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who thus lose from 65 to 70 per cent. in the course of the year.

The revenue of Bengal is derived chiefly from assessments on the land, made in consequence of the system established by the Moguls, by which the conqueror is considered as the proprietor of the soil; and, in all probability, the zemindars, or land owners, were nothing more than agents appointed to collect the revenue. Grants were also made in favor of the rajas, who had before enjoyed an independent authority. These, whether considered as tributary chiefs, or as feudatories, were looked upon by the Mussulman lawyers as officers of the sultan, and were considered as holding their lands in virtue of their office, and therefore as liable to suspension or removal at the sultan's pleasure. The ryot, or cultivator, is described as a tenant paying rent, and his superior as landholder; but, strictly speaking, his rent was originally a contribution to the state, and the zemindar, standing between him and government, received that levy on behalf of the crown. In the rule for dividing the crop, whether by custom or by special engagement, the proportions were the following, viz. half to the landlord, and half to the tenant; one-third to the landlord, and two-thirds to the tenant; twofifths to the landlord, and three-fifths to the tenant.

The standard for the regulation of the rates has been lost; but it appears from observations made on the Bengal revenues by the late James Grant, Esq., that the assessment was limited never to exceed the proportion of one-fourth part of the gross produce of the soil. In early times the demands of the Hindoo sovereigns were more moderate, five-fifteenths being the smallest proportion ever assessed by the Mahommedans, and three-fifteenths more than were ever exacted by the Hindoos. The Mahabharat states, that the prince was to levy a fiftieth of the produce of the mines, and a tenth of corn. Menu and other legislators authorise the sovereign to exact an eighth, a tenth, or a twelfth part of grain, according to circumstances; and a sixth of the clear annual produce of trees. It is not clear whether any thing like hereditary authority was ever considered as vested in the zemindars, even under the Hindoo princes, although it is certain that the same lands descended from the father to the son, for many generations. At present, however, from motives of expediency, they are declared the proprietors of the soil, and the assessment on their estates has been irrevocably fixed, according to a valuation made during the administration of lord Cornwallis. Besides this assessment or jama, levied on the zemindars, there is an excise, or áb-càri (a duty on spirits), rates or sayir, levied on personal property; the customs imposed as import duties, tolls at the entrance of towns, on canals, &c. together with stamp duties, and a tax on the pilgrims to Budd'ha Gaya, Jagannath in Orèsah, Prayag at the conflux of the Ganges, and Jammunà, near Allah-àbàd.

A poll tax, called jaziyeh was imposed by the khalif Omar, on all persons not of the Mahommedan faith; the Mussulman conquerors of Hindostan imposed it on the natives as infidels. It was,

nevertheless, abolished by the emperor Acber, and although, at a subsequent period, Aurengzebe attempted to revive it, he failed in the attempt.

Free lands are appropriated to the use of brahmins, bards, encomiasts, ascetics, priests, and mendicants, or as a provision for several public officers. The greater part of them were originally granted in small portions of waste ground.

The class of needy land proprietors is numerous, and the greatest landholders are poor. Responsible to government for a tax, originally calculated at ten-elevenths of the expected rents of their estates, they have no probable surplus above their expenditure; so that any unexpected calamity may involve a zemindar in difficulties, from which by no economy of his own can he possibly be retrieved.

The civil and military governments of the Bengal presidency are vested in the supreme council, consisting of the governor-general, and three counsellors; the former appointed by the king, at his pleasure, the latter by the court of directors, from the civil servants of twelve years standing. For the administration of justice throughout the dominions subject to this presidency, there is one supreme court at Calcutta, six courts of appeal and circuit, attached to six different divisions, and forty inferior courts, or rather magistrates, stationed in the following districts or cities:

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The courts of circuit consist of three judges, with an assistant, and native officers, both Mahommedan and Hindoo, who make their circuits at stated periods. Criminal causes are tried by the Mahommedan law, but so modified as to approach nearly to our own, and when the sentence is capital, or imprisonment is awarded beyond a defined period, the punishment is not executed till it receives the confirmation of the Nizamut Adawlet, or supreme criminal court at Calcutta. In country districts, the officer who in his criminal capacity has the appellation of magistrate, is also the civil judge of the city or district in which he resides. He tries all civil suits within

his jurisdiction, and has for his auxiliaries a registrar, one or more of the junior civil servants, together with native lawyers. An appeal, how ever, lies in almost all cases to the provincial court, within the jurisdiction of which they reside. To try petty suits, the district magistrate is empowered to appoint native commissioners, with an appeal lying to himself. Each district or zilah, is subdivided into portions of about twenty miles square, in each of which a darogha, or head police officer, is stationed, with a body of armed followers under his authority, for the apprehension of criminals, on receiving authority from the magistrate. The average size of a district in this presidency is about 6000 square miles. The ultimate court of civil appeal is the Sudder Dewanny Adawlet, in the city of Calcutta, to which all causes involving personal property beyond 5000 rupees value are referrible; and, if the property contested amount to £5000 sterling, an appeal lies from the sentence of this court to the king in council.

Under the Mahommedan and Hindoo governors, suitors pleaded their own causes, who, being ignorant of the subtile usages of law, were frequently duped by the policy of their superiors. In 1793 regular native advocates, educated at the Mahommedan and Hindoo colleges at Calcutta and Benares, were appointed to plead in these courts, for regular fees; who, being equally acquainted with the laws, rules, and practice of the court, impose an effectual check on the negligence or misconduct of the judge and his assistants. Provisions have also been made against the corruption of those on whom the administration of justice depends, and if any individual of the Company's servants is convicted of having received a present from either of the parties who may bring a cause before him, his offence is deemed a misdemeanour in law. Written pleadings in the native languages have been introduced for the sake of precision; written evidence is sometimes admitted, when the witnesses are women, to whose appearance in public the Asiatics have a great dislike; and great indulgence is granted to the scruples of the caste. Suits between native and British subjects, or between the latter alone, are determined before the supreme conrt of judicature, with an appeal to the king in council. A chief justice, with two puisne judges nominated by the crown, constitute this court. It is held at Calcutta, and a jury of British residents exclusively decides the cause in criminal actions; the court alone in civil ones. Fourteen attornies and six barristers are attached to this court. The Mahommedan law, as to the substance of it, still continues the foundation of criminal jurisprudence; but both Mahommedans and Hindoos, for the most part, enjoy the benefit of their respective usages.

Private war and assassination, which the weakness of former governments had fostered, are now no longer frequent; incursions from banditti are still more uncommon, and theft, housebreaking, &c. have received an effectual check by the vigilance of the watchmen and police. A crime of the most frequent occurrence in this country, though almost unknown elsewhere, is the murder of children; neighbours, friends, and relatives,

are often the perpetrators of these horrid deeds, in order to obtain the trinkets with which the child is decorated. Much attention has been paid of late to the state of the jails, and the health of the prisoners. The superintendents of the police, appointed in 1812, visit each district in rotation, and make a report accordingly to the governor-general in council.

The laws of inheritance, among both Mahommedans and Hindoos, divide the testator's property equally among all his heirs: which, besides opening a door to endless litigations, presents an effectual barrier to the improvement of landed property, and prevents the proprietor from acquiring that stability and consideration which would render him useful to his family and the state. This want of the privilege of primogeniture, together with other causes, has now thrown the wealth of the country into the hands of merchants and traders, resident in the great towns, who feel the superior security which they enjoy under the British government. The general poverty of the landholders is the effect of improvidence, extravagance, and dissipation, arising from their almost universal insensibility to any but immediate consequences; as also from their committing the management of their estates to unprincipled and rapacious agents. The female zemindars are generally under the direction of brahmins, who exercise an authority over the consciences of their patrons, and exert a considerable influence over their public conduct. To this concealed authority the agent submits, and conciliates it at the expense both of the zemindar and the state.

All the commercial, financial, political, and judicial offices, with a very few exceptions, are filled by the civil servants of the Company; and all vacancies are supplied by annual recruits of young men, to the number of about thirty, sent out from England, at the age of eighteen, under the name of writers. These youths, after having completed three years residence in the country, are eligible to an office of £500 per annum value; after six to one of £1500; after nine to one of £3000; and after twelve to one of £4000 and upwards. The number of civil servants in the year 1811 was as follows:-in Bengal 391; under the Madras presidency 206; under that of Bombay 74; forming a total of no fewer than 671. The whole expense for the same year, including European uncovenanted assistants, amounted to £1,045,400 sterling.

Commercial residents, for purchasing the investments of the Company, are stationed at Bareily, Bauliah, Commercolly, Cossimbazar, Dacca, Etaweh, Golagore, Goracpoor, Hurrial, Hurripaul, Jungeypoor, Keerpoy, Luckipoor, and Chittagong, Midnapoor, Maulda, Patna, Rungpoor, Radnagore, Soonamooky, Santipoor. The collectors of the government customs are at Dacca, Cawnpoor, Calcutta, Benares, Patna, Moorshedabad, Hooghly, Furruckabad. The diplomatic residents are at Delhi, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Nagpoor, Mysore, Poonah, and with Dowlet Row Sindia, who seldom stays long in one place.

The number of native troops in the three presidencies, called sepoys (sipáhís), or soldiers

amount to 122,000, of whom 9000 are cavalry, equally divided between Madras and Bengal. The non-commissioned officers are natives, and those who have commissions, to the number of nearly 3000, are Europeans. Each presidency is also furnished with one regiment of Europeans, besides artillery and engineers; the total number of whom, with their officers, who rise by seniority, exceeds 4000. About 22,000 of the king's troops, also, are usually stationed in India, at the entire expense and disposal of the Company; both armies being under the same commander-inchief. The total expense in 1811 was £1,154,695 sterling. The annual appointment of cadets for the three presidencies may be averaged, annually, at 120 for the military, and ten for the marine service. The number of officers in the Company's service, on the Bengal establishment, amounted, in 1811, to 1571; occasioning an expense of £872,088 per annum. The number of resident Europeans in the Bengal presidency, out of the service, was computed, in 1810, at 2000.

The towns of Bengal are divided into different quarters, each of which is allotted to a different trade or nation. The Portuguese occupy one, the Mussulmans a second, the Hindoos a third; although this division, latterly, is but little observed. The houses, which are generally nothing more than huts with sloping roofs, resembling an inverted boat, are called bangalà; whence the English bungalow, synonymous in India with the cottage.' The houses of the rich are merely a collection of huts within the same enclosure. Walls of mud, reed-hurdles, or split bamboos, a floor raised one or two feet from the ground, and occasionally a platform of bamboos at one end within, as a sleeping room and a place of retreat in times of inundation, constitute the whole of these habitations. The door, in general, is the only opening for the admission of light and air, few of their best constructed edifices having any thing like windows; and, instead of different apartments in the same house, separate huts are commonly constructed. In towns the houses are frequently of brick, and flat roofed, two stories high, consisting of a body and two wings enclosed by a high wall. In the upper story resides the family god, and the inhabitants in the apartments below. On each side of the court are verandas or open galleries, for the convenience of spectators on holidays, when religious ceremonies are performed. The apartments have scarcely any article of furniture except a loose mat, a few dishes for pan or betel-nut (piper betle), some utensils of brass, and a hukkal or spiral tobacco-pipe. An empty house, or shed, is the only accommodation which can be procured by the traveller; and to obtain this is frequently a work of considerable difficulty. As the religion of the Brahmins prescribes works of benevolence not for the good of men but for the gratification of the gods, any regard for public utility seldom enters into the mind of a devout Hindoo; who plants a grove, digs a tank, &c. regardless whether the trees afford a covering for tigers, or whether the tank be a public nuisance. The districts into which Bengal is at present subdivided are Backergunge, Birbhoom, Burd

wan, Chittagong, Hooghly, Jessore, Mymunsingh, Moorshedabad, Nuddea, Purneah, Raujeshy, Rungpoor, Silhet, Tipperah, the twentyfour pergunnahs, and Midnapoor, although this last belongs properly to Orissa. Calcutta is the capital, for which see CALCUTTA.

Before we proceed to the description of the above-mentioned districts, we will give an account of the maritime frontier called the Sunderbunds, Sunder-bans, (sundara-vansa, the beautiful wood), which is a woody tract of country stretching 180 miles along the Bay of Bengal, intersected by an intricate maze of streams and creeks, having eight magnificent openings which may be regarded as outlets of the Ganges. The shelving sides of all these streams clearly evince the alluvial origin of the low lands of Bengal. Two of the passages that intersect this beautiful region are navigable, viz. the southern or Sunderbund, the northern or Balliaghaut. The former of these, which is the widest and deepest, falls into the Hooghly river sixty-five miles below Calcutta. Its course is through a thick forest, affording an asylum to ferocious animals, in which, during the day, not a sound is heard except the call of birds and the chattering of monkeys. Alligators are often seen sleeping on its banks, and enormous tigers spring upon the traveller who ventures to intrude upon their solitary retreat. This widely extended wilderness is, with some trifling exceptions, the property of government, and may hereafter be a source of revenue. A survey was made of it in 1812-13, by captain Morrison of the Bengal engineers; and in 1814 a commissioner was appointed to examine the validity of all claims to lands in it, as also to assess those lands that had been brought into a state of cultivation. The salt of this region is esteemed holy, being manufactured from the mud of the Ganges.

Saugor island, Sagor island, (Gangá-ságara, i. e. the confluence of the Ganges and the ocean,) about twenty miles in length and five in breadth, is so intersected by creeks that its precise limits are difficult to define. It lies west of the channel creek, and the anchorage near it, being more open to the fresh sea breezes than Calpee or Diamond harbour, affords a better and more healthy situation for shipping. The island, from its situation at the very mouth of the Ganges, is thought by the Hindoos a place of peculiar sanctity; and, at the full moons of January and November, is rendered still more sacred by the sacrifice of human victims. Many of these are voluntary, consisting of aged persons weary of life, and infants devoted by their parents; who, in gratitude for their having been blest with five children, throw the fifth into the river. Some are, nevertheless, involuntary, and in one case a child, twelve years of age was forced by his parents a second time into the waves. The Sastras, indeed, do not prescribe such sacrifices; but the vow, in compliance with which they are made, is thought inviolable. The island is inhabited by a few Gosains, (Góswamu, religious mendicants) who levy contributions as the disciples of Capila, a sage, supposed to have lived 2000 years before the vulgar era. There are sufficient ruins upon the island to show that it was once numerously inhabited. In order to render this

spot subservient to the interests of government, the whole has been leased to a company, who are to hold the land rent free for thirty years, and afterwards at the annual assessment of four ánás per big hat (about one shilling and ninepence per acre), for ever. The undertakers have subscribed 250,000 rupees (£31,250 of our money), and one fifth of the land was cleared before the commencement of April 1819.

Edmonstone's island, near the former, and almost equally remarkable, exhibits a striking instance of the manner in which the whole Delta of the Ganges has been formed. It lies in lat. 21° 35′ N., and long. 88° 20′ E upon the very spot where the Sagor shoal appeared in former maps. It was nothing more than a sand-bank in 1813, not having emerged above the waves; but in 1818 formed itself into a distinct island east and west; two miles in length by half a mile in breadth; and, from the decreasing depth of the channel betwen it and Sagor, it is highly probable that before any very considerable lapse of time the two islands will be united. At the period before alluded to, vegetation had already commenced in the central and most elevated parts of the surface. Salsolas and Ipomea pes capra had given it a verdant coloring; and, by daily binding the drifting sand, were contributing to form the basis of a fertile soil.

1. The district of Backergunge: it was formed about the year 1800, from the southern quarter of the Dacca Jelalpore district. A part of this division called Boklah, in the time of Acber, now Ismaelpoor, extends chiefly along the western bank of the Puddah, or Great Ganges, nearly to its mouth at the island of Rabnabad, which forms the south-east angle of the Bengal Delta; the west of Hidgellee being the other. In 1584 the whole of this region was overwhelmed by an inundation; and from the succeeding ravages of the Mughs, aided by the Portuguese, who inhabited Chittagong, it continues to the present time in a state of great depopulation. From its vicinity to the Sunderbunds it is intersected by numerous rivers, and mantled by a covering of jungle. It is also infested with enormous tigers and alligators, together with numerous gangs of dacoits or robbers. The remains of several Portuguese colonies, planted two centuries ago, still exist, and exhibit a melancholy proof of the extreme degradation to which it is possible for Europeans to descend. They are a meagre, imbecile, puny race, blacker than the natives, and held in universal contempt.

Backergunge, the capital of the above district and residence of the judge and magistrate, is situated 120 miles from Calcutta in lat. 22° 42′ N., and long. 89° 20′ E.

Ravan-ábád and Dak'hin-sháh-báz-púr are islands, of which the latter, at the junction of the Megna with the sea, is about thirty miles long and thirteen broad. It contains excellent salt-works, but is almost inundated during the rainy season. The navigation of the neghbouring channels is rendered dangerous by the bore, or overwhelming rush of the tide.

2. Bìrboom, or Bérb'húm (Virabtrumi, the Land of Heroes), is bounded on the north by Monghir and Rajemal, on the south by Burdwan and Pachete, on the east by Raujeshy, and on

the west by Monghir and Pachete. In tho Ayín Acbari it is called the Sercar of Madarún, and in 1784 its superficial extent comprehended 3858 square miles. The greater part is rocky, woody, and uncultivated; but is now rising in prosperity and importance. Coals and excellent iron ore are found in the hills; but the iron-works established in 1814, at the Moa and Hugli river, have not succeeded. The chief navigable river is the Adji, and the chief towns Surool, Sooro, and Nagore. The roads and bridges are kept in good repair, and the latter are formed of the palmeira (elate sylvestris). Birboom is the largest Mahommedan zemindary in Bengal, and in the time of Sher Shah, the Afghan, was conferred on Assud Ullah, father of Budder ul Zemaun, of the Afghan or Patan tribe, the better to enable him to protect the western frontiers from the incursions of the barbarous Hindoos of Jeharcund. This grant anciently resembled the ancient military fiefs of Europe, but was resumed, in 1763, by Cossim Ali Khan. In Baidyanauth, or Desghur, is a celebrated temple, containing an illustrious lingam, or phallus, round which the pilgrims make many circuits, washing it with libations of holy water, in order to procure favorable dreams. So celebrated is this place of pious resort, that, notwithstanding the great danger there is of being murdered on the road, no fewer than 6000 devout persons from Bahar alone are said to visit it annually. The population of Birboom, as taken by marquis Wellesley, in 1801, amounted to 700,000 persons.

3. Burdwan (in Sanscrit Vardhaman, productive), is bounded on the north by Bìrboom and Raujeshy, on the south by Midnapoor and Hooghly, on the east by the Hooghly river, on the west by Midnapoor and Pachete; and is situated between the twenty-second and twentyfourth degrees of north latitude. It came into our possession in 1760, and may be considered the most fertile territory in India. Environed as it is by the jungles of Midnapoor, in Orissa, of Pachete and Birboom, it appears like a garden surrounded by a wilderness. This district, in 1784, contained, according to major Rennel's measurement, 5174 square miles, although the original zemindary did not exceed 3280. Subsequently to 1722 it was conferred on Keerut Chund, the first known primogenitor of the present family, and, in 1790, the existing rajah paid to government a yearly rent of £400,000 sterling. The chief towns are Burdwan, Bissunpoor, and Keerpay; the principal rivers the Hooghly and Dummoodah. Villages are numerous, and most of them have schools, but there are no colleges for teaching the Mahommedan or Hindoo law. The population is supposed to be about 2,000,000, of whom one-sixteenth are Mahommedans. The remains of several forts are visible, supposed to have been originally constructed as a defence against the Mahrattas. Cutwa, in lat. 23° 37′ N., and long. 88° 10′ E., is celebrated as the place near which took place the well-known engagement between our troops and those of Cossim Ali in 1763.

The only rajahs possessing rank are those of Burdwan and Bissunpoor, both of whom now maintain so few followers in their service, that

when they appear abroad for purposes of state or ceremony, they are obliged to hire a retinue, although before the establishment of the present system, the number of persons called zemindary pykes, employed for police and other purposes, was upwards of 21,000.

ment.

4. Chittagong (Chaturgrama, or as some Gáóng Orgám), lies at the south-eastern extremity of the province, between the twenty-first and twenty-third degrees of latitude, and is bounded on the north by Tipperah district, south by Aracan, east by the Birman empire, and west by the sea; its entire superficies comprehending an extent of territory 120 miles in length, by 25 its average breadth. This district contains about 2987 square miles of unproductive hills and plains; arable land nearly in the proportion of two to one, and was divided formerly into four large and 140 small pergunnahs, partioned among 1400 landholders. The original grant of this district, like the former, resembled a military fief, and was superseded by a division into distinct zemindaries, when the protection of the frontier ceased to require a military establishThe principal river cannot admit ships of any size, and, at a considerable distance beyond the limits of the harbour, there are bars in the mouths of all streams which flow into the sea between that river and the boundary of Aracan. The southern part of this district, towards the Nauf river, which forms the line of separation between the British and Birman territories, is mountainous, and had been considered as almost incapable of cultivation till 1814, when enquiries, occasioned by the great emigrations from the neighbouring countries, evinced that between the ranges of hills are numerous plains and valleys, susceptible of improvement, as those of Chacária, Ramú, and Gargáníá, the last of which is estimated at ten miles each way. A large number of emigrating Mug'hs have settled on the borders of the British territory; some under the character of husbandmen, others as pedlars or mechanics. The natural features of the interior are mountains, and beds of torrents, which roll forward to the

sea.

Both the inland waters and those of the ocean are continually encroaching on the labors of the cultivator. Its frequent change of level, maritime position, and lofty altitude, confer upon this region peculiar advantages, and render it highly proper for the production of coffee, pepper, spices, and many other valuable productions of Asia.

Islamabad (the Abode of the True Faith), the present capital of this district, is extremely well situated for maritime commerce, ship-building, &c. The Company have likewise an extensive establishment on the coast for the manufacture of salt. A considerable profit is derived from the elephants taken in the forests by the natives, who engage to provide a certain number annually. The sea air and bathing on this coast are considered extremely beneficial, for which reason it is much resorted to by Europeans.

About twenty miles north of Islamabad, is a remarkable hot well, named Sectacond, the surface of which, as it emits inflammable air, is capable of being ignited by the application of fire. This, like all other natural phenomena, is

esteemed sacred among the Hindoos, as is also another hot spring in the vicinity of Monghir.

Chittagong, it is probable, belonged originally to the extensive and independent kingdom of Tipperah; but, being a frontier province, where the two religions of Brahma and Buddha met, it was the subject of endless litigation, and was sometimes governed by the sectaries of one doctrine, and sometimes by those of the other. It is supposed to have been subdued in the beginning of the sixteenth century, by the Afghan sovereigns of Bengal, but afterwards, during the wars of the Moguls and Afghans, reverting to the Buddhists, fell into the possession of the rajah of Aracan. In the beginning of the seventeenth century it was visited by the Portuguese, who, co-operating with the rajah, greatly depopulated the south-eastern quarters of Bengal. In 1638, during the reign of the emperor Shah Jehan, Makat Ray, one of the Mugg chiefs, who held Chittagong for the rajah of Aracan, having incurred his master's displeasure, sought the protection of the Mogul sovereign, which led to the acquisition of this province by the Mogul government. In 1666 Shayistah Khan, the soubahdar of Bengal, having equipped a powerful fleet at Dacca, despatched it down the Megna, under the command of Omeid Khan, who, having previously conquered the island of Sundeep, proceeded against this province and laid siege to the capital, which, though strongly fortified, and containing, according to the Mogul's historians, 1223 pieces of cannon, was speedily taken, and its present name conferred on it.

This province at an early period attracted the notice of the East India Company, who, in 1686, proposed to remove their factory from Hooghly to this station, and establish by force a fortified residence. In 1760 it was ceded to that body by the nabob Jaffier Ali Khan. The population of this district, as taken in 1801, under the direction of the marquis Wellesley, amounted to 1,200,000 souls. The capital, in lat. 22° 22′ N. and long. 91° 42′ E., was a great emporium in the time of Acbar.

Coxe's bazaar, at the mouth of the river Nauf, occupying an elevated open site at the termination of a range of lofty cliffs, is clear of wood, and has excellent water. In 1816 it was honored by the erection of a custom-house on the Aracan frontier.

Sun-decp, or Sun-dip (the Island of the Moon), is at the mouth of the Megna, a broad stream formed by the united waters of the Ganges and Br'ahmapootra. Its soil is alluvial, and its superficial extent about sixteen miles by eight. It was possessed in the beginning of the seventeenth century by Portuguese pirates, under Sebastian Gonzales; which individual, after reigning a few years, was expelled by the rajah of Aracan, who, in 1666, was also expelled by the fleet of Sháyistah Khan, when the country became subject to the Mogul. Salt seems, at present to be the article of manufacture.

The hilly tracts of this district are chiefly inhabited by the Chúmíás and the Cúkies, or Lunctás. The Chúmíás, a migratory people, seldom remaining more than two years in one place, occupy the lower range of hills to the north and east, and are subject to the Bengal government.

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