The unlucky Amil, whose zeal and energy have caused the
necessity for this reduction, is probably thrown into gaol till "he
pays the uttermost farthing," or bribes influential persons at Court
to get him released on the ground of his poverty.
I may here mention the jungles in Oude which have been created and
are still preserved by landholders, almost solely for the above
purposes. They are all upon the finest soil, and in the finest
climate; and the lands they occupy might almost all be immediately
brought into tillage, and studded by numerous happy village
communities.
I may, however, before I begin to describe them, mention the fact
that many influential persons at Court, as well as the landholders
themselves, are opposed to such a salutary measure. If brought under
tillage and occupied by happy village communities, all the revenue
would or might flow in legitimate channels into the King's treasury;
whereas in their present state they manage to fill their own purses
by gratuities from the refractory landholders who occupy them, or
from the local authorities, who require permission from Court to
coerce them into obedience. Of these gratuities such a salutary
measure would deprive them; and it is, in consequence, exceedingly
difficult to get a jungle cut down, however near it may be to the
city where wood is so dear, and has to be brought from jungles five
or ten times the distance.
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