1837.] Lodiana to Mithankot by the Satlaj river. 197 



tory on that side. It once boasted a very strong fort, but from the 

 time this territory was first threatened by the Siekhs it became the 

 policy of the Bahdwalpur government to destroy all their forts and 

 garhis, and this among the rest was razed to the ground. 



As we approached Khairpur we came in sight of the Rohi (or desert), 

 and were for some time quite at a loss to conjecture what object it 

 was which skirted the horizon for many miles. The sand-hills rise 

 abruptly from the plain which intervene between the desert and the 

 river, and from a distance the intervals between them are not percep- 

 tible. Seen from our boats, they formed a distinct and well defined out- 

 line resembling an unbroken chain of low hills. The Rohi runs in the 

 shape of a promontory directly up to the town of Khairpur, which is. 

 about a mile distant from the present channel of the river : in the 

 rainy season the town only intervenes between the sand of the desert 

 and the waters of the Satlaj. "When we visited it, we ascended from 

 one of the streets directly on a steep hill of sand and found ourselves 

 fairly in the desert surrounded by sand-hills and the debris of houses, 

 walls and huts more than half buried under them. The desert 

 encroaches on the town every year, and many of the present inhabi- 

 tants remember the time when Khairpur was distant at least two 

 miles from the nearest point of it. The houses are chiefly of unburnt 

 bricks, and the round domes of the mosque are also built of the same 

 material. It is said to be very durable, but the secret of its durability 

 lies more in the paucity of rain which falls in this country. The town 

 has a tolerable bazar, and contains 400 shops of all descriptions ; it 

 was formerly a place of considerable traffic, but has fallen off since the 

 time of the great Baha'wal Kuan. Small kafilas occasionally arrive 

 here from Hdnsi and Hissdr across the desert, and the tobacco grown 

 in this vicinity and in the Hdsilpur district is exported by this route 

 in large quantities to Delhi, where it is not unfrequently sold zsMultdn 

 tobacco. 



The only paled building in the town is a large mosque now in 

 ' ruins : it is ornamented with painted tiles to represent enamel, but too 

 little remains to give anv idea of the effect of this style of ornament 

 when in perfect preservation. In the neighborhood are the ruins of 

 several mud forts, formerly the seat of Ddudputra chiefs of the Keharani 

 branch of the tribe, who arrived in this country sometime before the 

 Pirjani branch, of which the present Khan is the head. They were 

 engaged in constant feuds with the 2nd Baha'wal Khan, and made 

 several attempts to subvert his power, but were unsuccessful, and at 

 last forfeited their own possessions in the struggle. The only surviving 



