282 SINDH RAILWAY. 



found along it for ballasting, as well as for stone 

 blocks, should they (as I believe will be the 

 case) be found preferable to wooden sleepers. 

 The measured distance of the present road is 

 lOOJ miles, so that in taking 110 miles, I con- 

 clude, Lieutenant Chapman provides for ex- 

 tending it to Keeamaree and the town, but even 

 then 110 miles is a very ample allowance. 



I apj^rove of Lieutenant Chapman's proposal 

 to extend the line of railway to Kotree : Hy- 

 derabad and Kurrachee are two of the three 

 principal towns of Sindh, and should be united, 

 and, for the reasons given in the first to third 

 paragraph of his report, I do not think any 

 communication from Kurrachee to tlie river by 

 railway short of Kotree would pay. 



The two objections raised to Kotree as a 

 terminus, I do not consider of much moment: 

 the Bahran has yet to be examined, and I believe 

 that at an inconsiderable distance to the west of 

 the direct line, a rocky bed for the foundations 

 of the bridge will be discovered, and there is 

 no doubt that if the bank of the river above 

 Kotree were faced with dry rubble it would 

 be quite safe. The cost of the measure is at 

 present the difficulty : when a railway has been 



