At the time this story begins Kurrachee (as it was spelt then) was definitely in its embryo stage. The Conquest of Scinde had only been completed twenty-eight years before and there were probably a few among the original members of the Sind Club who had participated in it. There was certainly one—Colonel Marston—who saved Sir Charles Napier’s life at the risk of his own, at Meanee. The Indian Mutiny had taken place fourteen years before, Sind’s only Railway—Karachi to Kotri—had started running in 1861, and the Suez Canal had only been opened two years Previously, so in every way Conditions were very, very different from what they are now. Kurrachee which at that time had a population of about 56,000 1nhabitan was made up of large open spaces with buildings scattered here and there about it. Government House and the Frere Hall were two of the only really pucca buildings, while the Kutcherry, being the Collectors Secretariat of those days, was built on substantial though not elegant lines. Trinity Church, consecrated in 1858, was also another solid building. That had it uses, apart from being the English Church, for its Tower, which was two tiers higher than it is now, was a definite landmark for shipping approaching Kurrachee, and acted as a guide to the entrance to the Harbour, which in itself was only in the early stages of development.

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