378 Account of Pergunnah MaJwba, Zillah Humeerpore. [No. 4, 



therefore never used), and in a month begins to sprout. In June, 

 just before the rains set in, the excess is thinned out and trans- 

 planted, the produce of one beegah serving for three or four ; the 

 roots being taken between the Dheemur's toes, in a curious manner, 

 and thus fixed in the mud. The leaves appear on the surface of 

 the water, beneath which in October the fruit forms, and is gathered 

 in November and December. 



The produce sells commonly at from ten to twenty seers per 

 Sreenugger rupee, and a local beegah produces from three to four 

 maunds. . The measure is by bamboos 18 feet long, twelve by two 

 forming the singharra beegah, which pays from one to three rupees 

 rent, the nature of the soil telling in this as in other crops ; a stony 

 bottom being very unfavourable. The community of Dheemurs, 

 however, generally take the lake on a " thausah" lease, and divide 

 it among themselves, their respective cultivations being marked by 

 upright sticks, the removal of which as of boundary marks on shore, 

 leads to many a quarrel. 



Their great enemy is an insect called " baudu," which, in both 

 stages, of grub and fly, feeds on the plant, eating through the 

 husks, and thus destroying the fruit, which on being exposed to the 

 water, spoils. The labour of killing these and clearing away weeds, 

 is very great. 



For the cultivation flat bottomed canoes are used, scooped out 

 of the trunk of a single mohwa tree, costing about five rupees 

 each to make, and lasting fifteen to twenty years. They carry two 

 men, and are pushed on by bamboos ; and when not used are sunk 

 in the water till again wanted. 



Castor plant. 



The castor plant (Ricinus vulgaris) so very common about Hu- 

 meerpore and its neighbourhood, is scarcely known here ; it is occa- 

 sionally grown by kachees in little patches ; but in only one vil- 

 lage, "Karee Pucharee," have I seen a field of it. 



Gardens. 



Garden cultivation is frequently to be met with, but is by no 

 means universal. Pepper and vegetables are grown, but by far the 

 most common crop is tobacco, of which large quantities are pro- 

 duced in the northern part of the Pergunnah. 



