LETTERS FROM LOWER BENGAL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XI, Issue 652, 5 February 1859, Page 3

LETTERS FROM LOWER BENGAL.

(From! the Times 1 Special Cprresppndeht, late in "\. -..'>■■■ ■■■'■ China^j--No;3. U '"•■': \:- B ; ■';• '■ ■ \ \ . i 0 ; .V.; Menikriugger.'April 2. ' c;I have beefffrMihg about ail day long, investigating| tlie villages ithat lie hid in the belts'of trees that;~eircli!"the" "paddy "plains of the- Mbfussil of Bengal. ''/;'T^eiritf:En'glana,'-''s'aid'piae'of my guides, *'thati2 ahnjisl'of'.iis'^biit^'.of the^rupee are poor men, and hive JnP',p'rpperty.",'According, to this computatiPrijthe'yeoftiarf^'.class of Indiawpuld be about 4-i6ths of the population.' This is a large proportion; much too large, I suspect, if applied to' the whple pehiqsula; but I wanted^more specific information.1 ' ? : ■•' .

The first, visit, I made was to Jumeer Mullick, whb' dwellsin'a" pdk'ka House—that is, a regular brick-built dwelling, with a large garden in front, containing out-houses, a copkeryj spine stacks, and a^good Jmany of the* smaller circular barns of the fiburit'ry.'ca'Hed'^blahs. • ' ' . , 0 Jiimeer'Mullick -i^ a ;ryb't'pff^prhe'siib^tance; ■'He ownsto: being wprtb, in .cash arid igrain, 4000,^668; and his frierids:say, and 'his full golahs also seem to say^j.^hat he js worth 10,000. .[-■ „ ■'■ He'came'out to rißceiv^tne a:tliis bringing upon a iiapkra; a peside" offering «f la ripeei which I touched and!returned. c The <euribus'natives thett gathered rpund,acting «s ; ehprus to tUe. chief interf lpcutbrs^ freely ",, discussing > eyery ctuestion asked, and'keegihg the'kobd'manrigntiri'his answers. 'Thus, 1 "when ;lP asked 'nim VIHiS age-r-a "question which'l learned'to think^a' necessary' bit of politenesf,in China, but'Which'alj^ayßrrather ipuzzles a Hindoo, he'repliedT-" A little above 20 or 30';"- but; the^audi'erfce.'d^siired^ me. as' I hadVbeen already assured'by- the'inan's'■a'ppearancei'that he1 was -at leastl4s. ■;.■•.■;' ■:> „ ■;.: - ";■•■.■ •■: '::- ; -..;.-.,.. ■■■:;•*

.He and his family are properly of the blacksmith castfe; 'but .they dp .no. blacksmith's work,^ having tak'eh entirely to farming'; fact number one" as to Indian' castesV; He' rehts; somewhat moreI.than 100 begahs (about 33 aci?es) of rland,ahd pays a rental of 50 rupees, {He; cultivates ■-, this, IQA begahs in tobacco, 10 in < mustard^ 40 in indigo, 40 in rice, 10 iri ' linseed; and ' some' begahs in .other articles of produce; which he coald not;TenWmber; or I could not understand, r The 7; excess1 rof; the- total is,' of course, f occasioned by ■ double: crops. ■ iHe> employs four ploughs and 16; plpugh-bullocks; and about 20 men women and' children' live, ■in his hpmestead. He 'employs als'ci'but-clPoi* labourers, 'spending in this, h inclusive of four •'ploughmen,' 27 rupees a-month^' •■. ■:-.••••.■:.. •"':• .■':■-.. .'■.' ■ . :■■■.'.

.'. From i this litfle farm he sells off l|nseed, peas^ dpllj" iojbacGO,^inustardj indigo,and Vpaddy. The hemp and-tititSLw are fteptfin\jiome consumption. ?i Tasked him a'boutftheVxpSnses'of1 his own*food; He says;he .capeat'a'bQut a--half and a-half-quarter pf a seer,of rice a-daj (a seer is two po\inds), which never costs From one and a-tialFtp two pice. ; For spices, oil, salt, and vegetables' he fe^uires twovpice Wore ft-dayi tod' if he-' lias fish that costs a,npther pice.-1 : .: ;; : ::;■ .:■■;.••■•'•. , r-,-i , Thus, the, lpxurious fopd of: this prosperous ■• yeomah co^s him 2^d.a-dayr.'../', ..',-.,.;, .. '•■■■, " His' family, consists 'of otic. wife; brie 'female child, and three boys.•• = "But]" he says;'" Ir average' it all at!six; pice^tdayeach; for women and children eat more, than men." „/ „; , , '. The 20 persons in his employ do ••' not feed with him and his family. Their food costs as follows :— ■Hal? a! maund of rice1 (a'biaundis 8016.)... 60 picei : Three'quarters of a'seerlof salt '..''. ... 3f /Three-quarters of a seer of mustard, 0i1... 18 Vegetables ..'. = ■•'.. ... .... ... ... ... 8 " Fish ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 8 :... ■■ .■ '.:■.■ ■ V .'.■ ■■•■.. ■_• .. 97 |.- . Thecost of feeding these120 persons; therefore, is Is.rupee, or 35.; a-day., ;•;■ ; ;; . I saw!tHem fixing a.wheel to .a-.little,gaudy car in one .corner of5 ;the'farftiyard.-^a' very diminutive specimen of the things we see ' represented in paintings.as the car-of JuggernauthJ If these are the ca^s.,beneath;which;the,'Vptar l ies:th.rQw themselves' I don't think* much, of their fanaticism. , The wheels might passf a" dozen* times 'over my bladebbnes with •. out' much effect. Thisi'h'bwever, reminded me to ask about the cbstof iheirjreligion. v . _ Theirppojahs are ; religious fpasts, at which they kill ah^d, eat a couple of goats, valued at If rupee ; but they could "not estimate the cost of these throughout the ry^ary. v „ tiv.They!coiijecturej.'however,; that"Brahrijihs, religious (jnendiqants^ the,barter,;th^'entertainment of fri'emjs!, 'and tije maintenanceof^hetpopjah cart or tslw cost % crn' abp'u't eight rupees a-mpnth,, V ; / . '">- THSn comes' 'triesife'ni of:clpthes. ' One scarfiely1 expects to find {his heavy;, fbr!nd!one of fthe throng about .me, .wore, any article .of ; d.ress but- a piece: of calico or: muslin wrapped round his loins., It ; was easy: tb'iiriagihei 'hpweyer^th'at Ifclii.s prosperous ryot Would'haVe "his: garb;' of1-1 cetismoiiy. I :He^'kdm'iited that'this was so,'and even • yielded <to '<■ ■■ray■ reque'si l^e wouldigpo£trid;'dre.sßLhimself jn<;ifc juThe crqw4 laughed a,little,,but the. good'hurapureci tL\M6b veent into his House, and' soon reappeared in. full dress. This suit consisted of a very" acinty wrhits niusliA] tunfe.and a tery long piece'bf loose, gauiy, light ( claret-colQtijed filk, ; ' iHe twists I many! folas^pf Jihis'sllk round his loinsi; and arranges the:

remainder,lover, hisihead.an&f.Bhoulder&aud breast, ;drajfingr himself as .peeasiqrii of protection from sun ( oycoldljunay,.render,'{jo^yenient. „.,.,, „,,. ■Th'jßir'dresses are gener^Hy' prcsonts riiad<> on occa'sl6nf of riiarriafeqs; 'taidVeWry* fai«iiy;hn9 of 2Q<)'oorrr 300 'rupee's' worii : iby-'tlileijr^dm'eni'aM'fclHiaren:'. ■•■■■',•'■■r- '■'■•■ ■' ' Tlie.rydt-'iiUt'down in> expense's'in: dressr for: iiis wh6le household at!2o Rupee's a-month; ■ TheigrbSß expenses iherdfore of thisvryotupon his little farm of 33. acres-will.-be firom.^soo i.\b i 2 4000 rupees., or from £ 150 tb £200 a-year, whereof his rent iStjES. -:;f, ;^;. „'(jI'-r- •■••A*,. 1 . : i,... *„.,•/■:) '• •. ;■,■•. .We; learn 'from-the inqmry-that these SOncres of land li^aintairi, ajjeaflt 40 person?,,and .thai ,in Vnere food a man in the ryot class is amply: mahitained for 2 Jd, a-day. ,' ■\ ,' ■'■ ' '''- : ,: ' .-■"•'■' '"' '■' ; There-were'ho 'paid laTbbu^rs among my audience at this Hindoo village. >;v ■-;;'' •■:' : • , ; "'•■My'nexit Visit was to f aj Ma/hotnedan village not far! distant, :where'l 'wasrecejtved by 'si- very :imporant follower, of ;the Prophet, ■QnerMokeeSi :Muridle. His pukka house, •>vaß;un.de.r,re.pair,; but the chief was living in a .house ,of bamboo and matting, having a stage in front like * theatrical booth at a fair. Upon this stage he received;"me with great ceremony.... ;v .. [■"■ ; '•"" '': '-.' •...•""■■■■: '••■;■ .... Mokeem Miindle is worth5 20J000 rupees in money and grain. He1 is a .Sheik. has a jumma or farm of 700' begans,; for which' he pays rent of 450 rupees ; but he also has 140 begahs of lakraj. or free tenure. . , , It would not have been right to ask him about his wives, but his, children are three boys and a girl. His ordinary household consists of 50 persons, and he says he frequently has,from 15 to 20 in excess. ... L.was anxious to know what were the expenses of this Mailibmedari yeoman. , ; ;. " '>■ ' ; He sa^s he eats threeVq_u'arters,of a seer of rice aday, which he values at half an. anna; or three farthings ; half a ehittack of salt, one quarter of a pice, not:'q'uite; halfi a farthingl; one ehittack of oil, lj pice,or,arhalfp'enny;; half a seer, of milk, four pice, or three-halfpence. : Tish,. vegetables, rand; spices, three pice, or rather more than a penny. In all, 4Jd. „,_ . _ .._ ...•.;.•,.,•

But the Mpndle (or head man) is sometimes luxurious, and "indulges In a fowl, arid this costs him eight,pice!, or 3d.; : ... '.'..,'

He'says that all his household live precisely as he does. It had been' ungallahtly urged against the Hindoo ladies" that they eat more than the men, and Mokeem Mundle 'makes the same complaint against the.houris of the itrue faith. .He explains it by saying they and the children have nothing else to do, and they eatsixor seven times a-day. Moreover, he says, they are fond of sugarcandy, and this is an article that must be procured from Calcutta. ; . In addition" to this household, this man employs 150 labourers, at a wage, as he says (but the rate is said ,to be very high), of 4 rupees a-month,' and 25 children as'cattle^tenders; at 2 rupees 8 annas amorith; no women are employed asi labourers.

■ HisfmarketiS Calcutta'; the'expense of transport there is 8 annas for three;maunds—]s.for:24o lbs.

I thoughtlessly, asked-him what it. cost him for poojah, and he -replied,- with; some disgust, that he was a Mussulman. _ The Mussulman ryot, however, by !no' means comjjs; offscot firee'if.&JSe calculated his pay'menti'to: fake'ers and'religious men* first at 32r/ and then at4Ors._a-month. The.amended estimate was because he had. not :<previously calculated the rice they'.eai What rWould the 'British farmer think of paying £52 a-year for Easter offerings? I wanted to know whether:this sum covered the, fakeersV exactions over' a'whole farm, but the question was 'misirt^rpreted," His answer was,-'-' They pray,—they; know best w;iiai. they pray for." I; found afterwards that thefalceersc;a>k from every' one—from !thelabourers' !&iV well as^-rthe, "ryqtsi^so that this1 suiu' of £52 perahnum^sfbr the homestead alone. ■ „;■ •-/■'■■■•,; ■•:■; y":c-:' ; .^'""" ■ -■ When we find a man"6kn'austirig 'Ms capacity for eating'and drinking upon' an.expenditure of fourv pence a-day, 7 we aretempted to thirjli^thatrit is im-' possible to oppress such; a man,;atift that, the tightest screw, of the "Sovereign Condpany,,; th? 6 nati^ejZe darjand^^ tbe. European^;: > Sub"rz^min3ar >"c*an neyer rer diice him ,tb;want his rice;, his musfardJHnfl oil, his fiish' 'and ;hJs tegetables.;' Bjit the"filnpliqty'pf the ryot's diet' is couriterbalanced • Multitude of his deperidehts,-and I-cari very'pTaMy see^althbugh; I must not here gp' into the ngilrfes";hecessary to prove it,;that> a profit and loss ac'eount 'upon these two farms would show vfery na¥rdw margins. . Among the bystanders was-a /lame.;bpy.T.> He^did not belong.to the family, and afforded-ind what I.had been long looking for,—a specimen of the labouring Classes. .... _: . „:.. ,'; "... •-, ,■•'■■-. .-;, .. .... ■ ; ." r .He said he, w^s; about-12 or 14, -but. his master said hie "was 120, '"He'works as';a brKklayer,:has ho wife or; child, and^ eariJs'fpur' 'rupees1 a-month. He pays' eight .'ainnas'■(one shilling^ a' year for' his lmt"; and he eats three-ciuartersof■ a" sedr! of'rice and half a chittack'of salt'a-day, and spends three pice a-day on oil, fish, and: vegetables^ when he can'get them^ that is, on the market days. He eats.plain rice and salt 22' days out of the 30; ;

I asked to see some labourer who was not:in constant employ, and to learn how. those persons live who cannot get their three quarters of a seer of rice a-day. ' " There is no" sticli per son in tills country," was the unanimous answer; "every person ca.n get rice." ; Subsequeiatly!, in 'the village of Banspobr, I found a' labourer named' Kliosal,1 who was-' worse off than my unencumberedlame-friend.

Khosal is between 30 and 35, and has a wife and two children.-; Hi'swages are' 3 rupees 112 annas amonth, and he is upon the average one nionth out of the 12 out of work. He states his'expenses to be :—2|:seers (51b.) of; rice, 10 pice; salt, I pice; vegetables, i^pjice, r - r tptat,'!?£ pice. This is nearly sd. a-dajyor in r'ouncl numbers,|3s.a-week. But.as he bnly gets 7s. a-month, Khosal must be eating beyond his: means.'/ He explained that one of the childreri?gets' a rupee 'ai-month for minding flobks^ and that ihe frw6man winds cotton at" home,—-not, however, for «ale,!but for domestic' use. The villagers of Barispoor were, however, as positive' as the villagers of Mokeeni Mundle's village that there -was no one in the country who could not get his! bellyfull of rice every dayv. The rate of wages, however, being fixed and undisputed, I made the Sheik's writer go into the figures with me and explain them to the audience. Then they said that Khosal did not mean to say that lie bought vegetables every fay; and that they did not mean that every labourer could get his full three quarters of a seer every day, but thatthere was no man who could not get at least one full meal a-day," and if he could riot, then others contributed." . ••■

-In India we -see.l operating" in its undisturbed simplicity that beneficent law of nature which denies to the wealthiest son of mamrnion the power, of consuming more than his share of the fruits of the earth.. A duke cannot eat a hecatomb, nor can a bankerdevour a flock of. sheep ; but your wealthy Hindoo cannoteven consume the value of the herd. They all eat alike in quality as in quantity. At Calcutta I have dined1 several times at the houses of wealthy natives, and more than once I have been the only European present. Everything was European. jThe houses, the furniture,: the ornaments were all of the West, and in one case the saloon was lit with gas.. My host was probably a Koolin Brahmin by caste, but the .kitmu^gars iwere Mahqme-, daris. v Tlie champagne was drunk, all round \yith a. temperate freedom, and tlie' dishes were! all of indubitable Britannic fashion f yet.'• in every case there were indici* which ledmeto; believe that my host and his guests were\legArtiiig'from their habits to do me honour, and that, if Iliad not been there, the company, ;'of ;'* Young" Bengal..".-,.Bab'ops' would have (lined;/wftli .much greater zest squatted upon a carpet\r6uhd a bowl of rice and a flsli; (idrryi-. I never yet"; dined'at a native \vhich did. not carry'in. aU its 'dishes unmistakelable evidence of its having been 'sent "iri; from Wilson's,| or' Spence's, or Mountain's Hotel,}' and upon one. sad occasion .we were kept..waiting ~,ivro hourß because, the hotel keeper h'advseht, the '' { ; dinner,I'bu't\li^' l^QrgQtten.,tHe.; wine.' Iji sißern8 J ji,' Isivf pf. najurer to.'be overcome only;by a mania' for European "strong- waters, that ,a Hindoo,; be.he JRajahorCopliej shallj nbtjeat .or/drink jnpre th, San t!]ie value!j)f jbn^ [day,, : . Wages,flindpripes ;foun^ed;upQ^ pep«!S rjrat; la^^Ke'.inariVwbOa'^: nlmse'lf ",[ and,,[fairilyj"j,theTfljat. step, c|ownwarclsjjs a pinching of ''Hie stotiiach, "Krofwrthstanding what

the.;. Villagers, told: mo, I .cannot,help believing• that When rice crops fail, especially,if there should be no indigo factor at hand : to make advances, these labourers' must experience every phase of starvation. They are swimming. down to the chin; anything further downwards arid they drown. I hare many more'farming statements inmy notebodk, but fear.you will be' pcarcely tolerant of stock and croplvaluations. ;■ The cultivation is Hlovenly in the extreme;and they seem to have ho notion-of artificial irrigation. All the facts, however, are quite in -accordance with those already.given. I may mention that Hurreefollah of Assapaday grows 20 begahs of indigo on a farm of 165 begahs, and that this is a common proportion in tlio neighbourhood. Pondering these things over a notebook jilled with figures collected in many different villages, I bethought me of the labourers whom Mr. Hampton had asseqibled from distant, parts at Ilobraj returning thither, Icliose out a very wijd-loblcing blackskinned biped, a contrast to all the natives of these parts, and by the aid of three interpretations examined him.

Kahole:is a lean,hungry-16oking, diminutive creature, very black, very ugly, with a. head bare of all liais except a scrubby board, and two enormous ears standing away from,his head almost at ..right angles. He had scarcely the fragment of a rag upon him, but he had a necklace of red beads. He comes from about.2oo miles to the 'north-west. He is not a Sahthal, although he lives near to the district of that most: interesting race. He has one wife and five children. He belongs to the cultivator caste. " Mine is a hill country," said this jungle wallah in a barbarous jargon, which was obliged to be strained through three other languages before its sense reached us; "the people plough and sow there, but there are no manufactures except bows and;arrows. 4. ploughman gets 1 rupee 8 annas (3s) a month, and his wife gets one rupee. The children go into the jungle and. gather fruit. They are all native \Zemindars there, Brahmins in caste, Coles of the hill tribes." ■

"Are there people in that country who cannot get a meal a-day ?"—" There are people who die for want of food—perhaps two out of 100." .'•ln his own country his expenses are about one pice a-day, including everything., Sometimes he lives on fruits and roots, sometimes he has to go without. In this country, he says, they get bits from one and another,; but it is not so.'where, he comes from. He brought his wife and five children with him from that country. There are thousands such as he in his country. This man seemed to have been well1 drilled by his'native superiors. When he was dismissed he retired backwards the whole length of the kutcherrie. Lest it might have been an accident we recalled him. He retired again the full length of the long apartment with the skill of a Lord Chamberlain. . ..

I Before I leave this topic of the expense of sustenance by. Indian natives, I. should like to record the expenses of those Koolin, or highest class Brahmins," who are too great gentlemen'even to become soldiers. They are only allowed to beg, to cook and to act1 as writers.

v Mohema Chunder1 'Mobrkefjee"'is a favourable specimen of this class. ■His' estimate of his own expenses rather shatters ray'theory that a Hindoo cannot eat more than 6di a-day; but I cannot think that my; Brahmiriical friend .really means that he has daily enjoyment.of all the delicacies he'enumerates. This is his account of his extravagances:— Rice (less than half a seer), 2 pice; salt (half a chittack), Jpice; oil, 1 pice;.ghee;(clarified butter), 4 pice;. spices (including beeteln'ut), 2 pice; tobacco," 2 pice?; fish,2 pice; milki 6 pice'; pigeons, ducks,eggs,- and goats' flesh (sometimes), say 3| pice. This gives a total of 30 pice, 1 Id: English. I pointed out to my friend that if he'lived in this very luxurious manner—no Hindob had ever before proposed to me such a bill of fare,—^seeing that his salary;was"but 16£ "rupees;.a-niorith, he would have four, rupees..left. ; He. accepts -,my. [conclusion, and with hisjfbur rupees pays eight aTinaSjfor washing,; tyro to his barber, one rupeeeight annas to his servant, and.twp, rupees for his ownclotheL ;This'is an orthodox Brahmin,.not one of mydisrej>ut#t}le|^ tlemehi!itJy 'thet Way^kU:'^'^b&'fb"a;dy'sia6'-pfj'so-:He: be wails" the degeneracy off thes 3 latter day s; and says that " eat, drink, and be merry " is the only belief of the; schoolboys of the present times. He laments' that nearly half theinflueribe of the Pundits is gone, audsighs for the time back again when Adisourh, the Rajah of Bengal, first invited the five Brahmins, from Canoja. ; "But now;",.he, bitterly says, ??our boys boast that they are above caste prejudices." "Certainly it is .so in Bengal.' If it had not been the interest ofa Christian country to keep this Brahminical nonsense alive, it would Have died out lotig ago., ..,'■,. r