mmitted along the
high road, I insisted upon his being deprived of his charges and
punished. He remained for many months concealed in the city, but was
at last seized by some of the Frontier Police, under the guidance of
an excellent officer, Lieutenant Weston, the Superintendent.

I had prevailed on the King to offer two thousand rupees for his
apprehension, and the two thousand rupees were distributed among the
captors. The girls and young women were released, their parents and
husbands compensated for the sufferings they had endured, and many of
the persons who had been robbed by him and his deputy had the value
of their lost property made good. Great impediments were thrown in
the way of all this by people of influence about Court; but they were
all surmounted by great skill and energy on the part of Lieutenant
Weston and steady perseverance on mine; and Buksh Allee remained in
gaol, treated as a common felon, till all was effected. All had, in
appearance, been done by the King's officers, but in reality by ours,
under his Majesty's sanction, for it was clear that nothing would be
done unless we supervised and guided their proceedings. The district
is now held in contract by a very respectable man, Mahommed Uskaree,
who has taken it for four years.

The district of Safeepoor, in which we are now encamped, has been
held in contract for five years by Budreenath, a merchant of Lucknow,
who had given security for the former contractor. He could not fulfil
his engagements to Government, and the contract was made over to him
as surety, on condition that he paid the balance. He has held it ever
since, while his younger brother, Kiddernath, has conducted their
mercantile affairs at Lucknow. Budreenath has always considered the
affair as a mercantile speculation, and thought of nothing but the
amount he has to pay to Government and that which he can squeeze out
of the landholders and cultivators. He is a bad manager; the lands
are badly tilled, and the towns, villages, and hamlets are scantily
peopled and most wretched in appearance.

Near the border, we passed one village, Mahommedpoor, entirely in
ruins. After some search we found a solitary man of the Pausee tribe,
who told us that it had been held for many generations by the family
of Rugonath, a Gouree Rajpoot, who paid for it at an uniform rate of
six hundred rupees a-year. About three years ago the contractor
demanded from him an increased rate, which he could not