1878.] 
Famines in India. 
439 
unfavourable to agriculture, but it was not till October, 1865, 
that symptoms of distress began to show themselves, and 
in the following month Government sanctioned the employ- 
ment of the poorer classes on public works. By March, 
1866, the distress had increased, and many relief depots 
were opened by private subscription at several places in the 
Ganjam district. In June the Bengal Government sanc- 
tioned a grant of Rs. 20,000 from the balance of the North- 
west Provinces Famine Relief Fund, which was chiefly 
expended in grain, on the public account, and despatched to 
Ganjam. Considerable funds were also raised locally, and 
in Madras, for the relief of the distress of that district, and 
the Madras Government sanctioned an expenditure of 
Rs. 3000 per mensem, from the State Funds, for the same 
purpose. In July a General Famine Relief Committee was 
formed to collect subscriptions to alleviate the distress, and 
Government promised to make contributions to the Relief 
Fund equivalent in amount to the private subscriptions 
which might be raised for the purpose, and sanction was, at 
the same time, given for the employment of the able-bodied 
among the sufferers on public works. The years 1S68 to 
1870 were noted for an extensive famine which ranged from 
Behar, over great parts of the North-west Provinces, the 
Punjab, and Rajputana, and was caused by the failure of 
the harvest of 1868 following upon an unfavourable season 
in the preceding year. An untimely fall of rain in the 
autumn of 1869 caused great anxiety, and the crops proved 
very short. Generally speaking the famine had disappeared 
in the North-west Provinces by October, 1869; but in Ajmir 
and Mhairwarra a plague of locusts succeeded the drought, 
and prolonged the sufferings in those parts until the close of 
March, 1870, or even later. 
The next famine visited Bengal and Behar, in the years 
n:873-74. x ^ 7 2 the rain was somewhat deficient, and the 
following year was also a dry one, almost beyond precedent, 
and what rain did fall was unfortunately distributed ; south 
of the Ganges it was excessive, but in North Behar, and 
almost the whole of Bengal, the rain was far below the 
average. Coupled with deficient rainfall, the monsoon of 
1873 was abnormally hot. The famine reached its culmi- 
nating point in April and May, 1874, and it was completely 
over by about October, 1874. The experience gained in 
dealing with previous famines was of great value on this 
occasion, and enabled Government successfully to meet the 
calamity and organise systems of relief. Tolls were re- 
moved from ferries and roads along the- chief routes for 
