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growing spontaneously in several places of Bengal.
Hemp abundantly grows in Kashmir.
4. I know of five names usually applied to hemp
plants, namely:—(1) ganja, (2) siddhi, (3) bhang,
(4) patti, (5) subji. I cannot say whether they
refer to the same plant.
5. Hemp is likely to grow abundantly at a
height of from 4,000 feet to 7,000 feet above the
sea-level. It grows well in places near the Hima-
laya and in Kashmir. I believe the ground,
which has less sand in it, is favourable to the growth
of the plant.
6. I believe the growth of the wild hemp is not
ordinarily dense but scattered.
7. Yes. The precise places and extent cannot
be accurately given.
9. In the plains, the seeds are sown in August
or September. In the Himalayan tracts, the seeds
are sown towards the end of May or the beginning
of June. The plants are cut in October or Novem-
ber. A space of three to four inches is kept
between the plants. Manure helps the abundant
growth of the plant. The male plants are cut one
month earlier than the female plants.
10. No, they do not form a special class. They
are of the same classes as other agricultural culti-
vators.
11. Partly by the one method and partly by the
other.
The plants grow well at a height from 4,000
feet to 7,000 feet above the sea-level and in the
Himalayan tracts. I believe that it would not
grow well in places near the sea, where the earth
is mostly composed of sand.
14. Yes The precise area and extent cannot be
accurately given.
15. As to the preparation of ganja, I cannot
say more than what is contained in the second
question. Charas is the name given to the resin-
ous matter that comes out from hemp plants. In
the Himalayan tracts, the matter comes out from
the leaves in the hot season. In the plains, the
little branches and the flowers as yet in their buds
are dipped in spirit or ether, and thereby the
matter is extracted. The matter is also extracted
from the ovary. The ganja and charas are used
in smoking. The ganja with a little quantity of
tobacco leaves is pressed in the palm of the left
hand by the right hand finger and then put in a
kalki and then smoked. As regards charas, some
ten or fifteen drops of undried charas or ten to
fifteen grains of powdered charas are mixed with
ordinary tobacco and then used in smoking. As
to bhang, the dried leaves are washed well in the
first instance, and then they are ground with
mouri. It is then mixed with water and then
drunk. Sometimes sugar, rose-water, rose-flower
powder and golmarich are mixed with the same.
Majum is made of bhang. The leaves of the
bhang plant are mixed with ghee and then boiled
with water. A resinous matter comes out from
the leaves, which being mixed with milk and
sugar is put on the fire. When cooled, the mix-
ture becomes dry and hard. It is then cut into
pieces and then used for eating.
16. The first two questions are answered in the
affirmative. I am unable to answer the third
question. I see no reason why ganja or charas
cannot be so prepared.
17. By the agricultural class of the people.
18. Yes, they deteriorate by keeping. Exposure
to weather makes them deteriorate. In time they
lose their stringent properties. Though they do
not become absolutely useless in time, they are
little valued by those who are accustomed in using
them. Ganja and bhang, if kept quite tight and
compact in a house so as not to be exposed to the
weather, and if occasionally spread before the rays
of the sun so that they cannot deteriorate by damp
weather, may be thereby protected from deteriora-
tion.
19. As far as I know, ganja and charas are used
only for smoking. Of course, there are other uses
to which they are put for medicinal purposes.
20. It is the lower class of the people who
smoke ganja and charas; the higher class seldom
do so. The fakirs, sanyasis, dandis, and other
mendicants, and the idle class of the people largely
smoke ganja and charas. Professional singers and
musicians do also smoke ganja. These men are to
be met with almost in every part of the country.
Their number is no doubt small compared with
the general population of the country.
21. The flat ganja is not so intoxicating as the
round, and the chur is more intoxicating than the
round or rolled ganja. The beginner first prac-
tises with the flat and then with the round and
ultimately with the chur. The chur is preferred
to the rest. I know not whether different kinds
are used in different places.
22. It is the native charas that is chiefly used
as being cheaper. The charas that comes from
Herat is prized very much. Foreign charas
usually comes from Nepal, Thibet, Afghanistan,
Bokhara and Herat.
23. I do not know whether bhang is used for
smoking.
24. I have already said, in answering question
No. 15, that majum is prepared out of bhang. It
is eaten. In other cases bhang is drunk. Majum
is used, i.e., bhang is eaten by those who, like the
ganja and charas smokers, are fond of intoxication.
Men who would not like to be known as ganja-
smokers would ordinarily drink bhang. The
Saivas, i.e., the worshippers of Siva, generally
drink bhang. At the time of the Bijaya ceremony,
bhang or siddhi is used by almost all the Hindus,
Those, who do not like to drink, touch it by their
lips. Those who are ganja or charas smokers
would feel no scruple in drinking bhang.
25. The use of bhang is on the decrease.
There was a time when its use in Bengal was
almost universal. It was invariably used by all
Hindus at the time of the Bijaya ceremony.
English education and the consequent disregard
to national prejudices have considerably checked
the use of bhang among the educated and en-
lightened class of the people. The use of ganja
and charas is on the increase. In Bengal, however,
it is not so. The price of opium and liquors being
raised, those who were in the habit of using them
have given it up and had recourse to ganja as an
alternative. Many people of Assam, Central Prov-
inces and Burma are actually doing so. Habit
once formed is not and cannot be given up soon.
If there is difficulty in one direction, convenience
and opportunities will be sought for in another.
26. It is not for any absolute physical neces-
sity that the habit is incurred.
Unlike the
use of opium, ganja and charas are used for their