grown there. The
author was mistaken in supposing that the indigenous pattern of mill
is superior to a good roller mill. The indigenous mill has been
completely superseded in most parts of the Panjab, United Provinces,
and Bihar, by the roller mill patented by Messrs. Mylne and Thompson
of Bihia in 1869, and largely improved by subsequent modifications.
The original patent having expired, thousands of roller mills are
annually made by native artisans, with little regard to the rights of
the Bihia firm. The iron rollers, cast in Delhi and other places, are
completed on costly lathes in many country towns. The mills are
generally hired out for the season, and kept in repair by the
speculator. The Raja of Nahan or Sirmur in the Panjab, who has a
foundry employing six hundred men, does a large business of this
kind, and finds it profitable. Since the first patent was taken out,
many improvements in the design have been effected, and the best
mills squeeze the cane absolutely dry. Messrs. Mylne and Thompson
have been successful in introducing other improved machinery for the
manufacture of sugar in villages. The Rosa factory near Shahjahanpur
in the United Provinces makes sugar on a large scale by European
methods.

When the author says that the large canes are sold 'as a fruit' he
means that the canes are used for eating, or rather sucking like a
sugar-stick. The varieties of sugar-cane are numerous, and the names
vary much in different districts. According to Balfour, the Otaheite
(Tahiti) cane is 'probably _Saccharum violaceum_'. The ordinary
Indian kinds belong to the species _Saccharum officinarum_. The
Otaheite cane was introduced into the West Indies about 1794, and
came to India from the Mauritius. It is more suitable for the roller
mill than for the indigenous mill, the stems being hard (_Cyclopaedia
of India_, 3rd ed., 1885, s.v. 'Saccharum'). In a letter dated
December 15, 1844, the author refers to his introduction of the
Otaheite cane, and mentions that the Indian Agricultural Society
awarded him a gold medal for this service. The cane was first planted
in the Government Botanical Garden at Calcutta.

CHAPTER 29

Interview with the Chiefs of Jhansi--Disputed Succession.

On the 14th[1] we came on fourteen miles to Jhansi.[2] About five
miles from our last ground we crossed the Baitanti river over a bed
of syenite. At this river we mounted our elephant to cross, as the
water was waist-deep at the fo