38 



Report on Bastar. [No. 11, nf series. 



which the interference of the Government may appear necessary, 

 merely forwarding the statement, without entering into any investi- 

 gation, for my orders, with an Urzee explanatory of the circum- 

 stances of the case. 



16. From the unorganized state of this dependency as previ- 



. ~ t . ously described in this letter, the character 



Metia Question. J ' 



hitherto borne by Dulgunjun Sing while uncon- 

 trolled by any superior authority, the limited time at my disposal 

 and the necessity for my early return to Raipore, I did not deem 

 it prudent after the extended and conclusive enquiries made by 

 the Officiating Agent for the Hill Tracts of Orissa, to agitate at 

 this time the further investigation of the Meria question, in the 

 fear of being either inevitably detained, or of having to adopt the 

 unsatisfactory alternative of breaking off in the middle of my 

 labours. The extreme shyness of the people also, and the 

 difficulty of obtaining information, the over-anxious caution 

 evinced in replying to the most ordinary questions, and the appa- 

 rently systematic manner in which the villagers avoided all inter- 

 course, or reluctantly responded to all such attempts, which has 

 been so happily contrasted since my circuit emerged from Bustar, 

 impressed me with the idea that some means had been used to 

 discourage the people from freely communicating with my camp 

 independent of the consideration of their natural aversion to come 

 in contact with strangers, I therefore rested content for the pre- 

 sent with renewing the stipulation for the suppression of human 

 sacrifice and issued fresh instructions to the guards at Jugdulpore 

 and Duntewarrah. In compliance with your sanction contained 

 in para 7 of letter from your office No. 44 dated the 28th July 

 1855, guards of the strength therein laid down w r ere dispatched 

 in the month of October of last year and reached their respective 

 stations in November. Form the unfavorable season at which they 

 were dispatched however, or from their not being acclimatized, 

 the greater part of them, including one of the news-writers and a 

 Jemadar, were obliged to return almost immediately, and the rest 

 have with difficulty recovered and been prevailed upon to remain. 

 The guards have now again been completed, and I have written to 

 the Agent for the Hill Tracts, to supply me with a news-writer in 



