Memoir on Thar and

3. It is bounded on the west by the valley of the Indus, on the north by an irregular line
running east from a point north of Nowakote, passing also north of Mittee and Singalla,
to the Marwar boundary, dividing my charge from the Oomerkote district, itself a portion
of the Desert, and in no way distinguishable from the Thurr.
4. To the east the Thurr is bounded by Marwar, and by an arm of the Runn which
separates it from the Pahlunpoor districts of Guzerat.
5. To the south, the Runn separates the Thurr and Parkur districts from Kutch.
6. The Thurr consists of a tract of sand hills, resembling the waves of a troubled sea,
generally running east and west, and generally higher in the western than eastern part of
the district.
7. Along the edge of the Runn, water is generally found at from one to two fathoms from
the surface; in some places it is a little brackish, but for the most part drinkable; it is
obtained by digging temporary wells, at the bottom of which a wooden foundation of the
shape of a wheel is placed, and the sides are then built up with wicker work of green
branches and brushwood, to prevent the soil falling in; the water thus filtering through the
sand, is sweet so long as the wells are regularly worked.
8. In the interior the depth of the wells varies, corresponding to their distance from the
Runn; where of any considerable depth, they are built up with burnt bricks, stone not
being procurable, and wicker work too insecure; 30 miles inland, the wells are about 60
yards deep.
9. Cultivation is restricted to the patches of tolerably level land between the sand hills:
which, when uncultivated, as well as the sand hills, produce an abundant supply of
nutritious grass and stunted bushes. The forage of the Desert is esteemed more nutritious
than that of any of the neighbouring districts, and partially accounts for the predilection
of the inhabitants to depend more on their flocks and herds, than cultivation, for their
livelihood, though the scattered nature of the cultivable land, and insecurity of person and
property, doubtless had some effect formerly in determining their tastes.
10. The hills are composed of a fine sand, cohering so slightly as to be easily friable; they
would appear to owe their shape rather to violent undulations of the ground, caused by
earthquakes or similar subterraneous forces, than to any action of the wind, which in the
Thurr appears to modify their shape but rarely, and to a very inconsiderable extent.
11. The district of Parkur is situated south-east of the Thurr; its length and breadth are,
from north to south, twenty, and from east to west thirty miles; it differs from the Thurr
in every particular. In Parkur, ranges of hills composed of hard rock take the place of the
sand hills of the Thurr; it is a plain, intersected by ranges of low hills, with a large mass
of similarly formed high ones, twenty miles in circumference, in the centre of the district,
the highest being about 350 feet above the surrounding level. The plain between those
hills resembles the eastern part of Kutch, from which it is separated only by the Runn.
<strong>Memoir</strong> on the Thurr and Parkur Districts of Sind. Copyright © www.panhwar.com
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