On the 22d of February we weighed our anchor, at daylight; and when in the narrow mouth of the river, the wind suddenly changed. The tide, which ran with terrific violence, cast us on the breakers of the bar; the sea rolled over us, and we struck the ground at each succeeding wave. In despair, the anchor was dropped; and when we thought only of saving our lives, we found our vessel had rubbed over the breakers of the bank, and floated. I admired the zeal and bravery of our crew; and was much struck with their pious ejaculations to the tutelar saint of Cutch, Shah Peer, when they found themselves beyond the reach of danger. “Oh! holy and generous saint,” shouted the whole crew, “you are truly good.” Frankincense was forthwith burned to his honour; and a sum of money was collected, and hallowed by its fragrance, as the property of the saint. The amount subscribed testified the sincerity of the poor men’s gratitude; and if I believed not the efficacy of the offering, I refused not, on that account, to join, by their request, in the manifestations of their duty and gratitude. Our other vessel, not so fortunate as ourselves, was cast on shore, though on a less dangerous bank. We rendered her assistance, and sailed for Cutch, and anchored in Mandivee roads after a surprising run of thirty-three hours. ~Negotiations with the Ameer.~ It could not now be concealed that the conduct of the Ameer of Sinde was most unfriendly; but he yet betrayed no such feeling in his letters. He magnified the difficulties of navigating the Indus, and arrayed its rocks, quicksands, whirlpools, and shallows, in every communication; asserting that the voyage to Lahore had never been performed in the memory of man. It was evident that he viewed the expedition with the utmost distrust and alarm; and the native agent, who resides at Hydrabad on the part of the British Government, described, not without some degree of humour, the fear and dread of this jealous potentate. In his estimation, we were the precursors of an army; and did he now desire to grant us a passage through Sinde, he was at a loss to escape from the falsehoods and contradictions which he had already stated in his epistles. One letter went on to say, that “the Ameer of Sinde avoids giving any reply, lest he should be involved in perplexity; and he has stopped his ears with the _cotton_ of _absurdity_, and taken some silly notions into his head, that if Captain Burnes should now come, he will see thousands of boats on the Indus, and report the same to his Government, who will conclude that it is the custom of the Ameer of Sinde to deceive on all subjects, and that he has no sort of friendship.” At length, after a remonstrance from Colonel Pottinger, both he and myself received letters from Hydrabad, offering a road through Sinde by land. As this might be fairly deemed the first opening which had presented itself during the whole negotiation, with the advice of Colonel Pottinger