1 126 PUNJAB.
2 Trimab, and Punjnud on the east, and the Indus on the west.
3 Of these, that of Sinde Sagur is the most extensive, but that of
4 Barie by’far the most populous, as well as the most important,
5 whether in a political, a commercial, or an agricultural point of
6 view.
7 The regular and gradual slope of the great plain of the Pun-
8 jab has been mentioned. Even the upper part is but of moderate
9 ri leg Bokh. elevation. Thus, Amritsir® and Lahore! are each 900 feet above
10 ''F, Von Hugel, the level of the sea, Jailum about 1,600, and the surface slopes
11 Kaschmir, ili. 142 reonlarly to the south-western extremity, where close to Mit-
12 iiiuenes’ Boke tunkote, the elevation is about 220 feet.? In consequence of
13 the nearly unbroken flatness of the surface, the great rivers fre-
14 quently change their courses in an extraordinary degree. ‘‘ Bands
15 of sand traverse the country in a north and south direction, which
16 point out the old beds of rivers, and prove that all of them have
17 been changed. The Sutlej, which formerly ran close to the
18 town of Loodianah, is now seven miles to the northward; the
19 Ravee, which twenty years ago washed the walls of the city of
20 Lahore, runs in a channel three miles off to the northward; the
21 Chenaub, which ten or twelve years ago ran close to the town
22 of Ramnuggur, is now four miles distant, and the same applies to
23 nbs a ka the Jailum.”’? So the Ghara, at no great distance of time, held,
24 Jameson, Rep. on for above two hundred miles, a course considerably westward of
25 oe the present and parallel to it.
26 Jour. As, Soc.
27 Beng. 1837, p. 191, Elphinstone‘ says, ‘The fertility of the Punjab appears to have
28 Mackeson, Acc.
29 of Wade's Voyoge been too much extolled by our geographers; except near rivers,
30 Paes pes no part will bear a comparison with the British provinces in Hin-
31 al. dostan, and still less with Bengal, which it has been thought to
32 resemble. In the part I passed through, the soil was generally
33 sandy and by no mans rich; the country nearer the hills was
34 said to be better, and that further to the south worse ; of the four
35 divisions (doabs) east of the Hydaspes, the two nearest to that
36 river are chiefly pastured on by herds of oxen and buffaloes, and
37 that more to the east, towards the Hysudrus or Sutlej, though
38 most sterile, is best cultivated. The two former are quite flat,
39 the latter is wavy ; there is not a hill to the east of the Hydaspes,
40 and rarely a tree, except of the dwarf race of Baubool (mimosa).
41 On the whole, not athird of the country we saw was cultivated.”
42 The most westerly doab, or that of Sinde Sagur, is probably the
43 least productive, as the Salt range, and the rugged country be-