76 



INDIA. 



i r; - - 



tun. 



Soil. 



provinces to thr north of it, the thermometer during 

 three montlu u> often as low as 45, and sometimes down 



'" The' climate of Sinde, on the north-west coast of In- 

 dia has been generally described. It may be added, 

 tint in the months of June iind July, the thermometer 

 r.inees from 90 to 100. At Sum, the variations are 

 iti the course of the year from />9 to 96. At Bombay 

 from ; the former about the end of the year. 



The hotted months in the Malabar coast are April and 

 Mav. In the former month, the maximum height of 



'lermometer at Cochin is 105. 



T(,, rure of the coast of Coromandel is in 



cenera! much higher than that of the provinces on the 

 coast of Malabar; and the Carnatic and the north-west 

 extremity of the northern Circ;trs are deemed the hot- 

 test, not only on the Coromsridol coast 4 but in all India. 

 In the latter" dbtrict, the French, in the year 1757, lost 

 seven Ktiropean soldiers in the course of a single day 

 by coup* de -to/til. The Circars, generally, have certain 

 varieties in their climate, pointed out by Mr. Grant in his 

 Political Survey of them, printed in the Fifth Report of 

 the Committee of the House of Commons, on the affairs 

 of the East India Company, which deserve to be noticed. 

 To the north of the Godavery, a westerly wind, with mo- 

 derate showers, begins about the middle of June : about 

 the middle or end of August, the rain becomes more vio- 

 lent and regular; and4t continues so till the beginning 

 of November, when stormy weather takes place, and 

 the wind shifts to the north-east. The weather conti- 

 nues moderate, with respect to temperature and rain, 

 till the middle of March when the hot season com- 

 mences. To the south of the Godavgry, the climate of 

 the Circars is different in some respects. During Janu- 

 ary and February, the wind blows along the shore 

 strong from the south ; and as the sea breezes set in re- 

 gularly every day, the temperature is moderate. In 

 March, the hot season commences ; and as the wind 

 blows from the west over a loose, parched soil, and along 

 the sandy and almost dry bed of the Krishna, the tem- 

 perature is most oppressive ; the thermometer being 

 sometimes raised, near the mouth of that river, to 1 10 

 for several days, even in the house, and seldom falling 

 under 105. In the low country of the Arcot district 

 of the Carnatic, during the hot season, the thermome- 

 ter, under the corner of a tent, rises to 100, and, when 

 exposed to the sun, to 120. If the annual heat at Lon- 

 don be considered as represented by 1000, that of Ma- 

 dras will be 1565, and in July 1349; and if the cold in 

 January in London be considered as represented by 

 1000, that at Madras, during the same month, will be 

 491. Taking the average of the whole year, 'the heat 

 at Madras is less than that of Calcutta. In January 

 the thermometer is about 70 s ; this is the lowest tem- 

 perature : the highest is in July, when the thermome- 

 ter is about 91. 



The soil of Hindostan exhibits fewer varieties than 

 might be expected in such a vast tract of country. In 

 the whole of that district which is watered by the 

 Ganges, the most prevalent soil is a rich black mould, 

 evidently of alluvial origin. No other soil appears be- 

 tween the Tipporah hills on the east, and the district of 

 Hurdwana on the west, nor below Dacca and Borleah to 

 the north ; nor is there any substance so coarse as gra- 

 vel, either in the Delta, or nearer the sea, than 400 

 miles along the course of the Ganges at Oudanulla. At 

 this place, a rocky point, evidently stretching from the 

 base of the neighbouring hills, projects into the river. 

 In other parts of Bengal and the adjacent provinces, 



there is a considerable extent of clayey soil ; and that Statistics 

 this was the original soil, where the black mould is now '*' ~V~ 

 found, is proved by the appearance of the beds of the 

 rivers, which are of clay. The substratum of the soil 

 in this part of Hindostan Proper is in many places 

 calcareous ; in others clay ; and in a few instances 

 rocky. The soil of the Punjab resembles that which 

 chiefly prevails in Bengal, and is equally fertile. As 

 we approach to the south-west into Sinde and Gu- 

 zerat, the soil becomes more sandy. In Malwah, it 

 is a deep, black, rich mould. Of this kind of soil 

 there is one variety, named by the natives eyrcy, which 

 is deemed very unhealthy. The whole of the plains 

 of Chitteldroog, in the Mysore, which is 10 miles from 

 north to south, and 4 from east to west, consists of 

 this kind of black mould to a great depth. The pro- 

 vinces of Gundwanah and Orissa contain the largest 

 proportion of poor unproductive soil perhaps in all Hin- 

 dostan. To the south of these provinces, the soil near 

 the coasts both of Malabar and Coromandel is sandy, 

 and generally of a poor quality. It is more fertile, 

 however, as the mountains are approached. In the 

 province of Malabar, the soil at the foot of the low 

 hills which intervene between the sea and the Ghauts, 

 is a red clay, or brick earth. On the Coromandel side, 

 the sandy soil continues nearly to the foot of the eastern 

 -Ghauts. The soil on the Table-land, and also in the 

 extreme southern provinces of India, is of various qua- 

 lity ; but, in general, a loam, on rock, very fertile. 



CHAP. IV. 



Different Tenures of Landed Properly Agriculture 

 W 'ft and Dry Lands Produce Wheat, S>c. Rice 

 Sugar Cotton Indigo I'"PPy Tobacco 

 Mode of Harvesting Implements Pasture Cattle 

 Milk, Butter Sheep State of the Agricultural 

 Clas,ses. 



IT is foreign to the nature and object of this article, 

 and would extend it tar beyond its proper limits, to en- 

 ter fully into the subject of the landed tenure in Hin- 

 dostan, especially as. with respect to some points of it, 

 there is considerable difference of opinion among the 

 best informed authors. We allude particularly to the 

 dispute which was for a long time carried on regarding 

 the rights and original character of the zemindars. Zemindars. 

 There can be no doubt, that, in the most ancient time 

 of Hindoo history, the property of the land was vested 

 in the sovereign ; and the opinion that the zemindars 

 were merely collectors of the revenue, seems the more 

 probable. Indeed there is a common saying among 

 the Mahrattas, that " the daughter belongs to her pa- 

 rents, but the land to the king." 



Our most accurate source of information on the sub- Ancient te- 

 ject of the tenure of land in Hindostan, before the.ar- nure ' 

 rival of the Mahomedan conquerors, is derived from 

 the Institutes of Menou : these were drawn up about 

 1300 years before Christ. In these Institutes, there are 

 very minute and particular regulations on the subject 

 of the rent of land, from which it appears, that the 

 sovereign in most parts was the proprietor. The me- 

 dium rent was estimated at a sixth part of its produce ; 

 but, it varied considerably according to the degree and 

 quantity of labour which the nature of the soil and other 

 circumstances required. If the lands were very unfertile, 

 and necessarily required a very considerable degree of 

 labour, only an eighth or a twelfth of the produce was 



