3-039-159 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Frere Hall, Kurrachee, [India], 1871. 'Our Illustration shows the handsome public hall which has been lately erected in the town of Kurrachee [Karachi, now in Pakistan], and named after Sir Bartle Frere, late Governor of the Bombay Presidency, so as to constitute a memorial of the benefits derived from his able official administration. Kurrachee, which is distant from the city of Bombay about 800 miles by sea, or three to four days' steaming, is the only maritime port of Scinde, or the Valley of the Indus, with the Punjaub above it, and its commercial prosperity is steadily increasing...There is a railway from Kurrachee to meet the Indus line of inland navigation, by which the Punjaub is easily reached. The neighbouring district is a bare, sandy plain, intersected by creeks; but, though not a pleasant place of abode, it is not considered so unhealthy as many other Indian towns'. From "Illustrated London News", 1871.