24 Report on Upper Sindh, [No. 133. 



and mismanagement on the part of the rulers a comparatively small 

 portion is brought under tillage, and the inundations are allowed to 

 flow through immense tracts of country, without being rendered 

 available to the purposes of cultivation. 



4th. In the Khyrpoor territories eastward of the river, of the vari- 

 ous productions of the soil, indigo is the most valuable, and in some 

 parts, of a description superior to that of Bhawulpore and the Punjab. 

 The staple productions of Upper Sindh, however, are sugar-cane, (near 

 the river,) jowaree, wheat, barley, moong, gram, cotton, tobacco, 

 sirshuf, (mustard seed,) rice, badjree, and the other grains common to 

 India. In the vicinity of Shikarpoor, the poppy is extensively culti- 

 vated ; wheat is the great rubbee or spring, and jowaree and rice the 

 khurreef, or autumnal crops. Cultivation commences in April and 

 May by means of the inundations, and the crops are reaped in Octo- 

 ber and November. The wheat, or rubbee crops are raised by irri- 

 gation from wells, or bunds, formed from the inundations. The soil 

 of Upper Sindh, (as indeed throughout the whole of both divisions of 

 that country,) is strongly impregnated with saline matter, and a thick 

 incrustation of salt is every where observable on its surface. Salt- 

 petre is produced in great quantities, and Sindh is noted for its pow- 

 der. I shall conclude the above brief remarks on the soil and culti- 

 vation of Upper Sindh by observing, that this tract of country is 

 favored beyond most others, with extraordinary natural capabilities, 

 and that causes into which it is not necessary to enter here, would 

 appear alone to prevent its being thickly populated, and for its given 

 space, one of the richest and most fertile districts of the East. 



5th. The general appearance of the country is an uninterrupted 

 flat, its uniformity in this respect being only broken by a low range 

 of limestone hills through which the river flows at Sukkurand Roree; 

 these extend to some distance towards Khyrpoor on the eastern side; 

 but for a short distance from Sukkur, on the eastern bank where 

 cultivation does not obtain, the soil is covered with a thick low jungle 

 of the tamarisk bush and baubul and camel thorns. In the vicinity 

 of Roree and Shikarpoor, are some rich gardens, and the mangoe, 

 date, acacia, neem, mulberry,* and pepul trees obtain great size and 

 perfection ; but expect at these places, a tolerably sized jungle tree 



* There can be little doubt, but that silk might be advantageously cultivated in this 

 country. 



