1 I
2 INTRODUCTION. ^
3 'WOttOsk npwirdi of two Imndred ud fi% buImi bat the braadHh of
4 wliidi'wai BO little mdiispert, Uut we croMed it in two nuocfaee.
5 It fills up tluit past of the oouatiy betvreeo the.Hydaipeft and In-
6 dna, whidi is not inundated by those rivers, and ezfeoids from H^ie
7 ktitude of Oooh, where the inundated knds of both, join, to the Salt
8 raige. It seems to be a part of the great deaart cot off fimn the
9 main body by the ziveis and their rich banks. We entered it a fear
10 miles west of our encampment near the Acesines. Tlie line between
11 Ae cultivated country and the desart, wa.s marked and decided, and
12 we fownd ourselves at once among sand hills, stunted bushes, burs,
13 and pfiokc : vet those were not so c(»niinon as to preclude the necos^
14 «ity of airrying torage tor our cattle, fhe sand-hills were lower than
15 those of the great desart, and here they were grey, while those had
16 been reddish yellow. Tlie water was bradcish. At the end of our
17 second march, we were within the limits of the irumdation of the
18 Indus ; and on the morning of the .31st of December, Mr. Strachey,
19 Lieuteuaiit Alacartney, and I, iicl out for the banks of Uiat celebrated
20 nf&[. We had a guide on a camel, some troopers, and three or four
21 servants on camels and horses. . We passed over a rich aoQ, covered
22 with long grass, in ivhich were nuxed many trees of the kind like
23 willow, and. hero and there patches of odtivatioD* The day was
24 doudy, with'Oocaaiaaal drops of rain, and a veiy cold wind Uew till
25 after noon. The hills were dirtnictly in sig^ during the whole of
26 eur ride^ Their wppetxmce was beautifidj we dearly jsaw dme
27 nBgea, the last of wlddi was vmy hi^ and we often doubted
28 rVdiether we were deceived by the clouds, or really saw atiU hi^er ranges
29 beyond. While we were looldng at the hills, a mass of heavy clouds
30 -rolled down those most to the north, so as entirely to conceal them
31 fiom our sight, and a line of clouds rested on the middle of those to
32 the west, leaving the summits and the bases clear. On the next dav,
33 these clouds had passeil away, and had left the hills covered with
34 snow. We were anxious and Iiappy as we approached the river, aiid
35 were not a little gratihed whraatlast we fi>und ourselves upon its
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