144 Sketch of the Route and Progress, Sfc. [April, 



lost much of its repute as a place of strength, since the fords have 

 become so greatly known. Elphinstone speaks of Shah Shujah's 

 passage as a prodigy, and the first of the kind. The Sikhs who ac- 

 companied us in our passage, being predestinarians, undertook the 

 fording of the Indus without concern, saying they were accustomed 

 to it." 



Lieutenant Burnes writes, that the sand of the Indus, near Atok, 

 yields a small quantity of gold* : the process of extraction by repeated 

 ■washings is very tedious. Quicksilver is employed to take up the gold, 

 by amalgamation, from the coarser grains which remain on the sieves. 

 Some of the smaller rivers falling into the Indus are said to contain 

 more gold than the latter. 



The same traveller also describes a curious phenomenon observed at 

 the confluence of the Indus and Kabul rivers, half a mile from Atok, (for 

 Macartney's map is here in error,) in the following words : " An ignis 

 fatuus constantly shews itself in this place ; two, three, and even four 

 lights are visible at a time, and continue to shine through the night. It 

 appears at first sight to be the reflection of the water on the rock, well 

 smoothed by the current ; but then it only shews itself in one particular 

 spot, and though the whole banks are so smoothed, it is confined to a few 

 yards. There was and could be no deception : the natives cannot account 

 for it, and its continuance during the rainy season is the most inexplicable 

 part of the phenomenon in their estimation. The valiant Man Sinh, 

 who carried a war of revenge against the Mahomedans beyond the 

 Indus, fought a battle on this spot, and the lights are considered by 

 some as the departed spirits of the slain. For my own part I cannot 

 solve the mystery regarding this "Will o' the wisp," which I only 

 credited after having seen it." The water of the Indus has the repu- 

 tation of being specifically cold, but this is a vulgar error arising from 

 the relative difference of temperature between the river and atmosphere. 

 On the 18th March it was 22° Farh. 



While at Atok, our travellers received friendly letters from the 

 chief of Peshawur, Sultan Mahomed Khan, and they were the more 

 acceptable as they had not sent information to him of their approach. 

 For this civility they believe they were indebted to Shah Shujah ; how- 

 ever they would have rather wished that it had been omitted, as it was 

 scarcely their intention that their progress should be made a matter 

 of notoriety. While on this subject, Dr. G. makes the following 

 remarks : " It is quite ridiculous to view ourselves as natives, while 

 every other person sees through the thin veil of dissimulation ; we 

 * A specimen has reached us in safety. — Ed. 



