twenty-four pergannahs, sweeping away thousands and thousands of the population.
The stations of Hansi and Kurnaul, are good examples of the generation of fever from excess of irrigation;the country is naturally dry and unfertile, so as to give little crop if dependent on the scanty rains of the seasons. An abundant supply of water for cultivation was furnished by a canal,but without due discretion, this was allowed to overflow the country to excess,converting it into a hotbed of fever. The consequence was, that Kurnaul, one of the largest and finest cantonments, was abandoned;and its hundreds of elegant houses in ruins, and its endless ranges of barracks, not yet in ruins, are lasting monuments of the abuse of one of the most essential elements of life. The superintendents of the Great Ganges Canal, and of those of the Punjaub, have, therefore, good reason to be on their guard against similar abuse. But the abuse of the new canal by excess of irrigation is not the only evil to be apprehended; the bed of the old river must not be over drained so as to stop the current, and leave nothing but a chain of stagnant pools; for if this is done, great sickness is unavoidable, and the blessing intended to be conferred upon the country may turn out a public calamity.
All water, to remain wholesome must be in a
