1841.] Wood's Report on the River Indus. 553 



the river has been falling for four or five successive days, to drink the nul 

 lah water is almost certain to bring on an attack of illness ; this the na- 

 tives attribute, and I think very properly, to the vegetable matter which 

 must be brought into the water- course, by the drainings of the inunda- 

 ted districts. Mittun, and the village of Chatchur upon the opposite 

 bank can, taken together, supply forty boats of from one hundred maunds 

 burden to one thousand. 



I ought before to have said that cutaneous eruptions trouble the 

 inhabitants of Mittun ; the sores frequently become ulcered, but though 

 difficult to heal, the disease does not appear to affect the general 

 health. 



Dera Ghazee Khan. — This town has been more than once en- 

 dangered by the inundation when Nawab Jubber Khan, the brother 

 of Dost Mahomed Khan of Cabool, was governor of the province ; a wall 

 that surrounded the town had to be thrown down to keep the water 

 out, nor is there within a circle of many miles a spot exempt from its 

 effects. Dera Ghazee Khan is situated about four miles from the 

 river ; but in the swell, like most of the other towns upon the Indus, 

 it has a large navigable canal, by which it may be approached by boats 

 for some months. Dera Ghazee Khan has, however, advantages that 

 it will be difficult to set Slside ; the town lies at the foot of a pass in the 

 Soliman mountians, that leads both to Cabool and Candahar, while it is 

 equally central with respect to the Indian routes. It is the largest 

 town upon the Indus, and even under the Sikh rule, it wears an appear- 

 ance of increasing prosperity. Its merchants, though they do not specu- 

 late largely, have an extensive agency, and a considerable command 

 of money. The country around yields heavy crops of grain, and the 

 staples of cotton and indigo, while its home manufactures of silken 

 stuffs, such as gool buddens, timorees, &c. is only equalled by the 

 manufacturing marts of Bhawulpoor and Moultan. When to the 

 above recommendations are added, the fairs at Peer Adul and Sakhi 

 Surwar, I believe that every thing considered, Dera Ghazee Khan, 

 or rather some spot in its vicinity, will at once be considered the most 

 eligible place to lay the foundation-stone of an Indian St. Macrera. 

 By a reference to the map it will be seen, that Sakhi Surwar and Peer 

 Adul, are towns in the district of Dera Ghazee Khan ; at each of these 

 places, a large Mela, or fair, is annually kept ; that of Sakhi Surwar 



