1 ROREE. 159
2 were sunken rocks. According to the unanimous testimony of
3 the natives, the level of the river during inundation continually
4 decreases, and this is probably owing more to the wearing down
5 of the rocky bed, than to any diminution of the supply of water
6 in the upper part of the river's course.
7 Of the three islets in the Indus abreast of the town, the
8 most important is that of Bukkur, a large oval rock of flint
9 and limestone, rising twenty-five feet above the river, and
10 crowned by the celebrated fortress of the same name. The
11 Toad from the town to the ferry, communicating with Bukkur
12 and the western bank, is for some distance excavated in the face
13 of the rock. On the western side of the Indus, and opposite
14 Roree, is the decayed, though once rich and populous, town of
15 Sukkur. Of the two islets above Bukkur, the nearer is separated
16 from it by a channel easily fordable when the river is low. One
17 is covered with date-palms, the other with numerous tombs sur-
18 mounted with spires of glazed porcelain. The bold and lofty
19 banks, covered with groves and rich vegetation, the picturesque
20 islets, the great fort of Bukkur, the antique towns of Roree and
21 Sukkur, and the vast river, form a scene scarcely anywhere sur-
22 passed in grandeur and beauty.
23 Roree, when seen from without, has a striking and pleasing
24 appearance, as the houses are four or five stories high, and of
25 Corresponding extent; but when surveyed more closely, they
26 are found to be ruinous, in many instances rudely constructed
27 with a slight timber-frame, filled up with wicker-work, and
28 plastered with mud: and as whitewash, though very easily
29 obtainable, is not used, they have a dingy and neglected appear-
30 ance. The roofs are flat, and covered with straw, over which
31 a layer of clay is placed, and they generally last twenty years
32 Or more, as they are exposed to little wet; but rain, when it
33 does fall, causes great destruction amongst these frail buildings.
34 The few more costly houses of burned brick were erected by
35 wealthy merchants before the establishment of the dynasty of the
36 late ameers, and are now generally unoccupied, oppression having
37 either driven away the rich or reduced them to indigence. The
38 flat roofs of the houses are surrounded by balustrades, and there
39 the inhabitants spend much of their time in fine weather. The
40 Windows are not glazed, but those of the more wealthy inha-
41 bitants have shutters and lattices of wood. There are no chim-