OF BURDWAKT, 55 i 



According to the ftatements fo furnifhed, the diftrict of Burdwan 

 contains 2,62,634 dwelling houfes, of which 2,18,853 are occupied by 

 Hindus, and 43,781 by Mahomedans ; allowing §\ inhabitants to each 

 dwelling, the total population of Burdwan will amount to 14,44,487 

 fouls. The area of the d-iftri&'of Biitdwm, as its boundaries are at pre- 

 fent arranged, comprifes about .2,400 Englifri fquare miles. On art 

 average therefore, each fquare mile contains a population of more than 

 600 perfons. 



The total population of England gives an average of near 200 inhabi- 

 tants to each fquare mile, but if fome particular countries are fekcted,, 

 the proportion will be found to approximate much more nearly to that 

 of Burdwan. The county of Lane 'after ', for inftance, contains about 

 1,800 fquare miles, and its population in the year 181 1 amounted to 

 8,56,000, furnifhing an average of 476 inhabitants to a fquare mile. 



It mould be obferved however that the diftrict of Burdwan is one of 

 the moll productive and highly cultivated portions of Britijli territories 

 in India, and that it contains fcarcely any jungle or wafte land. 



The materials from which I have calculated the population of the 

 diftrict of Burdzoan appear to be fufficiently folid and accurate for 

 every practical purpofe, and I am fatisfied that the total population of 

 Britijh India and the proportion of Hindu to Mahomedan inhabitants 

 might be afcertained in a limilar manner with little difficulty or incon- 

 venience. 



The refult of fuch a general enquiry conducted on uniform princi- 

 ples, would not merely be gratifying to public curioiity, but might even- 

 tually prove of great practical importance in the improvement of the 



