Page:A Geographical, Statistical, and Historical Description of the District, or Zila, of Dinajpur.djvu/4

iv gether with an account of the air and weather, and whatever you may discover worthy of remark concerning the history and antiquities of the country.

“II. The Condition of the Inhabitants; their number, the state of their food, clothing, and habitations; the peculiar diseases to which they are liable; together with the means that have been taken or may be proposed to remove them; the education of youth; and the provision or resources for the indigent.

“III. Religion; the number, progress, and most remarkable customs of each different sect or tribe of which the population consists; together with the emoluments and power which their priests and chiefs enjoy; and what circumstances exist or may probably arise that might attach them to Government, or render them disaffected.

“IV. The Natural Productions of the Country, animal, vegetable, and mineral; especially such as are made use of in diet, in medicine, in commerce, or in arts and manufactures. The following objects deserve your particular attention:

“1st. The fisheries, their extent, the manner in which they are conducted, and the obstacles that appear to exist against their improvement and extension.

“2nd. The forests, of which you will endeavour to ascertain the extent and situation, with respect to water-conveyance. You will investigate the kinds of trees which they contain, together with their comparative value, and you will point out such means, as occur to you, for increasing the number of the more valuable kinds, or for introducing new ones that may be still more useful.

“3rd. The mines and quarries are objects of particular concern. You will investigate their produce, the manner of working them, and the state of the people employed.

“V. Agriculture, under which head your inquiries are to be directed to the following points:

“1st. The different kinds of vegetables cultivated, whether for food, forage, medicine, or intoxication, or as raw materials for the arts: the modes of cultivation adopted for each kind; the seasons when they are sown and reaped; the value of the produce of a given extent of land cultivated with each kind; the profit arising to the cultivator from each, and the manner in which each is prepared and fitted for market. Should it appear that any new object of cultivation could be introduced with advantage, you will suggest the means by which its introduction may be encouraged.