MALAY LAND TENURE. 87 



u ' J4m' in Bengal, * i hcwar ' ( often, but incorrectly, :dahyd) 

 "in the Central Provinces, ' kwnri' in South India, and 

 cc ' toung-yd } in Bar ma. 



" In all cases the essence of the practice consists in selecting 

 c< a hill side where the excessive tropical rainfall will drain ofi 

 "■sufficiently to prevent flooding of the crop and on which there 

 <c is a sufficient depth of soil. A few plots are selected, and all 

 <l the vegetation carefully cut : the larger trees will usually be 

 tf ringed and left to die ; — standing bare and dried, there will be 

 " no shade from them hurtful to the ripening crop. The refuse 

 " is left on the ground to dry. At the proper season, when the 

 " dry weather is at its height, and before the first rains begin 

 " and fit the ground for sowing, the whole mass will be sst 

 " on fire : the ashes are dug into the ground, and the seed is 

 " sown, — usually being mixed with the ashes and the whole dug 

 " in together. The plough is not used. The great labour after 

 i; that consists in weeding, and it is the only labour after the 

 " first few days of hard cutting, to clear the ground in the first 

 " instance, are over. Weeding is, in many places, a sine qua non, 

 " for the rich soil would soon send up a crop of jangle growth 

 " that would suppress the hill rice or whatever it is that has 

 " been sown, f 



" A second crop may be taken, the following year, possibly a 

 " third, but then a new piece is cut, and the process is repeated. 



"Nature of Right to which such Practice gives rise. 



" When the whole 'of the area in the locality judged suitable 

 "for treatment is exhausted, the families or tribes will move off' 

 " to another region, and may, if land is abundant, only come 

 " back to the same hill sides after twenty or even forty years. 

 " But when the families are numerous, the land available be- 



* " Jam is the general name used in official reports, but in reality this 

 *' name must be entirely local. In fact no one name can be applied. In the 

 " G-aro hills, in Chitta^ong , in G-oalpara, in Sontalia, and no doubt in every 

 " other district where this method of cultivation is practised, there is a differ - 

 " ent local name." 



f " But this is not always the case, where the hill land has long been subject 

 " to this treatment, or where the soil is peculiar ; in the G-aro hills, I am told, 

 " weeding is not required." 



