26 INCREASE OF POPULATION. 



directions. The total length of canals for irri- 

 gation in Sindh is estimated at nearly 7000 

 miles, of which a fair proportion is in the Khyr- 

 poor territory. The number of pukka wells in 

 Sindh is said to be 6200, besides nearly 800 

 tanks. By the Census of 1856, the population 

 of Sindh, including the present territory of 

 Khyrj^oor, which has a population of 108,135 

 souls, is stated to be 1,776,367. This shows 

 that the population of the province has largely 

 increased since it came under British rule. For 

 instance, Kurrachee, at the time of our occupa- 

 tion, numbered scarcely 10,000 inhabitants ; it 

 now has a population of nearly 57,000, including 

 the camp ; and Jacobabad, which as " Khan- 

 ghur " had not above half a dozen houses, con- 

 tains now a thriving population of above 17,000 

 2:)ersons. The proportion of females to males is 

 only 79 per cent, of all ages and religions ; this 

 great disproportion between the sexes proves, 

 to my thinking, that female infanticide is still 

 extensively practised throughout the province of 

 Sindh, and such, I was assured by well informed 

 persons, is the fact. It is to the credit of 

 Meer Ali Moorad's government that the propor- 

 tion of females to males is larger in His High- 



