Mound of Amree.
About eighteen miles below Sehwun, and on the same side of the river, is the village of Amree, believed to have been once a large city, and the favourite residence of former kings. It is said to have been swept into the Indus. Near the modern village, however, there is a mound of earth, about forty feet high, which the traditions of the country point out as the halting-place of a king, who ordered the dung of his cavalry to be gathered together, and hence the mound of Amree! There are some tombs near it, but they are evidently modern.
We halted four days at Sehwun. The climate was most sultry and oppressive: the thermometer stood at 112°, and did not fall below 100° at midnight, owing to scorching winds from the west, where the country is bleak and mountainous. The lofty range which runs parallel with the Indus from the sea-coast to the centre of Asia, is joined by the Lukkee mountains south of Sehwun, and thus excludes the refreshing breezes of the ocean.
We quitted Sehwun on the 4th with difficulty, for we could not procure men to drag our boats. The mihmandar, though he was the vizier’s son, and acted under the seal of the Ameer, could not prevail on the Calendar, or priest of the tomb, who said that no such order had been ever given, and he would not now obey it. Some persons were seized: his people drew their swords, and said that, when no longer able to wield them, they might go. We knew nothing of the matter till it was over, as it was entirely a private arrangement of Syud Tukkee Shah, the mihmandar. When the men heard they were to be remunerated for their trouble, they came of their own accord before we sailed. Every thing in Sinde being effected by force under despotism, the watermen of Sehwun fled the town, or took up their abode in the sanctuary, when they saw the “jumtee” approach, believing, as usual, that services would be required of them gratuitously.
Congratulations from Khyrpoor.
On the day after quitting Sehwun, we were met by Mahommed Gohur, a Belooche chief, and a party, the confidential agents of Meer Roostum Khan, the Ameer of Khyrpoor, who had been sent to the frontier, a distance of eighty miles, to congratulate us on our arrival, and declare their master’s devotion to the British Government. We hardly expected such a mark of attention in Sinde, and were therefore gratified. The deputation brought an abundant supply of sheep, flour, fruit, spices, sugar, butter, ghee, tobacco, opium, &c. &c., on which our people feasted. Sheep were slain and cooked; rice and ghee were soon converted into savoury viands; and I believe all parties thanked Meer Roostum Khan as heartily as we did, nor did I imagine that this was but the commencement of a round of feasting which was daily repeated so long as we were in his country, a period of three weeks. Mahommed Gohur was a decrepit old man, with a red beard. He wore a very handsome loongee round his waist. He did not recover from his surprise throughout the interview, for he had never before seen an European.
Address the Ameer of Khyrpoor.
In return for Meer Roostum Khan’s kindness, I addressed to him a Persian letter in the following terms, which will serve as a specimen of the epistolary style used by the people of this country, which I imitated as closely as possible.:—
(After compliments:) “I hasten to inform your Highness that I have reached the frontiers of your country in company with the respectable Syud Tukkee Shah, who has accompanied me on the part of Meer Morad Ali Khan from Hydrabad. As I have long since heard of your Highness from those who pass between Cutch and Sinde, it forms a source of congratulation to me that I have arrived in your dominions, and brought along with me in safety the presents which have been graciously bestowed on Maha Raja Runjeet Sing by His Majesty the King of England, mighty in rank, terrible as the planet Mars, a monarch great and magnificent, of the rank of Jemshid, of the dignity of Alexander, unequalled by Darius, just as Nousherwan, great as Fureedoon, admired as Cyrus, famed as the Sun, the destroyer of tyranny and oppression, upright and generous, pious and devout, favoured from above, &c. &c.: may his dominion endure for ever!
“It is well known that when a friend comes to the country of a friend it is a source of much happiness, and I have therefore written these few lines; but when I have the pleasure of seeing you, my joy will be increased.