486 



and plentiful country. Passing the Chumla close to Noulai, about 

 eight miles further, they came to the Chumbal, a fine running 

 stream, which rising near Indore, about twenty-five miles distant, 

 takes a north-easterly direction, and falls into the Jumna near 

 Dholepore. In addition to the abundant crops of wheat, bailey, 

 juarree and other Indian grains, were large fields of cotton and 

 poppies, for opium. The mode of extracting and gathering this 

 drug from the poppy, of which there are three kinds, is very 

 simple. The peasants go every evening into the fields, and with 

 a sharp instrument make three or four incisions into the rind of 

 the poppy-head of seed; the juice, during the night, oozes plenti- 

 fully from these incisions; and is tenacious, until they come the 

 next morning with another instrument to scrape it off, and collect 

 it for sale. This country also produces the sarunjee, or aul 

 tree. From the root of this tree when young the natives extract a 

 red dye. 



The large village of Bulleyree is amply supplied with water, 

 from several brooks flowing at this arid season. The whole coun- 

 try during the latter stages was remarkably well watered; indeed 

 the province of Malwa is in this respect proverbially happy, and 

 is said never to have known the distress of famine; it is, on the 

 contrary, generally considered as an asylum and store-house for 

 other countries, suffering under that calamity. Large parties of 

 emigrants from Manvar, and Cottyawar, which had for two years 

 experienced a great drought, were now spread over this happier 

 country. 



The villages in this part of the Malwa province are built en- 

 tirely of mud; the flat roofs, walls, and floors, all of the same 





