streams are
numerous, moisture is plentiful, the soil is fertile, and the slopes of
the hills are covered with splendid timber, a great quantity of which is
cut and floated down the Gunduch, Bagmuttee, Koosee, and other streams
during the rainy season. It is used principally for beams, rafters, and
railway sleepers.

The people are jealous of intrusion and suspicious of strangers, but
as I was with an official, they generally came out in great numbers to
gaze as we passed through a village. The country does not seem so
thickly populated as in our territory, and the cultivators had a more
well-to-do look. They possess vast numbers of cattle. The houses have
conical roofs, and great quadrangular sheds, roofed with a flat
covering of thatch, are erected all round the houses, for the
protection of the cattle at night. The taxes must weigh heavily on the
population. The executive officer, when he gets charge of a district,
removes all the subordinates who have been acting under his
predecessor. When I asked the old Major if this would not interfere
with the efficient administration of justice, and the smooth working
of his revenue and executive functions, he gave a funny leer, almost a
wink, and said it was much more satisfactory to have men of your own
working under you, the fact being, that with his own men he could more
securely wring from the ryots the uttermost farthing they could pay,
and was more certain of getting his own share of the spoil.

With practically irresponsible power, and only answerable directly to
his immediate military superior, an unscrupulous man may harry and
harass a district pretty much as he chooses. Our old Major seemed to
be civil and lenient, but in some districts the exactions and
extortions of the rulers have driven many of the hard-working
Nepaulese over the border into our territory. Our landholders or
Zemindars, having vast areas of untilled land, are only too glad to
encourage this immigration, and give the exiles, whom they find
hard-working industrious tenants, long leases on easy terms. The
new-comers are very independent, and strenuously resist any
encroachment on what they consider their rights. If an attempt is made
to raise their rent, even equitably, the land having increased in
value, they will resist the attempt 'tooth and nail,' and take every
advantage the law affords to oppose it. They are very fond of
litigation, and are mostly able to afford the expense of a lawsuit. I