have made large fortunes by pretending a general authority to
seize boats for the use of the commissariat, or for other Government
purposes, on the ground of having been once or twice employed on that
duty; and what they get is but a small portion of that which the
public lose. One of these self-constituted functionaries has a boat
seized on its way down or up the river; and the crew, who are merely
hired for the occasion, and have a month's wages in advance, seeing
no prospect of getting soon out of the hands of this pretended
Government servant, desert, and leave the boat on the sands; while
the owner, if he ever learns the real state of the case, thinks it
better to put up with his loss than to seek redress through expensive
courts, and distant local authorities. If the boat happens to be
loaded and to have a supercargo, who will not or cannot bribe high
enough, he is abandoned on the sands by his crew; in his search for
aid from the neighbourhood, his helplessness becomes known--he is
perhaps murdered, or runs away in the apprehension of being so--the
boat is plundered and made a wreck. Still the dread of the delays and
costs of our courts, and the utter hopelessness of ever recovering
the lost property, prevent the proprietors from seeking redress, and
our Government authorities know nothing of the circumstances.

We remained at Baghauri the 21st to enable our people to prepare for
the long march they had before them, and to see a little more of our
Jubbulpore friends, who were to have another day's shooting, as black
partridges[2] and quail had been found abundant in the neighbourhood
of our camp.[3]

Notes:

1. Or Saugor, the head-quarters of the district of that name in the
Central Provinces. The town is 109 miles north-west of Jabalpur. The
author took charge of the Sagar district in January 1831.

2. _Francolinus vulgaris_.

3. The purveyance system (Persian _rasad rasani_) above described is
one of the necessary evils of Oriental life. It will be observed that
the author, though so keenly sensitive to the abuses attending the
system, proposes no substitute for it, and confesses that the small
attempt he made to check abuse was a failure. From time immemorial it
has been the custom for Government officials in India to be supplied
with necessaries by the people of the country through which their
camps pass. Under native Governments no officials ever dream of
paying for anything. In British territory req