433 



On (he S( all's/ ICS of Dukhun, 



[Amy, 



if possible, his well and little plot of sj ir len ground. Gurdriis pro- 

 duce all the year round : they are eouipara'ivi'ly unaflVi led hy the 

 droughis win. -h destroy iirld crops; an>l in lopeiul'Mitly of the coiisliml- 

 ly saleable gard.'ti sill :Ts, fruits, and arouiatic seeds, there is usiually 

 room for a beegali or more t)f bukshee or join- wheals, which require 

 watering, and a plot or two of sui;ar-c.iue.- To liis garden tlic cultivator 

 is indebted for many of the litile enjoyments his situation is snsceplible 

 of. In some instances, in the Mahli^ongeh TurrufT, Pv)Qi)ii civllectorale, 

 I found cultivators paying iheir entire assessments, and rcapii'g profit 

 by their garden produce cf chillies'^ alone, whi h were sjiil into the 

 Konkun. 



Usually it has been deemed sufficient to arrange Zerhaeet or field- 

 land into four classes, as at Jehoor, namely, Awul (best), usually black 

 land, Rehsee (modified black), Bnrrad (dashed with lime and some de- 

 composing greenstone), and linally, Khurrud (stony, thin, and poor). 

 The first, throughout the country, dt>es not average more than 1 rupee 

 the beegah, the second *, the third j^, and the last of a rupee per 

 becgah ; htU at oilier ]»laces there art- other distinctions. In the Ma- 

 wuls, or hilly tracts along the Glianis, lands are classed as Bhat, Khatan, 

 andWnrkus, the firbt being rice land, the second wheat and grain land, 

 and the third being on the slopes of hills, produ^Mug the dry grains 

 Saw;i^ and Wuree ;c there being a great deal of red soil also in these 

 tracts, it is distingnislied by the term Tambut or copper-coloured. The 

 Awul, or best, where it occurs, is called Kalw^ut (black), and the rocky 

 and stony Maa:l. 



These explanations are suffi-ient to show that where assessments on 

 the qualify of the latid have been introduced, uniformity has not obtained 

 in distinguishing the qualities ; they show also that the people were 

 satisfied to limit the qualities to four gradations; but at Ahmednaggnr, 

 the Shaikdar or inspector of cultivation has had the microscopic ability 

 of vision to mark twelve shades of difference in the field-land. The ac- 

 counts are, in consequence, amass of perplexity, and it is very probable 

 the revenue is frittered away in distinctions which the cultivator never 

 dreamt of, and never profits by. 



Field-lands, on which the cultivators sink wells, are not assessed as 

 garden-lands. At Kanoor, Nuggur collectorate, I found lands so circum- 

 stanced had been free from any extra assessments from a period beyond 

 the memory of man. 



a Capsicum annuutn, and other species. 



b Panicum frumentaceum. e Pauicum miliare. 



