EECENT IMPROVEMENTS. 117 



native boatmen say that there is '' a depth of 

 forty men " in the channel. Extending south- 

 ward from Roree, the bank is clothed with fine 

 gardens of pomegranate, orange, and other fruit 

 trees, to the town of Bubburloo, which belongs 

 to His Highness Meer Ali Moorad, whose terri- 

 tory commences there. The branch of the river, 

 westward of Bukkur, is too shallow for steamers 

 to pass through, and when I came down in Sep- 

 tember, 1858, the river being then nearly at the 

 highest, the steamer from Mooltan disembarked 

 its passengers about a mile above, who, with 

 their baggage, embarked in the large steamer 

 awaiting their arrival at New Sukkur, below the 

 dangerous rapid of Roree. 



Along the right bank of the river stand the 

 houses of civil and military officers, and near the 

 official residence of the Superintendent of boats 

 and Freight Agent, is the Ghat where the steam- 

 ers of the Indus flotilla anchor during their stay 

 at Sukkur. Great imj^rovements have been 

 made at this ^^lace in the last two years, espe- 

 cially in the construction of fine Ghats, or land- 

 ing-places, of cut stone, along the bank of the 

 river, and the formation of excellent roads 

 throughout the station. The efficiency of the 



