Chapter I: A General View of the Indus (2)

The Koree, or eastern branch of the Indus, completes the eleven mouths of the river. It once discharged a portion of the waters of the Fulailee that passes Hydrabad, as also of a branch that quits the Indus near Bukkur, and traverses the desert _during the swell_; but it has been closed against both these since the year 1762, when the Sindians threw up bunds, or dams, to inflict injury on their rivals, the inhabitants of Cutch.[21] Of all the mouths of the Indus the Koree gives the grandest notion of a mighty river. A little below Lucput it opens like a funnel, and at Cotasir is about seven miles wide, and continues to increase till the coasts of Cutch and Sinde are not visible from one another. When the water here was fresh it must have been a noble stream. The depth of this arm of the sea (for it can be called by no other name) is considerable. We had twenty feet of water as high as Cotasir, and it continues equally deep to Busta, which is but eight miles from Lucput. A Company’s cruiser once ascended as high as Cotasir; but it is considered dangerous, for there is an extensive sand bank at the mouth called Adheearee, on which the water at low tide is only knee deep. There are also several sand banks between it and Cotasir, and a large one opposite that place. The Koree does not communicate with the Seer or any other mouth of the Indus, but it sends off a back water to Cutch, and affords a safe inland navigation to small craft from Lucput to Juckow on the Indian Ocean, at the mouth of the gulf of Cutch.

~Advantages of these to Sinde.~

The Sindians, it will therefore appear, have choked both eastern branches. There being no communication by the Indus and the Koree, the trade of Sinde is not exported by it. It finds a vent by the Seer; but this has not given rise to any new town being built on its banks. Such, indeed, is the humidity, that this country is only tenable for a part of the year.

~The sea outside the Indus; its dangers.~

We here complete the enumeration and description of the mouths of the Indus. Out from them the sea is shallow; but the soundings are regular, and a vessel will have from twelve to fifteen feet of water a mile and a half off shore. The Gora bank presents the only difficulty to the navigation of these coasts, from Mandivee, in Cutch, to Curachee. Breakers are to be traced along it for twelve miles. The sailors clear it by stretching at once out of sight of land, and keeping in twelve fathoms’ water till the danger is over: they even state that a vessel of twenty-five tons would be wrecked on a course where the depth is ten fathoms. This bank is much resorted to by fishermen; and it may generally be distinguished by their boats and nets.

~Coast of Sinde exposed.~

The coast of Sinde, from its entire exposure to the Indian ocean, is so little protected against storms, that the navigation is much sooner suspended than in the neighbouring countries. Few vessels approach it after March; for the south-west monsoon, which then partially commences, so raises the sea that the waves break in three and four fathoms water, while the coast is not discernible from its lowness till close upon it, and there is a great risk of missing the port, and no shelter at hand, in such an event.

~Tides of the Indus.~

The tides rise in the mouths of the Indus about nine feet at full moon: they flow and ebb with great violence, particularly near the sea, where they flood and abandon the banks with equal and incredible velocity. It is dangerous to drop the anchor but at low water, as the channel is frequently obscured, and the vessel may be left dry. The tides in the Indus are only perceptible seventy-five miles from the sea, that is, about twenty-five miles below Tatta.

~Country at the mouths of the Indus.~

There is not a more miserable country in the world than the low tract at the mouths of the Indus. The tide overflows their banks, and recedes to leave a desert dreary waste, overgrown with shrubs, but without a single tree. If a vessel be unfortunately cast on this coast, she is buried in two tides; and the greatest despatch can hardly save a cargo. We had proof of this in an unfortunate boat which stranded near us; and, to add to the miseries of this land, the rulers of it, by a barbarous law, demand every thing which is cast on shore, and confiscate any vessel which, from stress of weather, may enter their ports.

~Curachee, why preferred to the Indus.~

The principal sea-port of Sinde is Curachee, which appears remarkable, when its rulers are in possession of all the mouths of the Indus; but it is easily explained. Curachee is only fourteen miles from the Pittee, or western mouth of the Indus; and there is less labour in shipping and unshipping goods at it, than to carry them by the river from Darajee or Shahbunder in flat-bottomed boats. Curachee can also throw its imports into the peopled part of Sinde without difficulty, by following a frequented and good level road to Tatta. The unshipment, too, at that port, supersedes the necessity of shifting the cargo into flat-bottomed boats; and the actual distance between Curachee and Tatta (about sixty miles) is half exceeded by following the windings of the stream to any of the harbours in the Delta. As the ports in the river and Curachee are both subject to Sinde, it is conclusive that that sea-port has advantages over those of the river, which have led to their being forsaken by the navigator. In former years, before Curachee was seized by the Sindians, the exports from the Delta were more considerable; since then all articles of value are brought to Curachee by land, and there shipped. The opium from Marwar is never put into a boat but to cross the Indus on its way to Curachee.

~The sea boats of Sinde.~

The boats of the Indus claim attention. Including Curachee and all the ports of the country, there are not, perhaps, a hundred dingees, or sea vessels, belonging to the dominions of the Ameer. These boats are of a peculiar construction--of a sharp build, with a very lofty poop; the large ones never ascend the rivers, and are principally used at the port of Curachee, and sail from thence to Muscat, Bombay, and the Malabar coast: they carry no guns. A smaller dingee is used at the mouths of the Indus, chiefly for fishing: they are good sea-boats, and sail very quickly. The fisheries in the mouths of the Indus being extensive, and forming a source of commerce, these craft abound.

~Flat-bottomed boats.~

The traffic on the Indus, commencing from its very mouth, is carried on in flat-bottomed boats, called doondees. They are large and unwieldy, and never exceed 100 kurwars (fifty tons) in burthen, and, when laden, draw only four feet of water. They have two masts, the larger in front; they hoist their sails behind them, to prevent accident, by giving less play to the canvass. The foresail is of a lateen shape; that aft is square, and very large. With these set, they can stem the current, in a good wind, at the rate of three miles an hour. We came from the sea to Hydrabad in five days. When the wind fails, these boats are dragged, or pushed up by spars against the stream. With ropes, they can be pulled a mile and a half in the hour; and they attach these to the mast-head, to have a better purchase. The helm is shaped like the letter P, and in the larger vessels is managed by ropes from each side; at a distance, it seems quite detached from the doondee. These vessels are also furnished with a long supple oar astern, which they work backwards and forwards, the steersman moving with it on an elevated frame. It is possible to impel the doondee with this oar alone, and nothing else is used in crossing the different ferries. When coming down with the stream, this oar, too, is again in requisition, they work it to and fro, to keep the broadside of the vessel to the current. In descending the river, the masts are invariably struck, and the helm even is stowed away. I can compare these boats to nothing so correctly as the drawing of Chinese junks; the largest are about eighty feet long and eighteen broad, shaped something like a ship high astern and low in front, with the hull slanted off at both ends, so as to present less resistance to the water. They are floating houses; for the people who navigate them take their families, and even their herds and fowls, along with them. All the boats on the river, large and small, are of the above description. In navigating the doondees, the boatmen always choose the shallow water, and avoid the rapids of the river.

~Indus navigable for steam vessels.~

From the account of the River Indus at its mouths, which is above given, it will appear that it would be accessible to steam-boats of a certain size and build; but I am thoroughly satisfied that no boat _with a keel_ could ever navigate this river with any hopes of safety. The flat-bottomed boats are constantly grounding, but they sustain no injury; while boats differently constructed would be at once upset by the violence of the stream, and destroyed. It is not to be doubted, however, that steam-vessels could be adapted to this navigation as well as the existing boats on the river; and had not coal been found both at the head and mouth of the Indus, fuel could be supplied from the great abundance of wood which the banks of this river every where furnish. The Americans use wood for this purpose; and the supply of brushwood on the Lower Indus is abundant.

~Military remarks on the Indus.~

I make allusion to the navigation of this river by steam, because I am aware it is an object of interest; but, in conducting any expedition against Sinde, I feel satisfied, from what I have seen, that there would be little advantage, in a military point of view, derived from the river Indus below Tatta. It would be impracticable to march a force through the Delta, from the number of rivers; and it would be equally impossible to embark it in flat-bottomed boats, for there are not 100 of them below Hydrabad; few are of burthen, and the very largest would not contain a company of infantry. The vulnerable point of Sinde is Curachee, and a landing might be effected on either side of the town without difficulty. The Creek of Gisry, to the south-east, has been pointed out[22] as a favourable place, and I can add my concurrence in the opinion; but a force would easily effect its disembarkation anywhere in that neighbourhood. For a land expedition, the route from Cutch to Ballyaree, by the Thurr, seems to me the most feasible. While I represent the mouths of the Indus as unfavourable for conducting an attack from India on Sinde, I do not wish to be understood as hazarding at this time any opinion on like obstacles presenting themselves in an attack from its banks on India.

~Supplies of the Delta.~

With regard to the supplies which an army is to expect in the lower parts of Sinde, my report will be more favourable. Grain, that is, rice and bajree, will be found in great abundance. Horned cattle and sheep are numerous. The pasturage is not good, but near the sea abundant. Almost all the villages are mere hamlets; for Darajee, Lahory, and Shahbunder, which figure on the map as places of importance, have none of them a population of 2000 souls. The two first, indeed, have not that between them; and there are not ten other places that have a hundred souls below Tatta. Camels would be found in great abundance, as also horses: these are of a small and diminutive breed, but the camels are very superior. From the number of buffaloes, milk and ghee are to be had in great abundance, and all the rivers abound in fish. The country is peopled to the sea-shore; but the inhabitants are thinly scattered over its surface in temporary villages; and near many of the mouths experience great inconvenience from the want of fresh water, which they bring from a distance for themselves and cattle: the banks of the Gora form the only exception. The people consist chiefly of erratic and pastoral tribes; for though the Indus presents such facilities to the cultivator, there is not a fourth of the cultivable land below Tatta brought under tillage; it lies neglected and overgrown with tamarisk.

FOOTNOTES:

[20] This limited extent of the delta of the Indus is quite inconsistent with the dimensions assigned to it by the Greeks. Arrian informs us that the two great branches below Pattala are about 1800 stadia distant from each other, “and so much is the extent of the island Pattala along the sea coast.” The distance of 125 British miles, the face of the modern delta, does not amount to 1125 stadia, or little more than one half the assigned distance of Arrian. On this point the Greeks had not personal observation to guide them, since Nearchus sailed out of the western branch of the Indus, and Alexander made but a three days’ journey between the two branches of the river, and could not have entered Cutch, as has been surmised by Dr. Vincent.

[21] See “A Memoir” regarding this mouth, at the end of the volume, which contains an account of some singular alterations in physical geography, as well as a notice of the Run of Cutch.

[22] By Mr. Crow.

CHAP. V.

ON THE DELTA OF THE INDUS.

~Delta of the Indus.~

Herodotus said of Egypt, that it was the “gift of the Nile;” the same may be said of the country at the mouths of the Indus. A section of the banks of the river shows a continued succession of earth, clay and sand in layers, parallel to one another; and deposited, without doubt, at different periods. It would be perhaps hazarding too much to state, that the whole of the Delta has been gradually acquired from the sea; but it is clear that the land must have greatly encroached on the ocean. Nothing is more corroborative of this fact than the shallowness of the sea out from the mouths of the Indus, and the clayey bottom and tinge of the water.

~Inundation.~

The country from Tatta, which stands at the head of the Delta, to the sea downwards, is in most parts influenced by the periodical swell of the Indus: the great branches of this river are of themselves so numerous, and throw off such an incredible number of arms, that the inundation is general; and in those places which are denied this advantage by fortuitous circumstances, artificial drains, about four feet wide and three deep, conduct the waters through the fields. The swell commences in the latter end of April, and continues to increase till July, disappearing altogether in September: a northerly wind is supposed to accelerate it. It begins with the melting of the snow in the Himalaya mountains, before the rainy season. At other times the land is irrigated with the Persian wheel, which is turned by a camel or bullock, and in general use every where. One eighth of the Delta may be occupied by beds of rivers and inferior streams. Ten miles from the sea, the country is so thickly covered with furze and bushes, that it is incapable of being brought under tillage. Close upon the sea coast, however, there is abundance of green forage, which furnishes pasture to large herds of buffaloes. These animals reward the herdsmen with an abundant supply of ghee; but his labour is incessant, for he must bring fresh water from the interior for himself and his herd.

~Towns.~

In a tract peopled by a pastoral race, there are few permanent towns or villages. When we except Darajee, Vikkur, Shahbunder, Mughribee, and one or two others, the inhabitants reside in temporary villages called “raj,” which they remove at pleasure; their huts are constructed of reeds and mats made from rice straw; each house is surrounded by a grass “tatty” or fence, to exclude the cold wind and humid vapours which prevail in this low country, and are considered noxious. These are the houses of which Nearchus speaks, and are, I believe, peculiar to the river Indus. They very much resemble the huts of tumblers in India.

~Population.~

It becomes a difficult matter to form any correct opinion as to the number of inhabitants in such a country, where the body of the people are wanderers, and not confined to narrow limits: huts are, however, to be seen every where, and, excluding the city of Tatta, the population of the Delta cannot be rated at less than 30,000 souls; of this estimate, one third may be composed of those who reside in the fixed towns. This census gives seven and a half to the square mile.

~Tribes.~

The erratic tribe, in the Delta of the Indus, is called Jut; these people are the aborigines of the country; they are a superstitious race of Mahommedans, and exceedingly ignorant. The different banks of the rivers are peopled by watermen of the tribe of Mooana; they are emigrants from the Punjab, and are employed in navigating the boats, or fishing in the sea or river. There is also another tribe from the same country, called Seik Lobana, whose occupation it is to make reeds and mats. They also kill wild animals and game, but are held in no estimation by the rest of the people. Jookeas or Jukreeas, an aboriginal race from the mountains over Curachee, are to be found, but they are not numerous. Some of their chiefs have land assigned to them. There are also a few Beloochees. On the fixed population there is little to remark; it is chiefly composed of Hindoos, of the mercantile caste, who carry on the foreign and internal commerce of Sinde. They do not differ from their brethren in India.

~Jokeea tribe.~

The only tribe which calls for further comment, is that of Jokeea. These people are the descendants of the Suma Rajpoots, who governed Sinde in former years. They became converts to the Mahommedan faith when the Hindoo dynasty was subverted, and still retain the Hindoo name of their tribe, and claim consanguinity with the Jhareja Rajpoots of Cutch. They are mountaineers from the west bank of the Indus, not very numerous, and little favoured by the government. They can bring 2000 men into the field.

~Fisheries.~

The fisheries in the river, and out from its different mouths, are extensive. They are chiefly carried on by hooks, and some of the fish caught are of enormous dimensions. One species called “Kujjooree” is killed for its sound, which, with the fins of small sharks that abound near the Indus, form an article of export to China. The river fish are likewise abundant; of these, the most remarkable is the “Pulla,” a kind of carp, delicious in flavour, and only found in the four months that precede the swell of the river. Another species, called the “Singalee,” and about the size of a small haddock, likewise abounds. On the approach of the tide, they make a noise under the ship, louder than a bull frog. They have a large head, and are very bony. They exist in all the rivers of Western India, and are not peculiar to the Indus.

~Animals.~

I am not aware that there are any animals peculiar to the Delta of the Indus. Otters abound; camels are numerous, and superior; buffaloes are reared in great numbers; horned cattle and sheep are plentiful. The dog, too, is here elevated to his proper situation, and is an attendant on man. They watch the flocks, and are of a ferocious description, and will not allow a stranger to approach a “raj” or village; they swim the rivers with great dexterity.

~Productions.~

The staple production of the Delta of the Indus is rice: it is to be had of many different kinds, but its value seems to depend chiefly on its preparation for the market. Bajree and all other Indian grains are raised. From extensive plantations of cane, “goor,” a coarse kind of sugar, is produced; which, with wheat, barley, and moong, are reared by irrigating the fields from cuts to the river, some months before the periodical swell, and form what may be called a second crop. Saltpetre is found in the Delta, but it is not exported, though formerly an object of commerce to the East India Company.

~Climate.~

The climate of Lower Sinde is sultry and disagreeable. The thermometer ranges as high as 90° in March, and though the soil is a rich alluvium, the dust blows incessantly. The dews are very heavy and dangerous. It is in every respect a trying country to the human constitution, and this was observable in the premature old age of the inhabitants. I could not hear of their being subject to any marsh fever, or other evil effect from the inundation; they confined their complaints to the inconvenience and annoyance which they suffered from insects and musquitoes generated in the mud.

CHAP. VI.

THE INDUS FROM TATTA TO HYDRABAD.

~Indus from Tatta to Hydrabad.~

From the city of Tatta, which stands at a distance of three miles from the river, we cease to have the Indus separated into many channels. On the right bank it is confined by low rocky hillocks of limestone formation; and on the left there is but one narrow branch, the Pinyaree, which is accessible to boats from the town of Mughribee, when the superfluous water of the floods follows its course to the sea. Yet the general width of the channel is less than half a mile; at Hydrabad it is but 830 yards, at Tatta less than 700, and below the village Hilaya, fifteen miles from that town, it does not indeed exceed 600. The greatest depth of water lies opposite the capital, and is five fathoms; the least at Tatta, where it is but fifteen feet; generally, there is a depth of twenty feet.

~Its sand-banks.~

The Delta of the Indus is free from sand-banks; from Tatta to Hydrabad, they occur every where, and, as the sides of the river are here more frequently shelving than steep, it is difficult to discover the deep channel, which perplexes the navigator. Many of these sand-banks are but knee deep in the water, and are constantly shifting their position; the current being less rapid than near the sea, they are not easily swept away. In several places they have become islands, and divide the stream into two channels, one of which will _always_ be found navigable. This subdivision of the river has occasioned many of these branches being given as separate rivers in our maps, but, as I have before stated, none such exist, excepting the Pinyaree. In the floods there is a narrow channel above Triccul, communicating with the Fulailee branch, which insulates Hydrabad at that season.

~Course and extent.~

The distance by land from Tatta to Hydrabad is less than fifty miles, nor do the windings of the stream increase it, even by water, to sixty-five. Its course is south-west by south, and rather direct, with one decided turn, below Jurruk, where it throws off the river leading to Mughribee. We made the voyage against the stream in two days.

~Towns, &c.~

There are not a dozen places between Tatta and the capital; the only one of note is Jurruk, situated near some low rocky hillocks, nor does it boast a population of 1500 souls: none of them are fortified.

~Country.~

This country, which might be one of the richest and most productive in the world, is devoted to sterility. Hunting preserves, or, as they are called, “shikargahs,” follow one another in such succession, as to leave no land for tillage; and the fences which confine the game approach within a few yards of the Indus. The interior of these preserves forms a dense thicket, composed of tamarisk, saline shrubs, and other underwood, with stunted trees of bramble, which are not allowed to be pruned or cut; so that the banks of the Indus, if in the hands of a formidable enemy, afford cover from which an expedition conducted by water might be constantly and grievously harassed. The roads through this tract are equally close and strong.

Neglected as is this portion of Sinde, it is not destitute of supply; grain is cheap and plentiful everywhere. Tatta and Hydrabad are the ancient and modern capitals of the country.

~Productions.~

The productions of the soil in the gardens of Tatta exhibit the fertility of this land: the vine is successfully reared, as also the fig and the pomegranate. There are apple-trees in abundance, and though the fruit is small, it increases in size about Hydrabad. In the few patches of cultivation may be seen indigo, tobacco, sugar-cane, with wheat, barley, and all the other Indian grains; but it is the policy of the rulers of Sinde to keep every thing in a state of nature, that their territories may not excite the cupidity of surrounding states. Agriculture and commerce are alike depressed.

~Trade.~

With regard to the trade of this country, it may be said there is little or none anywhere but at Curachee. The Indus is as if it existed not; and, though grain is sent by it to the delta, no advantage is taken of the river to convey goods to Hydrabad. The imports are landed at Curachee, and the most valuable export, which is Malwa opium, is shipped from the same port. The merchants, in prosecuting their journey to Candahar, and the upper provinces of the Indus, quit the Sindian territories with all dispatch. The only encouragement which the chiefs give to trade is in opium, yet they levy the exorbitant duty of 250 rupees for a camel-load. The revenue from this article alone amounted last year it is said to seven lacs of rupees; a sum equal to the land revenue of the Hydrabad Ameer.

~Means of improving it.~

Nor do there exist any hopes of improving or increasing commercial intercourse by this river, till the rulers of it have more just notions of policy, and some one of them, more enlightened than the rest, discovers that the true riches of a country are to be found by encouraging the people in industry and art. At present there is no wealth in Sinde but what is possessed by its rulers; and had the people the inclination, they have not the means of purchasing the manufactures of Europe. The case was otherwise in the beginning of this century, when the East India Company traded at Tatta by a factory, and the rulers, intimidated by their lord paramount in Cabool, did not object to the transit of goods to that and other countries. Sinde must follow the fate of that portion of Asia; and, if any of the Dooranee tribes be yet able to seize the crown of Cabool, we may expect a change for the better in the dependent provinces at the mouths of the Indus.

~Boats, deficiency thereof.~

At present there are not vessels sufficient for any considerable trade: between the capital and Tatta they do not exceed fifty, many of them small and used for fishing, others old and worn out, that cross the stream in certain places as ferry-boats. Encouragement would soon remedy what may be considered a defect in a military, as well as a commercial point of view. Sinde has no wood for ship building, that which is used being imported from Malabar.

CHAP. VII.

FROM HYDRABAD TO SEHWUN.

~Sehwun, its position.~

The town of Sehwun stands at a distance of two miles from the west bank of the Indus, and is exactly 1° of latitude north of Hydrabad, for it is crossed by the parallel of 26° 22´. The voyage is performed in eight days, against the stream, and the distance is 105 miles.

~Indus, its course and depth.~

The river, in this part of its course, is named “Lar,” which, in the Belooch language, means south: it flows about S. S. E., being resisted at Sehwun by rocky mountains, which change the direction of the stream. Its banks are very low, and the country bordering on them frequently overflowed, particularly on the eastern side: the western bank is more firm, but seldom exceeds eight feet in height. This expansion of the river diminishes its general depth to eighteen feet: during the swell the increase is twelve feet additional; the width is frequently 1000 yards and upwards. About six miles above Hydrabad, the Indus divides into two channels, one of which is fordable, and the other but 400 yards wide, which points to this as the place for crossing an army. At Sehwun the rocky buttress of the Lukkee hills hems the waters into a channel of 500 yards; but the depth is nearly forty feet, and the current rapid.

~Fulailee River.~

The river throws off no branches, in this part of its course, save the Fulailee, which leaves the Indus twelve miles above Hydrabad, and passes eastward of that city: it is only a stream during the swell. It was dry at Hydrabad when we were at that city, and but a 100 yards wide, and knee-deep where it separated from the Indus; yet it is a very considerable river in the wet season, and fertilises a vast portion of Sinde by its water, which it may be said to exhaust between Hydrabad and Cutch. The maps give most erroneous ideas of the Indus, for the numerous branches which appear to leave the river are only water courses for the periodical swell, many of them artificial, dug for the purposes of irrigation. The river for nine months runs in one trunk to Tatta.

~Current, and effects of it.~

The current never exceeds three miles an hour in this part of the Indus, unless at some places where it is confined, when its rapidity undermines its banks, and carries villages along with it. The towns of Majindu and Amree, on the right bank, have both been swept away, the former no less than eight or ten times within the last twelve years; but the people retire a few hundred yards, and again erect their habitations. Hala, on the eastern side, has shared a like fate; but the channel of the river lies to the westward, where the banks are more steep, and the left bank of the river, though consisting of a flat field of sand, is only inundated in the swell. At that period, for eight miles eastward of the Indus, it is not possible to travel from the number of shoots the river casts off. The Indus itself is here pretty constant in its course; and, though the country eastward would, as I have observed, favour the escape of the water in that direction, it clings for some time to the Lukkee mountains.

~Its military importance.~

This section of the river is of great importance: about two miles below Sehwun these mountains run in upon the Indus, leaving two practicable passes over them. The one leads across a depressed part of the range, called Buggotora, westward of the village of Lukkee (which signifies a pass), and might be obstinately defended: it is not a gun-road. The other passes between the river and the mountains, and is a cart-road, running in a valley among the lower rocks, at the base of the Lukkee mountains. The ground is very strong for about two miles.

~Crossing the Indus.~

I have before mentioned that the river near Sehwun is confined to a narrow bed. The right bank is very remarkable, consisting of a natural buttress of solid rock, about fifty feet high, which extends for 400 yards along the river, and, slanting upwards, is barely accessible to a foot passenger. The Indus passes with such a sweep under the base of this rampart, that, though but 500 yards wide, I question if a bridge could be thrown across it. There is a more favourable place immediately north of this precipice, where the breadth is but 100 yards greater, and the water more still. Thirty or forty flat-bottomed boats would always be found at Sehwun: they lie on the left bank, which is flat and sandy. There are good roads from Sehwun to Hydrabad on both sides of the Indus; and there is a footpath along the base of the mountains to Curachee.

~Navigation of the Indus.~

The river can only be navigated by dragging the boat against the stream, for there is very little wind in the upper parts of Sinde: the progress by this method is sure, and averages from fifteen to twenty miles a day. It would be impossible, without steam, to conduct any military expedition against the stream of the Indus, for the labour of dragging the boats would be great, from constant accidents, by ropes breaking, and the vessels being hurried into the stream. The case would be very different in an army descending the Indus. Trading vessels, however, would not be liable to any such impediments. We only counted 180 boats in our progress from Hydrabad to Sehwun.

~Towns, country.~

Of the country and towns which intervene between Sehwun and the capital, a few words will suffice. There are none of any size but Sehwun itself: Muttaree, sixteen miles from Hydrabad, contains 4000 people; and Hala, Beyan, Majindu, and Sen about 2000 each. The other places are few, and thinly peopled: three or four of them have frequently one name. The country is much neglected, the banks of the river are, in most places, covered with tamarisk, towards the hills it is open. Cotton, indigo, wheat, barley, sugar, tobacco, &c. are produced by irrigation in the dry season; but the limited extent of the cultivation may be discovered, by their being but 194 wells, or cuts, from the river on one side of the Indus, between Hydrabad and Sehwun, a distance of 100 miles, where the greater part of the soil is rich and cultivable. In a few places the land is salt and sterile. Rice is only produced during the swell, and yet provisions are dearer here than in the neighbouring and less favoured country of Marwar. The people live chiefly on fish and milk.

~Sehwun.~

The town of Sehwun bears alone the marks of opulence in this portion of Sinde; and it is indebted for its prosperity to the shrine of a holy saint from Khorasan, by name Lal Shah baz, whose tomb is a place of pilgrimage from afar to Hindoo and Mussulman. A branch of the Indus, called Arrul, runs immediately past the town, in its course from Larkhana; but this will be described in the next chapter. Four years since, the Indus passed close under Sehwun; but it has retired, and left a swamp on all sides of the town. About Sehwun the country is rich and productive, and the bazar is well supplied. Looking north, the eye rests on a verdant plain, highly cultivated, which extends to the base of the mountains: mulberries, apples, melons, and cucumbers grow here; the grain crops are luxuriant, and, for the first time, we saw gram. The melons are tasteless, I presume from the richness of the soil: cucumbers grow in Sinde only at Sehwun. The climate is sultry, oppressive, and disagreeable.

~Lukkee mountains. Runna.~

The Lukkee mountains run in upon the Indus at Sehwun, extending from near the seaport of Curachee, and gradually encroaching upon the river, till they meet in a bold buttress. The elevation of this range does not, I think, exceed 2000 feet; their formation is limestone; the summits are flat and rounded, never conical: they are bare of vegetation, and much furrowed by watercourses, all of which present a concave turn towards the Indus. There is a hot spring near Sehwun, at the village of Lukkee, situated at the base of these mountains, adjoining one of a cold description: the hot spring is a place of Hindoo pilgrimage, and considered salutary in cutaneous disorders. There is a spring of the same kind in the neighbourhood of Curachee, at the other extremity of the same range, so that similar springs would probably be found in the intervening parts. On this range, and about sixteen miles westward of Majindu, on the Indus, stands the fortified hill of Runna, a place of strength in by-gone years, but, till lately, neglected. The Ameer of Sinde has repaired it at considerable expense; but, from what I could learn, Runna owes its chief strength to the absence of water from the bleak mountains which surround it, and the copious supply within its walls.

CHAP. VIII.

THE INDUS, FROM SEHWUN TO BUKKUR.

~Bukkur, its position.~

The insulated fortress of Bukkur is situated on a rock in the Indus, between the towns of Roree and Sukkur. It is a degree and twenty minutes north of Sehwun, being in latitude 27° 4´; and in longitude it is 56 miles eastward of that town. The distance by the river amounts to 160 miles, and we voyaged it in nine days.

~Indus.~

Between these points the Indus flows in a zigzag course, nearly south-west, till it is impeded by the Lukkee mountains, below Sehwun. The intervening country is richly watered by its meanderings, and, from the lowness of the banks, the tract is disputed by the river and its ramifications, and formed into numerous islets of the richest pasture. On the least approach of the swell, both banks are inundated and irrigated: the superfluous water often forces for itself a passage into the desert by Omercote, and joins the eastern mouth of the Indus or Koree, which passes Cutch. The channel of this watercourse commences above Bukkur, and passes four miles eastward of that place, the ancient city of Alore.

~Fertility of the country.~

About twenty-five miles below Bukkur, the Indus sends to the westward a branch called Nara, that washes the base of the Hala, or mountains of Beloochistan, and, after pursuing a parallel course of many miles, rejoins the river at Sehwun. Its waters are courted, and distributed by canals, which add to the blessings bestowed by nature on this flat and fertile land. The eastern bank, though less favoured than the opposite one, is highly cultivated, and most of the towns and villages stand on the verge of canals, which bounteously distribute the waters of the periodical swell, and attest the industry and assiduity of the inhabitants.

~Current, depth, &c.~

The river but rarely flows here in one undivided stream; with a width of three quarters of a mile, in some places, it preserves a depth of fifteen feet in its shallowest bed. There is nothing approaching to a ford in any part of its course: two hundred boats would be found at the various villages in this part of the river. The declivity on which the Indus runs to the ocean must be gentle, for above the delta it glides sluggishly along at less than two miles and a half in the hour. From Sehwun upwards, the Indus is called “Sira,” which means north, in contradistinction to the southern portion, which is called “Lar.” Mehran is a foreign term, with which the natives of the country are not acquainted.

~Eastern bank of the Indus.~

The immediate vicinity of the Indus is alike destitute of beauty and inhabitants. It is overgrown with tamarisk shrubs, and the villages are purposely raised at the distance of two or three miles, to avoid the calamities of inundation; yet there were an hundred wheels at work on the verge of the river. The eastern bank, from Sehwun to Bukkur, is by far the best peopled portion of Sinde; but the inhabited places which do occur are rather numerous and thriving than large and wealthy: many of them have 500 houses. This territory is subject to the chief of Khyrpoor, and is enriched by a canal forty feet broad, called “Meerwah,” which conducts, by a southerly course, the waters of the Indus from the neighbourhood of Bukkur to a distance of ninety miles, where they are lost in sands, or deposited in the fields. There are numerous other canals beside the one which I have now described; and, while their banks are fringed with villages and agriculture, they likewise afford the means of transporting, by boats, the produce of the soil. In the fair season, when dry, they become the beaten footpaths of the people, and are excellent cart-roads, preferred at all times to the common pathway, which, from the exuberance of vegetation in this country, is generally impeded by bushes.

~Western bank of the Indus.~

The western bank of the Indus, which is intersected by the Nara, is called Chandkoh, from a Belooche tribe of that name, and yields the greater portion of the land revenue of the Hydrabad Ameers. This branch, which leaves the Indus below Bukkur, in the latitude of Larkhana, in its passage to the main stream, forms a small lake, called Munchur, which abounds in fish. Further down, it changes the name of Nara into that of Arrul, before falling into the Indus; it is a narrow river, about 100 yards broad, and only navigable during the inundation. Numerous cuts, the chief of which is the Larkhana canal, extend the cultivation beyond its banks; and, in addition to the swell of the Indus, this district is watered by rills from the lofty mountains to the westward. The lake of Munchur is environed by fields of wheat in the dry season: its waters then partially subside, and leave a rich mould on which good crops are reared.

~Fort of Bukkur.~

The fortress of Bukkur is constructed of brick, on a low rocky island of flint, at a distance of 400 yards from the left bank of the Indus, and about fifty less from the eastern side of the river. Its walls are loop-holed, and flanked with towers, that slope to the water’s edge: they do not exceed twenty feet in height. There is a gateway on each side of the fortification facing Roree and Sukkur, and likewise two wickets. The interior of the works is crowded with houses and mosques, many of which, as well as parts of the rock itself, appear above the wall. In shape it approaches to an oval, and is about 800 yards long, and 300 in diameter. At some places the rock has been pared and scraped; but Bukkur has no strength in its works, and is formidable only from its position. The garrison consists of 100 men of the Khyrpoor Ameer: there are fifteen pieces of artillery, few of which are serviceable. The walls enclose the entire island, with the exception of a small date grove on the northern side, where a landing might be effected without difficulty, from the right bank, and the place would fall by escalade; or it might be previously breached from the bank of the river. There is a depth of four fathoms on both sides of the island; but the eastern channel becomes shallow in the dry season, and is said to have been once forded. The navigation of the Indus at Bukkur is dangerous, from eddies formed under the fortress itself; and several other rocky islets below it; but the watermen are considered the most experienced in Sinde, and, as a boat never attempts to pass up or down without a pilot, there are but few accidents.

~Roree and Sukkur.~

The town of Roree, which faces Bukkur, stands close on the bank of the Indus, on a flinty precipice forty feet in height, over which the houses tower. A road cut in the rock, down to the edge of the river, at a place where it does not approach the precipice, is the point of embarkation for those passing to Bukkur; but a landing would be difficult and dangerous when the river is high. The town of Roree has about 8000 inhabitants, chiefly Hindoos. To the eastward of it, several detached hillocks of flint present a most bleak and barren appearance, but add to the strength of the country; beyond their limits a grove of date trees extends for three or four miles to the southward of the town, shading numerous orchards and gardens. Sukkur, which stands opposite Roree, is about half the size of that town: both have been considerable places in former years, and the ruins of minarets and mosques remain. The bank of the river at Sukkur is not precipitous, and the town runs in from it, instead of extending, like Roree, along its banks. These two towns doubtless owe their position to Bukkur, which, as a protection in troubled times, added to the courage and hopes of the inhabitants.

~Khyrpoor and Larkhana.~

The only modern towns of note which require remark, are Khyrpoor and Larkhana, on the left and right banks of the river, nearly under the same parallel of latitude, both distant from it about fourteen miles, and watered by canals from the Indus. Khyrpoor is a modern town, built by the Talpoor chief, Sohrab, who seized on the northern part of Sinde, after the subversion of the Caloras. It contains a population of about 15,000 souls, but is merely a collection of mud hovels heaped together in narrow lanes. It is destitute of fort or defence, unless a mud wall about a foot thick, which surrounds the house of the Ameer and his family, can be considered in that light. The country near it is flat and bushy, and a low dyke has been drawn round the town, to keep the inundations of the river at a distance. Larkhanu, which stands on the western bank, is the capital of the Pergunna of Chandkoh: it has about 10,000 people, and is the head quarters and rallying point of the Sinde Ameers on their N. W. frontier. It has a small mud fort; and an inefficient train of artillery, about twenty in number, frightens the refractory in the neighbouring mountains, and maintains the peace of Sinde. It is governed by a Nuwab, the individual next in rank to the rulers of the land.

~Productions.~

The productions of Sinde are very similar in different parts of the country, and the same kinds of grain are produced here as at Sehwun. There is a shrub very like the wall-flower called “syar,” that grows in this tract, and the juice of which is considered a valuable medicine for the diseases of children. The wheat-fields are invariably surrounded by a low dyke, like rice ground: tobacco grows very luxuriantly near Roree. The greatest want in Sinde is grass, which is choked by the tamarisk; to which the people set fire, and derive, by such means, an abundant crop. There are but few trees in Sinde; the babool[23], even, does not attain any considerable size; the neem[24] and sirs, so abundant in India, are rarely seen, and the banian[25] tree is a stranger. The shrubs of the thurr, the kejra, khair, bair, akra (swallow-wort), and tamarisk, grow every where. I have already alluded to the date grove of Roree.

FOOTNOTES:

[23] Mimosa Arabica.

[24] Melia Azadarachta.

[25] Ficus religiosa.

CHAP. IX.

THE INDUS FROM BUKKUR, TILL JOINED BY THE PUNJAB RIVERS.

~The Indus.~

The waters of the Punjab, united in one stream, fall into the Indus at Mittun, in the latitude of 28° 55´ north. From this point to Bukkur, the river pursues a south-westerly course, is direct in its channel, but frequently divided by sand banks. Various narrow, crooked branches also diverge from the parent stream, retaining a depth from eight to fifteen feet of water, which are navigated by boats ascending the Indus, in preference to the great river itself. They extend throughout the whole intervening space which I have now under review.

~Its breadth and depth.~

The Indus is widely spread in many parts of its course above Bukkur. It often exceeds a thousand yards in breadth, and at Mittun was found to be even double that width. The depth was not proportionally diminished: in some places it exceeded sixteen fathoms, and four fathoms were to be found every where; which, it is to be recollected, was at a season when the waters are lowest. There was no greater acceleration of current than in the lower parts of the river, and the serpentine course of the narrows just mentioned proves the great flatness of this country.

~Boats of the Indus.~

From Bukkur the Indus is navigated by a different description of boat from the Doondee, called “zohruk,” and admirably adapted to the transport of troops, both horse and foot, from being as roomy before as astern: they are not numerous, but we met ninety-five of them in our voyage to Mittun. We made the passage in these boats from Bukkur to Mittun in nine days, a distance of 170 miles by the river.

~Country on its banks.~

The country which this portion of the Indus traverses is of the richest nature, particularly on the eastern bank, where it is flooded from innumerable channels, which are generally cut in those parts of the river running east and west, that the water may be thrown south into the interior. On the right bank, about twenty-six miles above Bukkur, a navigable canal called the “Sinde,” the work of the emperors, conducts a great body of water to Shikarpoor and Noushera, and joins that of Larkhanu. On that side of the river the cultivation is limited, as the districts of Boordgah, Ken, and Moozarka, which succeed each other, are peopled by wandering and unsettled Belooche tribes, who lead a pastoral and plundering life. The territory on both sides chiefly belongs to Sinde, for the boundary line stretches, on the right bank, to within fifteen miles of Mittun, and adjoining the dominions of the Seik; but it overlaps that on the left, which terminates lower down in the latitude of 28° 33´, twenty-five miles above Subzul. This stripe of land on the left bank forms a portion of the territories of the Daoodpootra chief, Bhawul Khan; and the district immediately below that chief’s territory in Sinde is named Oobaro, and inhabited by the Duhrs and Muhrs, who are the aborigines of the country, and known by the name of Sindees.

~Shikarpoor, Subzul, and other places.~

The town of Shikarpoor, which stands thirty-two miles from Bukkur, is by far the largest in this tract, indeed in Sinde, for in size it exceeds the capital, Hydrabad. The country around it is very productive, but in the change of masters, from the Afghans to the Sindians, its revenue has deteriorated to half a lac of rupees annually: the government is oppressive. It still carries on an extensive inland trade, for the greater portion of its merchants and people are Hindoos, and have agents in the surrounding countries. Shikarpoor is surrounded by a mud wall, and the governor of the place holds an important post, and with it the title of Nuwab. This town and district fell into the hands of the Sindians about eight years ago, and is the only unsettled portion of their country, the Afghan family to whom it belonged making frequent attempts to recover it. The frontier town of Subzul on the left bank of the Indus, and twelve miles inland, is about one fifth the size of Shikarpoor: it contains a population of 5000 souls, and like it is surrounded by a mud wall. There are no other places of note but these which I have mentioned. Mittun, or, as it is sometimes called, Mittun Kote, has not a population of 1500 people, and its fort has been demolished.

~Swell of the Indus.~

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.~