534 THE LAND OF THE FIVE RIVERS. 



miles from the sea and a few miles above the town 

 of Mithankol; these rivers all come from the Punjab 

 to the eastward. 



The Punjab or " Panj-ab " is literally in Hindustani, 

 "the land of the Five Rivers,"* because the country 

 between the Indus to the Jumna is drained by five 

 great rivers, the Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the 

 Beas, and the Sutlej. The three first named unite, 

 forming the Chenab system ; and the Beas is an affluent 

 of the Sutlej ; the Chenab and Sutlej subsequently meet 

 at a point about forty-six miles from their junction 

 with the Indus, the united streams from thence to where 

 they fall into the Indus being known as the " Panjnad " 

 (lit. the five rivers). The mighty river Indus after 

 absorbing their waters still rolls on for the remainder 

 of its course to the ocean through a dry and almost 

 desert country, where the rainfall is scarce and un- 

 certain. The plains of Scinde during the hot season 

 appear to the eye to be one vast dead level sandy 

 flat, studded with tracts of arborescent grasses and jungle, 

 over which the inundations of the Indus frequently 

 extend for miles, on either side of its natural channel. 

 The description of Scin-de and its great river the Indus, 

 given in the letters and journals of the celebrated 

 Indian General Sir Charles Napier, is full of interest 

 and instruction, and numerous extracts from their most 

 striking passages are given in the Life of Sir C. Napier, 

 written by his brother Sir William, f another distin- 

 guished officer, best known to the world as the Historian 

 of the Peninsular War. 



* Encycl. Britannica, 9th Edition, Vol. xii., p. 847. (Article "The 

 Punjab"). 



j- Life of General Sir Charles James Napier, by Lieutenant General 

 Sir William Napier, 1857, 4 vols. 8vo. 



