ADMINISTRATION
323
sugar, rice, potatoes, and timber. Exports go chiefly by rail and river
to Multan and Karachi. The chief centres of trade are Mianwàli,
Kâlabagh, Isa Khel, Bhakkar, Leiah, and Karor.
The line of the North-Western Railway running from Multân to
Rawalpindi passes through the District, with a short branch to Mari
opposite Kalabagh, and is joined at Kundian by the Sind-Sâgar branch
from Lala-MClsa. There are 2 miles of metalled road under the Public
Works department, and Zoo miles of unmetalled roads maintained by
the District board. The principal road runs parallel to the railway
through Mianwali, Bhakkar, and Leiah. There is no wheeled traffic,
camels, mules, and donkeys being the means of conveyance. A great
deal of traffic is carried on the Indus to Multan and Sukkur. The
Indus is crossed opposite Dera Ismail Khan by a bridge of boats
in the cold season, replaced by a steam ferry in the hot season, and
by thirteen ordinary ferries. Inflated skins are largely used by the
natives for crossing the river.
The District has never suffered seriously from famine. The Kachhi
and a large proportion of Isa Khel are rendered secure by irrigation
or floods, while the scattered cultivation in the
Thal is entirely dependent on well-irrigation. In Famine.
the famine year of r899-rgoo the area of crops matured exceeded
qo per cent. of the normal area.
The District is divided for purposes of administration into the four
tahsils of MIANWALl, ISA KHEI,, BHAKKAR, and LEIAH, each under
a tahsildcfr and a nail-tahsilddr. The two last form
the Bhakkar subdivision, under the charge of an Administration.
Assistant Commissioner. The Deputy-Commissioner is aided by three
Assistant or Extra-Assistant Commissioners, one of whom is in charge
of the District treasury. For the prevention of the illicit extraction
of salt, a preventive establishment supervised by a European officer
is located at selected points among the hills, from which all exposed
salt can be seen.
The Deputy-Commissioner as District Magistrate is responsible for
criminal justice. The District judge is in charge of civil judicial work,
and both officers are under the supervision of the Divisional and
Sessions Judge of the Shâhpur Civil Division. There are three
Munsifs : one sits at head-quarters, one at Bhakkar, and one at Karor.
The Frontier Crimes Regulation is in force throughout the District.
The Isa Khel tahsil is subject to inroads from trans-border outlaws
and their confederates in Kohat and Bannu. Cattle-stealing is the
principal crime. Besides the facilities which the great Thal desert
affords for transporting cattle into other Districts, the high jungle
along the bank of the Indus makes a most effective hiding-place,
especially in the flood season. Crime in the Thal also is very hard
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