482 H. G. Raverty — The Mihrdn of Sind and its Tributaries. [Ex. No. 
Whether the tradition respecting the Musalman merchant, Saif-ul- 
Muluk, and his causing the diversion of the river from near Aror, be 
true or not—but I believe all traditions contain more or less truth — it 
is certain that, after all, it was not such a difficult task to accomplish ; 562 
and, in connexion with this tradition, we have the place of abode of the 
merchant, and the tombs of his two sons still pointed out near Multan, 
and they are still existing, or were so, at least, in the last century. 
Another curious coincidence, which does not appear to have been taken 
into consideration along with this tradition and the existence of these 
tombs is, that the supposed remains of the dyke raised by the Musalman 
merchant, or a dyke remaining at the very same place, was existing a 
few years ago, 663 the situation of which lay about twenty-six miles east 
4 
662 Referring to the danger of diverting the course of the Indus, by cutting the 
canal noticed under, Captain W. Baker, Superintendent of Canals in Sind, wrote, 
that “ there would be reason for apprehension lest the channel of supply, excavated 
as it would be through a soft soil, should be so widened and deepened by the action 
of the torrent as to drain off more water than could be spared from the Indus, or, 
perhaps, transfer the main stream of the river, with its fertilizing effects, from its 
present to one of its ancient channels. # # * There is no permanency in the bed of 
the Indus, which is always cutting one or other of its banks and throwing up shoals 
on the opposite one.” 
Lieut.-Colonel W. Scott, the Superintending Engineer, also wrote : “ At present 
the water is mere overflow, and runs so gently over the surface as to cause no 
danger, but let a body of water, 10 or 12 feet deep, pass thi'ough the same country, 
even if the ground was hard below (which it is not — it is merely hour-glass sand) 
and I should certainly expect the cut to increase far beyond our power of control. 
“ See ” Report on the Eastern Narra,” pages 4 and 27. 
663 About the same time, the then Collector of Haidar-abad, in a letter dated 
31st October, 1850, wrote to the Commissioner of Sind on the existence of a band or 
dyke which prevented the water from entering the lower part of the channel, and 
at the same time snbmitted a sketch of the country, where the band was said to 
exist, by a native of Sind, who was formerly a revenue official under Mir Sub-dar, 
one of the Amirs of Sind, and respecting which, the Collector, Captain Rathbone, 
observed that it was “ perfectly accurate after the fashion that all native papers of 
the kind are, totally destitute of all proportion.” He continues : “ It appears from 
this, and the report of my informant, that the Narra branches off from the Indus 
near the village of Ghosepoor [Ghaus-pur] which is built on the site of an ancient 
city [Basmid of the old writers], and lies in the territory of Bhawal Khan. 
The bed of the Narra is said there to be in places a hundred and twenty miles 
broad.” 
The Collector of Shikar-pur, however, after examining what was considered the 
right locality, wrote, that the band or dyke referred to by Captain Rathbone lay 
close to the village of Birha, and that it was formed of earth and brushwood closely 
rammed together, 600 feet in length, 38 feet broad at the top, and with a height 
of 22 feet, the highest water mark in its rear being 15 feet, and the breadth of the 
ravine [old channel ?] below the band, about 200 feet. “ I could discover,” he says, 
