PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 25 



instead of pursuing a course through the alluvial plain to the east or west 

 Intersection of rock °^ the hills. The fortified island of Bakhar, or 

 area by Indus. Bukkur, in the middle of the river between the two 



towns, is also of rock. Nor is this all, for at Aror, 4 miles south-west of 

 Rohri, there is another break in the limestone range, and this gap is said, on 

 what appears to be good historical evidence, to have been a former bed of the 

 river deserted for the present channel rather more than nine centuries ago. 

 The present memoir, as already noticed, does not deal with Eastern 



Sind, where, however, the rock areas which occur 

 Hills of Western Sind. 



are mere isolated exposures, greatly concealed by 

 an expanse of blown sand. All the principal hills of Sind lie west of the 

 Indus, and nearly all consist of north and south ranges. On the accom- 

 panying sketch map (Plate II) the various ranges are represented by 

 lines. Near the river, north of the town of Kashmor, the southern spur 

 of the Suleman range, which forms the western boundary of the Punjab 

 comes within the limits of Sind ; but this small tract of rock has not been 

 examined, as it is far distant from the other rock areas of the province 

 and is a part of a range included in the Punjab. The most important of 



the Sind ranges is the Khirthar, commonlv but 

 Khirthar range. . J 



incorrectly, called the Hala range on English maps. 



This range, commencing just north of the north-western extremity of 



Sind, forms the western boundary of the province as far south as Lat. 



26° 15', south-west of Sehwan, the general direction being nearly north 



and south; but, turning somewhat more to the eastward opposite 



Sehwan, the chain finally terminates within the province in Kohistan, 



nearly north-west of Hyderabad. The area of 

 Hills of Lower Sind. . 



Lower Sind, south of Sehwan, and west of the 



Indus, comprises a number of ranges of hills, the greater portion having 



a general north and south direction, and all being much inferior in height 



to the Khirthar. 



The general height of the Khirthar, to the west of the Larkana and 



Height of Khirthar Mehar districts, is between 4,000 and 5,000 feet, 



range ' the highest peak, Kutta-jo-Kabar (the dog's tomb), 



( 25 ) 



