, for the first time, marched in rear of the army; and on our arrival at Shikarpore, found the whole force, including Shah Soojah and his new levies, encamped round the city.