school plates. The specimens of writing in the Nâgri character, that were shown, were very good, but written, of course, in a large hand.

The infant schools may possibly be of advantage, but we should like to have a rather more detailed account of their operation than is here supplied, as we have a strong impression that this is a department that requires very careful looking after, and that it may be the instrument of much good or of much evil. We believe that one main object to be attended to in the education of infants is the development of their limbs, that the main part of their mental and moral training ought to be of a negative kind, and that when we have taken steps to prevent their acquiring bad habits, the part assigned to us during the first four, five or even six years of a child's life, is accomplished. For these purposes, the development of the limbs, and the preservation of the child from bad example and from evil influences, infant schools may be of immense service; but when they go out of this field, when the teacher is seized with the ambition of converting his charge into so many infant prodigies, they are sure to do harm rather than good.

Altogether the report is a pleasant one, as an evidence that in one corner of India, at least, the influence of European civilization has produced something nobler than mere imitations.

Notes on the North Western Provinces of India; by Charles Raikes, Magistrate and Collector of Mynpúri. Dedicated to the Members of the Civil Service in India. London. Chapman and Hall. 1852.

MR. RAIKES, the author of the little volume before us, is a civilian of rather more than twenty years' standing, whose time of service has been spent mainly in the districts of Shahjehanpore, Benares, and Moradabad, in the Agra division of the Presidency. Having been in the habit of writing for the Benares Magazine, he has lately collected his scattered papers from the pages of that periodical, and has had them published in London in excellent type and on good paper, with the addition of one fresh article or chapter on the Police of Upper India. The book professes to give a "few simple details ' of the working of our Police and Revenue systems," and to set before untravelled readers in England "a popular description of the every-day duties which occupy their sons or brothers in the Indian Civil Service." The most important chapter is that on female infanticide amongst the Rajputs, the laudable means taken to prevent which, have been duly chronicled and praised in the up-country papers. The other chapters are mostly occupied with details of the Land Revenue system, notices of the village communities, the character and domestic history of Rajputs, and the duties of a civilian generally. At the present juncture, any work, especially one on the social condition of the people of India, will naturally

attract more or less attention, and Mr. Raikes' pages, which are written by one who knows what he is writing about, are of that stamp which carries a reader pleasantly along with it, and which makes the details of settlements and thief-catching easy to be followed and understood. Here and there, it must be said, we detect the presence of some Latin and French quotations, which we had conceived to have been by this time worn quite thread-bare, and it is impossible, on the most cursory perusal, to mistake the complacent selfsatisfied smirk of the up-country civilian, who has settled down into the comfortable belief, that all the good done in India, is done within the limits of the Agra division of the Presidency, and that everything is barrenness elsewhere. The best thing to be done with an unpretending work of this kind is simply to set before our readers a few extracts from the most attractive parts thereof: they generally explain themselves and require little comment. Here is a description of the appearance of an up-country village, which forms an agreeable pendant to the more solid parts of Mr. George Campbell's excellent work:

The traveller passing up towards the north-west, from the sacred spot where, ander the walls of Allahabad, the Ganges and Jumna unite, must not expect to see anything like a beautiful country. For, in truth, whatever there may be of sylvan or rural beauty in the Doab, does not disclose itself to the wayfarer on the high road. The highway itself, with its stream of varied life, may interest; the general look of the country will only give disappointment. Yet, if you strike off the beaten path at any point from Allahabad to Delhi, you can scarcely go many miles without coming upon scenes of much quiet beauty. Villages, surrounded at one season with the richest vegetation, at another with golden crops, throw an air of rural comfort and abundance over the scene. The mango grove, the tank, the village shrine, adorn a landscape, which, if not beautiful, is at least pleasing to the eye. The most prominent object in such scenes is the old village fort, which has for centuries sheltered some clan of Rajputs, half-kings, half-robbers. Passing the underwood in which cattle are grazing, the lotus-covered pond, the groves and orchards which cluster around, you come to the stronghold whose rising towers look over the surrounding plain. The approach is by a rough steep track worn deep with the feet of men and cattle. The thick bambu jungle, which once surrounded the walls, has been cut down, the moat has been nearly filled up with the rubbish of a century, the massive doors have fallen into decay; but still there is a rough kind of stateliness, a sort of baronial dignity, hanging about the place. Pushing through a wicket, you come under a heavy gateway, into the quadrangular inclosure within the walls. Here all tells of rural abundance, and of the dolce far niente of country life. On one side are buffaloes and cows tethered, lazily chewing the cud, or eating their provender out of huge earthenware vessels let into the earth; on another side is a range of stabling for horses, bullocks, or other cattle. Here a long open passage is filled with the palanquins and bullock-carriages of the family; there stands a row of closed chambers, stored with the produce of the farm, heaps of grain, oilcake, or sugar in great reservoirs of unbaked clay, defying damp and vermin. At the further corner of this inclosure is a rough stair, leading up to the flat roofs of the stables and storehouses below. Here are the lounging-places, the beds of the male members of the family, and chambered galleries, leading away to the more private abodes of the women. Your Rajput is not very choice about his bedroom or bed, and is satisfied with any corner in which the wind blows upon him, where he can find a place to hang up his trusty sword and buckler close at hand. For a seat he has a great clumsy wooden platform, or a cart-wheel set up upon legs. The most luxurious have nothing better than a carpet or rug, with great pillows of red cloth, stuffed with tow or cotton, of which the shape and size would make an English upholsterer stare. Furniture, besides what we have described,

there is none but in the recesses of the wall you may see, perchance, a bundle of dusty papers, a powder-horn, an inkstand, and perhaps the picture of some god or hero. Pigeons fly in and out of little boxes fastened against the walls, and perhaps a stray, melancholy-looking peacock, stalks sentinel-like along the galleries. The sacred pípul or banyan-tree has been taught to climb across the roof, throwing a pleasant shade around. In a quiet corner, as you stoop to look into the deep cool well, the sudden dropping of a curtain, and the clank of a bangle, tell that the female apartments are not far off.

Here is a good description of some of the agriculturists of Upper India :

After the Brahmin and Rajput cultivator in point of blood, but far superior to them in agricultural skill and industry, come the Jat and Kachi tribes. Then follows a variety of families, who are seldom found as proprietors, but who cultivate the soil in patches of varying extent in almost every village. Some of these nearly monopolise peculiar crops; as, for instance, the Kahar or bearer caste, who generally grow the singhara in pools, and hemp in light soils, as well as the ordinary cereals. Taking these cultivators in the mass, they are, as we might expect, a lower race, perhaps morally, and certainly physically, than the owners of the land. Centuries of subordination to village tyranny have left these men servile, timid, and deceitful. They are, however, more sinned against than sinning; humble, patient, and industrious, but withal slippery and cunning; living from hand to mouth; depending more or less on the favour of the village proprietor, and his creature, the village accountant; we must not expect to find amongst them the severer virtues of our race. It is no small credit to them to say, that though often driven to satisfy their hunger by parching the unripe crops in the corner of a field, yet they generally pay their rents honestly. Their houses surround the fort in which the heads of the village dwell, and stretch out to the edge of the cultivation. The coarsest bread, with the rare addition of a little sugar, or ghi, satisfies their hunger. A cloth round their loins made in the village loom, and a rough woollen blanket made by the village shepherd for winter, complete their ordinary dress. A few brass pots, rude ploughs and well-ropes, form their capital; a few toil-worn bullocks, with perhaps a milch cow or buffalo, form their live-stock. The early dawn sees thousands of these hard-working men plodding forth to their daily task in winter: the summer moon shines on their labours all night long. Like the patriarch of old," in the day the drought consumes them, and the frost by night, and the sleep departs from their eyes."

Men who are fond of statistics may find some information in the following memoranda, which are taken from a pamphlet by Mr. C. C. Jackson, modified by the experience and observation of the author:

RENT.

Money rent varies from 15 rs. an acre to 1. r. 4 as. Average rents may be set down thus :

Land of the 1st quality. The very best land, in which tobacco, poppy, caraway seeds, safflower, and garden stuffs are grown, lets at 3 rs. per village begah, or 15 rs. per acre.

Land of the 2nd quality. first quality, or wheat.

From 12 rs. 8 as. per acre to 7 rs. 8 as. Crops as in

Land of the 3rd quality. From 5 rs. to 1-4 per acre. In this land all the more ordinary cereals, also sugar-cane, indigo, and cotton, are produced. Garden ground is seldom rented so low as this, except where there are no good masonry wells for irrigation. The proportion of each quality of land is about as follows:

1st Quality, 2 per cent.

2nd

We may remind the English reader that a rupee is worth about two shlilings

and contains sixteen annas.

LABOUR.

Ploughing in light sandy soils may be done at the rate of about one-half acre per diem; the hire of ploughman, plough, and a pair of small bullocks, being about four annas. A working day for one pair of bullocks is from sunrise to noon.

Irrigation.-One pair of bullocks in six hours, with three men, will irrigate one-fifth of an acre.*

Weeding. In a country like India, where vegetation is so rapid, the weeds would destroy the autumnal crop but for constant weeding. Average hire of men, women, and boys, one with another, is little more than 1 anna per diem. Reaping. The labourer gets one sheaf in twenty, and takes care to bind good heavy ones for his own use, which the owner winks at, unless he be more than usually churlish. But customs vary, the general rule being that the reaper gets 8 to 10 lbs. weight of ears of corn for his day's work.

Rent payable by the ryots or tenants to the superior landholders is either in money or kind. Payments in kind are becoming less common every year, and prevail most in the wilder parts of the country. In unhealthy rough parts (such as the belt of jungle under our mountain ranges, for instance) the tenant gets twothirds, or even three-fourths, of the crop; in more favoured places his share is about one-half of the produce. The landlord's share is given to him as it stands, or divided at the granary, as may be most convenient; sometimes it is converted into money by appraisement. Like most purely agricultural folk, the ryot has an eye for valuation, which, when there is nothing to give it a bias, is unerring; he can tell to a few pounds' weight the out-turn of a crop of standing corn. One custom is curious and worthy of mention, as throwing light on the manners of the people. A proprietor who has a good opinion of his tenant's honesty will allow him to cut and store his grain without any restriction. When the harvest is over, the landlord takes as his share whatever the tenant gives him. This settlement," in foro conscientia," is called Ram Kotulea, or God's store, i. e., a share given fairly as in the sight of God.

The pert, confident, but at the same time efficient native official is not badly described in the following dialogue :—

I had made my usual march one morning, and was hearing my police reports after breakfast; old Sheikh Kullu was opening them in a corner of my tent, and reading, spectacle on nose, in the regular orthodox sing-song tone, interlarding his recitative with an occasional remark, generally complimentary to me, or the reverse of complimentary to any police official who might not happen to be in his good books.

Sheikh Kullu loquitur (very rapidly, and in the Urdu-Persic jargon of the Foujdarrí courts.)-"No event of any importance noted from Thanah Junglepurtwo old women tumbled into wells-one man gored by a bullock-one attempt at burglary-one little boy lost at the Dèvi mèlah-one burkundaz wants leave of absence"-(sing-song ends-the Sheikh speaks in his blandest natural tones)"The prosperity of your honour is so great, that to open these daily thanah reports is now almost superfluous. I remember the time when we used to have gang-robberies every month; and highway robberies, attended with wounding, every fortnight, but now, owing to the great good fortune." Here the Naib Nazir was interrupted by the entrance of a very important personage (in his own opinion), Rung Lal, acting tehsildar of Mwho stated that he had just received an express from the neighbouring police-officer of Junglepur, to the effect that a robbery of four thousand rupees had taken place at Mullowlie. Rung Lal expressed his desire to go at once to the spot, and to assist in the investigation. "Four thousand rupees!" said I: 66 impossible; I don't believe it." "Four thousand rupees !" groaned Sheikh Kullu ; "this is the end of the year, and here comes a case of four thousand rupees-the criminal statements are utterly spoilt. Well, there is no struggling against destiny; what is to be, surely comes to pass; but, Sir, your

*It is supposed that the water is thirty-six feet below the superficial inch of water is led over the land. The cost of the of man and beast per diem will be about eight or ten annas.

surface and that one apparatus and labour

slave always told you that the thanadar of Junglepur was a Kum-bukt— a man born under an evil omen; and you, with your usual sagacity..... "Now Sheikh," I interrupted, "put up your papers, reach me my spurs, and go over to give my compliments to the Deputy Sahib he must go with me." In five minutes we were on our horses, and proceeding at a hand-gallop towards Mullowlie. En route, let me describe my companion, the tehsildar, Rung Lal. This man had been for thirty years in Government employ in the district, and for the last ten as serishtadar of the collector's office. Formerly he used to take bribes, and to intrigue as much as other Kayeths generally do, but of late years (possibly with an eye to official promotion) he had been very guarded and correct in his conduct. He was a large, heavy-looking man, of great capacity for business, and much experience. But his late promotion to the office of tehsildar had turned his head a little; and as we rode along, he delivered himself of a constant stream of self-gratulation.

Rung Lal.-" It was high time for you to send me out to M; what do you think I found there at the tahsily? - seven burkundazes; yes, Sir, seven, too old to walk, and riding about on ponies to collect the revenue; no regular office hours, and two hundred and seventeen bats yes, live bats in the Government Treasury! Then, Sir, there were. .." (here Rung Lal stopped short, observing, perhaps, a cloud on my brow, and almost a tear in the eye of his predecessor, a fine old man, who having grown grey in the service, and expecting a pension, was on a smart pony close behind us, listening to our conversation.

Collector." Well, Rung Lal, we will talk about that another day. You have had a good harvest, and the spring-crops look well."

Rung Lal.-" By your good fortune, Sir, since I came here, there has been a wonderful crop; and as for the revenue, which used always to be behind, it is paid up to the day."

Collector.-"Good; how do you like the people? I hope you get on well with

them ?"

Rung Lal.-"Well with them! Indeed I do; they are shurer (rebellious), very shurír, but they are afraid of me; besides which, I put them to no expense; when I go to the villages I won't even take a drink of water from them; in short, I.

Collector (getting tired of Rung Lal and his puffs).-"What is the name of this village ?"

Rung Lal.-" Mobarikpur. I have been in this pergunnah four months and ten days only, but I know the name of every village in it. Mobarikpur is a famous place for tobacco."

Collector." What are those blackened earthen pots stuck upon sticks in the tobacco? They look like scare-crows, but surely neither bird nor beast will touch the tobacco."

Rung Lal (with a subdued chuckle)." No, Sir, those are not scare-crows, but charms. The crop, you see, is good, and those pots are put up to catch the envious (or evil) eye of the passer-by: by the goodness of Providence I am versed in all rural customs, though I have lived so many years in a city."

Just here we met the owners of the village, who, on hearing that a hākim was passing by, had hurried out to make their salaams. "What," cries Rung Lal, come out without your turban to see the Collector! For shame!"

Collector.-"Never mind." (To the zemindars, who were looking rather abashed)"Well, my men, you have some nice land here, and a fine village. Have you a school for your sons ?"

Zemindars."We are poor men, my Lord; are we to eat or to send our boys to school? The tehsildar Sahib knows.

Rung Lal." I know you to be a pack of ill-fated asses. Although I attend punctually to every part of the duties of the Compani Buhadur,' if there is one thing I pay more attention to than another, it is the promotion of education. But these men, and such as these who prefer food to knowledge, oppose me. However, I could get on well enough but for the old women and the putwarries, who are always putting some new idea into people's heads. When I first came here, nothing would please them but that the Government would make