116 
hill close to one on which his fortress is 
situated, fire was seen to issue in con- 
siderable quantities, A ball of a large 
size was vomited as it were into the air, 
and fell to the: ground, still blazing, on 
the plain below, where it divided into 
four or five pieces, and the fire suddenly 
disappeared. On examining the hill 
next day (the chieftain stated) it was 
found rent and shattered, as if some- 
thing within had sunk, and the spot 
where the fire-ball was supposed to. have 
fallen bore marks of fire in the scorched 
vegetation. In the neighbourhood of 
Murr, where alum is made, and where 
an entire hill is formed of a bituminous 
earth,* fire is stated by the inhabitants 
to have issued to an alarming extent. 
The government agent on the spot 
reported the circumstance, and that the 
hill ‘had been shattered and rent into 
ravines: the height was likewise as- 
serted to have been obviously reduced.+ 
The rivers in Cutch are generally dry 
(excepting in the monsoon), or have very 
little water in them, Native accounts 
seem to confirm the fact of almost the 
whole of their beds having been filled to 
their banks for a period of a few minutes, 
and, according to some, for half‘an hour. 
They are said to have subsided gradu- 
ally. Iwas not in the way of observing 
this part of the phenomenon, but have 
no reason to doubt it. Two chieftains 
were sent by me to settle a dispute among 
the Sandhan Bhyaut; and as they tra- 
velled in a ruth, they knew nothing of 
the shock. After it was dusk they 
reached the Sandhan river, in which, to 
their utter astonishment, they found a 
strong stream from bank to bank; nor 
did they learn the cause till they reached 
the town. It is remarked that rivers in 
the valleys, and those with sandy beds, 
were alone affected. Wells every where 
overflowed, many gave way and fell in, 
and in numerous places spots of ground, 
in circles of from twelve to twenty feet 
diameter, threw out water to a consider- 
able height, and subsided into a slough. 
I saw none of these actually forming, 
but frequently met with them in their 
sloughy state. The colour of the wa- 
* Thave the pleasure to send a specimen 
of this earth to the Society. Itis burnt as 
an incense by the Rajpoots, and those who 
worship the Asshapoora. ; 
+ A letter from my friend Captain. El- 
wood states, that an appearance of fire was 
perceived by him near Poorbunder ; and 
the earth on examination proved to be 
scorched, and to bear marks of fire. 
The great Earthquakes in India in 1819. 
[Sept. 1, 
ters sent forth gave great alarm to the 
natives, many of whom affirmed that the 
rivers had run in blood, doubtless from 
the colour of the ‘soil through which 
they had been forced. 
This convulsion of nature has affected 
the eastern and almost deserted channel 
of the river Indus, which bounds Cutch 
to the westward, and the Runn or desert, 
and swamp called the Bhunnee, which 
insulates this province on the north, in 
a more remarkable manner than ‘it has 
any other part of the country. © I’my- 
self have seen this branch of the Indus 
forded at Luckput, with water fer a few 
hundred yards about afoot deep. ‘This 
was when the tide was at ebb; and when 
at flood the depth of the channel was 
never more than six feet, and about 
eighty or one hundred yards in breadth : 
the rest of the channel at flood-tide was 
not covered in any place with more than 
one or two feet of water. This branch 
of the river Indus, or, adit may now with 
more propriety be termed, inlet of the 
sea,* has since the earthquake deepened 
at the ford of Luckput to more ‘than 
eighteen feet at low water; and on 
sounding the channel, it has been found’ 
to contain from four to twenty feet from 
the Cutch to the Sindh shore, a distance 
of three or four miles. The Allibund 
has been damaged ; a circumstance that 
has re-admitted of a navigation which 
had been closed for centuries. The 
goods of Sindh are embarked in craft 
near Ruhema Bazar and Kanjee Kacote ; 
and which, sailing across the Bhunnee 
and Runn, land their cargoes at a town 
called Nurra on the north of ‘Cutch. 
The Runn, which extends from Luekput 
round the north of this provinee’to its 
eastern boundary, is fordable but at one 
spot, at this period of the year, at 
which it has heretofore been dry; and 
should the water continue throughout 
the year, we may perhaps see an inland 
navigation along the northern shore of 
Cutch: which, from stone anchors, &c. 
still to be seen, and the traditiomof ‘the 
country, I believe to have existed at 
some former period. 
Sindree, a small mud fort and village 
belonging to the Cutch Government, 
.Situated where the Rumn joins the branch 
of the Indus, was overflowed at the time 
of the shock. The people escaped with 
difficulty, and the tops of the town-wall 
are 
* It is many years since the eastern 
branch of the Indus has been almost de-~ 
serted by the waters of the river. 
—————— SSE Se 
