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.