The Sun.
London, England, 1857-02-19 00:00:00

SCINDE.

The half-yearly meeting of this company was held yes-
terday at Gresham-house, Old Broad-street ; Mr. W. P.
Andrew in the chair.

The OkfAIRSIAN, in moving the a loption of the report,
sail they expected to have had official information before
that time as to the line they were to take for the railway,
but the authorities in Bombay and Scinde ha I called 'upon
them to make surveys in several directions not contem- "
plat d. This change in the arrange Dents by the local
authorities had caused some delay, but he believed that
remonstrances from the home authorities had been sent out
to India, and he trusted the coureu ef the line would soon
be fixed as originally intended. They had sent out in-
structions to their engineer not to make any alteration in
the line, because it was the best suited for the waits of the
district and the purpose of extension. As to the harbour of
Kurrachee, the Government had employ( d Mr. J. Walker,
the engineer, to report on its capabilities, and he had re-
commerided the deepening of the water over the bar across
the harbour, which would be effected at a moderate ex-
pense, so as to a i mit seagoing vessels of large tonnage to
pass over it • and Mr. Walker stated that he had no doubt,
from the information ho obtain?d, that it would make en
excellent harbour. A scientific gentleman, under Mr.
Walker, hal been sent out to superintend operations there,
and he (the chairman) had been recently informed that the
dredging machines were at work deepening the bar. As
au instance of the capabilities of the harbour, one gentle-
man, who had expressed soma distrust of landing stores at
Kurrachee for the railway, had not only found on going
there that he could land them safely, but had signified his
desire to convey any other stores they might require to
that port. They would have no difficulty in securing freights
on moderate terms when the capabilities of the harbour
were kn)wu. They had now a staff of engineers in the
Punjaub making surveys, and he had received a very in-
teresting account of the navigation of the Indus up
to Mooltan. The time at present occupied in transit
from Kurrachee to Lahore was from 20 to 27 days,
bet when the railways were completed, and steamers suit-
able for the navigation were running between their ter-
mini it could be performed in six days. He read pare,
smarts from the Indian newspapers to show that they ap-
proved his plan for improving the communication from
Kurrachee to Lahore and Uanitsir. He was informed
that there were no engineering difficulties whatever on the
proposed Punjab Railway; it was nearly a dead level the
whole way, and it would not have to cross a stream for
3-4ths of the distance; but at the Mooltan end they would
have to cross a few canals. The Punjab Railway would
open up a larger country than Austria. He then adverted
to the cotton districts to which access would be obtai: ed,
and stated that some very fine specimens of cotton had been
produced in those districts from American seed, and that
immense quantities of it could be grown in the district,
and would come down the Indus to Kurrachee. Cotton
had been grown on the banks of the five great rivers
in India from time immemorial. It had been proved
that iron mines existed in India to a great extent, and
they were capable of producing all the iron that was re-
quired for the railways. Soma of the ore was exceedingly
rich. There was no possibility of getting cotton unless
they made long railways, and they could not make them
without a good deal of iron. Tue Eup' rates, Scinde, and
Punjab Railways would form thYee great links in the com-
munication between Europe and Central India. Prepa-
rations were being made for laying down the electric tele-
graph from the• Persian Gull to Kurrachee, and then to
join that system in India.
Resolutions were passed adopting the report, and re.
electing the retiring directors end auditor.
The meeting then separated.