From that of Benee Madho,
in the Byswara district, there are still more. They told us that they
and their families were very happy, and they seemed to be so; but
Hunmunt Sing said, they were a privileged class, who gave much
trouble and annoyance, and were often the terror of their non-
privileged neighbours and co-sharers in the land. Benee Madho, as I
have stated above, sometimes makes use of his wealth, power, and
influence, to rob his weaker neighbours of their estates. The lands
on which we are encamped he got two years ago from their proprietor,
Futteh Bahader, by foreclosing a mortgage, in which he and others had
involved him. The gunge or bazaar, close to our tents, was
established by Gorbuksh, the uncle of Futteh Bahader, and became a
thriving emporium under his fostering care; but it has gone to utter
ruin under his nephew, and heir, and the mortgagee. The lands around,
however, could never have been better cultivated than they are; nor
the cultivators better protected or encouraged. It rained slightly
before sunset yesterday, and heavily between three and four this
morning; but not so as to prevent our marching.
This morning, a male elephant belonging to Benee Madho killed one of
his attendants near to our camp. He had three attendants, the driver
and two subordinates. The driver remained in camp, while the two
attendants took the elephant to a field of sugar-cane, to bring home
a supply of the cane for his fodder for the day.
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