PABVA. 519 £18,385, averaging £9, 195. per square mile and 31d. per head of population. The total number of persons in Pabná District convicted of any offence, in 1883, great or small, was 16c8, being i person to every 816 of the population. By far the greater proportion of the convictions were for petty offences. The District contains one jail and one lock-up at Sirajganj. In 1883, the average daily number of prisoners was 1587, of whom + were females; the labouring convicts averaged 93. These figures show i prisoner to every 8265 of the population. Education has widely spread of recent years, chiefly owing to the reforms of Sir G. Campbell, by which the benefit of the grant-in-aid rules has been extended to the puthsulás or village schools. In 1856 there were only 5 Government-inspected schools in the District, attended by 508 pupils; by 1872 these numbers had grown to 247 schools, and SS33 pupils. In the latter year the total expenditure on education was £1215, towards which Government contributed £ 2228. By 1876 the schools had increased to 285, and the pupils to 9665; and by 1883–84 the schools under Government inspection had further increased to about 920, and the pupils to about 23,500, giving one school to every 2 square miles of area, and 17o9 pupils to every thousand of the population. Of the boys of school-going age, one in every 3*7 was attending school in 1883-84. The District is divided into 2 administrative Sub-divisions and 8 police circles, namely, Pabná, with the four police circles of Pabná, Chatnahar, Dulái, and Mathurá; and Sirajganj, with the four police circles of Sirajganj, Shahzadpur, Ráiganj, and Ulápára. There are 38 parganis or Fiscal Divisions, with an aggregate of 1822 revenue-paying estates. In 1883 there were 3 civil judges and 7 stipendiary magistrates; the maximum distance of any village from the nearest court was 32 miles, the average distance 8 miles. There are 2 municipalities in the District, Pabná town and Sirajganj, with a total population of 35,941 ; the municipal income in 1883-84 was returned at £2196, of which £1793 was derived from taxation, the average rate of taxation being a fraction under is. per head. edical Aspects. The climate of Pabná is mild, and not unhealthy as compared with the neighbouring Districts. The average annual rainfall is returned at 68.41 inches for Pabná town, and 58.22 inches for Sirajganj. In 1883–84, the rain fall at Pabná town was only 43-06 inches. The mean temperature at Pabná is about 80° F., but no trustworthy therniometrical returns are available. The estuary of the Meghna is sufficiently near to expose the District to the danger of occasional cyclones. In September 1872, a storm of unusual violence swept over the country, which levelled native houses and fruit-trees in all directions, sunk more than 100 country boats at Sirajganj, and wrecked several large steamers and flats.
