GON
49d
studded with groves of mango trees in parts the mahtia trees left standing on green pasture-grounds, where the remaining has been cut down, give the scenery the look J^^gle of thrdistriot^^'^^'^^ of an English park. At the conclusion of the rains the Himalayan range, with the towering peak of Dhawalgiri in the middle, forms a glorious frame-work to the northern view. The villages, except in the north, are very small, being generally divided into a number of minute hamlets, of which over thirty will sometimes be included in a single village boundary. This may be attributed partly to a comparative freedom from the disastrous clan wars which in other parts of Oudh drove the villagers to congregate for the sake of security, and parth"^ to the fact that a large part of the district has only lately been reclaimed from jungle, and the convenience of the clearers led them to squat apart in the middle of the The general effect on the plot whose reclamation they had undertaken. cultivation is good, as each labourer is close to his fields, and a larger area of land is manured than in the case of large aggregated villages.
The whole
district is
studded with small shallow lakes, which, when
irrigation is wanted, are largely used for that purpose. ^'^^"
^^® '^^^^ stocked with fish, the rohu, the bhakar (large Indian carps), and the parhin (a kind of pike), At the end of the rains a wild rice (tinni) beino- the principal varieties. grows all round the edges in the shallow water, and furnishes an importwi le pItedtvut
^
lakra a es.
^^®y
ant article of food to the lower classes. The sportsthe short reeds a favourite haunt ^^ snipe, and the rushes are largely used for the manufacture of coarse mats. In the cold weather the surface of the water water-nut (singhara) sown by the is often covered with floating beds of and the roots of the water-weed are water-lily of seeds the while Kahars,
A
favourable haunt or sportsmen.
j^^i^ recognises in
also used as food-
All along the hills runs the long strip of Government forest, with regard to which I have not been able to get any exact informaGovernment forests The most valuable trees ^^^^ from the department. and valuable trees. are the sal (S/iored rofcwsia) and dham (Conocarpiis is very common, but rarely latifolia)- ebonj (Dyospyriis melanoxylum) catechu yields an important article attains any "reat size, and the Acacia Gums, honey, and the long tough grass known as bankas, of commerce. considerable quantities, while and used for making ropes, are gathered supply plates and integrifoha) (Holopetata agai the broad leaves of the scenery, especially to the west The villages. neighbouring the to dishes beautiful the deep gorges of the mountain of' the tract is often extremely pierced by lofty trees, and the back-ground undergrowth luxuriant streams, landscape. of hills forming almost a perfect
m
wolves spotted deer, hog-deer, nil-g^e and Tieers leopards, bears, and sambar ; wild swine and porcupines, with many smaller in very great numbers. Fauna. animals', all occur, but none Kund contains a peculiarly Hattia the near forest It is said that the All along the I have never met them. but dog, wild of breed savage with herds of black antelope, covered are plains grass wpstlm end the wide found deeper in the forest. which are occasionally to be
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XI
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