CHAP. 2.] THE KUNN. 19 



one to be formed even a foot in depths and the repnted direction of this 

 indicates a fall in the ground quite contrary to that which it is generally 

 supposed to possess. 



Dera Beytj a dozen miles or so to the north of where this nullah 

 was observed, is said to have been joined to the mainland before the 

 earthquake of 1819, but it is difficult to connect the subsidence supposed 

 to have separated it with the occurrence of an east and west nullah of 

 such a length. 



From what Sir G. Le G. Jacob says and the natives' descriptions, it 



is perhaps most likely that any slight faU which 



the general surface may have slopes from near Dera 



Beyt both to the east and west, the current recorded by Lieutenant 



Dodd being merely the first result of the Loonee freshets. 



The caravans which cross the Runn from Sind take the direct route 

 from Raoma-ka- Bazaar to Loona on the Bunnee, 

 and thence into Kutch, or the more circuitous one 

 by Balliaree, the Putchum and Bindiaro to Soomrasir, whichever dries 

 up first ; but a slight depth of water does not render the road impassal)le, 

 camels being better able to proceed than when the surface is in a state 

 of slippery mud. To avoid the blinding glare from the salt the passage 

 is made at night, occupying rather more than the time from one evening 

 to next morning ; and when the track or beacons along the route cannot 

 be seen, caravans are guided by the stars. 



The salt upon the Runn is generally from one to three inches in 



depth, but in the Sindree basin it was found beneath 



the water with a thickness of from three to four 



feet.* Its soui'ces are various, being probably partly derived from the 



sea-water overspreading the Runn during the monsoon, partly from the 



* By Mr. DaCosta of the Great Trigouometrical Survey: M.S. letter from Colouel 

 Nasinyth, b. e., Superinteudent at Poona. 



( 19 \ 



