1837.] Lodiana to Mitkankot by the Satlaj river. 199 



desert is to face death." In these excursions he sometimes remains 

 out as long as five days, wandering about after the tracks of the deer, 

 until his supply of water is exhausted ; when, if he has not been sue* 

 cessful, he makes for the nearest pool and takes his chance of the 

 deer coming to drink. These pools are not of frequent occurrence in 

 the desert, and none but a person acquainted with every stump bush 

 and hillock, and every feature of the ground, could attempt to go in 

 search of them. That many of the shikdris have this intimate know- 

 ledge of the desert, is proverbial : — " they know it better than the 

 scholar his book, or the Hafiz his Koran ;" and their knowledge is 

 the more astonishing when we consider the narrow and minute obser- 

 vation which it implies. So much do the sand-hills resemble each 

 other, that a common observer might be removed to fifty different 

 stations in the course of the day and fancy every one the same. 



The prohibitions to shooting game which are strictly enforced in 

 the Nawab's preserves and jungles near the river, do not apply to the 

 desert, where the shikdris are at liberty to roam at large ; and the 

 knowledge they acquire of its localities is highly prized by their chief. 

 They are sometimes lost, but casualties of this kind are attributed to 

 a stroke of the sun, or to exhaustion from want of water, or to the 

 bite of a reptile called the flying-snake, (said to be numerous,) rather 

 than to their losing their way. The stars assist to guide them when, 

 as is often the case, they travel by night. 



One of our guides proved himself a good marksman by taking off 

 the head of a carrion kite with a ball from his rifle at fifty yards ; he 

 brought the bird up to us and observed that " that was the manner 

 in which his master would serve the kafir Sikhs, if we would allow 

 him to cross the river." The Khan, it would appear, finds it politic 

 to impress his subjects with the idea, that nothing but a fear of the 

 displeasure of the British Government has hitherto prevented his 

 taking steps to recover his lost dominions ; — while they on their part 

 assure their chief, that but for this fear they would conquer the coun- 

 try to-morrow, and not leave a light burning from the Indus to Lahdr. 



The familiar manner in which our guides spoke of the former pos- 

 sessors of the old forts and gardens about Khairpur as we passed 

 through, struck me as highly characteristic of the primitive state of 

 society of the people. Their greatest chiefs they designated by their 

 simple surnames. In speaking of the Khan, they called him simple 

 Baha wal Khan or Khan, never adding any affix of respect. Everv 

 garden or fort we passed had its anecdote of the feuds that had 

 existed between the Keharani and Pirjani branches of the tribe. Much 



