22 BLANFORD : GEOLOGY OF WESTERN SIND. 



CHAPTER II.— PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



The province of Sind consists of the alluvial plain bordering the 



„ lower course of the Indus, of the hill ranges to 

 Surface characters or 



Bind. the westward of that stream, and of a great sandy 



tract to the eastward, part of the Indian desert. The country lies 

 between the 23rd and 29th parallels of latitude, and extends from a 

 little west of the 67th to a little east of the 71st meridian of east longi- 

 tude. It is about 360 miles in length from north to south, and 275 in 

 extreme breadth; the average width from east to west being about 170 

 miles. Inclusive of Khairpur and of Thar and Parkar, the area of the 

 province is stated in the Official Gazetteer to be 57,145 square-miles. 

 On the north and west, Sind is bounded by Baluchistan ; on the 



t, i • * ™.,vr east, bv Bahawalpur, Jaisalmir, and Malani, the 



Boundaries or prov- > J r i \ / 



iuce. last-named a district belonging to Jodhpur ; and 



on the south by the sea and the Ran of Cutch. On the north-east 



alone and for only a short distance on the right (west) bank of the 



Indus, is the boundary formed by a part of the Punjab. No physical 



features mark the limit of the province to the east, north-east, and north, 



though in the last direction the Bugti hills are not far beyond the 



boundary of the frontier district ; but the western limit of Sind is formed 



to the northward by a lofty range of hills, the Khirthar, 1 and to the 



southward by the river Habb or Hab, which runs into the sea west of 



Cape Monze. 



For administrative purposes, this tract of country is divided into three 



collectorates — Shikarpur to the north, Karachi to 

 Political sub-divisions. 



the south-west and south, and Hyderabad in 



the centre — and comprises in addition the frontier district of Upper Sind, 



(ruled from Jacobabad), the district of Thar and Parkar (chief town 



Umarkot) east of Hyderabad, and the territory of Khairpur, a native 



state lying east of the Indus and south of Eohri. The collectorate 



or division of Shikarpur is divided into the districts of Rohri, Sukkur, 



and Shikarpur, Larkana, and Mehar ; the Karachi collectorate comprises 



1 They arc miscalled the Hala range on many maps. 



( n ) 



