DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15172#0276
CHAP. V.
DELTA OF THE INDUS.
241
and will not allow a stranger to approach a " raj,"
or village ; they swim the rivers with great dex-
terity.
The staple production of the Delta of the Indus is
rice : it is to be had of many different kinds, but its
value seems to depend chiefly on its preparation for
the market. Bajree and all other Indian grains are
raised. From extensive plantations of cane, " goor,"
a coarse kind of sugar, is produced : which, with
wheat, barley, and moong, are reared by irrigating
the fields from cuts to the river, some months be-
fore the periodical swell, and form what may be
called a second crop. Saltpetre is found in the
Delta, but it is not exported, though formerly an
object of commerce to the East India Company.
The climate of Lower Sinde is sultry and dis-
agreeable. The thermometer ranges as high as
90° in March, and though the soil is a rich alluvium,
the dust blows incessantly. The dews are very
heavy and dangerous. It is in every respect a try-
ing country to the human constitution, and this was
observable in the premature old age of the in-
habitants. I could not hear of their being subject
to any marsh fever, or other evil effect from the in-
undation ; they confined their complaints to the in
convenience and annoyance which they suffered
from insects and musquitoes generated in the mud.
VOL. I.
R
DELTA OF THE INDUS.
241
and will not allow a stranger to approach a " raj,"
or village ; they swim the rivers with great dex-
terity.
The staple production of the Delta of the Indus is
rice : it is to be had of many different kinds, but its
value seems to depend chiefly on its preparation for
the market. Bajree and all other Indian grains are
raised. From extensive plantations of cane, " goor,"
a coarse kind of sugar, is produced : which, with
wheat, barley, and moong, are reared by irrigating
the fields from cuts to the river, some months be-
fore the periodical swell, and form what may be
called a second crop. Saltpetre is found in the
Delta, but it is not exported, though formerly an
object of commerce to the East India Company.
The climate of Lower Sinde is sultry and dis-
agreeable. The thermometer ranges as high as
90° in March, and though the soil is a rich alluvium,
the dust blows incessantly. The dews are very
heavy and dangerous. It is in every respect a try-
ing country to the human constitution, and this was
observable in the premature old age of the in-
habitants. I could not hear of their being subject
to any marsh fever, or other evil effect from the in-
undation ; they confined their complaints to the in
convenience and annoyance which they suffered
from insects and musquitoes generated in the mud.
VOL. I.
R