142 
HINTS TO TRAVELLERS. 
water for irrigation purposes could be obtained ? Indicate any exceptional 
defects of quality in the supply of water. 
Note if any part of the country is liable to periodical inundations. 
At what periods of the year do they occur? Are these inundations 
destructive, or are they utilised for agricultural purposes ? Would it be 
possible to regulate these inundations ? 
Agriculture. —The general outcome of all these observations is the 
suitability of a country for agricultural development. What articles do 
the natives cultivate, if any? Has the cultivated land any special 
character, or is it simply the ordinary land cleared of trees or grass, or 
other wild growth? Note the methods and implements of culture used 
by the natives; the seasons of sowing and reaping, and preparing the* 
crops for use. Do they depend for waiter on rainfall or irrigation ? To 
what altitudes is cultivation carried, and what are the crops that prosper 
at these altitudes ? 
From the point of view of colonisation and agriculture, precise in¬ 
formation as to the nature of the soil is desirable. The proportion or 
extent of a country suitable for agriculture might be noted. Observe, 
as precisely as practicable, the nature and depth of the upper layer of 
soil. The depth—it may be a few inches, or it may be two or three feet 
—can easily be ascertained. A general idea may also be given of its 
nature. Is it mostly vegetable mould, as it is likely to be in old forest 
or grass countries? or peaty? or marshy? If possible, also, ascertain 
the depth of the subsoil down to the rock or clay, or other permanent 
basis on which it rests. In a general way it might be observed whether 
the soil is sandy, gravelly, stony, calcareous, marly, clayey. Also is 
it compact, tenacious, or loose, and, above all, is it permeable or 
impermeable to water ? Is the soil very dry or very moist ? or what is 
its intermediate stage ? 
If the natives carry on cultivation, ascertain, if possible, the yield per 
acre of what they cultivate. Do they cultivate only for their own wants ? 
If not, where and what is the nature of the market to which they send 
the surplus ? 
Does the country seem suitable for other cultures besides those carried 
on by the natives ? 
Animal Products. —If there are wild animals in the country, observe 
whether the natives hunt them for what they yield in the way of food or 
