Chapter I: A General View of the Indus (1)

~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.

FOOTNOTE:

[16] These have been necessarily omitted in the reduced map.

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.

FOOTNOTE:

[17] In this part of my subject, I have to express my fullest acknowledgments to Mr. James Prinsep, Secretary to the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, who has kindly afforded me his valuable assistance.

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.

FOOTNOTES:

[18] As this work is passing through the press, intelligence has reached England of the death of this Ameer, which has been followed by a civil war.

[19] The death of the last Ameer has amply verified such a supposition.

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.~