( 2 )
600 inches per annum at Cherrapunji in Assam to an average of about
37 inches in Behar and about 65 inches on the delta.
Food-supply.—The prices of common food differ much at the central
marts and in the isolated tracts of the interior. At present in Bengal and
Behar hamlets a rupee will ordinarily purchase 20 to 25 sers of common rice,
and in Orissa from 25 to 30 sers. During the last generation it would have
purchased 40 sers, and in the generation before that, 60 sers and upwards. In
Calcutta itself, a rupee will seldom purchase more than 16 sers of common
rice. In Behar, however, maize and other cereals besides rice are consumed,
and of these a rupee will purchase as much as 35 sers. The wages of labour
may be generally stated at 1 to 2 annas (1½ to 3d.) a day in Behar, 2 annas
(3d ) in Orissa, 3 annas (4½d) in Northern Bengal, 4 annas (6d.) in Central
Bengal, 5 annas (7½d) in Eastern Bengal, and 4 to 6 annas (6d. to 9d.) in
Calcutta. During the last generation the rates ranged from 1 anna to
3 annas at the highest, the lowest being the generally prevalent rate. On
the whole the wages of labour have risen in proportion to the prices of
common food.
Behar.—This great division of the Bengal Province lies between 23° 49' and
27° 19' north latitude and between 83° 22' and 88° 35' east longitude,and comprises
the 10 districts of Patna, Sarun, Gya, Shahabad, Tirhoot, Chumparun, Santhal,
Bhagulpur, Monghyr, and Purneah. The country generally is flat, except in
the district of Monghyr, where detached hills occur, and in the south-east,
where the Rajmehal and Santhal ranges abut upon the plains. The highest
hill is Moher, 1,620 feet, in Gya district ; the range in the Santhal district varies
from 800 to 1,600 feet in height. The great river is the Ganges, which
entering at Buxar and leaving at Rajmehal, divides Behar into two almost
equal portions. Both portions are watered by large tributaries of the Ganges,
the chief of these being the Gogra, the Gandak, the Kusi, the Mahanadi in
the north, and the Sone in the south. The physical features of the country
will be found described separately with the several districts composing it.
Chota or Chutia Nagpur.—This great division of the Bengal Province lies
between 21° 58' 30" and 24° 28' north latitude and between 83° 22' and
87° 15' east longitude and is bounded on the north by the districts of Mirzapur,
Shahabad, and Gya; on the east by the districts of Monghyr, Santhal,
Bankura, and Midnapur ; on the south by the Orissa Tributary States ; and
on the west by the Sambalpur district of the Central Provinces and the
independent state of Rewah. This division comprises the British districts
of Hazaribagh, Lohardaga, Singbhum, Manbhum, and seven Tributary states.
The description of the country is given separately with each of its several
districts.
Orissa.—This division lies between 19° 28' and 22° 34' 15" north lati-
tude and between 83° 63' 30" and 7° 31' 30" east longitude, and comprises
the districts of Cuttack, Balasore, Puri, and hill states. It forms the extreme
south-western portion of the Bengal Province, and is bounded on the north
and north-east by Chota Nagpur and Bengal Proper ; on the east and south-east
by the Bay of Bengal ; on the south by Madras ; and on the west by the
Central Provinces. Orissa consists of two distinct territories—a fertile alluvial
delta, comprising the three British districts of Cuttack, Balasore, and Puri,
bounded on the east and south by the sea and. on the west and north by a
wild rigion of sparsely populated tributary hill states, which walls it out from
the Central Indian plateau. The Orissa delta is formed from the deposits of
three great rivers, the Mahanadi on the south, the Brahmani in the centre,
and the Baitarni on the north. The three rivers gradually converge towards
the coast and dash down their accumulated waters within 30 miles of each
other upon Orissa, During summer their upper channels in the interior
table-land dwindle to insignificant streams, dotted here and there by stagnant
almond-shaped pools. Including two other minor streams, the Salandi and
Subanrekha, they represent the accumulated drainage of 63,350 square miles,
which during the height of the hot weather only amounts to a discharge of
1,690 cubic feet per second. The average cold-weather drainage is, however,
5,360 cubic feet per second, but during the rains the rivers rise till they bring
down an aggregate of 2,760,000 cubic feet in time of flood. This enormous
mass of water falls suddenly upon a narrow level strip of country. The