194 Journal of a voyage from [March, 



On the 28th to AkH-ke, in the district of Cdsim-ke, estimated dis- 

 tance nine kos. 



On the 29th to Dola, where we entered the district of Jheddo, es- 

 timated distance seven kos. 



On the 30th we passed through the districts of Jheddo and Shah 

 Farid, and entered the Hdsilpur district about two miles before we 

 came to our halting place at noon, estimated distance nine kos. 



On the 31st we halted at noon. 



On the 1st of February at Palra, estimated distance 8| kos. The 

 face of the country varies little in appearance, being day after day the 

 same succession of tamarisk jungle, the deep green of which is now here 

 and there relieved by a shrub resembling the willow in leaf and color, 

 which the natives call jhat, and from the root of which the miswaks 

 or tooth-cleaners are commonly made. From Rdnd-watti near the 

 Mamdot and Bahawalpur frontier the signs of cultivation gradually 

 disappear ; and near Pdkpatan the country becomes extremely wild ; we 

 lose all trace of habitations near the river, save, par hazard, a few 

 temporary grass hamlets. After entering the Hdsilpur district an 

 improvement is perceptible. We again see the Persian wheel at 

 work, and the banks of the river occasionally lined with a wonder- 

 gazing populace. The canals and water-courses increase in number 

 as we progress onwards. Those we have hitherto seen vary in breadth 

 at their mouths from ten to twenty yards, and are at present dry, being 

 much above the level of the river, but from early in May to the end 

 of September they serve to irrigate the country to the distance in 

 some instances of thirty miles from its banks. Smaller branches are 

 cut in every direction from the main canals, so that the whole country 

 is covered with them, and travelling in that season rendered disagree- 

 able and difficult. 



During our journey of the last two or three days we have been 

 pleasingly reminded of having entered a Mussalman country by the 

 strict attention every where paid to the time of prayer. In the open 

 fields, where a minute before the air has resounded with the voice of 

 labour, every thing is suddenly hushed, — the shrieking Persian wheel 

 is at rest, the cattle are freed from the yoke, and the peasants may be 

 seen ranged together in small parties on their mats of the palm tree, 

 going through their forms of devotion with an air of the greatest 

 decorum. The sight struck us from its frequent occurrence. 



Of the tribes which inhabit along the banks of the river from Firoz- 

 pur to Bahawalpur, those in the neighborhood of Pdkpatan and below 

 that place, are said to be the most wild and disorderly and the most 



