Page:The Ancient Geography of India.djvu/298
252 THE ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA.
channel, which retains the name of Nára, runs to
the south-east by Kipra and Umrkot, near which it
turns to the south-west by Wanga Bazar and Romaka
Bazar, and is there lost in the great Ran of Kachh.
The most westerly channel, which is named Purána,
or the "Old River," flows to the south-south-west,
past the ruins of Brahmanabad and Nasirpur to Hai-
darabad, below which it divides into two branches.
Of these, one turns to the south-west and falls into the
present river 15 miles below Haidarabad and 12 miles
above Jarak. The other, called the Guni, turns to the
south-east and joins the Nâra above Romaka Bazar.
There are at least two other channels between the
Purâna and the Nâra, which branch off just below
Jakrao, but their courses are only partially known.
The upper half of the old Nâra, from Alor to Jakrao,
is a dry sandy bed, which is occasionally filled by the
flood waters of the Indus. From its head down to
Jamiji it is bounded on the west by a continuation of
the Alor hills, and is generally from 200 feet to 300
feet wide and 20 feet deep. From Jâmiji to Jakrao,
where the channel widens to 600 feet with the depth
of 12 feet, the Nâra is bounded on both sides by broad
ranges of low sand-hills. Below Jakrao the sand-hills
on the western bank suddenly terminate, and the
Nâra, spreading over the alluvial plains, is divided
into two main branches, which grow wider and shal-
lower as they advance, until the western channels are
lost in the hard plain, and the eastern channels in a
succession of marshes. But they reappear once more
below the parallel of Hala and Kipra, and continue
their courses as already described above.*
- See Map No. IX.