350 



C A N A R A. 



Canara. n ite is covered with a dark black crust, and is totally 

 v free from veins of quartz, or of felspar. In many 

 places, large masses of the granite, immersed in the 

 faterite, are in a state of decay ; the black mica has 

 entirely disappeared, and the white felspar has crum- 

 bled into powder, leaving the quartz in angular mas- 

 ses. These sometimes form so large a share of the 

 whole rock, that, after the decay of the other com- 

 ponent parts of the granite, they firmly adhere." 



In Tulava, all the lands are private property ; but 

 in Haiga, the hills and forests, and in Soonda, a 

 district of Kankana above the Ghauts, the arable 

 land belong to government. Every man pays a cer- 

 tain land-tax, and cultivates his property in whatever 

 manner he pleases. Some of them let their lands up- 

 on a lease of from four to ten years ; and the rent 

 demanded is generally two morays* of rice for every 

 moray of land of the first quality ; one and a half 

 for middling land ; and one for the worst land. The 

 most wealthy cultivators keep from 20 to 25 ploughs ; 

 those in moderate circumstances have' from four to 

 six ; but the greatest proportion of farmers have on- 

 ly one. All agricultural labour is performed by hi- 

 red servants and slaves. Of the former, a man is al- 

 lowed 2 Jinnies of clean rice per day, or 21 f bushels 

 in the year, with 14- rupees worth of cloth, a pagoda 

 in cash, and a house ; and a woman the same quan- 

 tity of cloth, and three-fourths of her husband's al- 

 lowance of grain. A male slave has lj| hanies of 

 rice a-day, with an annual allowance of 2^ rupees 

 worth of cloth, and is permitted to build a hut in 

 the cocoa-nut garden ; a female has only 1 hany per 

 day, with the same quantity of cloth. 



Most of the cultivated lands of this country are 

 sown with rice. Of this plant they have a great va- 

 riety of kinds, each of which requires a particular 

 soil, and a particular method of culture. Some of 

 them produce three crops in the year, others only 

 one ; and they differ greatly from each other, both 

 in the quantity of the produce, and in the quality of 

 the grain. As much of the rice ground is equally 

 adapted for the rearing of sugar canes, the cultiva- 

 tion of this article might be increased to a consider- 

 able extent ; but the farmers consider rice a more 

 profitable crop, particularly since the late reduction 

 of the duties upon its exportation ; and consequent- 

 ly the sugar is coinparatively neglected. Cocoa nuts, 

 betel nuts, mangoes, pepper, cardamoms, turmeric, 

 ginger, &c. are produced in great abundance ; and 

 Several cucurbitaceous plants, with a variety of kit- 

 chen stuffs, are cultivated in almost every garden. 

 Black pepper grows spontaneously in the woods, 

 and \vild nutmeg and cinnamon are very common. 

 The forests abound with sandal, teak, and sissa trees, 

 which furnish a considerable revenue to government. 



In the southern division of the province there were, 

 in 1800, 247,218 morays of rice land in a state of 

 cultivation, which employed 71,716 ploughs; and, 

 besides forests, it contained 111,965^- morays capable 

 of culture, of which 24,181 morays were cleared for 

 grass, 7043 were capable of being converted into rice 



* The moray or mudi, a dry measure of Canara, is equal to 

 4-9,005 square feet, or nearly 1 I I ^ ? - acre. 

 f Cabob Chin:, are the buds of the cinnamon tree. 



ground, and 178.9 were fit for gardens. According Canarjt. 

 to a survey made in 1793, the garden ground of this 

 division contained 695,060 cocoa nut trees; 1,155,850 

 betel nuts ; 59,772 mangoes ; 368,828 pepper vines, 

 and 54,362 of other descriptions. SincJ that time, 

 however, it is supposed that the number of each kind 

 has been fully doubled. In the northern division, 

 the proportion of lands under cultivation, and those 

 capable of being so, are, to the sterile lands, nearly as 

 26.7 is to 73.3. The number of ploughs in 1801, 

 were 26,147, and the -quantity of sugar annually pro- 

 duced, was estimated at about 1 1,483 maunds of nearly 

 30 Ib. each. The produce of the waste lands in this 

 division, according to the statement of the collector 

 of the revenue, is contained in the following tables : 



IN THE DISTRICTS BELOW THE GHAUTS. 



Sandal wood trees . 10,143 



Teak trees, cut annually 3,183 



Sissa trees, do. 2,498 



Honey, annually, . . . 8 maunds. 

 Wax, do. ... 2 do. 7 3 seers. 



Wild cinnamon, do. . . 123 do. 35 do. 

 Cabob China, f do. . . 118 do. 36^ do. 

 Nutmegs, do. . . 40 do. 22^ do. 



Wild pepper, do. . . 1058 do. 38J do. 



IN THE DISTRICTS ABOVE THE GHAUTS. 



Sandal wood trees 12,893 



Teak trees 396,113 



Sissa trees 64,588 



Honey, annually ... 53 maunds. 14 seers. 

 Wax, do. ... 72 do. 7 do. 



Wild cinnamon, do. * . 17 do. 30 do. 

 Cabob China, do. . . 49 do. 10 do. 

 Wild pepper, do. . . 34 do. 8 do. 



Buffaloes and oxen are almost the only cattle ia 

 Canara ; and are chiefly bred in the districts near the 

 Ghauts. Good cows are very scarce, and are in ge- 

 neral wretchedly kept. A few swine are fed by 

 some of the lower casts; but the inhabitants rear nei- 

 ther horses, sheep, goats, nor asses. Tigers are, in 

 some districts, very numerous, but there are no ele- 

 phants. The number of horned cattle in the pro- 

 vince is supposed to amount to 420,569, of which 

 97,356 are buffaloes. 



The commerce of Canara, since the country be- 

 came subject to the Company, and was thus freed 

 from the ruinous exactions with which it was loaded 

 by the sultans of Mysore, has begun to assume a 

 more active appearance. Many wealthy merchants 

 from Surat, Cutch, Bombay, and other places to- 

 wards the north, have come to settle in the province; 

 and many of the inhabitants, who were formerly de- 

 terred by the oppressions of the government, and 

 were even obliged to leave the country, are now be- 

 ginning to return and to engage in commerce. Few 

 vessels, however, belong to this province, and those 



bushel i and the moray, or laud measure, is equal to 



