enormously developed in the
past thirty years. In 1912 there were over 4000 miles of open lines.
There are now three routes from Delhi to Lahore:

[Illustration: Fig. 44. Map showing railways.]

(_a_) The N.W. Railway _via_ Meerut and Saharanpur (on east of Jamna),
and Ambala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar;

(_b_) The Southern Panjab Railway _via_ Jind, Rohtak, Bhatinda, and
Ferozepore;

(_c_) The Delhi-Ambala-Kalka branch of the East Indian Rallway from
Delhi through Karnal to Ambala, and thence by the N.W. Railway. This is
the shortest route.

The Southern Panjab Railway also connects Delhi with Karachi through its
junction with the N.W. Railway at Samasata to the south of Bahawalpur.
Another route is by a line passing through Rewari and the Merta
junction. Karachi is the natural seaport of the central and western
Panjab. The S.P. Railway now gives an easy connection with Ferozepore
and Ludhiana, and the enormous export of wheat, cotton, etc. from the
new canal colonies is carried by several lines which converge at
Khanewal, a junction on the main line, a little north of Multan.

~Railways. Minor Lines.~--The Sind Sagar branch starting from Lala Musa
between Lahore and Amritsar with smaller lines taking off further north
at Golra and Campbellpur serves the part of the province lying north of
the Salt Range. These lines converge at Kundian in the Mianwali
district, and a single line runs thence southwards to points on the
Indus opposite Dera Ismail Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan, and turning
eastwards rejoins the trunk line at Sher Shah near Multan. There are a
number of branch lines in the plains, some owned by native States.
Strategically a very important one is that which crossing the Indus by
the Khushalgarh bridge unites Rawalpindi with Kohat. The only hill
railway is that from Kalka to Simla. A second is now under construction
which, when completed, will connect Rawalpindi with Srinagar. All these
lines with the exception of the branch of the E.I. Railway mentioned
above are worked by the staff of the N. W. State Railway, whose manager
controls inside and outside the Panjab some 5000 miles of open line. The
interest earned in 1912 was 4-1/2 p.c., a good return when it is
considered that the parts of the system to the north of the Salt Range
and the Sind Sagar railway were built primarily for strategic reasons.

CHAPTER XIII

CANALS

~Importance of Canals.~--One need have no hesitation in placing amo