Page:Bulandshahr- Or, Sketches of an Indian District- Social, Historical and Architectural.djvu/22

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VIII
PREFACE.

sublimely censorious Annual Reports. But there is far too much of such literature, and it would be an incalculable blessing to the country if a little of the langour of the East—which can only be duly appreciated after a summer's sojourn in the Doáb—were occasionally allowed to temper the present fureur de gouverner.

Another intolerable drain on the finances of the country, combined with a great discouragement of native progress, it is the special object of this little work to expose, by showing the folly of maintaining an immense staff of highly paid European engineers for the execution of district works, which might be carried out in far better style and at much less cost by the exclusive employment of native agency.

The illustrations in the present volume are merely a sample of a much larger number that are under preparation. These I propose to publish either in a separate folio, or with a reissue of the text, at the end of the year 1885, when I shall be on the point of leaving the country. By that time I hope that all the works now in progress will have been satisfactorily completed.

F. S. GROWSE.

BULANDSHAHR,

July 12, 1884.