BEN 



231 



BEN 



powers of the sun, and to supply the moisture necessary for 

 carrying forward vegetation. 



The rivers begin to swell near their sources before the 

 rains set in, owing to the melting of the snows on the moun- 

 tains of Tibet. At first the rising proceeds at the rate of 

 about one inch daily ; at the end of about two weeks, the 

 rate of increase is accelerated, and before the setting in of 

 the rains, amounts to nearly three inches in the day. Dur- 

 ing the rains the daily rise is as much as five inches. At 

 this time all the lower parts of Bengal contiguous to the 

 courses of the Ganges and Brahmapootra, are covered 

 with water by the rains before the rivers are sufficiently 

 swollen to overflow their banks. But after this has oc- 

 curred, the country presents one uniform surface of water 

 for an extent of more than 100 miles. In order to pre- 

 vent the mischief that might ensue from the rushing of 

 so great a body of water from the overcharged rivers, 

 dikes are constructed in various situations, which are kept 

 up at a great expense. In some situations the banks of 

 the Ganges are artificially raised on each side to confine 

 the water, which thus flows during the rainy season, at a 

 higher level than the adjacent country. The progressive 

 increase of this inundation is arrested before the middle of 

 August, by the ceasing of the rain in the mountains, 

 although much still continues to fall in the plains. After 

 the beginning of October the water rapidly subsides, its 

 disappearance being hastened by the prodigious evapo- 

 ration. 



The boats used for passing on the rivers are of considerable 

 size, and in shape like pleasure-barges ; they draw four to 

 five feet water, and are called Budgerows. In the dry 

 season their course down the stream does not exceed forty 

 miles in twelve hours ; at other times from fifty to seventy 

 miles are passed in that time. The current is strongest 

 during August and September, when the water is subsid- 

 ing. In ascending the streams, the boats are tracked by 

 oxen, and rarely advance more than twenty miles a day 

 direct distance, although, from the winding of the rivers, the 

 distance passed through may be double that number of 

 miles. The periodical swellings of the rivers have some- 

 timos been attended by disastrous consequences. In 1763, 

 the descending stream, then near its greatest elevation, 

 being met by a violent storm of wind, the water of the 

 Brahmapootra near Luckipore, where that river takes the 

 name of the Mcgna, suddenly rose six feet, and swept away 

 the inhabitants of the whole district with their cattle and 

 houses. At other times equally fatal effects have been 

 caused by the absence of the periodical rains. This mis- 

 fortune happened in 1770, and produced a famine. The 

 nabob, and those of the inhabitants who possessed stores 

 of grain, distributed it gratis to the poor, but that re- 

 source was speedily exhausted, and the starving natives 

 then thronged to Calcutta. The magazines there being 

 unprovided, these miserable people died in the streets in 

 such numbers, that a large party of labourers was employed 

 daily by the government to cast the bodies into the river. 



Natural productions. -The produce of the soil in this pro- 

 vince includes almost every kind of grain and pulse cultivated 

 in Europe, with other objects proper to the climate of the 

 country. Rice is the most generally and extensively grown 

 of all these objects, and is found in almost every part of the 

 province in an endless variety of species. In the manage- 

 ment of the land for this, the most important object of cul- 

 tivation, embankments are formed for retaining the water 

 on the plains, and for preserving it in reservoirs on the 

 hiuher grounds, whence it is conveyed as occasion requires, 

 for the purpose of irrigating the lands below. Many tanks 

 have been built for the same purpose. Some of these owe 

 their construction to pious motives, others to a love of osten- 

 tation and the desire of fame. These purposes were ful- 

 filled by the original formation of these works, but the 

 same motives do not operate for their preservation, and no 

 one bc-ing individually interested in keeping them in repair, 

 they are suffered to become first useless from want of care, 

 ami then noxious from the quantity of decaying plants con- 

 stantly found in them. Wheat and barley are sown at the 

 r'limnencement of the colder season, and are reaped before 

 tin: setting in of the rains. The winter season is also 

 chosen for the raising of great varieties of peas and beans. 

 Millet is another article of importance in the rural economy 

 of Bengal, and in the western districts maize is very gene- 

 rally cultivated. 



Linseed, mustard-seed, palma christi, and sesamum, are 



grown for the quantity of oil which they yield, and which 

 is consumed in vast quantities throughout the province. 

 Oil is also made from the cocoa-nut. The cold season is 

 chosen for cultivating linseed and mustard ; the seeds of 

 sesamum ripen after the rains, and cocoa-nuts are gathered 

 at all seasons. 



Sugar, cotton, indigo, and tobacco, are among the most 

 important productions of the country. Mulberry-trees, the 

 leaves of which are necessary for the sustenance of silk- 

 worms, and poppies for the opium which they yield, are also 

 objects of extensive cultivation. 



The implements of husbandry in use throughout the 

 province are of the rudest description. Ploughs cost 

 less than half-a-crown of our money, and the operation of 

 ploughing, owing to the thinness of the soil, is a mere 

 scratching of the land. It is considered a large harvest 

 which yields in the proportion of forty bushels of rice to the 

 English acre, which is a return of about fifteen for one of 

 the seed. 



It is not uncommon to reap two harvests in the year 

 from the same field, one of wheat or barley, and the other 

 of pulse, millet, or seeds for oil. 



Orchards of mango-trees are seen in every part of 

 Bengal ; date-trees are equally common ; and in the central 

 parts of the province there are plantations of areca palms. 

 Pine-apples, citrons, lemons, oranges, pomegranates, grapes, 

 almonds, tamarinds, plantains, ginger, carrots, potatoes, 

 onions, and garlic, are plentiful in most parts. Apples and 

 pears are found only in the northern districts. Bamboos, 

 which, from the quickness and luxuriance of their growth, 

 are so useful to the peasantry of India for the construction 

 of their dwellings and many other domestic uses, are every 

 where seen. Flowers are abundant, beautiful, and in great 

 variety, but, except roses and a few others, they are scentless. 



The cattle employed in husbandry-labour are of small 

 size, and their value is seldom greater than five or six 

 rupees (ten or twelve shillings) per head. The religious 

 restrictions of the Hindus prevent all care for the improve- 

 ment of cattle. Buffaloes are kept for the sake of their 

 milk; the expense attending them being less than that of 

 keeping cows. Sheep are far from being numerous ; they 

 are of very diminutive size, but when well fed their flesh is 

 excellent. Their wool is used for making coarse blankets 

 Tor the native population. The horses of Bengal are of a 

 very inferior breed, ill-shaped, and but little adapted for 

 labour of any kind. Elephants and camels, which are 

 much used among the wealthier inhabitants, are kept in 

 good condition, and are very serviceable on journeys, and 

 for the conveyance of goods. 



The streets of every town in Bengal are infested by dogs, 

 many of which are without owners. The woods or jungles 

 teem with animal life. The jackall is heard howling at the 

 close of every day. Innumerable apes and monkeys inhabit 

 the woods, and frequently visit the villages, where they are 

 fed by the inhabitants, who consider them sacred animals. 

 The sanctity of the Brahminy bull secures for him every- 

 where the kindest treatment, and he rambles over the 

 country not only without molestation, but receiving caresses 

 from all the people by whom he may be met. Red-deer, fal- 

 low-deer, elks, antelopes, and goats are numerous through- 

 out the province ; and in some parts, particularly the Delta 

 of the Ganges, lions and tigers are very numerous, and 

 every year carry qff many of the natives. 



A large species of heron (Ardea Argala) frequents the 

 towns in considerable numbers, where they perform the 

 office of scavengers, and are so useful that no disturbance 

 is ever offered to them. The stately air with which they 

 staik about has occasioned these birds to receive the name 

 of adjutants. They feed on reptiles, and on the various kinds 

 of garbage so liberally scattered in the streets of every 

 Indian town, and which in a climate like that of Bengal, 

 surcharged with heat and moisture, would, if not removed, 

 soon produce a pestilence. 



Fish is exceedingly abundant, and within the reach of 

 almost every class of inhabitants, particularly at certain 

 seasons, when the poorer among the natives are said to 

 contract diseases from eating too plenteously of this descrip- 

 tion of food. The fish most highly esteemed is the mango 

 fish, to which that name has been given from the circum- 

 stance of its making its appearance during the season when 

 that fruit is most abundant. The mango-fish is a sea-fish, 

 which ascends the rivers at that time, but is never found 

 beyond the influence of the tides, nor is it ever seen in any 



