532 Wood's Report on the River Indus. [No. 11.1 



whilst coming up the river to Hyderabad in 1836. The day to which 

 I allude, it was necessary to second the power of the engine by a 

 tracking party on shore, and a number of Hindoo countrymen were 

 employed for the purpose. All went on well, till the bow of the boat got 

 inclined to the direction of the current, when out she shot like an 

 arrow into the stre*am, and with her dragged the trackers. 



Casting off the drag rope prevented accident ; but the situation 

 in which it left the Hindoos, was not a little grotesque. Between 

 the firm ground and the river lay a strip of recently placed alluvium, 

 and in this the Sindees were planted at various depths, from the middle 

 downwards. 



The present great defect in the form of the doondah is bad steerage. 

 By rounding her quarter, and making other judicious alterations, 

 this could be improved. To fit them for conveying merchandize, 

 they require to be stronger built; and for the convenience of the 

 merchant, to have better accommodation ; in fact to be restored to 

 the state in which an early traveller, Captain Hamilton, described 

 them when trade flourished by the Indus, and its arrangements 

 were such as to attract the notice of an intelligent European. 



Rig of the Boats. — The masts are poised upon strong beams resting 

 athwart the gunwales. Moving on this fulcrum their management 

 is easy, and the masts can be lowered down or placed upright at 

 pleasure. 



The sail is hoisted behind in preference to before the mast for 

 several reasons, the principal of which is, that as the boat sails only 

 with a favourable wind, it is never necessary to brace or haul up 

 the yard, and fewer hands suffice to manage the boat. 



The jumptee is the state barge of the Sinde Ameers, and is used 

 by them and their principal officers on all occasions, whether of 

 business or pleasure. Perhaps the appearance of this boat, as she 

 approaches the capital, is more characterestic of the Indus and of 

 Sinde, than aught else to be seen in the country. On this day 

 her meerbar puts on clean clothes, and the national cap received 

 from the Ameers on a recent river excursion. The bright hues of 

 the cap, formed by the gaudiest coloured chintz, vie with those of 

 a Kilmarnock bonnet, or a Paisley tartan. The crew are dressed 

 becoming the occasion, and as they bend to the track rope, the breeze 



