| 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.