'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎179] (234/905)

CHAP. VIII.]
DISTRICT OF LUS.
179
western limits Captain Grant met with small towns and
many gliedans, or villages, with partial cultivation around
them; and the country north-west and north-east of Bun- Surface of
poor is not only fertile and populous, but well supplied with Mekr4n '
dates, wheat, &C. 1 The scenery is even picturesque in some
places, as in the romantic valley of Kullugan, where the
village is shaded with lofty trees, which are adorned with
rich and luxuriant foliage. 2
The inhabitants are chiefly pastoral, and, of necessity, a
large portion of them are nomadic, living under black felt
tents and moveable huts, or temporary mud houses, which
are covered with straw or reeds. The towns also consist of
houses which are formed chiefly of the latter material, and
even the capital, Kej (though compared to Aleppo by Sherif TownofKej.
Eddin), 3 partakes of this character. It is said to contain
2000 dwellings, built round a mountain, the summit of which
is occupied by a fortress, or castle. This appears to be the
ancient Chodda, which was visited by Alexander on his
return from India. 4
Eastward (and constituting part of Mekran) is Lus, or Lus,
Lussa, a very small district, with only about 80 miles of
coast, and inclosed by two ranges of mountains running
inwards, in a triangular shape, from the extremities, for a
distance of about 60 miles from the commercial port of
Sonmeany. The intervening space (as the name itself, Lus,
signifies) is perfectly flat; 5 and it is only accessible by five
passes through the surrounding mountains; one of these M
passes leads northward into J'halawan, two into Mekran,
and the others into Sinde. 6
There are two rivers, the Purali (anciently Arbis 7 ), which Rivers and
passes by Bela, and the Hub, more eastward. Abundant owns "
crops of grain and sugar are cultivated on the banks of these
rivers and the lesser streams which fall into them, but the
rest of the country is for the most part barren. This, like
1 Pottinger's Travels in BdMchistdn, p. 149. * Ibid., p. 145,
8 Traduction Franqaise, II., p. 17.
4 Malte Brun, Precis de la Geographie Universelle, Tome VIII., p. 441
5 Pottinger's Travels in Bdluchistdn, p. 299. 6 Ibid., p. 298.
7 Pliny, lib. VI., c. xxiii.