209 COTTER: SODA INDUSTRY OF SIND. 



Sind and of Kachhi, which arc free from sand, do not absorb so 

 large a percentage of water ; the rain-storms give rise to sudden 

 floods, but the water is rapidly carried away into the nullahs, and 

 finally reaches the Indus. 



Like all desert plains that of Sind is characterised by the absence 

 of water-courses ; such as do exist are water-courses in decay like 

 the old river bed of the East Nara or the Sang nullah on the site 

 of which the Jamrao Canal is constructed. I have not made any 

 systematic examination of the desert trees, but in passing, it may 

 be as well to mention a few of the more common types. Perhaps 

 the commonest tree is Kundi (Prosopis spicigera) a thorny middle 

 size tree of the Mimosa family ; Phog (Calligonum polygonoides) an 

 almost leafless shrub ; Kirar (Capparis aphyUa) a leafless caper, as 

 its name implies ; Khip (Leptudenia spartium) a twiggy shrub from 

 the fibre of which ropes are made ; Kabbar (Saluadora persica) an 

 evergreen shrub, very common in the bottoms of salt talis. The 

 tamarisk is common in the south in the Khipro taluqa, but rare 

 in the sand-hills of Khairpur. A cactus-like Euphorbia (E. nerei- 

 jolia) has a similar distribution, being common in Khipro and rare 

 in Khairpur. 



The desert is then bv no means the barren waste that one might 

 have imagined. Grasses are common in the bottoms of talis, the 

 country supports a few cattle, slice]), goats, and donkeys, while 

 there is abundant fodder for camels. The inhabitants are all 

 herdsmen, and live mainly on milk, curds, meat, etc. There are 

 numerous wells, although the water is frequently brackish . 



It has been stated that the water which percolates through the 



_ , , , basal layers of the desert sand where it rests 



The lakes or ananas* ,i « . „ . , , ri n-i 



upon the impervious alluvial clays of the bind 



plains, emerges in any low- lying places to form marshes or lakes 

 (dhands). Since the soil of the Sind plain is heavily charged with 

 sodium salts, this percolating water carries these salts away in 

 solution from the buried soil underlying the sand hills, and brings 

 them into the dhands. The whole process is very similar to the 

 transport of soluble salts by rivers to the sea, and results in a 

 constantly increasing accumulation of salts in the dhands. While 

 the water of a dhand may be strongly alkaline or saline, it is customary 

 to find the sim or percolating water round the shores of the dhand 

 sweet and drinkable, containing only a very small percentage of 

 soluble salts. The water of Usar dhand in Khairpur, where I 



