THE ABOEIGINAL TEIBES. 159 



boundary lines, marked by terror-inspiring masonry pillars, 

 within which the formation of dhya clearings was prohibited. 

 The people obeyed with scarcely a murmur ; and presently 

 the rules were extended to the great mass of the wastes, in so 

 far that the cutting of valuable timber for clearings was for- 

 bidden, except under such arrangements as afforded a prospect 

 of the reclamation of the land being permanent. To the 

 wildest of the tribes certain areas were assigned, sufficient to 

 afford room for a rotation of sites for their dhya-fields. It 

 cannot be said that these comprehensive restrictions have 

 been everywhere enforced to the letter, nor was it to be 

 expected. But the general effect has been very marked : the 

 " intractable foresters w have shown a ready acquiescence in 

 arrangements the object and necessity of which were carefully 

 shown to them ; and year by year the influence of law is 

 more fully acknowledged and felt in the forest regions. 



The habits of the aborigines are now' greatly changed for 

 the better. Excessive and constant drunkenness is almost 

 unknown, though drinking to a greater extent than is good 

 for them on occasions has not entirely ceased. The whole of 

 their earnings is not now dissipated in drink ; and the accu- 

 mulation of the little capital needed to start cultivation on a 

 more regular system is now possible to them all. An im- 

 mense assistance in this respect has been derived from the 

 great enhancement in the value of all agricultural produce, con- 

 sequent on the opening up of the country and the American 

 war. Large areas in the west of India, which formerly yielded 

 cereals, have been devoted to the production of cotton, and a 

 great extension of cultivation to supply the consequent scarcity 

 of food-grains has taken place, and is still progressing, where- 

 ever the country is fitted by proper communications to yield 

 an exportable supply. The great undertakings in railways, 



