1208 Account of Khyrpoor and the Fortress of Bukur. [No, 108. 



about tiventy miles to the Indus. The banks are fringed thickly with 

 tamarisks and acacias, and an undergrowth of camel-thorn and turf. There 

 are a few hamlets on the banks, and a good deal of land under tillage. 

 The river expands nearly a hundred yards at Sehwan, and the depth in the 

 middle is never less than twelve feet. Below the town its course is circuit- 

 ous. Sehwan stands on an eminence on the west bank of the river, about 

 four miles from its mouth, and close to the Lukkee hills, part of the great 

 chain of Hala, that forms the west boundary of Beloochistan. The hills 

 approach the Indus a little below the mouth of the Arrul, and consist of 

 lime, in which a great variety of petrified shells, wood, and coral, are em- 

 bedded, well worth the attention of geologists. I had not leisure to visit 

 them, but Major Smee of the 5th Bombay Infantry, an indefatigable collec- 

 tor of shells, found the following specimens during two days he passed at 

 Lukkee : — 



Several species of Trochi, 



A species of Helix, 



Bulimus, 



Turritella, 



Cypsea, 



Conus, 



Terebellum, 



Oliva, 



Voluta, 



_. Cryptostoma (genus of Voluta,) 



Ostrea, 



Pecten, 



and a large species of Nautilus, measuring eighteen inches across. I be- 

 lieve the cowrie and core are rarely found in a petrified state. There are 

 likewise hot springs in the neighbourhood, impregnated with sulphur and 

 alum, and the last is an article of export. 



Ruined houses, mosques, and sepulchres cover an enormous space at 

 Sehwan, and are a melancholy record of the prosperity of the town under 

 the Summa Jams, the Urghoons, and the Moghuls, before the Kalhoras de- 

 prived it of its independence. The modern town is said to contain 2000 fa- 

 milies, of which a fifth are Hindoos, and there are forty grain sellers' shops. 

 The houses are mud, and rise to several floors, the uppermost being often 

 built on arches, and surpass in style and accommodation those of Hydura- 

 bad and Thutta. The bazar is narrow and crooked, but of considerable 

 length, and covered with mats to exclude the sun. Belooch caps, shoes, 

 silk strings for drawers, and a few other silk articles for the lower orders, 

 are fabricated and exposed for sale. There is scarcely any trade, and an 



