1837.] Lodiana to Mithankot by the Satlaj river. 171 



circuitous and tedious ; and owing to the numerous quicksands, it must 

 always be considered an affair of danger for bodies of troops to 

 attempt. As the sands are constantly shifting, the fords also are 

 liable to change. 



I am not aware of the exact number of boats between Ropur and 

 Lodiana. The principal ghats or ferries are those opposite to Rdhon, 

 Mdchiwdra and Fabor ; the two first lie in the route from Jdgadri on 

 the Jumna to Amritsir, and a considerable traffic passes by them. 

 There may be sixteen boats at Rdhon and eight at Mdchiwdra. The 

 ghat at Fabor has upwards of fourteen, and is also much frequented, 

 lying in the direct route from Ambula through Lodiana to Amritsir 

 or Labor. There is also a ghat at Kirdna, which may have eight 

 boats, and another near Ropur which has four. Besides the boats at 

 the ghats there are a few scattered here and there at the different 

 villages on the banks of the river belonging to the zemindars, and 

 used by them for the convenience of crossing to and fro, and trans- 

 porting grain and firewood. 



On the morning of the 10th we left Wallipura. The river was 

 swollen and muddy from rain, which had fallen higher up during the 

 two previous days, and which somewhat increased the rapidity of 

 the current. As near as I could judge from the rate at which people 

 were walking on the bank, it must have averaged near three miles in 

 the hour. Our boats kept chiefly in the shallow water for the con- 

 venience of using the pole to push them along ; they are furnished 

 with oars, but the Satlaj and Ravi boatmen seem to be unaccustomed 

 to their use ; and the oars are so very clumsy and unwieldy, that they 

 would require at least four persons to each to serve them with effect. 

 Leaving Wallipura the deep channel runs under the left bank for 

 upwards of a mile, when the river separates into three branches ; the 

 main one, which we followed, running under the right bank to Dhd- 

 dhdra, near which the three branches again unite and form an unin- 

 terrupted channel 400 yards broad. On our left we passed the ghat 

 of Talwandi, where there were ten boats similar to those already 

 described. Judging from the number of people we saw crossing, it 

 must be a considerable thoroughfare ; a small traffic passes by this 

 route from Jhajraon and the Mdlk Rohie to Doab bist Jalimdar. 



After passing Talwandi the deep channel again crosses over to the 

 left bank, and on approaching near to Bhundri, makes a long sweep 

 in towards the left, running close under that village. 



The country on our left to-day was low and uncultivated, subject 

 to inundation, and consisted chiefly of pasture land ; that on our 

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