274 THE FORESTS OF UPPER INDIA 



carts and camels, in caravans which took the salt by 

 various routes to the south and east of India. It had to 

 cross the salt barrier somewhere in British territory, and 

 pay the duty ; by which a very large revenue was obtained, 

 with a minimum amount of hardship to the poor, as it 

 was divided minutely over so large a population. 



There were chaukis (posts) every three or four hundred 

 yards along the entire hedge, where armed chaukidars 

 guarded the line to prevent smuggling. They could 

 shout to one another for assistance in case of caravans 

 trying to burst through, but practically this seldom 

 happened, as the country was too open for concealment, 

 and the checks against carrying untaxed salt were effective. 

 But the system was an expensive and clumsy one. It was 

 said that news often travelled by the shouting process 

 along the entire line in a surprisingly short time. The 

 two greatest sources of revenue from indirect taxation 

 in India are salt and opium — one a necessary, the other 

 a luxury. The former tax falls on the poor natives, the 

 latter mostly on rich foreigners. Strange to say, there 

 are wise politicians who would abolish the opium tax for 

 India, while retaining the spirits and champagne tax for 

 England. 



The district of Jalaun does not contain much real 

 forest. The consequence is that the climate is intensely »£ 

 hot and the soil utterly dried up, except in the rains, ^ Y 

 when the ground, unprotected by trees, is washed away '^ 

 constantly towards the great river Jumna. There are ^^ 

 miles of ravines, all sloping towards the river bed, eaten c^^ 

 out by the rains. Far back they are only slight indenta- r^ 

 tions, which, lower down, become deep nullahs as the \^*^ 

 smaller streams unite, like the ramified growth of a tree 

 or seaweed with twigs, branches, and stems. An entire 

 district is permeated by these winding, branching valleys. 



