182 Journal of a voyage from [March, 



attempt to reclaim a portion from the desert, than the rest interfere 

 to dispute their right to the soil. As we receded southward from 

 the river, the sand assumed that undulating appearance which is 

 described as characteristic of the skirts of the Indian desert, small 

 mounds occurring at intervals, the soil of which was hard and covered 

 with thorn and brushwood. The wells at a distance from the river 

 Were of considerable depth ; but the territory, as was once the case, 

 might be made independent of them and fertilized at very little 

 expense. The dry bed of a nala called the Sukri traverses it in 

 various directions, and it would only require a canal a mile in length 

 to let into it the waters of the Satlaj near Tihdra. 



The zemindars are Jats and Dogres (also a caste of converted 

 Hindus) ; they are chiefly engaged in pastoral pursuits, rearing large 

 herds of buffaloes, on the sale of the ghee and milk of which they depend 

 for subsistence. It is probable they have been driven to this life by 

 the unsettled state of the country, which precludes in a great measure 

 all agricultural employment ; it does not appear that they are from 

 remote time a pastoral people. The country, as I before observed, 

 bears marks of having been much more generally cultivated at an 

 earlier period ; and though the present race have become addicted to 

 predatory habits, arising from the circumstances of their situation 

 under petty authorities at variance with each other, it would not be 

 difficult, under a better ordered government, to give them a taste for 

 more peaceful and industrious occupations. At present they are 

 miserably low in the scale of civilization, and the feuds existing 

 among them, which are fomented rather than suppressed by their 

 rulers, are not unfrequently the cause of bloodshed. The faith they 

 profess is the Muhammedan, but they are grossly ignorant on the 

 subject of their religion, and do not pay much attention to the out- 

 ward forms of it. The Koran is little consulted. The elders of the 

 village decide most of their differences, and the parties not abiding 

 by their decision are left to seek their own redress. 



In the detection of theft and other offences, the practice of chewing 

 rice and immersing the head under water, and other equally infallible 

 tests, are commonly resorted to. Every species of torture is put in 

 practice by the authorities to obtain forced confessions. 



There is little difference observable in the appearance of the 

 peasantry here from the same class in the vicinity of Lodiana ; but 

 beyond Firozpur the Dogre caste are distinguished by a greater swar- 

 thiness of complexion and harsher features. They are also more 

 dirty in their dress and persons, and many among them go bare 



