Travels into Bokhara (Volume 3 of 3): Being the Account of A Journey from India to Cabool, Tartary, and Persia; Also, Narrative of a Voyage on the Indus, From the Sea to Lahore, With Presents From the King of Great Britain; Performed Under the Orders of the Supreme Government of India, in the Years 1831, 1832, and 1833 — John Shaqi
Travels into Bokhara (Volume 3 of 3): Being the Account of A Journey from India to Cabool, Tartary, and Persia; Also, Narrative of a Voyage on the Indus, From the Sea to Lahore, With Presents From the King of Great Britain; Performed Under the Orders of the Supreme Government of India, in the Years 1831, 1832, and 1833Burnes, Alexander, Sir
History
Travels into Bokhara (Volume 3 of 3): Being the Account of A Journey from India to Cabool, Tartary, and Persia; Also, Narrative of a Voyage on the Indus, From the Sea to Lahore, With Presents From the King of Great Britain; Performed Under the Orders of the Supreme Government of India, in the Years 1831, 1832, and 1833
Burnes, Alexander, Sir
Afghanistan -- Description and travel; Asia, Central -- Description and travel; Bukhoro (Uzbekistan) -- Description and travel; Burnes, Alexander, Sir, 1805-1841 -- Travel; Indus River Valley -- Description and travel
We reached Sehwun on the 1st of May, a distance of 100 miles, in eight
days. There was little to interest us on the banks of the river, which
are thinly peopled, and destitute of trees or variety to diversify the
scene. The Lukkee mountains, a high range, came in sight on the third
day, running in upon the Indus at Sehwun. The stream itself, though
grand and magnificent, was often divided by sand-banks, and moved
sluggishly along at the rate of two miles and a half an hour. One of
our boats had nearly sunk from coming in contact with a protruding
stump; an accident of frequent occurrence on the Indus, as well as
on the American rivers, and sometimes attended with fatal results,
particularly to vessels descending the stream. Our escape from calamity
gave the Sindians a topic for congratulation, and we daily heard the
greatness of our fortune proclaimed. Every trivial incident, a slight
breeze or any such occurrence, they did not hesitate to ascribe to our
destiny.
~Crew of the boat.~
Our crew consisted of sixteen men; and a happy set of beings they were:
they waded through the water all day, and swam and sported about, as
they passed along, with joyous hearts, returning occasionally to the
boat to indulge in the hooka, and the intoxicating “bang,” or hemp, to
which they are much addicted. They prepare this drug by straining the
juice from the seeds and stalks through a cloth: when ready for use,
it resembles green putrid water. It must be very pernicious. I do not
know if I can class their pipes among the movables of the ship; for
their stands were formed of a huge piece of earthenware, too heavy to
be lifted, which remains at the stern, where the individuals retire to
inhale the weed, made doubly noxious by its being mixed with opium.
The sailors of Sinde are Mahommedans. They are very superstitious, the
sight of a crocodile below Hydrabad is an evil omen which would never
be forgotten; and in that part of the Indus these monsters certainly
confined themselves to the deep.
~A Sindian song.~
In the songs and chorus which the Sindians use in pulling their ropes
and sails, we discover their reverence for saints. Seafaring people
are, I believe, musical in all countries; and, though in a strange
dialect, there is simplicity and beauty in some of the following
rhymes:--
_Original._
Hulam hulam hyl, Joomba lanee,
Leenlanee, Hewa qila,
Mudud peeran. Dawa fuqueeran
Dawa jee nalee. Beree chale:
Beree ranee, Surung sookhanee.
Oono panee, ------------
Lumba kooa, Sulamut hooa,
Wujun dumana Acbar Shah ja.
_Translation._
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