Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057352).pdf/32

 24 NIG Muráos are enterprising and bold men, and are always ready to emi- grate from their homes and settle in new lands, specially if they are offered easy tenures, and find soil suitable to their pecular crop," Ubi bene est, patria est," should be the Muráos motto, Murảos cultivate all the common cereals that are grown by other castes, and a Murko's field may generally be known by thc closeness of the furrows to each other, and the smallness of the clods into which the plough has broken up the soil. Of crops almost exclusively grown by this caste turmeric is the principal. This crop is grown only by the Thakurias and Haridwáras, and since annexation there has been a considerable immigration of these men into the northern villages of Bhúr, who are bringing large areas of lands under turmeric cultivation. The Kanaujias are the sub-caste that abound all over pargana Nighásan, and they have been up to the present time increasing in number by immigration every year. They are not allowed by the rules of their caste to grow turmeric; their peculiar crops are vegetables and poppy and tobacco; they also grow onions and garlic, in great quantities, and here all castes eat garlic, and all except Brahmans eat onions. Recently the district authorities have been directed to aid the Opium Department in stimulating the cultivation of the poppy, and within the last year the plant has spread very greatly all over this pargana. Besides turmeric, onions, garlic, tobacco, and poppy, the following articles are occasionally grown by the Muráos of this pargana ? Coriander (dhania). Marshmallows (khatmi). Pepper (mirch). Ginger (sonth). Paralajn (luniya). Endive (kasni), l'emgreek (methi). Anise (saunf). Aviseed (ajwáin). The fear of destruction by wild animals prevents Murkos from growing these plants in the hár, and they are all grown quite close to the village; whereas in England a farrner never will sow his most valuable crops, such as turnips and carrots, anywhere except at some distance from a village or town from fear of being robbed by them at night. It speaks well for the morality of the peasantry that the market gardener can rear his valuable produce unprotected by wall or fence, and, surrounded by the dwellings of a dense population, without the slightest fear or risk of being robbed. In the settlement report of the Bhúr pargana I have described Gánjar scenery, but when closing my description of pargana Nighásan, I cannot refrain from making a few remarks on the description of the people of Gánjar country recently written by the Extra Assistant Commissioner, Káli Sahảe. He states that the customs and manners, the dress, the food, and the language of the Gánjar people are all totally different from those of the people in the upper country,--in fact, he seems almost to consider the inha- bitants of the Gánjar as a separate nation. These statements are, I think, somewhat exaggerated and likely to mis- lead. There are some differences, but they seem to me to be only such as