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 lYL
 
 TRAVELS 
 
 INTO 
 
 BOKHARA, 
 
 VOL. Ill,
 
 London : 
 
 Printed l)y A. SroxriswooDE, 
 
 Ne\v-St!C'(.'t-Squarc,
 
 
 ■-I 
 
 ft i^i
 
 TRAVELS 
 
 BOKHARA; 
 
 BEING THE ACCOUNT OF 
 
 A JOURNEY FROM INDIA TO CABOOL, TARTARY, 
 AND PERSIA; 
 
 ALSO, NARRATIVE OF 
 
 A VOYAGE ON THE INDUS, 
 
 FROM THE SEA TO LAHORE, 
 
 WITH PRESENTS FROM THE KIMG OF GREAT BRITAIV ; 
 
 PERFORMED UNDER THE ORDERS OF THE SUPREME GOVERNMENT 
 OF INDIA, IN THE YEARS 1831, 1832, AND 1833. 
 
 BY 
 
 LIEUT. ALEX'^ BURNES, F.R.S. 
 
 OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY'S SERVICE ; 
 
 AST POLITICAL RESIDENT IN CUTCH, AND LATE ON A MISSION TO 
 
 THE COURT OF LAHORE. 
 
 " Pel" syrtt's iter ;ostiiosas, 
 
 jiir iii/iosjiifalem 
 Ccnicti.<uin, vel quce locu fubidonus 
 
 l.umhit Ili/daspes." Hon. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. III. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 
 
 MDCCCXXXIV.
 
 OK 
 
 fTCS 
 V.5 
 
 THIS 
 
 THIRD VOLUME 
 
 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA, 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 AN ACCOUNT OF THE RIVER INDUS, 
 
 IS INSCRIBED TO 
 
 THE MEMORY OF THE LATE 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SIR JOHN MALCOLM, G.C.B. 
 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
 IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 A 3 
 
 819906
 
 NARRATIVE 
 
 OF A 
 
 VOYAGE BY THE RIVER INDUS, 
 
 FROM THE SEA TO 
 
 THE COURT OF LAHORE IN THE PUNJAB, 
 
 WITH PRESENTS FROM THE KING OF GREAT BRITAIN; 
 COMPRISING 
 
 AN ACCOUNT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE MISSION, 
 
 AND A 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE RIVER INDUS, 
 
 WITH CURSORY REMARKS ON THE REMAINS OF ANTIQUITY NEAR THAT 
 CLASSICAL AND CELEBRATED STREAM. 
 
 A 1-
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I WAS employed as an officer of the Qiiarter- 
 master-general*s department, for several years, in 
 the province of Cutch. In the conrse of en- 
 quiries into its geography and history, I visited 
 the eastern mouth of the Indus, to which the 
 country adjoins, as well as that singular tract 
 called the " Run," into which that river flows. 
 The extension of our knowledge in that quarter 
 served only to excite further curiosity, in which 
 I was stimulated by Lieut-General Sir Thomas 
 Bradford, then Commander-in-Chief of the Bom- 
 bay army. That officer directed his views, in a 
 most enlightened manner, to the acquisition of 
 every information regarding a frontier so im- 
 portant to Britain as that of north-western India. 
 Encouraged by such approbation, for which I 
 am deeply grateful, I volunteered my services,
 
 X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in the year 1829, to traverse the deserts between 
 India and, the Indus, and finally, endeavour to 
 descend that river to the sea. Such a journey 
 involved matters of political moment ; but the 
 government of Bombay was then held by an in- 
 dividual distinguished above all others, by zeal 
 in the cause of Asiatic geography and literature. 
 Sir John Malcolm despatched me at once, in 
 prosecution of the design, and was pleased to 
 remove me to the political branch of the service, 
 observing, that I should be then invested " with 
 " influence with the rulers, through whose 
 " country I travelled, that would tend greatly 
 " to allay that jealousy and alarm, which miglit 
 *' impede, if they did not arrest, the progress of 
 *' my enquiries." 
 
 In the year 1830, I entered the desert, ac- 
 companied by Lieut. James Holland, of the 
 Quartermaster-general's department, an officer 
 ably qualified to assist me. After reaching 
 Jaysulmeer, we were overtaken by an express 
 from the Supreme Government of India, desiring 
 us to return, since at that time '' it was deemed
 
 INTRODUCTION. xi 
 
 " inexpedient to incur the hazard of exciting 
 " the alarm and jealousy of the rulers of Sinde, 
 " and other foreign states, by the prosecution of 
 " the design." This disappointment, then most 
 acutely felt, was dissipated in the following year, 
 by the arrival of presents from the King of Great 
 Britain for the ruler of Lahore, coupled, at the 
 same time, with the desire that such an oppor- 
 tunity for acquiring correct information of the 
 Indus should not be overlooked. The following 
 work contains the narrative of that mission, 
 which I conducted by the Indus to Lahore. 
 The information which I collected, relative to 
 Jaysulmeer and the countries on the N. W. fron- 
 tier of India, has just been published in the 
 Transactions of the Royal Geographical Society 
 of London. 
 
 London, June 7. 1834.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE THIRD VOLUME, 
 
 Page 
 IXTRODUCTIOX - - ... - ix 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 Arrival of presents from the King of England — Inform- 
 ation on the Indus desired — Suggestions for procuring 
 it — Appointed to conduct the Mission to Lahore — 
 Departure from Cutch — Ability of the Navigators — - 
 Arrival in the Indus — Phenomena — Scenes of Alex- 
 ander's Campaigns — Ebb and flow of the Tides — 
 Correctness of Quintus Curtius — Visited by the Au- 
 thorities — Forced out of the Country — Correspond- 
 ence — Return to the Indus — Imminent Danger — 
 Starved out of the Country — Third Voyage to the 
 Indus — Land in Sinde — Negotiations — Advance on 
 Tatta — Sindian Policy and Reasoning — Successful 
 Negotiations - - - - - 2 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Tatta described — Hinglaj, a famous Pilgrimage — Re- 
 turn to the Sea-coast — Notions of the People — 
 Alexander's Journey — Embarkation on the River — 
 Anecdote — Strictness of Religious Observances — 
 Pulla Fish — Arrival at Hydrabad — Welcome of the 
 Rulers — Presentation at Court — Sindian ^Meanness — 
 Audience of Leave — Scenery near the Capital - SO
 
 XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Depai'ture from Hydrabad — Sehwun — Crew of the 
 Boats — A Sindian Song — Sehwun described — 
 Reasons for supposing it to be the Territory of the 
 Sindomanni — Pilgrimage — High Antiquity of the 
 Castle of Sehwun — Congratulations from the Ruler 
 of Khyrpoor — Address that Personage — Character 
 of the People — The Indus — Visited by the Vizier of 
 Sinde — Arrival at Khyrpoor — Audience with the 
 Chief — Character of the Sindian Rulers — Arrival at 
 Bukkur — Amusing Predictions — Anecdote of an 
 Afghan — Mihmandar — Alore described — Supposi- 
 tion of its being the Kingdom of Musicanus - - 51 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Quit Bukkur — Curiosity of the People — Reach the 
 Frontiers of Sinde — Farewell Letters — Creditable 
 Behaviour in our Escort — Fish Diet — Costume — 
 Enter Bhawul Khan's Country — Quit the Indus at 
 Mittun — Effects of this River on the Climate — En- 
 ter the Chenab or Acesines — Incident at Ooch — Ar- 
 rival of Bhawul Khan — Interview with him — 
 Merchants of Bhawulpoor — History of Ooch — 
 Visited by Bhawul Khan — Mountains — Pass the 
 Sutlcge — Peculiarity in the Water of two Rivers — 
 Simplicity of the Mihmandar — Enter Runjeet Sing's 
 Country — Honourable Reception — Exhibition of the 
 Dray-horses — Orders of the Court - - 81 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Voyage in the Country of the Sciks — Shoojuabad — 
 Mooltan ; its Antiquity — Probably the Capital of 
 the Malli — Public Buildings — Religious Intolerance 
 — Climate — Phenomena — Date-trees ; Traditions 
 of their introduction — Quit Mooltan — Peloo Shrub
 
 CONTENTS, XV 
 
 Page 
 
 — Arrangements for our Advance so Lahore — Alex- 
 ander the Great — Enter the Ravee, or Hydriiotes — 
 Tolumba — Visit the Hydaspes — Description of its 
 confluence with the Chenab — Probable identity of a 
 Modern Tribe with the Cathaei — Ruins of Shorkote 
 — Valuable Bactrian Coin found at it — Birds and 
 Reptiles — Heat — Ruins of Harappa — A Tiger 
 Hunt — Seik Courage — Intelligence of the Mihman- 
 dar — Letter and Deputation from Lahore — Seik 
 Females ---... 108 
 
 CHAP. VL 
 
 Enter Lahore — Presentation to Runjeet Sing — De- 
 livery of the Presents — Copy of a Letter from the 
 King of England — Stud — Hall of Audience — Mi- 
 litary Spectacle — Conversations of Runjeet Sing — 
 Amazons — French Officers — City of Lahore — Tomb 
 of Juhangeer — Shalimar of Shah Jehan — Horse Ar- 
 tillery Review — Character of Runjeet Sing — Au- 
 dience of Leave — Superb Jewels — Dresses of Honour 
 
 — Runjeet Sing's Letter to the King — Quit Lahore 
 — Umritsir ; its Temples — Reach the Beas, or Hypha- 
 sis — Fete of a Seik Chieftain — Reach the Sutlege — 
 Antiquities of the Punjab — Arrival at Lodiana — 
 Exiled Kings of Cabool — Visit them — Journey to 
 the Himalaya Mountains — Interview with the Go- 
 vernor-general — Acknowledgments of his Lordship 148 
 
 MEMOIR ON THE INDUS AND ITS TRIBUTARY 
 RIVERS IN THE PUNJAB. 
 
 Notice regarding the Map of the Indus - - 193 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 A general view of the Indus - - - - 199
 
 Xvi CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Page 
 A comparison of the Indus and Ganges — Propriety of 
 the comparison — Size of the Ganges — Of the Indus 
 
 — Compared — Slope of the Indus — Conclusions 
 from it — Tides in both Rivers ... 203 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 ON SINDE. 
 
 Extent of the Country — Chiefs and Revenue — Power 
 and Conquests — Military Strength — Connection with 
 Persia — External Policy — Internal State — Hydra- 
 bad Family — Khyrpoor Family — Meerpoor Family 
 
 — Condition of the People — Population - -212 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 ON THE MOUTHS OF THE INDUS. 
 
 Division of the Indus into two gi*eat branches below 
 Tatta — Sata — Buggar — Delta ; its extent — Dan- 
 gers in navigating it — Eleven Mouths of the Indus — 
 The Pittee — Pieteeanee, Jooa^ Reechel, Hujamree — 
 Khedywaree, Gora, or Wanyanee — Khaeer, Mull, 
 Seer — Koree, or Eastern Mouth — Advantage of these 
 to Sinde — Coast of Sinde — Tides of the Indus — 
 Curachee Seaport — Boats of the Indus; Dingoes and 
 Doondees — Indus adapted for Steam-vessels — Mili- 
 tary remarks on the River . - - - 228 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 ON THE DELTA OF THE INDUS. 
 
 Inundation of the Delta — Extent — Neglected State — 
 Towns — Population — Jokea Tribe — Fisheries — 
 Animals — Productions — Climate - - - 249
 
 CONTENTS. XVll 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 THE INDUS FROM TATTA TO HYDRABAD. 
 
 Page 
 
 Sand-banks — Course of the River — Towns — Country 
 Supplies — Trade — Means of improving it — Boats; 
 their Deficiency ----- 255 
 
 CHAP. VH. 
 
 THE INDUS FROM HYDRABAD TO SEHWUN. 
 
 Course and Depth — Fulailee River — Current — Im- 
 portance of this Part of the River — Crossing the 
 Indus — Navigation of it ~ Towns — Sehwun — 
 Mountains of Lukkee - . - . 260 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 THE INDUS FROM SEHWUN TO BUKKUR. 
 
 Position of Bukkur — FertiHty of the Country — Current 
 — Eastern Bank of the Indus — Western Bank — For- 
 tress of Bukkur — Roree and Sukkur — Alore ; its 
 Antiquity — Khyrpoor and Larkhanu — Productions 
 of the Soil - - - - - - 267 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 THE INDUS FROM BUKKUR, TILL JOINED BY THE PUNJAB 
 RIVERS. 
 
 Breadth and Depth — Boats — Country — Shikarpoor 
 and Subzul — Swell of the Indus — Tribes on the 
 River - - - - - - 275 
 
 VOL. III. a
 
 XVIU CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 THE INDUS FROM MITTUN TO ATTOK. 
 
 PagR 
 Description of the River — Dera Ghazee Khan — Line 
 of Commerce — Military Expeditions; why they 
 avoided the Indus — Bridging the Indus - - 281 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 THE CHENAB, OR ACESINES, JOINED BY THE SUTI.EGE, OR 
 HESUDRUS. 
 
 Chenab — Junction — Banks of the Chenab — Ooch ; its 
 Productions . _ _ . . 286 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 ON BHAWUL khan's COUNTRY. 
 
 Limits — Nature of the Country — Its Power and Im- 
 portance — Daoodpootras ; their Descent — The 
 reigning Family — Trade of Bhawulpoor - - 290 
 
 CHAP. XIIL 
 
 THE PUNJAB. 
 
 Extent of Runjeet Sing's Country — Clianges in the 
 Seik (Jovernment — Probable Consequences of the 
 Ruler's Death — His Policy — Sirdars — Revenues of 
 the Punjab — Military Resources and Strength — 
 Cities .--... 295 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 THE CHENAB, OR ACESINES, JOINED BY THE RAVEE, OR 
 IIYDRAOTES. 
 
 Chenab Described — Boats on it — Crossing the River 
 — Province of Mooltan - - - -300
 
 CONTENTS. XIX 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 THE RAVEE, OR HYDRAOTES, BELOW LAHORE. 
 
 Page 
 
 The Ravee — Its tortuous Course and difficult Naviga- 
 tion — Towns — Lahore — Umritsirr Toolumba - 305 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 A MEMOIR ON THE EASTERN BRANCH OF THE INDUS, 
 AND THE RUN OF CUTCH. 
 
 Cutch ; its Position — Alterations in its Western Coast, 
 from an Earthquake — Damming of the Eastern Branch 
 of the Indus — Injuries thereby — Dreadful Earth- 
 quake of 1819 — Effects of it — Raises a natural Mound 
 
 — Overflow of the Indus in 1826 — Its Effects on the 
 Eastern Branch described — Opinions — Subsequent 
 Alterations of the Indus — Run of Cutch described 
 
 — Mirage — Traditions regarding the Run — Cor- 
 roboration of them — Effects of the Earthquake on the 
 Run — Flooding of the Run — Configuration of the 
 Run Borders — Run, supposed to have been an Inland 
 Sea — Note in corroboration of the Opinion — Note on 
 Sindree * - - - - - 309
 
 NARRATIVE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 In the year 1830, a ship arrived at Bombay, Arrival of 
 with a present of five horses from the King f/om"he 
 of Great Britain to Maharaja Runjeet Sing, ^'"f°^ 
 the Seik chieftain at Lahore, accompanied by *o«- R""- 
 
 . . . jeet Sing 
 
 a letter of friendship from his majesty's mi- at Lahore, 
 nister * to that prince. At the recommendation 
 of Major-General Sir John Malcohn, then go- 
 vernor of Bombay, I had the honour of being 
 nominated by the Supreme Government of India 
 to proceed on a mission to the Seik capital, with 
 these presents, by way of the river Indus. I 
 held at that time a political situation in Cutch, 
 the only portion of the British dominions in 
 India which borders on the Indus. 
 
 Tlie authorities, both in England and India, informa- 
 contem})lated that much information of a poli- indu°sVe-^ 
 tical and geographical nature might be acquired ^"^'-^•''t'^'^- 
 in such a journey. The knowledge which we 
 possessed of the Indus was vague and unsatis- 
 
 * Lord Ellenborougli, tlien President of the India Board. 
 VOL. III. B
 
 2 
 
 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Arrange- 
 ments, 
 
 factory, and the only accounts of a great portion 
 of its course were drawn from Arrian, Curtius, 
 and the other historians of Alexander's expedi- 
 tion. Sir John Malcolm thus minuted in the 
 records of government, in August, 1830 : — 
 *' The navigation of the Indus is important in 
 
 * every point of view ; yet we have no inform- 
 ' ation that can be depended upon on this sub- 
 
 * ject, except of about seventy miles from Tatta 
 ' to Hyderabad. Of the present state of the 
 ' Delta we have native accounts, and the only 
 
 * facts which can be deduced are, that the dif- 
 ' ferent streams of the river below Tatta, often 
 ' change their channels, and that the sands of 
 ' all are constantly shifting ; but, notwithstand- 
 ' ing these difficulties, boats of a small draft of 
 
 * water can always go up the principal of them. 
 
 * With regard to the Indus above Hyderabad, 
 ' there can be no doubt of its being, as it has 
 ' been for more than two thousand years, navi- 
 ' gable far up." 
 
 In addition therefore to the complimentary 
 mission on which I was to be employed, I had 
 my attention most specially directed to the ac- 
 quisition of full and complete information re- 
 garding the Indus. This was a matter of no 
 easy accomplishment, as the Ameers, or rulers 
 of Sinde, had ever evinced the utmost jealousy 
 of Europeans, and none of the missions wliich
 
 CHAP. I. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 3 
 
 visited the country had been permitted to proceed 
 beyond their capital of Hyderabad. The river 
 Indus, hkewise, in its course to the ocean, tra- 
 verses the territories of many lawless and bar- 
 barous tribes, from whom both opposition and 
 insult might be dreaded. On these matters much 
 valuable advice was derived from Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Henry Pottinger, political resident in 
 Cutch, and well known to the w^orld for his 
 adventurous travels in Beloochistan. He sug- 
 gested that it might allay the fears of the Sinde 
 government, if a large carriage were sent with 
 the horses, since the size and bulk of it would 
 render it obv-ious that the mission could then 
 only proceed by w^ater. This judicious pro- 
 posal was immediately adopted by government ; 
 nor was it in this case alone that the experience 
 of Colonel Pottinger availed me, as it will be 
 seen that he evinced the most unwearied zeal 
 throughout the difficulties which presented them- 
 selves, and contributed, in a great degree, to the 
 ultimate success of the undertaking. 
 
 That a better colour miglit also be given to my The escort, 
 deputation by a route so unfrequented, I was made 
 the bearer of presents to the Ameers of Sinde, 
 and at the same time charged with communica- 
 tions of a political nature to them. These re- 
 ferred to some excesses committed by their 
 subjects on the British frontier ; but I was in- 
 
 B 2
 
 4 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. I. 
 
 formed that neither that, nor any other negotia- 
 tion, was to detain me in my way to Lahore. 
 The authorities in England had desired that a 
 suitable escort might accompany the party ; but 
 though the design was not free from some de- 
 gree of danger, it was evident that no party of 
 any moderate detail could afford the necessary 
 protection. I preferred, therefore, the absence 
 of any of our troops, and resolved to trust to the 
 people of the country ; believing that, through 
 their means, I might form a link of communi- 
 cation with the inhabitants. Sir John Malcolm 
 observed, in his letter to the Governor General, 
 that " the guard will be people of the country 
 *' he visits, and those familiar with it. Lieut. 
 " Burnes prefers such, on the justest grounds, to 
 " any others ; finding they facilitate his pro- 
 *' gress, while they disarm that jealousy which 
 " the appearance of any of our troops excites." 
 Nor were my sentiments erroneous ; since a 
 guard of wild Beloochees protected us in Sinde, 
 and allayed suspicion. 
 Appointed When thcsc preliminary arrangements had 
 the mis',ion bccu complctcd, I rcceivcd my final instructions 
 to . loie. -^ ^ secret letter from the cliicf secretary at 
 Bombay. I was informed that " the depth of 
 " water in the ludus, the direction and breadth 
 *' of the stream, its facilities for steam navigation, 
 *' the supply of fuel on its banks, and the con-
 
 CHAP. I. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 
 
 '* dition of the princes and people who possess 
 " the country bordermg on it, are all points of 
 ** the highest interest to government ; but your 
 *' own knowledge and reflection will suggest to 
 ** you various other particulars, in which full 
 " information is highly desirable ; and the slow 
 *' progress of the boats up the Indus will, it is 
 *' hoped, give you every opportunity to pursue 
 " your researches." I was supplied with all the 
 requisite surveying instruments, and desii'ed to 
 draw bills on honour for my expenses. In a 
 spirit also purely characteristic of the distin- 
 guished individual who then held the govern- 
 ment, I received the thanks of Sir John Malcolm 
 for my previous services ; had my attention 
 drawn to the confidence now reposed in me ; 
 and was informed that my knowledge of the 
 neiffhbourins: countries and the character of 
 their inhabitants, with the local impressions by 
 which I was certain to be aided, gave me adv^an- 
 tages which no other individual enjoyed, and 
 had led to my selection ; nor could I but be 
 stimulated by the manner in which Sir John 
 Malcolm addressed the Governor General of 
 India : — '* I shall be very confident of any 
 " plan Lieut. Burnes undertakes in this quarter 
 *' of India ; provided a latitude is given him to 
 " act as circumstances may dictate, I dare 
 " pledge myself that the public interests will be 
 
 B 3
 
 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. I. 
 
 promoted. Having had my attention much 
 directed, and not without success, during 
 more than thirty years, to the exploring and 
 surveying countries in Asia, I have gained 
 some experience, not only in the qualities and 
 habits of the individuals by whom such enter- 
 prises can be undertaken, but of the pretexts 
 and appearances necessary to give them suc- 
 cess." A young active and intelligent officer. 
 Ensign J. D. Leckie, of the 22d Regiment N. I., 
 was also nominated to accompany me ; a sur- 
 veyor, a native doctor, and suitable establish- 
 ments of servants were likewise entertained. 
 Departure We Sailed from Mandivee in Cutch witli a 
 fleet of five native boats, on the morning of the 
 2lst of January, 1831. On the day succeeding 
 our departure, we had cleared the Gulf of Cutch. 
 The danger in navigating it has been exagger- 
 ated. The eddies and dirty appearance of the 
 sea, which boils up and bvd)bles like an effer- 
 vescing draught, present a frightful aspect to a 
 stranger, but the natives traverse it at all seasons. 
 It is tolerably free from rocks, and the Catch 
 shore is sandy with little surf, and presents in- 
 ducements for vessels in distress to run in upon 
 the land. We passed a boat of fifty tons, which 
 had escaped shipwreck, with a very valuable 
 cargo from Mozambique, the preceding year, by 
 this expedient.
 
 CHAP. I. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 7 
 
 Among the timid navigators of the East, the Ability of 
 mariner of Cutch is truly adventurous ; he voy- navigators, 
 ages to Arabia, the Red Sea, and the coast of 
 Zanguebar in Africa, bravely stretching out on 
 the ocean after quitting his native shore. The 
 " moallim" or pilot determines his position by 
 an altitude at noon or by the stars at night, with 
 a rude quadrant. Coarse charts depict to him the 
 bearings of his destination, and, by long-tried 
 seamanship, he weathers, in an undecked boat 
 with a huge lateen sail, the dangers and tornadoes 
 of the Indian Ocean. This use of the quadrant 
 was taught by a native of Cutch, who made a 
 voyage to Holland in the middle of last century, 
 and returned, '* in a green old age," to enlighten 
 his country with the arts and sciences of Europe. 
 The most substantial advantages introduced by 
 this improver of his country were the arts of 
 navigating and naval architecture, in which the 
 inhabitants of Cutch excel. For a trifling re- 
 ward, a Cutch mariner will put to sea in the 
 rainy season, and the adventurous feeling is 
 encouraged by the Hindoo merchants of Man- 
 divee, an enterprising and speculating body of 
 men. 
 
 On the evening of the 24th we had cleared Arrival in 
 the Gulf of Cutch, and anchored in the mouth of 
 the Koree, the eastern, though forsaken, branch 
 of the Indus, which separates Sinde from 
 
 B 4
 
 Coast of 
 Sinde. 
 
 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. I. 
 
 Cutch. The Koree leads to Luepiit, and is 
 the largest of all the mouths of the river, having 
 become a branch of the sea as the fresh water 
 has been turned from its channel. There are 
 many spots on its banks hallowed in the estim- 
 ation of the people. Cotasir and Narainseer are 
 places of pilgrimage to the Hindoo, and stand 
 upon it and the western promontory of Cutch. 
 Opposite them lies the cupola of Rao Kanoje, 
 beneath which there rests a saint, revered by the 
 Mahommedans. To defraud this personage of 
 frankincense, grain, oil, and money, in navi- 
 gating the Koree, would entail, it is superstitiously 
 believed, certain shipwreck. In the reverence we 
 recognise the dangers and fear of the mariner. 
 There is a great contrast between the shores of 
 Sinde and Cutch ; the one is flat and depressed, 
 nearly to a level with the sea, while the hills of 
 Cutch rise in wild and volcanic cones, which 
 meet the eye long after the coast has faded 
 from the view. We gladly exchanged this 
 grandeur for the dull monotony of the shores of 
 Sinde, unvaried, as it is, by any other signs of 
 vegetation than stunted shrubs, whose domain is 
 invaded by each succeeding tide. 
 
 We followed the Sinde coast for four or five 
 days, passing all the mouths of the Indus, eleven 
 in number, the principal of which we entered 
 and examined, without even the observation of the
 
 .^ 
 
 a^- C- 
 
 
 John Miirray All)eiiuufleS'-i854..
 
 CHAP. I. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 
 
 inhabitants. There was little indication of our 
 being near the estuary of so great a river, for the 
 water was only fresh a mile off shore from the 
 Gora, or largest mouth of the Indus ; and the 
 junction of the river water with that of the 
 sea was formed without violence, and might 
 be now and then discovered by a small streak 
 of foam and a gentle ripple. The number and 
 subdivision of the branches diminish, no doubt, 
 the velocity as well as the volume of the Indus ; 
 but it would be supposed that so vast a river 
 would exercise an influence in the sea far from its 
 embouchure ; and, I believe, this is really the 
 case in the months of July and August, during 
 the inundation. The waters of the Indus are so 
 loaded with mud and clay, as to discolour the sea 
 for about three miles from the land. Opposite 
 its different mouths numberless brown specks 
 are to be seen, called *'pit" by the natives. 
 I found them, on examination, to be round 
 globules, filled with water, and easily burst. 
 When placed on a plate, they were about the 
 size of a shilling, and covered by a brown skin. 
 These specks are considered by the pilots to de- 
 note the presence of fresh water among the salt j 
 for they believe them to be detached from the 
 sand banks, by the meeting of the sea and the 
 river. They give a particularly dirty and oily 
 appearance to the water.
 
 10 
 
 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. I. 
 
 Anchor on At iiie^ht-fliU on the '28th, we cast anchor in 
 
 the Indus. ° 
 
 the western mouth of the Indus, called the 
 Pittee. The coast of Sinde is not distinguish- 
 able a league from the shore. There is not 
 a tree to be seen, though the mirage some- 
 times magnifies the stunted shrubs of the Delta, 
 and gives them a tall and verdant appearance ; 
 a delusion that vanishes with a nearer approach. 
 From our anchorage, a white fortified tomb, in 
 the Bay of Curachee, was visible north-west of us ; 
 and beyond it lay a rocky range of black moun- 
 tains, called Hala, the Irus of Nearchus. I here 
 read from Arrian and Quintus Curtius the pas- 
 sages of this memorable scene in Alexander's 
 expedition, the mouth from which his admiral, 
 Nearchus, took his departure from Sinde. The 
 river did not exceed 500 yards in width, in- 
 stead of the 200 stadia (furlongs) of Arrian, 
 and the twelve miles, whicli more modern ac- 
 counts had assigned to it, on the authority of 
 the natives. But there was still some resem- 
 blance to the Greek author ; for the hills over 
 Curachee form witli the intervening coun- 
 try a semicircular bay, in which an island and 
 some sand-banks might lead a stranger to be- 
 lieve, that the ocean was yet distant. " Alex- 
 " ander sent two long galleys before the fleet, 
 " towards the ocean, to view a certain island, 
 " which they called Cillutas, where his pilots
 
 CHAP. I. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. H 
 
 " told him he might go on shore before he en- 
 " tered the main ocean ; and when they assured 
 " him that it was a large island, and had commo- 
 " dious harbours, besides plenty of fresh water, 
 *' he commanded the rest of the fleet to put in 
 " there, while he himself passed out to sea." 
 The island, as it now exists, is scantily covered 
 with herbage, and destitute of fresh water. In 
 vain I sought an identity of name in the Indian 
 dialect, for it was nameless ; but it presented a 
 safe place of anchorage ; and, as I looked upon 
 it, I could not but think it was that Cillutas 
 where the hero of Macedon, " drawing up his 
 " fleet under a promontory, sacrificed to the 
 *' gods, as he had received orders from Ammon." 
 Here it was, too, that Nearchus caused " a canal 
 " to be dug, of about five stadia in length, where 
 " the earth was easiest to remove ; as soon as 
 *' the tide began to rise they got their whole 
 *' fleet safe through that passage into the ocean." 
 The Greek admiral only availed himself of the 
 experience of the people ; for it is yet customary 
 among the natives of Sinde to dig shallow 
 canals, and leave the tides or river to deepen 
 them ; and a distance of five stadia, or half a 
 mile, would call for no great labour. It is not 
 to be supposed that sand-banks will continue 
 unaltered for centuries ; but I may observe, that 
 there was a large bank contiguous to the island.
 
 12 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. I. 
 
 between it and which a passage Hke that of 
 Nearchus might have been dug with the great- 
 est advantage. *' Having sailed from the mouth 
 " of the Indus, Nearchus came to a sandy island, 
 " called Crocola, and proceeded on his voyage, 
 " having the mountain Irus on his right hand." 
 The topography is here more accurate : two 
 sandy islands, called Andry, lie off Curachee, 
 at a distance of eighteen miles from the Indus ; 
 and it is worthy of remark, that that portion of 
 the Delta through which the Pittee runs, is yet 
 denominated " Crocola" by the natives. 
 Ebb and But the cbb and flow of the tides were an 
 
 flow of the . PI • \ 1 1 1 
 
 tides. object or the greatest surprise to Alexanders 
 
 fleet, and we could soon discover the cause of 
 their astonishment, for two of our boats stranded 
 at a spot where, half an hour previously, there 
 had been abundance of water. The tides inun- 
 date the country with great impetuosity, and re- 
 cede as rapidly, so that if a vessel be not in the 
 channel, she will be left on shore. Arrian ob- 
 serves, that " while they continued in that sta- 
 " tion, an accident happened which astonished 
 *' them ; namely, the ebbing and flowing of the 
 " waters, like as in the great ocean, inasmuch 
 *' that the ships were left upon dry ground, 
 " which Alexander and his friends never having 
 " perceived before, were so much the more 
 " surprised. But what increased their astonish-
 
 CHAP. I. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 13 
 
 • 
 
 " ment was, tliat the tide returning a short 
 *' while after began to heave the ships, so that 
 i( * * * gome of them were swept away by 
 *' the fury of the tide, and dashed to pieces, 
 " and others driven against the bank, and de- 
 *' stroyed."* 
 
 A graphic and animated description of these Quintus 
 
 n ... Curtius's 
 
 disasters of the Greeks has been Hkewise given description 
 
 T r^ • r^ ' 1 ' 1 of Alexan- 
 
 by Qumtus Lurtms, and is nowhere more re- der'sdis. 
 markable than in the allusion to the *' knolls" 
 rising above the river like " little islands," for 
 at full tide the mangrove shrubs present exactly 
 that appearance ; but let the author speak in his 
 own words : — 
 
 " About the third hour, the ocean, according 
 " to a regular alternation, began to flow in furi- 
 *' ously, driving back the river. The river, at 
 " first, resisted ; then impressed with a new 
 *' force, rushed upwards with more impetuosity 
 " than torrents descend a precipitous channel. 
 " The mass on board, unacquainted with the na- 
 " ture of the tide, saw only prodigies and symbols 
 " of the wrath of the gods. Ever and anon the 
 *' sea swelled ; and on plains, recently dry, de- 
 " scended a diffused flood. The vessels lifted 
 " from their stations, and the whole fleet dis- 
 " persed ; those who had debarked, in terror 
 " and astonishment at the calamity, ran from all 
 
 * Arrian, lib. vi. c. 19.
 
 14 
 
 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 quarters towards the ships. But tumultuous 
 liurry is slow. * * * Vessels dash together, 
 and oars are by turns snatched away, to impel 
 other galleys. A spectator would not imagine 
 a fleet carrying the same army ; but hostile 
 navies commencing a battle. * * * * Now 
 the tide had inundated all the fields skirting 
 the river, only tops of knolls rising above it 
 like little islands ; to these, from the evacuated 
 ships, tlie majority swam in consternation. 
 The dispersed fleet was partly riding in deep 
 water, where the land was depressed into 
 dells ; and partly resting on shoals, where the 
 tide had covered elevated ground ; suddenly 
 breaks on the Macedonians a new alarm more 
 vivid than the former. The sea began to ebb ; 
 the deluge, with a violent drain, to retreat 
 into the fritli, disclosing tracts just before 
 deeply buried. Unbayed, the ships pitched 
 some upon their prows, others upon their 
 sides. 
 
 The fields were strewed with baggage, 
 arms, loose planks, and fragments of oars. The 
 soldiers scarcely believed what they suffered 
 and witnessed. Shipwrecks on dry land, the 
 sea in a river. Nor yet ended their unhappi- 
 ness ; for ignorant that the speedy return of 
 the tide would set their ships afloat, they pre- 
 dicted to themselves famine and death. Ter- 
 rifying monsters, too, left by tlie waves, were
 
 CHAP. I. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 15 
 
 " gliding about at random." Oar little fleet did 
 not encounter such calamity and alarm as that 
 of Nearchus ; for, in Q. Curtius's words, — 
 " by a gradual diffusion, the inundation began 
 *' to raise the ships, presently flooding all the 
 " fields, set the fleet in motion." 
 
 I shall not now dwell on these subjects, Reflec- 
 though eminently interesting ; but, in the course 
 of my narrative, I shall endeavour to identify 
 the modern Indus with the features of remoter 
 times. If successful in the enquiry, we shall 
 add to our amusement, and the interest of the 
 chronicles themselves. It is difficult to describe 
 the enthusiasm one feels on first beholding the 
 scenes which have exercised the genius of Alex- 
 ander. That hero has reaped the immortality 
 which he so much desired, and transmitted the 
 history of his conquests, allied with his name, to 
 posterity. A town or a river, which lies on his 
 route, has acquired a celebrity that time serves 
 only to increase ; and, while we gaze on the 
 Indus, we connect ourselves, at least in as- 
 sociation, with the ages of distant glory. Nor 
 can I pass over such feelings without observing, 
 that they are productive of the most solid ad- 
 vantages to history and science. The Scamander 
 has an immortality which the vast Mississippi 
 itself can never eclipse, and the descent of the 
 Indus by Alexander of Macedon is, perhaps, the
 
 IQ TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. I. 
 
 most authentic and best attested event of pro- 
 fane history. 
 Visited by The jealoLisy of the Sinde government had 
 auUiorities. bccn often experienced, and it was therefore 
 suggested that we should sail for the Indus, 
 without giving any previous information. Im- 
 mediately on anchoring, I despatched a com- 
 munication to the agent of the Ameers at Da- 
 rajee, signifying my plans; and, in the meanwhile, 
 ascended the river with caution, anchoring in 
 the fresh water on the second evening, thirty- 
 five miles from the sea. Near the mouth of 
 the river we passed a rock stretching across the 
 stream, which is particularly mentioned by Near- 
 chus, who calls it a " dangerous rock," and is 
 the more remarkable, since there is not even 
 a stone below Tatta in any other part of the 
 Indus. We passed many villages, and had much 
 to enliven and excite our attention, had we not 
 purposely avoided all intercourse with the people 
 till made acquainted with the fate of our in- 
 timation to the authorities at Darajee. A day 
 passed in anxious suspense ; but, on the follow- 
 ing morning, a body of armed men crowded 
 round our boats, and the whole neighbourhood 
 was in a state of the greatest excitement. The 
 party stated themselves to be the soldiers of the 
 Ameer, sent to number our party, and see the 
 contents of all the boats, as well as every box
 
 CHAP. I. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 17 
 
 that tliey contained. I gave a ready and im- 
 mediate assent j and we were instantly boarded 
 by about fifty armed men, who wrenched open 
 every thing, and prosecuted the most rigorous 
 search for cannon and gunpowder. Mr. Leckie 
 and myself stood by in amazement, till it was at 
 length demanded that the box containing the 
 large carriage should be opened ; for they pre- 
 tended to view it as the Greeks had looked on the 
 wooden horse, and believed that it would carry 
 destruction into Sinde. A sight of it disap- 
 pointed their hopes ; and we must be conjurors, 
 it was asserted, to have come without arms and 
 ammunition. 
 
 When the search had been completed, I en- Retire to 
 tered into conversation with the head man of oAhe in- 
 the party, and had hoped to establish, by his '^"^' 
 means, a friendly connection with the authorities ; 
 but after a short pause, this personage, who was 
 a Reis of Lower Sinde, intimated, that a report 
 of the day's transactions would be forthwith 
 transmitted to Hydrabad j and that, in the mean- 
 while, it was incumbent on us to await the de- 
 cision of the Ameer, at the mouth of the river. 
 The request appeared reasonable ; and the more 
 so, since the party agreed to furnish us with 
 every supply while so situated. We there- 
 fore weighed anchor, and dropped down the 
 
 VOL. III. c
 
 18 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. I. 
 
 river ; but here our civilities ended. By the 
 way we were met by several '* dingies" full of 
 armed men, and at night were hailed by one of 
 them, to know how many troops we had on 
 board. We replied, that we had not even a 
 musket. *' The evil is done," rejoined a rude 
 Belooche soldier, *' you have seen our country ; 
 *' but we have four thousand men ready for ac- 
 *'tion!" To this vain-glorious observation suc- 
 ceeded torrents of abuse ; and when we reached 
 the mouth of the river, the party fired their 
 matchlocks over us ; but I dropped anchor, and 
 resolved, if possible, to repel these insults by 
 personal remonstrance. It was useless ; we were 
 surrounded by ignorant barbarians, who shouted 
 out in reply to all I said, that they had been or- 
 dered to turn us out of the country. I protested 
 against their conduct in the most forcible lan- 
 guage ; reminded them that I was the represent- 
 ative, however humble, of a great Government, 
 charged with presents from Royalty ; and added, 
 that, without a written document from their 
 master, I should decline quitting Sinde. An 
 hour's delay served to convince me that per- 
 sonal violence would ensue, if I persisted in such 
 a resolution ; and as it was not my object to 
 risk the success of the enterprise by such col- 
 Quit the lision, I sailed for the most eastern moutli of the 
 
 country. 
 
 Indus, from which I addressed the authorities
 
 CHAP. I. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 19 
 
 in Sinde, as well as Colonel Pottinger, the Re- 
 sident in Cutch. 
 
 I was willing to believe that the soldiers had Communi- 
 exceeded the authority which had been granted the Ameer. 
 them ; and was speedily put in possession of a 
 letter from the Ameer, couched in friendly 
 terms, but narrating, at great length, the diffi- 
 culty and impossibility of navigating the Indus. 
 " The boats are so small," said his Highness, 
 " that only four or five men can embark in one 
 " of them ; their progress is likewise slow ; they 
 " have neither masts nor sails ; and the depth of 
 " water in the Indus is likewise so variable as 
 " not to reach, in some places, the knee or waist 
 " of a man." But this formidable enumeration 
 of physical obstacles was coupled with no refusal 
 from the Ruler himself; and it seemed expedient, 
 therefore, to make a second attempt, after reply- 
 ing to his Highness's letter. 
 
 On the 10th of February we again set sail for Return to 
 Sinde ; but at midnight, on the 14th, were over- 
 taken by a fearful tempest, which scattered our 
 little fleet. Two of the vessels were dismasted ; 
 we lost our small boat, split our sails, sprung 
 a leak ; and, after being buffeted about for some 
 days by the fury of the winds and waves, suc- 
 ceeded in getting an observation of the sun, 
 which enabled us to steer our course, and finally 
 conducted us in safety to Sinde. One of the 
 
 c 2
 
 20 
 
 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Fruitless 
 negoti- 
 
 other four boats alone followed us. We now an- 
 chored in the Pieteanee mouth of the Indus, and 
 I forthwith despatched the following document, 
 by a trustworthy messenger, to the agents at 
 Darajee. 
 
 1. " Let it be known to the Government agent 
 ' at Dai'ajee, that this is the memorandum of 
 
 * Mr. Burnes (sealed with his seal, and writ- 
 ' ten in the Persian language in his own hand- 
 ' writing), the representative (vakeel) of the 
 ' English to the Ameer of Sinde, and like- 
 
 * wise the bearer of presents to Maharaja Run- 
 ' jeet Sing from the King of England. 
 
 2. *' I came to the Indus a few days ago ; and 
 
 * you searched my baggage, tliat you might re- 
 ' port the contents thereof to your master. I 
 ' have now returned, and await an answer. 
 
 3. " You may send any number of armed men 
 ' that you please ; my life is in your power; but 
 ' remember that the Ameer will hold every one 
 
 * responsible who molests me. Remember, too, 
 
 * that I am a British officer, and have come 
 ' without a musket or a soldier (as you well 
 ' know) ; placing implicit reliance on the protec- 
 
 * tion of the ruler of Sinde, to whose care my 
 ' Government have committed me. 
 
 4. " I send this memorandum by two of my 
 
 * own servants, and look to you for their being 
 ' protected."
 
 CHAP. I. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 21 
 
 This remonstrance drew no reply from the 
 agent at Darajee; for the individual who had 
 held the situation on our first visit to Sinde, had 
 been dismissed for permitting us to ascend the 
 river ; and our servants brought us notice that 
 we should not be permitted to land, nor to 
 receive either food or water. We observed, 
 therefore, the greatest possible economy in the 
 distribution of our provisions, and placed pad- 
 locks on the tanks, in the hope of reason yet 
 guiding the councils of the Ameer. When our 
 supply of water failed, I despatched a small boat 
 up the river to procure some ; but it was 
 seized, and the party detained ; which now ren- 
 dered us hopeless of success, and only anxious 
 to quit the inhospitable shores of Sinde. 
 
 On the 22d of February we weighed our an- imminent 
 chor, at daylight ; and when in the narrow mouth [he' indu^. 
 of the river, the wind suddenly changed. The ^"^'^'"'^^• 
 tide, which ran with terrific violence, cast us on 
 the breakers of the bar ; the sea rolled over us, 
 and we struck the ground at each succeeding 
 wave. In despair, the anchor was dropped ; and 
 when we thought only of saving our lives, we 
 found our vessel had rubbed over the breakers 
 of the bank, and floated. I admired the zeal 
 and bravery of our crew ; and was much struck 
 with their pious ejaculations to the tutelar saint 
 of Cutch, Shah Peer, when they found themselves 
 
 c 3
 
 22 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. I. 
 
 beyond the reach of danger. *' Oh ! holy and 
 " generous saint," shouted tlie whole crew, 
 " you are truly good." Frankincense was forth- 
 with burned to his honour ; and a sum of money 
 was collected, and hallowed by its fragrance, as 
 the property of the saint. The amount sub- 
 scribed testified the sincerity of the poor men's 
 gratitude ; and if I believed not the efficacy of 
 the offering, I refused not, on that account, to 
 join, by their request, in the manifestations of 
 their duty and gratitude. Our other vessel, not 
 so fortunate as ourselves, was cast on shore, 
 though on a less dangerous bank. We rendered 
 her assistance, and sailed for Cutch, and an- 
 chored in Mandivce roads after a surprising run 
 of thirty-three hours. 
 Negoti- It could not now be concealed that the con- 
 
 the Amee*-. duct of the Amccr of Sinde was most unfriendly ; 
 but he yet betrayed no such feeling in his letters. 
 He magnified the difficulties of navigating the 
 Indus, and arrayed its rocks, quicksands, whirl- 
 pools, and shallows, in every communication ; 
 asserting that the voyage to Lahore had never 
 been performed in the memory of man. It was 
 evident that he viewed the expedition with the 
 utmost distrust and alarm ; and the native agent, 
 who resides at Ilydrabad on the part of the 
 British Government, described, not without some 
 degree of humour, the fear and dread of this
 
 CHAP. I. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 23 
 
 jealous potentate. In his estimation, we were 
 the precursors of an army ; and did lie now de- 
 sire to grant us a passage through Sinde, he was 
 at a loss to escape from the falsehoods and con- 
 tradictions which he had already stated in his 
 epistles. One letter went on to say, that " the 
 " Ameer of Sinde avoids giving any reply, lest 
 *' he should be involved in perplexity ; and he 
 " has stopped his ears with the cotton of ab- 
 " surdity, and taken some silly notions into his 
 " head, that if Captain Burnes should now come, 
 " he will see thousands of boats on the Indus, 
 " and report the same to his Government, who 
 *' will conclude that it is the custom of the 
 " Ameer of Sinde to deceive on all subjects, 
 " and that he has no sort of friendship." At 
 length, after a remonstrance from Colonel Pot- 
 tinger, both he and myself received letters 
 from Hydrabad, offering a road through Sinde 
 by land. As this might be fairly deemed the 
 first opening which had presented itself during 
 the whole negotiation, with the advice of Colonel 
 Pottinger I set out a third time for the Indus. 
 That officer in the meanwhile intimated my de- 
 parture to the Ameer, and pointed out the im- 
 possibility of my proceeding by land to Lahore. 
 He also intimated, in no measured language, 
 that the vacillating and unfriendly conduct of 
 the Ameer of Sinde would not pass unnoticed j 
 
 c 4
 
 24 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. I. 
 
 the more particularly, since it concerned the 
 passage of gifts, which had been sent by his most 
 gracious Majesty the King of Great Britain. 
 Third Q^ the 10th of March we once more set 
 
 voyage to 
 
 the Indus, sail for the Indus ; and reached the Hujamree, 
 one of the central mouths of the river, after a 
 prosperous voyage of seven days. We could 
 hire no pilot to conduct us across the bar, and 
 took the wrong and shallow mouth of the river, 
 ploughing up the mud as we tacked in its narrow 
 channel. The foremost vessel loosened her red 
 ensign when she had fairly reached the deep 
 water ; and, with the others, we soon and joy- 
 fully anchored near her. We were now met by 
 an officer of the Sinde Government, one of the 
 favoured descendants of the Prophet, whose enor- 
 mous corpulence bespoke his condition. This 
 personage came to the mouth of the river ; for 
 we were yet refused all admittance to the fresh 
 water. He produced a letter from the Ameer, 
 and repeated the same refuted arguments of his 
 master, which he seemed to think should receive 
 credit from his high rank. It would be tiresome 
 to follow tlic Sindians through the course of chi- 
 canery which they adopted, even in this stage of 
 the proceedings. An embargo was laid on all 
 the vessels in the Indus ; and we ourselves were 
 confined to our boats, on a dangerous shore, and 
 even denied fresh water. The officer urged the
 
 CHAP. I. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 25 
 
 propriety of our taking a route by land ; and, as 
 a last resource, I offered to accompany him to the 
 capital, and converse with the Ameer in person, 
 having previously landed the horses. I made 
 known this arrangement by a courier, which I 
 despatched to the Court ; and on the following 
 morning quitted the boats, along with Syud Land in 
 Jeendul Shah, who had been appointed our 
 Mihmandar.* No sooner had we reached Tatta, 
 than the required sanction for the boats to ascend 
 by the Indus was received, provided we our- 
 selves took the land route ; but I immediately 
 declined to advance another step without my 
 charge; and ultimately effected, by a week's ne- 
 gotiation at Tatta, the desired end. At the ex- 
 pense of being somewhat tedious, I will give an 
 abstract of these proceedings as a specimen of 
 Sindian policy and reasoning. 
 
 A few hours after reachini? Tatta, Syud Zoolf- Negoti- 
 
 "-" ^ '' ations at 
 
 kar Shah, a man of rank, and engaging manners, Tatta. 
 waited on us on the part of the Ameer. He 
 was accompanied by our Mihmandar, and met us 
 very politely. He said that he had been sent 
 by his Highness to escort us to Hydrabad ; to 
 which I laconically replied, that nothing would 
 now induce me to go, since the Ameer had con- 
 ceded the request which I had made of him. The 
 Syud here marshalled all his eloquence ; asked 
 
 * An officer who receives a guest.
 
 26 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. I. 
 
 me if I wished to ruin the Mihmandar, by making 
 him out a liar, after I had promised to accom- 
 pany him to the Court, and he had written so 
 to the Ameer ; if I had no regard for a promise ; 
 that the capital was close at hand, and I could 
 reach it in two marches ; that, if I did not now 
 go, it could only be inferred that I had been 
 practising delusion, from a desire to see Tatta ; 
 for I had even been allowed to choose the route 
 by that city, contrary to orders ; and that I was 
 not, perhaps, aware of the high character of the 
 Syud, who was a descendant of the holy Pro- 
 phet, and honourable in this land; whose dignity, 
 the Christians, who preserved even the relic of 
 Jesus Christ's nail, could well understand ; and 
 that it was not the part of a wise man to cavil 
 like a moollah, since the Ameer had sanctioned 
 the advance of the mission by water, if we em- 
 barked at Hydrabad, and would be answerable 
 for the safety of the horses to that place ; and, 
 finally, that if I persisted in taking the route by 
 water, he was desired to say that it was a violation 
 of the treaty between the states. 
 
 I heard with attention the arguments of Zoolf- 
 kar Shah ; nor did I forget that the praises and 
 respect which he claimed for his friend, as a 
 descendant of the Propliet, likewise included 
 himself. I replied, tliat there had existed a 
 long standing friendship between Sinde and the
 
 CHAP. I. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. ^ 
 
 British Government ; that I had been despatched 
 by a well frequented route, to deliver the pre- 
 sents of our gracious Sovereign to Runjeet 
 Sing at Lahore ; that, on reaching Sinde, I had 
 been insulted, abused, starved, and twice turned 
 out of the country by low persons, whom I 
 named ; that my Government, which was ever 
 considerate, had attributed this unheard-of inso- 
 lence, not to their friend, the Ameer of Sinde, 
 but to the ignorance of mean individuals, and 
 had despatched me a third time to Sinde : when 
 I reached it, I found Syud Jeendul Shah ready 
 to receive me j but although thorouglily satisfied 
 that the presents of which I was in charge could 
 never be forwarded by land, he offered me that 
 route, and detained me on board ship for eleven 
 days, till necessity had driven me to make a pro- 
 posal of repairing in person to the presence of 
 the Ameer, in hopes of persuading that person- 
 age. The case was now altered ; the water 
 route had been granted, which rendered my 
 visit to Hydrabad unnecessary ; and I could 
 only view the present procedure in the light of 
 jealousy, which it was unbecoming in a Govern- 
 ment to entertain. I continued, that I had 
 chosen the route by Tatta, because my bills weie 
 payable at that city ; and the sooner the Syud 
 got his master to meet my wishes, the better j for 
 the floods of the Indus were at hand, the hot
 
 28 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. I. 
 
 season approached, and delay would increase the 
 hazard ; while no arguments but force would 
 now induce me to visit the Court, or permit the 
 horses to be moved without my presence. In 
 fine, if it were not the intention of the Ameer to 
 act a friendly part, he had only to say so, and 
 I would forthwith quit the country when I re- 
 ceived a letter to that effect ; and finally, that he 
 had formed a very erroneous opinion of the British 
 character, if he considered that I had been sent 
 here in breach of a treaty, for I had come to 
 strengthen the bonds of union ; and, what was 
 further, that the promise of an ofiicer was sacred. 
 
 Addressthe An intcrvicw in the following morning, brought 
 ™^^'^' a repetition of the whole arguments ; and as we 
 could not convince each other, we both agreed 
 to address his Highness. After the style of 
 Asiatic diplomacy, I informed the Ameer, " that 
 ** he had acted the part of a friend, in first point- 
 " ing out the difficulties of navigating the Indus, 
 *' and now assisting me through them by giving 
 *' his sanction to the water route ; but since I 
 " was so thoroughly acquainted, through his 
 " Highness's kindness, with the dangers of the 
 *' river, I dared not trust such royal rarities, as the 
 " gifts of the King of Great Britain, to the care 
 
 Success. n of any scrvaut." In three days I received a 
 full and unqualified sanction to advance by water 
 from the mouth of the Indus. I gladly quit the
 
 CHAP. I. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 29 
 
 detailof occurrences which have left few pleasing 
 reflections behind, except that success ultimately 
 attended our endeavours, and that they elicited 
 the approbation of Government. The Ameer of 
 Sinde had sought to keep us in ignorance of the 
 Indus ; but his treatment had led to another 
 and opposite effect ; since we had entered, in the 
 course of our several voyages, all the mouths of 
 the river, and a ma23 of them, as well as of the 
 land route to Tatta, now lay before me. Our 
 dangers on the banks and shoals had been im- 
 minent J but we looked back upon them with the 
 pleasing thought, that our experience might 
 guide others through them.
 
 30 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 TATTA TO HYDRABAD. 
 
 Tatta. ^ week's Stay WRS agreeably spent in examining 
 Tatta and the objects of curiosity which surround 
 it. The city stands at a distance of three miles 
 from the Indus. It is celebrated in the history 
 of the East. Its commercial prosperity passed 
 away with the empire of Delhi, and its ruin has 
 been completed since it fell under the iron 
 despotism of the present rulers of Sinde. It 
 does not contain a population of 15,000 souls ; 
 and of the houses scattered about its ruins, 
 one half are destitute of inhabitants. It is 
 said, that the dissentions between the last and 
 present dynasties, which led to Sinde being over- 
 run by the Afghans, terrified the merchants of 
 the city, who fled the country at that time, and 
 have had no encouragement to return. Of the 
 weavers of " loongees" (a kind of silk and cotton 
 manufacture), for which this place was once so 
 famous, but 125 families remain. There are not 
 forty merchants * in the city. Twenty money- 
 changers transact all the business of Tatta ; and 
 
 * Banians.
 
 CHAP. II. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. SI 
 
 its limited population is now supplied with 
 animal food by five butchers. Such has been 
 the gradual decay of that mighty city, so popu- 
 lous in the early part of last century, in the days 
 of Nadir Shah. The country in its vicinity lies 
 neglected, and but a small portion of it is 
 brought under tillage. 
 
 The antiquity of Tatta is unquestioned. The its anti- 
 Pattala of the Greeks has been sought for in its 
 position, and, I believe, with good reason ; for 
 the Indus here divides into two great branches ; 
 and these are the words of the historian : — 
 " Near Pattala, the river Indus divides itself 
 " into two vast branches."* Both Robertson 
 and Vincent appear to have entertained the 
 opinion of its identity with Tatta. The Hindoo 
 Rajas named it Sameenuggur, before the Mahom- 
 medan invasion ; which I believe to be the 
 Minagur of the Periplus. There is a ruined city, 
 called Kullancote, to be yet seen, four miles S.W. 
 of Tatta. It was also named Brahminabad, and 
 ruled by one brother, while another held Hy- 
 drabad, then called Nerancote ; the Arabs called 
 it Dewul Sindy. Nuggur Tatta (by which it is 
 now familiarly known) is a more modem name. 
 Till the Talpoors secured their present footing 
 in Sinde, it was always the capital of the country. 
 It is an open town, built on a rising ground in a 
 
 * Arrian, lib. 6.
 
 32 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. II. 
 
 low valley. In several wells I found bricks im- 
 bedded in earth, at a depth of twenty feet from 
 the surface ; but there are no remains of a 
 prior date to the tombs, on a remarkable ridge 
 westward of the town, which are about 200 years 
 old. The houses are formed of wood and wicker- 
 work, plastered over with earth ; they are lofty, 
 with flat roofs, but very confined, and resemble 
 square towers ; their colour, which is of a greyish 
 murky hue, gives an appearance of solidity to 
 the frail materials of which they are constructed. 
 Some of the better sort have a base of brick- 
 work ; but stone has only been used in the 
 foundations of one or two mosques, though it 
 may be had in abundance. There is little in 
 modern Tatta to remind one of its former great- 
 ness. A spacious brick mosque, built by Shah 
 Jehan, still remains, but is crumbling to decay. 
 Hingiaj, Tatta stands on the high road from India to 
 
 a famous tt'I'-ti/ti i n -i • 
 
 pilgrim- Hmglaj, in Mekran, a place or pugrmiage and 
 great celebrity, situated under the barren moun- 
 tains of Hala (the Irus of the ancients), and 
 marked only by a spring of fresh water, without 
 house or temple. Tlie spot is believed to have 
 been visited by Ramchunder, the Hindoo demi- 
 god, himself; an event which is chronicled on 
 the rock, with figures of the sun and moon 
 engraven as further testimony! Tlie distance 
 from Tatta exceeds 200 miles ; and the road 
 
 age,
 
 CHAP. II. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 33 
 
 passes by Curachee, Soumeeanee, and the pro- 
 vince of Lus, the country of the Noomrees, a 
 portion of the route of Alexander the Great. A 
 journey to Hinglaj purifies the pilgrim from his 
 sins ; a cocoa-nut, cast into a cistern, exhibits 
 the nature of his career : if the water bubbles 
 up, his life has been, and will continue, pure ; but 
 if still and silent, the Hindoo must undergo 
 further penance, to appease the deity. The 
 tribe of Goseins, who are a kind of religious 
 mendicants, though frequently merchants and 
 most wealthy, frequent this sequestered place, 
 and often extend their journey to an island called 
 Seetadeep, not far from Bunder Abbass, in Persia. 
 They travel in caravans of an hundred, or even 
 more, under an " agwa," or spiritual guide. At 
 Tatta they are furnished by the high-priest with 
 a rod, which is supposed to partake of his own 
 virtues, and to conduct the cortege to its destin- 
 ation. In exchange for its talismanic powers, each 
 pilgrim pays three rupees and a half, and faithfully 
 promises to restore the rod on his return ; for no 
 one dares to reside in so holy and solitary a spot. 
 The " agwa" receives with it his reward ; and 
 many a Hindoo expends in this pilgrimage the 
 hard-earned wealth of a whole life. On his 
 arrival at Tatta from Hinglaj, he is invested 
 with a string of white beads, peculiar to that 
 city, and only found on the rocky ridge near it. 
 
 VOL. HI. D
 
 34} TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. II. 
 
 They resemble the grains of pulse or juwaree ; 
 and the pilgrim has the satisfaction of believing 
 that they are the petrified grain of the Creator, 
 left on earth to remind him of his creation. 
 They now form a monopoly and source of profit 
 to the priests of Tatta. 
 Climate. ^^Q quitted Tatta on the morning of the 10th 
 
 Return to ^ "^ 
 
 the mouth of April, and retraced our steps to Meerpoor ; a 
 
 of the In- ,. ^ ' p ., / \ 
 
 cius. distance or twenty-tour miles, over roads nearly 
 
 impassable from rain. I observe, in Hamilton's 
 India," that there is frequently a dearth of it 
 here for three years at a time ; but we had very 
 heavy showers and a severe fall of hail, though 
 the thermometer stood at 86°. The dews and 
 mists about Tatta make it a disagreeable re- 
 sidence at this season ; and the dust is described 
 as intolerable in June and July. 
 
 Our road lay through a desert country along 
 the " Buggaur ;" one of the two large branches 
 of the Indus, which separate below Tatta. It 
 has its name from the destructive velocity with 
 which it runs, tearing up trees in its course. It has 
 been forsaken for a few years past, and had only 
 a width of 200 yards where we crossed it, below 
 Meerpoor. The Indus itself, before this division 
 takes place, is a noble river ; and we beheld it at 
 Tatta with high gratification. The water is foul 
 and muddy ; but it is 2000 feet wide, two fathoms 
 and a half deep, from shore to shore. When I
 
 CHAP. II. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 35 
 
 first saw it, the surface was agitated by a violent 
 wind, which had raised up waves, that raged 
 with great fury ; and I no longer felt wonder at 
 the natives designating so vast a river by the 
 name of *' durya," or the Sea of Sinde. 
 
 On our return, we saw much of the people, Notions of 
 
 the people. 
 
 who were disposed from the first to treat us more 
 kindly than the government. Their notions 
 regarding us were strange : some asked us why 
 we allowed dogs to clean our hands after a meal, 
 and if we indiscriminately ate cats and mice, as 
 well as pigs. They complained much of their 
 rulers, and the ruinous and oppressive system of 
 taxation to which they were subjected, as it 
 deterred them from cultivating any considerable 
 portion of land. Immense tracts of the richest soil 
 lie in a state of nature, between Tatta and the 
 sea, overgrown with tamarisk shrubs, which 
 attain, in some places, the height of twenty feet, 
 and, threading into one another, form impervious 
 thickets. At other places, we passed extensive 
 plains of hard-caked clay, with remains of ditches 
 and aqueducts, now neglected. We reached the 
 sea in two days. 
 
 Arrian informs us, that, after Alexander re- Alexander's 
 turned from viewing the right branch of the •'''"'^"^y* 
 Indus, he again set out from Pattala, and de- 
 scended the other branch of the river, which 
 conducted him to a *' certain lake, joined either 
 D 2
 
 36 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. II. 
 
 " by the river spreading wide over a flat country, 
 *' or by additional streams flowing into it from 
 " the adjacent parts, and making it appear like a 
 " bay in tlie sea." There, too, he commanded 
 another haven to be built, named Xylenopolis. 
 The professed object of this second voyage to 
 the sea was to seek for bays and creeks on the 
 sea-coast, and to explore which of the two 
 branches would afford the greatest facilities for 
 the passage of his fleet ; for Arrian says, *' he 
 *' had a vast ambition of sailing all through the 
 " sea, from India to Persia, to prove that the 
 " Indian Gulf had a communication with the 
 *' Persian." In this bay Alexander landed, with 
 a party of horse, and travelled along the coast, 
 to try if he could find bays and creeks to 
 secure his fleets from storms ; " causing wells to 
 *' be dugt to supphj his navy with water." I 
 look upon it, therefore, as conclusive that Alex- 
 ander the Great descended by the Buggaur and 
 Sata, tlie two great branches below Tatta, and 
 never entered Cutch^ as has been surmised, but 
 that his three days* journey, after descending the 
 eastern branch, was westward, and between the 
 two mouths, in the direction his fleet was to sail. 
 Embark on Qn tlic 12th of April, we embarked in the 
 
 the Indus. ^, ii ii»»ntTi 
 
 Boats. flat-bottomed boats, or ** doondees, or Sinde, 
 and commenced our voyage on the Indus, with 
 no small degree of satisfaction. Our fleet con-
 
 CHAP. ir. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 57 
 
 sisted of six of these flat-bottomed vessels, 
 and a small English-built pinnace, which we had 
 brought from Cutch. The boats of the Indus 
 are not unlike China junks, very capacious, but 
 most unwieldy. They are floating houses ; and 
 with ourselves we transported the boatmen, their 
 wives and families, kids and fowls. When there 
 is no wind, they are pulled up against the stream, 
 by ropes attached to the mast-head, at the rate of 
 a mile and a half an hour ; but with a breeze, 
 they set a large square-sail, and advance double 
 the distance. We halted at Vikkur, which is 
 the first port ; a place of considerable export for 
 grain, that had then fifty *' doondees," besides 
 sea-vessels, lying near it. 
 
 On the 13th, we threaded many small creeks Wanyanee 
 
 p T r • 1 M 11 branch. 
 
 tor a distance ot eight miles, and then entered 
 the Wanyanee, or principal branch of the Indus, 
 which is a fine river, 500 yards broad and 24 feet 
 deep. Its banks were alternately steep and flat, 
 the course very crooked, and the different turn- 
 ings were often marked by branches running 
 from this trunk to other arms of the delta. We 
 had nothing but tamarisk on either bank, and 
 the reed huts of a few fishermen, alone indicated 
 that we were in a peopled country. 
 
 As we ascended the river, the inhabitants a holy 
 came for miles around to see us. A Syud stood 
 on the water's edge, and gazed with astonish- 
 
 D 3
 
 38 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. II. 
 
 ment. He turned to his companion as we 
 passed, and, in the hearing of one of our party, 
 said, ** Alas ! Sinde is now gone, since the En- 
 " glish have seen the river, which is the road to 
 " its conquest." If such an event do happen, I 
 am certain that the body of the people will hail 
 the happy day ; but it will be an evil one for the 
 Syuds, the descendants of Mahommed, who are 
 the only people, besides the rulers, that derive 
 precedence and profit from the existing order of 
 things. 
 Strictness Notliiug morc aiTcsts the notice of a stranger, 
 obs'^^r'vf °"* on entering Sinde, than the severe attention of 
 the people to the forms of religion, as enjoined 
 by the Prophet of Arabia. In all places, the 
 meanest and poorest of mankind may be seen, at 
 the appointed hours, turned towards Mecca, 
 offering up their prayers. I have observed a 
 boatman quit the laborious duty of dragging the 
 vessel against the stream, and retire to the shore, 
 wet and covered with mud, to perform his genu- 
 flexions. In the smallest villages, the sound of 
 the " mowuzzun," or crier, summoning true be- 
 lievers to prayers, may be heard, and the Ma- 
 hommedans within reach of the sonorous sound 
 suspend, for the moment, their employment, that 
 they may add their *' Amen" to the solemn sen- 
 tence when concluded. The effect is pleasing 
 and impressive j but, as has often happened in
 
 CHAP. II. VOYAGE ON' THE INDUS. 39 
 
 other countries at a like stage of civilisation, the 
 moral qualities of the people do not keep pace 
 with this fervency of devotion. 
 
 On the evening of the 15th, we anchored at Navigation 
 Tatta, after a prosperous voyage, that afforded a dus. 
 good insight into the navigation of the Indus ; 
 which, in the Delta, is both dangerous and dif- 
 ficult. The water runs with impetuosity from 
 one bank to another, and undermines them so, 
 that they often fall in masses which would crush 
 a vessel. During night they may be heard 
 tumbling with a terrific crash and a noise as loud 
 as artillery. In one place, the sweep of the river 
 was so sudden that it had formed a kind of 
 whirlpool, and all our vessels heeled round, on 
 passing it, from the rapidity of the current. We 
 Iiad every where six fathoms of water, and in 
 these eddies the depth was sometimes threefold ; 
 but our vessels avoided the strength of the cur- 
 rent, and shifted from side to side, to choose the 
 shallows. 
 
 We ascended the Indus in tlie season of the Puiia fish. 
 " pulla," a fish of the carp species, as large as 
 the mackerel, and fully equalling the flavour of 
 salmon. It is only found in the four months 
 that precede the swell of the river from January 
 to April, and never higher than the fortress of 
 Bukkur. The natives superstitiously believe the 
 fish to proceed there on account of Khaju 
 
 D 4
 
 40 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. 11. 
 
 Khizr, a saint of celebrity, who is interred there, 
 from whence they are said to return without ever 
 turning their tails on the sanctified spot, — an 
 assertion which the muddy colour of the Indus 
 will prevent being contradicted. The mode of 
 catching this fish is ingenious, and peculiar, I 
 believe, to the Indus. Each fisherman is pro- 
 vided with a large earthen jar, open at the top, 
 and somewhat flat. On this he places him- 
 self, and, lying on it horizontally, launches into 
 the stream, swimming or pushing forward like 
 a frog, and guiding himself with his hands. 
 When he has reached the middle of the river, 
 where the current is strongest, he darts his net 
 directly under him, and sails down with the 
 stream. The net consists of a pouch attached 
 to a pole, which he shuts on meeting his game ; 
 he then draws it up, spears it, and, putting it 
 into the vessel on which he floats, prosecutes 
 his occupation. There are some vessels of small 
 dimensions, without any orifice, and on these 
 the fishermen sail down, in a sitting posture. 
 Hundreds of people, old and young, may be 
 seen engaged in catching pulla, and the season 
 is hailed with joy by the people, as furnish- 
 ing a wholesome food while it lasts, and an 
 abundant supply of dry fish for the remaining 
 part of the year, as well as for exportation to 
 the neighbouring countries.
 
 CHAP. II. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 41 
 
 On the morning of the 18th, we moored op- Reach the 
 
 capital. 
 
 posite Hydrabad, which is five miles inland, 
 having had a strong and favourable breeze from 
 Tatta, that brought us against the stream, at the 
 rate of three miles an hour. The dust was in- 
 tolerable every where, and a village might always 
 be discovered by the dense clouds which ho- 
 vered over it. This part of Sinde is well 
 known : the country is devoted to sterility by 
 the Ameers, to feed their passion for the chase. 
 The banks are enclosed to the water's edge, 
 and the interior of these hunting-thickets is 
 overgrown with furze, brushwood, and stunted 
 babool trees, which always retain a verdant 
 hue, from the richness of the soil. One or 
 two solitary camels were to be seen raising 
 water to fill the pools of these preserves, as the 
 Ameer and his relatives had announced a hunt- 
 ing excursion, and the deer * would be drawn by 
 thirst to drink at the only fountain, and shot by 
 an Ameer from a place of concealment. It is 
 thus that the chiefs sport with their game and 
 their subjects. 
 
 Immediately on our arrival, four different de- Deputation 
 putations waited on us, to convey the congra- A^er.^ 
 tulations of Meer Moorad Ali Khan, and his 
 family, at our having reached the capital of 
 
 * The species hunted in Sinde is called " hotapuchu : " it 
 is a kind of hog deer.
 
 42 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. II. 
 
 Sinde, and at the same time to tender the 
 strongest professions of friendship and respect 
 for the British government; to all of which I 
 returned suitable answers. In the evening we 
 were conducted to Hydrabad, and alighted at 
 the house, or " tanda," of Nawab Wulee Ma- 
 hommed Khan, the Vizier of Sinde, whose son, 
 in the father's absence, was appointed our mih- 
 mandar. Tents were pitched, and provisions of 
 every description sent to us ; and it would, in- 
 deed, have been difficult to discover that we 
 were the individuals who had so long lingered 
 about the shores of Sinde, now the honoured 
 guests of its jealous master. Great and small 
 were in attendance on us : khans and Syuds, 
 servants and cliobdars brouglit messages and 
 enquiries, till the night was far spent ; and it 
 may not be amiss to mention, as a specimen of 
 conducting business in Sinde, that the barber, 
 the water-cooler, and the prime minister were 
 sent indiscriminately with errands on the same 
 subject. 
 Trepara- Tlic ccrcmouial of our reception was soon 
 
 reception at adjustcd, but uot without some exhibition of 
 '"""'' Sindian character. After the time had been 
 mutually fixed for the following afternoon, our 
 mihmandar made his appearance at daybreaky to 
 request that we would then accompany him to the 
 palace. I spoke of the arrangements that had
 
 CHAP. II. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 43 
 
 been made j but he treated all explanation with 
 indifference, and eulogised, in extravagant lan- 
 guage, the great condescension of his master in 
 giving us an interview so early, while the Vakeels, 
 or representatives of other states, often waited 
 for weeks. I informed the Khan that I enter- 
 tained very different sentiments regarding his 
 master's giving us so early a reception, and as- 
 sured him that I viewed it as no sort of favour, 
 and was satisfied that the Ameer himself was 
 proud in receiving, at any time, any agent of 
 the British Government. The reply silenced 
 him, and he shortly afterwards withdrew, and 
 sent an apology for this importunity, which, he 
 stated, had originated in a mistake. The pride 
 of the Sindian must be met by the same wea- 
 pons ; and, however disagreeable the line of 
 conduct, it will be found, in all matters of ne- 
 gotiation, to carry along with it its own reward : 
 altercations that have passed will be succeeded 
 by civility and politeness, and a shade of ob- 
 livion will be cast over all that is unpleasant. 
 
 In the evening we were presented to the Presenta. 
 Ameer of Sinde by his son, Nusseer Khan, w^ho 
 had previously received us in his own apart- 
 ments, to inform us of his attachment to the 
 British Government, and the state secret of his 
 having been the means of procuring for us a 
 passage through Sinde. We found the Ameer 
 
 tion.
 
 44 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. II. 
 
 seated in the middle of a room, attended by his 
 various relatives : they all rose on our entrance, 
 and were studiously polite. His Highness ad- 
 dressed me by name ; said I was his friend, both 
 on public and private grounds ; for my brother 
 (Dr. Burnes) had cured him of a dangerous dis- 
 ease. At the same time he caused me to be 
 seated along with him on the cushion which he 
 occupied : he begged that I would forget the dif- 
 ficulties and dangers encountered, and consider 
 him as the ally of tlie British Government, and 
 my own friend. The long detention which 
 had occurred in our advance, he continued, 
 had arisen from his ignorance of political con- 
 cerns, as he considered it involved a breach of 
 the treaty between the states ; for he was a 
 soldier, and knew little of such matters, and 
 was employed in commanding tlie three hundred 
 thousand Beloochees, over whom God had ap- 
 pointed him to rule! We had now, however, 
 arrived at his capital, and he assured us tliat 
 we were welcome : his own state barge should 
 convey us to his frontier; his subjects should 
 drag our vessels against the stream. Elephants 
 and palanqueens were at our disposal, if we 
 would accept them ; and lie would vie in ex- 
 ertion with ourselves, to forward, in safety, the 
 presents of his Most Gracious Majesty the King 
 of Great Britain, and had nominated the son of
 
 CHAP. II. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 45 
 
 his Vizier to accompany us to the Hmits of 
 his territories. I did not deem it necessary to 
 enter into any explanation with his Highness, 
 nor to give him in return the muster-roll of 
 our mighty army. I thanked him for his marks 
 of attention to the Government and ourselves, 
 and said, that I was glad to find that the 
 friendship between the states, which had led 
 to my taking the route through his dominions, 
 had not been underrated ; for it would be worse 
 than folly in an unprotected individual to at- 
 tempt a passage by the Indus without his cordial 
 concurrence. With regard to the dangers and 
 difficulties which had been already encountered, 
 I assured his Highness, that the prevailing good 
 fortune of the British Government had pre- 
 dominated 5 and though it was not in the power 
 of man to avert calamities by sea, we had by 
 the favour of God happily escaped them all, 
 and I doubted not that the authorities I served 
 would derive as much satisfaction from the man- 
 ner in which he had now received us as I 
 myself did. The interview here terminated ; 
 his Highness previously fixing the following 
 morning for a second meeting, when I would 
 communicate some matters of a political nature 
 with which I had been charged by the Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 I shall not enter on a description of the Court Court of 
 
 Sinde.
 
 46 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. II. 
 
 of Sinde, as it may be found in Lieut. Col. Pot- 
 tinger's work, and in a narrative lately published 
 by my brother.* Its splendour must have faded, 
 for though the Ameer and his family certainly 
 wore some superb jewels, there was not much 
 to attract our notice in their palace or durbar: 
 they met in a dirty hall without a carpet ; they 
 sat in a room which was filled by a rabble of 
 greasy soldiery, and the noise and dust were 
 hardly to be endured. The orders of the Ameer 
 himself to procure silence, though repeated 
 several times, were ineffectual, and some of 
 the conversation was inaudible on that account. 
 We were, however, informed that the crowd 
 had been collected to display the legions of 
 Sinde ; and they certainly contrived to fill the 
 alleys and passages every where, nor could we 
 pass out of the fort without some exertion on 
 the part of the nobles, who were our con- 
 ductors. 
 
 I followed up the interview by sending the 
 government presents which I had brought for 
 his Highness : they consisted of various articles 
 of European manufacture, — a gun, a brace of 
 pistols, a gold watch, two telescopes, a clock, 
 some English shawls and cloths, with two pair 
 of elegant cut glass candlesticks and shades. 
 Some Persian works beautifully lithographed in 
 
 * Narrative of a Visit to the Court of Sinde. Edin. 1831. 
 
 Presents.
 
 CHAP. II. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 47 
 
 Bombay, and a map of the World and Hin- 
 doostan, in Persian characters, completed the gift. 
 The principal Ameer had previously sent two 
 messages, begging that I would not give the 
 articles to any person but himself; and the pos- 
 sessor of fifteen millions sterling portioned, with 
 a partial hand, among the members of his family, 
 the gifts that did not exceed the value of a few 
 hundred pounds. His meanness may be imagined, sindian 
 
 1 • 1 1 11- -IT- • meanness. 
 
 when he privately deputed his Vizier to beg 
 that I would exchange the clock and candlesticks 
 for some articles among the presents, which 
 I doubtless had for other chiefs, as they formed 
 no part of the furniture of a Sindian palace. I 
 told the Vizier that the presents which I had 
 brought were intended to display the manu- 
 factures of Europe, and it was not customary to 
 give the property of one person to another. 
 This denial produced a second message ; and, 
 as a similar occurrence happened, in 1809, to a 
 mission at this court, we gather from the coin- 
 cidence how little spirit and feeling actuate the 
 cabinet of Hydrabad. Some score of trays, 
 loaded with fruit and sweetmeats adorned with 
 gold-leaf, and sent by the different members of 
 the family, closed the day. 
 
 Early in the morning, we were conducted to Parting in.. 
 the durbar by Meer Ismaeel Shah, one of the 
 Viziers, and our mihmandar: on the road the
 
 48 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. II. 
 
 Yizier took occasion to assure me how much I 
 would please the Ameer by changing the clock ! 
 There was more order and regularity in our 
 second interview, which was altogether very 
 satisfactory ; for the Ameer gave a ready as- 
 sent to the wishes of Government when they 
 were communicated to him. The conversation 
 which ensued was of the most friendly de- 
 scription. His Highness asked particularly for 
 my brother, looked attentively at our dress, and 
 was much amused with the shape and feather of 
 the cocked hat I wore. Before bidding him 
 adieu, he repeated, in even stronger language, all 
 his yesterday's professions ; and, however ques- 
 tionable his sincerity, I took my departure with 
 much satisfaction at what had passed, since it 
 seemed he would no longer interrupt our ad- 
 vance to Lahore. Meer Nusseer Khan, the son 
 of the Ameer, presented me with a handsome 
 Damascus sword, which had a scabbard of red 
 velvet ornamented with gold ; his father sent 
 me a purse of fifteen hundred rupees, with an 
 apology, that he had not a blade mounted as he 
 desired, and begged I would accept the value of 
 one. After all the inconvenience to which we 
 had been subjected, we hardly expected such a 
 reception at Hydrabad. Next morning we left 
 the city, and encamped on the banks of the 
 Indus near our boats.
 
 CHAP. II. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 49 
 
 The scenery near the capital of Smde is varied Scenery 
 
 •' ^ near Hy- 
 
 and beautiful : the sides of the river are lined drabad. 
 with lofty trees ; and there is a background of 
 hill to relieve the eye from the monotony which 
 presents itself in the dusty arid plains of the 
 Delta. The Indus is larger, too, than in most 
 places lower down, being about 830 yards wide ; 
 there is a sand-bank in the middle, but it is hid- 
 den by the stream. The island on which Hydra- 
 bad stands is barren, from the rocky and hilly 
 nature of the soil, but even the arable parts are 
 poorly cultivated. 
 
 On the capital itself, I can add little to the Hydrabad. 
 accounts which are already on record. It does 
 not contain a population of twenty tliousand 
 souls, who live in houses, or rather huts, built of 
 mud. The residence of the chief himself is a 
 comfortless miserable dwelling. Tlie fort, as 
 well as the town, stands on a rocky hillock ; and 
 the former is a mere shell, partly surrounded by 
 a ditch, about ten feet wide and eight deep, over 
 which there is a wooden bridge. The walls are 
 about twenty-five feet high, built of brick, and 
 fast going to decay. Hydrabad is a place of no 
 strength, and might readily be captured by 
 escalade. In the centre of the fort there is a 
 massive tower, unconnected with the works, 
 which overlooks the surrounding country. Here 
 are deposited a great portion of the riches of 
 
 VOL. III. E
 
 50 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. II. 
 
 Sinde. The Fulailee river insulates the ground 
 on which Hydrabad stands ; but, though a 
 considerable stream during the swell, it was 
 quite dry when we visited this city in April. 
 The view of Hydrabad, prefixed to this volume, 
 and for which I am indebted to Captain M. 
 Grindlay, faithfully represents that capital and 
 the country which surrounds it.
 
 51 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 VOYAGE TO BUKKUR. 
 
 On the morning of the 23d of April, we Departure 
 embarked in the state barge of the Ameer, drabad/' 
 which is called a " jumtee" by the natives of the 
 country. They are very commodious vessels, 
 of the same build as the other flat-bottomed 
 boats of the Indus, and sadly gainsayed the 
 beggarly account which his Highness had, in his 
 correspondence, so often given of the craft in 
 the river. It was about sixty feet long, and had 
 three masts, on which we hoisted as many sails, 
 made of alternate stripes of red and white cloth. 
 There were two cabins, connected with each 
 other by a deck ; but, contrary to the custom 
 in other countries, the one at the bows is the 
 post of honour. It was of a pavilion shape, 
 covered with scarlet cloth, and the eyes of 
 intruders were excluded on all sides by silken 
 screens. The jmntee was further decorated by 
 variegated flags and pendants, some of which 
 were forty feet long. We hoisted the British 
 ensign at the stern of our pinnace, the first time, 
 I suppose, it had ever been unfurled on the 
 Indus ; and the little vessel which bore it out- 
 
 E 2
 
 52 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. III. 
 
 sailed all tlie fleet. I hope the omen was 
 auspicious, and that the commerce of Britain 
 may soon follow her flag. We moved merrily 
 through the water, generally with a fair wind, 
 anchoring always at night, and pitching our 
 camp on the shore, pleased to find ourselves 
 beyond the portals of Hydrabad. 
 Sehwun. ^Tg reachcd Sehwun on the 1st of May, a 
 
 distance of 100 miles, in eight days. There 
 was little to interest us on the banks of the 
 river, which are thinly peopled, and destitute of 
 trees or variety to diversify the scene. The 
 Lukkee mountains, a high range, came in sight 
 on the third day, running in upon the Indus at 
 Sehwun. The stream itself, though grand and 
 magnificent, was often divided by sand-banks, 
 and moved sluggishly along at the rate of two 
 miles and a half an hour. One of our boats had 
 nearly sunk fi'om coming in contact with a pro- 
 truding stump ; an accident of frequent occur- 
 rence on the Indus, as well as on the American 
 rivers, and sometimes attended with fatal re- 
 sults, particularly to vessels descending the 
 stream. Our escape from calamity gave the 
 Sindians a topic for congratulation, and we 
 daily heard tlie greatness of our fortune pro- 
 claimed. Every trivial incident, a slight breeze 
 or any such occurrence, they did not hesitate to 
 ascribe to our destiny.
 
 CHAP. III. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 63 
 
 Our crew consisted of sixteen men j and a Crewofthe 
 happy set of beings they were : they waded 
 through the water all day, and swam and sported 
 about, as they passed along, with joyous hearts, 
 returning occasionally to the boat to indulge in 
 the hooka, and the intoxicating " bang," or 
 hemp, to which they are much addicted. They 
 prepare this drug by straining the juice from the 
 seeds and stalks through a cloth : when ready 
 for use, it resembles green putrid water. It 
 must be very pernicious. I do not know if I 
 can class their pipes among the movables of the 
 ship ; for their stands were formed of a huge 
 piece of earthenware, too heavy to be lifted, 
 which remains at the stern, where the indivi- 
 duals retire to inhale the weed, made doubly 
 noxious by its being mixed with opium. The 
 sailors of Sinde are Mahommedans. They are 
 very superstitious, the sight of a crocodile below 
 Hydrabad is an evil omen which would never 
 be forgotten ; and in that part of the Indus 
 these monsters certainly confined themselves to 
 the deep. 
 
 In the songs and chorus which the Sindians a sindian 
 use in pulling their ropes and sails, we discover ^°"^' 
 their reverence for saints. Seafaring people 
 are, I believe, musical in all countries ; and, 
 though in a strange dialect, there is simplicity 
 and beauty in some of the following rhymes : — 
 
 E 3
 
 54 
 
 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. III. 
 
 Hulam liulam liyl, 
 Leenlanee, 
 Mudud peeran. 
 Dawa jee nalee, 
 Beree ranee, 
 Oono panee, 
 Lumba kooa, 
 Wujun dumana 
 
 Original. 
 
 Joomba lanee, 
 Hewa qila, 
 Dawa fuqueeran 
 Beree chale : 
 Surung sookhanee. 
 
 Sulamut hooa, 
 Acbar Shah ja. 
 
 Pull, oh ! pull ! 
 
 liaise your shoulders, 
 
 Press your feet. 
 
 The boat will sail, 
 
 The steersman's a warrior 
 
 The mast is tall. 
 
 Beat the drum 
 
 The port is attained 
 
 Translation. 
 
 Use your strength, 
 By the favour of God, 
 By the Saint's assistance 
 She is a pretty boat : 
 The water is deep, 
 She will reach, in safety. 
 Of King Acbar, 
 By the favour of God. 
 
 Another specimen runs thus : — 
 
 Peer Putta ! Jug ditta, 
 
 Nuggur Tatta! Panee mitta. 
 
 Julia kejye, Tance lejge, 
 
 Tan tumasha : Bunder khasa, 
 
 Bundur koochee. Murd Beloochee. 
 
 Bundur maryo, Rub dckkaryo. 
 
 Moolk Hubeebec. Rub a rubbee. 
 
 Hail, Peer Putta! 
 
 Hail, city of Tatta I 
 
 Pull together, 
 
 Pull for joy. 
 
 Tho' the harbour is small. 
 
 Behold the harbour tower 
 
 The country is God's, 
 
 Translatio7i. 
 
 Who has seen the world, 
 
 The water is sweet. 
 
 Pull at once. 
 
 The port is good, 
 
 The men are Beloochees. 
 
 Which God has shown us. 
 
 By God we came.
 
 CHAP. III. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 55 
 
 As we discovered the mosques of Sehwun, the 
 boatmen in their joy beat a drum, and chanted 
 many of these verses, which had a pleasing 
 sound on passing the base of the Lukkee moun- 
 tains, that present a rocky buttress to the Indus 
 on approaching Sehwun. 
 
 The town of Sehwun stands on a rising Sehwun, 
 
 1 ^ n '^ i'" anti- 
 
 ground, at the verge or a swamp, two miles quity. 
 from the Indus, close to a branch of that river 
 called Arul, which flows from Larkhanu. It 
 has a population of about 10,000 souls, and is 
 commanded on the north side by a singular 
 castle or mound of earth. Sehwun is sometimes 
 called Sewistan, and is a place of antiquity. 
 There are many ruined mosques and tombs 
 which surround it, and proclaim its former 
 wealth ; but it has gradually gone to decay 
 since it ceased to be the residence of a governor, 
 who here held his court in the days of Moghul 
 splendour. As it stands near the Lukkee moun- 
 tains, I believe it may be fixed on as the city of 
 Sambus, Raja of the Indian mountaineers, men- 
 tioned by Alexander. The Sindomanni cannot 
 refer to the inhabitants of Lower Sinde, which 
 is always called Pattala, and its ruler the "prince 
 ** of the Pattalans." Sindee is the modern term 
 for the aboriginal inhabitants. 
 
 Sehwun has considerable celebrity and sane- pilgrimage 
 tity from the tomb of a holy saint of Khorasan, °f «'^''^^""- 
 
 E i^
 
 56 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. fll. 
 
 by name Lai Shah Baz, who was interred 
 here about 600 years ago. The shrine stands 
 in the centre of the town, and rests under 
 a lofty dome at one end of a quadrangular 
 building, which is handsomely ornamented by 
 blue painted slabs, like Dutch tiles, that give it 
 a rich appearance. A cloth of gold, with two 
 other successive palls of red silk, are suspended 
 over the sepulchre, and on the walls which sur- 
 round it are inscribed in large Arabic letters 
 the praises of the deceased, and extracts from 
 the Koran. Ostrich eggs, peacocks' feathers, 
 beads, flowers, &c. complete the furniture of this 
 holy spot ; and pigeons, the emblems of peace, 
 are encouraged to perch on the cloths which 
 shade the remains of departed virtue. The 
 miracles of Lai Shah Baz are endless, if you 
 believe the people. The Indus is subject to his 
 commands, and no vessel dares to pass his shrine 
 without making a propitiatory offering at his 
 tomb. Thousands of pilgrims flock to the con- 
 secrated spot, and the monarchs of Cabool and 
 India have often visited the sanctuary. The 
 drums which proclaim the majesty of the saint 
 are a gift from the renowned persecutor Alla-o- 
 deen, who reigned a. d. 1212; and the gate, 
 which is of silver, attests the homage and de- 
 votion of a deceased Ameer of Sinde. The 
 needy are daily supplied with food from the
 
 CHAP. III. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 57 
 
 charity of the stranger ; but the universal bounty 
 has corrupted the manners of the inhabitants, 
 who are a worthless and indolent set of men. 
 The Hindoo joins with the Mahommedan in his 
 veneration of the saint, and artfully insinuates 
 *'Lal" to be a Hindoo name, and that the 
 Mahommedans have associated with the faith 
 of their prophet the god of an infidel creed. A 
 tiger, once the tenant of the neighbouring hills, 
 partakes of the general bounty in a cage near 
 the tomb. 
 
 By far the most singular building at Sell- Castieof 
 wun, and perhaps on the Indus, is the ruined itsamu' 
 castle which overlooks the town, and is in all '^"'^^' 
 probability as old as the age of the Greeks. It 
 consists of a mound of earth sixty feet high, 
 and surrounded from the very ground by a brick 
 wall. The shape of the castle is oval, about 
 1200 feet long by 7*50 in diameter. The interior 
 presents a heap of ruins, and is strewed with 
 broken pieces of pottery and brick. The gate- 
 way is on the town side, and has been arched : 
 a section through it proves the whole mound 
 to be artificial. At a distance this castle re- 
 sembles the drawings of the Mujilebe tower at 
 Babylon, described by Mr. Rich in his interest- 
 ing Memoir. 
 
 The natives aiford no satisfactory account of 
 this ruin, attributing it to the age of Budur-ool-
 
 58 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. III. 
 
 Jamal, a fairy, whose agency is referred to in 
 every thing ancient or wonderful in Sinde. It 
 is to be observed, that the Arul river passes close 
 to this castle ; and we are informed by Quintus 
 Curtius that, in the territories of Sabns Raja, 
 (which I imagine refers to Sehwun,) " Alexander 
 ** took the strongest city by a tunnel formed by 
 " his miners." A ruin of such magnitude, 
 standing, as it therefore does, on such a site, 
 would authorise our fixing on it as the very city 
 " where the barbarians, untaught in engineer- 
 " ing, were confounded when their enemies 
 '* appeared, almost in the middle of the city, 
 *' rising from a subterraneous passage of which 
 " no trace was previously seen." So strong a 
 position would not, in all probability, be ne- 
 glected in afler-times ; and in the reign of the 
 Emperor Humaioon, a. d. 1541, we find that 
 monarch unable to capture Sehwun, from which 
 he fled on his disastrous journey to Omercote. 
 His son Acbar also invested Sehwun for seven 
 months, and after its capture seems to have 
 dismantled it. There are many coins found in 
 the castle of Sehwun ; but among thirty I could 
 find no trace of the Greek alphabet. They were 
 Mahommedan coins of the sovereigns of Delhi. 
 Mound of About eiditeen miles below Sehwun, and on 
 
 Ainree. '^ 
 
 the same side of the river, is tlie village of 
 Amree, believed to have been once a large city.
 
 CHAP. III. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 59 
 
 and the favourite residence of former kings. 
 It is said to have been swept into the Indus. 
 Near the modern village, however, there is a 
 mound of earth, about forty feet high, which 
 the traditions of the country point out as the 
 halting-place of a king, who ordered the dung 
 of his cavalry to be gathered together, and 
 hence the mound of Amree ! There are some 
 tombs near it, but they are evidently modern. 
 
 We halted four days at Sehwun. The climate 
 was most sultry and oppressive : the thermo- 
 meter stood at 112°, and did not fall below 100° 
 at midnight, owing to scorching winds from the 
 west, where the country is bleak and moun- 
 tainous. The lofty range which runs parallel 
 with the Indus from the sea-coast to the centre 
 of Asia, is joined by the Lukkee mountains 
 south of Sehwun, and thus excludes the refresh- 
 ing breezes of the ocean. 
 
 We quitted Sehwun on the 4th with diffi- 
 culty, for we could not procure men to drag 
 our boats. The mihmandar, thougli he was 
 the vizier's son, and acted under the seal of 
 the Ameer, could not prevail on the Calendar, 
 or priest of the tomb, who said that no such 
 order had been ever given, and he would not 
 now obey it. Some persons were seized : his 
 people drew their swords, and said that, when 
 no longer able to wield them, they might go.
 
 60 
 
 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. III. 
 
 Congratu- 
 lations from 
 
 We knew nothing of the matter till it was over, 
 as it was entirely a private arrangement of Syud 
 Tukkee Shah, the mihmandar. When the men 
 heard they were to be remunerated for their 
 trouble, they came of their own accord before 
 we sailed. Every thing in Sinde being effected 
 by force under despotism, the watermen of 
 Sehwun fled the town, or took up their abode 
 in the sanctuary, when they saw the " jumtee" 
 approach, believing, as usual, that services would 
 be required of them gratuitously. 
 
 On the day after quitting Sehwun, we were 
 Khyrpoor. j^^g^ j^y Mahommcd Gohur, a Belooche chief, 
 and a party, the confidential agents of Meer 
 Roostum Khan, the Ameer of Khyrpoor, who 
 had been sent to the frontier, a distance of 
 eighty miles, to congratulate us on our arrival, 
 and declare their master's devotion to the British 
 Government. We hardly expected such a mark 
 of attention in Sinde, and were therefore gra- 
 tified. The deputation brought an abundant 
 supply of sheep, flour, fruit, spices, sugar, but- 
 ter, ghee, tobacco, opium, &c. &c., on which our 
 people feasted. Sheep were slain and cooked j 
 rice and ghee were soon converted into savoury 
 viands ; and I believe all parties thanked Meer 
 Roostum Khan as heartily as we did, nor did I 
 imaffine that this was but the commencement of 
 a round of feasting which was daily repeated
 
 iiyrpoor. 
 
 CHAP. III. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 6l 
 
 SO long as we were in his country, a period of 
 three weeks. Mahommed Goliur was a decrepit 
 old man, with a red beard. He wore a very 
 handsome loongee round his waist. He did not 
 recover from his surprise throughout the in- 
 terview, for he had never before seen an Euro- 
 pean. 
 
 In return for Meer Roostum Khan's kindness. Address the 
 I addressed to him a Persian letter in the follow- Kiiy 
 ing terms, which will serve as a specimen of the 
 epistolary style used by the people of this coun- 
 try, which I imitated as closely as possible. : — 
 
 (After compliments :) "I hasten to inform your 
 '' Highness that I have reached the frontiers of 
 " your country in company with the respectable 
 " Syud Tukkee Shah, who has accompanied me 
 " on the part of Meer Morad Ali Khan from 
 " Hydrabad. As I have long since heard of 
 " your Highness from those who pass between 
 " Cutch and Sinde, it forms a source of con- 
 *' gratulation to me that I have arrived in your 
 *' dominions, and brought along with me in 
 " safety the presents which have been graciously 
 " bestowed on Maha Raja Runjeet Sing by His 
 " Majesty the King of England, mighty in rank, 
 " terrible as the planet Mars, a monarch great 
 " and magnificent, of the rank of Jemshid, of 
 " the dignity of Alexander, unequalled by Da- 
 " rius, just as Nousherwan, great as Fureedoon,
 
 62 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. III. 
 
 " admired as Cyrus, famed as the Sun, the de- 
 " stroyer of tyranny and oppression, upright 
 " and generous, pious and devout, favoured 
 " from above, &c. &c. : may his dominion endure 
 " for ever ! 
 
 " It is well known that when a friend comes 
 " to the country of a friend it is a source of 
 *' much happiness, and I have therefore written 
 " these few lines; but when I have the pleasure 
 ** of seeing you, my joy will be increased. 
 
 *' I had written thus far, when the respectable 
 " Mahommed Gohur, one of those enjoying your 
 " Higlmess's confidence, arrived at this place, 
 " to acquaint me with your professions of respect 
 " and friendship for the British Government, 
 " bringing along with him many marks of your 
 *' hospitality. Need I say I am rejoiced? Such 
 " civilities mark the great." 
 
 ofThr**^'^ A voyage of ten days brought us to Bukkur ; 
 
 people. \)iij^ ^TQ landed a few miles from that fortress, to 
 prepare for a visit to Khyrpoor and its chief, 
 who had made us so welcome in his country. 
 We saw much of the Sindians on our way up 
 the river, and did every thing to encourage 
 their a])proach by granting free admission on 
 board to the commonest villager who wished to 
 view the horses. The body of the people are 
 little better than savages, and extremely igno- 
 rant ; their spiritual guides and Syuds, or the
 
 CHAP. III. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 63 
 
 followers of the prophet, however, showed 
 knowledge and independence. I happened to 
 ask a party of Syuds to what Ameer they were 
 subject: they replied, "We acknowledge no 
 *' master but God, who gives us villages and all 
 *' we desire." I was struck with the family 
 likeness that prevails throughout this class in 
 Sinde ; for it is not to be supposed that a tribe 
 so numerous has lineally descended from the 
 prophet of Arabia. The beggars of Sinde are 
 most importunate and troublesome. They prac- 
 tise all manner of persuasion to succeed in their 
 suit for alms 5 tear up grass and bushes with 
 their mouths, and chew sand and mud to excite 
 compassion. 
 
 With the better orders of society we had 
 frequent intercourse and conversation. Some of 
 them felt interested about the objects of our 
 mission to Lahore. They did not give us 
 much credit for sincerity in sending it by a 
 route which they believed never to have been 
 passed since the time of Noah. They were 
 full of enquiries regarding our customs. Our 
 Khyrpoor friend, Mahomed Gohur, was par- 
 ticularly horrified at our arrangements for getting 
 a wife, and begged me in future to let my beard 
 grow. The knowledge of this individual I may 
 describe, when he asked me if London were 
 under Calcutta: he was, however, a pleasant
 
 64 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. III. 
 
 man ; I delighted to hear him sing the praises 
 of the soldiers of Sinde, who, he said, differed 
 from all the world in thinking it an honour to 
 fight on foot. The feelings of pity which some 
 of the people displayed for us were amusing : 
 they were shocked to hear that we cleaned our 
 teeth with hogs' bristles. I was frequently asked 
 to lay aside the English saddle, which they con- 
 sidered quite unworthy, and worse than a seat 
 on the bare back of the horse. 
 The Indus: Thc ludus ill tliis part of its course is called 
 
 names for . p -,- , . , . . 
 
 it. Sira, in distinction from Lar, which is its appel- 
 
 lation below Sehwun. These are two Belooche 
 words for north and south ; and of the name of 
 Sirae, or Khosa, a tribe inhabiting the desert on 
 the east, we have thus a satisfactory explanation ; 
 as these people originally spread from Sira, in 
 the upper course of the Indus. Mehran, a name 
 of this river, familiar to the Indians and 
 foreigners, is not used by the natives of tlie 
 country. The water of the Indus is considered 
 superior, for every purpose of life, to that drawn 
 from the wells of Sinde. When taken from the 
 river it is very foul ; but the rich keep it till the 
 mud with which it is loaded subsides. There 
 are few ferry-boats on the Indus ; and it is a 
 curious sight to see the people crossing it on 
 skins and bundles of reeds. A native will often 
 float down to a distance of fifteen or twenty
 
 CHAP. ni. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 65 
 
 miles, accompanied by a whole herd of buffaloes, 
 preferring this mode of travelling to a journey 
 on the banks. From Sehwun upwards they kill 
 the *'pulla" fish by nets suspended from the 
 bow of small boats, which are, at the same time, 
 the habitations of the fisherman and his family. 
 The wife, who is generally a sturdy dame, pulls 
 the stern oar to keep the vessel in the middle of 
 the stream, often with a baby in her arms, while 
 the husband kills the fish. One would not have 
 expected to find porpoises so far from the sea ; 
 but they are to be observed sporting in the river 
 as high as Bukkur; they are more grey than 
 those in the salt water. 
 
 I should have mentioned, that before reach- visited by 
 ing Bukkur, we were visited by the Nawab ofsinde. 
 Wulee Mahomed Khan Lugharee, one of the 
 viziers of Sinde, who had travelled from Shikar- 
 poor to meet us. We found him a decrepit old 
 man of seventy-two, on the verge of the grave. 
 He treated us with particular kindness, and 
 quite won our hearts by his attentions. He 
 gave me a horse and a rich loongee. He said in 
 the plainest terms that the Ameer had had evil 
 counsel to detain us so long in Sinde, and that 
 he had written urgently to his Highness not 
 to commit himself by such a step. We had 
 now a good opportunity of seeing a Belooche 
 chief on his native soil. He came with a 
 
 VOL. III. F
 
 6Q TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. HI. 
 
 splendid equipage of tents and carpets, accom- 
 panied by three palankeens, and about 400 
 men. A set of dancing girls were among his 
 suite ; and in the evening we were compelled, 
 against our inclination, to hear these ladies squall 
 for a couple of hours, and, what added to the 
 disgust of the scene, they drank at intervals of 
 the strongest spirits, to clea?' their voices, as they 
 said, until nearly intoxicated. It was impossible 
 to express any displeasure at this exhibition, 
 since the gala, however much out of taste, was 
 got up in the hope of adding to our amusement. 
 The people with us, who now amounted to 150, 
 were sumptuously entertained by the Nawab, 
 who kept us with him for two days, 
 yizierof On the morning of the 14tli we disembarked 
 
 Khyrpoor. 
 
 near the small village of Alipoor, and were met 
 by the vizier of Meer Roostum Khan, who had 
 come from Khyrpoor to receive us. His name 
 was Futteh Khan Ghoree, an aged person of 
 mild and affable manners, and of peculiar ap- 
 ])earance from a snow white beard and red hair. 
 Our reception was cordial and kind ; the vizier 
 assured us of the higli satisfaction with which 
 his master had heard of our arrival, for he had 
 long desired to draw closer to the British go- 
 vernment, and had never yet had the good 
 fortune to meet any of its agents. He said that 
 Meer Roostum Khan did not presume to put
 
 CHAP. irr. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 67 
 
 himself on an equality with so potent and great 
 a nation, but hoped that he might be classed 
 among its wellwishers, and as one ready to 
 afford his services on all occasions. Futteh 
 Khan added that Khyrpoor formed a separate 
 portion of Sinde from Hydrabad, a fact which 
 he begged I would remember. I was not alto- 
 gether unprepared for this communication, for I 
 judged from his previous efforts to please that 
 the ruler had some object in view. 1 assured the 
 vizier of my sense of his master's attentions, 
 and promised to talk on these matters after our 
 interview. He brought a palankeen to convey 
 me in state to Khyrpoor, a distance of fourteen 
 miles, to which city w^e marched on the follow- 
 ing day. 
 
 After what I have already stated, our inter- Ameer of 
 view with Meer Roostum Khan may be well 
 imagined : he received us under a canopy of 
 silk, seated on a cushion of cloth of gold. He 
 was surrounded by the members of his family, 
 forty of whom (males), descended in a right line 
 from his father, are yet alive. There was more 
 state and show than at Hydrabad, but as little 
 attention to order or silence. We exchanged 
 the usual complimentary speeches of like oc- 
 casions. I thanked his Highness for the uni- 
 form attention and hospitality which we had 
 received. Meer Roostum Khan is about fifty ; 
 
 F 2
 
 68 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. III. 
 
 his beard and hair were quite white, and the 
 expression of his countenance, as well as his 
 manners, were peculiarly mild. He and his 
 relatives were too much taken up with our uni- 
 forms and faces to say much ; and he begged us 
 to return in the evening, when there would be 
 less bustle and confusion, to which we readily 
 assented. I gave him my watch before leaving, 
 and sent him a brace of pistols and a kaleides- 
 cope, with various articles of European manu- 
 facture, with which he was highly delighted. 
 The crowd was hardly to be penetrated, but 
 very orderly : they shouted as we approached ; 
 and nothing seemed to amuse them so much as 
 the feathers of our hats. " Such cocks!" was 
 literally the expression. For about 200 yards 
 from the palace (if I can use such a term for 
 the mud buildings of Sinde) there was a street 
 of armed men, and among them stood thirty or 
 forty persons with halberds, the foresters or 
 huntsmen of the household. 
 Audience j^ tjig eveuiuff wc ai^jaiu visited the Ameer, 
 
 ot leave. . 
 
 and found liim seated on a terrace spread with 
 Persian carpets, and surrounded, as before, by 
 his numerous relatives. He made a long address 
 to me regarding his respect for the British go- 
 vernment, and said tliat I had of course learned 
 his sentiments from his vizier. He looked to 
 our Mihmandar from Hydrabad, who I found
 
 CHAP. III. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 69 
 
 had been doing every thing in his power to pre- 
 vent our meeting at all, and then changed the 
 conversation. The Ameer asked innumerable 
 questions about England and its power, remark- 
 ing that we were not formerly so military a 
 nation ; and he had heard that a few hundred 
 years ago we went naked and painted our 
 bodies. On our religion he was very inquisi- 
 tive ; and when I informed him that I had read 
 the Koran, he made me repeat the " Kuluma," 
 or creed, in Persian and Arabic, to his inex- 
 pressible delight. He said that our greatness 
 had risen from a knowledge of mankind, and 
 attending to other people's concerns as well as 
 our own. He examined my sword, a small 
 cavalry sabre, and remarked that it would not 
 do much harm ; but I rejoined, that the age of 
 fighting with this weapon had passed, which 
 drew a shout and a sigh from many present. 
 There was so much mildness in all that the 
 Ameer said that I could not believe we were in 
 a Belooche court. He expressed sorrow that we 
 could not stay a month with liiin ; but since we 
 were resolved to proceed, we must take his state 
 barge, and the son of his vizier, to the frontier, 
 and accept the poor hospitality of a Belooche 
 soldier, meaning himself, so long as we were in 
 the Khyrpoor territory. I must mention that 
 the hospitality, which he so modestly named, 
 
 F 3
 
 70 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. III. 
 
 consisted of eight or ten sheep, with all sorts of 
 provisions for 150 people daily, and that while 
 at Khyrpoor he sent for our use, twice a day, a 
 meal of seventy-two dishes. They consisted of 
 pillaos and other native viands. The cookery 
 was rich, and some of them delicious. They 
 were served up in silver. We quitted Khyrpoor 
 with regret, after the attentions which we had 
 received. Before starting, the Ameer and his 
 family sent to us two daggers, and two beau- 
 tiful swords with belts ornamented by large 
 masses of gold. The blade of one of them 
 was valued at 80/. To these were added many 
 cloths and native silks ; also a purse of a thou- 
 sand rupees, which I did not accept, excusing 
 myself by the remark that I required nothing 
 to make me remember the kindness of Meer 
 Roostum Khan, 
 sindian Mr. Elphiustone has remarked, " that the 
 
 " chiefs of Sinde appear to be barbarians of the 
 *' rudest stamp, without any of the barbarous 
 *' virtues," and I fear that there is too much 
 truth in the character, though the Khyrpoor 
 family exhibited little to show themselves de- 
 serving of the stigma ; but the chiefs of this 
 country live entirely for themselves. They wal- 
 low in wealth, while their people are wretched. 
 Professing an cntliusiastic attaclnnent to the 
 religion of Mahommed, they have not even a 
 
 rule.
 
 CHAP. III. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 71 
 
 substantial mosque in their territories ; and at 
 Hydrabad, where the town stands on rock, and 
 indeed every where, they pray in temj^les of 
 mud, and seem ignorant of elegance or comfort 
 in all that concerns domestic arrangement. The 
 Beloochees are a particularly savage race of 
 people, but they are brave barbarians. From 
 childhood they are brought up in arms ; and I 
 have seen some of the sons of chiefs who had 
 not attained the age of four or five years 
 strutting about with a shield and a sword of 
 small size, given by the parents to instil into 
 them, at that early period, the relish for war. 
 This tribe composes but a small portion of the 
 Sindian population; and while they are execrated 
 by the peaceable classes of the community for 
 their imperious conduct, they, on the other 
 hand, hate the princes by whom they are go- 
 verned. It would be difficult to conceive a 
 more unpopular rule, with all classes of their 
 subjects, than that of the Ameers of Sinde: nor 
 is the feeling disguised ; many a fervent hope 
 did we hear expressed, in every part of the 
 country, that we were the forerunners of con- 
 quest, the advance-guard of a conquering army. 
 The persons of the Ameers are secure from 
 danger by the number of slaves which they en- 
 tertain around their persons. These people are 
 called " Khaskelees," and enjoy the confidence 
 
 F 4<
 
 .72 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. III. 
 
 of their masters, with a considerable share of 
 power : they are hereditary slaves, and a dis- 
 tinct class of the community, who marry only 
 among themselves. 
 Bukkur. ^Yq marched to Bukkur on the morning of 
 
 the 19th, which is a fortress fifteen miles from 
 Khyrpoor, situated on an insulated rock of flint 
 on the Indus, with the town of Roree on one 
 side and Sukkur on the other. It was not to be 
 supposed that the Ameer would give us per- 
 mission to visit this fancied bulwark of his fron- 
 tier, and I did not press a demand which I saw 
 was far from agreeable ; but we had good oppor- 
 tunities of examining the place while passing it, 
 both on shore and on the river. The island is 
 about 800 yards long, of an oval shape, almost 
 entirely occupied by the fortification, which 
 looks more European than most Indian works : 
 it is a beautiful object from the banks of the 
 Indus; its towers are mostly shaded by large 
 full grown trees, and the tall date drops its 
 weeping leaves on the mosques and walls. There 
 are several other islets near it, on one of which 
 stands the shrine of Khaju Khizr, a holy Ma- 
 hommedan, under a dome that contributes to the 
 beauty of the scene. The Indus rolls past Buk- 
 kur in two streams, each of 100 yards wide, and 
 the waters lash tlie rocks whicli confine them 
 with noise and violence. During the swell, the
 
 CHAP. III. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 73- 
 
 navigation of this part of the river is dangerous, 
 though tlie boatmen of Bukkur are both expert 
 and daring. The town of Roree, which faces 
 Bukkur, stands on a precipice of flint forty feet 
 high, and some of its houses, which are lofty, 
 overhang the Indus. The inhabitants of these 
 can draw up water from their windows ; but a 
 cut road in the rock supphes the citizens with 
 this necessary of Hfe without risking their Hves. 
 The opposite bank of Sukkur is not precipitous 
 hke that of Roree. A precious reUc, the lock 
 of Mahommed's hair, enclosed in a golden box, 
 attracts the Mahommedan pilgrim to Bukkur, 
 though the inhabitants are chiefly Hindoos. 
 
 On the banks of the Indus we had a curious Grave pre- 
 interview in the evening after our arrival with 
 the Vizier from Khyrpoor, who had been sent 
 by Meer Roostum Khan to escort us thus far, 
 and see that we were furnished with boats. After 
 requesting to be received privately, he renewed 
 the subject of our first conversation, and said that 
 he had been instructed by his master to propose 
 a solemn treaty of friendship with the British 
 government on any terms that might be named : 
 he then ran over the list of neighbouring states 
 which owed their existence to an alliance, — the 
 Chief of the Daodpootras, the Rawul of Jaysul- 
 meer, and the Rajah of Beecaneer, &c. &c. and 
 then concluded with a peroration full of gravity, 
 
 dictions.
 
 74 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. III. 
 
 that it was foretold by astronomers, and recorded 
 in his books, that the English would in time 
 possess all India, a prediction which both Meer 
 Roostum and himself felt satisfied would come 
 to pass, when the British would ask why the 
 chiefs of Khyrpoor had not come forward with 
 an offer of allegiance. I tried to remove, but 
 without effect, the sad prognostications of the 
 minister, and declared my incompetency to enter 
 on such weighty matters as a treaty between the 
 states, without authority and before receiving a 
 written statement under the Ameer's seal. I 
 said that I would make known the wishes that 
 had been expressed to my government, which 
 would be gratified to hear they had such 
 friends, which seemed to please the diplomatist ; 
 he begged that I would bear in mind what had 
 passed, and exacted a promise that I would 
 write to liim when gone, and so water the tree 
 of friendship, that the object might be ultimately 
 effected, — " for the stars and heaven proclaimed 
 *' the fortune of tlie English !" 
 Amusing This was not the only incident of interest that 
 
 incKlunt. • 
 
 occurred at Bukkur : we liad a visit from an 
 Afghan nobleman of rank, who had been on a 
 mission to the Governor-General from tlie late 
 Shah Mahmood of Herat, and was now on his 
 retiu'n to liis native country, by the way of 
 Sinde and Mekran, the dissensions of dismem-
 
 CHAP. III. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 7^ 
 
 bered Cabool preventing his passing by the 
 usual route. He was one of the finest natives I 
 ever saw, and had a flowing beard reacliing to 
 his waist : he was full of Calcutta and its won- 
 ders, and had adopted many of our customs. 
 He rode on an English saddle ; but said he had 
 just found out that it was partly made of hog's 
 skin, and brought it to beg my acceptance of it, 
 for he dared not take such a thing to his country, 
 and would not again use it. I civilly declined 
 the offer, and regretted that the information 
 regarding the materials of the saddle had been 
 traced to me ; for, as he liked our fashions, it 
 was a pity he could not carry them to his own 
 country. Previous to the envoy's leaving us, 
 he begged I would give him an English brush, 
 which I did with pleasure ; but I did not con- 
 sider it necessary to add that, in addition to the 
 skin of the unclean beast, he would now have 
 the bristles. He Avent away in great good 
 humour with his gift, for which he offered me 
 his palankeen. 
 
 I was sorry that I should have been the means Mihman- 
 of giving uneasiness to the Afghan ; for it seems 
 that he acquired his knowledge regarding the 
 construction of his saddle from our Sindian 
 Mihmandar, Tukkee Shall, who had taunted him 
 with uncleanness. This person was a Syud, 
 one of the strictest Mahommedans I ever met.
 
 76 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. Ill, 
 
 He was a son of Meer Ismael Shah, and of Per- 
 sian descent. We found him intelhgent and 
 learned, and his pohshed manners made us 
 regret the loss of so agreeable a companion. 
 He left us at Bukkur, to take temporary charge 
 of the Shikarpoor district during the absence of 
 his brother, the Nawab. The character of this 
 person was singularly disfigured by Mahom- 
 medan bigotry and superstition ; while sceptical 
 and dispassionate on all other topics, there was 
 no miracle too absurd for his credence in reli- 
 gion. Among other fables, he assured me that 
 when the Imam Hoosein had been beheaded 
 by the Yezeedees, and a Christian reproached 
 them for murdering their Prophet, one of them 
 fell on him ; the man, instantly seizing the head 
 of the Imam, placed it on his breast, and it pro- 
 nounced tlie well-knowai words, *' There is no 
 " God but one God, and Mahommed is his 
 "prophet;" which immediately silenced this 
 Mahommedan Judas ! 
 Aiore, or While at Bukkur, I visited the ruins of Alore, 
 ancient which is Said to have been once the capital of a 
 cap' a . niighty kingdom, ruled by the Dulora llac, 
 and on which lloree, Bukkur, and Sukkur, have 
 risen. It extended from the ocean to Cashmeer, 
 from Candahar to Kanoje, and ^vas divided into 
 four vast viceroyalties : the harbour of Diu, in 
 Kattywar, is expressly mentioned as one of its
 
 CHAP. III. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 77 
 
 sea-ports. It sunk under tlie Mahommedan 
 arms so early as the seventh century of the 
 Christian era, when subdued by the Ueutenant 
 of the CaUph of Bagdad, Mahommed bin Cas- 
 sim, who invaded India, according to a Persian 
 manuscript, in search of ornaments for the se- 
 ragho of the Cahph. 
 
 The particulars of its history are to be found 
 at great length in the Chuchnama, a history of 
 Sinde in Persian believed to be authentic, and 
 so called from the ruler of Alore, a Brahmin, 
 by name Duhr bin Chuch. The ruins of Alore 
 are yet to be discovered in a rocky ridge four 
 miles south-east of Bukkur, and are now marked 
 by an humble hamlet, with some ruined tombs. 
 A low bridge with three arches, named the 
 " Bund of Alore or Arore," constructed of 
 brick and stone, alone remains of all its great- 
 ness. It is thrown across a valley, which in 
 by-gone years formed the bed of a branch of 
 the Indus, from which the waters fertilised the 
 desert, and reached the sea by Omercote and 
 Lucput, — a channel through which they still 
 find egress in a great inundation. 
 
 The description of the battle which over- 
 whelmed the city of Alore, and terminated the 
 life and reign of the Dulora Rae, affords some 
 clue to the manners of the age. The Brahmin 
 appeared with a train of elephants, on one of
 
 78 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. III. 
 
 which lie was seated, with two females of ex- 
 quisite beauty to supply him with wine and the 
 betel nut. The Mahommedans, unable to oppose 
 these animals, retired from the field to provide 
 themselves with combustibles : they filled their 
 pipes, and returned with them to dart fire at the 
 elephants, which fled in dismay and disorder*. 
 The Raja fell in the action, and his two virgin 
 daughters, " more beautiful than the morn," 
 were despatched to Bagdad as fit ornaments for 
 the seraglio of the vicegerent of the Prophet. 
 The story of these ladies deserves mention. 
 On their arrival at the holy city, they averred 
 that the General had dishonoured them in the 
 fever of victory, and the mandate for his death 
 was forthwith despatched by the Caliph. The 
 innocent Moslem, sewed up in a raw hide, was 
 transported from the East to Arabia ; and when 
 his bones were produced in the seraglio, the 
 daughters of Duhr bin Chuch freely confessed 
 the falsehood of their accusation, and expressed 
 their readiness to die, having avenged their 
 father's murder. They were dragged to deatli 
 in the streets of Bagdad. 
 Aiorethe ^\rg huve rccordcd the splendour of Alore, 
 
 kingdom of '■ 
 
 Musicanus. ruled by Brahmins so late as the seventh century 
 
 * It would appear from this, that they smoked in that 
 age : it must have been batiff, or hemp, since tobacco was 
 unknown till the discovery of America.
 
 CHAP. III. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 79 
 
 of our era ; and liistory, I think, identifies it with Larkiianu, 
 the kingdom of Musicanus, which Alexander nus. Mi- 
 found to be governed by Brahmins, and the Tatta, not 
 richest and most populous in India. Here it 
 was that that conqueror built a fort, as " the 
 " place was commodiously situated for bridling 
 " the neighbouring nations," and where Ma- 
 hommed bin Cassim a thousand years afterwards 
 subdued the Brahmins who revolted from the 
 Macedonians. Its prosperity at this late period 
 confirms the probability of its former wealth. 
 Bukkur is the ancient Munsoora*, and has like- 
 wise been supposed to be Minagur, which I 
 believe is erroneous. The second Arrian, in 
 his Periplus, speaks of that city as the metro- 
 polis of Sinde, to which the cargo of the ships 
 was carried up by the river " from Barbarike, a 
 *' port in the middle branch of the Indus." It 
 has apparently escaped notice, that Minagur is 
 to be identified with Tatta, as proved by a sin- 
 gular but convincing fact. The Jhareja Raj- 
 poots of Cutch, who trace their lineage from 
 Tatta, invariably designate it in these days by 
 the name of Sa-Minagur, of which Minagur is 
 evidently an abbreviation. I look upon the 
 identity of Tatta and Minagur as conclusive, 
 though the author of the Periplus never men- 
 tions Pattala. In Reechel we may also have 
 
 * Ayeen Acbaree.
 
 80 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. III. 
 
 tlie harbour of Barbarike. The liistorians of 
 Alexander do not inform us of the name of the 
 country of Musicanus, but only of its ruler. 
 The position of Larkhanu, on the opposite side 
 of the Indus, is well marked as the country of 
 Oxycanus, which was famed for its fertility, since 
 Alexander despatched from hence his superan- 
 nuated soldiers, by the country of the Archoti 
 and Drangi, to Carmania, or Kerman. The great 
 road westward branches from Larkhanu, and 
 crosses the mountains to Kelat by the pass of 
 Bolan, which is the route to Kerman. The 
 modern inhabitants of the Indus have no tra- 
 ditions of the conquest of the Macedonians to 
 assist the enquirer in a subject that excites among 
 civilised nations such intense curiosity.
 
 81 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 THE COUNTRY OF BHAWUL KHAN. 
 
 On the 21st of May we set sail from Bukkur, Quitsuk- 
 having exchanged our boats for another descrip- 
 tion of vessel, called " zohruk,'* not in use in 
 Lower Sinde. They are of an oblong square 
 shape, rounded fore and aft, and built of the 
 talee tree, clamped with pieces of iron in- 
 stead of nails, an operation which is performed 
 with great neatness. Some of the vessels exceed 
 eighty feet in length, and twenty in breadth. 
 They are flat-bottomed, and pass quicker through 
 the water than the doondee^ though they have 
 but one mast. By the description of boats 
 in which Alexander transported his cavalry, I 
 understand the " zohruk," which is well suited 
 for the transport of troops. Arrian describes it 
 *' as of a round form," and says that they re- 
 ceived no injury on leaving the Hydaspes, when 
 the long vessels were wrecked. Their peculiar 
 build has doubtless arisen from the occurrence 
 of such rapids as the Macedonians experienced 
 at the junction of the Acesines and Hydaspes. 
 
 The curiosity of the people on the banks of Curiosity 
 the Indus was intense. One man in the crowd people. 
 
 VOL. III. G
 
 82 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. VI. 
 
 demanded that we should stop and show our- 
 selves, since there had never been a lohite- 
 Jhce in this country before, and we were bound 
 to exhibit, from the welcome which we had 
 received : he had seen Shah Shooja, he said (the 
 ex-king of Cabool), but never an Englishman. 
 Need I say we gratified him and the crowd, of 
 which he was the spokesman ? *' Bismilla," " in 
 " the name of God," was their usual exclama- 
 tion when we appeared, and we daily heard our- 
 selves styled kings and princes. The ladies 
 were more curious than their husbands. They 
 wear ear-rings of large dimensions, with tur- 
 quoises suspended or fixed to them ; for these 
 stones are of little value in the vicinity of Kho- 
 rasan. Among the women, I should note the 
 Syudanees, or Bebees, the female descendants of 
 Mahommed : they go about veiled, or rather with 
 a long white robe thrown over their entire body, 
 having netted orifices before the eyes and mouth. 
 They are all beggars, and very vociferous in 
 their demands for alms : one set of them, (for 
 they go about in troops,) when they found I did 
 not readily meet their demands, produced a 
 written paper from the shrine of Lai Sluih Baz, 
 at Sehwun, to hasten my charity ! Father Man- 
 rique, in his journey by the Indus some cen- 
 turies ago, complains " of the frail fair ones" 
 who molested him by the way. In the present
 
 CHAP. IV. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 83 
 
 age, the dress of the courtezans, who are to be 
 met in every place of size in tlie country, would 
 give a favourable idea of the wealth of Sinde ; 
 and it is one of the few, if not the only, amuse- 
 ments of the inhabitants to listen to the lascivious 
 songs of these people. They are a remarkably 
 handsome race, and carry along with them a 
 spirit of enthusiasm in their performance un- 
 known to the ladies of Hindoostan. 
 
 Three days after quitting Bukkur, we came Beioochees 
 in sight of the mountains of Cutch Gundava, 
 distant about a hundred miles from the right 
 bank of the Indus ; the most remarkable peak 
 was named Gendaree. We here entered a 
 country inhabited by various Beloche tribes, long 
 addicted to piracy and jjlunder ; but their spirit 
 has been destroyed by the growing power of the 
 Khyrpoor chiefs. They offered no opposition 
 or insult ; and many came to pay us a friendly 
 visit. Their manner of saluting each other, 
 which indeed prevails among all the Beioochees, 
 is somewhat peculiar. On approaching, they 
 seize the stranger's hand, and touch the right 
 breast with the right shoulder, and the left with 
 the left, and follow up the words " welcome " 
 with half a dozen such sentences as, " Are 
 *' you happy ? Is every thing right ? Are all 
 "well, great and small, children and horses? 
 *' You are welcome." 
 
 G 2
 
 84 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. IV, 
 
 sinde fron- ^ yerv few davs brought us beyond the reach 
 
 tier, fare- '' "^ ° / _ 
 
 well letters, of these Beloochces, and the dominions of Sinde ; 
 for we anchored thirty miles north of Subzulcote, 
 the frontier town, on the evening of the 26th, 
 on the hne of boundary between the Khan of 
 the Daoodpootras and the Ameers of Sinde. 
 Our progress had been exceedingly rapid ; for 
 we had a favourable breeze, and often followed 
 the lesser branches of the Indus to escape the 
 violence of the stream. The boats sailed with 
 celerity; for we came one hundred and twenty 
 miles by the course of the river in six days 
 against the stream. We here had a farewell feast 
 from the Khyrpoor Ameer and Meer Nusseer 
 Khan, the son of the principal Ameer, who had 
 shown us marked civility throughout the journey. 
 After the people had fared sumptuously, our 
 boats were crowded like sheepfolds. I addressed 
 valedictory letters to both the Ameers and their 
 chief ministers, besides several replies to other 
 persons; for the " cacoefhes scribendi" seemed to 
 have beset the nobles of the land; and I had re- 
 ceived, in one day, no less than six letters. These 
 productions were full of metaphor and over- 
 strained expressions of anxiety for our health 
 and safety, with trite sayings about the advan- 
 tages of friendship, and a letter being half an 
 interview. There is no difference between the 
 manners of Europe and Asia so striking as in
 
 CHAP. IV. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 85 
 
 correspondence. The natives of the East com- 
 mit the writing and diction of their compositions 
 to a native secretary, simply teUing him to write 
 a letter of friendship, congratulation, or what- 
 ever may be the subject, to which he affixes his 
 seal, sometimes without a perusal. If the signet 
 is not legible, one may often try in vain to find 
 out his correspondent ; for he never names him- 
 self in his letter. In my epistles, I told the 
 Khyrpoor chief that his friendship and kindness 
 had brought us without an accident, and with 
 unprecedented speed, against the mighty stream 
 of the Indus ; and I thought it as well, for the 
 edification of the Hydrabad Ameer, to add, that 
 the Indus was a navigable river from the ocean, 
 and had abundance of water every where ! I did 
 not quit Sinde favourably impressed, either with 
 his character or policy ; but we should not try 
 such a man by an European standard, and he 
 doubtless opposed our choice of the route by the 
 Indus on sufficiently good grounds. I parted 
 from our Khyrpoor friends really with reluctance ; 
 for their hospitality and kindness had been great, 
 and it was with difficulty that I was permitted 
 to reward the boatmen. The Mihmandar said 
 that he had been ordered to prohibit it ; and his 
 master only desired to please the British Govern- 
 ment. This person was very inferior to our 
 former companion the Syud ; but, if less learned 
 
 G 3
 
 escort. 
 
 86 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. IV. 
 
 and intelligent, he had the more sterling qualities 
 of sincerity and honesty : his name was Inayut 
 Khan Ghoree. 
 sindian Wc here dismissed, and with regret, our 
 
 Sindian escort, which had followed us from the 
 mouths of the Indus. They seemed to have 
 become attached to us, and followed us in our 
 walks and rides with unusual alacrity ; as we 
 were leaving, they accompanied us to the water's 
 edge, with loud cries of thanks for our kindness 
 and prayers for our welfare. They consisted of 
 twenty-four men ; twelve of whom were Beloo- 
 chees and the rest Jokeeas, a tribe of mount- 
 aineers near Curachee. We had not, I am sure, 
 done much to deserve such gratitude ; for they 
 had only received an additional month's pay 
 (eight rupees each) to take them back to their 
 country, a distance of three hundred and fifty 
 miles. Some of them begged to accompany us 
 to Lahore ; but, on the same principle that they 
 had been hired in Sinde, it would be proper to 
 enlist natives of the new country we were enter- 
 ing, and I civilly declined their request. These 
 men used to kill game for us j and were ever 
 ready to anticipate our wishes. Their honesty 
 we found unimpeachable ; and we never lost 
 any thing in our progress through a strange 
 country, protected by strangers on whom we had 
 no tie, and who had been brought from the fields 
 to enter our service.
 
 Litk" for Bxoik; s Tra.TCls mto Bokhara.- hjI>s^l(JS&:^Aiif? to tlieELiig . 
 
 Jolm-MutrayAlbemajrle S^ 1854'.
 
 CHAP. IV. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 87 
 
 The natives of the neighbouring countries, Fish diet, 
 and the higher class of people in Sinde, have a 
 singular notion regarding the fish diet of the 
 inhabitants. They believe it prostrates the 
 understanding; and, in palliation of ignorance 
 in any one, often plead that '* he is but a fish- 
 " eater." The lower order of the Sind'ans live 
 entirely on fish and rice ; and the prevailing 
 belief must be of an old date, as they tell an 
 anecdote of one of the Emperors of Delhi who 
 addressed a stranger in his court with the 
 question from whence he came ; he replied, 
 from Tatta, and the king turned away his head. 
 The stranger, recollecting the prejudice against 
 his country, immediately rejoined, that he was 
 not a '* iish-eater." I am not prepared to state 
 how far a fish diet may affect the intellect of the 
 Sindian, but I certainly remarked the prolific 
 nature of the food in the number of children on 
 the banks of the Indus. The greatest fault Mannas, 
 
 P &c. Cos- 
 
 which an European would find with the people tume. 
 of Sinde is their filthy habits. They always 
 wear dark-coloured garments from religious 
 motives ; but the ablutions of the Prophet are 
 little attended to. People must be in easy 
 circumstances, I believe, or cease to feel want 
 before they adopt habits of cleanliness. The 
 change of costume in the people, announced 
 already a change of country. Since leaving 
 
 G 4
 
 88 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. IV. 
 
 Bukkur, we had met many Afghans and natives 
 of the kmgdom of Cabool. The boots of some 
 of these strangers, made of variegated leather, 
 ribbed, in some instances, not unlike the skin of 
 the tiger, formed an extraordinary dress for a 
 long-bearded old man. 
 Bhawui ^ ^^ the evening of the 27th we quitted Sinde, 
 Khan's ^^^ asccndcd the river for a few miles, where 
 
 country. ' 
 
 we were met by Gholam Kadir Khan, a Nuwab 
 and person of high rank, who had been sent to 
 welcome us by Bhawui Khan, the chief of the 
 Daoodpootras, in whose country we had now 
 arrived. He was a little, pot-bellied old man, 
 with a happy expression of countenance ; and 
 he said that he was sent to communicate the de- 
 light with which his master hailed our approach. 
 He brought a most kind message — that a fleet 
 of fifteen boats had been collected, and was now 
 in readiness to convey us through the Daood- 
 pootra country, while the Khan had fitted up a 
 boat expressly for our accommodation. He 
 brought likewise a purse of a hundred rupees, 
 which he said he had been desired to send me 
 daily : this I declined, saying, that money was 
 useless where every necessary and luxury of 
 life was furnished by his master's hospitality. 
 We soon got on easy terms with our new hosts, 
 and weighed anchor next evening for the frontier 
 village, where we halted. Many Daoodpootras
 
 CHAP. IV. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 89 
 
 came to see us ; they differ in appearance from 
 the Sindians, and wear turbans formed of tight 
 and round folds of cloths. 
 
 On the 30th of May our fleet, now swelled to ^"'' *^^ 
 
 *' Indus. 
 
 eighteen boats, quitted the Indus at Mittuncote, 
 where it receives the united waters of the Punjab 
 rivers ; and, as if to remind us of its magnitude, 
 the stream was here wider than in any other 
 part of its course, and exceeded 2000 yards. 
 We took a last farewell of its waters, and en- 
 tered the Chenab or Acesines of the Greeks. 
 Alexander sailed down this river to the Indus ; 
 but no tradition of that event is preserved on 
 its banks. The Sindians point to Cabool as the 
 theatre of his exploits, where Sikunder the 
 Persian achieved many memorable deeds. In 
 the East, as in the West, there have not been 
 wanting ages of darkness to draw a mist over 
 truth, and substitute, in poetical language, the 
 fables of an Eastern country for one of the most 
 authentic facts in ancient history — the voyage 
 of Alexander on the Indus. Mittun is a small 
 town, about a mile distant from the Indus, and 
 occupies, I imagine, the site of one of the 
 Grecian cities, since the advantage of its po- 
 sition for commerce attracted the attention of 
 Alexander. 
 
 In Lower Sinde the pastoral tribes live in Elevated 
 reed houses, and rove from one place to an- sinde.
 
 90 
 
 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. IV. 
 
 Effects of 
 the Indus 
 on the 
 climate. 
 
 Chenab or 
 Acesines. 
 
 other. In these parts of the Indus they dwell 
 in habitations elevated eight or ten feet from 
 the ground, to avoid the damp and the insects 
 occasioned by it. These are also built of reeds, 
 and entered by a ladder. They are small neat 
 cottages, and occupied by wandering tribes, who 
 frequent the banks of the river till the season 
 of inundation. Herodotus mentions that the 
 Egyptians slept in turrets during the rise of the 
 Nile. The inliabitants have strange notions 
 regarding the influence of the Indus on the 
 climate. They believe that it gives out a per- 
 petual breeze ; and they, therefore, seek a habit- 
 ation near it, for the heat of Sinde is most 
 oppressive. The father of history expressed 
 his belief that such also was the case with the 
 Nile; and it is curious that a similar opinion 
 should be entertained by the people of Sinde. 
 I can readily understand that a vast volume of 
 running water would cool the banks of a river : 
 the heat is said to increase on receding from the 
 Indus. 
 
 We reached Ooch, where the joint streams 
 of the Sutlege and Beas, here called the Garra, 
 fall into the Chenab. The name of Punjnud, 
 or Five Rivers, is unknown to the natives ; 
 and we now navigated the Chenab or Ace- 
 sines of the Greeks, the name of the five rivers 
 being lost in that of the greater stream. It
 
 CHAP. IV. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. Ql 
 
 is curious to observe that this fact is expressly 
 mentioned by Arrian : — '*The Acesines retains 
 *' its name till it falls at last into the Indus, 
 " after it has received three other rivers." The 
 Sutlege, or Hesudrus, is not mentioned by Alex- 
 ander's historians. These united rivers form a 
 noble stream ; and the banks of the Chenab are 
 free from the thick tamarisk jungles of the 
 Indus. They were studded with innumerable 
 hamlets, particularly towards the Indus ; for the 
 rich pasture attracts the shepherd. 
 
 Our arrival at Ooch had been so much earlier incident, 
 than was anticipated as to give rise to an in- 
 cident which might have proved serious. The 
 troops of Bhawul Khan were encamped on the 
 banks of the river, and in a dusky day our 
 numerous fleet was mistaken for the Seik army, 
 which had been threatening to invade his terri- 
 tories. A discharge of a cannon and some mus- 
 quetry arrested the progress of our advanced 
 boat. The mistake was readily discovered, and 
 the chagrin and vexation that followed afforded 
 us some amusement. I thought that apologies 
 and regrets would never have ceased. 
 
 The town of Ooch stands on a fertile plain at Ooch. 
 a distance of four miles from the Acesines, beau- 
 tifully shaded by trees. It is formed of three 
 distinct towns, a few hundred yards apart from 
 each other, and each has been encompassed by
 
 92 
 
 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. IV. 
 
 Arrival of 
 
 Bhawul 
 
 Khan. 
 
 Interview 
 with liim. 
 
 a wall of brick, now in ruins. The population 
 amounts to 20,000. The streets are narrow, and 
 covered with mats as a protection from the sun j 
 but it is a mean place. We were accommodated 
 in a garden well stocked with fruit trees and 
 flowers, which was an agreeable change from 
 our confined boats. When preparing for a 
 journey to visit the Khan, — who was absent at 
 Dirawul, in the desert, — we were surprised by 
 the arrival of a messenger, with the information 
 that he had reached Ooch from a distance of 
 sixty miles, that he might save us the trouble of 
 coming to him, and evince his respect for the 
 British Government. The messenger brought 
 us a deer, which the Khan had shot, and of 
 which he begged our acceptance, with forty ves- 
 sels of sherbet, and as many of sweetmeats and 
 preserves ; also a bag containing 200 rupees, 
 which he requested I would distribute in charity, 
 to mark the joyful event of our arrival. 
 
 On the morning of the od of Jinie we visited 
 Bhawul Khan, who had alighted at a large 
 house outside the town, a mile distant : he sent 
 an escort of his regular troops, with horses, 
 palankeens, and various other conveyances, — 
 one of which deserves description. It was a 
 sort of chair, covered with a red canopy of 
 cloth, supported by two horses, one in front and 
 the other behind, and the most awkward vehicle
 
 CHAP. IV. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 93 
 
 that can be imagined ; for it could be turned 
 with difficulty, and the horses did not incline to 
 such a burden. We passed a line of soldiers, 
 about 600 in number, dressed in uniforms of 
 red, blue, white, and yellow ; and then en- 
 tered the court yard, under a salute of eighty 
 guns. The passages were lined with officers 
 and chiefs j and we found the Khan seated in 
 an area spread with carpets, attended only by 
 about ten persons : he rose and embraced us. 
 He made particular enquiries regarding Mr. 
 Elphinstone, who, he said, had been the means 
 of raising up a sincere and lasting friendship 
 between his family and the British Government. 
 Bhawul Khan is a handsome man, about 
 thirty years of age, somewhat grave in his de- 
 meanour, though most affiible and gentleman- 
 like ; during the interview he held a rosary in 
 his hand, but the telling of the beads did not in- 
 terrupt his conversation. He dilated at length 
 on the honour which Runjeet Sing had had con- 
 ferred upon him in receiving presents from the 
 King of Great Britain ; nor did lie, in any way, 
 betray his feelings towards the Lahore chief, 
 though they are far from friendly. The Khan, 
 unlike most natives, seemed to avoid all political 
 subjects. He produced his matchlock, and ex- 
 plained to us his manner of hunting deer, his 
 favourite sport j and expressed a strong wish
 
 94 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. IV. 
 
 that we should accompany him to his residence 
 in the desert. We left him quite charmed with 
 his kindness, and the sincere manner in wliich 
 he had shown it. In the evening the Khan 
 sent for our perusal the testimonials that had 
 been given to his grandfather by Mr. Elphin- 
 stone, which are preserved with great pride and 
 care in the archives of his government. For my 
 own part, I felt equal satisfaction to find the 
 English character stand so high in this remote 
 corner of India, and the just appreciation of the 
 high-minded individual who had been the means 
 of fixing it. 
 Merchants Durino; our stay at Ooch, we were visited by 
 
 at Bhawul- O y ' J 
 
 poor. some of the principal merchants of Bhawulpoor, 
 
 who had followed the Khan. The intelligence 
 of these people, and extent of their travels, sur- 
 prised me. Most of them had traversed the 
 kingdom of Cabool, and visited Balkli and Bok- 
 hara : some had been as far as Astracan ; and 
 they used the names of these towns with a 
 familiarity as if they had been in India. They 
 had met Russian merchants at Bokhara, but 
 assured me that they never came to the eastward 
 of that city. The intervening countries tliey 
 represented as perfectly safe, and bestowed the 
 highest commendations on Dost Mahommed, of 
 Cabool, and the Uzbeks, wlio encouraged com- 
 mercial communication. These merchants are
 
 CHAP. IV. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 95 
 
 chiefly Hindoos, whose disposition peculiarly 
 adapts them for the patient and painstaking 
 vocation of a foreign merchant. Some of them 
 are Jews, who retain the marks of their nation 
 in all countries and places.* 
 
 We continued at Ooch for a week. The place History of 
 
 '■ Ooch. 
 
 is ancient, and highly celebrated in the surround- 
 ing countries from the tombs of two saints of 
 Bokhara and Bagdad. The Ghorian emperors 
 expelled the Hindoo Rajas of Ooch, and con- 
 signed the surrounding lands to pious Mahom- 
 medans. The tombs of the two worthies I have 
 named are handsome, and held in much rever- 
 ence by the people ; they are about five hundred 
 years old, and tradition is silent regarding the 
 history of the place beyond that period. The 
 posterity of these saints enjoy both spiritual and 
 temporal power to the present day ; but, instead 
 of ministering to the wants of the inhabitants, 
 who are needy and poor, they waste their 
 fortunes in the chase, and retain hounds and 
 horses for their amusement. An inundation of 
 tlie Acesines, some years back, swept away one 
 half of the principal tomb, with a part of the 
 town ; and, though the retiu'n of the river to its 
 original bed is attributed to the miraculous 
 
 * It was my conversation with these men which made me 
 decide on undertaking the journey to Central Asia, which I 
 afterwards performed.
 
 96 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. IV. 
 
 interference of" the deceased saint, tlie people 
 have, as yet, failed to testify their gratitude by 
 repairing his tomb. The town of Ooch stands 
 on a mound of earth or clay, like the city of 
 Tatta, which I judge to have been formed by 
 the ruins of houses. The Chenab has swept 
 away a portion of the mound ; and the section 
 of it which has been thus exposed seems to 
 support the conjecture which I have stated. 
 
 Visit from Qi-, ^j^g ^^{^ of J^^g ^g \^^^ ^ y[^[i fl^O,^^ 
 
 Unawul 
 
 Khan. Bhawul Khan. He insisted on coming in person 
 to see us ; and sent a large tent to be pitched 
 by our garden, in which we received him. He 
 sat for about an hour ; and put numerous 
 questions regarding the manufactures of Europe. 
 The chief is of a mechanical turn of mind ; he 
 produced a detonating gun, which had been 
 made under his directions from an European 
 pattern, and certainly did credit to the artificer; 
 he had also manufactured the necessary caps 
 and fulminating powder. He expressed, at 
 this interview, much satisfaction with the pre- 
 sents which we had sent him ; they consisted of 
 a brace of pistols, a watch, and some other 
 articles. The Khan came in an open sort of 
 chair, to which we conducted him on his de- 
 parture. He was attended by about a thousand 
 persons ; and I observed that he distributed 
 money as he passed along. After the visit, our
 
 CHAP. IV. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 97 
 
 Mihmandar brought us presents from the Khan ; 
 they consisted of two horses richly caparisoned 
 with silver and enamel trappings, a hawk, with 
 shawls and trays of the fobrics made at Bhawul- 
 poor, some of which were very rich ; to these 
 were added a purse of 2000 rupees, and a sum 
 of 200 for the servants ; and, last of all, a beau- 
 tiful matchlock, which had its value doubled 
 by the manner in which it was presented. " The 
 " Khan," said the messenger, " has killed many 
 *' a deer with this gun ; and he begs you will 
 " accept it from him, and, when you use it, 
 " remember that Bhawul Khan is your friend." 
 
 In the evening we had a parting interview Audience 
 with Bhawul Khan. I gave him a handsome 
 percussion gun ; and assured him, what I felt 
 most sincerely, that we should long remember 
 his kindness and hospitality. He embraced 
 ns on our leaving him ; and intreated us to 
 write to him and command his services. The 
 courtiers and people' were as polite as their 
 chief. 
 
 We left Ooch on the following morning, and 
 pitched our camp at the junction of the Chenab 
 with the Garra, or united streams of the Beas 
 and Sutlege. 
 
 The country about Ooch is flat and exceed- Mountains 
 ingly rich ; there are many signs of inundation man. 
 between the town and the river. The dust was 
 
 VOL. III. H
 
 98 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. IV. 
 
 most intolerable ; but it always cleared up 
 towards evening, and we saw the sun set in 
 splendour behind the mountains of Sooliman 
 across the Indus, eighty miles distant. They 
 did not appear high, and were not distin- 
 guished by any remarkable peaks. It is a 
 little below the latitude of Ooch that they 
 assume a direction parallel to the Indus, which 
 they afterwards preserve. We lost sight of the 
 range on our voyage to Mooltan the day after 
 leaving Ooch. 
 Embou- On the morning of the 7th we passed the 
 
 chure of the i /^ i o i i • i 
 
 Sutiegc, mouth or the butlege, and contmued our voyage 
 on the Chenab to the frontiers of Bhawul Khan, 
 which we reached on the evening of the 8th. 
 The Chenab receives the Sutlege without 
 turmoil, and appears quite as large above as 
 below the conflux. The waters of either river 
 are to be distinguished some miles below the 
 junction by their colour: that of the Chenab 
 is reddish ; and, when joined by the Sutlege, 
 the waters of which are pale, the contrast is 
 remarkable. For some distance the one river 
 keeps the right, and the other the left, bank ; 
 the line of demarcation between the two being 
 most decided. Tlie nature of the soil through 
 which the Chenab flows, no doubt, tinges its 
 waters. This peculiarity is well known to the 
 natives, who speak of the ** red water;" but
 
 CHAP. IV. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 99 
 
 none of the ancient authors alhide to the cir- 
 cumstance. The nature of the country between 
 Ooch and the Indus has been mistaken, as it is 
 never flooded. Several decayed canals, if cleared, 
 would yet lead the water of the Chenab to the 
 Indus, and may account for Major Rennell's 
 conducting that river into the great stream, so 
 many miles above the true point of union, until 
 the geographical error was rectified by the mis- 
 sion to Cabool. 
 
 We parted with our Mihmandar, Gholam The Mih- 
 Cadir Khan, before passmg mto the Seik ter- 
 ritory. We had seen a great deal of him, and 
 found him well informed on all such subjects as 
 he could be supposed to know. He carried four 
 or five historical works with him, among which 
 was the Chuchnamu, or History of Sinde, to 
 which I have alluded, one or two books on 
 medicine, and some volumes of poetry : yet he 
 made a most particular request, at our last in- 
 terview, that I would tell him the secret of 
 magic, which he was certain we possessed. I 
 assured him of the error under which he la- 
 boured : " But,'* said he, " how is it that you 
 *' have had a favourable wind ever since I met 
 *' you, and performed a twenty days' voyage in 
 *' five, when a breath of air does not sometimes 
 " stir in this country for months ? " I told him 
 that such was tlie good fortune of the English. 
 
 H 2
 
 100 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. IV. 
 
 When the Nawaub found me wanting in the black 
 art, he whispered that he himself was a dealer 
 in spells and magic ; but very sensibly added, 
 that he had no faith in his own incantations, 
 high as they stood in ihe opinion of others ; 
 though it was not his part to say so. He begged 
 I would give him some medicine to prevent 
 him growing fatter ; but neither regular exer- 
 cise, nor vinegar, which I prescribed, seemed to 
 suit his taste. What a whimsical creature man 
 is. In Sinde, every person of rank seeks for 
 rotundity to support his dignity ; and but a few 
 miles from that country, the " martyr to obesity'* 
 is considered unfortunate. 
 
 There is little cordiality subsisting between 
 the Seiks and Bhawul Khan ; and it was with 
 the utmost difficulty that I prevailed on the 
 Nawaub to let us proceed to the Seik camp, a 
 distance of six miles, in the boats belonging 
 to his master. *' The Seiks," he said, '* are 
 " my master's enemies, and no boat of ours 
 " sliall cross their frontier." He at last assented, 
 on my becoming answerable for tlie return of 
 the vessels. 
 Runject A fcw liours' Sail brought us to the place of 
 
 country, rcudczvous latc at night, and the fires of the 
 soldiers blazing in the darkness only increased 
 our anxiety to meet our new friends. It was 
 the camp of the party which had been sent from
 
 CHAP. IV. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 101 
 
 Lahore to await our arrival, and had long ex- 
 pected us. Immediately on landing, we were 
 received by Sirdar Lenu Sing, who came with 
 considerable state on an elephant, and was at- 
 tended by a large retinue. The Sirdar was 
 richly dressed, and had a necklace of emeralds, 
 and armlets studded with diamonds. In one 
 hand he held a bow, and in the other two Persian 
 letters in silken bags. He congratulated us, in 
 the name of Maharajah Ilunjeet Sing, on our 
 arrival, and had been desired by his Highness to 
 communicate that he was deeply sensible of the 
 honour conferred upon him by the King of 
 England, and that his army had been for some 
 time in readiness on the frontier, to chastise the 
 barbarians of Sinde, who had so long arrested 
 our progress. He then delivered to me the 
 letters which appointed himself as our Mihman- 
 dar, in conjunction with two other persons; pre- 
 senting at the same time a bow, according to 
 the custom of the Seiks. On the ceremony being 
 terminated, the Sirdar and several others placed 
 bags of money at my feet, amounting to about 
 1400 rupees, and then withdrew. 
 
 The first intercourse with a new people can 
 never be destitute of interest, and the present 
 was far from being so. 
 
 These Seiks are tall and bony men, with a very 
 martial carriage : the most peculiar part of their 
 
 H 3
 
 102 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. IV. 
 
 dress is a small flat turban, which becomes them 
 well ; they wear long hair, and from the knee 
 downwards do not cover the leg. When the 
 deputation had withdrawn, an escort of regular 
 troops attended to receive orders, and sentries 
 were planted round our camp. Jt was novel to 
 hear the words of command given in the French 
 language. 
 Exhibition No sooner had the day broke, than the Maha- 
 
 of the dray 
 
 horses. rajah's people evinced much anxiety to view 
 the dray horses, and we had them landed for 
 exhibition. Their surprize was extreme ; for 
 they were little elephants, said they, and not 
 horses. Their manes and tails seemed to please, 
 from their resemblance to the hair of the cow of 
 Thibet ; and their colour, a dappled grey, was 
 considered a great beauty. It was not without 
 difficulty that I replied to the numerous questions 
 regarding them ; for they believed that the 
 presents of the King of England must be extra- 
 ordinary in every way ; and for the first time, a 
 dray horse was expected to gallop, canter, and 
 perform all the evolutions of the most agile 
 animal. Their astonishment reached its height 
 when the feet of the horses were examined ; and 
 a particular request was made of me to permit 
 the despatch of one of the shoes to Lahore, as it 
 was found to weigh 100 rupees, or as much as 
 the four shoes of a horse in this country. The
 
 CHAP. IV. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 103 
 
 curiosity was forthwith despatched by express, 
 and accompanied by the most minute measure- 
 ment of each of the animals, for Runjeet Sing's 
 special information. The manner in which this 
 rarity was prized, will be afterwards seen, when 
 it is gravely recorded, that the new moon turned 
 pale with envy on seeing it ! 
 
 Our own comforts were not foro:otten amono; civilities, 
 their wonder and admiration, for the attentions 
 of the people were of the most marked descrip- 
 tion. Our Mihmandar said that he had the 
 strictest injunctions regarding our reception; 
 and he rigidly acted up to the spirit of the fol- 
 lowing document, which will best show the dis- 
 tinguished and kind manner we were treated in 
 the territories of Maharajah Runjeet Sing. 
 
 Copy of the MahnrajalCs " Purwanu,''* or Purwanu 
 
 of Runjeet 
 
 Command to Jus Officers. sing. 
 
 " Be it known to Dewan Adjoodia Pursad, 
 " Monsieur Chevalier Ventura, and the great 
 " and wise Sirdar Lenu Sing, and Lalla Sawun 
 *' Mull, Soobadar of Mooltan, that when Mr. 
 " Burnes reaches the frontier, you are imme- 
 '* diately to attend to all his wants, and pre- 
 " viously despatch 200 infantry and the lancers, 
 *' under Tajee Sing, to Julalpoor, that they 
 " may be ready on his arrival as an honorary 
 
 H 4
 
 104 
 
 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. IV. 
 
 escort ; and you are at the same time to make 
 known your own arrival in the neighbourhood. 
 When Mr. Burnes approaches, you are imme- 
 diately to despatch an elephant, with a silver 
 houda, in charge of the Dewan, who is to 
 state that the animal has been sent for his 
 own express use, and then ask him to be 
 seated thereon, which will be gratifying, as 
 the friendship between the states is great. 
 " When Mr. Burnes has mounted the ele- 
 phant, then shall the Sirdar Lenu Sing, and 
 Sawun Mull, seated on other elephants, ap- 
 proach, and have an interview with that gentle- 
 man, paying him every manner of respect and 
 attention in their power, and congratulating 
 him in a hundred ways on his safe arrival 
 from a long and distant journey, distributing 
 at tlie same time 2'25 rupees among the poor. 
 You are then to present a handsome bow, and 
 each of you eleven gold Venetians, and con- 
 duct the gentleman to the halting-place, and 
 there set before him 1100 rupees, and fifty 
 jars of sweetmeats. You are then to supply 
 the following articles : grass, grain, bran, 
 milk, eggs, fowls, slieep (doombus), curds, 
 vegetables, fruit, roses, spices, water-vessels, 
 beds, and every other tiling that may be ne- 
 cessary, in quantities without bounds, and be 
 neglectful and dilatory in nothing. When
 
 CHAP. IV. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 105 
 
 you visit, you are to parade the two com- 
 panies and the horse, and salute, and then 
 place guards according to Mr. Burnes' plea- 
 sure. 
 
 ** When you reach Shoojuabad, you are to 
 fire a salute of eleven guns, and furnish every 
 thing as before directed, and present 1100 
 rupees, with sweetmeats and fruits, and attend 
 to every wish that is expressed. If Mr. 
 Burnes desires to look at the fort of Shoo- 
 juabad, you are to attend on him and show it, 
 and see there is no obstruction, and that no 
 one even raises his voice. 
 " On reaching Mooltan, you are to conduct 
 Mr. Burnes with great respect, and pitch his 
 camp in whatever garden he shall select ; the 
 Huzooree, the Begee, the Shush Muhl, or 
 the Khass wu Am, or any other. You are 
 then to present him with a purse of 2.500 
 rupees, and 100 jars of sweetmeats, and fire a 
 salute of eleven guns from the ramparts of 
 the fortress. When you have complimented 
 him on his arrival, you are to suggest for his 
 consideration, whether he would not like to 
 halt at Mooltan for five or six days after his 
 long journey, and act entirely as he desires ; 
 if he wishes to view the fort, you three per- 
 sons are to attend him, and allow no one to
 
 106 ] TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. IV. 
 
 " make a noise, and take most particular care 
 " that the Nihiings, and such other wrong- 
 " headed people, are kept at a distance. 
 
 " In quitting Mooltan, you are to load 100 
 ** camels with provisions for the supply of Mr. 
 " Burnes to Lahore, and Soobadar Sawan Mull 
 " is to attend him in person for the first stage, 
 " and after taking leave, repair to the camp of 
 " Monsieur Chevalier Ventura. Sirdar Lenu 
 ** Sing and Dewan Adjoodia Pursad, together 
 " with Futih Sing Ramgurree, accompanied by 
 " an escort of two companies and the lancers, 
 " shall attend Mr. Burnes, and proceed by easy 
 *' stages to Lahore, despatching daily notice of 
 *' his approach. AtDehra, Syudwulla the Kardar 
 *' is to present 1100 rupees, with the usual 
 " sweetmeats ; and you are all directed to re- 
 " member, in every instance, and at all times, 
 •' the great friendship which subsists between 
 *' the two states." 
 
 There is at all times much display and hyper- 
 bole in affairs of this description throughout the 
 East; but in the present instance it will be 
 observed, that the Maharajah not only evinced 
 his liberality in other matters, but in throwing 
 open to our inspection the strong holds of his 
 country, which can be duly appreciated by those 
 only who have experienced the extreme jealousy
 
 CHAP. IV. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 107 
 
 of most Indian governments. The Seik Sirdars 
 in attendance on us were likewise most commu- 
 nicative ; and this is the more remarkable, as it 
 could not have escaped the Maharajah, that in 
 taking the unfrequented tract we had followed 
 on the Indus we were seeking for new inform- 
 ation, after the spirit of our country.
 
 108 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Voyage in By the 12th of June, our preparations for the 
 country. voyage were completed, and we again embarked 
 on the Chenab. The boats here were of a very 
 inferior description, still called " zohruq ;*' they 
 had no sails, and hoist a mat on a low mast 
 instead ; their waists are scarcely a foot above 
 water, and tliose which they could collect for us, 
 were but the different ferry boats of the river. 
 There is no trade carried on by water in this 
 country, and there are in consequence no boats. 
 A sail of a few hours brought us to the ferry 
 opposite Shoojuabad, where we halted. The 
 country is of the richest and most fertile de- 
 scription, and its agricultural resources are much 
 increased, by conducting water to the remoter 
 parts, in large canals and aqueducts, 
 shoojua. In the evening of the 13th we visited the 
 
 town of Shoojuabad, which stands four miles 
 eastward of the river. It is a thriving place, 
 surrounded by a fine wall of brick, about thirty 
 feet high. The figure of the place is that of an 
 oblong square, and the wall is strengthened by 
 octagonal towers, at equal distances. The in- 
 
 bad
 
 CHAP. V. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 109 
 
 terior is filled up with houses, which are built in 
 streets, at right angles to one another ; and a 
 suburb of huts surrounds the walls. Shoojuabad 
 fort was built by the Nuwab of Mooltan in the 
 year 1808, and the public spirit of that person 
 raised it, in the course of ten years, to great 
 opulence. It is situated in a most beautiful 
 country, and is watered by two spacious canals 
 for many miles, both above and below the town. 
 It was captured by the Seiks, along with Mool- 
 tan, and now forms the frontier fortress of the 
 Lahore chief. We were accompanied to Shoo- 
 juabad by our Mihmandar, who appeared in 
 state for the occasion ; he sat on an elephant in 
 a chair of silver, — two horses were led before 
 him, with saddles of red and yellow velvet, — 
 his bow and quiver were borne by one menial, 
 and his sword by another ; while he himself was 
 decorated with precious jewels. At the palace 
 of the town, we were met by many of the re- 
 spectable inhabitants, before whom the '*zyafut,'* 
 or money gift, and sweetmeats of the Maha- 
 rajah, were presented to us. We afterwards 
 were conducted through the principal street, 
 and welcomed in a gratifying manner, wherever 
 we went. On quitting the fortress the garrison 
 fired a salute. 
 
 On the 15th we came in sight of the domes Mooitan. 
 of Mooltan, which look well at a distance j and
 
 110 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. V. 
 
 alighted in the evening at the Hoozooree Bagh, 
 a spacious garden enclosed by a thin wall of 
 mud, a mile distant from the city. The ground 
 is laid out in the usual native style ; two spacious 
 walks crossed each other at right angles, and 
 are shaded by large fruit trees, of the richest 
 foliage. In a bungalow, at the end of one of 
 these walks, we took up our quarters, and were 
 received by the authorities of the city in the 
 same hospitable manner as at Shoojuabad. They 
 brought a purse of 2500 rupees, with 100 
 vessels of sweetmeats, and an abundant supply 
 of fruit : we felt happy and gratified at the 
 change of scene, and civilities of the people. 
 
 The city of Mooltan, is described in Mr. 
 Elphinstone's work on Cabool, and it may appear 
 foreign to my purpose to mention it; but his 
 mission was received here with great jealousy, 
 and not permitted to view the interior of the 
 town, or the fort. I do not hesitate, therefore, 
 to add the following particulars, drawn up after 
 a week's residence. The city of Mooltan is 
 upwards of three miles in circumference, sur- 
 rounded by a dilapidated wall, and overlooked 
 on the north by a fortress of strengtii. It 
 contains a population of about O0,000 souls, one 
 third of whom may be Hindoos; the rest of the 
 population is Mahommedan, for though it is 
 subject to the Seiks, their number is confined to
 
 CHAP. V. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. Ill 
 
 the garrison, which does not exceed .500 men. 
 The Afghans have left the country, since they 
 ceased to govern. Many of the houses evidently 
 stand on the ruins of others : they are built of 
 burnt brick, and have flat roofs : they sometimes 
 rise to the height of six stories, and their loftiness 
 gives a gloomy appearance to the narrow streets. 
 The inhabitants are chiefly weavers and dyers 
 of cloth. The silk manufacture of Mooltan is 
 called " kais," and may be had of all colours, 
 and from the value of 20 to 120 rupees : it is 
 less delicate in texture than the " loongees" of 
 Bhawulpoor. Runjeet Sing has with much pro- 
 priety encouraged their manufacture, since he 
 captured tlie city ; and by giving no other cloths 
 at his court, has greatly increased their con- 
 sumption, and tliey are worn as sashes and scarfs 
 by all the Seik Sirdars. They are also exported 
 to Khorasan and India, and the duties levied 
 are moderate. To the latter country, the route 
 by Jaysulmeer and Beecaneer is chosen in pre- 
 ference to that by Sinde, from the trade being 
 on a more equitable footing. The trade of 
 Mooltan is much the same as at Bhawulpoor, 
 but is on a larger scale, for it has forty Shroffs, 
 (money changers) chiefly natives of Shikarpoor. 
 The tombs of Mooltan are celebrated : one of 
 them, that of Bawulhuq, who flourished upwards 
 of 500 years ago, and was a contemporary of
 
 112 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. V. 
 
 Sadee the Persian poet, is considered very holy ; 
 but its architecture is surpassed by that of his 
 grandson, Rookn-i-AUum, who reposes under 
 a massy dome sixty feet in height, which was 
 erected in the year 1323, by the Emperor Toogh- 
 luck, as his own tomb. Its foundation stands on 
 higher ground than the summit of the fort wall ; 
 there is also a Hindoo temple of high antiquity, 
 called Pyladpooree ; mentioned by Thevenot in 
 1665. 
 Fort of The fortress of Mooltan merits a more par- 
 
 ticular description ; it stands on a mound of 
 earth, and is an irregular figure of six sides, the 
 longest of which (towards the north-west) ex- 
 tends for about 400 yards. The wall has up- 
 wards of thirty towers, and is substantially built 
 of burnt brick, to the height of forty feet outside; 
 but in the interior, the space between the ground 
 and its summit does not exceed four or five feet, 
 and the foundations of some of the buildings 
 overtop tlie wall, and are to be seen fiom the 
 plain below. The interior is filled with houses, and 
 till its capture bytheSeiks in 1818, was peopled, 
 but the inhabitants are not now permitted to 
 enter, and a few mosques and cupolas, more 
 substantially built than the other houses, alone 
 remain among the ruins. The fortress of Mooltan 
 has no ditch ; the nature of the country will not 
 admit of one being constructed ; and llunjeet
 
 CHAP. V. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 
 
 Sing has hitherto expended great sums without 
 effect. The inundation of the Chenab, and its 
 canals, together with rain, render the vicinity 
 of" Mooltan a marsh, even in the hot weather, 
 and before the swell of the river has properly set 
 in, the waters of last year remain. The walls 
 of the fortress are protected in two places by 
 dams of earth ; the modern fort of Mooltan was 
 built on the site of the old city, by Moorad 
 Bukhsh, the son of Shah Jehan, about the year 
 1640, audit subsequently formed the Jagheer of 
 that prince's brothers, the unfortunate Daro 
 Shikoh, and the renowned Aurungzebe. The 
 Afghans seized it in the time of Ahmed Shah, 
 and the Seiks wrested it from the Afghans, after 
 many struggles, in 1818. The conduct of its 
 governor during the siege, deserves mention ; 
 when called on to surrender the keys, and 
 offered considerate treatment, he sent for reply, 
 that they would be found in his heart, but he 
 would never yield to an infidel ; he perished 
 bravely in the breach. His name, Moozuffur 
 Khan, is now revered as a saint, and his tomb is 
 placed in one of the holiest sanctuaries of 
 Mooltan. The Seiks threw down the walls of 
 the fort in many places, but they have since 
 been throughly renewed or repaired ; they are 
 about six feet thick, and could be easily breached 
 from the mounds that have been left in baking 
 
 VOL. III. I 
 
 113
 
 114 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. V. 
 
 the bricks, which are within cannon range of 
 the walls. 
 Antiquity Mooltan is one of the most ancient cities in 
 
 or Mooltan 
 
 supposed India. We read of its capture by Mahommed- 
 
 Capital of . -in r> i tt •• 
 
 the Maiii. bin-CassiiTj, m the nrst century ot tlie Heju'a, 
 and its wealth afterwards attracted the Ghiznian, 
 Ghorian, and Moghul emperors of Hindoostan. 
 But we have little reason to doubt its being the 
 capital of the Malli of Alexander: Major Rennell 
 has supposed that metropolis to have been higher 
 up, and nearer the banks of the Ravee, because 
 Arrian states, tliat the inhabitants fled across 
 that river. This is high authority, but Mooltan 
 is styled *'Malli than," or '*Mahtharun" the place 
 of the Malli, to this day, and we have no ruins 
 near Tolumba, the site pointed at by Rennell to 
 fix on as the supposed capital. It is expressly 
 stated that Alexander crossed the Ravee, and 
 after capturing two towns, led his forces to the 
 capital city of the Malli. As the distance from 
 the river is but thirty miles, and Mooltan is con- 
 sidered a place of high antiquity, I do not see 
 why we should forsake the modern capital when 
 in search of the ancient : had we not the earliest 
 assurances of the age of Mooltan, its appearance 
 would alone indicate it. The houses are piled 
 upon ruins, and the town stands on a mound of 
 clay, the materials of former habitations which 
 have gradually crumbled, an infallible proof of
 
 CHAP. V. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 115 
 
 antiquity, as I have remarked of Tatta and Ooch. 
 The late Nawab of Mooltan, in sinking a well 
 in the city, found a war drum, at a depth of 
 sixty feet from tlie surface ; and several other 
 articles have been from time to time collected, 
 but no coins have been hitherto seen. Mooltan 
 may, in some degree, be considered to answer 
 the description of the Brahmin city and its 
 castle, which Alexander captured, before attack- 
 ing the capital of the Malh ; but in that case, we 
 should have no site to fix on as the capital. The 
 manufactures of Mooltan and Bhawulpoor, the 
 **kais" and " loungee," seem to assist in fixing 
 tlie country of the Malli, for Quintus Curtius 
 informs us that the ambassadors of the Malli 
 and Oxydracse (Mooltan and Ooch) " wore 
 garments of cotton, lawn or muslin (lineae 
 vestes), interwoven with gold, and adorned with 
 purple," and we may safely translate *' lineae 
 vestes," into the stuffs of Mooltan and Bhawul- 
 poor, which are interwoven with gold, and 
 most frequently of u purple colour. 
 
 During our stay at Mooltan, we were freely Buildings 
 conducted to view the lions of this decayed superru-^ 
 Viceroyalty of the Mogid empire. In the in- 
 terior of the fort there is the Hindoo temple, 
 before alluded to, which its votaries believe to 
 be of boundless antiquity, and with it couple 
 I 2
 
 116 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. V. 
 
 the following tradition. One Hurnakus, a giant, 
 despised God, and worshipped himself; he de- 
 sired his son Pylad to follow his steps, and was 
 about to murder him for his contumacy, when 
 the youtli was miraculously saved by an incar- 
 nation of the Deity, who appeared in a shape of 
 half lion and man. Hurnakus had given out 
 that his death could never be effected in earth 
 or air, in fire or water, by sword or bow, by night 
 or day ; and it happened without an infringe- 
 ment of these conditions, for Nursingavater 
 (the name of the incarnation) seized him at 
 dusk, and placing him on his knee, tore Hur- 
 nakus to pieces, and took his son under pro- 
 tection. This Hindoo temple, which goes by 
 the name of Pyladpooree, is a low building, sup- 
 ported by wooden pillars, with the idols Hoo- 
 neeman and Guneesa as guardians to its portal. 
 It is the only place of Hindoo w^orship in Mool- 
 tan ; we were denied entrance to it. 
 
 Tliere is a shrine of some celebrity, near the 
 walls of Mooltan, where rest the remains of 
 Shumsi-Tabreezee, a saint from Bagdad, who is 
 believed to have performed many miracles, and 
 even raised the dead. Tliis worthy, as the story 
 is told, was flayed alive for his pretensions. He 
 had long begged his bread in the city, and in 
 his hunger caught a fish, which he Iield up to the 
 sun, and brought that luminary near enough to
 
 CHAP. V. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 117 
 
 roast it ; this established his memory and equi- 
 vocal fame on a firmer basis. The natives to 
 this day attribute the heat of Mooltan, which is 
 proverbial, to this incident. 
 
 In the ready belief which the inhabitants of Reflec- 
 Mooltan grant to such absurdities, we see little 
 to exalt them in the scale of reasonable beings ; 
 but it seems inherent in the people to propagate 
 and uphold such delusions, for there are tales 
 equally improbable regarding every tomb in the 
 city. Rookn-i-alum, the son of Bhawul Huq, 
 removed to his present sepulchre when dead. 
 
 At Mooltan we first saw the practice of Religion of 
 religion amongst the Seiks. In a veranda of 
 the tomb of Shumsi-Tabreezee, a "Gooroo,** 
 or priest of that persuasion, had taken up his 
 abode since the conquest of the city. We 
 found him seated on the ground, with a huge 
 volume in front of him ; and a place covered 
 with cloth, like an altar, at one end of the apart- 
 ment : he opened the book at my request, and 
 repeating the words " wa gooroojee ka futteh," * 
 touched the volume with his forehead, and all 
 the Seiks in attendance immediately bowed to 
 the ground: he then read and explained the 
 first passage that he turned up, which was as fol- 
 
 * " May the Gooroo be victorious," the national war-cry of 
 the Seiks. 
 
 I 3
 
 118 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. V. 
 
 lows ; — *' All of you have sinned ; endeavour 
 " therefore to purify yourselves : if you neglect 
 " the caution, evil will at last overtake you.'* I 
 need hardly mention that the volume was the 
 *'Grinth," or holy book of the Seiks : their re- 
 verence for it amounts to veneration, and the 
 priest waves a " clioury^^ or a Tibet cow's tail, 
 over it, as if he were fanning an emperor. The 
 Gooroo was free from pomp and pride, and gave 
 a willing explanation to our enquiries : he opened 
 his holy book to acknowledge the gift of a few 
 rupees, that I made in due form, and requested 
 my acceptance of some confections in return, 
 intoier- The prcscncc of a Seik priest, and the para- 
 
 phernalia of his order, under the roof of a 
 Mahommedan tomb, will furnish a good com- 
 mentary on the state of that religion in tliis 
 country ; it is barely tolerated. In this city, 
 which held for upwards of 800 years, so high 
 a Mahommedan supremacy, there is now no 
 public ^^mimaz ;^* the true believer dare not lift 
 his voice in public. The ^^ Eeds** and the 
 Mohurum pass without the usual observances ; 
 the " Ullaho Acbai^ " of the priest is never 
 heard ; the mosques arc yet frequented, but the 
 pious are reduced to offering up their orisons in 
 silence. Such has been the state of things since 
 Mooltan fell, in 1S18, and yet the number of 
 Seiks is confined to that of the garrison, from 
 
 ance
 
 CHAP. V. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 119 
 
 four to five hundred men. The Mahommedans, 
 who amount to about 40,000 souls, suffer no 
 other inconvenience from their new masters, 
 who afford every protection to their trade. The 
 Seiks excuse themselves, by alleging, that they 
 have not inflicted, in retribution, one fourth of 
 their own sufferings at the hands of the Ma- 
 hommedans. They are, I believe, correct in the 
 averment, but religious persecution is always 
 revolting, and exercises a baneful influence in 
 every age and country. 
 
 The climate of Mooltan differs from that of Climate, 
 the countries lower down the Indus ; showers 
 of rain are common at all seasons, and yet the 
 dust is intolerable. For nine successive evenings, 
 we had a tornado of it from the westward, with 
 lightning, and distant thunder. Such storms are 
 said to be frequent ; they appear to set in from 
 the Sooliman mountains, between which and the 
 Indus the sand or dust is raised. The heat and 
 dust of Mooltan have grown into a proverb, to 
 which have been added, not unmeritedly, the 
 prevalence of beggars, and the number of the 
 tombs, in the following Persian couplet: — 
 
 ** Chuliar cheez liust, toohfujat-i-Mooltan. 
 " Gird, gatla, guinia \vu goristan." 
 
 As far as I could judge, the satire is just: the 
 dust darkened the sun : the thermometer rose in 
 I 4
 
 120 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. V. 
 
 June to 100" of Fahrenheit, in a bungalow artifi- 
 cially cooled: the beggars hunted us everywhere ; 
 and we trod on the cemeteries of the dead, in 
 whatever direction we rode. 
 
 The country around Mooltan is highly culti- 
 vated J the Acesines sends the water of its 
 inundation to the very walls of the city, and 
 there is a large canal, that extends it, at other 
 seasons, through Mooltan itself. The plain that 
 intervenes between the river and city has the 
 appearance of a rich meadow, and is overgrown 
 with date trees, which form here a productive 
 source of revenue. It is a popular belief in the 
 country, that this tree was introduced from 
 Arabia by the army of Mahommed-bin-Cassim, 
 who brought the fruit as a provision for his army. 
 It is a curious fact that tliey are principally 
 found in the track of that invader, who marched 
 from Alore to Mooltan. If the tradition be 
 true, the destroying Moslem compensated in 
 some degree for the evils and scourge of his 
 inroad. There are many ruined hamlets around 
 Mooltan, the remains of Jagheers, held by the 
 Afghans, but thougli these are deserted their 
 inhabitants have only changed their residence, 
 and occupy houses in tiie city. 
 
 We removed our camp on the 20th to the 
 banks of the Acesines, which is four miles 
 distant. The river is about 650 yards wide,
 
 CHAP. V. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 121 
 
 but at the ferry itself, it is expanded to 1000 
 at this season. We here found ten boats, 
 laden with mineral salt, from Pind Dadun 
 Khan ; they exceeded eighty feet in length. 
 These boats drop down to Mooltan in twelve 
 days, from the mines, when fully laden. 
 
 We embarked on the ^Ist of June, on a boat QuitMooi- 
 which the Maharajah had fitted up for our re- 
 ception with two wooden bungalows ; and, 
 along with the rest of our fleet, prosecuted our 
 voyage. We did not again exchange our boats, 
 in the way to Lahore. On quitting the ferry at Desert. 
 Mooltan, we came in sight of the desert that lies 
 between the Chenab and the Indus. It does 
 not commence so low as Ooch, as has been re- 
 presented in our maps, but near the latitude of 
 Mooltan, and runs parallel with the river, at 
 a distance of about two miles, leaving a stripe of 
 cultivated land. The sand-hills resemble those 
 of the sea shore, and have a scanty covering of 
 bushes, I cannot call it verdure : they do not 
 exceed twenty feet in elevation, but from refrac- 
 tion often appeared much higher. There is a 
 great contrast between the sterile tract, and the 
 champaign plains of the eastern bank, which we 
 found every where irrigated. The villages lie at 
 a distance of about two miles from the river, and 
 have their fields fertilised from canals, by the 
 Persian wheel. On the banks of the Indus,
 
 122 
 
 TKAVELS INTO BOKHARA. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Peeloo. 
 
 Seik go- 
 vernment. 
 
 wells are common, but on the Chenab they are 
 only to be seen on the verge of canals that 
 branch from it, 
 
 There is a shrub called "peeloo*," which is 
 to be found in this neighbourhood, and in all 
 tracts of saline soil that border on the Indus 
 and Punjab Rivers. It produces a red and white 
 berry, which has but a poor flavour ; the taste of 
 its seeds resembles watercresses : this is the season 
 of the fruit, and it was exposed for sale in the 
 bazars of Mooltan. I observed this shrub in 
 greatest abundance in the delta, and lower parts 
 of Sinde ; and, as I am satisfied that it is only 
 to be found in the particular soil described, 
 I believe we recognise it in Arrian's Indian 
 History. *' The leaves resemble those of the 
 •' laurel ; they grow cluejiij in places where the 
 " tide flows among them, and where they are 
 " again left dry at low water. Their flower is 
 " white, and in shape like a violet, but much ex- 
 " celling it in sweetness." 
 
 The arrangements made for our progress 
 through the Seik territories were very complete. 
 We sailed from sunrise to sunset ; and found 
 thirty or forty villagers alongside by day-break 
 to drag each boat. The fatigue and exertion 
 which these people underwent in a hot sun was 
 
 * Salvadora Persica.
 
 CHAP. V. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 123 
 
 excessive. When they passed a field of melons, 
 but few were left to the owner ; and many an 
 old lady scolded loudly as they invaded her 
 property. Tlie people of this country are treated 
 with little consideration by the government; 
 they are not oppressed, yet considered its servants 
 since the conquest. But for our interference, 
 these villagers, who had waded through the 
 water and quicksands, would have been dis- 
 missed empty-handed at night. The bounty of 
 the Maharajah enabled us daily to entertain 
 sumptuously, with flour and ghee, 300 hungry 
 villagers; and the Mihmandar further assured 
 me that due remission would be made for the 
 destruction of the fields in our progress. While 
 we ourselves advanced by water, the elephants, 
 camels, and escort seconded our motions on 
 shore ; and we always found them drawn up 
 in parade array on the ground fixed for our 
 night's encampment ; we always slept on shore. 
 Before dusk we rode out on elephants to the 
 neighbouring villages, and conversed with the 
 people. They are lamentably ignorant ; and 
 consisted chiefly of Juts, atribeof Mahommedans 
 engaged in agriculture. They are not allowed 
 to pray aloud ; but they stimulated each other 
 when pressed in our service by loud shouts and 
 invocations to Bhawul Huq, the revered saint 
 of Mooltan.
 
 124 
 
 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Alexander. 
 
 Gifts from 
 Lahore. 
 
 Enter llic 
 Ravec. 
 
 As the sun set on the 23d, we moored below 
 the village of Fazil Shah, in the mouth of the 
 E,avee or Hydraotes, still called Iraotee by the 
 natives. This was the spot where Alexander of 
 Macedon met his anxious army after his severe 
 wound, and showed to his troops that his precious 
 life was yet preserved: but these are events which 
 live only in the historical works of Europe ; they 
 are unknown to the natives of Asia. I must 
 mention, however, a circumstance corroborative 
 of the Greek historians, — the fields of beans 
 that 1 observed on the banks of this river. They 
 led Alexander, for some time, to mistake the 
 heads of the Indus for the Nile ; and now 
 remain, in a distant age, as proofs of his journey, 
 and accuracy in the historians of his expedition. 
 
 The intelligence of our arrival in the country 
 of the Seiks soon reached Lahore ; and a pair 
 of gold armlets, set with diamonds and emeralds, 
 arrived in due course as a gift from the Maha- 
 rajah to our Mihmandar. The Lahore chief is 
 munificent in his distribution of presents among 
 his nobles, though less so than in former years. 
 Grants of land, and gifts of jewels and money, 
 are yet made. They attest the wealth of the 
 country, and the sound policy of the prince. 
 
 On the 24th we quitted the Acesines, and 
 entered on the navigation of the Ravee. At the 
 point of union, the former river has a breadth of
 
 CHAP. V. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 125 
 
 three quarters of a mile, though the deep part 
 does not extend for 500 yards. 
 
 Lieut. Macartney makes mention of a report 
 which he had heard of the Chenab being fordable 
 in the cold season below this point ; but the 
 natives assured me, that such an occurrence had 
 never happened in the memory of man, and I 
 found the soundings to exceed twelve feet. The 
 Chenab, indeed, is only inferior to the Indus ; 
 its current is more rapid than that river, and, 
 with its depressed banks, it yet preserves every 
 where a depth of two fathoms. The Ravee 
 throws itself into the Chenab by three mouths, 
 close to each other. This river is very small, 
 and resembles a canal, rarely exceeding 150 yards 
 in breadth in any part of its course. Its banks 
 are precipitous, so that it deepens before it ex- 
 pands. Nothing can exceed the crookedness 
 of its course, which is a great impediment to 
 navigation, for we often found ourselves, after 
 half a day's sail, within two miles of the spot 
 from which we started. The water of the Ravee 
 is redder than that of the Chenab. It is fordable 
 in most places for eight months of the year. Its 
 banks are overgrown with reeds and tamarisk, 
 and for half the distance, from its estuary to the 
 capital, there is no cultivation. There are no 
 canals or cuts from this river below Lahore. 
 There is a very extensive one above that city,
 
 126 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. V. 
 
 which I shall have occasion to mention here- 
 after. 
 
 Toiumba. On the 27th of June we reached the small 
 town of Toiumba, wliich is situated in a grove 
 of date trees, nearly three miles south of the 
 Ravee. Sheriffo Deen, the historian of Timour, 
 informs us that that conqueror crossed the 
 Ravee at Toiumba on his route to Delhi, so 
 that we now found ourselves on tiie track of 
 anotlier invader. 
 
 The Tartar is yet remembered by his offerings 
 at the shrines in this neighbourhood. Below 
 the town, the Ravee assumes a straight course 
 for twelve miles, and presents a vista of beau- 
 tiful scenery, as the banks are fringed witli lofty 
 trees, that overhang the river. The natives 
 attribute this peculiarity in the Ravee to divine 
 influence. The clothes of a saint, when bathing, 
 were washed into the stream, and the eyes of 
 the holy man, when turned in search of them, 
 straightened the river ! 
 
 Visit to the The Hydaspes was now at hand, the spot 
 
 Hydaspes. , . . • 1 1 * • i 1- 
 
 where it unites with the Acesines was only rorty- 
 five miles distant : here the fleet of Alexander 
 encountered its disasters in the rapids, and the 
 hordes of Timour were terrified by the noise of 
 the waters. Much to the surprise of our Seik 
 friends, who could not comprehend the motives 
 of our curiosity, we set out on a galloping ex-
 
 CHAP. V. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 127 
 
 pedition for the scene of these memorable events, 
 and found ourselves on the second evening on 
 the banks of the Hydaspes. Our anxiety to be- 
 hold the *' fabulous Hydaspes'* was heightened 
 by the belief, that this spot, so famous in its 
 ancient history, had never been visited by an 
 European since the days of the Greeks. Tlie 
 river joins the Acesines with a murmuring noise, 
 but the velocity of the current is inconsiderable, 
 and vessels pass it without danger, except in 
 July and August. There are no eddies or rocks, 
 nor is the channel confined, but the ancient 
 character is supported by the noise of the con- 
 fluence, which is greater than that of any of the 
 other rivers. 
 
 The boatmen at the ferry said, that, during 
 the swell of the river, they placed themselves 
 under the protection of a saint, wliose tomb 
 stands at the fork of the two rivers. The super- 
 stitious reliance bespeaks danger. We stood on 
 the verge of the river, talking with the people, 
 till the sun set in the desert westward of us ; 
 our Seik companions in the mean time, bathing 
 in the stream j for, if deprived of the enjoy- 
 ment which we derived, they had a compens- 
 ation in the belief of performing abhitions 
 at a holy spot, the junction of one river with 
 another.
 
 128 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. V. 
 
 The Hy- 'pj^jg nyei' is iiamed Behut or Bedusta, also Je- 
 
 daspes. 
 
 liim, by the people on its banks, and falls into the 
 Acesines or Chenab in the latitude of 31° 11' 30'', 
 forty-five miles north of the town of Tolimiba, 
 on the Ravee. The banks of the Hydaspes 
 coincide but fliintly with the description of Ar- 
 rian : they do not confine the river in a narrow 
 channel, nor are there rocks anywhere near to 
 mark the spot wliere the Greeks retired with 
 their dismantled fleet. The name of Hydaspes 
 is yet discoverable in the modern appellation of 
 Bedusta. The Hydaspes is less rapid, and alto- 
 gether a smaller stream than the Acesines, being 
 about 500 yards in breadtli at the point of con- 
 flux ; when joined, these rivers roll on for a 
 short distance in a channel full a mile in breadth, 
 and about twelve feet deep. 
 Boats of The timber of which the boats of the Punjab 
 
 are constructed is chiefly floated down by the 
 Hydaspes from the Indian Caucasus, which most 
 satisfactorily explains the selection of its banks 
 as the site of a naval arsenal by Alexander in 
 preference to the other rivers, by any of which 
 he might have reached the Indus without a 
 retrograde movement. There are but few boats 
 on this river : about fifty are used in the salt 
 trade at Pind Dadun Klian, some of which 
 carry 500 maunds of salt, and exceed 100 feet 
 
 tlie Greeks.
 
 CHAP. V. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 129 
 
 in length, being built like the ** Zohruq," 
 rounded at both ends. They do not hoist a 
 sail, and often pass the conflux in safety. We 
 are informed that the war-sliips of the Greeks 
 encountered the greatest difficulties in the navi- 
 gation of this river, and aj*e naturally led to 
 attribute the calamities of some of them to the 
 build, since the provision boats, which are de- 
 scribed as of '* a round form ;" and, I presume, 
 like the " Zohruq," escaped uninjured. That 
 Alexander built the greatest part of his own 
 fleet, is certain, for he commenced his voyage 
 on the Hydaspes with 800 vessels ; and when 
 he first reached that stream he was entirely 
 destitute of them ; so that he ordered the boats- 
 by which he passed the Indus to be broken up 
 and brought by land across the Doab. We 
 hear likewise of triremes and biremes, that in no 
 way correspond with the present description of 
 boats on the Indus ; from which it is probable 
 that the round boats whicli escaped uninjured 
 were country vessels. 
 
 The Hydaspes and Acesines have been forded Passage of 
 in the cold season ; but when joined they have pes. 
 never been passed but by boats. Timour, in 
 his expedition to Deliii, threw a bridge across 
 the conflux at Trimo ferry. Runjeet Singh 
 swam the Hydaspes at Sahewal with a large 
 
 VOL. III. K
 
 130 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. V. 
 
 body of horse ; but that enterprising chief has 
 crossed the Indus itself above Attok in the 
 same manner. The merchants fi'om Kliorasan 
 travel to India at all seasons, taking the route 
 by Dera Ismael Khan, Mankere, and the Sandy 
 Desert, crossing at Trimo, on the road to 
 Toolumba. The country between these last two 
 places differs from the right bank of the Hy- 
 daspes : destitute of sand hills, it is almost as 
 barren and desert. A sheet of hard clay, with 
 clumps of tamarisk, hhair^ Ian, kejra, and such 
 other shrubs as are to be found in the Thurr, or 
 Desert of India, extends from the Chenab to 
 the Ravee. There is not a blade of grass but 
 on the banks of the rivers. Water is procurable 
 from wells about thirty feet deep, but is scarce, 
 and always fetid and noxious, though rarely 
 salt.. 
 CathaBi of Thc populatiou chiefly consists of the pastoral 
 tribe of Kattia, or Jun, who are so called from 
 their living an erratic life, " Jun" having that 
 signification : few of them are found at any 
 distance fiom thc rivers but in the rainy season. 
 They have immense herds of buffaloes and 
 camels, from tlie milk of which they derive 
 sustenance ; hardly cultivating tiie soil, though 
 some tolerable fields of tobacco, raised by irri- 
 gation, may be seen near their habitations. 
 They are a*tall and handsome race j which may
 
 CHAP. V. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. ISl 
 
 be attributed to a rule among them, prohibiting 
 marriages before their females attain the age 
 of twenty years : they believe that the children 
 of an early union, so common among every 
 other Indian tribe, are puny and unhealthy. 
 These Kattia are a predatory and warlike race : 
 few of them are free from scars and wounds. 
 They extend from the banks of the Hydaspes 
 across the deserts to Delhi, and are the abori- 
 gines of this country, in whom, I think, we 
 recognise the Cathaei of Arrian ; as he calls 
 them " a stout people, well skilled in military 
 *' affairs.'* I am aware that these people have 
 been supposed to be the Kuttrees or Rajpoots ; 
 but their country is further to the south, and 
 did not occupy this part of India on the Greek 
 invasion. 
 
 In the space which intervenes between the Ruins of 
 Hydaspes and Ravee, and about equidistant 
 from either river, stand the ruins of Shorkote, 
 near a small town of that name. They occupy 
 a considerable space, being much larger than 
 Sehwun, and of the same description ; viz., a 
 mound of earth, surrounded by a brick wall, 
 and so high as to be seen for a circuit of six or 
 eight miles. The traditions of the people state 
 that a Hindoo Rajah of the name of Shor ruled 
 in this city, and was attacked by a king from 
 " Wulayut," or the countries westward, about 
 
 K 2 
 
 Shorkote.
 
 132 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. V. 
 
 loOO years ago, and overcome through super- 
 natural means. Shorkote is mentioned by 
 Timour's historian ; and its locality leads me to 
 fix on it as the place where Alexander received 
 his wound, for he crossed to the west bank of" 
 the Hydraotes in pursuit of the Malli, wlio had 
 retired to " a fortified city not far off," the 
 walls of which were of brick. The story of 
 the King of the West is, to say the least of it, 
 a very probable tradition of Alexander of Ma- 
 cedon. The construction of tlie place throws 
 some light on the fortresses which were captured 
 by Alexander. Ancient cities on the Indus 
 ai)pear to have been mounds of earth sur- 
 rounded by brick walls. At Shorcote I had 
 the good fortune to procure a variety of coins, 
 which I long beUeved to be Hindoo ; but my 
 surmise regarding the antiquity of the spot 
 received a strong and satisfactory confirmation 
 tlirough the intelligence of the able secretary 
 to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, — Mr. James 
 Prinsep. That gentlemen discovered it to be a 
 Bactrian coin,resembhng thatofan Appolodotus, 
 and shaped like a Menander, — two coins of the 
 Bactrian monarchs, found by Colonel J. Tod, 
 and engraved in tlie transactions of the Royal 
 Asiatic Society. The Greek word Bazileos 
 may be read ; and I had, therefore, to con- 
 gratulate myself on Jiaving, in my journey to
 
 CHAP. V. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 133 
 
 the Hydaspes, found the first Grecian rehc in 
 the Punjab. 
 
 We retraced our steps from tliis famous river, Return to 
 and saw much of the Kattia, or Jun tribe. They 
 were greatly surprised by our visit, and ap- 
 proached in crowds to see us. They live in 
 scattered villages, and move their houses from 
 place to place. Both men and women were tall 
 and stout, with sun-burnt complexions. The 
 men allow their hair to grow in loose tresses 
 over their shoulders : the women have ear-rings 
 of an enormous size ; but the stout and sturdy 
 dames appeared not the least incumbered fioni 
 their weight. 
 
 We returned to Toolumba on the 1st of July, Birds and 
 jaded from the excessive heat, but highly gratified the iiavee. 
 with our journey. We immediately embarked, 
 and prosecuted our voyage. During our ab- 
 sence the river had risen two feet, from a fall of 
 rain in the mountains ; but it did not appear 
 much wider. We saw more aquatic birds in 
 the Ravee than in our whole voyage ; they con- 
 sisted of cranes, storks, pelicans, ducks, teal, &c. 
 Among the inhabitants of tlie river itself, a 
 creature called *' bolun" was the most remark- 
 able. We saw several of them in the mouth of 
 the Ravee, which were of a black colour, and 
 rolled like tlie porpoise. The natives class this 
 fish with the alligator, and say it has four small 
 
 K 3
 
 134f TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. V. 
 
 paws, and a long snout like a pig. Its habits 
 do not lead it on shore, and it lives on small 
 fish. The large alligator is unknown here ; but 
 the long-nosed reptile called "ghuryal" abounds. 
 There is said to be a singular creature, called 
 '* thundwa," in this river, which is described as 
 of the turtle species, and to have a string in its 
 mouth, by which it can entangle a man, or even 
 an elephant. It is mentioned in the Shasters 
 as having seized the elephant of a god. I have 
 not seen the '* thundwa,'* nor do I believe the 
 story of it. 
 Table Thou""!! wc had iourneyed thus far in the 
 
 supplies. PI ., 
 
 country of the Seiks, we liad not passed a village 
 inhabited by tliem, or seen any others of the 
 tribe than were attached to our suite. The 
 country is very poorly peopled, and without 
 tillage for many miles. The means taken to 
 su})ply our wants in tlic voyage often excited a 
 smile. Every villager in office had been ad- 
 dressed, and a list of articles which are edible 
 to the " Firingees '* ordered to be collected. 
 Baskets of eggs, kept for weeks in expectation 
 of our arrival, were daily brought to us, some- 
 times to the number of 400 or 500; but they 
 were better adapted for tlic punishment of a 
 malefactor in the pillory than the table, and, in 
 a few, chickens were to be found in the shell! 
 Butchers were brought from Mooltan to supply
 
 CHAP. V. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS, 135 
 
 our wants : loads of saltpetre were daily sent 
 to cool the wine and water, and the necessaries 
 and luxuries of life were supplied without 
 bounds. 
 
 The heat now became oppressive, and gave Heat, 
 indication of the monsoon, according to the 
 natives. In the afternoon of the 3d of July we 
 had the thermometer so high as 110° at 4 p. m.; 
 and at sunset a storm set in from the north-west, 
 which was really sublime. Clouds appeared to 
 approach us for about half an hour, gradually 
 rising from the horizon, and looking more like 
 mountains in motion. When it came upon us, 
 we found it to be one of those tornadoes that 
 we experienced near Mooltan, and unaccom- 
 panied by rain. The wind was hot and sultry, 
 and bore clouds of fine dust along with it. It 
 passed over in an hour, and was succeeded by 
 vivid flashes of lightning from the same quarter. 
 Six days after the phenomenon the rain set in 
 with great violence; and till then we had a con- 
 tinuance of the dust every evening. 
 
 Our Mihmandar waited on us at the village Arrival of 
 of Cheechawutnee with an enormous elepliant, phant." 
 and said that he had been instructed by the 
 Maharaja to place it at our disposal, as he feared 
 the native houda did not suit our taste : he was 
 right in his conjectures, and we appreciated the 
 civility. The animal was richly caparisoned, 
 
 K 4
 
 186 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. V. 
 
 and bore a large chair, ornamented with silver 
 and enamel work, lined with red velvet. He 
 was accompanied by six of the Maharaja's own 
 Orderlies, in dresses of scarlet faced with yellow, 
 which had a good appearance. The Seiks, in 
 all the various military costumes that they have 
 adopted, never lay aside the small turban of 
 their tribe ; which, I must say, becomes them. 
 
 It was a source of no small amusement to 
 watch the love of gossip among the natives of 
 our suite. We had a reporter sent purposely 
 from the Court, who daily despatched an account 
 of our employment and rides : the news-writer 
 of Mooltan followed us from that city, and every 
 day transmitted a Gazette j I had also letters from 
 the news-writer at Lahore, giving me a precis of 
 local news, and asking for a morceau in return. 
 Our Dewan corresponded with the Chevaliers 
 Ventura and Allard ; and I was somewhat sur- 
 prized to receive answers to many of my en- 
 quiries regarding the country from the former 
 gentleman, to whom their subject had been com- 
 municated without my knowledge. Nothing, 
 however, could exceed the politeness of all the 
 people towards us ; and the ready and happy 
 manner they acceded to our wishes made us 
 careful to wish for any thing. As may be sup- 
 posed, there were no bounds to tlieir flattery ; 
 and we were daily informed that we were the
 
 CHAP. V. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 137 
 
 " second Alexander," the *' Sikunder sanee," 
 for having achieved so dangerous a voyage as the 
 Indus. The poUte natives of this quarter view 
 with dread the barbarity and customs of Sindees 
 and Beloochees. 
 
 About fifty miles eastward of Toolumba, I Ruins of 
 
 1 • 1 1 t- n -1 • 1 Harapa. 
 
 passed mland tor tour miles to examme the 
 ruins of an ancient city, called Harapa. The 
 remains are extensive, and the place, which 
 has been built of brick, is about three miles in 
 circumference. There is a ruined citadel on the 
 river side of the town ; but otherwise Harapa is 
 a perfect chaos, and has not an entire building ; 
 the bricks have been removed to build a small 
 place of the old name hard by. Tradition fixes 
 the fall of Harapa at the same period as Shorkote 
 (1300 years ago), and the people ascribe its ruin 
 to the vengeance of God on Harapa, its go- 
 vernor, who claimed certain privileges on the 
 marriage of every couple in his city, and in 
 the course of his sensualities, was guilty of in- 
 cest. At a later period, Harapa became a Ma- 
 hommedan town ; and there is a tomb of a Saint 
 of the "faithful," eigliteen feet in length, the 
 assigned, but fabulous, stature of the deceased. 
 A large stone of annular form, and a huge black 
 slab of an oval sliape, which lie near the grave, 
 are said to represent the ring and its gem of this 
 departed giant, and to have been converted from
 
 138 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. V. 
 
 more valuable to their present base materials. 
 Where such fables are believed, we must cease 
 to hope for even reasonable fiction. I found 
 some coins in these ruins, both Persian and 
 Hindoo, but I cannot fix its era from any of 
 them. 
 
 The in- As wc asccudcd the Ravee, and cleared the 
 
 country of the Kattias, the population increased, 
 and their hamlets, though small, were numerous. 
 Crowds of people flocked to the banks of the 
 river as we approached, and evinced the most 
 intense curiosity to see us. One man would 
 call out that he was a Syud, another that he 
 was a Zemindar, a third that he was a Peer, or 
 Saint, and a fourth, that he was a Seik ; while 
 the ladies themselves were not backward in ex- 
 pressing their anxiety for a sight of us. On such 
 occasions we always moved out of our cabin, or 
 bungalow ; but this ready exhibition only at- 
 tracted another concourse of spectators. The 
 notions which they entertained of us were most 
 extravagant : we were believed to be under tlie 
 guardian care of two pigeons, who shaded us 
 from the sun and rain. One individual asked 
 us seriously to impart to him the secret of con- 
 verting shreds of onions into gold ducats, which 
 he had understood we had been practising ! 
 
 A ligcr The bravery of oiu' Seik friends liad been 
 
 already exhibited to us by their attacking the
 
 CHAP. V. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. ISQ 
 
 wild hog with a sword, on foot ; but a nobler 
 specimen of their courage was displayed in the 
 death of a tiger. We disturbed the animal in a 
 thicket of tamarisk close to our boats ; and the 
 Mihmandar immediately invited us to see the 
 sport. Mr. Leckie accompanied the party ; but 
 our elephant was not at hand, and I did not go. 
 The party was entirely composed of horsemen. 
 The monster was speedily wounded by some one, 
 and several riders were unhorsed from the fright 
 of their steeds. The Seiks then advanced on 
 foot, sword in hand, to attack the tiger : he 
 sprang at one man most furiously ; and, as he 
 fixed on his left shoulder, the poor fellow bravely 
 struck his head by a well-directed blow : the 
 contest was unequal, and the man fell, horribly 
 lacerated. His comrades instantly ran up, and, 
 with cuts and wounds, the tiger soon fell. He 
 was a huge animal, and measured ten feet : 
 his thigh was as large as that of a full-grown 
 man. The coolness and courage of the Seiks 
 surpass belief; they have great encouragement 
 from their chiefs. To all my enquiries re- 
 garding the unfortunate man that had been 
 wounded, they replied, with an ostentation of 
 indifference, that he was but a Seik, would 
 be well rewarded, and had already received a 
 horse, and his annual pay liad been increased an 
 hundred rupees. The skin, head, and paws of
 
 140 
 
 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Strange 
 treatment. 
 
 Intelli- 
 gence of a 
 Seik. 
 
 the tiger were immediately despatched to the 
 Maharaja, whose bounty will be further extended 
 to the wounded. This encouragement makes 
 these people the bravest of the Indians. 
 
 The faculty will be surprised at the Seik 
 mode of curing a wound received from a tiger, 
 at variance as it is with European practices. 
 They entertain an opinion that, if a person 
 who has been so wounded be allowed to sleep, 
 he will see the tiger in his dreams, and thus 
 lose his heart, and inevitably die. They therefore 
 furnish the patient with the strongest stimulants, 
 and set people to prevent his falling asleep for 
 five or six days. By that time the wounds as- 
 sume a certain appearance; and they then permit 
 the man to rest. In the instance which I have 
 mentioned, I can answer for the copious use of 
 stimulants, as we supplied the brandy. 
 
 The intelligence of the Seik Sirdar Senu Sing, 
 our Mihmandar, had, more than once, arrested 
 my attention. From a perusal of translations, 
 he had acquired some knowledge of our astro- 
 nomical system, and of the astrolabe, with 
 several other such instruments. He expressed 
 his doubts on some parts of the theory ; and 
 asked me to explain the continuance of the pole 
 star in one place when the earth was said to 
 move so many miles daily in its orbit round the 
 sun. Among other inlbrmation that I was
 
 CHAP. V. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 141 
 
 enabled to impart to him, I showed him the 
 thermometer, and explained the nature of the 
 instrument. He immediately had the whole 
 particulars committed to writing : and, where 
 such avidity, and so laudable a thirst for know- 
 ledge, were displayed, I could not withhold 
 making him a present of the instrument. This 
 Sirdar was equally expert in the martial exer- 
 cises of his nation : he handled the bow with 
 grace and dexterity ; he was an excellent horse- 
 man, and could hit a mark at full speed ; and I 
 have seen him touch the ground with both feet 
 at the gallop, and regain his seat. I must 
 mention that his curiosity did not always take a 
 scientific turn ; for his wonder had been excited 
 by our art in preserving meat, fish, &c. A ham, 
 which I showed him, was calculated to satisfy 
 his doubts ; and he was only contented when he 
 had got a complete recipe for curing it. The 
 Seiks are very fond of hog ; and ham bids fair 
 to be a standing dish in the Punjab. By the 
 nth of July we had left the country of the 
 Kattias, and reached Futtiiipoor, where the 
 land is cultivated. Our approach to Lahore 
 seemed to facilitate every arrangement : a de- 
 tachment of fifty lancers had been stationed in 
 the intervening villages, to assemble the inhabit- 
 ants, to drag the boats the moment we ap- 
 proached. Our own suite was now increased to
 
 142 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. V. 
 
 about 500 people ; and to a drum and fife, 
 which had always been with us, a bugle was 
 added. Such dissonance as was now produced 
 was never heard " at tattoo or reveille o ; " and 
 A Cash- |.}^gy played at both hours. We had also a 
 
 mere boat. j r j 
 
 Cashmere boat sent for our accommodation, 
 called the " purinda " or bird. It was a com- 
 plete skiff, about sixty feet long, and pointed at 
 both ends, so that half of the boat did not even 
 touch the water. I am informed that this style 
 of build, not unlike the gondola of Venice, is 
 general in the lake of Cashmere. The crew were 
 natives of that country; and they impelled their 
 vessel by small green-painted paddles, with which 
 they struck the water in a peculiar manner. 
 They were very handsome and athletic men, 
 dressed in red jackets. The boat itself had a 
 square bungalow in the centre, with a flat roof; 
 where we sat during the cool of the evening. 
 She was flat-bottomed ; and had her planks 
 clamped with iron. Her motion through the 
 water was tremulous, and by no means agree- 
 able ; but the celerity with which vessels of tliis 
 kind move is acknowledged. 
 Letter from On the 13th of July, a deputation from the 
 Kardar of Kot Kamalia waited on us with pre- 
 sents of fruit, &c., and a sum of 1100 rupees. 
 A letter was brought, at tlie same time, from 
 the Maharaja, expressive of his great satisfaction
 
 CHAP. V. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 143 
 
 at our approach. The epistle was flowery to a 
 degree seldom met with even in the Persian 
 language ; and filled with similes about gardens, 
 roses, zephyrs, and fountains. Every word of a 
 letter which I had addressed to his Highness 
 was declared to be a bud of everlasting friend- 
 ship ; and every letter of every word was a 
 blown rose ! But the document would require 
 a translation, and that, perhaps, it does not 
 deserve. 
 
 Neither the congratulations nor munificence 
 of the Maharaja could keep our people well : 
 they were attacked with whitlow : and there 
 were no less than seven or eight of them laid up 
 at once with that painful complaint. They 
 themselves ascribed it to the water ; but I was 
 rather disposed to attribute it to a want of it and 
 exercise ; for they had had a voyage of longer 
 duration than a trip from India to England. 
 We now entered the country of the Seiks. All 
 these people are either soldiers or husbandmen, 
 like the Romans of old. They were very 
 communicative ; and described witii much ar- Religious 
 
 1 7 • -I'll! r. ^^""^ ^^ *'^^ 
 
 dour the campaigns in which they have fought, Sdks. 
 and their collision with the bigoted Euzoofzyes 
 across the Indus. I should hardly expect to 
 be credited if I recorded many of the circum- 
 stances that have been communicated to me, 
 and the number of people that have fallen
 
 144 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. V. 
 
 in these religious wars. TheEuzoofzyes entertain 
 such hatred for the infidel Seiks, that they often 
 declare themselves " ghazee," and devote their 
 lives to their extinction ; believing that the death 
 of one of them is more meritorious than that of 
 any other unbeliever. ■ As the Seik religion arose 
 some hundred years after Mahommed, they are 
 not certainly supported by their prophet. To 
 use an expression of the Seiks, the Euzoofzyes 
 " laugh at death." It has been justly remarked, 
 that we know little and care less for the history 
 of such transactions, when we have no connection 
 with the parties concerned. 
 Deputa- ji^ |-|^g evenuic: of the 1.5th we reached Chanffa, 
 
 tion. » o ' 
 
 about twenty-five miles from Lahore, and were 
 received by a deputation from the Maharaja, con- 
 sisting of two Seik Sirdars, and Noorodeen 
 Fakeer, of a Mahommedan family enjoying 
 trust and influence at Court. The meeting, as 
 was requested, took place on elephants, five of 
 which bore the magnates and ourselves. Each 
 individual delivered a purse of money in gold 
 and silver, and, by his Highness' desire, asked 
 for the health of the King of England, and the 
 period that had elapsed since we left London : 
 for the Maharaja, it seemed, believed us to have 
 been deputed from the royal foostool. I re- 
 plied as circumstances required. The principal 
 Seik, by name Sham Sing, presented a bow.
 
 CHAP. V. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 145 
 
 The party also produced a letter from the Ma- 
 haraja, mentioning that they had been instructed 
 to congratulate us on our arrival, and use every 
 expression which could be pleasing to the sense; 
 and a tissue of flattery ensued, which I confess 
 my inability to describe. 
 
 *' The seasons," said the Fakeer, " have 
 '* been changed to aid your safe arrival j and 
 " when it should have rained, the sun shines j but 
 " it is the sun of England. You must now con- 
 " sider yourselves at home, and in a garden, of 
 " which you are the roses ; that such a fiiend- 
 " ship had now grown up between the British 
 ** and the Seiks, that the inhabitants of Iran and 
 " Room would hear it proclaimed in their distant 
 " dominions ; that light had succeeded darkness 
 " when we merged from the barbarians of Sinde, 
 " and that its genial influence had changed the 
 " bud into tlie rose." I should exhaust a vo- 
 cabulary if I recorded all his expressions. I 
 replied as well as I could in the same style, ask- 
 ing after the Maharaja's health ; and assured tlie 
 deputation of our satisfaction at the kindness 
 and attention which we had received in the Seik 
 dominions. Before taking leave, I showed the 
 party the horses, with which they were delighted. 
 
 The Sirdars brought an escort of lancers and Escort 
 Seik cavalry : the latter party were entirely 
 dressed in yellow, and had just returned with 
 
 VOL. III. L
 
 146 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. GIIAP. V. 
 
 Sham Sing from the campaign against Syud 
 Ahmed, wlio had long carried on a fanatical war 
 in this country, and had been lately killed. 
 
 Among the party, a boy was pointed out, who 
 had been nominated to the command held by his 
 fallen father, — a Seik rule admirably calculated 
 to feed the military spirit of their nation. We 
 rode among them, evidently much to their de- 
 light, and to our own amusement. The chiefs 
 wore many valuable jewels ; but these ornaments 
 did not become the wrists and brows of such 
 warriors. 
 seikiaiiies. We had now an opportunity of seeing the 
 Seik ladies, who are not less peculiar in their 
 appearance than their husbands. They knot the 
 hair at the crown, and throw a white robe over 
 it, which entirely envelopes the body, and gives 
 a conical shape to the head. They pull up the 
 hair so tight to form this knot, that the skin of 
 the forehead is di'awn with it, and the eyebrows 
 are considerably removed from the visual organ. 
 As may be imagined, this fashion does not im- 
 prove their personal appearance, yet it is general 
 among all classes of the females. The Seik ladies 
 are not so handsome as their husbands ; their 
 features are sharp and regular. They are not 
 confined to their houses as strictly as the Ma- 
 hommedaii women ; for the Seiks, in matri- 
 mony as well as religion, differ widely from the 
 followers of tlie Propliet.
 
 CHAP. V. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 147 
 
 In the evening of the l6th, we had a second 
 visit from the deputation of yesterday, who 
 brought us a sum oi' 7OO rupees, with an an- 
 nouncement from the Maharaja that that amount 
 had been fixed on as our daily allowance during 
 our further stay in the Punjab. I accepted the 
 sum, but did not consider it proper to allow of 
 such wasteful munificence being in future con- 
 tinued. 
 
 At noon, on the lyth of July, we came in 
 sight of the lofty minarets of the King's mosque 
 at Lahore^ and might have reached the ancient 
 capital of the Moghul empire, and the termination 
 of our protracted voyage ; but the ceremonial of 
 our entree required arrangement, and we halted 
 three or four miles from the city, at the earnest 
 request of our conductors. As the sun set, I 
 saw, for the first time, the massy mountains 
 which encircle Cashmere, clothed in a mantle of 
 white snow. I felt a nervous sensation of joy as 
 I first gazed on the Himalaya, and almost forgot 
 the duties I owed to our conductors, in contem- 
 plating these mighty works of nature. 
 
 L 'Z
 
 148 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 LAHORE. 
 
 S!ore ^^ ^^^^ morning of tlie 18th of June we made 
 our public entrance into Lahore. The Maha- 
 raja's minister, Uzeez-o~Deen, and Raja Ghoolab 
 Sing, with the principal men of the state, met 
 us at a distance of three miles from the city, 
 escorted by a guard of cavalry and a regiment 
 of infantry. We were introduced to these per- 
 sonages by Captain Wade, the political agent of 
 government at Lodiana, who had been deputed 
 to Lahore on the occasion, and was accompanied 
 by Dr. A. Murray. The sight of these gentle- 
 men, after our long absence from European so- 
 ciety, excited the most pleasurable feelings. Our 
 reception was also most gratifying, heightened, 
 as it was, by the reflection that our under- 
 taking had been this day brought to a safe and 
 successful issue. We alighted at a garden about 
 a mile from Lahore, the residence of M. Clie- 
 valier Allard, whose manners and address were 
 engaging and gentlemanlike. We here parted 
 with the deputation, after receiving a large sum 
 of money and a profusion of sweetmeats in the 
 name of the Maliaraja.
 
 CHAP. VI. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 149 
 
 The Chevalier then conducted us to an upper 
 room, where we sat down to a dejeune a la 
 fourchette of the richest cookery. 
 
 Another French gentleman, M. Court, was 
 of our party. The scene was novel to us : the 
 walls and roof of the apartment were entirely 
 inlaid with small pieces of mirror. Champagne 
 usurped the place of tea and coffee. M. Allard 
 is the Maharaja's General of cavalry ; and we had 
 the trumpets of his division in attendance during 
 breakfast. We continued with our worthy host 
 during the following day, which passed in pre- 
 parations for our introduction at Court, which 
 had been fixed for the 20th instant. 
 
 About 9 A. M., when the Maharaja had reached Prcscnt- 
 the ancient palace that stands within the walls Court. 
 of Lahore, he sent a deputation of his nobles 
 to conduct us to Court. All the Sirdars and 
 officers who had been from time to time sent 
 to us were previously in attendance, besides a 
 numerous escort ; and the pageant was further 
 swelled by a detachment of Bengal sepoys which 
 Captain Wade had brought from Lodiana. The 
 coach, which was a handsome vehicle, headed 
 the procession ; and in rear of the dray-horses 
 we ourselves followed on elephants, with the 
 officers of the Maharaja. We passed close under 
 the walls of the city, between them and the 
 ditch, and entered Lahore by the palace gate. 
 The streets were lined with cavalry, artillerv, 
 
 L 3
 
 150 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. VI. 
 
 and infantry, all of which saluted as we passed. 
 The concourse of people was immense ; they 
 had principally seated themselves on tlie bal- 
 conies of the houses, and preserved a most re- 
 spectful silence. On entering the first court of 
 the palace, we were received by Raja Dihan 
 Sing, a fine soldierlike looking person, dressed 
 in armour, by whom we were conducted to the 
 door of the palace. AVhile stooping to remove 
 my shoes at the threshold, I suddenly found 
 myself in the arms and tight embrace of a dimi- 
 nutive old-looking man, — the great Maharaja 
 Runjeet Sing. He was accompanied by two of 
 ]iis sons, who likewise embraced Mr. Leckie and 
 myself; when the Maharaja conducted me by 
 the hand to tlie interior of his court ; our 
 reception was of the most distinguished na- 
 ture, and he had advanced that distance to 
 do us lionour. We found Captain Wade and 
 Dr. Murray in the Durbar, and all of us were 
 seated on silver chairs, in front of his Highness. 
 The Maharaja made various complimentary re- 
 marks ; asked particularly after the healtli of 
 his Majesty the King of Great Britain ; and, 
 as we had come from Bombay, enquired for 
 Sir John Malcolm. When we had been seated 
 a short time, I informed his Highness that I 
 had brought along witli me in safety to Lahore 
 five horses, which his most gracious Majesty 
 the King of Engkmd had conferred upon him,
 
 CHAP. VI. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS,. 151 
 
 in consideration of the relations of amity and 
 concord subsisting between the states ; as also 
 a carriage from the Right Honourable the 
 Governor-general of India, in token of his 
 Lordship's esteem. I then added, that the 
 horses were accompanied by a most friendly 
 letter from his Majesty's minister for the af- 
 fairs of India, which I held in my hand in a 
 bag of cloth of gold, sealed with the arms 
 of England. On this the Maharaja and his 
 Court, as well as ourselves, rose up, and his 
 Highness received the letter, and touched his 
 forehead with the seal. The letter was then 
 handed to his minister, Uzeez-o-Deen, who read 
 a Persian translation of it in the presence of the 
 whole Court. The envoys from the surround- 
 ing states were present. The following is a copy 
 of the communication with which his Majesty 
 had honoured the ruler of Lahore : — 
 
 copy OF A LETTER FROM HIS MAJESTy's MINIS- Letterfrom 
 
 the King. 
 TER for the affairs of INDIA TO MAHARAJA 
 
 RUNJEET sing, delivered to HIS HIGHNESS 
 
 AT LAHORE, ON THE 20tH OF JULY, 1831. 
 
 To His Highness Maharaja Runjeet Sing, Chief 
 of the Seik Nation^ and Lord of Cashmere. 
 
 Maharaja, 
 The King, my most gracious master, has 
 commanded me to express to your Higlmess 
 
 L 1.
 
 152 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. VI. 
 
 his Majesty's acknowledgments of your High- 
 nesses attention in transmitting to his Majesty, 
 by the esteemed and excellent Lord, Earl, Am- 
 herst, the splendid manuflicture of your High- 
 ?iess*s subjects of Cashmere. 
 
 The King, knowing that your Highness is in 
 possession of the most beautiful horses of the 
 most celebrated breeds of Asia, has thought that 
 it might be agreeable to your Highness to pos- 
 sess some horses of the most remarkable breed 
 of Europe ; and, in the wish to gratify your 
 Highness in this matter, has commanded me to 
 select for your Highness some horses of the 
 gigantic breed which is peculiar to England. 
 
 These horses, selected with care requiring 
 much time, I now send to your Highness j and 
 as their great weight makes it inexpedient that 
 they should undergo the fatigue of a long march 
 in a hot climate, I have directed that they shall 
 be conveyed to your Highness by the Indus, 
 ^and such river of the Punjab as may be most 
 easy of navigation. 
 
 The King has given me his most special com- 
 mands to intimate to your Highness the sincere 
 satisfaction with which his Majesty has wit- 
 nessed the good understanding which has for so 
 many years subsisted, and which may God ever 
 preserve, between the British Government and 
 your Highness. 
 
 His Majesty relicy with confidence on the
 
 CHAP. VI. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 153 
 
 continuance of a state of peace, so beneficial to 
 the subjects of both powers ; and his Majesty 
 earnestly desires that your Highness may live 
 long in health and honour, extending the bless- 
 ings of beneficent government to the nations 
 under your Highness's rule. 
 
 By the King's command. 
 
 (Signed) Ellenborough. 
 
 As the contents of the document were un- 
 folded, the Maliaraja gave evident symptoms of 
 his satisfaction ; and when the letter was half 
 read, he said that he would greet its arrival by a 
 salute ; and a peal of artillery from sixty guns, 
 each firing twenty-one times, announced to the 
 citizens of Lahore the joy of their King. His 
 Highness then expressed his intention of view- 
 ing the presents ; and we accompanied him. 
 The sight of the horses excited his utmost sur- 
 prise and wonder, their size and colour pleased 
 him : he said they were little elephants ; and, 
 as they passed singly before him, he called out 
 to his different Sirdars and officers, who joined 
 in his admiration. Nothing could exceed the 
 affability of the Maharaja : he kept up an un- 
 interrupted conversation for the hour and a half 
 which the interview lasted : he enquired par- 
 ticularly about the depth of water in the Indus, 
 and the possibility of navigating it ; and put
 
 154 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. VI. 
 
 various questions regarding the people wlio oc- 
 cupy its banks, and their poUtical and miUtary 
 importance. I alluded to the riches of Sinde, 
 which seemed to excite his utmost cupidity. 
 He introduced us to all the representatives of 
 the neighbouring states, and concluded by ask- 
 Runjeet [i^cr if wc should like to scc liis owH stud. About 
 
 Sing's stud. _ 
 
 thirty horses were immediately brought, and 
 passed in review order before us. They were 
 caparisoned in the richest and most superb man- 
 ner ; and some of them were adorned with very 
 valuable jewels : he named each horse, and 
 described his pedigree and points, as he was 
 brought up. They were of all countries ; and 
 from their necks being tightly reined up, cer- 
 tainly looked well ; but they were not the stud 
 which one would have expected at Lahore — all 
 the horses appeared to be under-limbed. The 
 exertion which his Highness underwent seemed 
 to exhaust him, and we withdrew. Nature 
 has, indeed, been sparing in her gifts to this 
 personage ; and there must be a mighty con- 
 trast between his mind and body. He has 
 lost an eye, is pitted by the small pox, and his 
 stature does not certainly exceed five feet three 
 inclies. He is entirely free from pomp and 
 show% yet the studied respect of his Court is 
 remarkable ; not an individual spoke without a 
 3ign, though the throng was more like a bazar
 
 CHAP. VI. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 155 
 
 than the Court of the first native Prince in these 
 times. 
 
 The hall of audience, in which the interview "'','.' "*" 
 
 ' audience. 
 
 took place, was built entirely of marble, and is 
 the work of the Moghul Emperors ; part of the 
 roof was gorgeously decorated by a pavilion of 
 silken cloth studded with jewels. The Maha- 
 raja himself wore a necklace, armlets, and brace- 
 lets of emeralds, some of which were very large. 
 His sword was mounted with the most precious 
 stones. The nobles were likewise dressed for 
 the occasion with jewels ; and all the Court 
 appeared in yellow, the favourite colour of the 
 nation, which lias a gaudy but striking effect. 
 
 On the following morning, the Maharaja in- ^^pe|.'^^7c. 
 timated his wish for our presence at a military 
 review in honour of passing events. We found 
 his Highness on the parade ground, seated on a 
 terrace, a short distance from the walls of La- 
 hore. Five regiments of regular infantry were 
 drawn up in line, three deep. Runjeet requested 
 we would pass down the line and inspect them. 
 They were dressed in white, with black cross 
 belts, and bore muskets, the manufacture of 
 Cashmere or Lahore : there was a mixture of 
 Hindoostanees and Seiks in every corps. After 
 the inspection, the brigade manoeuvred under 
 a native general officer, and went through its
 
 Convers- 
 ations. 
 
 156 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. VI. 
 
 evolutions with an exactness and precision fully 
 equal to our Indian troops : the words of com- 
 mand were given in French. 
 
 During the spectacle, his Highness conversed 
 with great fluency, and asked our opinions on 
 his army and their equipments. His muskets, 
 he said, cost him seventeen rupees each. He 
 was particularly desirous to know if a column of 
 British troops could advance against artillery. 
 From these subjects he passed to that of the 
 revenue of Cashmere ; he had just got thirty- 
 six lacs of rupees, he said, from it this year, 
 v/hich was an increase of six lacs. " All the 
 " people I send to Cashmere," continued he, 
 *' turn out rascals (haramzada) ; there is too 
 *' much pleasure and enjoyment in that coun- 
 " try ;" and when he considered the import- 
 ance of the place, he believed he must send 
 one of his sons, or go himself. This is the 
 style of Runjeet Sing's conversation ; but his 
 inquisitive disposition, and pertinent questions, 
 mark the strength of his character. He found 
 out, among our establishment, a native of India, 
 who had been in England, whom he first in- 
 terrogated in our presence, and afterwards sent 
 for privately, to know if the wealth and power 
 of the British nation were as great as had been 
 represented. We left his Highness, on observing
 
 CHAP. VI. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 157 
 
 preparations for breakfast, — a meal which lie 
 usually takes in the open air, and in presence of 
 his troops, and even sometimes on horseback. 
 His passion for riding and performing distant 
 journeys is great ; and, on such occasions, he 
 will take his meal on the saddle rather than 
 dismount. 
 
 We took up our abode in the garden -house of ^'y^^''^ 
 M. Chevalier Ventura, another French General, 
 who was absent on the Indus with his legion. 
 The building had been constructed in the Eu- 
 ropean style ; but the Chevalier has added a 
 terrace, with ninety fountains, to cool the sur- 
 rounding atmosphere. Our intercourse with the 
 French officers was on the most friendly foot- 
 ing ; and it continued so during our residence 
 at Lahore. Among these gentlemen, M. Court 
 struck me as an acute and well informed per- 
 son ; he is both a geographer and an antiqua- 
 rian. M. Court, as well as his brother officers, 
 was formerly in the service of one of the 
 Persian Princes, and travelled to India as a 
 native, which gave him an opportunity of ac- 
 quiring the best information regarding the in- 
 tervening countries. He showed me the route 
 from Kermenshah, by Herat, Candahar, Ghuzni, 
 and Cabool, to Attok, constructed topographi- 
 cally with great care ; and he informed me, at
 
 158 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. VI. 
 
 the same time, that he had been less anxious to 
 obtain a complete map of that part of Asia, than 
 to ascertain one good route, with its detours, 
 and the military and statistical resources of the 
 country. The French have much better inform- 
 ation of these countries than ourselves ; and 
 M. Court, in explaining his map to me, pointed 
 out the best routes for infantry and cavalry. 
 This gentleman has likewise employed a resid- 
 ence of four years in the Punjab to illustrate 
 its geography ; he has encountered jealousy 
 from Ilunjeet Sing, but still managed to com- 
 plete a broad belt of survey from Attok to the 
 neighbourhood of our own frontier. I doubt 
 not but the antiquities as well as the geography 
 of the Punjab will be illustrated by this intelli- 
 gent gentleman ; who, to his honour be it said, 
 adds to a zeal in the pursuit, the strongest desire 
 to disseminate his own knowledge and stimulate 
 others. The fruit of M. Court's labours, I be- 
 lieve, will, ere long, be given to the public by the 
 Geographical Society of Paris, or some other of 
 the learned bodies in that capital. 
 dtyof In our evening rambles at Lahore, we had 
 
 Laliore. _ _ 
 
 many opportunities of viewing this city. The 
 ancient capital extended from east to west for a 
 distance of five miles ; and had an average 
 breadth of three, as may be yet traced by the
 
 CHAP. VI. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 159 
 
 ruins. The mosques and tombs, which have 
 been more stably built than the houses, remain 
 in the midst of fields and cultivation as cara- 
 vansaries for the traveller. The modern city 
 occupies the western angle of the ancient ca- 
 pital, and is encircled by a strong wall. The 
 houses are very lofty; and the streets, which 
 are narrow, offensively filthy, from a gutter 
 that passes through the centre. The bazars of 
 Lahore do not exhibit much appearance of 
 wealth ; but the commercial influence of the 
 Punjab is to be found at Umritsir, the modern 
 capital. There are some public buildings within 
 the city that deserve mention. The King's 
 mosque is a capacious building of red sand- 
 stone, which had been brought by Aurungzebe 
 from near Delhi. Its four lofty minarets still 
 stand, but the temple itself has been converted 
 into a powder magazine. There are two other 
 mosques, with minarets, to proclaim the falling 
 greatness of the Mahommedan empire ; where 
 the *' faithfiil," as every where else in the Pun- 
 jab, must offer up their prayers in silence. 
 
 But the stranger must cross the Ravee to Tombof 
 behold the finest ornament of Lahore, — the 
 *' Shah Dura," or tomb of the Emperor Juhan- 
 geer, which is a monument of great beauty. It 
 is a quadrangular building, with a minaret at
 
 IGO TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA, CHAP. VI. 
 
 each corner, rising to the height of seventy feet. 
 It is built chiefly of marble and red stone, which 
 are alternately interlaid in all parts of the build- 
 ing. The sepulchre is of most chaste work- 
 manship, with its inscriptions and ornaments 
 arranged in beautiful mosaic ; the shading of 
 some roses and other flowers is even preserved 
 by the difl'erent colours of the stone. Two lines 
 of black letters, on a ground of white marble, 
 announce the name and title of the " Conqueror 
 of the World," Juhangeer; and about a hundred 
 different words in Arabic and Persian, with the 
 single signification of God, are distributed on 
 different parts of the sepulchre. The floor of 
 the building is also mosaic. The tomb was for- 
 merly covered by a dome ; but Bahadoor Shah 
 threw it down, that the dew and rain of heaven 
 might fall on the tomb of his grandfather Juhan- 
 geer. It is probable that this beautiful monu- 
 ment will soon be washed into the river Ravee, 
 which is capricious in its course near Lahore, 
 and has lately overwhelmed a portion of the 
 garden wall that environs the tomb. 
 siiaiimar. The ucxt, tliougli by no means the least, ob- 
 ject of interest at Lahore is the garden of Shah 
 Jehan ; the Shalimar or *' liouse of joy." It is 
 a magnificent remnant of Moghul grandeur, 
 about half a mile in length, with three successive
 
 CHAP. VI. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. l6l 
 
 terraces, each above the level of the other. A 
 canal, which is brought from a great distance, 
 intersects this beautiful garden, and throws up 
 its water in 450 fountains to cool the atmosphere. 
 The marble couch of the Emperor yet remains ; 
 but the garden suffered much injury before 
 Runjeet Sing obtained his present ascendancy. 
 The Maharaja himself has removed some of the 
 marble houses ; but he has had the good taste 
 to replace them, though it be by more ignoble 
 stone. 
 
 As we were proceeding one morning to ex- Convers- 
 aminethe tomb of Juhangeer, we found Runjeet Runjeet 
 Sing seated on the plain, and surrounded by '"^* 
 his troops. He sent one of his officers to call 
 us ; and we passed about half an hour with him. 
 He gave us an account of the inroads of the 
 Afghans into the Punjab, and told us that we 
 now sat on their ground of encampment. Zuman 
 Shah, the blind king at Lodiana, he said, had 
 thrice sacked the city of Lahore ; he also talked 
 of his designs on India, and the vicissitudes to 
 which kings are subject. The Maharaja was 
 the plainest dressed man at his Durbar ; his 
 clothes were shabby and worn. On the evening 
 of the 25th, his Highness gave us a private 
 audience, in which we saw him to great advan- 
 tage ; for he directed his Court to withdraw. 
 On our arrival, we found him seated on a chair, 
 
 VOL. III. M
 
 162 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. VI. 
 
 Dancing with a party of thirty or forty dancing girls, 
 dressed uniformly in boys* clothes. They were 
 mostly natives of Cashmere or the adjacent 
 mountains, on whom grace and beauty had 
 not been sparingly bestowed. Their figures 
 and features were small ; and their Don Gio- 
 vanni costume of flowing silk most becoming, 
 improved as it was by a small bow and quiver 
 in the hand of each. The " eyes of Cash- 
 *' mere" are celebrated in the poetry of the 
 East, of which these Dianas now furnished 
 brilliant specimens, in gems black and bright ; 
 disfigured, however, by a kind of sparkling gold 
 dust glued round each organ. " This," said Run- 
 jeet Sing, *' is one of my regiments (pultuns), but 
 " they tell me it is one I cannot discipline ; *' a 
 remark which amused us, and mightily pleased 
 the fair. He pointed out two of the ladies, 
 whom he called the " Commandants" of this 
 arm of his service, to whom he had given villages, 
 and an allowance of five and ten rupees a day. 
 He shortly afterwards called for four or five 
 elephants to take these, his undisciplined troops, 
 home. Runjeet then commenced on more im- 
 portant subjects; and ran over, among other 
 things, the whole history of his connexion with 
 the British Government. It had at first, he 
 said, excited great suspicion and discontent 
 among the Seik Sirdars ; but he himself was
 
 CHAP. VI. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 163 
 
 satisfied of its advantage from the outset. Sir 
 John Malcohn, he continued, had first stood his 
 friend in 1 805 ; and Sir Charles Metcalfe had 
 completed his happiness. Sir David Ochterlony 
 had further cemented the bonds of friendship ; 
 and the letter which I had now delivered to him 
 from the minister of the King of England 
 partook more of the nature of a treaty than a 
 common epistle, and had gratified him beyond 
 his powers of expression. He here recurred to 
 tlie riches of Sinde, expressing an earnest desire 
 to appropriate them to his own use ; and put 
 the most pointed questions to me regarding the 
 feelings of Government on such a subject. Run- 
 jeet is very fond of comparing the relative 
 strength of the European nations ; and, on this 
 occasion, he asked whether France or England 
 were the greater power. I assured him they 
 were both great ; but he had only to remember 
 our power in India to be satisfied of the mili- 
 tary character of Britain. " AVell, then," added 
 he, '* what do you think of my French ofli- 
 " cers ?" After this, he wished to know if I had 
 heard of his campaigns across the Indus against 
 the " Ghazees," or fanatics of the Mahommedan 
 religion ; and said that he owed all his successes 
 to the bravery of his nation, who were very free 
 from prejudice, would carry eight days' provision 
 on their backs, dig a well if water were scarce, 
 
 M 2
 
 164} TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. VI. 
 
 and build a fort if circumstances required it ; a 
 kind of service which he could not prevail on 
 the natives of Hindostan to perform. *' The 
 " bravery of my troops, as you are aware, con- 
 " quered Cashmere for me j and how do you 
 " think," said he, *' I dispose of the shawls and 
 " productions of that country in the present glut 
 " of trade ? I pay my officers and troops with 
 ** them ; and as I give a Chief, who may be en- 
 ** titled to a balance of 300 rupees, shawls to the 
 ** value of 500, he is well pleased, and the state 
 *' is benefited." From the shawls of Cashmere, 
 Runjeet passed to the praises of wine and strong 
 drinks, of which he is immoderately fond: he beg- 
 ged to know if I had drank the supply which he 
 had sent me, which, as a recommendation, he as- 
 sured us was mixed with pearls and precious gems. 
 This, I should mention, is a common beverage 
 in the East ; a fashion which probably had its 
 origin in the giver desiring to make the grounds 
 as well as the contents of the bottle acceptable : 
 pearls would form a good glass for the butler. 
 We continued, till it was late, conversing with 
 Runjeet in this desultory manner ; when he pro- 
 duced a splendid bow and quiver, as also a liorse 
 richly caparisoned, with a shawl cloth thrown 
 over his body, a necklace of agate, and a heron's 
 plume stuck on liis head, saying, " This is one of 
 " my riding horses, which I beg you will accept."
 
 CHAP, VI. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 165 
 
 He also gave a similar present to Mr. Leckie ; 
 and while we were looking at the animals, one 
 of the dray horses was brought forward, dressed 
 out in cloth of gold, and bearing an elephant's 
 saddle on his back ! I could not suppress a 
 smile at the exhibition. Runjeet then sprinkled 
 sandal oil and rose water over us with his own 
 hands, which completed the ceremony. As we 
 were moving, he called us back to beg that we 
 would attend him early next morning, and he 
 would order a review of his horse artillery for 
 our amusement. 
 
 We met his Highness at an appointed hour on Horse ar- 
 the parade ground, with a train of fifty-one ' *'^^' 
 pieces of artillery which he had assembled on 
 the occasion. They were brass 6-pounders, 
 each drawn by six horses. The command was 
 taken by a native officer, who put them through 
 the movements of horse artillery, and formed 
 line and column in every direction. The evo- 
 lutions were not rapidly performed ; but the 
 celerity was considerable ; and no accident in 
 overturning or firing occurred throughout the 
 morning. There were no waggons in the field, 
 and the horses and equipments were inferior. 
 The guns, however, were well cast, and the 
 carriages in good repair : they had been made 
 at Lahore, and had cost him 1000 rupees each. 
 As the troops were passing in review order, 
 
 M 3
 
 iQQ TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. VI. 
 
 he asked for our candid opinion regarding the 
 display. " Every gun which you now see costs 
 " me 5000 rupees annually, in the pay of the 
 " officers and men, and in keeping up the horses. 
 " I have 100 pieces of field artillery, exclusive 
 " of battering guns and mortars, and my French 
 " officers tell me I have too many. I can re- 
 *' duce their number," added he, " but it is a 
 " difficult matter to increase it." We had not 
 sat much longer with him, when he said, " You 
 *' must breakfast with me;" an honour with which 
 we would have rather dispensed, but there was 
 no retreating. The chairs were removed, and a 
 velvet cushion was placed for each of us in front 
 of the Maharaja, and the simple fare of this po- 
 tentate produced. It consisted of various kinds 
 of rice, with milk, sugar, and some preserved 
 mangoes ; all of which were served up in leaves 
 sewed togetlier. Runjeet selected the choicest 
 parts, and Iianded them to us himself; polite- 
 ness compelled us to keep him company. The 
 thumb and fingers are certainly a poor substitute 
 for the knife and fork. When breakfast was 
 finished, Runjeet asked if we would accept a 
 dinner from him ; and immediately gave instruc- 
 tions for its preparation, and we had it sent 
 to us in the evening. It was much the same 
 as the breakfast, and served up in a similar 
 manner.
 
 CHAP. VI. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. l6j 
 
 Runjeet Sing is, in every respect, an extra- 
 ordinary character. I have heard his Frencli 
 officers observe that he has no equal from Con- 
 stantinople to India ; and all of them have seen 
 the intermediate powers. 
 
 We continued at Lahore as the suests of the character 
 
 of Runjeet 
 
 Maharaja till the l6th of August, and had many sing. 
 opportunities of meeting him ; but I do not 
 think I can add any thing to the history of his 
 rise, drawn up by the late Captain William 
 Murray, Political agent at Ambala. The most 
 creditable trait in Runjeet*s character is his hu- 
 manity ; he has never been known to punish a 
 criminal with death since his accession to power; 
 he does not hesitate to mutilate a malefactor, 
 but usually banishes him to the hills. Cunning 
 and conciliation have been the two great weapons 
 of his diplomacy. It is too probable, that the 
 career of this chief is nearly at an end ; his 
 chest is contracted, his back is bent, his limbs 
 withered, and it is not likely that he can long 
 bear up against a nightly dose of spirits more 
 ardent than the strongest brandy. 
 
 On the l6th of August we had our audience Audienc« 
 
 r> . . . '^^ leave. 
 
 of leave with Runjeet Sing, but my fellow traveller Precious 
 
 . , 1 .1 • T • • y^ Stones. 
 
 was unable to attend irom mdisposition. Cap- 
 tain Wade accompanied me. He received us in 
 an eccentric manner, under an open gateway 
 
 M 4
 
 168 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. VI. 
 
 leading to the palace. A piece of white cloth 
 was spread under our chairs instead of a carpet, 
 and there were but few of his Court in attend- 
 ance. In compliance with a wish that I had 
 expressed, he produced the " Koh-i-noor" or 
 mountain of light, one of the largest diamonds 
 in the world, which he had extorted from Shah 
 Shooja, the ex-King of Cabool. Nothing can be 
 imagined more superb than this stone ; it is of 
 the finest water, and about half the size of an 
 egg. Its weight amounts to 3^ rupees, and if 
 such a jewel is to be valued, I am informed it is 
 worth 3j millions of money, but this is a gross 
 exaggeration. The *' Koh-i-noor" is set as an 
 armlet, with a diamond on each side about the 
 size of a sparrow's egg. 
 
 Runjeet seemed anxious to display his jewels 
 before we left him ; and with the diamond was 
 brought a large ruby, weighing 14 rupees. It 
 had the names of several kings engraven on it, 
 amonc; wliich were those of Aurun(>;zebe and 
 Ahmed Shah. There was also a topaz of great 
 size, weighing 11 rupees, and as large as half 
 a billiard ball : Runjeet had purchased it for 
 20,000 rupees. 
 Presents. His Highucss, after assuring us of his satis- 
 
 faction at a communication having been opened 
 with so remote a quarter of India as Bombay, as it
 
 CHAP. VI. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 169 
 
 cemented his friendship with the British Govern- 
 ment, then invested me with a string of pearls : 
 he placed a diamond ring on one hand, and an 
 emerald one on the other, and handed me four 
 other jewels of emeralds and pearls. He then 
 girt round my waist a superb sword, adorned 
 with a knot of pearls. A horse was next brought, 
 richly dressed out with cloth of gold, and golden 
 ornaments on the bridle and saddle. A *' khi- 
 *' lut," or robe of honour, composed of a shawl 
 dress, and many other manufactures of Cash- 
 mere were then delivered to me, as well as 
 presents of a similar nature for Mr. Leckie. 
 Three of our attendants were likewise favoured 
 by his Highness ; and in his munificence, he sent 
 a sum of 2000 rupees for distribution among the 
 remainder of the suite. Maharaja Runjeet then 
 produced a letter in reply to the one which I 
 had brought from his Majesty's minister, which 
 he requested 1 would deliver. It was put up in 
 a silken bag, and two small pearls were sus- 
 pended from the strings that fastened it. It 
 occupied a roll from four to five feet long. The 
 following is a verbal translation of the letter ; 
 nor will it escape observation, that, with much 
 which is flowery and in bad taste to a European, 
 there is some display of sterling sense and judg- 
 ment. The titles w^hich I had the honour to
 
 170 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. VI. 
 
 receive from his Highness will not pass without 
 a smile. 
 
 Copy of a Letter from Maharaja Runjeet Sing, 
 
 to the address of his Majestj/s Minister for the 
 
 u4ffairs of India. Delivered on the audience 
 
 of Leave. 
 
 Runjeet " At a happy moment, when the balmy zephyrs 
 
 oing s 
 
 reply. " of Spring wcrc blowing from the garden of 
 
 " friendship, and wafting to my senses the grate- 
 " fill perfume of its flowers, your Excellency's 
 " epistle, every letter of which is a new-blown 
 " rose on the branch of regard, and every word 
 " a blooming fruit on the tree of esteem, was 
 *' delivered to me by Mr. Burnes and Mr. 
 " John Leckie, who were appointed to convey 
 *' to me some horses of superior quality, of 
 *' singular beauty, of alpine form, and ele- 
 *' phantine stature, admirable even in their own 
 *' country, which had been sent as a present to 
 " me by his Majesty the King of Great Britain, 
 " together with a large and elegant carriage. 
 " These presents, owing to the care of the above 
 " gentlemen, have arrived by way of the river 
 *' Sinde in perfect safety, and have been de- 
 " livered to mc, together with your Excellency's 
 " letter, which breathes the spirit of friendship, 
 " by that nightingale of the garden of eloquence ^
 
 CHAP. VI. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. I7I 
 
 *' tliat bird of the winged words of sweet dis- 
 " course J Mr. Biwnes ; and the receipt of them 
 " has caused a thousand emotions of pleasure and 
 *' dehght to arise in my breast. 
 
 *' The information communicated in your Ex- 
 *' cellency's letter, that his gracious Majesty 
 " the King of England had been much pleased 
 *' with the shawl tent of Cashmere manufacture, 
 " which I had the honour to forward as a 
 " present, has given me the highest satisfaction ; 
 *' but my heart is so overflowing with feelings 
 " of pleasure and gratitude for all these marks 
 " of kindness and attention on the part of his 
 " Majesty, that I find it impossible to give them 
 *' vent in adequate expressions. 
 
 *' By the favour of Sri Akal Poorukh Jee *, 
 *' there are in my stables valuable and high-bred 
 " horses from the different districts of Hindoo- 
 " Stan, from Turkistan, and Persia ; but none of 
 *' them will bear comparison with those presented 
 " to me by the King through your Excellency ; 
 *' for these animals, in beauty, stature, and dis- 
 " position, surpass the horses of every city and 
 " every country in the world. On behold- 
 " ing their shoes, the new moon turned pale 
 " with envy^ and nearly disappeared from the 
 " sky. Such horses, the eye of the sun has 
 " never before beheld in his course through the 
 
 * God.
 
 172 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. VI. 
 
 *' universe. Unable to bestow upon them in 
 *' writing the praises that they merit, I am com- 
 *' pelled to throw the reins on the neck of 
 *' the steed of description, and reUnquish the 
 *' pursuit. 
 
 " Your Excellency has stated, that you were 
 *' directed by his Majesty to communicate to me 
 " his earnest desire for the permanence of the 
 *' friendship which has so long existed between 
 ** the two states, and which has been so con- 
 *' ducive to the comfort and happiness of the 
 ^^ subjects of both. Your Excellency has further 
 " observed, that his Majesty hopes that I may 
 *' live long in health and honour to rule and pro- 
 " tect the people of this country. I beg that 
 " you will assure his Majesty, that such senti- 
 " ments correspond entirely with those which I 
 " entertain, both with respect to our existing 
 *' relations, and to the happiness and prosperity 
 " of his Majesty and his subjects. 
 
 *' The foundations of friendship were first 
 " established between tlie two states through 
 " the instrumentality of Sir C. T. Metcalfe, a 
 " gentleman endowed with every excellence of 
 " character ; and after tliat period, in conse- 
 " quence of the long residence of Sir C. T. Met- 
 " calfe in Hindostan, the edifice of mutual amity 
 *' and good understanding was strengthened and 
 " completed by his attention and exertions.
 
 CHAP. VI. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 1^3 
 
 " When the Right Honourable the Earl of 
 *' Amherst came on a visit to Hindoostan and 
 " the Simla Hills, the ceremonials and practices 
 *' of reciprocal friendship were so well observed, 
 " that the fame of it was diffused throughout the 
 " whole country. 
 
 ** Captain Wade, since his appointment at 
 *' Lodiana, has ever been solicitous to omit 
 *' nothing which was calculated to augment and 
 " strengthen the feeling of unanimity between 
 *' the two powers. 
 
 *' The Right Honourable Lord William Ben- 
 *' tinck, the present Governor-general, having 
 " arrived some time since at Simla, I took the 
 *' opportunity of deputing respectable and con- 
 " fidential officers, in company with Captain 
 " Wade, on a complimentary mission to his 
 *' Lordship, with a letter enquiring after his 
 *' health. These officers, after having had the 
 " honour of an interview, were dismissed by his 
 " Lordship with marks of great distinction and 
 " honour. On their return, they related to me 
 *' the particulars of the gracious reception they 
 " had met with, tlie excellent qualities of his 
 *' Lordship, and also the sentiments of friendship 
 " and regard which he had expressed towards 
 " this state. These circumstances were very 
 " gratifying to my feelings. Through the fa- 
 " vour of the Almighty, the present Governor-
 
 174 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. VI. 
 
 general is, in every respect, disposed, like the 
 Earl of Amherst, to elevate and maintain the 
 standard of harmony and concord subsisting 
 between the two Governments ; nay, from his 
 excellent qualities, I am disposed to cherisli 
 the hope that he will be even more attentive 
 to this subject than his predecessor. Mr. 
 Burnes and Mr. John Leckie, before men- 
 tioned as the bearers of the presents from his 
 Majesty, have extremely gratified me with 
 their friendly and agreeable conversation. The 
 mark of kindness and attention on the part of 
 the British Government, evinced by the de- 
 putation of these officers, has increased my 
 friendship and regard for it a hundredfold ; a 
 circumstance which, having become known 
 throughout the country, has occasioned great 
 satisfaction and pleasure to the friends and 
 wellwishers of both states, and a proportionate 
 regret in the hearts of their enemies. All 
 these particulars I hope you will bring to the 
 notice of his gracious Majesty. 
 " I am confident, that, through the favour of 
 God, our friendshi}) and attachment, which 
 are evident as the noonday sun, will always 
 continue firm, and be daily increased under 
 the auspices of his Majesty. 
 " I have dismissed Mr. Burnes and Mr. 
 John Leckie with this friendly letter in
 
 CHAP. VI. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 175 
 
 *' reply to your Excellency's, and hope that 
 " these officers will, after their safe arrival at 
 " their destination, fully communicate to you 
 ** the sentiments of regard and esteem which I 
 " entertain for your Excellency. In conclusion, 
 *' I trust that, knowing me always to be anxious 
 *' to receive the happy intelligence of the health 
 *' and prosperity of his Majesty, and also of your 
 " own, your Excellency will continue to gratify 
 *' me by the transmission of letters, both from 
 *' the King and from yourself." 
 
 ( True translation.^ 
 
 (Signed) E. Raven sh aw, 
 
 Depy. Pol. Secretary. 
 
 On presenting this letter his Highness em- Departure 
 braced me ; and begged I would convey his high hore. 
 sentiments of regard to the Governor-general 
 of India, I then took leave of Maharaja Runjeet 
 Sing, and quitted his capital of Lahore the same 
 evening in prosecution of my journey to Simla, 
 on the Himalaya Mountains, where I had been 
 summoned to give an account of my mission to 
 Lord William Bentinck, then residing in that 
 part of India. 
 
 We reached Umritsir, the holy city of the Umriuir; 
 Seiks, on the following morning, — a distance of ^* ^"^^' 
 thirty miles. The intervening country, called 
 Manja, is richly cultivated. The great canal, or
 
 176 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. VI. 
 
 " nuhr," which was cut from the Ravee by 
 one of the Emperors of Hindostan, and brings 
 the water for a distance of eighty miles, passes 
 by Umritsir, and runs parallel with the Lahore 
 road. It is very shallow, and sometimes does 
 not exceed a width of eight feet : small boats 
 still navigate it. We halted a day at Umritsir, 
 to view the rites of Seik holiness ; and our 
 curiosity was amply gratified. In the evening 
 we were conducted by the chief men of the 
 city to the national temple. It stands in the 
 centre of a lake, and is a handsome building 
 covered with burnished gold. After making the 
 circuit of it, we entered, and made an offering 
 to the " Grinth Sahib," or holy book, which 
 lay open before a priest, who fanned it with the 
 tail of a Tibet cow, to keep away impurity, and 
 to add to its consequence. When we were 
 seated, a Seik arose and addressed the assembled 
 multitude ; he invoked Gooroo Govind Sing, and 
 every one joined hands ; — he went on to say, 
 that all which the Seiks enjoyed on earth was 
 from the Gooroo's bounty; and that the strangers 
 now present had come from a great distance, 
 and brought presents from tlie King of England, 
 to cement friendship, and now appeared in this 
 temple with an offering of 250 rupees. The 
 money was then placed on the Grinth, and a 
 universal shout of " Wagroojee ka futtih!" closed
 
 CHAP. VI. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 177 
 
 the oration. We were then clad in Cashmere 
 shawls ; and, before departing, I begged the 
 orator to declare our desire for a continuance of 
 friendship with the Seik nation, which brought a 
 second shout of " Wagroojee ka futtih ! " " Khal- 
 *' sajee ka futtih ! " May the Seik religion 
 prosper ! From the great temple, we were taken 
 to the Acali boonga, or house of the Immortals, 
 and made a similar offering. We were not 
 allowed to enter this spot, for the Acalis or 
 Nihungs are a wrong-headed set of fanatics, not 
 to be trusted. In reply to the offering, the priest 
 sent us some sugar. The Acalis are clothed in 
 turbans of blue cloth, which run into a peak : on 
 this they carry several round pieces of iron, 
 weapons of defence, which are used like the 
 quoit. These bigots are constantly molesting 
 the community by abuse and insult, or even vio- 
 lence J a week does not pass in the Punjab with- 
 out a life being lost : but Runjeet suppresses 
 their excesses with a firm and determined hand, 
 though they form a portion of the establishment 
 in a religion of wliich he himself is a strict 
 observer. He has attached some of the greatest 
 offenders to his battalions, and banished others. 
 Our conductor, Desa Sing Majeetia, father of 
 our Mihmandar, a Seik of the confederacy, 
 and a kind old man, was very solicitous about 
 our safety, and led us by the hand, which he 
 
 VOL. III. N
 
 178 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. VI. 
 
 grasped firmly, through the assembled crowd. 
 From the temple we made the tour of Umritsir, 
 which is a larger city than Lahore. This place 
 is the great emporium of commerce between 
 India and Cabool. The traders are chiefly 
 Hindoos, before whose door one wonders at 
 the utility of large blocks of red rock salt being 
 placed, till informed that they are for the use 
 of the sacred city cows, who lick and relish 
 them. In our way home we visited the Ram- 
 bagh, the favourite residence of the Maharaja 
 when at Umritsir. His passion for military works 
 also shows itself here, and he has surrounded a 
 pleasure garden by a massy mound of mud, which 
 he is now strengthening by a ditch. 
 Beas or At a distaucc of twenty-three miles from Um- 
 
 Hyphasis. , , i -n tt i • n 
 
 ritsu', we came on the iieas or Hyphasis or 
 Alexander. The country is varied by trees, but 
 not rich, and the soil is gravelly. On the 21st 
 we crossed the Beas, at Julalabad, where it was 
 swollen to a mile in width from rain. Its current 
 exceeded in rapidity five miles an hour ; we 
 were nearly two hours in crossing, and landed 
 about two miles below the point from which we 
 started. The greatest depth was eighteen feet. 
 The boats used in this river are mere rafts with a 
 prow; they bend frightfully, and are very unsafe; 
 yet elephants, horses, cattle, and guns are con- 
 veyed across on them. We passed in safety, but
 
 CHAP. VI. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 179 
 
 an accident, which might have proved serious, 
 befel us in one of the small channels of this 
 river. It was about thirty yards wide, and 
 eighteen feet deep, and we attempted the passage 
 on an elephant. No sooner had the animal got 
 out of his depth, than he rolled over, and pre- 
 cipitated Mr. Leckie and myself head-foremost 
 into the water, wheeling round at the same time 
 to gain the bank he had quitted ; Dr. Murray 
 alone retained his seat : but we were not long in 
 regaining terra firma, without any other incon- 
 venience than a ducking. We did not again 
 attempt the passage on an elephant, but crossed 
 on inflated buffalo skins supporting a frame- 
 work. 
 
 Our halting place was at Kuppertulla, ten Kupper- 
 miles from the Beas, the estate of Futtih Sing seik ciuef. 
 Aloowala, one of the Seik chiefs, who was present 
 with Lord Lake's army in 1805, when encamped 
 in this vicinity. He is yet a young man. He 
 received us with great respect and kindness, and 
 sent his two sons to meet us as we approached. 
 He came himself in the evening on a visit, and F^t<?- 
 on the following day, when we returned it, he 
 gave us a grand fete in his garden house, which 
 was illuminated. The display of fireworks was 
 varied, and we viewed it with advantage from a 
 terrace. Futtih Sing is the person whom Sir 
 John Malcolm describes in his " Sketch of the 
 
 N 2 —
 
 180 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. VI. 
 
 Seiks " as requiring his dram, and years have 
 not diminished his taste for liquor. Immediately 
 we were seated he produced his bottle, drank 
 freely himself, and pressed it much upon us ; 
 it was too potent for an Englishman, but he 
 assured us, that whatever quantity we drank, 
 it would never occasion thirst. We filled a 
 bumper to the health of the Sirdar and his 
 family, and were about to withdraw, when he 
 produced most expensive presents, which could 
 not in any way be refused ; he gave me a string 
 of pearls, and some other jewels, with a sword, 
 a horse, and several shawls. Futtih Sing is an 
 uncouth looking person, but he has the manners 
 of a soldier. His income amounts to about four 
 lacs of rupees annually, and he lives up to it, 
 having a strong passion for house building. Be- 
 sides a board of works in two of his gardens, he 
 was now constructing a house in the English 
 style, but has sensibly added a suite of rooms 
 under ground for the hot season. When we left 
 Futtih Sing, he urgently requested that we would 
 deliver his sincere sentiments of regard to his old 
 friend Sir John Malcolm. 
 Doab of ^^Q made three marches from Kuppertulla to 
 
 the Sutlege. ^ ^ 
 
 Fulour, on the banks of the Sutlege, a distance of 
 thirty-six miles, passing the towns of Jullinder 
 and Jumsheer. The former place is large, and 
 was at one time inhabited by' Afghans. It is
 
 CHAP. VI. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 181 
 
 SLiiTOLinded by a brick wall, and the streets are 
 paved with the same material. Jullinder gives 
 its name to the *' Doab," or country between 
 the Beas and Sutlege, while the other Doabs 
 are named by compound words, formed by con- 
 tracting the names of the rivers. Between the 
 Chenab and Behut, we have the Chenut; be- 
 tween the Ravee and Chenab, the Reechna ; and 
 between the Beas and Ravee, the Barree. From 
 Jullinder to the banks of the Sutlege, the country 
 is highly cultivated and well peopled. All the 
 villages are surrounded by mud walls, and many 
 of them have ditches to bespeak the once un- 
 settled state of this land. The houses are con- 
 structed of wood, with flat roofs covered over by 
 mud, and have a hovel-like appearance. 
 
 The town of Fulour, on the banks of the Sut- Fuiour. 
 lege, is the frontier post of the Lahore Chief, 
 and here we left our escort and Seik friends, who 
 had accompanied us from Mooltan. We dis- 
 tributed cloths to the commissioned and non- 
 commissioned officers, and a sum of 1000 ru- 
 pees among the men, which gratified all parties. 
 The Maharaja continued his munificence to the 
 last, and, before crossing the Sutlege, he had 
 sent us no less than 24,000 rupees in cash, 
 though we had declined to receive the sum of 
 700 rupees, which had been fixed for our daily 
 allowance after reaching Lahore. 
 
 N 3
 
 182 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. VI. 
 
 ties 
 
 Antiqui- Before I finally quit the Punjab, I must 
 
 not omit a few particulars regarding its an- 
 tiquities, which must ever attract attention. It 
 seems certain, that Alexander the Great visited 
 Lahore, and to this day the remains of a city 
 answering to Singala, with a lake in the vicinity, 
 are to be seen S. E. of the capital. The tope 
 of Manikyala, first described by Mr. Elphin- 
 stone, and lately examined by M. Ventura, has 
 excited considerable interest in the East. The 
 French gentlemen were of opinion, that these re- 
 mains are of an older date than the expedition 
 of Alexander, for the coins have a figure not 
 unlike Neptune's trident, which is to be seen on 
 the stones at Persepolis. In my progress through 
 the Punjab, I was not successful in procuring 
 a coin of Alexander, nor any other than the 
 Bactrian one which I liave described ; nor have 
 any of the French gentlemen, with all their op- 
 portunities, been so fortunate. I am happy, how- 
 ever, in being able to state the existence of two 
 other buildings like the "Tope" of Manikyala, 
 which liave been lately discovered among the 
 mountains, westward of the Indus, in tlie country 
 of the Eusoofzyes. Tlie opening of these may 
 throw light on the interesting subject of Punjab 
 antiquities.* By tlie natives of this country, 
 the most ancient place is considered to be Seeal- 
 
 * My journey to Bokhara made me better acquainted with 
 these topes, as has already appeared in Vol. I.
 
 CHAP. VI. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 183 
 
 cote, which lies upwards of forty miles north of 
 Lahore. It is said to be mentioned in the Per- 
 sian Sikunder Namu. 
 
 At noon, on the 26th of August, we left Cross the 
 
 . Sutlege. 
 
 Fulour and marched to Lodiana, crossing the 
 river Sutlege, or Hesudrus of antiquity. It is 
 yet called Shittoodur or the Hundred Rivers by 
 the natives, from the number of channels in 
 which it divides itself. Where we passed, its 
 breadth did not exceed 700 yards, though it had 
 been swollen two days before our arrival. The 
 greatest depth of soundings was eighteen feet, 
 but the average was twelve. It is a less rapid 
 river than the Beas. The waters of the Sutlege 
 are colder than those of any of the Punjab 
 rivers, probably from its great length of course, 
 and running so far among snowy mountains. 
 This river is variable in its channel, and often 
 deserts one bank for the other. The country 
 between it and the British Cantonment of Lo- 
 diana, is intersected by nullas, one of which, 
 that runs past the camp, formed the bed of the 
 Sutlege fifty years ago. This river is generally 
 fordable after November. Lord Lake's army 
 crossed it in 1805, two miles above Lodiana; 
 but the fords vary, and the watermen look 
 for them annually before people attempt to 
 cross, as there are many quicksands. When the 
 Beas falls into the Sutlege, the united stream, 
 
 N 4
 
 184 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. VT. 
 
 called Garra, is no longer fordable. The boats 
 of the Sutlege are of the same description as 
 those on the Beas : there are seventeen of them 
 at the FuloLir ferry. The country between the 
 Sutlege and Lodiana is very low, which I observed 
 to be a characteristic of the left bank of this 
 river, till it meets the mountains. One would 
 expect to find this depressed tract of ground 
 alluvial, but it is sandy. 
 Exiled At Lodiana, we met two individuals, who 
 
 Kings of 1 ' n 1 T-< 
 
 Cabooi. have exercised an influence on the Eastern 
 world, now pensioners of the British, the ex- 
 Kings of Cabooi, Shah Zuman, and Shah Shooja- 
 ool-Moolk. The ceremonial of our introduction 
 to Shah Shooja corresponded nearly with that 
 described by Mr. Elphinstone ; for, in his exile, 
 this fallen monarch has not relinquished the 
 forms of royalty. The officers of his court still 
 appear in the same fanciful caps, and on a signal 
 given in Turkish, (ghachan, begone,) the guards 
 run out of the presence, making a noise with 
 their high-heeled boots. The person of the Shah 
 himself has been so correctly described, that I 
 have little to say on that subject. In liis mis- 
 fortunes, he retains the same dignity and pre- 
 possessing demeanour as when king. We found 
 him seated on a chair in a shady part of his 
 garden, and stood during the interview. He 
 lias become somewhat corpulent, and liis ex-
 
 CHAP. VI. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 185 
 
 pression is melancholy ; but he talked much, and 
 with great affability. He made many enquiries 
 regarding Sinde, and the countries on the Indus, 
 and said, that " he had rebuked the Ameers for 
 " their suspicion and jealousy of our intentions in 
 " coming to Lahore. Had I but my kingdom," 
 continued he, " how glad should I be to see an 
 " Englishman at Cabool, and to open the road 
 " between Europe and India." The Shah then 
 touched upon his own affairs, and spoke with 
 ardent expectations of being soon able to retrieve 
 his fortunes. In reply to one of his questions, 
 I informed him that he had many well-wishers in 
 Sinde. " Ah !" said he, " these sort of people 
 " are as bad as enemies ; they profess strong 
 " friendship and allegiance, but they render me 
 " no assistance. They forget that I have a 
 *' claim on them for two crores of rupees, the 
 '* arrears of tribute." 
 
 Shah Shooja was plainly dressed in a tunic of Reflec- 
 pink gauze, with a green velvet cap, something 
 like a coronet, from which a few emeralds were 
 suspended. There is much room for reflection 
 on the vicissitudes of human life while visiting; 
 such a person. From what I learn, I do not 
 believe the Shah possesses sufficient energy to 
 seat himself on the throne of Cabool ; and that 
 if he did regain it, he has not the tact to dis- 
 charge the duties of so difficult a situation.
 
 186 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. VI. 
 
 Shah The brother of Shah Shooja, Shah Zuman, is 
 
 an object of great compassion, from his age, ap- 
 pearance, and want of sight. We also visited 
 him, and found him seated in a hall with but one 
 attendant, who announced our being present, 
 when the Shah looked up and bade us " Wel- 
 *' come." He is stone blind, and cannot dis- 
 tinguish day from night ; he was as talkative as 
 his brother, and lamented that he could not pass 
 the remainder of his days in his native land, 
 where the heat was less oppressive. 
 
 Shah Zuman has lately sunk into a zealot : he 
 passes the greater part of his time in listening 
 to the Koran and its commentaries. Poor man, 
 he is fortunate in deriving consolation from 
 any source. When taking leave. Shah Zuman 
 begged I would visit him before quitting Lo- 
 diana, as he was pleased at meeting a stranger. 
 I did not fail to comply with his wishes, and saw 
 him alone. I had thought that his age and mis- 
 fortunes made him indifferent to all objects of 
 political interest; but he asked me, in a moat 
 piteous manner, if I could not intercede with 
 the Governor-general in behalf of his brother, 
 and rescue him from his present exile. I as- 
 sured him of the sympathy of our government, 
 and said, that his brother should look to Sinde 
 and the other provinces of the Dooranee em- 
 pire for support ; but he shook his head, and
 
 CHAP, VI. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 187 
 
 said the case was hopeless. After a short 
 silence, the Shah told me that he had inflam- 
 mation in the eyes, and begged I would look at 
 them. He has suffered from this ever since his 
 brother caused him to be blinded with a lancet. 
 As he has advanced in years, the organ seems to 
 have undergone a great change, and the black 
 part of the eye has almost disappeared. It is 
 impossible to look upon Shah Zuman without 
 feelings of the purest pity ; and, while in his 
 presence, it is difficult to believe we behold that 
 king, whose name, in the end of last century, 
 shook Central Asia, and carried dread and terror 
 along with it throughout our Indian possessions. 
 Infirm, blind, and exiled, he now lives on the 
 bounty of the British Government. 
 
 After a ten days' recreation at Lodiana, where Journey to 
 
 . . . , the Hima- 
 
 we mmgled once more with our countrymen, we laya. 
 prosecuted our journey to Simla, on the Himalaya 
 mountains, a distance of about 100 miles, which 
 we reached in the course of a few days. We here 
 beheld a scene of natural sublimity and beauty, 
 that far surpassed the glittering court whicli we 
 had lately left : — but my narrative must here 
 terminate. At Simla we had the honour of 
 meeting the Right Honourable Lord William 
 Bentinck, the Governor-general of India; and 
 his Lordship evinced his satisfaction at the result 
 of our mission, by entering at once into negoti-
 
 188 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. VI. 
 
 ations for laying open the navigation of the Indus 
 to the commerce of Britain, a measure of en- 
 lightened policy, considered both commercially 
 and politically. I had the honour of receiving 
 the following acknowledgment of my endeavours 
 to elucidate the geography of that river, and the 
 condition of the princes and people who occupy 
 its banks. 
 
 Conclu- 
 sion. 
 
 " Delhi, 6 December, 1831. 
 " Political Department. 
 
 " TO LIEUT. ALEXANDER BURNES, 
 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
 " Sir, 
 
 " I am directed by the Right Honourable the 
 " Governor-general to acknowledge the receipt 
 •' of your several letters, forwarding a memoir 
 " on the Indus, and a narrative of your journey 
 *' to Lahore. 
 
 *' 2. The first copy of your map of the Indus 
 *' has also just reached his Lordshij), which com- 
 ** pletes the information collected during your 
 *' mission to Lahore, in charge of the presents 
 " from the late King of England to Maharaja 
 *' Runjeet Sing. 
 
 " 3. The Governor-general, having perused 
 *' and attentively considered all these documents, 
 " desires me to convey to you his high appro- 
 " bation of the manner in which you have ac-
 
 CHAP. VI. VOYAGE ON THE INDUS. 189 
 
 *' quitted yourself of the important duty assigned 
 " to you, and his acknowledgments for the full 
 " and satisfactory details furnished on all the 
 " points in which it was the desire of government 
 *' to obtain information. 
 
 " 4. Your intercourse wdth the chiefs of Sinde, 
 " and the other Sirdars and persons with whom 
 *' you were brought into contact in the course 
 ** of the voyage up the Indus, appears to the 
 *' Governor-general to have been conducted with 
 " extreme prudence and discretion, so as to 
 *' have left a favourable impression on all classes, 
 " and to have advanced every possible object, 
 " immediate, as connected with your mission, 
 " as well as prospective ; for, while your com- 
 " munications with them were calculated to 
 ** elicit full information as to their hopes and 
 *' wishes, you most judiciously avoided the as- 
 " sumption of any political character that might 
 " lead to the encouragement of false and ex- 
 " travagant expectations, or involve you in any 
 " of the passing intrigues. The whole of your 
 " conduct and correspondence with the chiefs 
 " of the countries you passed through in your 
 *' journey, has the Governor-general's entire 
 *' and unqualified approbation. 
 
 " 5. In like manner, his Lordship considers 
 *' you to be entitled to commendation for the 
 " extent of geographical and general information
 
 190 TRAVELS INTO BOKHARA. CHAP. VI. 
 
 " collected in the voyage, and for the caution 
 " used in procuring it, no less than for the per- 
 " spicuous and complete form in which the re- 
 " suits have been submitted for record and con- 
 " sideration. The map prepared by you forms 
 " an addition to the geography of India of the 
 " first utility and importance, and cannot fail to 
 *' procure for your labours a high place in this 
 " department of science. 
 
 " 6. The result of your voyage in the dif- 
 " ferent reports, memoirs, and maps above ac- 
 ** knowledged, will be brought without delay to 
 *' the notice of the authorities in England, under 
 " whose orders the mission was, as you are aware, 
 " undertaken. His Lordship doubts not that 
 *' they will unite with him in commending the 
 " zeal, diligence, and intelligence displayed by 
 " you in the execution of this service, and will 
 " express their satisfaction at the manner in which 
 " their views have been accomplished, and the 
 " objects contemplated in the mission to Lahore 
 " fully and completely attained. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, &c. 
 (Signed) " H. T. Prinsep, 
 " Secretary to the Governor-general."
 
 A 
 
 MEMOIR ON THE INDUS, 
 
 AKD 
 
 ITS TRIBUTARY RIVERS 
 
 IN 
 
 THE PUNJAB.
 
 193 
 
 NOTICE 
 
 REGARDING 
 
 THE MAP or THE INDUS. 
 
 A. NEW map of the Indus and Punjab Rivers from tlie 
 sea to Lahore seems to require some notice explanatory 
 of its construction, and I have to oiFer the following 
 observations on that subject : — 
 
 The River Indus, from the southern direction in which 
 it flows in its progress to the ocean, presents few diffi- 
 culties to the surveyor, since an observation of latitude 
 serves to fix the daily progress in the voyage, and its 
 comparatively straight course admits of easy delineation. 
 The map rests on a series of observations by the stars. 
 I should have preferred altitudes of the sun ; hut, with 
 a people so suspicious as we encountered, it was im- 
 possible to use an instrument in daylight, and I should 
 have required to halt the fleet twice to procure equal 
 altitudes, since the sun was south of the equator during 
 the voyage. Many of the large places, such as Tatta, 
 Sehwun, Ooch, Mooltan, &c., where we necessarily 
 halted, have been laid down from a mean of eioht or 
 ten stellar observations. 
 
 The longitude and general delineations in the curv- 
 ature of the river rest on a minute protraction of its 
 turnings, observed with care every half hour, and some- 
 
 VOL. III. o
 
 194 NOTICE REGARDING 
 
 times oftener, with the approved compass by Schmal- 
 calder. The attention given to this important portion 
 of the undertaking may be imagined, when I state 
 that my field books exhibit, on an average, twenty 
 bearings each tlay from sunrise to sunset. 1 was 
 early enabled to rate the progress of the boats through 
 the water, by timing them on a measured line along the 
 bank, and apportioned the distance to the hours and 
 minutes accordingly. We could advance, I found, by 
 tracking, or being pulled by men, at one mile and a half 
 an hour ; by gentle and favourable breezes at two miles, 
 and by violent winds at three miles an hour ; while any 
 great excess or deficiency was pointed out by the latitude 
 of the halting place. 
 
 The base on which the work rests, is the towns of 
 Mandivee and Curachee : the one a seaport in Cutch, 
 and the point from which the mission started; the other 
 a harbour in sight of the western mouth of the Indus, 
 which we saw before entering the river. Mandivee 
 stands in the latitude of 22° 50', and Curachee in 24° 56^ 
 north; while their longitudes are respectively in 69° 34"", 
 and 67° 19' east, as fixed, in 1 809, from the chronometers 
 of the Sinde mission by Captain Maxfield. 
 
 Assuming these points as correct, the line of coast 
 intermediate to them has been laid down from my own 
 surveys in Cutch ; while that of Sinde rests on observ- 
 ations of the sun's altitude at noon and the boats' daily 
 progress, determined by heaving the log hourly. We 
 sailed only during the day, and at all times along shore, 
 often in a small boat, and were attended by six or eight 
 pilots, who had passed their lives in the navigation of 
 these parts. 
 
 The great difference in the topography of the mouths 
 of the Indus, from what is shown in all other maps.
 
 THE MAP OF THE INDUS. 195 
 
 will no doubt arrest attention ; but it is to be re- 
 marked, that I call in question no former survey, since 
 the river has been hitherto laid down in this part of 
 its course from native information; and I can bear 
 testimony to the correctness of such portions of the 
 Indus as were actually traversed by the mission of 
 1809. From the jealousy of the Government of Sinde, 
 we had to pass up and down the coast no less than 
 five times, which gave ample opportunities to observe 
 it; and I have a strong fact to adduce in verification 
 of the chart as it now exists. On the third voyage 
 we ran down so low as the latitude of 20° 30' N., 
 and were out of sight of land for six days. At noon, 
 on the last day (17th of March), while standing on a 
 due northerly course, I found our latitude to be 23° 50', 
 or a few miles below that mouth of the river which I 
 had resolved to enter. I immediately desired the pilots 
 to steer a north-easterly course for the land. We closed 
 with it at sunset, a couple of miles above Hujamree, 
 the very mouth of the Indus I wished to make. At 
 daylight we had had no soundings in fifty fathoms, at 
 seven a.m. we had bottom at forty-two fathoms, and at 
 eleven in thirty-four. By two in the afternoon we were 
 in twenty-one fathoms, and at dusk anchored in twelve 
 feet of water, off Reechel, having sighted the land at 
 half past four. 
 
 In delineating the Delta of the Indus below Tatta, 
 I have not only had the advantage of sailing by a branch 
 to that city, but approached it on land by one route, 
 and returned by another. I also ascended the Pittee, or 
 western mouth of the Indus, for thirty miles. The 
 opposition experienced from the Sinde Government gave 
 rise to these variations of route : they long tried to im- 
 pede our progress ; but the result of their vacillation 
 
 o 2
 
 196 NOTICE REGARDING 
 
 has happily added to our knowledge of their country, in 
 a degree which the most sanguine could not have an- 
 ticipated. In addition to my own track, I have added 
 that of the Sinde mission, from Curachee to Hydrabad, 
 and thence to Lueput in Cutch. My own surveys in 
 Cutch, which extend high up the Koree, or eastern 
 branch of the Indus, together with every information, 
 compel me to place the Goonee or Phurraim River 
 (which is the name for the Koree above AH bunder), 
 in a more westerly longitude than in the maps hitherto 
 published. Sindree and Ali bunder lie north of Nurra 
 in Cutch, so that the river cannot extend so far into the 
 desert as has been represented. 
 
 From Hydrabad upwards, and, I may add, in all parts 
 of the map, the different towns rest on the latitudes as de- 
 termined by the sextant. Most of them are in a higher 
 parallel than in the maps, but it was satisfactory to find, 
 on reaching Ooch, that the longitude of that place, as 
 taken from my own protraction, coincides pretty well with 
 that which has been assigned to it by Mr. Elphinstone's 
 surveyors, who must have fixed it from Bhawulpoor. 
 This was not the case with Bukkur ; but, as the latitude 
 of that place was twenty-two minutes below the true 
 parallel, I have reason to be satisfied with the result 
 above stated. I likewise found that the Indus receives 
 the Punjab rivers at Mittun, in the latitude of 28° 55% 
 instead of 28° 20' north, as given in the map of the 
 Cabool mission : but no one can examine that document 
 without acknowledging the unwearied zeal of its con- 
 structor, and wondering that he erred so little when he 
 visited few of the places, and had his information from 
 such sources. 
 
 The Punjab rivers have been laid down on the same 
 principle as the Indus. The Chenab (Acesines), which
 
 THE MAP OF THE INDUS. 197 
 
 has been erroneously styled Punjnud, after it has 
 gathered the other rivers, is very direct in its course ; 
 but the Ravee (Hydraotes), on the other hand, is most 
 tortuous, and appears in its present shape after incredible 
 labour for twenty days spent in its navigation. The 
 latitude of its junction with the Chenab, and that of the 
 city of Lahore, which stands in 31° 35' 30" north, and in 
 70° 20' east longitude, have materially assisted me in the 
 task. I have also placed the confluence of the Jelum, or 
 Behut (Hydaspes), with the Chenab, twelve miles above 
 the latitude in which it has hitherto stood. The survey 
 eastward terminates on the left bank of the Sutledge 
 (Hesudrus), with the British cantonment of Lodiana, 
 which I find stands in 30° 55' 30'' nordi latitude. I 
 have used the longitude of the latest and best map, and 
 placed it in 75° 54' east. 
 
 With the Indus and Punjab Rivers, I have embodied 
 a survey of the Jaysulmeer country, which was finished 
 in the year 1830, when I visited Southern Rajpootana 
 with Lieut. James Holland. The province of Cutch, 
 with the configuration of the Run, rests on my own sur- 
 veys made in the years 1825, 1826, 1827, and 1828.* 
 
 * Instead of giving separate maps of the Indus and Central Asia, 
 I have now combined the whole of the geographical matter in one 
 map, as has already been explained. 
 
 o 3
 
 199 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A GENERAL VIEW OF THE INDUS. 
 
 X HERE is an uninterrupted navigation from the Maud 
 
 , navigation 
 
 sea to Lahore. The distance, by the course of to Lahore, 
 the river, amounts to about a thousand British 
 miles : the following papers detail its practica- 
 bility 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. 
 
 The Indus, when joined by the Punjab rivers, Depth of 
 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 Hydraotes, 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.* 
 
 * These have been necessarily omitted in the I'educed map. 
 O 4
 
 200 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. I. 
 
 Boats. This extensive inland navigation, open as I 
 
 have stated it to be, can only be considered tra- 
 versable to the boats of the country, which are 
 flat bottomed, and do not draw more than four 
 feet of water, wlien 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 hable 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 Thc voyagc froui the sea to Lahore occupied 
 
 voyage to 
 
 Lahore. cxactlv sixty days ; but the season was most 
 favourable, as the south-westerly winds had set 
 in, while the stronger inundations of the peri- 
 odical 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 Thcrc arc no rocks or rapids to obstruct the 
 
 available . 
 
 for the ascent, and tlie current does not exceed two 
 miles and a lialf an hour. Onr daily progress
 
 CHAP. I. GENERAL VIEW. 201 
 
 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 com- 
 munication could best be opened with the 
 neighbouring countries. 
 
 A boat may drop down from Lahore to the Return 
 sea in fifteen days, as follows : — to Mooltan in ^°^^^^' 
 six, to Bukkur in four, to Hydrabad in three, 
 and to the sea-ports 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. 
 
 There are political obstacles to usine^ the Political 
 
 '-' obstacles to 
 
 Indus as a channel of commerce. The people trading on 
 
 , . . Ill I *''*^ Indus. 
 
 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. The are about 70^^ boats
 
 202 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. I. 
 
 between the sea and Lahore ; and this number 
 suffices for ferrying, and all other purposes. 
 Military The dcfeucc of the Indus, the grand boundary 
 
 of the of British India on the West, is nowise affected 
 by these trifling impediments, and we can com- 
 mand its navigation without obstruction from 
 both Cutch and the Sutledge. The military 
 advantages of the Indus are great : it is na- 
 vigable for a fleet from Attok to the sea. The 
 insulated fortress of Bukkur is a most import- 
 ant position.
 
 203 
 
 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 mag- 
 nitude of that river must be decided by a com- 
 parison 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 em- 
 brace our mighty empire of British India. At 
 this time, too, in a publication which has ap- 
 peared at Calcutta, by Mr. G. A. Prinsep, re- 
 garding the introduction of steam navigation 
 into India, we have late and valuable matter, 
 both of an interesting and scientific nature, re- 
 garding the peculiarities of the Ganges ; which, 
 with the previous papers of Rennell and Cole- 
 brooke, afibrd very precise information regard- 
 ing that river. I have ventured, therefore, 
 however incompetent, to lay down the observ- 
 ations that have occurred to me regarding the
 
 204 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS, CHAP. II. 
 
 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 deter- 
 mine 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 Pin- 
 yaree ; 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 cor- 
 rect estimate of the magnitude of the Ganges, is
 
 CHAP. II. THE INDUS AND GANGES. 205 
 
 further proved by the state of the river at Be- 
 nares 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 Sic- 
 riguli. 
 
 In the middle of April, I found the Indus at 
 Tatta to have a breadth of 67O 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 9-3,465 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.* It is a source of regret to me 
 
 * 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.
 
 206 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. II. 
 
 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 dis- 
 miss the subject. 
 
 From what has been above stated, it will be 
 seen that the Indus, in discharging the enor- 
 mous 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 moun- 
 tains near its source, that nnist always contribute 
 vast quantities of watei', might have ])rcpared us
 
 CHAP. II. THE INDUS AND GANGES. 207 
 
 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 com- 
 paratively 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 inun- 
 dation, 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 su})ply from the southern face of 
 the great Himalaya ; while the Indus receives 
 the torrents of cither side of that massy chain, 
 and is further swollen by the showers of Cabool 
 and the rains and snow of Chinese Tartarv. Its
 
 208 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. II. 
 
 waters are augmented long before the rainy sea- 
 son has arrived ; and, wlien we look at the dis- 
 tant 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 Laliore stands at 
 a distance of about 1000 British miles from the 
 sea, by the course of the river ; and I am in- 
 debted to Dr. J. G. Gerard, for a series of ba- 
 rometrical observations, made some years ago 
 at Umritsir, a city about thirty miles eastward 
 of Lahore. 
 
 The mean of eighteen of these observ- 
 ations gives us the height of the 
 barometer at - - - . 28,861-3 
 
 The corresponding observations at Cal- 
 cutta give _ - - - 29,711-5 
 
 Making a difference of - 850-2
 
 CHAP. If. THE INDUS AND GANGES. 209 
 
 I am informed that th© height of the instru- 
 ment 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 con- 
 sidered 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 trea- 
 tise 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 moun- 
 tains. Mittun is half way to Lahore, about 500 
 miles from the sea, and nearly 220 feet above it. 
 The remaining 08O 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. 
 
 VOL. III. p
 
 210 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. II. 
 
 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
 
 CHAP. II. THE INDUS AND GANGES. 211 
 
 seventy-five miles from tlie sea. We are either 
 to attribute this occurrence to the greater co- 
 lumn 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 determin- 
 ing the 7nean rise of the tide as in the Ganges. 
 The tides of Western India are known to ex- 
 ceed those in the Bay of Bengal, as the con- 
 struction 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 lono; 
 before its depressed shore is visible to the 
 navigator. 
 
 p 2
 
 212 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 ON SINDE. 
 
 sinde; its 1 HE fii'st teiTitorv wliicli wc meet in ascendins: 
 
 extent. . / . , 
 
 the Indus is Sinde. The subversion of the 
 Cabool monarchy has greatly raised the poUtical 
 importance of tliis 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 longi- 
 tude 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 The territory is divided among three different 
 venue. brauchcs of the Bclooche tribe of Talpoor, who 
 arc nearly independent of one another. The
 
 CHAP. ril. ON SINDE. ^213 
 
 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 re- 
 presentative. * The next family of importance 
 consists of the descendants of Meer Sohrab 
 Khan of Khyrpoor, whose son, Meer Roostiim 
 Khan, is the reigning Ameer, and holds the for- 
 tress 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 trea- 
 sure, 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. 
 
 * 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. 
 
 p 3
 
 ^14 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. III. 
 
 Its power If we except the Seiks, tlie Ameers are more 
 quests. 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 medi- 
 tating 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 en- 
 camped at Sewee, in the plains of Cutch Gun- 
 dava, when we passed Shikarpooi* ; 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 Cutcli, Parkur included.
 
 CHAP. III. ON SINDE. 215 
 
 On the side of Ciitch alone their progress has 
 been arrested by the British Government. 
 
 The value of these conquests is greatly en- its military 
 hanced by the trifling mcrease of expense which 
 they have entailed on the government ; for, ex- 
 cept 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 re- 
 treat to the Desert ; and they defeated a second 
 with great slaughter in the vicinity of Shikar- 
 poor. 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 diminu- 
 tive breed. Various surmises have been made 
 regarding the strength of tlieir army, but tliey 
 seem to me vague and indefinite ; for every 
 native who has attained the years of manhood, 
 
 p 4
 
 216 MEMOIR or THE INDUS. CHAP. III. 
 
 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, witli 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 mis- 
 fortunes 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, 
 itsexternai Of the priuccs bordering on Sinde, the 
 *^^' Ameers have most intercourse with Mehrab 
 Khan, the Brahooee chief of Kelat and Gun- 
 dava, wlio, like themselves, was formerly a tri- 
 butary 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 endea-
 
 CHAP. III. ON SINDE. 217 
 
 voured 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 ad- 
 joining his dominions. He is related by mar- 
 riage 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 like- 
 wise 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. 
 
 The internal resources of Sinde are consider- itsin- 
 
 f, , ternal state. 
 
 able; nor must we look to the connned revenues 
 of her rulers for an index to that wealth, as in 
 their struggle for supremacy, the Ameers re-
 
 218 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. III. 
 
 ceived many fav^ours 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 ex- 
 acted on goods forwarded by the Indus are so ex- 
 orbitant that tliere 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 con- 
 siderable 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 wealtliy and commercial kingdom ; 
 but the river Indus is badly situated for the 
 trader, and has no mouth like the Ganges ac- 
 cessible 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 possess- 
 ing it shall entertain more enlightened notions.
 
 CHAP. III. ON SINDE. 219 
 
 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 de- 
 scribe the state of parties at present existing in 
 Sinde. 
 
 The Hydrabad family, from having been The Hy. 
 
 ••11 i-r»--i •• •! drabad 
 
 Visited by several British missions, is better family. 
 known than any of the others. It includes the 
 southern portion, or what is called ** Lower 
 Sinde." Since its first establishment, in I786, 
 it has undergone great change ; and the reins of 
 government, from being wielded by four bro- 
 thers, have been left without bloodshed in the 
 hands of the last survivor. But the struggle for 
 dominion, so long warded off, has been be- 
 queathed 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 dis- 
 puted succession, and perhaps in civil war.* 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 chil- 
 
 • The death of the last Ameer has amply verified such a 
 supposition.
 
 220 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. III. 
 
 dren, two of whom, Noor Mahommed and Nus- 
 seer Khan, have for years past sat in durbar on 
 an equahty with their cousins, Sobdar and Ma- 
 hommed. The different parties of these four 
 young princes form so many separate factions 
 in the court of Sinde, and each uses that in- 
 fluence and pohcy 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 Nus- Mecr Nussccr Khan, to whose influence I have 
 
 seer Khan, 
 
 and Meer ^ist alludcd, has bccn brought forward by his 
 med. 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, other- 
 wise so jealous of the British, had strenuously 
 advised this line of procedure in his son j nor 
 was it disguised from me by many who had
 
 CHAP. III. ON SINDE. 221 
 
 opportunities of knowing, that the Prince acted 
 under the hope of assistance from our Govern- 
 ment 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 de- 
 pend 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 inherit- 
 ance. 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. 
 
 Meer Mahommed seems to hope, and not ^lahom- 
 
 ined and 
 
 without cause, that the services of his father, Sobdar. 
 Gholam AH, will secure to him his rights. He 
 sent a messenger to me privately with an ofler 
 to enter into a secret treaty witii the British Go-
 
 222 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. III. 
 
 vernment, which I decrmed 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 Nus- 
 seer 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 j 
 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. 
 TheKhyr. jj^g Kliyrpoor chief, Meer Roostum Khan, 
 
 poor family. J r ' '
 
 CHAP. III. ON SINDE. 223 
 
 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 bro- 
 thers. 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 exten- 
 sive 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 M it- 
 tun, on the verge of the Punjab, skirting to the 
 w^estward the mountain of Gendaree and the 
 plains of Cutch Gundava. There is little cor- 
 diality existing between the Khyrpoor and Hy, 
 drabad 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 at- 
 tached 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 Ah Moorad, the youngest brother of Meer 
 Roostum Khan, who having access to it, as the
 
 224 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. III. 
 
 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 aflliirs of Sinde is considerable. No under- 
 taking 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 re- 
 fusal of Meer Sohrab to enter into a war to 
 protect the Daoodpootras, and prevent encroach- 
 ment by the Seiks, defeated the plans of the 
 Ameers ; for though the families are independ- 
 ent 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 Laliore. 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 The Mccrpoor family, at the head of which is 
 amiy. ^y^ Moorad, has the least influence of the Sinde 
 Ameers. His immediate vicinity to Hydra-
 
 CHAP. III. ON SrNDE. 2^5 
 
 bad, and his less fertile and more circumscribed 
 boundary, have kept it more under the sub- 
 jection of the principal Ameer. The territory, 
 however, is exactly situated on the line of inva- 
 sion 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. 
 
 With reference to the condition of the people Condition 
 in these different chiefships, much has been said people. 
 by various writers ; and I would have willingly 
 passed it unnoticed, did not the means of ob- 
 servation, 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 igno- 
 rance, and their pride from jealousy : their 
 deceit does not deceive each other, and, conse- 
 quently, ought not to deceive a stranger. I 
 found those in my employ most honest and faith- 
 ful 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 j and if 
 
 VOL. III. Q
 
 226 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. III. 
 
 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 dif- 
 ferent light : but these rulers, who seized it by 
 the sword, must be excused for so maintaining 
 it. Where the principles of honour are not un- 
 derstood (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 advan- 
 tages 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 
 flimilies, who are attached to tlie court, there is 
 no distributed wealtii in the land but among a 
 few Hindoo merchants. The people of that 
 tribe share no greater evils than their Mahom- 
 medan brethren, and enjoy as much toleration 
 and happiness as in other Moslem governments. 
 If they were formerly treated with rigour, tlie 
 age of fanaticism has passed; and the Hindoo De- 
 wans of Sinde now transact the entire pecuniary 
 concerns of the state, wliile the Shroffs and Ba- 
 nians, who are also Hindoos, pursue their vo- 
 cations witliout interruption, marry off their 
 children, when they attain the prescribed age,
 
 CHAP. III. ON SINDE. ^27 
 
 to iiilierit, after their demise, the substance 
 which had been realised by commerce. 
 
 It is difficult to fix the population of Sinde, its extent 
 and I bear in mind that I have seen the fairest tion. 
 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 Sub- 
 zul, with five or six others, have 5000 each ; 
 which gives a population of nearly 200,000 
 souls. The number of people in tlie delta 
 does not exceed 30,000 ; and the parts aw^ay 
 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 tlie Ma- 
 hommedans are descended from converts to that 
 religion. 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 ON THE MOUTHS OF THE INDUS. 
 
 The Indus. The Iiidus, 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 Of thcsc two brauchcs, the left one, or Sata, 
 
 brandies 1 i.1 i xl 
 
 forming its pursues nearly a southern course to the ocean, 
 following the direction of the great river from 
 which it is supplied ; while the right, or Bug- 
 gaur, 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. Tlic castem 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 thougli it 
 divides and subdivides itself into numerous ciian- 
 nels, and precipitates its water into the sea by no
 
 CHAP. IV. MOUTHS OF THE INDUS. 229 
 
 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 western arm, which is called Buggaur, The Bug- 
 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 fre- 
 quented till lately by the largest native boats. 
 They are yet accessible, but for three years 
 past the channel of the Buggaur has been de- 
 serted 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 
 
 Q 3
 
 230 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. IV. 
 
 Delta ; its 
 size. 
 
 Delta may- 
 be con- 
 sidered 
 lonfrer. 
 
 this alteration has diverted the trade from Da- 
 rajee 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 fatlionis 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 But the Indus covers with its waters a wider 
 space than that now described, and has two 
 other mouths still fiirther 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 tlie rulers of that 
 coimtry have diverted the waters of both tliese 
 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 Britisli miles to the sea, 
 which it may be said to enter by eleven 
 mouths. The latitude of the most western 
 embouchure is about 2i° 40' N., that of the
 
 CHAP. IV. MOUTHS OF THE INDUS. 231 
 
 eastern below 23° 30', so that in actual latitude 
 tliere is an extent of about eighty statute miles.* 
 
 The inconstancy of" the Indus through tlie Dangers of 
 
 . i'~ij'/l2 navigating 
 
 delta is proverbial, and there is here both dim- the delta. 
 culty 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 im- 
 petuosity fi'om 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 
 
 * 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. 
 
 Q 4
 
 232 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. IV. 
 
 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. 
 
 Pecuiiari- It is a fact worthy of record, that those mouths 
 
 navigation, 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 vio- 
 lence, 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 
 tlie sea. The Hoogly branch of the Ganges is, 
 I believe, navigable from a similar cause. 
 
 Individual I shall HOW procccd to describe the several 
 mouths with their harbours, dei)th of water, to- 
 gether with such other facts as have fallen under 
 notice. 
 
 ThePittee. 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, pre- 
 vent a direct passage into it from the sea, and 
 narrow the channel to about half a mile at its 
 mouth. At low w^ater its width is even less 
 than 500 yards : proceeding upwards, it con- 
 tracts to IGO, 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
 
 CHAP. IV. MOUTHS OF THE INDUS. 233 
 
 rose nine feet more at full moon. At high 
 water there is every where a depth of two 
 fiithoms 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 succes- 
 sion 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 chan- 
 nel 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 fiat 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 iiad two 
 fathoms' water. 
 
 The Pieteeanee quits the Pittee about twenty pietccanee.
 
 234 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. IV. 
 
 Inferior 
 creeks. 
 
 Indus na- 
 vigated by 
 flat-bot- 
 tomed 
 boats. 
 
 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 w^ere three fathoms' water. At its mouth 
 it is but 300 yards wide, and higher up it con- 
 tracts 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. 
 
 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 clioked. Dubboo is only another 
 entrance to the Pieteeanee. 
 
 However accessible these two branches have 
 been found, neither of them are navigated by 
 any other than flat-bottomed boats, wliich carry 
 the entire cargo to and from the mouth of the
 
 jamree. 
 
 CHAP. IV. MOUTHS OF THE INDUS. Q35 
 
 river, inside which the sea vessels anchor. It 
 was an unheard-of occurrence for boats hke 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. 
 
 Of the seven mouths that give egress to the Jooa, 
 waters of the Sata, or eastern branch, below and Hu'. 
 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 navi- 
 gable ; and while they are the estuaries of the 
 w^aters 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 tlie 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 min- 
 aret, which has, I suppose, fallen down, as this 
 fact is particularly mentioned by our early navi- 
 gators. 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, w hich, 
 with Shah-bunder (still further eastward), seems 
 alternately to share the trade of the delta. This
 
 236 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. IV. 
 
 season Shah-bunder is scarcely to be approached, 
 and the next season Vikkur will perhaps be 
 deserted. We entered the Indus by the Hujam- 
 ree 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. 
 
 Khedy- The Khedywarcc is the next mouth eastward 
 
 of Hujamree, with which it is connected by 
 small creeks ; it is shallow, and not much fre- 
 quented by boats but to cut firewood. 
 
 Gora, or Of the remaining mouths of the left arm, the 
 
 anyanee. ^^^^^ |g Gora, the largcst 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
 
 CHAP. IV. MOUTHS OF THE INDUS. 237 
 
 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 dis- 
 appeared 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. 
 
 Below the Gora we have the Khaeer and Mull, Kimeerand 
 
 • , • All 1 1- ^i"ii- 
 
 mouths communicatmg with it. All three dis- 
 embogue 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. 
 
 About five-and- twenty miles below Mull we The seer. 
 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 super- 
 fluity of fresh water from above forces for itself
 
 238 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. IV. 
 
 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 1.50 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 tiiat town the inland 
 navigation for flat-bottomed boats is uninter- 
 rupted 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. 
 TheKorce, The Korcc, or eastern brancli of the Indus, 
 
 or eastern 
 
 mouth. completes tlie eleven mouths of the river. It 
 once discharged a portion of the waters of the 
 Fulailee that passes Hydrabad, as also of a branch
 
 CHAP. IV. MOUTHS OF THE INDUS. 239 
 
 that quits the Indus near Bukkur, and traverses 
 the desert during the swell ; but it has been 
 closed against both these since the year I762, 
 when the Sindians threw up bunds, or dams, to 
 inflict injury on their rivals, the inhabitants of 
 Cutch.* 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 higli 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 dan- 
 gerous, for there is an extensive sand bank at 
 tiie 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 
 
 * 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.
 
 240 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. IV. 
 
 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. 
 Advan- The Siudiaus, it will therefore appear, have 
 
 ta^es of 
 
 these to 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 Wc hcrc complctc the enumeration and de- 
 
 indus^it^ scription of the mouths of the Indus. Out 
 angers. fj-Q^yi them the sea is shallow ; but the soundings 
 are regular, and a vessel will have fi'om twelve 
 to fifteen feet of water a mile and a half off 
 shore. The Gora bank presents the only diffi- 
 culty 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 fatlioms* 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
 
 CHAP. IV. MOUTHS OF THE INDUS. 24fl 
 
 bank is much resorted to by fishermen ; and it 
 may generally be distinguished by their boats 
 and nets. 
 
 The coast of Sinde, from its entire exposure Coast of 
 to the Indian ocean, is so little protected against exposed. 
 storms, that the navigation is much sooner sus- 
 pended than in the neighbouring countries. 
 Few vessels approach it after March ; for the 
 south-west monsoon, which then partially com- 
 mences, 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. 
 B The tides rise in the mouths of the Indus Tides of 
 
 i . ^ n 1 ^^^ Indus. 
 
 about nme leet 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 chan- 
 nel is frequently obscured, and the vessel may be 
 left dry. The tides in the Indus are only per- 
 ceptible seventy-five miles from the sea, that is, 
 about twenty-five miles below Tatta. 
 
 There is not a more miserable country in the Country at 
 
 *^ _ the mouths 
 
 world than the low tract at the mouths of the of the in- 
 
 -r . • dus. 
 
 Indus. The tide overflows their banks, and 
 recedes to leave a desert dreary waste, over- 
 grown with shrubs, but without a single tree. 
 
 VOL. III. R
 
 242 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. IV. 
 
 If a vessel be unfortunately cast on this coast, 
 she is buried in two tides ; and the greatest de- 
 spatch 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, de- 
 mand every thing which is cast on shore, and 
 confiscate any vessel which, from stress of wea- 
 ther, may enter their ports. 
 Curachee, The principal sea-port of Sinde is Curachee, 
 ferred to which appcars 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 har- 
 bours in the Delta. As the ports in the river 
 and Curachee are both subject to Sinde, it is con- 
 clusive that that sea-port has advantages over 
 
 I
 
 CHAP. IV. MOUTHS OF THE INDUS. 243 
 
 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 boats of the Indus claim attention. In- The sea 
 
 boats of 
 
 eluding Curachee and all the ports of the sinde. 
 country, there are not, perhaps, a hundred 
 dingees, or sea vessels, belonging to the domi- 
 nions 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. 
 
 The traffic on the Indus, commencing from Fiat-bot- 
 its very mouth, is carried on in flat-bottomed boats, 
 boats, called doondees. They are large and 
 unwieldy, and never exceed 100 kurwars (fifty 
 tons) in burthen, and, when laden, draw only 
 
 R 2
 
 244 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. IV, 
 
 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 tlie 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 dis- 
 tance, it seems quite detached from the doondee. 
 Tiiese vessels are also furnished with a lone: 
 supple oar astern, which they work backwards 
 and forwards, the steersman moving with it on 
 an elevated frame. It is possible to impel tlie 
 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 cur- 
 rent. 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
 
 CHAP. IV. MOUTHS OF THE INDUS. 245 
 
 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 navi- 
 gating tlie doondees, the boatmen always choose 
 the shallow water, and avoid the rapids of the 
 river. 
 
 From the account of the River Indus at its i"''."" 
 
 navigable 
 
 mouths, which is above given, it will appear for steam 
 
 vgssgIs* 
 
 that it would be accessible to steam-boats of a 
 certain size and build ; but I am thoroughly 
 satisfied that no boat tvith a keel could ever 
 navigate this river with any hopes of safety. 
 The flat-bottomed boats are constantly ground- 
 ing, 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 
 
 R 3
 
 246 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. IV 
 
 river every where furnish. The Americans use 
 wood for this purpose ; and the supply of brush- 
 wood on the Lower Indus is abundant. 
 Military J j-j^^j^g allusion to the navigation of this river 
 
 remarks on o 
 
 the Indus. ]^y stcam, bccausc I am aware it is an ob- 
 ject of interest ; but, in conducting any ex- 
 pedition 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 Ciu'- 
 achee, 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 * 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 unfavour- 
 • By Mr. Crow.
 
 CHAP. IV. MOUTHS OF THE INDUS. 247 
 
 able for conducting an attack from India on 
 Sinde, I do not wish to be understood as hazard- 
 ing at this time any opinion on hke obstacles 
 presenting themselves in an attack from its banks 
 on India. 
 
 With regard to the supplies which an army is J,"^?}'"/^ 
 to expect in the lower parts of Sinde, my report 
 will be more fav^ourable. 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 abun- 
 dant. 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 expe- 
 rience great inconvenience from the want of 
 fresh water, which they bring from a distance 
 for themselves and cattle : the banks of the 
 
 R 4
 
 248 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. IV* 
 
 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 cul- 
 tivable land below Tatta brought under tillage ; 
 it lies neglected and overgrown with tamarisk.
 
 S49 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 ON THE DELTA OF THE INDUS. 
 
 Herodotus said of Egypt, that it was the Delta of 
 
 the Indus. 
 
 " gift of the Nile j** the same may be said of 
 the country at the mouths of the Indus. A 
 section of the banks of the river shows a con- 
 tinued succession of earth, clay and sand in 
 layers, parallel to one another j 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 ac- 
 quired from the seaj 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. 
 
 The country from Tatta, which stands at the inund- 
 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 inunda- 
 tion is general ; and in those places which are
 
 250 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. V. 
 
 denied this advantage by fortuitous circum- 
 stances, 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, dis- 
 appearing 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, how- 
 ever, 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 in- 
 cessant, 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, Mugh- 
 ribee, and one or two others, the inhabitants 
 reside in temporary villages called *' raj," which 
 they remove at pleasure j their huts are con-
 
 CHAP. V. DELTA OF THE INDUS. 251 
 
 structed 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 be- 
 lieve, peculiar to the river Indus. They very 
 much resemble tlie huts of tumblers in India. 
 
 It becomes a difficult matter to form any cor- Popuia- 
 rect 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 com- 
 posed of those who reside in the fixed towns. 
 This census gives seven and a half to the square 
 mile. 
 
 The erratic tribe, in the Delta of the Indus, Tribes, 
 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
 
 252 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Jokeea 
 tribe. 
 
 Fisheries. 
 
 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 moun- 
 tains 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 j 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. 
 
 The only tribe which calls for further comment, 
 is that of Jokeea. These people are the descend- 
 ants 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 moun- 
 taineers from the west bank of the Indus, not 
 very numerous, and little favoured by the go- 
 vernment. They can bring ^000 men into the 
 field. 
 
 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
 
 CHAP. V. DELTA OF THE INDUS. 253 
 
 the fins of small sharks that abound near the 
 Indus, form an article of export to China. The 
 river lish 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. 
 
 I am not aware that there are any animals pe- Animals. 
 culiar to the Delta of the Indus. Otters abound ; 
 camels are numerous, and superior ; bufl'aloes 
 are reared in great numbers ; horned cattle and 
 sheep are plentiful. The dog, too, is here 
 elevated to his proper situation, and is an at- 
 tendant on man. They watch the flocks, and 
 are of a ferocious description, and will not allow 
 a stranger to approach a " raj" or village j they 
 swim the rivers with great dexterity. 
 
 The staple production of the Delta of the Produc- 
 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
 
 254 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. V. 
 
 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 dis- 
 
 agreeable. 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 con- 
 stitution, and this was observable in the pre- 
 mature 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.
 
 255 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 THE INDUS FROM TATTA TO HYDRABAD. 
 
 I ROM the city of Tatta, which stands at a dis- Indus from 
 tance of three miles from the river, we cease to Hydrabad. 
 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 ; ge- 
 nerally, there is a depth of twenty feet. 
 
 The Delta of the Indus is free from sand- its 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
 
 Q56 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. VI. 
 
 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 chan- 
 nel above Triccul, communicating with the 
 Fulailee branch, which insulates Hydrabad at 
 that season. 
 
 Course and The distaucc 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 ofl' 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 couutry, which might be one of the
 
 CHAP. VI. FROM TATTA TO HYDRABAD. 257 
 
 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, com- 
 posed of tamarisk, saline shrubs, and other under- 
 wood, 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 con- 
 stantly 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. 
 
 The productions of the soil in the gardens of Produc- 
 Tatta exhibit the fertility of this land : the vine 
 is successfully reared, as also the fig and the pome- 
 granate. There are apple-trees in abundance, 
 and though the fruit is small, it increases in size 
 about Hydrabad. In the few patches of culti- 
 vation 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, 
 
 VOL. III. s
 
 258 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS, 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Trade. 
 
 Means of 
 improving 
 it. 
 
 that their territories may not excite the cupidity 
 of surrounding states. Agriculture and com- 
 merce are alike depressed. 
 
 With regard to the trade of this country, it 
 may be said there is Httle 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 ex- 
 orbitant 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. 
 
 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 pos- 
 sessed by its rulers j and had the people the in-
 
 CHAP. VI. FROM TATTA TO HYDRABAD. 2o9 
 
 clination, 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 tlie Indus. 
 
 At present there are not vessels sufficient for Boats, de- 
 any considerable trade : between the capital thereof. 
 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 re- 
 medy 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. 
 
 s "Z
 
 260 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 FROM HYDRABAD TO SEHWUN. 
 
 Sehwun, its 1 HE towR of Sehwuii staiids at a distance of two 
 posi 'on. jj^jigg 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 The river, in this part of its course, is named 
 
 course and .» i • i • i n i i i 
 
 depth. " Lar, which, m the rJelooch 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 fre- 
 quently 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 
 wliich is fordable, and the other but 400 yards 
 wide, which points to this as the place for crossing
 
 CHAP. VII. FROM HYDRABAD TO SEHWUN. 26l 
 
 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. 
 
 The river throws off no branches, in this Fv''*"^® 
 part of its course, save theFulailee, 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 watercourses for the periodical 
 swell, many of them artificial, dug for the pur- 
 poses of irrigation. The river for nine months 
 runs in one trunk to Tatta. 
 
 The current never exceeds three miles an Current, 
 hour in this part of the Indus, unless at some ofiJ'^'^'^ 
 places where it is confined, when its rapidity 
 undermines its banks, and carries villao*es alono- 
 with it. The towns of Majindu and Amree, on 
 the right bank, have botli been swept away, the 
 former no less than eight or ten times within 
 the last twelve years ; but the people retire a 
 
 s 3
 
 262 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. VII. 
 
 few hundred yards, and again erect their habi- 
 tations. Hala, on the eastern side, has shared a 
 like fate ; but the channel of the river Hes 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 This scction of the river is of great import- 
 impor nee. ^^^^^ . r^j^Q^^ j^^q milcs bclow Schwuu thcse 
 
 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 ffun-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 mount- 
 ains. The ground is very strong for about two 
 miles. 
 Crossinff I havc bcforc mentioned that the river near 
 
 tlic Indus. 
 
 vSehwun is confined to a narrow bed. The right
 
 CHAP. VII. FROM HYDRABAD TO SEHWUN. Q63 
 
 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. 
 
 The river can only be navigated by dragging Navigation 
 the boat against the stream, for there is very Indus. 
 little wind in the upper parts of Sinde : the pro- 
 gress by this method is sure, and averages from 
 fifteen to twenty miles a day. It would be im- 
 possible, 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 break- 
 ing, and the vessels being hurried into the 
 stream. The case would be very different in 
 an army descending the Indus. Trading vessels, 
 s 4
 
 264 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. VII. 
 
 however, would not be liable to any such im- 
 pediments. We only counted 180 boats in our 
 progress from Hydrabad to Sehwun. 
 Towns, Q^' ^^ country and towns which intervene 
 
 country, J 
 
 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 Mar- 
 war. The people live chiefly on fish and milk. 
 Scinvim. The town of Sehwun bears alone the marks of 
 
 opulence in this portion of Sinde ; and it is in- 
 debted for its prosperity to the shrine of a holy
 
 CHAP. VII. FROM HYDRABAD TO SEHWUN. ^65 
 
 saint from Khorasan, by name Lai 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, oppres- 
 sive, and disagreeable. 
 
 The Lukkee mountains run in upon the Indus i.ukkec 
 at Sehwun, extending from near the seaport of ku 
 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 
 
 mountains, 
 ana.
 
 Q66 memoir of the INDUS. chap. VII. 
 
 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, ne- 
 glected. 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.
 
 267 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 THE INDUS, FROM SEHWUN TO BUKKUR. 
 
 L HE insulated fortress of Bukkiir is situated on Bukkur, it 
 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° 42'; 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. 
 
 Between these points the Indus flows in a Indus* 
 zigzag course, nearly south-west, till it is im- 
 peded by the Lukkee mountains, below Sehwani. 
 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 irri- 
 gated : 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 water- 
 course commences above Bukkur, and passes
 
 268 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. VIII. 
 
 four miles eastward of that place, the ancient city 
 of Alore. 
 
 Fertility of About twenty-five miles below Bukkur, the 
 y. jj^^j^^g 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 w^aters are courted, and dis- 
 tributed 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, The rivcr but rarely flows here in one un- 
 
 ^P'*' '^' divided 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 tliis 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 tlie hour. From Sehwun upwards, the Indus 
 is called " Sira," which means north, in contra- 
 distinction to the southern portion, which is
 
 CHAP. VIII. FROM SEHWUN TO BUKKUR. 269 
 
 called " Lar.'* Mehran is a foreign term, with 
 which the natives of the country are not ac- 
 quainted. 
 
 The immediate vicinity of the Indus is alike Eastern 
 
 1 . ,. 1 I'll- X • '^^"'^ ^f ^''^ 
 
 destitute ot beauty and mhabitants. It is over- Indus. 
 grown 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 pro- 
 duce 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
 
 SyO MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. VIII. 
 
 exuberance of vegetation in this country, is 
 generally impeded by bushes. 
 Western The westem bank of the Indus, which is in- 
 
 the Indus, tcrscctcd by the Nara, is called Chandkoh, from 
 a Belooche tribe of that name, and yields the 
 greater portion of the land revenue of the Hy- 
 drabad 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 envi- 
 roned 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 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 
 
 Bukkur.
 
 CHAP. VIII. FROM SEHWUN TO BUKKUR. 271 
 
 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 : tliere are 
 fifteen pieces of artillery, few of which are ser- 
 viceable. 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 pre- 
 viously 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.
 
 272 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Roree and 
 Sukkur. 
 
 Kliyrpoor 
 and Lark- 
 liana. 
 
 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 em- 
 barkation 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 east- 
 ward of it, several detached hillocks of flint pre- 
 sent 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 tlie size of that town : botli have been con- 
 siderable 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 protec- 
 tion in troubled times, added to the courage 
 and hopes of the inhabitants. 
 
 The only modern towns of note which require 
 remark, are Khyrpoor and Lark liana, on the left 
 and right banks of tlie river, nearly under the
 
 CHAP. VIII. FROM SEHWUN TO BUKKUR. 273 
 
 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, 
 tlie individual next in rank to the rulers of the 
 land. 
 
 The productions of Sinde are very similar in Produc- 
 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 
 
 VOL. III. T
 
 274 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. VIII. 
 
 " 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*, even, does not attain any 
 considerable size ; the neemt and sirs, so abun- 
 dant in India, are rarely seen, and the banian t 
 tree is a stranger. The shrubs of the thurr, the 
 kejra, khair, bair, akra (swallow-wort), and tama- 
 risk, grow every where. I have already alluded 
 to the date grove of Roree. 
 
 * Mimosa Arabica. t Melia Azadarachta. 
 
 J Ficus religiosa.
 
 :^5 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 THE INDUS FROM BUKKUR, TILL JOINED BY THE 
 PUNJAB RIVERS. 
 
 X HE waters of the Punjab, united in one stream, The Indus, 
 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 pre- 
 ference to the great river itself. They extend 
 throughout the whole intervening space which I 
 have now under review. 
 
 The Indus is widely spread in many parts of ^t* i)readth 
 
 "1 1 »"'' depth. 
 
 its course above Uukkur. It oiten 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 
 
 T 2
 
 276 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. IX. 
 
 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 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 I70 miles by the river. 
 
 Country on Tiic couutry which this portion of the Indus 
 traverses is of the richest nature, particularly on 
 the eastern bank, where it is flooded from in- 
 numerable channels, which are generally cut in 
 those parts of the river running east and west, 
 that the water may be thrown south into the in- 
 terior. On the right bank, about twenty-six 
 miles above Bukkur, a navigable canal called 
 the *' Sinde," the work of the emperors, con- 
 ducts 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, arc peopled by wan- 
 dering and unsettled Belooche tribes, who lead a 
 pastoral and plundering life. The territory on 
 
 its banks.
 
 CHAP. IX. BUKKUR TO THE PUNJAB RIVERS. 277 
 
 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 Sub- 
 zul. This stripe of land on the left bank forms 
 a portion of the territories of the Daoodpootra 
 chiefi BhawulKhan; 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. 
 
 The town of Shikarpoor, which stands thirty- shikarpoor, 
 two miles from Bukkur, is by far the largest in and oUi'er 
 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 im})ortant 
 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 
 
 T 3
 
 278 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. IX. 
 
 Swell of 
 the Indus. 
 
 Cattle, 
 animal$,&c. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 neighbour- 
 hood 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 heiglit. 
 
 The number of horned cattle to be seen in 
 this part of the Indus is exceedingly numerous.
 
 CHAP. IX. BUKKUR TO THE PUNJAB RIVERS. 279 
 
 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). 
 
 I have mentioned the districts lying westward Tribes bor. 
 of the Indus, and the predatory habits of the thl'indus. 
 inhabitants. The Boordees occupy all the 
 plains north of Shikarpoor, to the borders of the 
 Brahooee country, or Cutch Gundava. They 
 are emigrants from Kej and Mekran, and of the 
 Belooche family of Rind. They are a fair and 
 handsome race of men, more like Afghans than 
 Beloochees : they do not wear the costume of 
 Sinde, but roll a cloth in folds loosely round 
 their brows, and allow their hair in long tresses 
 to hang suspended, which gives them a savage 
 appearance. They took the name of Boordee, 
 from a noted individual in the tribe, according 
 to the Belooche custom, for the vciiiuu& Lilbco arc 
 nothing more than descendants of some person 
 of note. The chief place of the Boordees is 
 Duree, but they have no large towns. The whole 
 " Oolooss," or tribe, is rated at 10,000 fighting 
 men, and till their chiefs were taken into the 
 service of the Ameers, they were constantly 
 marauding : petty robberies are yet committed. 
 Their language is a corrupted Persian : of the 
 
 T 4
 
 S80 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. IX. 
 
 other tribes, the Juttooees, Moozarees, Boogtees, 
 and Kulphurs, with many more, they differ from 
 the Boordees only in name. The Juttooees are 
 to be found in Boordgah : the Moozarees, whose 
 chief town is Rozan, extend as far as Dera 
 Ghazee Khan, but their power is now broken, 
 though they plundered in former times the 
 armies of Cabool. The Kulphurs and Boog- 
 tees occupy the hills called Gendaree, which 
 commence below the latitude of Mittun, and 
 run parallel with the Indus.
 
 281 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 THE INDUS FROM MITTUN TO ATTOK. 
 
 W^HiLE on our progress to Mooltan, by the The Indus 
 Chenab or Acesines, I made various enquiries, Miuun. 
 and sent different people to acquire precise in- 
 formation, regarding the Indus above Mittun. 
 The Cabool mission in 1809 came upon that 
 river, at Oodoo da Kote, about 100 miles north 
 of the point in question ; and I was desirous of 
 connecting my own surveys with that place, and 
 thus complete our knowledge of the Indus from 
 the sea to Attok. 
 
 The river runs, in this part of its course, Descrip- 
 nearly due south, and is free from danger and 
 difficulty in navigation. It is here generally 
 known by the name of Smde or Attok, and tra- 
 verses a country much the same as I have de- 
 scribed near Mittun, being often widely spread 
 from the lowness of its banks. Its breadth is 
 considerably diminished; for at Kaheree, when 
 Mr. Elphinstone crossed it in January, the 
 soundings did not exceed twelve feet, with a 
 breadth of 1000 yards, while the Indus, after it 
 has received the Punjab rivers, rolls past Mittun
 
 282 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Province 
 of Dera 
 Ghazee 
 
 Khan. 
 
 Commerce, 
 its line of 
 
 with a width exactly twofold. On the left 
 bank, too, the soundings were found to be four 
 fathoms deep. 
 
 On the right bank of the river the province 
 of Dera Ghazee Khan occupies the country as 
 far as the mountains. It is a fertile territory, 
 and the capital which bears its name is one of 
 the largest towns on the Indus. It is surrounded 
 by gardens and date-groves, and stands in a 
 very rich country : it has been long numbered 
 among the conquests of the Seiks, who farmed 
 it, till lately, to the Khan of Bhawulpoor at an 
 annual rent of six lacs of rupees ; but as the 
 district originally produced but four, every 
 species of extortion was practised which led 
 to its late resumption. The tract being remote 
 from Runjeet Sing's dominions, he is anxious 
 to hold it without requiring the services of his 
 troops ; and the Maliarajah has given Dajil and 
 some portion of the territory to the Brahooees, 
 its former owners, on condition of military 
 service. 
 
 The productions of Demaun, and tlie countries 
 westward of the Indus, are sometimes brought 
 by Dera Ghazee Kiian, and crossed to Ooch ; 
 but the more frequented route lies higher up, 
 and passing the ferry at Kalieree leads to Mool- 
 tan. The river is not used in the transport of 
 any portion of the trade, for the hire of boats is
 
 CHAP. X. FROM MITTUN TO ATTOK. 283 
 
 exorbitant, and it is sent on camels or bullocks. 
 Madder (called munjoot) is an article of export 
 from this part of the Indus, and used to dye the 
 fabrics of Bhawulpoor. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that the various ex- Expedi- 
 peditions that have been conducted from the Jhey^avdl- 
 upper provinces of the Indus, to the countries jnjus. 
 lower down, have taken the rivers of the Punjab, 
 as far as they went, in preference to the Indus 
 itself; but we are certainly not to infer there- 
 from that the greater river is shut against navi- 
 gation. The conquests of Alexander led him 
 beyond the neighbourhood of the Indus, and in 
 the case of the emperors their capital was long 
 fixed at Laliore, and several of their fleets agahist 
 lower Sinde were fitted out at Mooltan, always 
 a city of great importance in tlie empire, and on 
 a river as accessible to the boats of the country 
 as the Indus itself. 
 
 The Indus has been crossed at Attok, and an Bridge of 
 account of it, and that fortress, will be found in Attok. 
 Mr. Elphinstone*s work ; but the means which 
 the ruler of Lahore has used of late years to 
 transport his army to the right bank of the river, 
 and which I heard from his officers, and after- 
 wards liad confirmed on the spot, deserve 
 mention. Runjeet Sing retains a fleet of thirty- 
 seven boats, for tlie construction of a bridge at 
 Attok, where the river is only 260 yards wide.
 
 284 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. X. 
 
 The boats are anchored in the stream, a short 
 distance from one another, and the communi- 
 cation is completed by planks, and covered with 
 mud : immediately below the fortress of Attok, 
 twenty-four boats are only required, but at other 
 places in the neighbourhood, so many as thirty- 
 seven are used. Such a bridge can only be 
 thrown across the Indus from November to 
 April, on account of the velocity of the stream 
 being comparatively diminished at that season, 
 and even then the manner of fixing the boats 
 seems incredible. Skeleton frame-works of 
 wood, filled with stones, 'to the weight of 250 
 maunds (25,000 lbs.), and bound strongly by 
 ropes, are let down from each boat, to the 
 number of four or six, though the depth exceeds 
 thirty fathoms, and these are constantly strength- 
 ened by others to prevent accident. Such a 
 bridge has been completed in three days, but six 
 is a more usual period. We are struck with the 
 singular coincidence between this manner of 
 throwing up a bridge, and that described by 
 Arrian*, when Alexander crossed the Indus. 
 He mentions his belief regarding Alexander's 
 bridge at Attok, and except that the skeleton 
 frame-works are described as *' huge wicker- 
 baskets," the modern and ancient manner of 
 
 * Vide lib. v. c. 7.
 
 CHAP. X. FROM MITTUN TO ATTOK. ^85 
 
 crossing the river appears to have been the 
 same. The Afghans farmed the construction 
 of a bridge at Attok for the sum of 14,000 
 rupees ; but the Seik has put a stop to the ruin 
 of habitations and houses which it invariably 
 caused, and keeps up an efficient supply of 
 materials. An army which does not exceed 
 5000 men is crossed at Attok by the ferry boats 
 with less labour than by a bridge.
 
 286 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 THE CHENAB OR ACESINES JOINED BY THE 
 SUTLEGE OR HESUDRUS. 
 
 chenabor J. HE Acesines of the Greeks, or the modern 
 Chenab, is lost in the Indus at Mittun, having 
 previously gathered the waters of the Punjab 
 rivers. The junction is formed without noise or 
 violence, for the banks are depressed on both 
 sides, and the river is expanded : an eddy is cast 
 to the eastern side, which sinks the water below 
 the usual level, but it does not occasion danger. 
 The Euphrates and Tigris, w^hen joined, pass to 
 the ocean under the name of the *' river of the 
 Arabs," and the appellation of Punjnud, or " the 
 five rivers," has been bestowed on this portion 
 of the Chenab ; but it is a designation unknown 
 to the people living on its banks, and adopted, 
 I conclude, for geographical convenience. 
 Joined by Under the parallel of 29° 20' north latitude, 
 lege. and five miles above Ooch, the Chenab receives 
 
 the Garra, or joint stream of the Beas and Sut- 
 lege (Hyphasis and Hesudrus of antiquity). 
 This junction is also formed without violence, 
 and the low banks of both rivers lead to constant
 
 CHAP. XI. CHENAB AND SUTLEGE. 287 
 
 alteration in the point of the union, which, but 
 a year ago, was two miles higher up. This cir- 
 cumstance renders it difficult to decide on the 
 relative size of these rivers at their junction ; 
 both are about 500 yards wide, but the Chenab 
 is more rapid. Immediately below the confluence, 
 the united stream exceeds 800 yards ; but in its 
 course to the Indus, though it expands sometimes 
 to a greater size, the Chenab rarely widens to 
 600 yards. In this part of its course it is like- 
 wise subject to change. The depth is greatest 
 near its confluence with the Indus, exceeding 
 twenty feet, but it decreases in ascending the 
 river to about fifteen. The current is swifter 
 than the Indus, running at the rate of three and 
 a half miles an hour. The Chenab has some 
 sand banks, but they do not interrupt its naviga- 
 tion by the " zohruks," or flat-bottomed boats, 
 forty of which will be found between Ooch and 
 Mittun, a distance of forty miles, and a five days* 
 voyage. 
 
 The banks of the Chenab seldom rise three Banks of 
 feet above the water's edge, and they are more *'*^^^*"*''' 
 open and free from thick tamarisk than the 
 Indus. Near the river there are green reeds, 
 not unlike sugar-cane, and a shrub called 
 *• wahun," with leaves like the beech-tree, but 
 the country is highly cultivated, and intersected 
 by various canals. The soil is slimy, and most
 
 288 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. XI. 
 
 productive ; the crops are rich, and the cattle 
 large and abundant ; the villages are exceed- 
 ingly numerous, and shaded by lofty trees. Some 
 of these are the temporary habitations of pastoral 
 tribes, who remove from one place to another, 
 but there are many of a permanent description 
 on both banks. Their safety is nowise affected 
 by the inundations of the river or those of the 
 Indus, for the expansion of these has been ex- 
 aggerated, and it rarely extends two miles from 
 the banks of either river. 
 Ooch, its The only place of note on the Chenab, below 
 
 produc- . . . ^ 
 
 tions, &c. its junction by the Garra, is Ooch. It stands 
 four miles westward of the river, and no doubt 
 owes its site to the junction of two navigable 
 streams in the vicinity. Tiie country around it 
 is highly cultivated : the tobacco plant in par- 
 ticular grows most luxuriantly'; and after the 
 season of inundation, the tract is one sheet of 
 green fields and verdure. The productions of 
 the gardens are various ; the fig, vine, apple, and 
 mulberry, with the " falsa," which produces an 
 acid berry, may be seen, also the "bedee mishk" 
 (odoriferous willow). Roses, balsams, and the 
 lily of the valley, excite a pleasing remem- 
 brance, and there are many plants foreign to 
 India. A sensitive shrub, called '' shurmoo," or 
 " the modest," particularly struck me : its leaves, 
 when touched, close and fall down upon the
 
 CHAP. XI. CHENAB AND SUTLEGE. 289 
 
 stalk, as if broken. The mango does not attain 
 perfection in this soil or climate, and seems to 
 deteriorate as we advance north. Indiaro is 
 reared successfully. Wheat and other grains are 
 cultivated in preference to rice, which does not 
 form here, as in Sinde and the lower provinces of 
 the Indus, the food of the people, though it may 
 be had in great quantities. 
 
 VOL. III. u
 
 290 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 ON BHAWUL KHAN S COUNTRY. 
 
 Its extent. The Small territory eastward of the Indus, 
 which lies between the confines of the chief of 
 Lahore and the Ameers of Sinde, belongs to 
 Bhawul Khan Daoodpootra. His frontier to the 
 north may be loosely said to be bounded by the 
 Sutlege, or Garra, but at Bhawulpoor it crosses 
 that river, and, running westward to a place 
 called Julalpoor, comprises a portion of the 
 country between the Sutlege and Acesines, the 
 Acesines and the Indus. The Rajpoot princi- 
 pality of Beecaneer bounds it to the east. It 
 has Jaysulmeer to the south, and, on that part 
 where it approaches Sinde, a tract of four miles 
 in either country is left without tillage, to pre- 
 vent dispute on the marches. 
 
 Its nature. The greater part of this country is a barren 
 waste of sand-hills. In the vicinity of the 
 rivers, the tract is rich and fertile, watered, 
 like the other banks of the Indus, by the annual 
 swell. The towns are few in number, and 
 scantily distributed, but there are numerous 
 hamlets on the Acesines. Bhawulpoor, which
 
 CHAP. Xir. BHAWUL KHAN*S COUNTRY. 291 
 
 stands on the left bank of the Sutlege, has a 
 population of about twenty thousand people, and 
 is the mercantile capital ; the walled town of 
 Ahmedpoor, further south, and about half the 
 size, is the residence of the chief, as it lies 
 closer to Durawul, an ancient fort in the desert 
 (without a town), and the only place of strength 
 in the country. Durawul is mentioned in the 
 histories of Sinde as a fortress worthy of Alex- 
 ander : it was taken by Mirza Shah Hoosein, in 
 the year of the Hejira 931 ; but an account of 
 the siege proves its position to have been more 
 formidable than its strength : it is built of brick. 
 
 The influence of the chief of Bhawulpoor is Power and 
 as limited as his territory, his power having been "nce."^'' 
 crushed by the Seiks, and only saved from 
 entire overthrow by a treaty, which prevents 
 Runjeet Sing from crossing the Sutlege. The 
 revenues do not exceed ten lacs annually (ex- 
 cluding Dera Ghazee Khan, which, properly, 
 belongs to the Seik), three of which are de- 
 manded in tribute by the Lahore chief^ for his 
 lands north of the Sutlege ; yet Bhawul Khan 
 maintains some state, and has about two thousand 
 regular troops (such as they are), with a train of 
 artillery, to second the efforts of his feudatories 
 in the field ; and his forces collected would 
 exceed twenty thousand men. The present chief 
 inherited a large patrimony in treasure. 
 
 u ^
 
 292 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. XII 
 
 Daoodpoo- The Daoodpootras are a tribe of Mahom- 
 desccnt. mcdans from the district of Shikarpoor, on the 
 right bank of the Indus, which they held in the 
 earlier part of Aurungzebe's reign. They crossed 
 the river, and achieved, by daring acts of bravery, 
 the conquest of the lands now held by them, 
 from the Duhrs, Muhrs, and other Sindee tribes, 
 and have been settled in Bhawulpoor for five 
 generations. As the name Daoodpootra implies, 
 they are descendants of one Daood or David ; but 
 the chiefs claim a lineage from the holy line of 
 Abbas, the uncle of Mahommed. The chiefs of 
 the tribe are named Peerjanee, and the common 
 people Kihranee. The community are not al- 
 lowed to assert their right to the same holy 
 descent as their masters, which casts some doubt 
 on the lustre of their parentage. The whole 
 tribe does not exceed fifty thousand souls. They 
 are a fair and handsome race of people, but dis- 
 figured by long bushy tresses of hair, which they 
 allow to hang over their shoulders. 
 The reign- Bhawulpoor was tributary to Cabool as long 
 ing amiy. ^^ ^^^^^ kiugdom lastcd ; and the chief had the 
 title of Nawab, but was nearly independent. 
 The three last rulers have taken the name of 
 Bhawul Khan, from a saint of great repute in 
 Mooltan ; and the designation of Nawab has 
 been changed to that of Khan, by which title 
 he is familiarly known to his subjects. The
 
 CHAP. Xir. BHAWUL KHAN'S COUNTRY. 293 
 
 present Bhawul Khan is about thirty years old, 
 and much beloved by his people : he has a turn 
 for mechanics, and gives great encouragement 
 to trade and agriculture. He succeeded, about 
 five years ago, to the prejudice of his elder 
 brother, who now holds an office under him ; 
 his power is firmly fixed, and he has a family of 
 three sons. The form of government is despotic, 
 and there is no chief of any great importance 
 in the country but the Khan himself j and the 
 style and formality of his court keep even these 
 humble, and at a respectful distance. 
 
 The manufactures of Bhawulpoor consist of Trade of 
 loongees, which are celebrated for the fineness pooT" ' 
 of their texture. The weavers are Hindoos, a 
 numerous class in this country, and who enjoy 
 more toleration in their trade than their re- 
 ligion. The merchants of Bhawulpoor deal 
 extensively in goods of European manufacture, 
 which they receive from Pallee, in Marwar, by 
 way of Beecaneer and the desert, and send into 
 the Dooranee country by the route of Mooltan 
 and Leia, crossing the Indus at Kaheree. The 
 Hindoos of Bhawulpoor, and, indeed, of all this 
 country, are a most enterprising race of men : 
 they often travel to Balkh and Bokhara, and 
 sometimes to Astracan, for purposes of com- 
 merce : they take the route of Peshawur, Cabool, 
 and Bamean, and, crossing the Oxus, exchange 
 
 u 3
 
 Qgif MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. XII. 
 
 at Bokhara the productions of India, for that 
 quarter of Asia and Russia, which are annually 
 brought by the merchants of that country. They 
 spoke highly of the Uzbek King, and praised 
 DostMahommed, of Cabool, for the protection he 
 afforded to trade. The Sutlege, or, rather, the 
 joint stream of it and the Beas, called Garra, 
 on which Bhawulpoor stands, is a navigable 
 river, though not used in the transport of its 
 merchandise. It does not lie, however, on any 
 available line of route, except that of Sinde; from 
 which country, as I have before repeated, there 
 is no trade with the upper provinces of the Indus. 
 Of the name of this river, the Beas, I may add, 
 that it is a contraction of Bypasa, in which we 
 have nearly all the letters of Hyphasis, the de- 
 signation of it found in the ancient authors.
 
 295 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 THE PUNJAB. 
 
 The territories of Maha Raiah Runieet Sinff Extent of 
 
 'f 'f o Runjeet 
 
 Stretch from the Sutlege to the Indus, from sing's ter- 
 Cashmere to Mooltan, and comprise the whole 
 of the countries watered by the Punjab, or five tri- 
 butary rivers, eastward of the Indus. The power 
 of the Maha Rajah over tliis tract of country 
 is consohdated : he commands the fastnesses of 
 the mountains, and its alluvial plains. So en- 
 tirely has the Seik nation altered its constitution, 
 under this chief, that, within a period of twenty 
 years, it has passed from a pure republic to an 
 absolute monarchy. The genius of one man has 
 effected this change, though contending with 
 powerful opposition, from a religion, that in- 
 culcates, above every other, democracy and the 
 equality of all. 
 
 This change of habits has been general, and changes ir 
 the fortunate prince who achieved it, is not more govem- 
 pre-eminent among his nobles, than they are ""^"'' 
 among their followers ; from whom they receive 
 a respect bordering on veneration. We have 
 now no convocations at Umritsir, the sacred city 
 
 u 4
 
 296 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. XIII. 
 
 of the Seiks, where the affliirs of the state were 
 discussed and settled, and none of the hberty 
 which the followers of Gooroo Govind proudly 
 claimed as the feature of distinction in their 
 tribe. It is evident that the change will affect 
 the energies of the Seik nation, for they sprang 
 from a religion which was free from the worn- 
 out dogmas of Hindooism, and the deteriorated 
 Mahommedanism of their neighbours, the Eu- 
 zoofzyees : their bravery was coeval with that 
 religion, and based upon it ; their political great- 
 ness sprang from their change of faith, and 
 though that has been changed, the Seiks are yet 
 left with peculiar tenets, and continue to all in- 
 tents and purposes a distinct people. 
 Policy of The power which Runjeet Sing acquired has 
 Sing, and bccu prcscrvcd by his policy : he has a disciplin- 
 army. cd army of infantry, witli a due proportion of 
 
 cavalry and artillery. The system is unpopular 
 in the country, and the Seik Sirdars view with 
 distrust the innovation, and the innovators. The 
 French officers, when deprived of their patron, 
 would find it necessary to stand aloof, from 
 motives of personal safety ; and, if they left the 
 country, the wreck of their labours would soon 
 perish in the general tumult. At present their 
 battalions manoeuvre with regularity and pre- 
 cision : they are well accoutred and dressed, but 
 destitute of the most essential quality of a soldier,
 
 CHAP. XIII. THE PUNJAB. 297 
 
 — discipline. Their payment is irregular : they 
 undergo cheerfully the mechanical duties of the 
 soldier, and have shown their gallantry on 
 service ; but tliere is no tie between the army 
 and the government, and the greater and more 
 glorious victories of the Maha Rajah were 
 achieved before he had regular troops. 
 
 The Sirdars of the Seik nation lose their power SeikSirdar?, 
 in their own feuds. Runjeet has not failed to 
 foment these, and turn them to advantage ; and, 
 as a mediator of differences, he has always de- 
 spoiled both parties to aggrandise himself: he 
 considers it justifiable to profit by the vices and 
 bad qualities of human nature, and cares not how 
 much he promises, and how little he fulfils. The 
 Maha Rajah, however, has portioned out, with a 
 liberal hand, the lands and conquests among his 
 Sirdars, and conciliated them by this means ; 
 few of them place any reliance on his cha- 
 racter : they are aware of his power, and dread 
 to give him offence. 
 
 The revenues of the Punjab and its depend- Revenues 
 
 , 111/' o* *''^ 
 
 encies amount to about two and a hair crores Punjab. 
 of rupees annually : the principal item in this 
 sum is derived from Cashmere, whicli fur- 
 nishes thirty-six lacs of rupees. I may add, 
 that all the jagheers and revenues of religious 
 persons are included in the net sum I have 
 named. The revenue is collected by arbitrary
 
 298 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Revenues 
 might be 
 increased. 
 
 Military 
 
 resources. 
 
 exactions, at the will of the collector, as in other 
 native governments. They are presumed, at the 
 outset, to be dishonest, and, aware of the fact, 
 rifle the peasant, and are prepared to be rifled in 
 return. The exactions, as regulated by Runjeet 
 himself, are mild, and his late acquisitions about 
 Mooltan are in a most prosperous condition. 
 Cashmere, on the other hand, is described as the 
 very essence of bad government: the people are 
 oppressed, and the Maha Rajah is afraid to trust 
 other but menial servants with that valuable 
 ornament of his crown. 
 
 The revenues of the Punjab might be in- 
 creased by annexing to it the provinces imme- 
 diately westward of the Indus, some of which 
 have been subdued by Runjeet Sing; but he 
 has shown, in this instance, his usual foresight 
 and discrimination. Across the Indus, he would 
 encounter a most fanatical people, the Euzoof- 
 zyees, who would occupy the time of his army ; 
 he contents himself, therefore, with an annual 
 tribute of some horses and rice from Peshawur. 
 Lower down the Indus, he farms the province 
 of Dera Ghazee Khan to the Khan of Bhawul- 
 poor. 
 
 The military resources of the Punjab are great: 
 it yields more grain than is sufficient for the 
 consumption of its inhabitants ; but the scarcity 
 of population prevents the full measure of its
 
 CHAP. XIII. THE PUNJAB. 299 
 
 production. Camels, mules, horses, and cattle 
 abound, and all of them, except the cattle, which 
 are small, are of a superior description. The 
 roads, from one extremity of the country to the 
 other, admit of wheeled carriages, except among 
 the mountains : the Indus, and all the other 
 rivers are navigable, though not navigated. They 
 have ferry-boats in abundance, and there are 
 also materials for their further construction ; 
 these rivers are frequently passed on skins, but 
 these are more in use among the mountains than 
 the plains. 
 
 The paucity of Seiks, in a country ruled and 
 governed by them, is remarkable. The mother 
 earth of the tribe is the " doab,*' between the 
 Ravee and Sutlege ; but there are few of them 
 to be found thirty miles below Lahore. There 
 are no Seiks westward of the Hydaspes ; and to 
 the eastward of Lahore, where they are said to 
 predominate, they do not certainly compose a 
 third of the population. The Punjab, indeed, is 
 a poorly peopled country, in proportion to its 
 fertility, though it is probable that it has in- 
 creased in population under the present ruler.* 
 
 * A more full account of the Punjab has been given in 
 Vol. II., which was drawn up after my last visit to that 
 country.
 
 300 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 THE CHENAB, OR ACESINES, JOINED BY THE 
 RAVEE, OR HYDRAOTES. 
 
 The Che- The Accsines is the largest of the Punjab rivers, 
 sCTibed". but its size has been exaggerated. Ptolemy in- 
 forms us that it is fifteen furlongs wide in the 
 upper part of its course ; and Arrian states that 
 it surpasses the Nile when it has received the 
 waters of the Punjab falling into the Indus by a 
 mouth of thirty stadia. Alexander warred in 
 the rainy reason, when these rivers are much 
 swollen, and when the inundation had set in 
 for two months. We have already exposed the 
 latter part of this amplification, in confining 
 the Chenab to a breadth of 600 yards, and a 
 depth of twenty feet. There is no perceptible 
 diminution in the size of this stream, from the 
 Sutlege upwards, for that river increases the 
 depth without adding to the breadth ; and the 
 Chenab, south of the Ravee, will be found, as I 
 have before described it, only with the shallow 
 soundings of twelve feet. Its banks are so low, 
 that it is in some places spread as much as 1200 
 yards, and looks as large as the Indus. At
 
 CHAP. XIV. THE CHENAB. 301 
 
 Mooltan ferry it was 1000 yards across, and 
 below its junction with the Ravee, above three 
 quarters of a mile ; but these are exceptions to 
 the general feature of the stream. 
 
 The Chenab receives the Ravee, or Hydraotes, its banks, 
 below Fazilpoor, under the parallel of 30° 40' 
 north latitude, nearly 180 miles from Ooch, by 
 the windings of the river, and upwards of 53 
 miles from Mooltan ; in the neighbourhood 
 of which city it passes on its course to the Indus, 
 by a direction about south-west.* The redness 
 of its water has already been mentioned, and 
 that of the Ravee has even a deeper tinge. It 
 runs quicker than the Indus, or any of the Punjab 
 rivers, and its banks on both sides are open and 
 richly irrigated by larger canals of running water, 
 dug with great labour ; on the right bank, from 
 Mooltan upwards, there is a desert of low sand- 
 hills, which does not admit of cultivation, and 
 presses in upon the cultivated land at the short 
 distance of two miles from the river. It is a 
 mistake to believe that this desert commences so 
 low as Ooch, and occupies the " doab" of the 
 Indus and Acesines j for that tract has many 
 large villages, and is rich and fertile across, from 
 one river bank to the other. The distance 
 
 * We performed the voyage from one junction to the 
 other, in six days, against the stream.
 
 S02 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. XIV. 
 
 between the two rivers is about twenty-five 
 miles, nor does it become desert till it widens be- 
 yond that space below Mooltan. 
 Boats of ^i Mooltan the Acesines is navisrated by the 
 
 the Ace ^ •' 
 
 sines. «' zohruk ;" but the vessel differs in some degree 
 
 from that used in the Daoodpootra country : the 
 waist is little more than a foot above water ; 
 they are much smaller, and hoist a mat-sail on a 
 small mast. As there is no trade, ferry-boats 
 are only to be had, if we except the few which 
 bring down salt from the Jelum or Hydaspes. 
 We embarked in a fleet of ten boats, while such 
 an additional number are not to be procured on 
 
 Wood, &c. this part of the river. These vessels are built 
 of the dyar, or cedar wood from the moun- 
 tains in which the Punjab rivers have their 
 source : the supply which the inundation roots 
 up and floats down, is sufficient for all purposes, 
 without any one carrying on a professed trade in 
 it. While the boats here are constructed of this 
 wood, they are repaired with the " talee *' tree, 
 which may be found near every village ; and, 
 though this country is not well wooded, an 
 army might soon procure a supply by cutting 
 trees from the villages near the river, and float- 
 ing them down to any place of rendezvous. 
 
 Crossing Thc nativcs of this country cross the rivers 
 
 -vvithout boats, on skins or bundles of reeds; and 
 whole families may be seen passing in this ap-
 
 CHAP. XIV. THE CHENAB. 303 
 
 parently insecure mode. I have observed a 
 man, with his wife and three children, in the 
 middle of the stream, the father on a skin 
 dragging his wife and children, who were seated 
 on reeds, and one of them an infant at the breast: 
 goods, clothes and chattels form a bundle for 
 the head; and though alligators do certainly exist, 
 they are not numerous, or such as to deter the 
 people from repeating an experiment, to say the 
 least of it, not free from danger. 
 
 The greater part of the country bordering: on District of 
 
 ° ^ . . -^ ^ Mooltan. 
 
 this part of the Acesines is included in the dis- 
 trict of Mooltan, which, besides the city of that 
 name, contains the modern town of Shoojurabad. 
 The government, when tributary to Cabool, has 
 been described in the worst terms ; but Runjeet 
 Sing has recruited its population, repaired the 
 canals, and added to their number, raising it to a 
 state of opulence and prosperity to which it had 
 been long a stranger. The soil amply repays 
 the labour, for such is its strength, that a crop 
 of wheat, before yielding its grain, is twice 
 mowed down as fodder for cattle, and then ears, 
 and produces an abundant harvest. Tiie indigo 
 and sugar crops are likewise rich, and one small 
 strip of land five miles long, which we passed, 
 afforded a revenue of 75,000 rupees. The total 
 revenue amounts to about ten lacs of rupees a 
 year, or double tlie sum it produced in I8O9.
 
 30^ MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. XIV. 
 
 The tobacco of Mooltan is celebrated ; but, for 
 an Indian province, the date-tree is its most sin- 
 gular production. It yields a great abundance 
 of fruit, which is hardly inferior to that of 
 Arabia ; for the trees are not weakened by ex- 
 tracting a liquor from them, as in Lower India. I 
 imagine that they owe their maturity to the 
 great heat of Mooltan ; for dates seldom ripen in 
 India. The mangoes of Mooltan are the best of 
 Upper India, and their good qualities seem also 
 to arise from the same cause, as the mango 
 is usually but an indifferent fruit beyond the 
 tropics.
 
 305 
 
 Ravee. 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 THE RAVEE, OR HYDRAOTES, BELOW LAHORE. 
 
 Ihe Ravee is the smallest of the five Punjab The 
 rivers, but, in connection with them and the 
 Indus, forms a navigable channel from the sea 
 to Lahore. It joins the Chenab in the latitude 
 of 30° 40' north, near the small village of Fazil 
 Shah, by three different mouths, all of which have 
 eight feet of water. From Lahore downwards, 
 the Ravee preserves a breadth of about 150 
 yards, and, as its banks are high and firm, there 
 are but few places where it is more expanded. 
 This river is so winding, that sails cannot be 
 hoisted, and a day's voyage often gives but a 
 direct progress of three or four miles, when the 
 turnings of tlie river have been sixfold. Lahore 
 is only 175 miles from the mouth of the Ravee, 
 but, by tlie river, the distance exceeds 380 
 British miles. 
 
 The Ravee is fordable in many places during itsnaviga- 
 eight months in the year, but its general depth 
 is about twelve feet, and I am satisfied that a 
 vessel drawing four or five feet of water could 
 navigate this river. The boats of the country 
 
 VOL. III. X
 
 306 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. XV. 
 
 do not draw more than two or three, but they 
 are the common flat-bottomed craft ah^eady de- 
 scribed. There is no obstruction to these vessels 
 in any season of the year, yet the Ravee is not 
 used by the merchants, and the boats are only 
 built for purposes of ferrying. Below Lahore 
 there are fifty-two of them, we ascended in 
 these vessels, none others being procurable. 
 The voyage occupied twenty-one days, and was 
 exceedingly tedious. I am disposed to think 
 that it is tlie extreme crookedness of the river 
 which prevents its being navigated. 
 Peculiar- The Ravec is a foul river, much studded with 
 Ravee. saud bauks, many of which are dangerous quick- 
 sands. The zigzag course it pursues, bespeaks 
 the flat nature of tlie country it traverses ; its 
 banks are more firm and decided than those 
 of the Indus, or any other of the Punjab rivers. 
 Near Lahore, they rise sometimes to a perpen- 
 dicular height of forty feet ; in many places 
 they attain half that elevation, and give to tlie 
 river much the appearance of a canal. TJie 
 country bordering on the Ravee is little liable 
 to be flooded ; and it is worthy of remark, 
 that there are no cuts from this river, for the 
 purposes of agriculture, below Lahore. Its 
 current is something less than three miles an 
 hour. The water is of a reddish colour, like 
 the Chenab ; but it is liable to change, as we
 
 CHAP. XV. THE RAVEE. 307 
 
 remarked in our voyage, from the fall of rain in 
 the mountains. This river is sometimes called 
 Iraoty, in which we recognise the Hydraotes of 
 the Greeks. 
 
 The banks of the Ravee are open, and peopled J",J^"';i^".'^ 
 from its mouth upwards; but the villages, for half bitants. 
 the distance to the capital, are of a temporary 
 description, the moveable hamlets of the pastoral 
 tribe before mentioned, called Jun or Kattia. 
 From Futtipoor they are numerous, and the 
 country is cultivated; but the space below that 
 town is uncultivated. The tract between the 
 Ravee and Sutlege is of the same sterile and 
 unproductive description as on the northern side 
 of the river towards the Hydaspes. Saltpetre 
 is manufactured in considerable quantities on 
 both sides of the Ravee. 
 
 Lahore is the only town of note on the banks Lahore. 
 of the Ravee, but the river has lately forsaken 
 its immediate vicinity, and this ancient capital 
 now stands on a small branch. The position of 
 Lahore is good, in a military and commercial 
 point of view. It is equidistant from Mooltan, 
 Peshawur, Cashmeer, and I may also add Delhi. 
 It stands in a most fertile country ; and an 
 army of 80,000 men has been sup})orted on the 
 resources of its neighbourhood, while the people 
 assert that provisions have not increased with 
 the increased demand. The city now contains 
 
 X 2
 
 308 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. XV. 
 
 about 80,000 inhabitants. It is surrounded by 
 a strong brick wall and ditch, that may be 
 flooded from the river. There are twelve gates, 
 and as many semicircular outworks. It could 
 not withstand a siege, from the density of its 
 population ; but might afford security against 
 irregular troops. Umritoir is superior in size 
 and strength to Lahore : it is a mud fortification 
 of great thickness, and about seven miles in 
 circumference, and also protected by the strong 
 citadel of Govindghur. It has a population of 
 about 100,000 souls. Tolumba is a small town 
 near the estuary of the Ravee, with a population 
 of about 1500 people. It has a w^eak brick fort 
 of a circular shape, and stands in a thick grove 
 of date trees two miles south of the river.
 
 I
 
 309 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 A MEMOIR ON THE EASTERN BRANCH OF THE 
 INDUS, AND THE RUN OF CUTCH, CONTAINING 
 AN ACCOUNT OF THE ALTERATIONS PRODUCED 
 ON THEM BY AN EARTHQUAKE IN 1819, ALSO A 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE RUN. 
 
 [I cannot introduce more appropriately than on the 
 present occasion, the following paper, which was drawn 
 up some time since. It is necessary to mention this 
 circumstance, as a few of the facts communicated are 
 already before the public, and have been noticed by 
 Professor Lyell.* Of the Run of Cutch I am not 
 aware of any other account having been published, 
 though it is a tract without parallel on the globe.] 
 
 In the north-western extremity of our Indian Cutch, its 
 possessions, and under the tropic, is situated p°^"'°"' 
 the small and sterile territory of Cutch, im- 
 portant to the British from its advanced po- 
 sition, but of more attraction to the student of 
 history, from its western shore being washed by 
 the waters of the classic Indus. Cutch is a 
 
 * See " Principles of Geology," by Charles LyelJ, Esq., 
 F.R.S. London, vol. ii. 1832. 
 
 X 3
 
 310 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. XVI. 
 
 country peculiarly situated. — To the west, it 
 has the inconstant and ever-varying Indus ; to 
 the north and east, tlie tract called Run, which 
 is alternately a dry sandy desert and a muddy 
 inland lake ; to the south, it has the Gulf of 
 Cutch and the Indian Ocean, with waters re- 
 ceding yearly from its shores. 
 Alterations Thc physical geography of such a province 
 western '^^ ^^^^^ ^^ iutcrcst; for, besides the alteration in 
 eanh'^^''" its fluctuating boundaries, it is subject to earth- 
 quake, quakes, one of which has lately produced some 
 unlooked for changes in the eastern branch 
 of the Indus. To particularly detail and ex- 
 plain these, is the object of the present memoir. 
 Former Cutch at prcscut labours imder disadvantages 
 ^"^^ "^' inflicted on it by the vindictive hatred of a 
 jealous and cruel neighbouring Government. 
 Previous to the battle of Jarra, in the year 176^*, 
 the eastern branch of the Indus, commonly 
 called the Piiurraun, emptied itself into tiie sea 
 by passing the western shores of Cutch ; and the 
 country on its banks participated in the ad- 
 vantages which this river bestows throughout its 
 course. Its annual inundations watered the soil, 
 and afforded a plentiful supply of rice 5 the 
 
 * Tliis battle was fought near a small village of that name. 
 The inhabitants of Cutch made a brave stand for their inde- 
 pendence against a Sindian army led by Ghoolam Shah 
 Kulora.
 
 CHAP. XVI. EASTERN INDUS AND RUN. 311 
 
 country on its banks being then known by the 
 name of " Sayra." 
 
 These blessings, which nature had bestowed sindians 
 
 destroy it, 
 
 on this otherwise barren region, perished witli by dam- 
 the battle of Jarra; for theSindian chief, irritated eastern 
 at the unsuccessful result of his expedition, re- theTndus. 
 turned to his country full of vengeance, and 
 inflicted the deepest injury on the country which 
 he had failed to humble. At the village of 
 Mora he threw up a mound of earth, or, as it 
 is called, a " bund," across that branch of the 
 Indus which fertilised Cutch, and by thus 
 turning the stream, which so much benefited its 
 inhabitants, to flow into other branches of the 
 river, and by leading it through canals to desert 
 portions of his own dominions, he at once de- 
 stroyed a large and rich tract of irrigated land, 
 and converted a productive rice country, which 
 had belonged to Cutch, into a sandy desert. 
 
 The mound which had been raised, did not injmy of 
 entirely exclude the water of the Indus from o^dlm^^on 
 Cutch ; but so impeded the progress of the *^^ *''^''' 
 main stream, that all agriculture depending on 
 irrigation ceased. In process of time this trivial 
 remnant of prosperity disappeared, and the 
 Talpoors, who succeeded the Kaloras in the 
 government of Sinde, threw up other mounds ; 
 and about the year 1802, the erection of one at 
 Ali Bunder excluded the waters of the Indus, 
 
 x 4 
 
 near.
 
 312 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. XVI. 
 
 even at the period of inundation, from the 
 channel which had once conveyed them past 
 Cutch to the sea. Since then, the stripe of land 
 which once formed the fertile disti'ict of Sayra 
 ceased to yield a blade of vegetation, and became 
 a part of the Run of Cutch, on which it had 
 formerly bordered. The cliannel of the river 
 at the town of Lucput sliallowed* ; and, above 
 Sindree, filled with mud, and dried up. Lower 
 down it changed into an arm of the sea, and was 
 flooded at every tide. 
 
 The Raos, or Princes of Cutch, possessed at 
 one time military stations in three different 
 places of Sinde, — Budeenu, Bally aree, and Rao- 
 maka-bazar, — yet they submissively bore these 
 indignities, as well to their own detriment as that 
 of their subjects. They used no exertion to 
 recover that which nature had bestowed on their 
 country, or to wipe off those injuries which had 
 been offered, at variance, as they no doubt were, 
 with the law of nations, w^hich requires " that 
 " different nations ought, in time of peace, to do 
 " one another all the good they can, and in time 
 " of war, as little harm as possible, without pre- 
 ** judice to their own real interests."! 
 
 * Captain (now Lieut.-Col.) D. Wilson, of the Bombay 
 army, found a ford here in 1820, in a part of the river 500 
 yards wide. In 1826, I found a depth of fifteen feet in the 
 same place. 
 
 t Blackstone.
 
 CHAP. XVI. EASTERN INDUS AND RUN. 313 
 
 In this state of indifference, there occurred, in Earth- 
 June, 1819, a severe shock of an earthquake, by isi/over- 
 which some hundreds of the inhabitants of Cutch sindree : 
 perished, and every fortified strongliold in the [a^T^ 
 country was shaken to its foundations. Wells 
 and rivulets without number changed from 
 fresh to salt water ; but these were trifling 
 alterations, compared with those which took 
 place in the eastern bianch of the Indus, and the 
 adjacent country. At sunset, the shock was felt 
 at Sindree, the station at which the Cutch 
 Government levied their customs, situated on the 
 high road from Cutch to Sinde, and on the banks 
 of what had been once the eastern branch of the 
 Indus. The little brick fort of 150 feet square, 
 which had been built there for the protection of 
 merchandise, was overwhelmed by an inundating 
 torrent of water from the ocean, which spread 
 on every side, and, in the course of a few hours, 
 converted the tract, which had before been hard 
 and dry, into an inland lake, which extended for 
 sixteen miles on either side of Sindree. The 
 houses within the walls filled with water, and 
 eiglit years afterwards I found fish in the pools 
 among them. The only dry spot was the place 
 on which the bricks had fallen upon one 
 another. One of four towers only remained, 
 and the custom-house officers had saved their 
 lives by ascending it, and were eventually
 
 314 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. XVI. 
 
 transported to dryland by boats on the following 
 day.* 
 Haisesupa But it was soon discovercd that this was not 
 called the only alteration in this memorable convulsion 
 bund." of nature; as the inhabitants of Sindree observed, 
 at a distance of five miles northward, a mound 
 of earth or sand, in a place where the soil was 
 previously low and level. It extended east and 
 west for a considerable distance, and passed 
 immediately across the channel of the Indus, 
 separating as it were for ever the Phurraun river 
 from the sea. The natives called this mound 
 by the name of '*Ullah bund," or the mound of 
 God, in allusion to its not being, like the other 
 dams of the Indus, a work of man, but a dam 
 thrown up by nature. 
 
 These wonderful events passed unheeded by 
 the inhabitants ; for tlie deep injury wiiich had 
 been inflicted on Cutch in 1'7C)2 had so thoroughly 
 ruined that part of the country, that it was a 
 matter of indifference whether it continued a 
 desert, or became an inland lake. A feeble and 
 unsuccessful attempt was made by Cutch to 
 establish a Custom-house on the newly raised 
 
 * Since my return to England, I have been so fortunate as 
 to procure a view of Sindree, as it existed in the year 1808, 
 from a sketch by Captain Grindlay, who visited it at that 
 time. It has been engraved for this work, and faces 
 Chap. XVI. Captain Grindlay 's observations on Sindree 
 follow in a note.
 
 CHAP. XVI. EASTERN INDUS AND RUN. 315 
 
 dam of " Ullah bund," but to this the Ameers of 
 Sinde objected, and Sindree being no longer 
 tenable, the officers were withdrawn to the main* 
 land of Cutch. 
 
 Matters continued in this state till the month An over. 
 
 flow of the 
 
 of November, 1826, when information was re- Indus de- 
 ceived that the Indus had burst its banks in isss. 
 Upper Sinde, and that an immense volume of 
 water had spread over the desert which bounds 
 that country to the eastward, had likewise burst 
 every artificial dam in the river, as well as the 
 " Ullah bund," and forced for itself a passage 
 to the Run of Cutch. In March, 1827, I Actual 
 proceeded to investigate the truth of what I river." 
 have stated, to examine the natural mound, 
 and to endeavour to account for these constant 
 alterations in physical geography. I journeyed 
 from Bhooj, the capital of Cutch, to Lucput, 
 a town on the north-western extremity of the 
 province, situated on the Koree, or eastern 
 branch of the Indus. Here I embarked in a 
 small flat-bottomed boat, and sailed up the river. 
 At Lucput, and for twelve miles up, it was 
 about 300 yards wide, and from two to three 
 fathoms deep, retaining all the appearance of a 
 river. At Sundo, a sand bank so called, which is 
 about four leagues distant from that town, the 
 channel shallowed to four or five feet, for two miles ; 
 but then regaining its depth, I entered on a vast
 
 316 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. XVI. 
 
 inland lake that bounded the horizon on all sides, 
 amid which the remaining tower of Sindree 
 stood, like a rock in the ocean. At Sundo 
 the water was brackish, at Sundree it was quite 
 fresh. Hence I proceeded to *' Ullah bund," 
 which I found to be composed of soft clay and 
 shells, elevated about ten feet from the surface 
 of the water, and cut through like a canal, 
 with perpendicular banks on either side. The 
 channel was about thirty-Jive yards broad, and 
 three fathoms deep ; and a body of fresh water, 
 a portion of the real Indus, rolled down it into 
 the lake w^hich I had traversed, below " Ullah 
 bund." Here the stream took on once more 
 the appearance of a river, and I found several 
 boats laden with '' ghee " (clarified butter), 
 which had descended it from Wunga, and thus 
 corroborated all which I had heard, that the 
 bunds of the Indus had been burst, and that 
 the communication between tlie great river and 
 its eastern and long-forsaken branch was once 
 more restored. I learned likewise that the far- 
 famed fortress of Omercote had been partially 
 overwhelmed in this inundation ; for instead of 
 being an oasis in the desert, as had long been 
 supposed, this birthplace of the great Acbar is 
 a small brick fort only three or four miles dis- 
 tant from the Indus, and between which and
 
 CHAP. XVI. EASTERN INDUS AND RUN. 317 
 
 Lucput, SO late as May, 1829, there was a com- 
 munication by water. 
 
 The *' Ullah bund," which I now examined uiiahbund 
 with attention, was, however, the most singular 
 consequence of this great earthquake. To the 
 eye it did not appear more elevated in one place 
 than another, and could be traced both east and 
 west as far as it could reach ; the natives assigned 
 to it a total length of fifty miles. It must not, 
 however, be supposed to be a narrow stripe like 
 an artificial dam, as it extends inland to Raoma- 
 ka-bazar, perhaps to a breadth of sixteen miles, 
 and appeared to be a great upheaving of nature. 
 Its surface was covered with saline soil, and I 
 have already stated that it consisted of clay, 
 shells, and sand. The people universally attri- 
 buted this bund to the influence of the earth- 
 quake, and also assigned the shallowness of the 
 river at Sundo to the same cause. 
 
 The inland lake which had been thus formed. Opinions 
 extended for about 2000 square miles, and its [hfeS 
 limits were well defined, since the roads from "^^th! 
 Cutch to Sinde passed on either side of it. The i"^^^' 
 one led from Nurra to Loonee and Raomaka- 
 bazar, and the other from Lucput to Kotree 
 Garee and the Jattee. I am disposed to believe 
 that this sheet of water has collected from a 
 depression of the country round Sindree ; for the
 
 318 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. XVI. 
 
 earthquake had an immediate influence on the 
 channel of the river below *' Ullah bund," which 
 became deep enough to be navigable for boats 
 of 100 tons from the sea to Lucput, which had 
 never been the case since I762. While the basin 
 of Sin dree, as I may call it, was depressed, it is 
 evident that the mound of *' Ullah bund *' was 
 raised at the same time, as the description 
 already given will have satisfactorily shown. 
 Subsequent lu the mouth of AugList, iu the year 1827, I 
 LthV"^ proceeded a second time to the eastern branch 
 "'^"^" of the Indus, to make further investigations re- 
 garding a subject on which many individuals, as 
 well as myself, had taken an interest. Great 
 alterations had taken place in this changeable 
 country ; the river and lake were deeper in all 
 places by two feet, the channel through " Ullah 
 bund " was much widened, and the sheet of 
 water was now entirely and every where salt. 
 The stream which passed "Ullah bund" was 
 fresh, but greatly diminished in size : in the 
 time that had intervened between my visits, 
 the south-westerly winds had prevailed, and 
 blown the sea water in upon the fresh, which, 
 appeared to account for the change that had 
 taken place. 
 
 Besides the facts which have been recorded, 
 it appears clear that a portion of the waters of
 
 CHAP. XVI. EASTERN INDUS AND RUN. 319 
 
 the Indus have a tendency to escape by Lucput 
 and Cutch. We find an inundation of the river 
 seeking an old channel which had been deserted 
 by them for sixty-five years.* 
 
 THE RUN. 
 
 In the course of my observations on the Indus, Run of 
 I found myself drawn into many inquiries re- ^^^ ' 
 garding the Run of Cutch, to which that river 
 adjoins ; for if the alterations in the river afforded 
 room for remark, there was also much to be said 
 on the Run, which is a tract, I believe, without a 
 counterpart in the globe. In length, the Run 
 extends from the Indus to the western confines 
 of Guzerat, a distance of about ^200 British 
 miles. In breadtii, it is about thirty-five miles ; 
 but there are, besides, various belts and ramifica- 
 tions, which give it an extent of about 7^00 
 square miles. It is accurately delineated in 
 tlie map. Tiie whole tract may truly be said 
 to be a "terra hospitibus ferox ;'* freshwater 
 is never to be had any where but on islands, 
 and there it is scarce ; it has no herbage, 
 and vegetable life is only discernible in the 
 shape of a stunted tamarisk bush, which thrives 
 
 * I have suppressed various opinions which I had formed 
 on the causes of these constant changes, deeming them of 
 small value. The paper has been also published at length 
 by the Royal Asiatic Society of London.
 
 320 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. XVI. 
 
 by its suction of the rain water that falls near 
 it. It differs as widely from what is termed 
 the sandy desert, as it differs from the CLdti- 
 vated plain ; neither does it resemble the steppes 
 of Russia ; but may be justly considered of a 
 nature peculiar to itself. It has been deno- 
 minated a marsh by geographers, which has 
 given rise to many erroneous impressions re- 
 garding it. It has none of the characteristics 
 of one : it is not covered or saturated with water, 
 but at certain periods; it has neither weeds nor 
 grass in its bed, which, instead of being slimy, 
 is hard, dry, and sandy, of such a consistency as 
 never to become clayey, unless from a long con- 
 tinuance of water on an individual spot; nor is it 
 otherwise fenny or swampy. It is a vast ex- 
 panse of flat, hardened, sand, encrusted with salt 
 sometimes an inch deep (the water having been 
 evaporated by the sun), and at others, beauti- 
 fully crystallized in large lumps. So much is 
 the whole surrounding country corrupted by 
 this exuberance of salt, that all the wells dug 
 on a level with the Run become salt. The 
 depression of the Run below the level of the 
 surrounding country at once suggests the pro- 
 bability of its being a dried up lake or sea. 
 Mirage of Nowhcrc is that singular phenomenon, the 
 
 the Run. . 7 r i i 1 
 
 mirage or' surah or the desert, seen with greater 
 advantage than in the Run. The natives aptly
 
 CHAP. XVI. EASTERN INDUS AND RUN. 321 
 
 term it smoke* ; the smallest shrubs at a dis- 
 tance assume the appearance of forests ; and on 
 a nearer approach, sometimes that of ships in 
 full sail, at others that of breakers on a rock. 
 In one instance I observed a cluster of bushes, 
 which looked like a pier, with tall-masted vessels 
 lying close to it ; and on approaching, not a bank 
 was near the shrubs to account for the deception. 
 From the Run, the hills of Cutch appear more 
 lofty, and to have merged into the clouds, their 
 bases being obscured by vapour. The wild assf 
 is the only inhabitant of tliis desolate region ; 
 they roam about in flocks, " scorning the mul- 
 *' titude of the city, and make the wilderness 
 " and barren lands their dwelling." Their size 
 does not much exceed that of the common ass, 
 but, at a short distance, they sometimes appear as 
 large as elephants. While the sun shines, the whole 
 surrounding space of Run resembles a vast ex- 
 panse of water — the appearance it commonly 
 assumes — and which is only to be distinguished 
 from real water by those who are long habit- 
 uated to such visionary illusions. Wlien the 
 sun is not shining, the Run appears higher at 
 a distance ; but tliis has been remarked of tlie 
 sea, and other extensive sheets of water, and 
 is also to be accounted for in the deception of 
 vision. 
 
 * Dhooan. t Called " Khui'-gudha" by the natives. 
 
 VOL. III. Y
 
 322 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. XVI. 
 
 Traditions Tlie natives of Cutcb, Mahommedans as well 
 Ihfiiu? as Hindoos, believe that the Run was formerly 
 a sea ; and a tradition is in the mouth of every 
 one, that a Hindoo saint, by name Dhoorumnath, 
 a Jogee*, underwent penance by standing on 
 his head for twelve years on the summit of 
 Denodur, one of the highest hills in Cutch, 
 which overlooks the Run. When his penance 
 terminated, God became visible to him, the hill 
 on which he stood split in two, and the adjacent 
 sea (the present Run) dried up ; the ships and 
 boats which then navigated it were overturned, 
 its harbours destroyed, and many wonderful 
 events happened. There is no race of people who 
 have recourse to supernatural agency in their 
 chronicles, more than the natives of India; and, 
 to those accustomed to enquire into them, the 
 circumstances just recorded will appear as the 
 graft of one of tlieir tales on some real event 
 which has actually occurred, and is thus trans- 
 mitted to posterity. Considering the frequent 
 occurrence of earthquakes in Cutcli, the volcanic 
 appearance of its hills, and the lava which 
 
 * This class of people arc yet numerous in Cutch : it is 
 among them that the horrid custom called " traga" prevails. 
 It consists in sacrificing one of" their numher when any 
 injury or oppression is offered to their comnnnn'ty, under a 
 beheCthat the blood so shed rests on the head of those who 
 oppress them.
 
 CHAP. XVI. EASTERN INDUS AND RUN. 323 
 
 covers the face of the country, it is to a con- 
 vulsion of nature, in all probability, that we 
 are to attribute the foundation of such a tra- 
 dition. 
 
 The natives, however, carry their traditions Concur- 
 beyond the vague legends of a saint, and point dUions. 
 out at this day different positions, said to have 
 been harbours, in the Run of Cutch. At Nerona, 
 which is a village about twenty miles NNW. 
 of Bhooj the capital, and close to the Run, there 
 is said to have been a sea-port, which is thus 
 described in the poesy of the country : — 
 
 '* Nerona nuggartur 
 
 Judhee Goontree Chitrano." 
 
 In other words, that Nerona was a sea-port (tur), 
 when Goontree (an ancient city in Cntch) 
 flourished in the neighbouring district of Chi- 
 trano. At Charee, a village westward of Nerona, 
 and on the Run, there is also a like tradition. 
 The people of the Puchum, the largest island 
 on the Run, have similar traditions, and speak 
 of boats having been wrecked on the hills of the 
 island; also that there were considerable harbours 
 near them, called Dorut, Doh or Dohee, and 
 Phangwuro, which are yet pointed out to the 
 westward of Puchnm. Bitaro, a small place on 
 the high road to Sinde, between Cutch and 
 «' UUah Bund," is also said to have been a sea- 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. XVI* 
 
 port, and I could point out several others. Nor 
 are the tiaditions less concurrent on the Sinde, 
 or northern side of the Run : Veego-gud, near 
 " Ullah Bund," is said to have been the prin- 
 cipal sea-port, and its brick ruins are yet visible. 
 Vingur and Ballyaree, which lie eastward, claim 
 likewise the same privileges. This sea had tlie 
 name of " Kiln ;" nor do I believe that the testi- 
 mony of so many people, regarding it, can be 
 discredited, informed as I was of these traditions 
 by different persons, who liad no communication 
 with one another. 
 Effects of The effects of the earthquake of 1819 have 
 
 3 late 
 
 earthquake bccu already mentioned, in so far as relates to 
 the country adjoining tlie Indus ; but occur- 
 rences of an equally singular nature happened 
 farther eastward. It made numerous cracks or 
 fissures in the Run ; and I state, on the authority 
 of eye-witnesses, that inunense quantities of 
 black, muddy water were ejected from these 
 openings for a period of three days, and that 
 the water bubbled out of tlie wells of the tract 
 bordering on the Run, called Bunnee, till it 
 overwhelmed the country in some place with six, 
 and even ten feet of water. The shepherds 
 with difficulty saved themselves and their flocks. 
 During this time numerous pieces of iron and 
 ship-nails were thrown up at Phangwuro, the 
 sea-port before mentioned ; and similar things
 
 CHAP. XVI. EASTERN INDUS AND RUN. 325 
 
 have been since found in the same neighbourhood 
 wliile digging tanks. I give this fact on the 
 authority of respectable men at Nurra, who also 
 assured me that nothing of the kind had ever been 
 discovered before the earthquake of 1S19. 
 
 The o'rand Run of Cutch is that part wliich Flooding 
 
 ^ , ^ of the Run, 
 
 lies between Sinde and the islands of Puchum 
 and Khureer, the other parts being but ramifi- 
 cations of it. It has a communication with the 
 sea both on the east and west, by means of the 
 Gulf of Cutch and a branch of the Indus, and 
 it is flooded from both these openings as soon as 
 the south-westerly winds set in, about April 
 each year. When local rain falls and moistens 
 the Run, the sea enters with great rapidity, and 
 insulates the province of Cutch for some months; 
 but even without rain the greater portion of the 
 Run is annually flooded. The level of the Run 
 is obviously higher than the sea, since it requires 
 strong winds to blow the waters of the ocean 
 over it. 
 
 We must now attend to the configuration of Configura- 
 
 . tion of the 
 
 the Run. In the north-eastern extremity of Runbor- 
 Cutch, it will be observed that a chain of hills 
 overhangs the Run at Bheyla : they are about 
 300 feet high, and terminate abruptly. The 
 islands of Khureer and Puchum lie due west of 
 this range, and are not only composed of the 
 same sort of ironstone as the Bheyla hills, but 
 
 Y 3
 
 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. XVI. 
 
 have similar ranges running througli their 
 northern extremities, which terminate, particu- 
 larly at Khureer, in a bluff and abrupt outline 
 towards the Run. Khureer is six miles west- 
 ward of Cutch, and Puchum is about sixteen 
 from Khureer ; westward of Puchum there are 
 a few low and sandy islets on the Run, and 
 south of it lies the Bunnee, an extensive tract 
 of grassland, of greater elevation than the Run, 
 but not sufficiently so to yield grain. It has 
 many wells, and is inhabited by a pastoral race. 
 South of Khureer there are also many islands, 
 the largest of which is Gangta, and covered 
 with rocky hills. Between Guzerat and Cutch 
 the Run is narrow ; at Addysirit is but a mile and 
 a half wide to the island of Chorar. Here there 
 is a deposit of shells and marine matter, a car- 
 bonate of lime mixed with other substances ; it 
 has a red and yellow petrified appearance, takes 
 on a tolerably good polish, and from which some 
 members of the faithful pretend to read Arabic 
 words, or letters of the Koran. It was used in 
 the mosaic works of all the Moghul emperors, 
 and is commonly called Dookur-warra marble 
 by Europeans. North of the Bheyla hills lies 
 Parkur, a district pcninsulated by the Run, 
 having the lofty hills of Kalinjur, of a formation 
 differing from Cutch, where they are almost all 
 sandstone. They are primitive rocks, rising in
 
 CHAP. XVI. EASTERN INDUS AND RUN. S^ 
 
 small cones one upon another, as if they had 
 dropped from the clouds ; the summit is com- 
 posed of trap, which extends for about a third of 
 the way down, and the base is red granite, which 
 rings when struck. These hills are separated 
 from Cutch by a low tract of the Run, upwards of 
 thirty miles broad, without an intervening bush. 
 The whole northern face of Cutch, from Bheyla 
 on the east to Lucput on the west, presents, 
 with a few exceptions, either a rocky or an ele- 
 vated bank. From Nurra to Lucput the rocks ter- 
 minate abruptly, and form what would be called 
 capes, cliffs, and promontories, if the water 
 washed under them. When the immediate 
 vicinity of the Run is not of this description, 
 it stretches inland, exactly as water would do 
 when not resisted. 
 
 The sea is receding from the southern shores Run sup. 
 of Cutch ; and I believe it is a generally received have been 
 conclusion, that there is a depression of its level sL"^''"'^ 
 throughont the globe, though in some places it 
 has risen. We may, tlierefore, suppose the 
 ocean to have receded from the Run of Cutch, 
 and that that tract was at one time a navio-able 
 sea. That the natives should attribute so 
 great a change in a part of their country to 
 the influence of a Jogee, is not wonderful. A 
 body of tliese persons has been long settled in 
 Cutch. They are a philanthropic and hospi-
 
 328 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. XVI. 
 
 table body of men, who permit no one of any 
 persuasion to leave their door hungry, and they 
 are blessed witli plenty. Like the monks in 
 Europe in former days, these Jogees are the 
 repository of history and traditions, and it may 
 be their careful preservation of them, which 
 has given rise to the belief that the alterations 
 in the Run were accomplished in the time 
 of Dhoorumnath, the founder of their order. 
 In proof of tliis, they have a tradition that the 
 ancestors of the present rulers of Cutch were 
 once a class of poor sheplierds from Samee 
 (Tatta), in Sinde, and fed their flocks, till 
 patronised by the Denodur Jogees, who raised 
 them to be Rajahs of the conntry. So far is this 
 true, the Rajpoots of Cutch did come from 
 Tatta, and did tend herds of cattle in Cutcli ; 
 but they were certainly not raised to their pre- 
 sent elevation by the intercession of some Hindoo 
 monks ; yet such is tlie alteration which a story 
 undergoes, in the course of four hiuidred years.* 
 
 * I have since found, in some manuscript papers of the 
 late lamented Captain M'Murdo, written as long since as 
 1815, that he formed similar conclusions with myself re- 
 garding the Run of Cutch. He is treating of that part of 
 it near Kattywar, of which I have not spoken, and the fol- 
 lowing extract is both curious and satisfactory : — 
 
 " The llunn has every appearance oi" the sea having 
 " shortly withdrawn from it. This is supported by the 
 " semblance and production of the neighbouring country, 
 " and large stones are found on the shore several miles from
 
 CHAP. XVI. EASTERN INDUS AND RUN. 529 
 
 *' the present Runn, of a description similar to those used 
 " as anchors ; they liave holes bored through for the cable. 
 " On the shore, at different places, are shown small ancient 
 " buildings, called Dan Derees, or houses where the dan 
 " or customs were collected ; and, in short, it is a tradition 
 " in the country, that Khor, a village two miles east of 
 " Teekir, was a sea-port town. About fifty years since, the 
 *' wreck of a vessel, of a size far beyond that of any of the 
 " craft now in use in the Gulf of Cutch, was discovered at 
 " Wawania, sunk in the mud about fifteen feet deep." — 
 Captain 31' Murdo's MS. Memoir on Kattyivar, August, 1815. 
 
 NOTE ON SINDREE. 
 
 I ANNEX tlie following extract, describing a 
 journey from Lucput in Cutch, to Hydrabad in 
 Sinde, by way of Sindree, from the MS. of 
 Captain R. M. Grindlay, written in the year 
 1808, when with a mission to the Ameers of 
 Sinde, and which has been kindly furnished to 
 me. It will be seen that the neighbourhood of 
 Sindree, which I have described to be under 
 water, was then dry, and that the fort of Sindree 
 existed at that time, as an outpost of the Cutch 
 Government. 
 
 " We embarked on the creek at Lucput Bunder, 
 " which is about three quarters of a mile broad, and 
 " runs between east and north, for six or eight miles, 
 " when it begins to narrow very much : the shore on 
 " each side is a wet marsh, covered with short bushes. 
 " In the evening we anchored at the turn of the tide,
 
 330 EASTERN INDUS AND RUN. CHAP. XVI. 
 
 " and at twelve o'clock next day we passed Sindree, 
 " which is about thirty miles from Lucput, and depend- 
 " ent on it, with a small garrison of sepoys : it is a small 
 " fort, with a few huts outside, and one well : the creek 
 " here is about a mile and a quarter broad, and has a 
 " ferry across. The travellers who take this route to 
 " Sinde are not numerous, and leave no vestige of a 
 " road in the light sand, of which the dry part of the 
 " Run is composed. The heat of the meridian sun is said 
 " to be so intense, that they generally travel in the 
 " night. From Sindree, by land, the next stage is about 
 " twenty-four miles to Baura, after which the Run ends, 
 " and w^ater becomes tolerably plentiful. 
 
 " We passed Sindree, and observed several inferior 
 *' branches leading through the Run, among which we 
 " saw a few straggling men and women ; about twenty 
 " miles beyond Sindree, we reached Aly Bunder, at 
 " eight o'clock at night, and came to anchor close to the 
 " mound which confines the fresh water : when the day 
 *' appeared, we observed it to be a poor mud village, of 
 *' about fifty huts, and a tower of the same unsub- 
 " stantial materials. Here w^e encamped for the purpose 
 " of collecting the boats from the freshwater side of the 
 " mound, and not finding a sufficient number, several 
 " of those we brought with us were dragged over: this, 
 " however, was a work of three days ; and, during that 
 *' time, from the nature of the soil, we were annoyed by 
 " the dust in such a manner as woukl scarcely be 
 " believed by those who had not been in a similar 
 " situation : the sun was completely obscured by it, 
 " an object at the distance of 100 yards was invisible; 
 " and the natives moving about were so disguised, that 
 " their colour was not distinguishable. The soil of the 
 *' Run is a mixture of fine sand and the salt deposited
 
 CHAP. XVI. EASTERN INDUS AND RUN. 331 
 
 " by the inundation. This, dried by several months' sun, 
 " becomes a most impalpable powder. The Run, which 
 " ceases about a line with Aly Bunder, from north-east 
 " and north, is covered with aquatic bushes and a few 
 " shells : the sand entangled amongst these bushes forms 
 " hillocks of various heights, from five to fifteen feet, 
 " according to the size of the bush. It does not ap- 
 " pear that any of the side channels lead beyond the 
 " Run, or that any of them are navigated by boats, 
 " except those which again join the main stream : that 
 " by which we came is certainly by far the most con- 
 " siderable. 
 
 " On the 10th we embarked again on the freshwater 
 " river, which is there about 400 yards broad, and soon 
 " after widens very much, with high sand-hills on the 
 " banks, and a few huts with a little cultivation. The 
 " river here takes the name of Goonee. 
 
 " At the distance of about twelve miles from Aly 
 " Bunder, the river divides, and soon after becomes so 
 " narrow, that our boats, though not large, had difficulty 
 *' in passing through the large bushes which overhang 
 " the bajik, and has great appearance of a cut canal, or 
 " at least of a channel cleared out and deepened ; the 
 " banks are irregular in their height, and the land 
 " immediately beyond them low, and in several places 
 " swampy. We passed the mouth of a creek on the 
 " west, said to lead to Tatta, besides several other in- 
 " ferior streams which run through tiie country, and are 
 " cut into a variety of channels, for the purposes of 
 " cultivation. 
 
 " About ten miles beyond Aly Bunder, on the west 
 " bank, is Chuttee Thur (or ferry), opposite to which is 
 " the mouth of a considerable stream, with a dam across, 
 " which we understood to be the IMioran. This was
 
 332 MEMOIR OF THE INDUS. CHAP. XVI. 
 
 " formerly a very large branch of the Indus, and ran 
 " past Nusserpoor, which I learn is to the south-east. 
 " Many of the inhabitants of that place recollect a 
 ** remarkable change in the river : the inundation swal- 
 " lowed up a great part of the town, and altered the 
 " course of the river, which since then has had much 
 " less water in it. The whole of Sinde, from the nature 
 " of its soil, is subject to these alterations by the annual 
 " floods, many striking instances of which the inhabit- 
 *' ants are well acquainted with, particularly that which 
 " I have already mentioned, and the great alterations in 
 " the branches below Tatta." — See Capiain GiindleT/s 
 Journal m MS. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 -V 
 
 London : 
 
 Printed by A. Spottiswoode, 
 
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