Page:James Thomason (Temple).djvu/67

Rh his tent, he saw the natives more unreservedly than he could see them at his headquarters, when surrounded by his staff and subordinates.

It was the Settlement branch which gave him most opportunity for profound enquiry into the past history of the tribes and families. His Report, already mentioned, proves that, on this his earliest occasion for enquiry, he caught sight of, and kept steadily in view, the proprietary rights inherent in the sons of the soil. After showing how in an age long past, high-bred invaders had dispossessed the humble aborigines, he states: —

'These invasions of the Rájputs are the foundation of the existing proprietary right in the land. Different tribes located themselves in different spots. The stocks were numerous. ... But it is not to be supposed that stocks regularly multiplied. Violent changes constantly took place; tribes were swept away by the incursions of foreigners or by the aggressions of their neighbours. ... The occasional incursions and supremacy of the Musalman are strongly marked in different parts of the country.'

He presents graphic particulars of feuds, fights, raids, forays, and border disputes — of the fortunes which befell lordly houses, feudal families, and industrious homes — all full of local interest. He states 'these historic facts to illustrate the mode in which the proprietary right was generally exercised and transferred,' and concludes his analysis thus: —

'I have endeavoured to show the origin of private proprietary right in the land and the forms under which it