29 G SALT BEDS. 



this source of revenue at once fell, and although 

 several times attempted to be propped up, by 

 farming it to j^arties fully qualified to take 

 advantage of all circumstances likely to bring 

 the farm to account, it has failed to repay even 

 the necessary outlay. 



" This description of oyster is not peculiar to 

 Sindh : it is found in Kutch, Kattywar, and on 

 the western coast of India, where the shell is 

 used by the Portuguese as a substitute for glass, 

 to admit light." 



In the year 1844 the existence of extensive 

 salt beds in the neighbom^iood of the Ulla 

 Bund was brought under the notice of Sir 

 Charles Napier, then Governor of Sindh, by 

 Captain Baker, Superintendent of Canals and 

 Forests, in the following terms : — 



^'I take this opportunity of bringing to the 

 notice of H. E. the Governor of Sindh, that 

 there are ponds and valleys, connected with 

 the lower part of Pooran, abounding in pure 

 salt : many of the pools near the Ulla Bund 

 contain superficial deposits of this substance, 

 but Mr Hodges, assistant surveyor, who sur- 

 veyed from Raoma to Wunga bazaar, met with 

 large beds of salt, of a considerable extent, and 



