"7th. Hence, also, arose infanticide. The sums payable were beyond the means of so many, that daughters necessarily remained on hand after maturity, entailed immoral disgrace, and thus imposed a necessity for all female progeny becoming victims to their family honour.

"8th. On the establishment of British rule, both evils gradually diminished. Females were not allowed to be transferred, except for conjugal purposes; their consent was to be obtained, and their choice consulted; kind, humane treatment was enforced, and the whole system of considering them as mere cattle was discouraged, without any indication, however, of interference with a right of property so long existing.

"9th. Female infanticide was at once prohibited, and though many, no doubt, still fell secret sacrifices from the great facility of undetected destruction, yet the danger, aided by improved feeling, increased the survivors so considerably, as to force upon the Mairs a due sense of the root of the evil, and a general wish for its removal by a reduction of the regulated sum of contract; but they were averse, indeed declared their inability, to alter their long-established sacred custom themselves, and earnestly entreated it might be effected by an order of authority, binding all to obedience by heavy penalties. This was promised in a general way, in case of necessity; but as there were many points to be settled, and it was advisable to ascertain the general feeling with accuracy, as well as to avoid interference, if possible, a general punchayut was strongly urged, either to decide the matter, or, at all events, aid in the forming of appropriate regulations.

"10th. After the lapse of a few months allowed for consideration, the whole was settled in public punchayut, and its resolutions were confirmed without the slightest alteration, so that the proceeding originated with, and has been carried through by, the inhabitants themselves; nor has there been a single petition against it, either pending or subsequent to adjustment.

"11th. They have lowered the sum payable on marriage contracts, abolished all right of subsequent sale, and fixed a year's imprisonment, or 200 rupees fine, with exclusion of caste, as the punishment for deviation" pp. 30–31.

We pause to admire the discretion with which Colonel Hall made this people to such an extent their own reformers, effecting as much as possible through them, so that when authority was used it was hardly apparent. It will, however, be obvious, that such results could not be attained without much both of previous arrange. ment and exertion:

"Thus," says the 'Sketch,' after citing

the paragraphs we have just transcribed, "thus infanticide received its death-blow through the diminution of the expense attendant on marriage, which was now brought within the means of all sections of society. For many years past no female children had been put to death. The practice has fallen altogether into desuetude. Indeed, so greatly have the ideas of the people changed on this and other usages since the introduction of our rule, that the commission of such an act would now be viewed as a most heinous crime. Personal advantage has, however, had its weight in bringing round the desired reform. Daughters are no longer looked upon as a source of trouble and anxiety; marriage being open to the poorest classes, they are much in requisition. Hence fathers rejoice on the birth of a daughter, seeing they are more regarded as a source of wealth"p. 31.

In the convention just spoken of, the remuneration for a bride's father was restricted to 106 rupees, and the re-marriage of widows was also provided for. Twelve days after the death of a husband, two mantles were placed before his widow-one red, the other white. If she took the former, it implied her preference for re-marriage, and the person who accepted her was bound to pay her sons-or, in case she had none, her brothers-from 200 to 500 rupees. The money thus realised went to provide these sons or brothers with wives. If her choice fell upon the white mantle, it indicated her desire to bring up her family, and remain at the head of her own household. In these arrangements of the Mairs, we have another instance of the singularity of their sentiments. In their estimation, a widow is worth more than a maid. The remuneration on the marriage of the former varies, as we see, from 200 to 500 rupees, while, in case of that of the latter, it is fixed at the far lower rate of 106 rupees. We know not whether it will be regarded as equally remarkable that, of all the decrees made at this convention, the hardest to enforce was that which prohibited husbands from selling their wives. Our text informs us, that

"Though infanticide had been at once checked by the decree of the punchayut, yet it was a matter of considerable difficulty to restrain husbands from selling their wives. The interference of authority was necessary on all occasions where a deviation from the decision of the elders was made known. The bargain was annulled, the wife taken back, and the money returned; a small fine

being imposed on both parties on account of their dereliction from established rule. Should the husband refuse to take back his wife, he was at liberty to give her leave to follow the bent of her inclination, but on no account was her sale sanctioned"—p. 32.

After enumerating so many eccentric usages, we must add, that notwithstanding these, the Mairs have strong domestic affections, and a high sense of honour. Colonel Dixon represents them (p. 33) as "faithful, kind, and generous;" with a strong clannish attachment to each other. "They are,' he says, 66 very regardless of life, and always ready to take their own or those of others for trifling causes. They are, moreover, much attached to their families, and the dishonour of their wives is avenged by death alone."

Colonel Hall was equally successful in abolishing slavery, which, though generally exempt from the character of ill-usage, prevailed extensively, and was necessarily productive of many evils. In addition to its ordinary source, war, or the seizure of people in forays, and who were not redeemed, there were three modes and varieties of slavery peculiar to the Mairs. The first of these was denominated "Chotee Kut" :

The

"A man suffering great oppression, proceeds to one of the chiefs, solicits his protection, and cuts off his 'Chotee,' the lock of hair preserved by the Hindoos on the top of the head, saying 'I am your Choteekut; preserve me from oppression.' chief places a turban on his head, and renders him all the support in his power; keeping him in his own village. On the demise of the Chotee-kut, his property lapses to the chief, unless any of the relatives of the deceased reside in the same village. The chief, in return for this protection, receives a fourth of his gains, arising from all plundering expeditions.

"Another kind of bondage is called 'Bussee,' which differs only from Choteekut,' from a written engagement being entered into, instead of cutting off the lock of hair. All castes may become Bussees, while Chotee-kut cannot be provided from amongst those who lean to Mahommedanism.

"Oonglee-kut,' is a third kind of servitude. It is of a milder form than those mentioned, since the duty and respect paid, are those of a son towards a father. Nor is any power exercised over life and property. The ceremony of Oonglee-kut is performed by cutting off the little finger, and giving some of the blood to the chief whose protection is accorded. It extends to all castes."-p. 33. VOL. XLII.NO. CCXLVII.

Those three forms of voluntary bondage were traced by Colonel Hall to the condition of the country as he found it. "A poor man," says the work before us, "could not obtain justice, and being unable to bear up against his powerful oppressors, desperation drove him to seek shelter from some chief; and as he possessed no means of remunerating his protector, he relinquished what is prized by all, his personal liberty, rather than live under grievances too keen for endurance."

Many of the social features which we have noticed, and most of the miseries of Mairwara, were connected with its physical character. The hills of

the country, like the flats of Holland, required that certain precautions should be taken before they were fairly habitable. The object of the Dutch, however, was to exclude, while that of the Mairs must be to retain, the water. The measures needed to secure a supply of that essential element, called for both labour and expense, but without these industry could not be established, order could not last, the labours of Colonel Hall would be unavailing, and his plans visionary. This was, probably, the first reflection which he made in Mairwara, as it could hardly fail to strike any observant person who mounted its hills or crossed its valleys.

The country is, as we have said, mountainous; there are no rivers or perennial rivulets, and as the rain runs off with extreme rapidity, the soil is but partially saturated. The rains, too, are precarious, bad seasons being the rule, and good the exception. The whole amount of rain in good seasons rarely exceeds twenty-two inches, and usually ranges from eight to twelve. In 1832 no single shower fell, and the province experienced all the miseries of a famine. The cattle perished, and numbers of the Mairs fled to Malwa, while those who remained had, in many cases, only the alternative of death by starvation, or life by plunder. In ordinary seasons, too, a break of twentyfive or thirty days without a shower often induced results almost as disastrous. Some villages were destitute of water, even for domestic purposes, during the hot months, and their inhabitants were compelled to emigrate to more favourable localities until the rains returned. At other places the people had to carry water from a distance of two miles. Thus were the G

labours of the inhabitants interrupted, their minds unsettled, and their amendment rendered hopeless, unless it could be shown them that it was practicable to provide against such calamities. Colonel Hall then saw at once that the great want of the district was water, and that it must be his first object to construct tank-embankments, and to teach and encourage the people to sink wells, and to make dams, weirs, "narrees," and every other appliance and form of reservoir of which it was possible to avail themselves, either for the purposes of irrigation or for the preservation of water. All this was, in his position, attended with peculiar difficulty. The peasants he had to deal with were at that period, idle, indolent, untrained to labour, and without confidence in themselves, and he knew that the Government would not at first sanction any large outlay on tank-embankments, or other public works which they might require as experimental.

A tank in Mairwara is a very different thing from what it is in Europe, or even in Bengal. In Europe, it means a small reservoir for holding water, known chiefly in ships and manufactories. In Bengal, it is a rectangular excavation, of no great size, filled by rain, and used either for ornament or for bathing. In Mairwara it is a lake— an artificial lake or spread of water, -formed by embanking up a stream with earth or masonry, or both combined, for the purposes of irrigation, or to serve as a fountain-head to the springs of wells. The native name is tulao, or tulab, and tulaos are distinguished from the smaller reservoirs of Bengal by the circumstance, that the latter are excavations, while in Mairwara the water is retained by a bund or embankment, and spreads over and above the land. It is remarkable that Mairwara, where such works are indispensable, is admirably adapted for their construction. To the making of a tulao, it is necessary that the face of the country should possess an irregular, uneven surface, traversed by hollows and corresponding elevations. The bund is thrown across the low grounds, whereby the water is obstructed in its passage, and being collected into a

body, it constitutes a tulao, or tank. Mairwara has precisely the features here described, and, besides, usually affords other facilities, in the provision of stone and lime, and a supply of wood for calcining. Still, though these needful works are happily attended in that country with less than their ordinary cost elsewhere, they necessarily involve, in labour and other ways, a large expenditure, which as we have intimated, Colonel Hall could hardly expect the Government to authorise very freely, until he was enabled to exhibit their value and importance. Under these circumstances, he was obliged to proceed more gradually than he could have wished, and the marvel is, how he advanced the industry of the country so rapidly as materially to aid him in carrying out his reforms, and raising its character and condition.

During the time he was in Mairwara, Colonel Hall constructed seven of these vast irrigation lakes, or tankembankments, besides repairing others of large extent, which had never been available for agricultural purposes; and he succeeded in leading the people to sink wells, and to avail themselves of smaller works, and inexpensive contrivances for husbanding the rain. His great tank-embankments are models of work of that description. One of these, the "Gohana tank-embankment," was selected by the Government of Agra for an example, and its plans and details are given in the "Sketch" (p. 164). "It forms," says Captain Baird Smith," "a very beautiful lake, securing 250 acres of cultivation, giving food and occupation to fifty-nine families, and amply repaying the State's outlay." It has now stood five-and-twenty years, in a climate well calculated to test its stability, and is likely to last as long as the hills around it. The Mairs saw by the result of these works that it was in their own power to guard against the hazards of the seasons; and learned to expect with confidence the return for their labours. Thus was the main impediment to their industry removed; and thus, with ancillary reforms, and the constant inspection and unfailing encouragement of their benevolent governor, and supported by the convic

tion that the East India Company was interested in their advancement, were these wild mountaineers of 1820-these Ishmaels of the hills, these outlaws, uncivilised, half-famished, and unclad, transformed into peaceful, happy peasants, living in security and comfort on the fruits of their own industry; and when, after thirteen years of incessant labour, Colonel Hall was warned by broken health to bid them a long farewell, he had the deep satisfaction of knowing that he left the poor Mair trained to good habits, formed to good principles, "clothed, and in his right mind:".

"Thirteen years' continued and undivided attention to the affairs of the district had," says Colonel Dixon, "impaired Colonel Hall's health. Taking into consideration the great anxiety of mind which was induced, and the constant labour and expense that were necessarily imposed on him in training the wild tribes of the hills, and sub

on, the person who, of all others, was probably the best qualified to succeed him. The new superintendent applied himself at once to working out the measures and developing the plans of his predecessor; and as the Indian Government was, by this time, well acquainted with their advantageous results, there was but little difficulty in obtaining its sanction to the construction of large tulaos at the public expense, and to making advances in certain cases for minor improvements. In his first year Colonel Dixon erected two tulaos, and as he evinced the zeal and ability that were expected from him, he was soon enabled to proceed more rapidly; so that up to 1847, the date of his last report, the number of tank-embankments and weirs in Mairwara, amounted to 290of these seven were constructed, and some others repaired by Colonel Hall; the remainder being all erected under the direction of his successor.

This

and disorder, the result was by no means a matter of surprise. A more arduous undertaking, in which the exercise of temper and conciliation, combined with firmness, were essentially requisite, could not be well imagined. The reform he had to introduce could not be effected in a moment.

Time

and confidence were indispensable to its gradual advance and ultimate permanency.

The customs of a country had to be changed; and honest labour and settled habits of thrift to be exchanged for an uncertain, predatory life. The difficulties to be encountered were extremely formidable; yet, all were met with patience, and subdued through perseverance. His exertions had been attended with signal success. The regret of the people was great on hearing that he was about to leave them. The question in their minds was, who should take the kind interest in their welfare that had been manifested by him, during the thirteen years of his administration.

"Whatever may have been since effected in ameliorating the condition of the people, or in advancing them in the arts of civilised life, it is to Colonel Hall that the credit is due for having laid the foundation of these good works."-Sketch, p. 82.

Colonel Hall gave up his charge in 1835, and the East India Company, with their customary judgment, selected in Captain, since Colonel Dix

besides which there was, since the date of Colonel Dixon's appointment, a positive increase of 3915 in the number of wells, and a like progress in the minor appliances for irrigation. Thus was the primary object of Colonel Hall carried out, and the province prepared against the contingencies of

famine.

The attention of Colonel Dixon was not confined to irrigation works. He converted wide tracts of jungle land into fruitful fields, and observing that the improved condition of the people rendered it desirable that an impulse should be given to the encouragement of trade, that there was scarcely a merchant settled in Mairwara, that the Rajpoot towns monopolised the dealings of the peasantry, to their serious loss, that an open market and a bazaar were needed, and that capital, whereby cultivators might procure advances of cash on fair terms and so accelerate advancement, was much required, he came to the resolution of meeting these wants by building a town. Accordingly, in 1836, he founded the town of Nya Nuggur (new city), which has answered all his expectations. Traders and mechanics flocked to oc

Recon 2v he reem, 105 42***** Kaluf, vit fesen set. Cowin Dor us a Er beta IS TJfauce yat va active ext:acaneT & i staris diripilaet,' &c. J.w. Court Diran kaowi sEPHORT TI har a cenrica, estauceumens was frained to nos hand 57 Coionei Hall: ***.105, 506 from a class wir were, 15 that time, bacinaatert to falencod and fraud, and that what a ma administrative changes in India — be had not to part with a noge member

Thirdly, the second system actually tament, and she thirt, described above,

- To take from all claves alike the money calue of a third share of the prodness to assist them to the utmost extent on the part of Government to obtain water for irrigation," &c.

The money advances for irrigation works were, as we have seen, greatly extended in the time of Colonel Dixon, and he was thereby enabled to accompish all that he did so well; but public works of the same description had been erected, and advances made, in like manner, in the time of Colonel Hall; and it was in consequence of the beneficial operation of these works, and their proved results, that the system of advances was extended. It was a rule of the Indian Government at that time, not to sanction advances for agricultural improvements, until their value and importance had been thoroughly ascertained. On this account, Colonel Hall was not enabled

Wash a ne gremer 16 ide system vs te side, md is nie vas tried, stattet. mit seiner exarated, n he marvest mizan arch of Sans ernie, beture Colonel Stam ever suit & ans..

Xus are the are farments in Dar e il meriz. Coone Siderand was to wane jastly Debed van de sesery of Colonėl Iran, and ne smútua at his proThee mi yana excess of ufiem Þierz, úrme de a moment ant be ever uni a predecesor. W4 MATH FOOL Teason for remarking in de estes K. Are in his reCent 304k* In The Airinistration of the Eus Inta Company," takes his end of wara from the -Steten ;* does majice to the chaline of Conner H: and cites this passage in a Doce, as coe of his main In the heading of his chapter on the "Progress of Civilisatice, we have "Dixon and the Mairs," but not the name of Colonel Hall. The latter is afterwards introduced to us as Captain Hall, of the 16th Bengal Native Infantry, an officer who, in the Quartermaster's department, had exhibited considerable ability and force of character," and the moral and administrative reforms are mostly referred to him; but the irrigation-works are as wholly ascribed to Colonel Dixon as if his predecessor had never once thought about them. "He (Dixon) saw at once what was the great want of the country. Eager to develop the productiveness of an unyielding soil, and to stimulate the industry of an unyielding people, he addressed himself to this great matter of the water supply, and left untried no effort to secure it."‡ "The financial results of the experiment were highly favourable: the moral results were more favourable still."§S "His (Dixon's) name will live as the regenerator of the Mairs. It is no