BETWEEN INDIAN AND JEWISH IDEAS AND CUSTOMS. 
81 
of a newly killed buffalo. He took a new line and this was 
accepted. That was the most solemn appeal which can be 
made in such cases. The man, however, is watched, and also 
his family for several days, and if anything which was healthy 
at the time dies before the fixed period, the man is disgraced, 
and the settlement rendered null and invalid. This practice is 
common in East and West Malwa. In native rule a Panchayet 
or Council of Elders of the neighbourhood usually settled the 
matter. In our time Political officers act or supervise. In 
Kutlam this duty is deemed hereditary, and one principal 
resident or Mulch was so respected that his house became a 
sanctuary for criminals. 
Land of any kind which will grow anything edible by men 
or animals is of value, but for permanent habitation a well is 
almost a necessity, though not absolutely so, because there are 
many places in the extreme west of Piajputana which depend 
almost entirely during the dry months upon the water 
reserved from the rainy season of the year. In such places, 
even where there are wells, they are some hundreds of feet in 
depth. Bikanir water, for example, is as much as 300 feet below 
the surface, but is then abundant in most cases. Wells are, 
therefore, most valuable possessions, and many are the quarrels 
which arise in connection with them. The Philistines, envy- 
ing the prosperity of Isaac, filled up the wells which his father 
Abraham had excavated, and the new ones which his servants 
digged were the subject of strife with the herdmen of Gerar, 
who said, “ the water is ours.” 
In those parts of Kajputana in which the water lies at 
a great depth, a well is often the property of a number of 
men, perhaps as many as sixteen and even twice that number, 
each having his share. It is easy, therefore, to see how readily 
disputes may arise if one of the partners endeavours to use 
more than his share for the irrigation of his field. In more 
favoured countries the value of a well is not so highly 
appreciated. It is said that one of the great wells in the 
city of Bikanir may cost as much as a lakh of rupees or 
£6,666. The water of such a well as this is too expensive 
to use for irrigation, so that the people must depend for their 
crops upon the seasonal rains, which are often very scanty. 
Abraham and Lot were compelled to separate because their 
herdmen strove when the land was not able to bear them ; 
in other words when there was not enough water. In like 
manner, the scarcity of w T ater in the regions to which I have 
referred in the Western tracts of India, drives many young 
