DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15172#0036
4
APPOINTMENT AND INSTRUCTIONS, chap, i.
trust to the people of the country; believing that,
through their means, I might form a link of com-
munication 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,
u and those familiar with it. Lieut. Burnes prefers
" such, on the justest grounds, to any others; fmd-
" ing they facilitate his progress, while they disarm
" that jealousy which the appearance of any of our
" troops excites." Nor were my sentiments erro-
neous ; since a guard of wild Belooches protected
us in Sinde, and allayed suspicion.
When these preliminary arrangements had been
completed, I received my final instructions in a secret
letter from the chief secretary at Bombay. I was
informed that " the depth of water in the Indus, the
" direction and breadth of the stream, its facilities for
" steam navigation, the supply of fuel on its banks,
" and the condition of the princes and people who
" possess the country bordering on it, are all points of
" the highest interest to government; but your own
" knowledge and reflection will suggest to you va-
" rious 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 desired to draw bills on honour for my expenses.
In a spirit also purely characteristic of the distin-
guished individual who then held the government,
I received the thanks of Sir John Malcolm for my
previous services; had my attention drawn to the
APPOINTMENT AND INSTRUCTIONS, chap, i.
trust to the people of the country; believing that,
through their means, I might form a link of com-
munication 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,
u and those familiar with it. Lieut. Burnes prefers
" such, on the justest grounds, to any others; fmd-
" ing they facilitate his progress, while they disarm
" that jealousy which the appearance of any of our
" troops excites." Nor were my sentiments erro-
neous ; since a guard of wild Belooches protected
us in Sinde, and allayed suspicion.
When these preliminary arrangements had been
completed, I received my final instructions in a secret
letter from the chief secretary at Bombay. I was
informed that " the depth of water in the Indus, the
" direction and breadth of the stream, its facilities for
" steam navigation, the supply of fuel on its banks,
" and the condition of the princes and people who
" possess the country bordering on it, are all points of
" the highest interest to government; but your own
" knowledge and reflection will suggest to you va-
" rious 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 desired to draw bills on honour for my expenses.
In a spirit also purely characteristic of the distin-
guished individual who then held the government,
I received the thanks of Sir John Malcolm for my
previous services; had my attention drawn to the