1850.] Descriptive notice of the District of Jhilum. 63 



the centre of the range, and Kutha Dhak, to the south ; of which the two 

 latter alone are worthy of mention. At about four miles from Kutha is 

 Nur-Singh-Phohar, or the fountain of Nur Singh. Tradition relates 

 that the avatar proceeded hither from Mooltan after the slaughter of 

 the demon, and washed his hands in the stream which issues from the 

 rock. This story is implicitly believed in by the natives, and a festi- 

 val is held there annually in the month of April. The water rushes 

 out of a cleft of the rock, and falls over the precipice into a ravine 

 beneath, whence it wends its way out of the hills to the level plain in 

 which Kutha is situated. 



This romantic little place is embowered in hills, and the trees in 

 which it abounds afford shelter and shade to a great number of pea- 

 cocks ; in the edge of the cliff is a small temple built by Raja Golab 

 Singh, with an inscription on it in Gurmukhi to the following effect ; 

 " This temple, the possession of the Sirkar (an humble allusion to 

 Ranjit Singh!) was dedicated on 15 Poh, 1887, to the service of Nur- 

 Singh-Phohar, by Raja Golab Singh." West of Nur-Singh is the 

 taluka of Khubakki containing a few small villages, situated in a 

 narrow strip of land between the hills. On either side of the village 

 of Khubakki, east and west, is a fresh water lake, found by the accu- 

 mulation of the water from the hills in the rainy season. Both of 

 them are alive with wild ducks and other waterfowl, but the zemindars 

 being an indolent race, they are not applied to the purposes of irriga- 

 tion. They are, each about half a mile wide, and rather more in length. 

 About 7 miles west of Khubakki, commences the district of Sone 

 which contains the great salt lake incorrectly laid down in most maps. 

 The principal town of this district is Nausherah, a village containing 

 300 houses. The fertile plain which is here enclosed between the 

 hills contains 14 or 15 villages, the whole of the available land being 

 under cultivation, but the zemindars being of the Awan caste are 

 extremely lazy, and pay little attention to the soil. Besides the route 

 from Khubakki, there is another road leading into the Sone taluka 

 from Lawa, by the village of Anga, but the hills which lie between are 

 with difficulty traversed by camels, and the road is little known. The 

 salt lake is situated, about 6 miles W. of Nausherah at the fort of Mt. 

 Sikesar. It is about 1^ miles long and f mile wide, but in the rainy 

 season is half as large again as this. The water is very brackish and 

 contains no fish, but is covered with wild fowl. There is apparently no 



