These being at war with their Sovereign have escaped into the jungles; and their lands being allowed to lie uncultivated they are enabled to recover themselves from over cropping. They are perhaps converted into meadows for pasturage, and while they are such, are manured by the dung of the cattle and deer; and by being swamped in the rainy season, are impregnated with the above mentioned deposits. There are no rocks in Oude, but the hard matter composed of ferro-oxides, carbonate of lime, silica, and sulphate of soda called Kankar is very common, and there are whole tracts of land covered with this substance which is largely used in the manufacture of lime for building purposes. The numberless nuddees or streams, which in the hot season may be crossed almost dryshod, swell in the rains to an enormous size and generally overflow their banks so that whole districts are sometimes inundated. As however they flow through these hard kankar banks they seldom desert their channels. Oude is rich in rivers which render the earth productive and fruitful; for generally in the midst of the greatest disorders and the most sanguinary conflicts tillage is still carried on. The land often yields three, but generally only two crops. In the khareef or autumn and winter harvest, the following crops embellish the surface of the few arable lands which are permitted to be cultivated; Rice of eight kinds; Indian corn of two sorts; Till, a species of fine oil seed; Bajra, a fine grain for birds; and Indigo. In spring the soil can yield in great abundance the following harvest, called the rubby crops. Wheat; Indian Corn; Gram; Mustard; Surson, a kind of fine mustard; Opium; Arhur (pulse) of two kinds; Musoor (pulse); Moong or Cutils (pulse); Peas of four sorts; Sugarcane of six kinds; Safflower; Palma Christi and Linseed. The whole kingdom is studded with magnificent trees, whose dense foliage and beautiful blossoms add a charming feature to the general aspect of the surface of this country so favoured by nature, but so ungratefully treated by man. The banyan, the mango, the sisa, the tamarind, the jamun, the peepul, the bale, the wild fig, the cotton-tree, the jack, the mahooa, (from the fruit of which a spirit is distilled,) the owla (phyllanthus,) the neem, the sandal, and other handsome trees, are everywhere discernible, either in fine groves or standing in solitary grandeur, looking proudly on the rich fields beneath or appearing to protest by their verdancy and beauty against the violence which desolates the country around them. Much of the productiveness of Oude is owing to the abundance of these trees, since they purify the atmosphere by the absorption of the superfluous carbonic aid, and thus render (unless they are in too great proximity,) the crops in their neighbourhood rich and luxuriating. To the Hindoo of Oude a grove is sacred. The small dispossessed proprietor, whose ancestors planted it, points to it as a proof of his right of ownership in the soil; and the exiled agriculturist, flying from the rapacity of the King's troops, cherishes in his jungles a hope of return to his sacred trees. The brahmin chronicler of the village will tell his listeners of legends attached to almost all these groves; how the gods and demi-gods warred and loved under their shadows, and how perhaps some particular banian or peepul, venerable from its antiquity, was under the peculiar protection of some powerful divinity, who on more than one occasion resented the violence committed upon it and punished with a dreadful vengeance the oppressor of its pious guardian. No wonder then that the domestic feelings of the home-loving native are aroused, and that these groves become ties which bind him to the birth-place of his ancestors, in spite of every species of atrocity perpetrated on himself and his family, and in the face of the outrages committed upon his home. Of the arable lands in Oude, nine-tenths are permitted to lie untilled, and of the villages scarcely one-tenth are inhabited. Besides the great Tarae forest, there are scattered about the country belts, and patches of jungle covering a surface of above nine hundred square miles. These are purposely preserved by the landholders at war with the King's authorities, though the soil on which they grow is often of the best description, and the most adapted for tillage. The benefit which the landholders derive from them is greater by far than if they were to convert them into flourishing fields teeming with crops. In Oude to be safe one is obliged to be strong, and always prepared to recur to force. Their safety therefore lies in their having the means to oppose force to force. In these jungles which are mostly intersected by ravines, and nuddees or running streams, they build the strongholds whence they are able to defy all attempts at coercion. In Oude, there are no less than five hundred of such forts, strong, many of them inaccessible, and some that as well deserve the reputation of impregnability as any in the world. Not a few of them are built on good scientific principles; while very many of them are garrisoned by thousands of armed retainers, filled with numerous cannon of heavy calibre, and with magazines well furnished with warlike stores and ammunition. In Oude revenue is paid according to the strength of the debtor. He who is strongest, or acts in successful collusion with the local authorities, pays least, he who is weakest most. How little therefore can we judge of the true capabilities of this But of this more anon. country by the revenue returns! The following is a list of some of the principal forests and jungles in Oude: 1. The nearest to Lucknow is thirty five miles to the North West and is called the Saerayun jungle. It is twelve miles long and three broad. It is situated on the river Saerayun. On its North bank are the forts of Sheogurh, Jayrampore and Basaydhe; on its South bank those of Dhowrayrah, Gundhoree, Alowjee, and Pupramow, all belonging to very powerful baronial landholders. The former three are in the Baree, and the latter four in the Muchraita district. The jungle covers a surface of thirty-six square miles. 2. About forty miles to the East of Lucknow on the banks of the Kuleanee stream is the extensive jungle of Soorujpore Barahely, containing no less than sixty-five square miles. There are several forts within its precincts, but the strongest belongs to a notorious hereditary robber named Chundy Sing. It belongs to the District of Dareeabad. 3. Fifty miles South East of Lucknow, in the Hydergurh District, lies the Karae jungle, through which the river Goomtee meanders. It contains two forts though it is only three miles long and one broad. 4. At an equal distance from Lucknow, and of about the same extent, in the same district, is situated the Kohlee jungle, which contains three strong-holds of refractory barons; particularly strong on account of the deep ravines of the Goomtee. It extends over a surface of nearly five square miles. 5. Towards the South East of Lucknow likewise fifty miles away from the city, is the Jugdeespore jungle forming a belt sixteen miles long and three wide. It contains two very strong forts at musket shot distance from each other; one, Baichoogurh, situated on an apex formed by the river Goomtee and the Kundoo nuddee; and the other, Kuttary, on the South side of the Kundoo. This jungle covers a space of forty-eight square miles. 6. There are also three others in the same District, viz. Kapradee, Paperghaut and Dostpore, all lying South East of Lucknow. The Kupradee jungle is one of the largest in Oude, and forms a plain of sixty square miles in extent. It contains several forts belonging to the family of one of the most powerful members of the landed aristocracy, a refractory baron who never pays revenue without first fighting for it. 7. At the same distance, one hundred miles from the city is the Paperghaut jungle thirty square miles. Skirting this is the river Goomtee. It surrounds among others the two very strong forts of Naneemow and Dehra. 8. The Dostpore jungle, one hundred and twenty-five miles S. E. from Lucknow is situated on the banks of a small stream. It is thirty-five square miles in extent, being about twelve miles long and three broad. It forms like the others the natural stronghold of several powerful rebels. now. 9. The Nyne is a belt of jungle in the Salone District, running twelve miles along the river Sai, and covering about fifty square miles. It lies eighty miles to the South of LuckSome of the strongest families of the Oude Rajpoots of the Kampooree tribe possess forts in this jungle. They are the owners of nearly one hundred and fifty villages, for which they pay scarcely any revenue to the poor helpless Nazim of the District. Their original estate consisted of only ten villages, but by the forced sales of weaker neighbours, violence; and fraud, they have augmented their possessions to their present extent. Juggernath, who owns the fort of Junkeebad, was successfully hunted down not long ago by Captain Weston with the aid of his able assistant, Captain Alexander Orr. 10. In the Salone District sixty miles South of Lucknow there is also a smaller jungle, called the Katarry, twenty-five square miles in extent; in which there are two strong forts. 11. Seventy miles from the city, and covering a surface of thirty square miles is the Shunkerpore jungle. One Talookdar alone has no less than three forts in it. 12. In the Banghor District is the famous jungle of Tundeawun seventy-three square miles in area. It lies seventy-two miles West of Lucknow and encircles the estates and forts of Pipooreea and Etooa, held by the noted robber chieftain and landholder Bhugwunt Sing. Mirza Akbar Beg of Deureea and Piprowra, one of the strongest rebels in the District, holds two of these forts, and the Rajah of Ahrohee, Punchum Sing, likewise holds one of the strongest. 13. The Gokurnath jungle a hundred miles N. W. from Lucknow extends over a space of one hundred and fifty square miles. It is an arm of the great Tarae forest running across the Ganges in a southerly direction, and, forming a belt thirty miles long and four or five wide, joins the Kyreegurh forest on the Shahjehanabad frontier. The latter, like the Tarae, furnishes some of the finest timber in India. 14. The jungles of Gurh Ametty, Dhuleeppore, Daoodpore and Mahona are all within the boundary of the Sultanpore District. The first, placed advantageously for defence on the bank of a large lake joining with the river Sai, covers about twenty-six square miles of excellent soil. It is seventy miles S. E. from Lucknow. It contains several forts. 15. The second lies at an equal distance with the former; is thirty square miles in extent; is situate on the Sai; and contains a fort belonging to Seetul Buksh, one of the most inveterate rebels of Oude. 16. The third, Daoodpore is four miles long, and three broad, lies seventy miles S. E. from Lucknow and surrounds the strong hold of the Lady Saguna, who is a widow, and has only lately recovered her estate. 17. Mahona is surrounded by thirty-five square miles of jungle which cannot be cultivated without great difficulties. It is fifty miles S. E. of Lucknow, lies on the river Goomtee and contains the fort of one of the most turbulent landed proprietors in the country. 18. Chunderdee, one hundred and ten miles distant from the city covers a surface of twenty-two square miles, through which the winding courses of the Goomtee cut their way. 19. The Madungurh and Putona jungles are equally distant from Lucknow, both being one hundred and twenty miles to the East and situate on the stream Tonus. The former is six miles long and three and a half broad, and has within its limits one of the strongest forts of the country. 20. The latter extends over a surface of thirty square miles. 21. Not far distant from the above there extends a narrow belt of jungle (that of Bundeepore) scarcely one mile broad though it is seven long. Its site is on a plain one hundred and forty miles East from Lucknow. 22. Guneshpore on the banks of the Goomtee, sixty miles S. E. from Lucknow, is six miles long and two miles broad. Maheput Sing, who owned the fort of Bhowaneepore in this jungle was pursued and seized by order of Captain Weston, and then sentenced by Colonel (now General) Sleeman to many years' transportation. 23. One hundred and forty miles East of Lucknow lies the jungle of Mugurdee twenty-four square miles in extent. situated on the river Gogra. It is 24. Eighteen miles N. E. from Lucknow is the jungle of Kasimgunge and Bital, well known in Oude on account of its being the death-scene of poor Elderton, of the 10th Native Infantry. Thakurpersaud held the forts of Bital and Buldeogurh in this jungle, Gunga Buksh that of Kasimgunge and another, and Bhugwunt Sing that of Munmuntpore. They belong to the Dewa district. The robber Gunga Buksh, who in 1849 was one of the successful defenders of Bital against an attack made upon it by a combined force of the Company's and King's forces, amounting to 6300 infantry with 22 guns, 40 camel tumbooraks, and 100 troopers, was captured and beheaded in the year following. His crimes deserved such an end. Bhugwunt Sing was subsequently apprehended by an officer of the Oude Frontier Police. The jungle is sixteen miles long and three broad, covering a surface of sixty-four square miles. These jungles furnish to their possessors hunting ground, pasture for cattle, firewood, and a safe retreat. They are also not un |