uisitions are limited,
and in well ordered civil camps nothing is taken without payment
except wood, coarse earthen vessels, and grass. The hereditary
village potter supplies the pots, and this duty is fully recognized
as one attaching to his office. The landholders supply the wood and
grass. None of these things are ordinarily procurable by private
purchase in sufficient quantity, and in most cases could not be
bought at all. Officers commanding troops send in advance
requisitions specifying the quantities of each article needed, and
the indent is met by the civil authorities. Everything so indented
for, including wood and grass, is supposed to be paid for, but in
practice it is often impossible, with the agency available, to ensure
actual payment to the persons entitled. Troops and the people in
civil camps must live, and all that can be done is to check abuse, so
far as possible, by vigilant administration. The obligation of
landholders to supply necessaries for troops and officials on the
march is so well established that it forms one of the conditions of
the contract with Government under which proprietors in the
permanently settled province of Benares hold their lands. The extreme
abuses of which the system is capable under a lax and corrupt native
Government are abundantly illustrated in the author's _Journey
through the Kingdom of Oudh_. 'The System of Purveyance and Forced
Labour' is the subject of article xxv in the Hon. F, J, Shore's
curious book, _Notes on Indian Affairs_ (London, 1837, 2 vols. 8vo).
Many of the abuses denounced by Mr. Shore have been suppressed, but
some, unhappily, still exist, and are likely to continue for many
years.

CHAPTER 8

Religious Sects--Self-government of the Castes--Chimney-sweepers--
Washerwomen[1]--Elephant Drivers.

Mir Salamat Ali, the head native collector of the district, a
venerable old Musalman and most valuable public servant, who has been
labouring in the same vineyard with me for the last fifteen years
with great zeal, ability, and integrity, came to visit me after
breakfast with two very pretty and interesting young sons. While we
were sitting together my wife's under-woman[2] said to some one who
was talking with her outside the tent-door, 'If that were really the
case, should I not be degraded?' 'You see, Mir Sahib',[3] said I,
'that the very lowest members of society among these Hindoos still
feel the pride of caste, and dread exclusion from their o