the revenue and judicial lines, by a class called the Indo-Britons, who seem to have lately directed their ambition to those offices. As they are the grafts of a people possessing a regard for integrity and honesty, and as they profess to partake of the principles followed by the original stock, there is no doubt, that, if qualified, they will often have the preference on the occurrence of a vacancy in the branches of the service just adverted to, and that the natives will, in a good An measure, be excluded therefrom. appointment of a person of the class we have mentioned has come to our knowledge, as having already taken place, which, however, we do not wish to disclose, before we see it officially announced.-Ibid. THE RIVER INDUS. During the late surveys of the Indus, much additional information has been obtained respecting the mouths and branches of that celebrated river. All those that are now open have been examined, and the extent to which they are navigable in the dry season ascertained. In the following account, a short description is given of their present state and the alterations they have undergone during the last half century, which have been much more extensive than is generally supposed. The Of the eleven large mouths, Phittie, Pyntianee, Jouah and Richel, belong to the Buggaur, or right arm, and the Hu jamree, Kedy waree, Kookewaree, Kaheer and Mull to the Setta, or left arm. remaining two, the Seer and Khoree, are the embouchures of the Punjaree and Fulailee, or eastern branches, which are primary off-shoots from the great river thrown off above Tatta. In the latter part of the last century, the Richel gave egress to the waters of both arms, but in the changes that have since taken place, the branch that connected it with the Setta was destroyed, and scarcely a trace now remains to show that it once existed. At present, the Kookewaree is the grand embouchure of the Indus, through which the most considerable portion of its waters is discharged. It is called in the late maps the Gora, and that name, although now almost unknown to the inhabitants of the Delta, is still applied to it by the Cutch pilots, who are not aware of the alterations that have occurred on this unfrequented part of the coast. Within the last fifteen years the Gora mouth has been abandoned by the river, and its site is now occupied by an extensive swamp. From the recent examinations, it has been ascertained that no communication exists between the Buggaur and main river, a sand-bank having accumulated at the confluence, which is now five or six feet above the level of the water. In the branches diverging from that arm, the water is salt, and they can only be considered as inlets of the sea. The same may be said of the Punjaree and Fulailee; after the inundation has subsided, those branches in many places dry up entirely, and they are besides closed by bunds thrown across them above the sea-port towns. The Setta pursues the same course to the ocean as the great river from which it is supplied, and is, in fact, a continuation of it. In every part it preserves a similar magnitude and depth, and there is every reason to believe that it has been for a very long period, as it now is, the principal channel of the Indus. In its passage to the sea it receives many local appellations, but is best known to the natives of lower Sinde, as the Munnejah or Wanyanee. Of the four branches it sends off, the Suahn and Kedywaree are now the only two favoured by the fresh water, or through which there is a communication with the main stream. The latter, however, can scarcely be considered a branch, for it is merely a shallow creek with a broad entrance thrown off by the Munnejah near its mouth. Both the Mintnee and the Mull are impassable at the point where they quit the Setta, and nothing is now seen of these once noble rivers but two shallow rivulets, one of which you may step across, and the other but a few yards broad. Before the mouths of the Setta, a bank has been cast up by the violence of the tide, which projects five miles from the coast, and extends along it fifteen. This immense flat occupies an area of above sixty square miles, and in many parts dries at half ebb. At the lowest state of the tide, the central parts are elevated twelve feet above the level of the sea, and the beds of some of the channels from three to four. Through those diverging from the Kookewaree mouth, the vast body of water issuing from the Munnejah river rushes with great impetuosity, and in calm weather with a noise that is heard some distance. These channels then form, what may be termed rapids, and on the extreme edge of the bank terminate in a fall of about twelve inches. The water is perfectly fresh six or seven miles from the land; and the Cutch boats, when in want of a supply, sometimes anchor off them and fill their casks. Outside the great bank, the sea rises several feet higher than it does on the other parts of the Sinde coast, and it is only from this circumstance that the Kookewaree mouth is accessible. Steamers drawing seven feet can pass through it without difficulty and ascend the river to Hyderabad. Vessels of even a larger draught might be taken into the Munnejah. But for practical purposes, the above ought not to be exceeded. From its mouth to Hyderabad there is not less than nine or ten feet in the shallowest part of the river, but the channels are extremely intricate, and shift their position with extraordinary rapidity. The navigation of the Indus will always be tedious and difficult, but with flat-bottomed vessels it cannot be considered dangerous. The Hujamree or Seeahre river quits the Setta forty miles below Tatta, and pursuing a course to the W. S. W., falls into the sea about forty miles above the Kookewaree mouth. Of all the channels of the Delta it is the most intricate. In some places you do not advance in a direct line more than one mile in three, and the reaches turn back so directly upon each other, that nothing but a narrow neck of land, scarcely 100 yards across, is left between them. The mouth of this branch is easily accessible, and at high tide there is not less water on the bar than twelve feet. It is navigable as high as Bunder Vikkur, now the principal sea-port of the Delta for vessels drawing seven feet; but above that town becomes so shallow in the dry season, that boats of a greater draught than two feet eight inches cannot ascend it. Near its confluence with the Setta, the breadth for some miles rarely exceeds fifty yards, and it is fordable at any time of tide in six or eight different places. Amongst the seaports of Sinde, Bunder Vikkur may be considered as next in importance to Corachee. The closing of the branches leading to Shahbunder, diverted the trade of that town to other channels, and the Hujamree possessing many advantages over the other rivers, was soon frequented by the boats engaged in it. The port takes its name from a small village, which, within the last few years, has been almost deserted; but the town is called Barree Gorah, from its vicinity to the mouth of the Gorah Creek. It contains about 120 houses, constructed of reeds and grass plastered with mud, and, including the contiguous villages, has a population of about 1,200 souls. The appearance of the place is wretched beyond description, but it possesses, notwithstanding, a considerable trade, and has now become a dépôt for the greater part of the foreign and internal commerce of the Delta. The total value of the trade is about five lacs of rupees, and the balance is in favour of Sinde, the exports exceeding the imports by more than a third. The former consist of rice, ghee, and gour, and the latter of the following articles. From Bombay: cloth, sugar, dyes, iron, lead, and copper. From Muscat: slaves, dates, and dried fruits. From Guzerat and Cutch: cotton. From the Malabar Coast: pepper, timber, coir, cocoa-nuts, coarse cloth, and curry stuff. The average number of boats that annu- Of ally arrive at Vikkur is about 400. these 350 are sent from Cutch and Guzerat, thirty from Bombay, and the rest from Cochee and the Mukran coast. In size they vary considerably, but it will not be far from the truth if their average capacity is estimated at twenty tons. Most of those that arrive with cargoes belong to Bombay: the remainder come empty and take away rice, of which above 7,000 tons is annually exported from this part of the Delta alone. It is all of a coarse and inferior quality, and is purchased at the rate of about 35 rupees per kurwar of about 1,800lb. From Vikkur a revenue is obtained of rather more than a lac of rupees per annum. It is assigned to Meer Nusseer Khan, the brother of the reigning Ameer, and is derived from a duty of 10 per cent, levied on the trade, and a share, amounting to twofifths of the produce of the soil. No route presents such facilities to the natives for a commercial intercourse with the upper parts of Sinde as the Hujamree river; and if the duties were more moderate, the whole trade would be soon conveyed by this channel, with the exception of a small quantity of timber. None of the goods imported to Vikkur ever find their way above the Delta, and nothing is ever sent from Hyderabad but a little indigo. Wheat, although grown in large quantities in Upper Sinde, is generally procurable at a cheaper rate from Cutch and the Mukran coast. Between Vikkur and the capital, the transit duties demanded at different towns and villages amount altogether to 35 per cent. The greater portion is exacted by the different chiefs possessing jaghires bordering on the river, whom the Ameers apparently allow to levy whatever imposts they please. The most valuable part of the trade has for many years passed into Sinde by the Corachee route. It is sent from that place by water to Garrah, a town on the small river of the same name, and from thence to Hyderabad on camels. The expense of carriage is said to be about 37 rupees per ton. The duty demanded at Corachee is six per cent. In 1809 it produced a revenue of rather less than a lac of rupees, but it has since considerably increased. It has apparently hitherto been a matter of doubt whether vessels of a large size ever frequented the Indus, or could at any period have navigated the rivers of the Delta; the point, however, is now completely set at rest by a discovery made a short time ago. About twenty miles above the mouth of the Hujamree, there is a large ship half embedded in the soil at a distance of 150 yards from the high steep bank of the river. Her upper works are almost entire, and she cannot be less than 350 tons in burthen. She is of the old-fashioned build, 85 feet long, and pierced for 14 guns. She is said to have belonged to the fleet of the Kalorá princes; and the natives assert (D) that the remains of others of a larger size are still visible in the vicinity of the Munnejah river. Forty or fifty years ago, the Sinde monarchs appear to have possessed a navy of fifteen large ships. Individuals have been met with who, in their youth, served on board them; and, from their description, one must have been nearly 1,000 tons in burthen, and several of the others from 700 to 800. All of them were vessels of war, and they were stationed at Shahbunder, which owes its name (the king's port) to that circumstance. The largest is said to have mounted thirty guns. During the struggle that took place between the Kalora princes and the Talpoor chiefs, which ended in the expulsion of the former, they were deserted by their crews, and many of them destroyed. The rest were laid up by the victo rious Belochee chiefs in creeks and canals, where they quickly became fixed by the accumulation of mud, and now remain to attest the wealth and power once possessed hy their predecessors. The changes that have occurred in the central branches of the Delta, within the last sixty years, are most remarkable, and exhibit the ever-varying and inconstant character of the Indus in the strongest right. In the latter part of the last century the Seeahre or Hujamree was a broad deep river, discharged through the Richel mouth, and afforded a passage for large vessels up to Shabbunder. The old banks are still visible in a continuous line throughout the upper portion, and show that its width, at that period, could not have been less, in the narrowest part, than 200 yards. It then quitted the Setta about seven miles below its present efflux, and after pursuing the same direction as it does now, some miles, turned at a sharp angle through the Kedywaree creek, and formed a junction with the Richel. Faint traces still remain to point out the course and magnitude of the destroyed portions of this once noble stream, which, in some places, must have been at least 800 yards broad. As the water deserted its channel, one of the small creeks, thrown off towards the sea, gradually enlarged and deepened, until in process of time it formed the lower part of the Hujamree river. The mouth of the Richel, now choked with sandbanks, was, at the period alluded to, accessible to the largest vessels, and Shahbunder was frequented by European merchant ships of a considerable size. They proceeded by the destroyed branches of the Seeahre into the Setta, and from this river, the Mull, now abandoned by the water, afforded a passage to that town. Many of the natives remember the times when European goods were cheap and abundant throughout Sinde, and state that sugar especially was brought in such quantities, that it was put into the doondees and sent to Hyderabad in bulk. Fifteen years ago, the Munnejah, as had been before stated, emptied itself through the Gora mouth, which was then from five to six fathoms deep. As the branches above closed, the water increased in volume; forced another passage for itself across a tract of land on the left bank, a forest of high tamarisk trees was swept away in its course, and although there are none of a large size now near the spot, many decayed trunks, half buried in the ground, are still seen on the banks to attest the fact. As the new mouth widened, the old one filled up; and the former, under the name of the Kookewaree, is now the grand embouchure of the Indus. This alteration in the course of the Munnejah, has lately occasioned a curious dispute between two of the Hy. derabad Ameers, whose districts it separates. A large slice of land was cut off, which belongs to Meer Mourad Ally. This was seized by the agents of Meer Nusseer Khan, on the plea, that as the Munnejah is the boundary line between the two portions, all the land on the right bank must always belong to him. The chiefs of the opposite party only replied to this argument by collecting their followers, and expressing their determination to defend Meer Mourad Ally's right to the utmost. Four or five hundred men have assembled near the spot, and it is supposed the dispute will, in a short time, be settled by the sword. Both these princes are near relatives of the reigning Ameer, with whom they reside at the capital, and are noted for the cordiality and affection that apparently exist between them. trifling affair, which one would suppose might have been arranged to the satisfacof all parties in a very short time, gives any thing but a favourable idea of the Sinde government, or of the power pos sessed by the chief Ameer over the members of his own family. This There is every reason to believe, the Setta will continue to be the grand channel of the Indus. That it has been so for a long period, the extensive flats cast up before all its mouths sufficiently attest. They have existed in their present state beyond the memory of man, and are evidently not the work of a short period, but of centuries. It is worthy of remark that nothing of the kind is found at any of the other mouths but the Koree, and this was supposed by one (Capt. Mc Murdo) well qualified to form a judgment on such a difficult point, to have been at a very remote period the principal embouchure of the Indus. Within the last twelve years the Seeahre has rapidly decreased in magnitude, from the accumulation of extensive flats in its bed, that are now sufficiently firm to be available for agricultural purposes. The causes that produced them are still in active operation, and it is obvious that, unless some extraordinary change occurs on which we can not calculate, this branch will be as effectually closed in a few years as the Baggaur. From the angle at which that arm quits the parent stream, there is little probability of its being again re-opened; and the same may be said of the abandoned branches of the Setta. All the changes that have taken place, appear to have been produced by the gradual enlargement of creeks, thrown off at the bends of rivers in a direction favourable for receiving the body of the water. From the comparatively straight course of the Setta, this cause can no longer operate to change its directions or open new channels, and if the Seeahre becomes closed, we shall in a few years witness the singular phenomenon of a mighty river emptying itself by one channel, and through a mouth hardly accessible.-Bom. Cour., April 9. AMERICAN AND DECCAN PLOUGHS. Account of a trial made at Kajur, Indapoor pergunna, of the larger of an American plough, for the purpose of ascertaining what advantages it possessed over the common Deccan plough, and the success which would probably attend its introduction into this country; prepared by Lieut. Wiggins, of the Engineers, an eye-witness of the experiment : A level spot of ground, which had been lying waste for several years, was selected, as likely to afford a fair specimen of the powers of the respective ploughs. The soil was of moderate stiffness, less difficult to break up than the fine black soils, but more so considerably than those generally used for the khurreef crops, and covered in patches by the grass called koonda. A team of ten well-conditioned bullocks, of ordinary size, having been yoked to the Deccan plough, and six to the American, the two were started together. It was found, after the lapse of an hour, when the trial was terminated, that the ground broken up by the latter measured 94 perches, and by the former 83 perches. The team of six bullocks appeared slightly more distressed than the other, but the difference, if any, was hardly perceptible. The furrows were then in several places accurately gauged, when it appeared that those made by the Deccan plough varied in depth from 7 to 10 inches, and by the American from 7 to 8. The superiority of the Deccan plough in this respect, however, was more apparent than real, for the lower portions of its furrows were mere scratches, made by the sharp points of the share, and a ridge of firm unbroken ground remained between every furrow. This of course entails the necessity of another ploughing, while, on the contrary, the shape of the American plough ensures every portion of the soil, even to the bottom of the furrow, being completely broken up, and turned over. between the parties, and which formed part of the evidence, were published in the Colombo Observer. The defendant (appellant), feeling himself aggrieved by this, moved the District Court to ascertain by what means the documentary evidence had been procured from this court; but the judge declined entertaining the motion. Mr. Layard, thereupon, applied to the Supreme Court, alleging that the publication of the letters, which were without interest to the public, could only have been for the purpose of wounding his feelings. The Court, at first, refused to interfere; but upon Mr. Layard stating that he was certain the documents had been obtained from the District Court, and producing certificates that the clerks of the court had not given copies, and that Government had been defrauded of £6. 10s. stamp-duty, by the manner in which they had been procured, the Chief Justice sent for the District Judge (Mr. Blair) from his own bench, and inquired whether it was with his permission that the evidence had been published. Mr. Blair, after remarking on his peculiar and embarrassing situation, in being thus publicly called upon to answer such a question in court, and asking whether the Court had a right to put the question, which, the Chief Justice said, it could exercise, under the general control given to the Supreme Court over the District Judges,-replied that the evidence had been published with his knowledge. The Chief Justice remarked that, however highly he estimated the merits of Mr. Blair as a district judge, he did not consider that he had used his accustomed discretion in the present instance; that in the letters there was much matter quite irrelevant to the points at issue, and their publication was only calculated to hurt private feelings; that what had been published was but a partial statement of what had transpired on the trial, as the arguments of the counsel on both sides had not been given. Mr. Blair, in explanation, stated that he had been in the habit of reporting cases in his own court for the Observer, which were sent as his, without concealment that the editor had applied to him privately for a report of this case, which he had declined to give, from a feeling that he could not fairly report it without going largely into the evidence; that the editor afterwards applied to him publicly in court for liberty to peruse the proceedings, in order to prepare a report for publication, which he (Mr. Blair) openly gave him, without supposing he was thereby doing wrong. The Colombo Observer says: "We defy any one in words to describe the manner in which Mr. Blair bowed to the bench, turned on his heel and withdrew, much to the admiration of the crowded court, and to the equal amazement of their lordships, who followed him with their eyes to the door, some of them at the same time displaying by the colour of their cheeks that they had more feelings than their namesakes upon which they sat." Penang. The nacoda of a Malay prahu, who left this about six months ago, in company with four other boats, on a bêche de mer voyage to the Andamans, anchored at Battu Pringhi, off the N. W. end of the island, on Thursday last, having brought with him two savages, father and son, it is said, from the larger Andaman, who were captured in skirmishes with the Malays during the period they were occupied in gathering and preparing this article of commerce; but who immediately jumped overboard, swam on shore and disappeared in the jungles. The elder savage is represented as a warrior of some rank, having on his person, when taken, certain distinguishing trappings of beautifully braided mat-work, resembling a military sash and epaulettes, which, with his bow and arrows, are now at the police-office. The other four prahus have not yet arrived, but we understand that they have eight savages on board, five men and three women: should these also escape into the jungles, we shall soon have a breed of cannibals in our island. P.W.I. Gaz., June 11. Singapore. TRADE. |