of the peepul, bur, &c., used as fodder—­Want of good houses and all kinds of public edifices—­Infanticide—­Sandee district—­Security of tenure in groves—­River Gurra—­Hafiz Abdulla, the governor—­Runjeet Sing, of Kutteearee—­Thieves in the Banger district—­Infanticide—­How to put down the crime—­Palee—­Richness of the foliage, and carpeting of spring-crops—­Kunojee Brahmins—­Success of the robber’s trade in Oude—­Shahabad—­Timber taken down the little river Gurra to the Ganges, from the Tarae forest—­Fanaticism of the Moosulman population of Shahabad; and insolence and impunity with which they oppress the Hindoos of the town.

CHAPTER II.

Infanticide—­Nekomee Rajpoots—­Fallows in Oude created by disorders—­ Their cause and effect—­Tillage goes on in the midst of sanguinary conflicts—­Runjeet Sing, of Kutteearee—­Mahomdee district—­White Ants—­Traditional decrease in the fertility of the Oude soil—­Risks to which cultivators are exposed—­Obligations which these risks impose upon them—­Infanticide—­The Amil of Mahomdee’s narrow escape—­ An infant disinterred and preserved by the father after having been buried alive—­Insecurity of life and property—­Beauty of the surface of the country, and richness of its foliage—­Mahomdee district—­State and recent history of—­Relative fertility of British and Oude soil—­ Native notions of our laws and their administration—­Of the value of evidence in our Courts—­Infanticide—­Boys only saved—­Girls destroyed in Oude—­The priests who give absolution for the crime abhorred by the people of all other classes—­Lands in our districts becoming more and more exhausted from over-cropping—­Probable consequences to the Government and people of India—­Political and social error of considering land private property—­Hakeem Mehndee and subsequent managers of Mahomdee—­Frauds on the King in charges for the keep of animals—­Kunojee Brahmins—­Unsuccessful attempt to appropriate the lands of weaker neighbours—­Gokurnath, on the border of the Tarae—­ The sakhoo or saul trees of the forest.

CHAPTER III.

Lonee Sing, of the Ahbun Rajpoot tribe—­Dispute between Rajah Bukhtawar Sing, and a servant of one of his relatives—­Cultivation along the border of the Tarae forest—­Subdivision of land among the Ahbun families—­Rapacity of the king’s troops, and establishments of all kinds—­Climate near the Tarae—­Goitres—­Not one-tenth of the cultivable lands cultivated, nor one-tenth of the villages peopled—­ Criterion of good tillage—­Ratoon crops—­Manure available—­Khyrabad district better peopled and cultivated than that of Mahomdee, but the soil over-cropped—­Blight—­Rajah Ajeet Sing and his estate of Khymara—­Ousted by collusion and bribery—­Anrod Sing of Oel, and Lonee Sing—­State of Oude forty years ago compared with its present state—­The Nazim of the Khyrabad district—­Trespasses of his followers—­Oel Dhukooa—­Khalsa