186 



The Lieutenant-Governor of the N. W. Provinces 

 states, that with the exception of the tea tracts, the 

 lands at the disposal of Government in the districts 

 under his charge ' offer very little temptation for 

 the embarkation of British Capital by reason of 

 the sparseness of the population, the difficulty of 

 communication, and the deadliness of the climate 

 in which they are situated/ 



In Bengal, excepting in the Soonderbuns, Assam, 

 Cachar, Arracan, Ohittagong, and some Hill dis- 

 tricts, there is little or no land at the disposal of 

 Government. 



Of culturable waste land there is said to be 

 in Oude 428,243 acres, but this amount it is 

 stated will be greatly diminished by grants to 

 natives. On the prospect held out by the re- 

 mainder of these acres, the Chief Commissioner 

 thus remarks. 'The cost of felling the trees and 

 grubbing up the brushwood is very heavy. Culti- 

 vators must be attracted by liberal advances- 

 arid very low rents; and if sickness breaks out, 

 which it usually does in a newly cleared tract, all 

 will take to flight. It is a well known fact that 

 not one European grantee out of twenty has- 

 succeeded. Those who have ultimately prospered 

 were heavy losers at first, or bought out the first 

 possessors who were ruined. This was Mr. Cooked 

 case. The very largest settler in Goruckpoor was- 

 ruined by clearing the forest too fast ; he cut down 



