1841.] Wood's Report on the River Indus. 547 



of it only is under water, and the inundation here as in the upper 

 course of the river is partial; the submerged part is a belt fringing 

 the sea, measuring in width about twenty miles.* 



X. — Fords of the Indus. 



There are properly speaking no fords on the Indus below Attock, 

 that is, there is no spot in its course where their annual occurrence is 

 so certain as to warrant a dependence on their existence in any subse- 

 quent military operations, of which the banks of this river may become 

 the scene. 



But that the Indus is at times fordable is certain, and in the course 

 of my inquiries on the subject, I have met with many individuals who 

 assured me of having done it. What may be done once, may be per- 

 formed a second time, and when a solitary unassisted Moohaud can 

 cross, it is just as possible that a regiment of infantry may follow. A 

 ford open to a foot soldier, would prevent no difficulty to horse. The 

 practicability of fording the river being once admitted, becomes a subject 

 of importance, and viewing it in this light, I shall devote more space 

 than I otherwise should to its consideration. 



The months in which the river is fordable, are December, January, 

 February, and March. No instance is on record of its having been 

 done either north of Mittun, or south of Hyderabad in Sinde. The 

 Indus does not within the excluded track run deeper than in that por- 

 tion of its course where the river is known to be fordable ; but being 

 less frequented by the boatmen, its capabilities are not so generally 

 known. 



The fords are discovered by the annual fleet of grain boats, which 

 descend in the cold weather from the Upper Provinces to Lower Sinde. 

 Some boats in this fleet are of so large a draft, that their safe naviga- 

 tion calls for the most minute survey of the river's channels, and it is 

 whilst so employed that the boatmen sometimes find they have crossed, 

 almost unknown to themselves, from one bank of the river to the oppo- 

 site, without once having had to swim. 



* These observations on the inundation of the Indus south of Mittun are given with 

 much deference, as I have not had proper opportunity of inquiry. This does not 

 apply to any remarks on this subject above Mittun, 



