1839] Memoir on the Province of Lus. 197 



it in the month of January its bed was perfectly dry. From the 

 junction of this stream the river pursues a winding course to the 

 southward, and has an average breadth of 400 yards; at some 

 places however it is much wider, especially at the confluence of the 

 Khato, a large stream descending from the eastern range of mountains, 

 where it is nearly a mile across, and when full, must form a fine sheet 

 of water: here its bed is overrun with jungle, and the stream winds 

 through the centre in two small rivulets, 15 yards broad, and 15 inches 

 deep. The Khato is from three to five hundred yards broad, and 

 is only filled in the rains. Four miles to the N. E. of Layaree the 

 Poorally receives the water of the Hubbe, a river of some size flowing 

 from the eastward, and below the point of junction is confined by 

 a dam or bund, to retain its waters in the dry season for agricultural 

 purposes. From this spot to its mouth it has no bed; as the river 

 fills during the rains the bund is swept away, and the water escapes 

 through a level plain covered with bushes, about five miles broad, 

 which it inundates to a depth of two or three feet. This plain is 

 bounded by the sand hills on the coast, and extends in a winding 

 direction to the mouth of the river, which is situated at the head 

 of the harbour of Soonmemy, and only runs four or five miles into the 

 land. The water also finds another outlet through a line of lakes and 

 swamps on the eastern side of the valley, where the ground is very 

 low, and reaches the sea at a large lagoon on the shores of the bay, 

 a few miles below the harbor. Serundo, the largest of the swamps, is 

 several miles in length and very irregular in shape ; its width in some 

 places exceeding a mile, and at others contracting to four or five 

 hundred yards. In the dry season, when it has a depth of four or five 

 feet, the water is salt and charged with vegetable matter from the 

 thick mangrove jungle growing along its banks, but during the 

 inundation it is perfectly fresh, and the swamp then assumes the 

 appearance of an extensive lake. Water fowl of all kinds resort to it 

 in incredible numbers, and alligators are almost equally abundant. 



The water of the Poorally holds in solution a large quantity of sa- 

 line ingredients, and every stone in its bed that is at all exposed to the 

 influence of the sun *is covered with a thin incrustation. As far as 

 I could judge from the taste it is natron, and the flavor of the water is 

 scarcely affected by it. In the swampy parts of the river near Beylah 

 alligators are numerous, and they are met with here and there 

 throughout its course. 



In the whole province there are not more than ten or twelve towns 

 or villages, and the largest of these, Beylah, does not contain more 

 than 5.000 inhabitants; Soonmemy has not half that number, and 



