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for the outlay of many millions sterling, at a noble 

 profit. The time for such a mighty undertaking, if 

 feasible, may not be come; but the necessity for the 

 consideration of this, or any other measure bearing so 

 directly on the existence of the population, is always 

 present. For, a famine, it must be recollected, is not 

 quite the same in its effects and results in this 

 country, as it is in most countries in Europe. There, 

 there is, for the most part, an interval between the 

 failure of the crops and the period of utter starva- 

 tion, in which husbanded stores and private charity, 

 serve to keep the wolf from the door. Besides 

 which there are many out-lets. In the last famine 

 which took place in Ireland, upwards of a million of 

 people found labor and plenty within a ten days 

 voyage of their homes. But here, how are the pea- 

 sant proprietors and cultivators prepared for such a 

 calamity ? In place of the husbanded store, there 

 is the debt to the Mahajan or Buniya-* and charity, 

 where all are involved in like distress, is hopeless. 

 Emigration, again, is barred by distance; but were it 

 not so, want of means would render it impossible. 

 When famines then, occur in India, the people let 

 their cattle run wild, anddesertingtheirhomes, wander 

 about the country in search of food. The Indian's love 

 for his village-home is proverbial. To desert it, is 

 his last resource. Thousands faint on the way and 

 perish; and those who reach a great city, or some 



# The money-lender or corn -dealer. 



