control, we did not establish mails, similar to those in use throughout
England. Before this can be effected, an immense revolution must take
place, not only in the minds of the natives, but in the features of the
country. At present, there appears no desire on the part of the
inhabitants to communicate by land, farther than may be necessary for
the purpose of attending _hauts_, (markets,) _maylahs_, (fairs,) or for
the resort to certain places of worship, &c. For such purposes, a
pedestrian trip suffices; or, at the utmost, a poney, worth only a few
shillings, is either borrowed or hired. The contact of various _casts_,
or sects, being considered a pollution, it is not to be supposed that a
Hindu would like to be pent up, for hours together, with a Mahomedan,
who makes no scruple of killing and eating a cow: or that the Mussulman
would, in his turn, feel comfortable under similar circumstances, with a
British _kaufur_, (unbeliever,) who, besides his condemnation of the
prophet, makes no scruple of devouring ham and bacon wholesale!
Admitting that all parties should be agreed to associate within the body
of a stage-coach, still there would not exist intercourse sufficient to
support the expences, in a quarter where horses are so dear, and where
the necessary repairs could not, in case of accident, be promptly
effected. Then, again, the roads must be suitably made, at an enormous
expence, and be afterwards supported by heavy disbursements, or by a
contribution of labor on the part of the land-holders, by no means
agreeable to their feelings. All this may, in time, pass under a
complete metamorphosis: the produce of the country will be more
generally estimable; the people will relax greatly from the vigorous
attention now paid to religious tenets; and, as their prejudices may
give way to their true interests, will extend their speculations without
fear or restriction. Those who may then inhabit India, will see roads,
mails, and inns; whereas, at present, there are only pathways and
runners, but no inns. There are, to be sure, _seraies_ and _choultries_,
for the accommodation of travellers, but these are mostly going fast to
decay; and, at the best, can be viewed only as shelter for men and
cattle; goods being usually left exposed to the weather. The
_bytearens_, or female cooks, who ply, in more than one capacity, at
such places, and who, on receiving money before-hand, buy and cook such
victuals as may be ordered, or the place may afford, cannot be
considered otherwise than as menials, and not to be classed with our
inn-keepers; no, nor even with the poorest village retailer, ‘_Lysunst
to del in T, Koffy, and Tibaky_!’
There is, however, a wide field for practical improvement; as may be
fully understood from the following statement. The _dawk_ rarely travels
at a less expence than twenty-five rupees per month, for each stage of
eight miles (four cosses) on the average. This sum is absorbed by a
_moonshy_ at each _chokey_, or relief at the end of a stage, who
pretends to be very scrupulous in regard to ascertaining that all the
parcels are right, but who, as I have repeatedly witnessed, is more
intent on receiving little presents of _ottah_, (meal,) spices, &c.,
sent to him from the neighbouring villages, in return for letters
conveyed by the _dawk-hirkarahs_, who are sometimes laden pretty heavily
with such contributions. I speak from what I have been an eye-witness to
repeatedly; as to hear-say, much more might be asserted. It appears to
me that the above sum would carry on the system with double the speed,
and double the efficiency. In lieu of sending off four, five, and six,
men with the _dawks_, let a horseman convey the bags for about twelve
miles, on an allowance of fifteen rupees per month for man and horse;
and, during the rainy season, when the roads are deep, let a fresh horse
be allowed for the several returns, instead of causing the same man and
horse to return with the _counter-dawks_. On the above allowance a very
good steed might be kept, the celerity of the _dawk_ would be greatly
encreased, and there would be no occasion for _moonshies_, except at
such _chokies_ as might be upon diverging roads, where it would be
necessary to have the proper parcels sorted out, and delivered to the
various _branch-dawks_.
Travelling in a _palanquin_ by _dawk_, (_i.e._ post,) is effected much
in the same manner as the despatch of the _dawks_. Bearers are stationed
at the several stages, for the purpose of relief; each station, in
general, supplying eight bearers, and a _bangy_, in all nine men,
together with one or two _mosaulchies_ for night stages. The expence of
travelling in this manner will depend greatly on the distance: if only a
short journey is to be made, such as may be compassed within eight or
ten hours, nothing more is needful than to send on a set, or two, of
bearers, who then receive their daily hire of four annas (8d.) each,
while out from home; or, if there should exist the means of so doing, a
_hirkarah_, (or messenger,) may be despatched to collect bearers at the
several stages. In this manner, the relays may be properly supplied, and
the cost will not amount to more than a rupee for three miles; equal to
ten-pence a mile; whereas, in the ordinary mode of having bearers laid
by the post-master, each mile will cost full one rupee, (_i.e._ 2_s._
6_d._,) besides various little disbursements by way of _buxees_, or
presents, to every set of bearers in the journey: these may be fairly
estimated at two rupees for every set, or relief, which, if the
distances run by each should average ten miles, will be about twenty
rupees (£2. 10_s._) for every hundred miles. The ordinary rate of this
kind of conveyance may be rated at four miles per hour during the cold
season, three and a half during the hot season, and from two to three
during the rains, provided the waters are not much out: otherwise, no
estimate can be formed. The above includes stops.
The establishment of _dawk-bangies_ for the conveyance of parcels, at
rates in proportion to their weights respectively, has produced
considerable convenience to those who reside at a distance from the
Presidency. Until this plan was adopted, few could send small articles,
such as trinkets, &c., to the Presidency, but under favor of some
individual who might perchance be travelling thither, and who might
possibly be some months on the way: the same inconvenience attended the
return; so that it was not uncommon for a gentleman whose watch required
inspection, to be four or five months deprived of its use. This is now
done away, and a watch, &c. may be sent from Cawnpore to Calcutta, there
undergo repair, and be returned with ease, in the course of a month, or
less.
The same kind of convenience is, of course, afforded regarding books,
and all other articles too bulky, or too heavy, to proceed by the
_dawk_, but not of sufficient importance to induce the employment of a
boat, or of a _bangy_, to convey them: nor, indeed, could a single
bearer travel with a _bangy_ more than twenty miles within the
twenty-four hours; so that he would be full a month in going from
Calcutta to Cawnpore; whereas, the _dawk-bangies_ travel by relays of
bearers, therefore can almost keep up with the _dawk-hirkarahs_, who
carry the mail-bags suspended at the end of a stick over their
shoulders.
The communication by water between Calcutta and the several subordinate
stations, whether civil or military, is much resorted to; during the
rainy season in particular. At that time, few are inaccessible to craft
of some description, though but for a while: those immense falls of rain
which cause the ravines to fill, and every little creek to become
navigable for boats of ten or fifteen tons, swell the Ganges, and the
other great rivers, to an astonishing height; causing them to run with
awful velocity. The rivers generally rise in May, but a few inches only,
in June, they often approach the summits of their banks, between which
they fluctuate, rising and falling until the great swell, which takes
place in August. Sometimes the river rises twice, sometimes thrice, or,
even four times, during the season; but, in general, one ample
inundation serves all the purposes of agriculture, provided the rains do
not afterwards abate too suddenly in September, before the rice is cut.
When such an untimely cessation takes place, it is attended with great
mortality: the immense expanse of slime, suddenly exposed to the
influence of the sun, then on the equinoctial, throws forth the most
destructive miasma, whereby epidemics, of the most dangerous
description, are propagated.
The swelling of the great rivers is a matter of great uncertainty;
sometimes they rise very early, before the quantity of rain that falls
in the lower provinces could lead to the expectation of their doing so:
when this is the case, it is not uncommon to see the Cossimbazar river,
commonly called the _Baugrutty_, nearly dry at night, and full twenty
feet, or more, deep the next morning. In other seasons the waters are
very tardy; a matter of serious moment to the husbandman, who is
naturally anxious to plant his crop of rice in due time, so that it may
be securely attached to the soil before the great inundation comes on.
The growth of the rice stalk is certainly one of the most curious proofs
of nature’s adaptation of that plant to the situation in which it is
cultivated; namely, in the water: it will not thrive unless the stem be
immersed for several inches; and, owing to the formation of its stalk,
which draws out like the concentric tubes of a pocket telescope, it can
put forth many feet in the course of a few hours, so as, apparently, to
grow as fast as the water may rise, and to keep its pannicle from being
overflowed. It is by no means rare for the rice stalks to shoot forth
from five to six feet during the twenty-four hours: I have _seen_ it do
much more!
In parts subject to the regular annual inundation, all the villages are
built on rising grounds: many stand on artificial mounds, formed by
excavations around their bases, so that they are surrounded nearly by
moats, in which their _dingies_, or small boats, are immersed during the
dry season, and affording admirable refreshment to their buffaloes
during the summer heats. But it sometimes happens, that the waters rise
to so great a height as to endanger even these elevated villages; some
of which are then completely inundated. To avoid this, most of the
houses are built upon piles, or stakes, thereby to raise their floors
from four to six feet above the ground, and open enough to permit the
waters to pass through with freedom. In the dry time of the year, the
cattle are occasionally kept within the areas thus enclosed under the
floors; but, while the inundation is at its height, so as to insulate a
village completely, all the live stock are kept in boats moored around
it, where they are fed by a species of the _doob_, or _doop-grass_,
dragged up from the bottom of the waters by means of split bamboos, made
to serve as forks: but for so providential a supply, the cattle must be
led scores of miles to some part of the country, whose elevation exempts
it from inundation.
The mention of a country being so completely under water, cannot but
cause considerable surprize. The fact is, however, too well known to be
disputed. Even at Berhampore, which is not considered within the
ordinary verge of inundation, it is common to see boats of great
burthen, perhaps fifty tons, sailing over the plains, as through a
boundless sea. As to the country lying between the mouth of the
Jellinghy and the debouchures of the Ganges, that is always overflowed
for full three months, perhaps to the average depth of ten or twelve
feet. I have sailed over it full a hundred miles by the compass; aided,
indeed, by some remarkable villages, mosques, banks, &c., well known to
the boatmen, who, probably from their earliest days, had traversed the
same expanse during every rainy season.
Were it not for the water being strongly colored, and the strength of
the current, it would not be easy in many places to distinguish the
great rivers which are crossed in steering through this fresh-water
ocean: the water of the inundation is generally of a bluish tinge,
derived from the quantity of vegetable matter at the bottom, of which a
certain quantity decays, and partially taints the fluid. A large portion
is concealed by the _d’haun_, (or rice,) which rises above its surface.
This, in the first instance, bears the appearance of a long grass, of a
rich green, rising above the surface, so as to be mistaken at a little
distance for _terra firma_: gradually, the pannicles shoot forth, of a
pale-dun color, turning, as they ripen, to a deep dun, or light clay.
The grains of rice, which are called by Europeans ‘_paddy_,’ retain the
name of _d’haun_ so long as in their coats; as we often see a few grains
among the rice imported to us: these coats are peculiarly harsh to the
feel, and are fluted longitudinally, so that no water can lodge upon
them. Each grain is fastened to a short stalk, joining to a main stem,
and furnishing a very pleasing bunch of grain, not very dissimilar to an
ear of oats, but far richer, both in color, and in quantity. Rice has no
husk or chaff; therefore is easily separated from the straw, which is
eaten by cattle when no other provender can be had, and makes excellent
litter, it being very long and soft. Where the inundation prevails, the
straw is of little use: the grain being cut in boats, and the straw
settling at the bottom as the waters subside; thereby adding to the
natural fertility of the soil. In the more elevated parts, the straw is
cut the same as in the _rubbee_, or corn crops, and bundled for domestic
purposes: there, its length rarely exceeds two feet, whereas, among the
inundations, it is often seen from fifteen to eighteen feet in length.
The head, or pannicle, generally bears from a hundred and fifty, to
three hundred, grains of rice.
Two modes of clearing rice from the shell are in use; the one performed
by the very simple process of scalding, which occasions the rice to
swell, and to burst the shell, so that the latter is removed with very
little trouble; the other is, by putting the _d’haun_ into an immense
wooden mortar, called an _ookly_, and beating it by the application of
two or more beetles, called _moosuls_, of about four feet in length, by
three inches in diameter, shod at the bottom with iron ferules, and
thinned towards their centres, so as to be grasped by the women; each
alternately impelling one, in nearly a perpendicular direction, among
the _d’haun_ in the _ookly_. After the shells have been duly separated,
the rice, now called _choul_, is separated, by winnowing either in a
strong draught of air, or by means of a kind of scoop, made of fine
wicker-work, called a _soop_, wherewith the native women can most
dexterously separate different kinds of corn, and effectually remove all
rubbish. The coat of rice is peculiarly harsh, and not much relished by
cattle: I have seen it mixed with dung for fuel with excellent effect.
The natives, in general, make little distinction between the rice
separated by scalding, which is called _oosnah_, and that dressed by the
_ookly_, which is called _urwah_; but some of the more fastidious prefer
one or the other, according to particular prejudices handed down in
their families, or supposed to appertain to their respective sects. I
think the scalded rice generally deficient in flavor; the grains are
larger, and less compact; the beaten rice certainly boils with rather
more difficulty, but appears whiter, and drier. The scalded rice does
not immediately separate from the coat, but is usually submitted to the
operation of a machine composed of a stout beam, nearly equipoised by
means of a thorough-pin, on a fork, of wood also, fixed in the ground.
It is inconceivable what quantities of rice, of a coarse reddish cast,
but peculiarly sweet, and large grained, are prepared, about
Backergunge, near the debouchure of the Megna, for exportation. In that
quarter fuel is cheap, and water conveyance every where at hand; so that
the immense crops raised in the inundated districts find a ready sale.
The average return from a _bigah_ of 1600 square yards, of three
_bigahs_ to our statute acre, sown with about twenty-five seers of
_d’haun_, may be taken at nine maunds. The price of the grain, when
cleared of its coat, may be from thirty to forty seers of fine rice, and
from sixty even to _a hundred and twenty seers_ (_i.e._ three maunds) of
coarse, commonly called ‘cargo-rice.’ But the demand always regulates
the value; especially when great consignments are forwarded to the coast
of Coromandel.
Large quantities of rice are usually cleared by contract, the operator
receiving the grain at the door of the _golah_, or warehouse, where he
sets up his cauldron and machines, and returning twenty-five seers of
clean rice for every maund (forty seers) delivered to him; he finding
the fuel, and reserving the husks. In a country where labor is so very
cheap, it is not so very necessary to have recourse to mechanical
devices for the purpose of diminishing the expence of such operations;
yet it occurs to me, that, were tide wheels to be used at Backergunge
and elsewhere, or a floating mill, like that moored between Blackfriars’
and London Bridge, to be made out of some condemned hulk, an immense
advantage would be gained in regard to time. By the proper adaptation of
machinery, whereby the rice might be hoisted in, or lowered down, either
by the force of water, or of steam, and the beetles be properly worked,
the grain might certainly be prepared for market in less time, and
infinitely less charge for _cooly_ hire, in landing, loading, &c.:
should this hint be well received by any speculating European, it might
tend to lower the prices of rice at those times, when, either from want
of laborers, or from the expediency of shipping off with as little delay
as possible, the saving of a few days might prove an object of
importance. At all events, the work might be done more regularly, more
frugally, and more independently, than by manual process.
The rice grown in the low countries by no means equals that produced in
the uplands, where it is cultivated with great care, and subjected to
many vicissitudes in regard to the state of moisture in which its roots
are retained. In many parts of the most hilly districts _d’haun_ is to
be seen in every little narrow valley, winding among the bases of those
stupendous eminences from which the torrents of rain supply a
superabundant flow of moisture at one time, while, at others, only the
little rills proceeding from boggy springs seem to feed the artificial
pools in which the growing plants are kept in a state of semi-immersion,
by means of small embankments made of mud. In every instance the
_d’haun_ is to be kept duly watered; else it withers, and becomes
unproductive. In order to preserve the water as much as possible, the
bed, or level, nearest to the springs, is raised as high as can be
afforded, and its exterior border banked up, to about a foot and a half,
with soil: the next level may be from a foot to a yard lower, and
receives the overflow; which is again passed on to the next lower bed;
and thus, in succession, for perhaps a mile or more; the ends of the
beds requiring no embankment, on account of the land rising on either
side. Such situations afford a certain crop in ordinary seasons; and, if
the rains should fail, the dews falling on the adjacent hills, generally
covered with jungle of some kind, ordinarily afford moisture enough to
keep up the springs, thus causing sufficient dampness to prevent the
rice from perishing, before some ample showers may again float the whole
of the irrigated cultivation. Rice thus produced is commonly small in
grain, rather long and wiry, but remarkably white, and admirably suited
to the table. The natives, though they admire its appearance, are not
partial to it; they generally preferring the larger-bodied grain, with a
reddish inner rind, which does not readily separate, when new, from the
rice: this kind, as I have before expressed, is assuredly the sweetest,
and is, on that account, preferred by those who distil arrack.
Remoteness from the sea air is said to be the reason why the up-country
rice possesses less saccharine matter than that grown near the
sea-coast, and among the inundation; but this appears an erroneous
judgment. There is, no doubt, a great encrease of saccharine matter in
plants (of the same genus) cultivated on spots well manured: now, few,
if any, of the places devoted to the cultivation of rice in the upper
country, receive much aid from manure; nor are they, in general, subject
to the reception of nutritious particles, such as are either floated
down, or are engendered and deposited by, the inundation, which may be
viewed as the grand depôt of whatever can enrich the soil. When we look
to the large tracts of plain, not subject to such an immense flow of
feculous moisture, but seeming merely as reservoirs for the retention of
local rains, we shall then see, that the superior sweetness of the rice
produced about Backergunge, Dacca, Hajygunge, Luricool, Mahomedpore,
Comercolly, Jessore, &c., is to be attributed solely to the superior
fatness of the soil, on which the most luxuriant crops of cotton, and of
esculents, are raised during the dry season. When the soil is fresh
turned up for the second crop, it is generally very offensive, and,
doubtless, by no means favorable to the health of the cultivators, who,
at that season, (commonly in November, December, and January,) are
subjected to very obstinate agues.
Rice is very subject to the weevil, which often multiplies among it so
fast, as to threaten destruction to the whole depôt. The natives have
recourse to a very simple preventive; viz. by placing one or two live
cray-fish within the heap: their effluvia quickly expel the predatory
tribe. Here we have a question for naturalists and philosophers; a
question pregnant with interest to the agricultural world, namely,
‘Whether there is any particular, and what, property in a live
cray-fish, that produces this effect upon insects under such
circumstances?’ Whatever may be the cause, the effect is well known;
therefore the enquiry is so far forwarded as to furnish data, or at
least hints, respecting those results which might be expected both from
marine productions, and from other living bodies. The inhabitants of the
lower provinces are chiefly Hindus; therefore, owing to religious
tenets, by which they are led to consider almost every animal as
unclean, few experiments could be expected to take place among them;
otherwise, we might probably have found that any living animal, such as
a rat, a frog, &c., if confined in a small box, and placed within a heap
of rice infested by weevils, would produce a similar effect. Rice is by
no means subject to this species of depredation when in the coat, that
is, in the state called _d’haun_, but the natives are averse to
retaining it in that form, because the grains shrink considerably, and,
when beat out for sale, do not occupy so much space as when exposed to
the air. Hence, it is an object with the rice-merchants to dispose of
their crops before the month of March, unless the markets may be so
glutted as to cause that grain to sell, as it has in some years done, at
such low prices as could not fail to ruin the farmer. It has been known
so cheap as seven and eight maunds (equal to seven cwt.) for a rupee!
When this happens, such merchants as have the command of money rarely
fail to make immense fortunes. Many have been known to possess four or
five lacs of maunds!