GUZERAT. 593 
or 40 miles a day, A more‘ordinary breed is employ. Guzerar, 
ed in agriculture, and in the conveyance of merchan~ =" 
dize ; and others, of all different colours, as in other Animalé 
ti , of Hindostan, are to be found’ in the province. 
ferent kinds of grain are < generally sown in June, and The uncultivated and wood tracts'abound in wild ani- 
r in at and barley are raised in 
many districts. Rice isa Senate article of cultiva- 
- tion ; and a great variety of Indian grains is every where 
ced. Of these may be mentioned the juarree, or 
~ eush-cush, (/olcus sorchum of Linneus,) a fine, lar 
t, resembling maize or guinea corn, growing to the 
t of eight or ten feet, each stalk bearing several 
ears, the largest of which will frequently contain 2000 
seeds ; bahjeree, (holous spicatus of Linneus,) resem- 
bling the last, but inferior in size, and only used by the 
poorer classes; codra, chena, buntee, bowtah, growing 
to the height of two or three fect, and yielding grain of 
@ nutritious quality; various pulses, especially: tuar, 
wtisus cajan) resembling split peas ; mutt and gram, 
‘os biflorus) chiefly used for nourishing cattle. 
Cotton is a — commodity ; and that of the Ahmood 
a is of so superior a quality, that it generally 
ings the highest price in the markets of Bengal and 
China. Sugar, tobacco, and indigo, flourish luxuriantly 
in the province; and might~be cultivated with great 
profit. Hemp and flax grow well in the northern dis- 
tricts ; but are often raised’ chiefly for the sake: of’ the 
oil contained in the seed, and an intoxicating drug cal- 
led Chang made fromthe leaves. Mustard seed’ is rai- 
sed in considerable quantities, and is greatly esteemed 
in pickles. Occasionally may be seen, in gardens, large 
crops of poppies, (the seeds of which are very common- 
ly mixed by the natives in cakes and confections,) gin- 
_ger, turmeric, fenu , and betel leaf, extensive fields 
of capsicum or chilies, and large tracts of yellow cos- 
sumba, (carthamus,) which yield a valuable red dye. 
In those places where there is no cocoa nuts, various 
shrubs and plants are cultivated for producing oil, es- 
pecially the sesamum, and'ricinus, palma Christi. The 
water melons, especially those of Baroche, are superior 
to‘any in India, The white, red, and curling mulber- 
ry, flourishes in the gardens; and the cuttings require 
only to be put into the ground in the rainy season, 
where they take root, and grow up without farther 
trouble. The bamboo grows wild in most districts, is 
frequently planted in hedges around the villages, and 
in seasons of scarcity sometimes furnishes an article of 
food. Mango, tamarind, and banian trees are to be 
found in most parts of the province, One of the last 
mentioned; (the banian or fiews Indicus) the most mag- 
nificent tree of the kind in India, grows on amisland’in 
_ the river Nerbudda; and has nearly 1350 trunks, all 
traced to one parent stem, forming a canopy of verdant 
foliage, impenetrable even to a tropical sun, extending 
over a circuit of 2000 feet. 
Many milch cows-and buffaloes are reared in the vil- 
lages; and ghee, or clarified butter, forms a — 
article in the markets of Guzerat. Many horses also 
are bred in'the province; and those of Cutch and Cot- 
tywar are held in great estimation. The oxen of Gu- 
zerat are accounted the finest in India.’ They are per- 
fectly white, with black horns, a delicately soft ,skin, 
and eyes not inferior in lustre to those of the antelope. 
They will travel 10 or 12 miles a-day successively for 
a-considerable time, under a load of 200 or 300 lbs. ; 
and are fed upon straw, grass, cotton seed, or oil cake. 
Those which are:reared in the northern districts are of 
‘Superior size, strength, and docility ; and some of them 
are capable of travelling in.a hackery (or light cart) 30 
VOL. X+ PART Il. 
mals of various kinds. Lions; though not general] 
supposed to be found in the + Baro have been wre 4 
even in the vicinity of Cambay; and tigers are very 
common, sometimes so large as to weigh 250 Ibs, Leo- 
pards, hyzenas, wolves, foxes, jackals, and: wild hogs, 
are the ordinary inliabitants of the swamps and jungles. 
Deer, elks, guanas, antelopes, hares, cameleons, poreu- 
ines; &c. are the most common kinds of game: Mon- 
eys and squirrels are every. where abu 
markably tame. The former particularly often inhabit 
the towns, where they are generally protected, and in 
some places are revered as sacred animals. They are 
som es rendered instruments of a bloodless, but suf. 
ficiently malicious revenge-among neighbours. A hand- 
ful of rice, or other grain of which the monkeys’ are 
fond; is thrown upon the roof of the house of the ob- 
noxious person, about the commencement of the wet 
season ; and, in order to get at the grain whicly has slip- 
under the tiles, these mischievous animals soon un- 
cover the = habitation, at a time wo labourers 
being generally occupied in repairi e houses, it 
suing tie impracticable for the Badeuowine tt have his 
home secured from the heavy torrents, which’ are be- 
ginning to fall. Of the birds of 
mon are hawks and brahminee kites, which last are'so 
remarkably voracious, as sometimes to, dart upon a 
dressed fowl, or other food, while the servants are car- 
rying it from the kitchens, (whicli are ently at a 
little distance from. the house,) to the dining-table. 
There are bats of an extraordinary size, (nearly six feet 
between the tips of the extended bees lore og flying 
foxes, and extremely disagreeable in smell and . 
Peacocks, doves, and green pigeons, assemble in flocks 
around the villages, and’ are almost as tame as poultry 
in a farm-yard. Partridges, snipes, woodcocks, wheat- 
ears, &c. are very abundant; ill ert is a great varie- 
ty of water-fowl in the lakes and rivers, (ebece- =f 
storks, cranes, quails, flamingoes, eevee ucks. The 
sabras and cullum (ardea virgo of Linneus) are very 
stately birds, generally six feet high; of an azure hue, 
with crimson coloured heads. But the floriean, or cur- 
moor, (otis houbara of Linnzeus;,) is at once the most 
ele of Indian birds; and exceeds all:other wild fowl - 
in delieacy of anaes It is riot rsa a ievcuh 
carriage, vari lumage, an cial yy a'tui 
of black: feathers falling gracefully Sout its: Trent Li- 
zards are abundant in Guzerat, and many of thenr are 
extremely beautiful. Serpents are found in‘ great num- 
bers and varieties; and some of the ms kinds, 
which are accounted harmless, and are “held sacred by 
the natives as guardians ofthe spot which they fre- 
quent, are allowed to occupy the gardens, One'of the 
most venomous is the:cobra de capello, or coluber naja, 
which is very common in Guzerat.: There are -man 
varieties of water snakes, (some of them spotted wi 
the most beautiful colours,) which seize-upon the frogs, 
lizards, young ducks, and water rats, and are.in their 
turn devoured by the larger-water fowls:. Locusts, . 
though less :destructive than those of Arabia and Africa, 
are frequent visitors in the eo chetal and leave every 
vegetable substance over which they piss stripped and 
browned, as if scorched with fire.- The large locust, 
called'** the ing leaf,” and which has been- de- 
scribed under the article Guana, is common in Guzerat. 
4F. 
, the most com- Birds. 
OCR ts. 
