other duty till they
have paid themselves all that may have been due or may become due to
them during the time of their stay, and credit to Government but a
small portion of what they exact from the landholders and
cultivators, or consume or destroy as food, fodder, and fuel.

This system, injurious alike to the sovereign, the troops, and the
people, is becoming every season more and more common in Oude; and
must, in a few years, embrace nearly the whole of the land-revenue of
the country. It is denominated _kubz_, or contract, and is of two
kinds, the "_lakulame kubz_," or pledge to collect and pay a certain
sum, for which the estate is held to be liable; and "_wuslee kubz_,"
or pledge to pay to the collector or troops the precise sum which the
commandant may be able to collect from the estate put under him. In
the first, the commandant who takes the _kubz_ must pay to the
Government collector or the troops the full sum for which the estate
is held to be liable, whether he be able to collect it or not, and
his _kubz_ is valid at the Treasury, as so much money paid to the
troops. In the second, it is valid only as a pledge, to collect as
much as he can, and to pay what he collects to the Government
collector, or the troops he commands. The collector, however,
commonly understands that he has shifted off the burthen of payment
to the troops--to the extent of the sum named--from his own shoulders
to those of the commandant of the troops; and the troops understand,
that unless they collect this sum they will never get it, or be
obliged to screw it out of their commandant; and they go to the work
_con amore_. If they can't collect it from the sale of all the crops
of the season, they seize and sell all the stock and property of all
kinds to be found on the estate; and if this will not suffice, they
will not scruple to seize and sell the women and children. The
collector, whose tenure of office seldom extends beyond the season,
cares little as to the mode as long as he gets the money, and feels
quite sure that the sovereign and his Court will care just as little,
and ask no questions, should the troops sell every living thing to be
found on the estate.

The history, for the last few years, of the estate of Muneearpoor,
involves that of the estate of Kupragow and Seheepoor, held by the
family of the late Hurpaul Sing, and may be interesting as
illustrative of the state of society in Oude. Hurpaul Sing's family
is shown in