DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15172#0049
16
COMMUNICATE WITH THE AMEER, chap. i.
" ready for action I" To this vain-glorious observ-
ation succeeded 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 per-
sonal remonstrance. It was useless ; we were sur-
rounded by ignorant barbarians, who shouted out,
in reply to all I said, that they had been ordered to
turn us out of the country. I protested against
their conduct in the most forcible language ; re-
minded them that I was the representative, how-
ever humble, of a great Government, charged with
presents from Royalty ; and added, that, without a
written document from their master, I should de-
cline quitting Sinde. An hour's delay served to
convince me that personal 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 collision, I sailed for the most eastern
mouth of the Indus, from which I addressed the
authorities in Sinde, as well as Colonel Pottinger,
the Resident in Cutch.
I was willing to believe that the soldiers had
exceeded the authority which had been granted
them ; and was speedily put in possession of a
letter from the Ameer, couched in friendly terms,
but narrating, at great length, the difficulty 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
COMMUNICATE WITH THE AMEER, chap. i.
" ready for action I" To this vain-glorious observ-
ation succeeded 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 per-
sonal remonstrance. It was useless ; we were sur-
rounded by ignorant barbarians, who shouted out,
in reply to all I said, that they had been ordered to
turn us out of the country. I protested against
their conduct in the most forcible language ; re-
minded them that I was the representative, how-
ever humble, of a great Government, charged with
presents from Royalty ; and added, that, without a
written document from their master, I should de-
cline quitting Sinde. An hour's delay served to
convince me that personal 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 collision, I sailed for the most eastern
mouth of the Indus, from which I addressed the
authorities in Sinde, as well as Colonel Pottinger,
the Resident in Cutch.
I was willing to believe that the soldiers had
exceeded the authority which had been granted
them ; and was speedily put in possession of a
letter from the Ameer, couched in friendly terms,
but narrating, at great length, the difficulty 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