Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-01-31
A FLOATING CROP.
A Lara that Thr,us Usder Three Fee,
Water.

cste WhiCu uis costiO PooeoiSet az optf"b
after the crop was reaped in the win
ter months, will be covered with wa
ter, varying in depth from two or thre'
to eight feet, during all July and Au
gust. His staple crop, the aumon OF
late rice, may be backed to outstriI
the rising waters, and to conquer in the
race, if the rise be only gradual. The rict
crop lives and fourishes with its root:
under water for four months in success
sion, where other staples would rot
and the stalks keep pace with the ad.
vancing inundation, rear their heads
above the surface OF the water, and.
making plain Of miles IN extent, pre-
sent the appearance Of an unbroken
sheet OF green. One curious feature OF
these inundations is that, though the
land is flooded, no water is visible from
distance. Locomotion by bullock carts
or pedestrians is, of course, suspend
ed. Villages appear like islands in
verdant ocean. Cattle are tethered
on the ground nearest the home
steads. a few feet above the highest
water level, and communication be-
tween one village and another is carried
on entirely by boats, punted rather
than rowed across plains apparently
sheeted with magnificent breadths OF
cultivation. For the missionary visit
ing his out-stations, for the policeman
or the inspector Of schools on his
rounds, for the agriculturist carrying
his produce to market, no vehicle is
available but the light skiff, the guard
boat, or the frail canoe holding one per-
son only, followed out of a single
trunk. The worst Of such timely and
moderate visitation is discomfort and
not disaster.
SNAKES DRIVEN FROM THE LOWER
LEVELS
by the water seek refuge in Ryots' huts,
and deaths from their bites do swell
the catalogue Of accidents and serve as
convenient cloaks for undetected and
uDaccounted crimes. Children are
with difficulty kept from falling into
bitches and holes. To the English
resident the climate, though not pesti-
lental, is moist and unpleasant, as Mr..
Mantalini would have said. Everything
is covered with blue mold. Books fall
to pieces and, bad as the effects
Of the surcharged atmosphere may be
on leather, silk, and clothes of all sorts.
the most imprudent treatment is to shut
such articles up in cupboards and
shelves. But il is a short step from
beneficent to a ruineus inundation.
The Hindus Of Lower Bengal apply to
the month of Scravan, or the latter
half Of July and the first half Of Au-
gust, the distinctive epithet of Dhara
1t is the cascade or the spout. The
worst thing that can happenis deferred
and violent rainy season. When there
have been copious showers in May and
June. the Ryot has had ample time
to plough and sow, and to transplant
his rice stalks from nurseries to field,
before the heaviest rains descend. But
if the former rain be withheld and the
latter rain falls in torrents the rice is
ruined before it can make head and
hold its own. silva, the destructive
power in Hindu mythology, wins the
day over Vishnu, the preserver. 1t is
roughly calculated that rice in
the ear may remain some twelve
hours or a little more under water,
and yet survive if the inunda-
ton recedes, but when the land is
deluged by arrears of rainfall, and that
rainfall is swelled by the flow Of waters
from the ailuents. or what Mr.. w. W.
Hunter happily calls the distributaries
of the Ganges, the result may be
calamity calculated to test the energies
Of the administrator and the charity
and benevoence Of the Xemindar.
MEN AND WOMEN TAKE REFUGE IN
TREES
and boats, and SILVER in their thin gar
ments when the thermometer drops. as
it may do in one week, from So to
10. Cattle are drowned in large
numbers. In hundreds Of houses fires
cannot be lit, nor rice and vegetables
cooked. The magistrate and his subor-
dinates are fully occupied for days in
saving lives, in supplying food, and
in meeting the emergency BY timely
donations. No one ought to speak
lightly of trial which ruins a valuable
staple crop, destroys cattle and goats
by hundreds, inficts vast deal OF
actual suffering and distress on pa
tient and orderly population, hinders
the punctual payments of rent. and
increases the normal amount
Of rural crime and agrarian liti-
CATION. Yet a rainfall Of 20 or 50
inches. Of which nearly one half may
fall in six weeks. is not without its
and under any aspect it is
far preferable to drought extending for
the same months over like or larger
area In the first place, the rain. COM
bined with the overflow Of the Bengal
rivers from the Jellinghi to the Poddhs,
from the Teesta to the Kosai, leaves be-
hind it a valuable deposit of silt. The
arabic land, which is nine tenths of the
plain, is not merely improved and ma
nured the soil is absolutely renewed
in all its strength and vigor. Tanks
are replenished with what is eventually
a supply Of pure and wholesome water.
The water of the Ganges, when it has
had little time to settle, is not far in
ferior to that OF the Nile. bitches and
are thoroughly cleansed.
The cold-weather crop grown on
lands where the early rice has been
reaped can be sown in October in all
its rich and splendid variety; vetches
and pulses, mustard and linseed, oats
and barley. Cholera disappears, though
it must be admitted that low feyerS are
prevalent at the change of the seasons
when the inundation dries up. Doubtless
local communication has suffered from
the violence of these floods. Bridges have
given way, roads of raised earth have in
parts been preached. Entertainments have
melted into the rivers they were de-
signed to keep out. Old and familiar
landmarks and riparian boundaries and
their features are no longer visible when
the waters subside. A mile or two, it
may be said, without any eXaggeration,
Of a native gentleman'S estate has final
" crumbled into the Ganges, the