263
to those of the poorer classes, travellers, etc.,
coming on business to Karachi and who have
not the vessels or the time to prepare their drinks
of bhang.
69. The numbers of shops are regulated accord--
ing to the demand for them. No new shops are
opened without the actual necessity for such.
70. Ganja is sometimes imported illicitly in
small quantity at a time into Karachi from Cutch
ports and from Lus Beyla, both foreign States.
The ganja used in Lus Beyla and, I think, in Cutch
also is brought from Panwel, Kolaba district,
Bombay, on payment of a nominal duty of 8
annas per maund, and being sold cheap in these
States it is smuggled across here.
If these States paid a higher duty and raised
the prices of ganja, smuggling could be reduced
considerably.
14. Evidence of RAO BAHADUR ALUMAL TRIKAMDAS BHOJWANI, Deputy Educa-
tional Inspector, Karachi.
1. Enquiry from dealers in the drugs and per-
sonal inspection.
2. The leaves of the hemp plant are locally
known by the name of bhang or subji, and the
definition of Dr. Prain may be accepted.
Neither (1) charas nor (2) ganja are manufac-
tured or grown in the Karachi district, to which
my experience and knowledge are confined.
Charas is imported by the Karachi Government
farmers from Amritsar, which is said to obtain it
from a place called Ladak and from Yarkand.
The vulgar notion will not endorse the definition
of charas as given herein.
Ganja is obtained vid Bombay from Panwel
and Barsi and other places; and Dr. Prain's defi-
nition of the drug would appear to correspond
with the popular notion, and to be supported by
the general appearance of the article.
3. I am not aware of the spontaneous growth
of the hemp plant in any part of the Karachi
district.
4. The hemp plant cultivated for bhang is
locally known as bhang, subji, Sivaji buti (Shiva's
plant). According to colour, bhang is divided
into kaki ( brown) and saye (green).
5. As regards the wild hemp, the conditions are
unknown.
7. (a ) and (b) None.
( c) and (d) Yes, at Bubak in the Sehwan
taluka; and I believe it used to be cultivated in the
Tatta taluka about the Calri canal and in the vici-
nity of the Fakirjo gate.
9. The ground intended to be sown with bhang
is first watered and made soft. It is then fur-
rowed twice over and the seed thrown broadcast.
The earth is then turned over once more with a
plough and levelled with a roller. All the fur-
rowing, ploughing, and sowing must be done and
completed in one and the same day. When the
seed shoots up to the height of about two inches
the ground is watered for the first time and the
weeding commences. It is usual to separate the
shoots also from one another to the distance of a
span at least, and hence all intervening shoots
from the seeds thrown broad-cast are rooted out.
When the plant grows to the height of a foot and
a half, or even earlier, and as soon as its leaves
spread out and overshade the ground, the weeding is
discontinued, and this is generally after the third
watering. The watering operations continue
until the white seeds change colour and turn
blackish or brown. After the plant grows to the
height of over a foot the ground is well manured
and then watered over. Before ploughing and
sowing no manure is, as a rule, put in the ground
for fear of a white kind of worm which is generated
in the ground and eats up the sap of the plant,
which consequently dries up. At Bubak it is not
usual to manure the ground more than twice
before the plant reaches the height of a foot and
over. In the majority of cases, however, One
good manuring at one foot height is held to be
sufficient for all ordinary purposes, unless greater
height in the plant and heavier weight in the final
produce be sought for. When the plant reaches
the height of about five feet the male plant, which
is distinguished by its blossom or its small-sized
pale green flower, is rooted out to provide more
growing space for the female plant. The male
plant is held to cause giddiness when used, and
this is another reason for its extermination as a
precaution against the mixture of its leaves with
those of the female plant.
When ripe, as judged from the changed colour
of the seed and absence of moisture when pressed,
the plant is reaped, dried in the field itself, and
thrashed when dry. The stalks are then separ-
ated from the rest of the produce, which is carried
away. A part, and a very small part, is winnowed
in order to separate the blackish seed useful for
sowing. The whiter seeds and the blackish not
wanted for future sowing are left mixed with
the leaves and the thinner twigs.
Hemp fibres, or fibres like the hemp fibres, are
grown from "sihato," which is a kind of hemp
plant also, but locally known as "sihato"
against "sireen," which is the local name for
the hemp plant proper. Similar fibres are pro-
duced from the leaved "Ak" plant or "milk
bush," not the thorny "Ak." The "Ak" and
the "sihato" stalks are soaked in water for two
or three days, and when sufficiently soft they are
thrashed, when the outer coating, or the upper-
most thicker skin, is separated from the fibres.
Such outer covering of the "sihato" stalks was,
and I believe is still, used in the preparation of
country matches, being so ignitible.
Hemp fibres are also prepared from the thicker
part of the stalks of the bhang hemp plant. But
the bhang plant stalks are usually buried in soft
wet mud for a few days instead of being soaked
in water, as in the case of the "sihato," the regu-
lar hemp, or the "Ak."
10. At Bubak it is the Hindu Haris who in
the main cultivate the hemp plant for bhang.
Elsewhere, too, I believe, it is the Hindus who
cultivate it. The bulk of the agricultural culti-
vators are Muhammadans.
13. In the district with which I am convers-
-ant the hemp plant is not cultivated for ganja.
14. Yes. The bhang ( c). Extent not known.
For where, please see answer to question 7 under
chapter II.
15. A.—Bhang is smoked by people used to