542 
VEGETATION ON THE BANKS OF THE INDUS. 
which is of inestimable value as a renovating 
and fertilizing appliance. Ami here we may 
be permitted to digress for a moment to re- 
mark on the extraordinary value of a species 
of manure very plentiful in India, but very 
little used, which is now the prolific source of 
pestilence, but might be made productive of 
immense additional fertility. We allude to the 
vast deposits left in the bottom of those huge 
ancient tanks, relics of the industry of a by- 
gone age, which are so common in India. 
This thick sediment, applied to the ground, 
has a most enriching effect, but in many parts 
of India a prejudice against its use exists, 
and in others the ignorance or apathy of the 
people is so great that they will make no ex- 
ertion beyond that which their invariable doc- 
trine suggests. Routine constantly stands in 
the way of improvement. This may be re- 
marked of gardening as of government and all 
other things. Old notions and old methods 
are clung to with superstitious tenacity, even 
when their principle is exploded, and an 
original plan is demonstrated to be valuable 
and worthy of application. 
From Tatta to Hydrabad the nature of the 
country, on both banks, is such as to justify 
the expectation, that, with a proper system of 
agriculture, it might be made to rival in fer- 
tility any other part of India. The gardens 
of Tatta are examples of plenty. The vine 
flourishes there luxuriantly, and the rig and 
the pomegranate are successfully reared. 
Apple-trees also abound ; but under the reign 
of the Amirs, almost the whole of this region 
was one vast hunting-ground, covered with 
dense thickets of tamarisks, saline shrubs, and 
close underwood. A few patches of cultiva- 
tion, where grew indigo, tobacco, sugar-cane, 
with wheat and barley, alternated with vast 
preserves ; but it was the policy of the rulers 
to allow nature freely to reign, without let or 
hindrance,so that the fertile lands of Sindh were, 
by legislative enactments, maintained in their 
original state of wildness and unproductive pro- 
fusion of vegetation. Things are altered now. 
The rule of the English has begun to pro- 
duce its results, and fields, gardens, groves, 
and pasture lands are gradually obliterating 
the hateful shikargabs from the face of the 
country. Gardens in India are always beau- 
tiful ; the roses of the region are famous for 
their exquisite fragrance, their size, and the 
richness of their colours ; and with them blow 
a thousand other flowers, allowed to flourish, 
and reward the gardener's toil, now that the 
rule of the Amirs has passed away. With 
them the wisdom of the Danish conqueror — 
" Ok ! fairer than a field of flowers, 
When flowers in England grew, 
Would be the battle's martial powers, 
The plain of carnage new " — 
found a more ready acceptance than that of 
reason and humanity, which dictate, that, if 
there be absolute or even privileged rulers at 
all, they should endeavour to promote the wel- 
fare of the people. But when was despotism 
or privilege unselfish ? 
Beyond Hydrabad the actual banks of the 
river are not so well cultivated as the low 
hills beyond, where cotton, indigo, wheat, 
barley, sugar, tobacco, &c. are raised in the 
dry season, although the soil is not taxed to 
anything like its capability. The mangrove 
abounds ; the tamarisk, as we have said, is 
also plentiful. The jungle formed by this 
tree, when young, presents the appearance of 
a verdant field, whilst the tender shoots form 
excellent food for cattle. The babool and 
mimosa, the jal or palloo, found in those 
places where a naked tract and a cultivated 
patch join; the pepul, the bir ; the elegantly 
formed Parkinsonia aculeata, the Jerusalem 
thorn of the West Indies; the juvassi, a 
prickly shrub, the favourite food of the camel ; 
thetattee, a valuable timber tree ; the nurreel, 
useful in boat-building, and the kundie, with 
various wild palms, also exist in great numbers. 
Wild roses, and other odoriferous plants, 
grow in the wastes, with various species of 
salsola, or saltwort, from the ashes of which 
a species of soda is obtained. The tulsi, or 
Ocymum sanctum, abounds, and the egg-plant, 
so useful as an esculent, grown in great quan- 
tities. A gigantic species of grass, called 
cana, growing sometimes as high as twenty 
feet, often flourishes so as to form huge 
thickets almost impenetrable to man and 
beasts. This grass is used for a variety of 
industrial purposes. 
The oil-plant and the millet, with, as we 
have said, wheat and barley, form the prin- 
cipal grains, besides rice and Indian corn. 
Tobacco, hemp, opium, sugar, and cotton, are 
produced in much abundance. Pulse and 
pumpkins, cucumbers, melons, and esculent 
vegetables, also thrive in luxuriance. Of 
fruits, there are dates, mangoes, plantains, 
pomegi'anates, limes, citrons, figs, apricots, 
apples, plums, tamarinds, mulberries, pista- 
chio and other kinds of nuts, and melons, 
with grapes. Dates are in immense abun- 
dance, and groves of the palm stud the whole 
country. The fruit is largely used for dis- 
tillation. But our knowledge of the vege- 
table productions of Sindh is as yet only very 
limited. Time will doubtless bring numerous 
new facts connected with it before our obser- 
vation. 
Around Shikarpoor, which may be con- 
sidered as the most important town in Sindh, 
although not the capital, are spread numerous 
groves, gardens, and orchards, which supply 
it abundantly with fruit, and give it an ap- 
