1 © Pers. Narr. 51,
2 7 Burnes, ili. 87,
3 8 Pers. Narr, 42,
4 * Burnes (James),
5 tala to Sinde,
6 .| Jour. As. Soc.
7 Beng. 1840, p,
8 1102, Westmacott,
9 212 SINDE.
10 mon domestic fowl), various kinds of parrotsand perroquets, merops,
11 or bee-eaters, crows, and several sorts of small birds, are of com-
12 mon occurrence. The birds of prey are the vulture, and various
13 kinds of falcon. Burnes ® enumerates five varieties of them. Fish
14 is peculiarly abundant, and forms the principal animal food of the
15 lower orders,’ who are often reproached with this circumstance
16 by neighbouring nations, and supposed to be rendered stupid by
17 the nature of their diet. The fishermen and their families form a
18 considerable portion of the population, living on the river in boats
19 during the inundation, and in temporary huts of boughs and
20 reeds when the river is low. Burnes ® estimated that a thousand
21 boats are employed on Lake Manchar alone.
22 An extravagant addiction to field-sports characterized the
23 Ameers of Sinde, who sacrificed to it the welfare and even
24 the existence of their subjects, laying waste and inclosing
25 extensive cultivated tracts to form their shikargahs, or hunt-
26 ing-jungles. One of the Ameers, some years ago, depopu-
27 lated, near the capital, an extensive tract of fertile ground,
28 and converted it into a shikargah, though this foolish and
29 monstrous act of tyranny caused a loss. of revenue equal to
30 20,0002. or 30,000/. a year.® Another razed a village to the
31 ground, because the noise of the population and domestic animals
32 was considered to disturb the game of a neighbouring preserve.
33 There are generally two harvests! in Sinde; the rubbee, or
34 spring harvest, reaped from seed sown in autumn, and the kureef,
35 Acc. of Khyrpoor. or autumn harvest, which is sown in spring. The rubbee crops
36 in general consist of wheat, barley, oil-seeds, millet (Holcus
37 sorghum), the durra of the Arabians, and called here bajree, opium,
38 hemp, tobacco; the kureef crop consists of those productions
39 which require considerable heat to bring them to maturity, such
40 as rice, sugar-cane, cotton, indigo, maize. Pulse and pumpkins,
41 cucumbers, melons, and esculent vegetables, are sown for both
42 crops, and some products are sown indifferently for either. Rice
43 appears to be the staple crop, and, with maize aud wheat, forms
44 the principal article of diet, besides being exported in great quan-
45 tities. The fruits are dates, mangoes, plantains, Musa paradisiaca,
46 pomegranates, limes, citrons, figs, apricots, apples, plums, tama-
47 “rinds, mulberries, pistachio and some other kinds of nuts, and me-
48 lons. They, in general, are of inferior quality ; the grapes especially
49 are small and sour. The plantations of date-palms are very