1 SINDE. 213
2 general and extensive, and the fruit is used largely for food and
3 for distillation, by which process a strong spirit is drawn from it.
4 As food, it is found to be of a very heating nature.
5 Camels? are bred in great numbers in the salt-marshes of the ? Burnes, iit. 253.
6 Indus, and, though such tracts might seem very uncongenial to
7 the nature of that animal, those reared there are considered very
8 hardy, strong, and enduring, especially of thirst, in consequence
9 of the scanty supply of fresh water in their original soil. ‘The
10 value of the camel is not confined to its virtues as a beast of
11 burden: its milk is a favourite article of diet (though it spoils if
12 not used very fresh), and its hair is woven into coarse cloths.
13 Buffaloes are kept in great numbers in the swampy tracts, where
14 they may be seen wallowing in the mud with their heads? only * Wood, Oxus 62;
15 above water. Their fiesh is excellent, and their milk is preferred pe eee ae
16 to that of cows, yielding better butter, which, when clarified,
17 forms, under the name of ghee, a great article of commerce. A
18 considerable trade is also driven in the hides of these animals.
19 Sheep and goats abound in Upper Sinde, especially on the bor-
20 ders of the Pat of Shikarpoor, and of the Thur, or Eastern Desert.
21 The former district, called Boordgah, produces the best wool in
22 Sinde, both of goats and sheep, and both animals are kept
23 throughout Upper Sinde,* as well for their fleeces as for their ‘Dumes’ Rep. on
24 milk and flesh. The wool is taken from the carcase of the animal euiaiaee : ;
25 only when slain for food, as the heat would cause its death after ice st
26 losing its fleece. The coarser wool is manufactured into bags, Khyrpoor, $7.
27 ropes, and strong cloths. The finer might be obtained in such
28 quantities as to be an important branch of commerce, for which,
29 however, there has been hitherto but little encouragement. The
30 horses of Sinde are small and of mean appearance, but hardy,> rmerteancott,
31 active, and enduring. They are mostly used for the saddle, the i. 195, ai
32 beasts of burden being the camel, the mule, and the ass. The
33 camel is the dromedary or one-humped variety, and the finer
34 descriptions are used for the saddle, carrying generally the rider
35 and his attendant.6 The breed of asses is small, but they are Salar on
36 neatly made, strong, active, capable of enduring great fatigue, Ray, Eee eek,
37 and of living and thriving on the coarsest fare. The mules are ?- 75%
38 large, strong, handsome, and quick in pace.
39 As the import trade of Sinde is inconsiderable, the demand
40 of its peaple for manufactured goods must be, in a great measure,
41 supplicd from their own skill and labour; but that demand is