1844.] Route from Seersa to Bahawulpore. 305 



until they can hire a boat to take them on to Sukkur ; and yet in spite 

 of this drawback my impression is, that when bullock carts come to be 

 used instead of camels on the new road, it may successfully compete 

 with the river route in supplying Upper Scindh with the groceries and 

 drugs in demand there, which can be procured cheaper, and of better 

 quality from the eastward of Seersa, than from the neighbourhood of 

 Loodhiana and Jalindar. The Seersa merchants will also have the 

 advantage of bringing back a return cargo, thus making two profits 

 when the river-going trade only yields one. In addition to sugar, 

 molasses, cotton, and other groceries, the Seersa merchants should be 

 able to export to Bahawulpore the indigo grown about Hansi, which is 

 of superior quality to that now purchased by the Lohani merchants at 

 Bahawulpore and Shudabad for export to the western markets. 



15. Another branch of trade that will be more immediately affected 



by the opening of the new route, is that from Aff- 

 3dly. On the Com- J e s 



merce between Af- ghanistan to India carried on by the Lohanis. This 

 ghanistan and India. . ,. , , , .. . _. . 



is so well known, that a detailed account of it is not 



requisite. The number of camels laden with merchandize that annu- 

 ally pass through Dera Ismael Khan towards India, led by these enter- 

 prizing traders, has been estimated at 7,000. Those who bring horses, 

 are compelled by the Sikh government to take the road to Lahore; 

 very few of them come by Multan and Bahawulpore. Those who bring 

 green and dried fruits, madder, assafcetida, and other merchandize, find 

 their way to our frontier from numerous directions, driven by exactions 

 into circuitous routes, and travelling any distance, and undergoing any 

 hardships, rather than pay duties. Besides the Lohani kqfilas engaged 

 in this trade, there are kafilas belonging to Mooltan Affghans, amount- 

 ing to about 700 camels, that go annually to Candahar, and as far as 

 Lucknow and Cawnpore in our provinces. There are also merchants 

 at Bahawulpore and at Sawulghur in the desert, whose camels, 300 in 

 number, ply between Dera Ismael Khan, Jang Mani, Multan and our 

 provinces, making journies later in the season, and purchasing the goods 

 they import from the Lohanis. The reduction of the duties in the 

 Bahawulpore and Bikanir states, followed up by the removal of all dif- 

 ficulties in the supply of water to caravans, should have the effect of 

 concentrating in the new road a great part of the trade above des- 

 cribed ; and the Lohanis freed in a great measure from former exactions, 



