GON
S16
A
man in rupees. It is, in fact, little more than the price of a good pony. this position receives the fixed customary ploughman's share in the produce, and, as this is not sufificient to maintain the life of himself and his family, it is supplemented by contributions from his master, the value of which is calculated at the market rate for the time being, and added to the principal due on the bond servitude. It is, of course, quite obvious that the slave has no means of destroying this lien, which constantly increases in weight; and once a slave, he can never hope for freedom. His position is, however, much alleviated by the high value of labour, and if, as is not often the case, his master's rule becomes really opJ)ressive he finds no difficulty in re-selling himself to a second purchaser, and, with the money thus acquired, buys his freedom from his original owner. The system is not perhaps open to great objections in the present state of things, but is sure to make a problem of some difEculty when the rapidly-increasing population reduces competition of the labour-employers.
A
modified and far less objectionable form of slavery is when a man hires himself out for the year. His employer pays him a small sum, generally ranging from five to ten rupees, and he accepts for a whole year the liabilities and the customary dues of an ordinary slave ploughman. At the expiration of the term of his contract he is at liberty either to renew it on the same conditions for another year, or to seek other employment. In the latter case, an account is made of the amount he has received as " ser" ( the one-ser-in-the-maund gratuity which every slave ploughman receives in addition to his main due of one-fifth or one-seventh of the crop), and this be is expected to refund. The tendency of this is naturally to renew the engagement, and make the lien practically permanent.
The language
of the district is a very pure Hindi, varying slightly in different parganas, but with a very rare use of Urdu words, except in the Musalman raj of Utraula. It differs from the dialects of southern Oudh in the more constant employment of the future terminations in "bo" and "be," while the auxiliary "bate" is never used. number of pure Sanskrit words, which I do not remember having heard in any other district, give a poetical character to the common speech, which is probably more like the itamdyaina of Tulshi Das than that of any other .district in India, Language.
A
Poetry
the only form of literature which yet maintains a vigorous existence. It deals generally with the praises of the Literature. rdja, or of a deity, the never-exhausted topic of the changing seasons of the year, and, chief of all, the great battles of local heroes. Of the latter, the most popular are the " Kharkhas " or sword songs of Rdja Datt Singh of Gonda, which commemorate his victory over Aldwal, Khan of Bahraich, and of Karimdad Khan, which describes the defeat of the invading Gargbansis of Fyzabad by that chieftain. These poems are written in the ordinary spoken dialect, and, though conventional expressions and mnemonic repetitions of fixed phrases are of rather over-frequent occurrence, they abound in passages of great vigour, and are heard with enthusiasm by a village audience. The poets are always Bhats by caste, and the gift is maintained in certain families, the principal of which is that of Sang^m Sarfip of Guwarich, whose descendant, Shri Dhar, is now popular as an improvisatore, These men wander from one chieftain's house to another, is
^
