This
is what the people call the _bhalmansae_, of which they have a very
great abhorrence. "You are a _bhala manus_" (a gentleman, or man of
substance), he says to his tenant, "and must have property worth at
least a thousand rupees. I want money sadly, and must have one-fifth:
give me two hundred rupees." This is what the people call
"_bhalmansae_," or rating a man according to his substance; and to
say that a landlord or governor does this, is to say that he is a
reckless oppressor, who has no regard to obligations or to
consequences.
There are manifest signs of the present landholder, Seobuksh Sing,
being of this character; but others, not less manifest, of his
grandfather having been a better man, in the fine groves which
surround Lahurpoor, and the villages between this place and
Kuteysura, all of which are included in his estate. These groves
were, for the most part, planted during the life of his grandfather
by men of substance, who were left free to-dispose of their property
as they thought best.
All the native gentlemen who rode with me remarked on the beauty of
the approach to Lahurpoor, in which a rich carpet of spring crops
covers the surface up to the groves, and extends along under the
trees which have been recently planted. There are many young groves
about the place, planted by men who have acquired property by trade,
and by the savings out of the salaries and perquisites of office at
Lahurpoor, which is the residence of the Nazim, or local governor,
during several months in the year; and the landlord, Seobuksh, cannot
venture to exact his _property-tax_ from them.
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