108 THE HILL TRACTS. 



rounded with cypress-trees ; and a greater de- 

 gree of cultivation is to be found, but this is 

 only the case in the winter, or dry season, as, 

 after the inundation the whole country be- 

 comes like the Delta, a mere swamp, where 

 travelling is impossible, and malaria abundant. 



I am indebted to an official Report for the 

 following description of the hill tracts, river 

 alluvium, and the desert : — 



^^ Descrijjtion of the Hill Tracts. — The hill 

 tracts are outlying branches of the great range 

 which runs unbroken, unless for the narrow moun- 

 tain passes from Peshawur to Cape Monze. On 

 the north-western frontier they are beyond the 

 border. More to the southward they fringe the 

 districts of Larkhana and Mehur. Near Sehwan 

 they turn eastward and abut on the river, which 

 they do not leave for any great distance until 

 they reach the latitude of Tattah, whence they 

 tend towards the west and branch out into the 

 ocean near Kurrachee. This western region 

 (so much of it as falls within the boundary of 

 Sindh) is of singularly bare and savage aspect. 

 The valleys and plains rise to 1000 feet above 

 the Indus, while the hill ranges are from 1500 

 to 2000 feet above the valleys. The formation, 



