1844.] Effects of the Famine of 1838. 193 



some future date, it may be necessary to abandon Guntoor 

 and approach nearer to the Kistna. The place would be ill 

 suited now for a cavalry station,, which it was in days of old. 



The number of wells in the District is stated at 8948, of 

 which 6873 are said to be in repair, and 2075 out of repair. 

 Of the latter, a considerable proportion have probably been 

 dug in ill chosen sites and have been abandoned in consequence. 

 Others have been left incomplete for want of funds to finish 

 them. Generally, it would be found that the wells are of 

 small depth, that they penetrate only the softer kind of rock 

 and gravel, and that, when granite was arrived at, the difH- 

 culty and expense of piercing it brought the work to a close. 

 There is no ground to hope, nor, indeed, is it fair to expect 

 that the impoverished ryots will now do what was beyond 

 their strength in the days of their prosperity ; — yet it seems 

 reasonable to suppose that supplies of water for irrigation, 

 domestic purposes and for cattle might become pretty abund- 

 ant, if the wells were generally deepened and repaired under 

 judicious arrangements. The only question is, " "Where is the 

 money to come from ?" 



Not that a large sum would be required :— at least not a 

 large portion of the sum lost in the famine. 4 lacs out of the 

 two hundred and twenty one would afford 200 Eupees for 

 the repairs of each of the wells said to be out of repair, be- 

 sides 50 Eupees for deepening each of those that is called in 

 repair.— 2000 cattle-ponds would give one for every village 

 and hamlet ; and for 6 lacs, they might all be dug, down to 

 the granite and their sides faced with stone. Another lac 

 would provide a road by which troops might move with mode- 

 rate celerity from Madras to the frontier, and the spare pro- 

 duce of Guntoor and Nellore might find its way into the 

 other Northern Circars and the Nizam's dominions. 



In short, with an expenditure of less than the revenues of 



