INTRODUCTION.
VI
underwood, are then collected from the bare ground, and are either used in the manufacture of spirits or preserved as an article of food, unwholesome, it is true, and innutritious, but adequate to keep alive the' poorer classes during the bad months which precede the cutting of the autumn harvest. The fruit when it ripens affords a useful oil, and the wood is the staple timber for So serviceable is this tree that in roofing the villagers' huts. many parts of the province, and especially where the soil is at all poor, the people prefer to let it stand rather than break up the land under its barren shade, and when the spring crops are scanty, its stored flowers are simply invaluable as a supplement The produce of the plough is similarly aided to the food-supply. by the abundant but poor and nauseous berries of the wild plum and makuiya, as wellas by the waternut known as singhdra, the roots and seeds of the lotus, and the wild rice which abounds in every jhil. The first place among cultivated trees is held by the mango, which is never found wild, and whose occasional presence in jungles is a certain proof that the neighbourhood was formerly under the plough. There is no village and hardly any respectable family which is without its plantation, and even members of the lower castes will think no effort thrown away to acquije a small patch of land on which to plant a few trees, which shall keep alive their memory or that of their dearest relations to^ cultivator, who would whose names they dedicate them. quit his house and his fields with hardly a regret to commence life under better circumstances elsewhere, can hardly ever overcome the passionate affection which attaches him to his grove, and the landlord who gives up a small plot of barren land for this purpose to an industrious family is more than repaid in the hold which he thereby gains over his tenant. As much as a thousand' square miles is covered with these plantations, usually of one or two acres each, but sometimes, when the property of a wealthy The fruit, which inzamindar, occupying a much larger area. the good seasons that is, about every third year is gathered in enormous quantities, is small, stringy, and to our taste too stronglyflavoured with turpentine, but it is very sweet and overflows with juice, and the people themselves prefer it to the large cultivatedThe tamarind is planted varieties which find favour in our eyes. near or in the collections of huts which form the village sites, andi its masses of feathery foliage lend a charm to the scene and a. dense shade for rustic conferences, while the fruit is highly prized as an article of food and is a valuable property to the zamindar. The neighbourhood of houses of the better classes is marked by
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