296 chapman's report. 



As an experiment, 10,000 casks of ale and 

 porter, during the present year alone, have 

 been forwarded from England direct to Kur- 

 rachee, for transmission by the Indus. Should 

 this not answer as an economical arrangement, 

 from the serious drawbacks existing in the na- 

 vigation of the tidal channels and lower part 

 of the river, a railroad, removing all these 

 obstacles, could not fail to have the effect of 

 turning the scale in favour of the route, and a 

 considerable traffic would be opened out in the 

 conveyance of Government stores alone, to the 

 no small benefit of Government itself. 



It appears unnecessary to dwell upon the 

 advantages, political, commercial, and social, 

 which have invariably followed the introduction 

 of railroads in all parts of the world, and which, 

 I cannot but think, are to be equally claimed 

 for India, where British enterprise would still 

 lead the way ; nor need arguments be adduced 

 to prove that India is in a position, from the 

 immense capability which she possesses in her 

 wide-spreading fertile plains for the growth of 

 surplus produce, to take a prominent position 

 among countries exporting raw materials and 

 grain, provided only the means of transporting 



