OF KAMAON. 33 



For the internal management of these Mehals, the only public officer 

 retained in them is the Patwari, who receives from the village Burhas 

 the amount of their Jama, and remits the same to the Sader treasury. 

 By this functionary are also made the reports connected with Police, re- 

 lating to casualties, &c. Criminal offences are rare; the total number since 

 1815, has been confined to four, of which two were murders, one a case 

 of arson, and the fourth a petty theft : the three first-mentioned crimes 

 were perpetrated from motives of revenge. In the same period two 

 inroads, by subjects of a foreign state, have occurred. In the winter of 

 1822, the village of Melam in Juivar, was plundered by a band of Tartars, 

 during the periodical absence of its inhabitants. A part of the plunder 

 has since been recovered through the authority of the Lhassan viceroy, at 

 Gartokh; but the owners have hitherto declined receiving it, unless ac- 

 companied with an indemnification for the missing portion. The pro- 

 perty in question, consequently, remains in deposit at the Gartokh Police 

 Office. The second inroad took place in 1823, at the Byanse Ghat, 

 the whole of the villages in which were subjected to a forced contribu- 

 tion by a party of Jats, from Jumla, on some antiquated claim of tri- 

 bute. The whole plunder amounting to about 2,000 rupees in value, has 

 since been recovered and restored through the intervention of the Gorhha 

 chiefs in Datti. 



The only manufactures in Bhot are woollens, consisting of blankets, 

 and serges of various descriptions ; these are partly consumed by the Bho- 

 tias, in clothing, tents, &c. ; the residue is disposed of in other parts of 

 the province : this manufacture is not confined to any distinct class, but 

 is carried on indiscriminately by the females of all ranks : the weaving is 

 performed sitting, one end of the web being fastened to a stone, or stake 

 fixed in the ground, the other secured by a strap to the body of the weav- 

 er ; the yarn is prepared by the males, who may, at all times, be seen 



k engaged 



