THE BRITISH CONQUEST OF SCINDE. 537 



places, and let fly with their matchlocks whenever 

 anyone appeared. 



The fact is, it was impossible to march very far 

 beside the river without being* stopped by one of these 

 * nullahs' or ravines, which intersect the country for 

 miles in every direction and were generally masked 

 by bushes and not seen till the men were close upon 

 them. These of course formed admirable hiding- 

 places for enemies, and also serious obstructions to 

 guns and baggage, rendering marches very slow and 

 fatiguing. At the battles of Miani and Dabo (fought 

 by Sir Charles Napier against the Beloochees in 1843) 

 such nullahs were upon both occasions strongly occupied 

 by the enemy, and formed the key of their positions. 

 At the battle of Dabo especially, the General says, 

 "his (the enemy's) position was nearly a straight line; the 

 nullah was formed by two deep parallel ditches, one 20 ft. 

 wide and 8 ft. deep, and the other 42 ft. wide and 17 ft. deep, 

 which had been for a long distance freshly scarped and a 

 banquette made behind the bank, expressly for the occasion." * 



"The ever glorious 22nd Regiment" as Sir Charles 

 Napier called them (now the Cheshire Regiment), bore 

 the brunt of the fighting on both these actions, and 

 met with heavy losses in storming these places. 



The Indus near its embouchure, like most great 

 rivers, has formed an extensive delta, through which 

 it debouches by a number of channels, none of which 

 unfortunately are navigable for sea-going ships; the 

 port of Scinde has therefore always been at Karachi, 

 situated in Lat. 24 50' 30" N., Long. 66 58' i2"E.,f 

 near the western end of the delta. 



* Despatches of Sir Chas. Napier after the battle of Dabo, March 

 24th, 1843. 



f Norie's Navigation, 2 1st Edition. Table Ivi., p. 312. 



