Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/99

 PUNJAUB 91 is an agri-horticultural society, through whose efforts the olive and the Australian blue gum tree (eucalyptus globulus) have been introduced into the province. The tiger is the most for- midable of the wild animals found in the Pun- jaub. The lion has sometimes been enumera- ted among the carnivora of the region, but prob- ably does not now exist in India except within Or near the peninsula of Guzerat. The leopard and wild cat commit annoying depredations on the smaller domestic animals. Lynxes, wolves, hyeenas, jackals, porcupines, foxes, and hares are common. A species of black bear (helarctos Tibetanus) is met with in the Salt range, where also the wild pig is distributed in large numbers. Several species of deer and antelopes inhabit the province, and wild sheep, sometimes called deer-sheep on account of their shy habits and fleetness, are numerous in many districts. The fauna of the Punjaub is particularly rich in birds, among which are the Asiatic bald-headed eagle, the pea fowl and common jungle fowl, parrots, kites, ra- vens, jackdaws, owls, pigeons, pheasants, par- tridges, quails, and many kinds of water fowl, including geese, ducks, herons, cormorants, pel- icans, and the black ibis. The Indian alliga- tor haunts the rivers, which abound in many varieties of excellent fish. Fish is extensively eaten by the people. The principal mineral product is rock salt, which occurs on the S. side of the Salt range in deposits said to be un- surpassed elsewhere in the world in extent or purity. It is mined from considerable depths and also quarried at the surface, and there are at least 12 localities in the range at which vast deposits are known to exist. Salt of a black or dark green hue is quarried in the hills of the Kohat district. Small quantities of gold, quite insignificant in proportion to the labor required to obtain them, can be washed from the gravel of many of the streams. Petroleum has been discovered at Eawulpindi and elsewhere, but has not yet been put to any practical use. Among the more important agricultural pro- ducts are wheat, sugar, rice, barley, millet, maize, peas, beans, mustard, and hemp and oth- er fibres. In 1872-'3, 47,781 acres were plant- ed with crotalaria juncea, a leguminous annual yielding the fibre known as sunn, from which twine is made. Tobacco was grown on 90,000 acres, and 7,732 acres are included within the 28 tea plantations of the Kangra district, where the average yield is 130 Ibs. per acre. The crop of 1872 amounted to 428,655 Ibs. The breed- ing of horses is encouraged by the government, which keeps 37 stallions in the province. An important horse fair is annually held at Ra- wulpindi for market purposes as well as the distribution of government prizes. There are Iso great cattle fairs at Hissar and Sirsa, sometimes attended by more than 25,000 per- sons. Sheep are raised in the grazing districts from English imported stock. The manufac- tures of the province, valued at 5,315,400 in 1872-'3, consist largely of cotton, which is made into white and colored cloths and thick striped cloth for floors ; woollen goods, from the fleeces of sheep, goats, and camels; and silk made at Amritsir, Lahore, and Mooltan, out of the raw material imported from Bengal, China, Afghanistan, and eastern Turkistan. The industrial progress of the country is ac- tively stimulated by the numerous fairs fre- quently held in various localities. Of these there are 128 in the Punjaub, each attended by at least 10,000 persons, and some by more than 100,000. In the year 1872-'3 the value of the trade up the Indus was 47,588, against a downward trade of 448,476, while the external trade of the province amounted to 5,024,883. According to the parliamentary accounts for 1872-'3, there were in that year 410 m. of railway in the Punjaub, 2,470 m. of water communication, and 20,798 m. of roads. The railway system is not yet completed. At present there is the great trunk road from Delhi to Lahore and thence to Mooltan, whence the broad gauge Indus valley line, 480 m. in length, now in process of construction, will run southward to Kotree and there meet the Sinde railway from Kurrachee. Lahore is also to be connected with Peshawer by a narrow gauge line, 270 m. long, with three costly bridges over the Ravee, Chenaub, and Jhylum rivers. Lines of telegraph are already in existence along all these routes. The ancient village communities have maintained their organization intact throughout a great part of the Punjaub, and the proprietors of the soil usually cultivate it themselves, paying the land tax through the elders of their village. Other- wise the land settlement is like that of the Northwest Provinces. The revenue derived from it is easily collected, and in 1872-'3 amounted to 2,005,666. A revenue of 811,- 190 was derived from the sale of salt and the duties on that mineral collected at the customs line, 982 m. long, which runs down the Indus, and is intended to restrict the importation of red salt from Peshawer. The opium excise and licenses for the sale of drugs and spirits yield- ed 87,633. In the same year, under a new arrangement, the local authorities received 748,718 from the supreme government of India for provincial expenditure upon jails, police, education, hospitals, roads, buildings, miscellaneous public improvements, and other objects of a local character ; and the disburse- ments out of provincial funds amounted to 515,153. The local revenue in that year was 751,040, and the local expenditure 468,174. Municipal institutions for local taxation and expenditure have been organized by the British government in 125 cities and towns, and 189 smaller places; a few of the more important municipalities elect their own officers. The population of the Punjaub is made up of Ma- hommedans and Hindoos in the proportion of about two to one. The Sikhs constitute about half of the smaller and Hindoo portion. The total number of native Protestant converts to