n, we shall require to give the land six
waterings, as the water is sweet; had it been brackish four would do.
Brackish water is better for wheat than sweet water; but it is not so
good for vegetables or sugar-cane.'

'How many "bighas" are watered from this well?'

'We water twenty "bighas", or one hundred and five "jaribs", from
this well.'[10]

'And you pay the Government how much?'

'One hundred rupees, at the rate of five rupees the bigha. But only
the five immediately around the well are mine, the rest belong to
others.'

'But the well belongs to you; and I suppose you get from the
proprietors of the other fifteen something for your water?'

'Nothing. There is more water for my five bighas, and I give them
what they require gratis; they acknowledge that it is a gift from me,
and that is all I want.'

'And what does the land beyond the range of your water of the same
quality pay?'

'It pays at the rate of two rupees the bigha, and it is with
difficulty that they can be made to pay that. Water, sir, is a great
thing, and with that and manure we get good crops from the land.'[11]

'How many returns of the seed?'

'From these twenty bighas with six waterings, and cross ploughing,
and good manure, we contrive to get twenty returns; that is, if God
is pleased with us and blesses our efforts.'

'And you maintain your family comfortably out of the return from your
five?'

'If they were mine I could; but we had two or three bad seasons seven
years ago, and I was obliged to borrow eighty rupees from our banker
at 24 per cent., for the subsistence of my family. I have hardly been
able to pay him the interest with all I can earn by my labour, and I
now serve him upon two rupees a month.'

'But that is not enough to maintain you and your family?'

'No; but he only requires my services for half the day, and during
the other half I work with others to get enough for them.'

'And when do you expect to pay off your debt?'

'God only knows; if I exert myself, and keep a good "niyat" (pure
mind or intentions), he will enable me or my children to do so some
day or other. In the meantime he has my five bighas of land in
mortgage, and I serve him in the cultivation.'

'But under those misfortunes, you could surely venture to demand
something from the proprietors of the other fifteen bighas for the
water of your well?'

'Never, sir; it would be said all over the country that such an one
sold God's water for his