The

kind to be seen, and the greater the depth the finer the sand becomes; at certain parts of the lower country in the Delta, Sehwun, and Bukkur lime and sandstone hills, before described, are the only variation to this formation, until the valley of the Indus terminates in the mountain of Bilúchistan, where a stony or rocky surface is to be seen. geology of Sindh and the valley of the Indus has been only partially examined: iron abounds in the hills just mentioned, and fossil shells are plentiful of Nautilus, Trochi, Helix, Cornus, and similar species; near Sehwun are some curious specimens of petrified timber (principally palm) similar to that seen in the desert near Grand Cairo. The clayey soil of Sindh becomes hard and unmanageable after a short exposure to the sun, and requires a thorough moistening ere it can be tilled or sown: its surface during the hot season works into a fine dust, so impalpable that it pervades the whole atmosphere, and nothing has been found to exclude it; for this reason the natives in many parts of the country build their huts or houses with doors only, and ventilators are placed at the top, whence light and air are admitted: these are shaped thus, and are called " Bád Gírs," or literally wind catchers.

This soil is on the whole rich and productive, so much so, that in many parts of the country where the inundations are extensive, tillage is not employed. The seed is thrown on the earth after the secession of the waters, and the spring crops, particularly the wheat, thus produced, are most luxuriant. In no part of Sindh is the least attention paid to manure or assist the soil: cultivation is of the rudest kind, and consequently, though in some places three crops are reaped annually, the land is seldom able to produce more than one, and is generally allowed to remain fallow for a year, particularly after strong crops, like the Juwari and sugar cane.

Irrigation is employed throughout the northern part of Sindh, where the waters of the river do not so extensively overflow as in the Delta and southern division; but in this latter they provide, almost unaided, for the productiveness of the soil, particularly in rice, which grows in unlimited quantities. Here also irrigation is used to raise dry grains forming the winter crops. In some parts of Northern Sindh, particularly the neighbourhood of Sukkur, an immense space of country, averaging twenty miles in length, and about ten in breadth, is laid under water whenever the river is beyond a certain height, and then cultivation is carried on as in the Delta, but with this exception-from Sehwun upwards the soil is generally fertilised by drawing the water of the river to it from regular channels opened for the purpose of admitting the floods.

Irrigation in Sindh from the river is of two kinds, either by the use of the Persian wheel, or by simply opening drains leading to low lands. The former is worked by a camel or bullocks, and is a far ruder affair than any thing seen in India.

Occasionally the method of raising water by hand, as adopted in Egypt (there called the Shadúf), may be seen at work in Sindh, leathern pockets being fastened to the end of long poles, with a great mass of clay at their other extremities, and working in short upright posts. The pockets are dipped in the stream, and the preponderating weight at the other end of the poles is employed to lift the water.

Sindh is so advantageously situated, with reference to the rise of the river, and lowness of its banks, that it can be easily inundated throughout its whole extent. Immediately on the banks of the Indus the wheels are placed in cuts made directly from the river; but where the cultivated lands recede, large canals intersect the whole line of country, and although neglected and allowed to choke up, yet supply sufficient water for great fertility, the increase in which is proportionate to the efficiency of these outlets. Throughout Sindh lands are designated by these canals or the watercourses leading from them, and the whole system of revenue, collection, and assessment, is guided by the facilities for irrigation or otherwise, possessed by the soil at peculiar localities. In such a country it is obvious that labour and industry are alone required to increase its productive powers to any extent; but the means have been totally disregarded, and in repeated instances large tracts of fertile lands have become perfect wastes entirely owing to the neglected state of the canals. The rulers occasionally tried to force the labour unrequited, but to no satisfactory result: the population was too scanty to bear it; and without food or any remuneration whatever men cannot work.

The Jahgirdars, or possessors of soil, pursued a somewhat better system; for knowing the increased value of their lands from increased means of irrigation, they expended largely to procure them,

and employed the Míanis to keep the canals constantly clear from the deposited slime of the inundations. The method of clearing water-courses adopted by this class of labourers is peculiar to Sindh: they are attended in their work by musicians, and the excitement is kept up by beating drums and blowing horns; without these they make no progress, but with them the canal diggers of Sindh will do more manual labour than any natives of India: they work uninterruptedly for twelve hours, and use a large hoe called a powrah, with a short handle. The period for clearing the water-courses is the first appearance of a rise in the river (March or April).

The system of husbandry throughout Sindh is of the rudest kind, and the implements very few, and of simple construction.

The plough consists of one rough hewn pole slightly pointed with iron, drawn by a camel or two bullocks, and held by one hand: the whole is very light, and a very slight portion of the surface is disturbed, always after the soil has become well saturated. The seed being thrown in, a harrow, consisting of a rough beam of heavy wood, often circular, is dragged over it. A small instrument called a rumbo, but in shape like a large chisel, is used to weed the grain once or twice during its growth, and that is all. A cart, or ghari, consisting of a small platform, with wheels of rough-hewn wood shaped circularly, and which turn with the axle,