DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15172#0075
42
SCENERY NEAR HYDRABAD. chap. n.
feather of the cocked hat that I wore. Before bid-
ding him adieu, he repeated, in even stronger lan-
guage, all his yesterday's professions; and, however
questionable his sincerity, I took my departure with
much satisfaction at what had passed, since it
seemed he would no longer intei*rupt our advance
to Lahore. Meer Nusseer Khan, the son of the
Ameer, presented me with a handsome Damascus
sword, which had a scabbard of red velvet orna-
mented 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.
The scenery near the capital of Sinde is varied
and beautiful: the sides of the river are lined 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 hidden by the
stream. The island on which Hydrabad 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
accounts which are already on record. It does
not contain a population of twenty thousand souls,
who live in houses, or rather huts, built of mud. The
SCENERY NEAR HYDRABAD. chap. n.
feather of the cocked hat that I wore. Before bid-
ding him adieu, he repeated, in even stronger lan-
guage, all his yesterday's professions; and, however
questionable his sincerity, I took my departure with
much satisfaction at what had passed, since it
seemed he would no longer intei*rupt our advance
to Lahore. Meer Nusseer Khan, the son of the
Ameer, presented me with a handsome Damascus
sword, which had a scabbard of red velvet orna-
mented 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.
The scenery near the capital of Sinde is varied
and beautiful: the sides of the river are lined 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 hidden by the
stream. The island on which Hydrabad 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
accounts which are already on record. It does
not contain a population of twenty thousand souls,
who live in houses, or rather huts, built of mud. The