" The D'oncaster Gazette." 141 



whole of the Punjab, making the Indus our 

 boundary. Throughout the whole of the 

 Punjab, the Hindus and Mahomedans are 

 heavily oppressed by the Sikhs, the latter 

 in particular. ' If you meet a Hindu, beat 

 and rob him ; if a Mahomedan, kill him 

 outright,' were the genial directions issued 

 by Har Gorind, a great Sikh leader, to his 

 subalterns. Hence, the British occupation 

 of the entire Punjab would be hailed as a 

 peculiar blessing by these persecuted natives. 

 The fertility of the Punjab, which is watered 

 by five rivers, is such as to present the idea 

 of an Indian garden of Eden. The crops of 

 wheat, after being twice mown down, cannot, 

 after all, be prevented from producing an 

 abundant harvest, while indigo flourishes in 

 equal profusion. We trust that under the 

 auspices of Earl Dalhousie this beautiful 

 region may soon be turned to nobler pur- 

 poses than affording a station for Sikh field 

 pieces under hireling French gunners." 



It will be inferred from this article and 

 from many others like it, that their writer's 

 attention was directed about that time, not to 



