112
CATHiEI OP ARRIAN.
CHAP. V.
as barren and desert. A sheet of hard clay, with
clumps of tamarisk, khair, lan, 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.
The population chiefly consists of the pastoral
tribe of Kattia, or Jun, who are so called from
their living an erratic life, "Jun" having that sig-
nification : few of them are found at any distance
from the rivers, but in the rainy season. They
have immense herds of buffaloes and camels, from
the milk of which they derive sustenance ; hardly
cultivating the soil, though some tolerable fields
of tobacco, raised by irrigation, may be seen near
their habitations. They are a tall and handsome
race ; which may 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 lace:
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 aborigines
of this country, in whom, I think, we recognise the
Cathseiof 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 they lived further to the south,
CATHiEI OP ARRIAN.
CHAP. V.
as barren and desert. A sheet of hard clay, with
clumps of tamarisk, khair, lan, 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.
The population chiefly consists of the pastoral
tribe of Kattia, or Jun, who are so called from
their living an erratic life, "Jun" having that sig-
nification : few of them are found at any distance
from the rivers, but in the rainy season. They
have immense herds of buffaloes and camels, from
the milk of which they derive sustenance ; hardly
cultivating the soil, though some tolerable fields
of tobacco, raised by irrigation, may be seen near
their habitations. They are a tall and handsome
race ; which may 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 lace:
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 aborigines
of this country, in whom, I think, we recognise the
Cathseiof 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 they lived further to the south,