theirs. I told him,
that I could hold no converse with men who were guilty of such
crimes; and that the vengeance of God would crush them all, sooner or
latter. For his only excuse he told me, that it was a practice,
derived from a long line of ancestors, wiser and better than they
were; and that it prevailed in almost every Rajpoot family in the
country; that they had, in consequence, become reconciled to it, and
knew not how to do without it. Family pride is the cause of this
terrible evil!

The estate of Kuteearee, on the left-hand side of the road towards
the Ramgunga and Ganges, is held by Runjeet Sing, of the Kuteear
Rajpoot clan. His estate yields to him about one hundred and twenty
thousand rupees a-year, while he is assessed at only sixteen
thousand. While Hakeem Mehndee was in banishment at Futtehgurh, about
fifteen years ago, he became intimate with Runjeet Sing, of
Kuteearee; and when he afterwards became minister, in 1837, he is
said to have obtained for him the King's seal and signature to a
perpetual lease at this rate, from which is deducted a _nankar_ of
four thousand, leaving an actual demand of only twelve thousand. Were
such grants, in perpetuity, respected in Oude, the ministers and
their minions would soon sell the whole of his Majesty's dominions,
and leave him a beggar. He has not yet been made to pay a higher
rate; not, however, out of regard for the King's pledge, but solely
out of that for Runjeet's fort of Dhunmutpoor, on the bank of the
Ganges, his armed bands, and his seven pieces of cannon. He has been
diligently employing all his surplus rents in improving his defensive
means; and, besides his fort and guns, is said to have a large body
of armed and disciplined men. He has seized upon a great many
villages around, belonging to weaker proprietors: and is every year
adding to his estate in this way. In this the old Amil, Hafiz
Abdoollah, acquiesced, solely because he had not the means nor the
energy to prevent it. He got his estate excluded from the
jurisdiction of the local authorities, and placed in the Huzoor
Tuhseel.

Like others of his class, who reside on the border, he has a village
in the British territory to reside in, unmolested, when charged by
the Oude authorities with heavy crimes and balances. He had been
attacked and driven across the Ganges, in 1837, for contumacy and
rebellion; deprived of his estate, and obliged to reside at
Futtehgurh, where he first became acquainte