KEMAON, or Kumaon, a district of Northern Hindustan, which was formerly a Hindu principality, conterminous with that of Dution the east, the boundary line being the Cali River. On the west it was separated from Gurwal by the Ramgunga, and extended a considerable way into the plains of Bareilly. The modern district of Kemaon, as it has been regulated by the British since its conquest in 1815, comprehends the whole tract of country between the Ganges and the Cali, from the plains to the highest pinnacle of the Himalaya, which space includes a large portion of the Gurwal province south-east of Alcananda, whilst the Cali River on the east forms a natural and well-defined boundary towards Nepaul. The other geographical divisions are Kemaon proper, Pain-khandi, and Bhutant, within the limits of which last is the pass of Niti, supposed to have been the earliest and most frequented route into Chinese Tartary. It includes an area of 7000 square miles.

Kemaon is situated amongst the lower ranges of the Himalaya Mountains. It is separated from the lower districts of Bareilly 'and Morabad by a thick forest of nearly two days’journey, which surrounds the whole and skirts the margin of the mountains. The soil is marshy, and the atmosphere, during two thirds of the year, is more pestilential than that of the Sunderbunds; it is, says Heber,^[1. Vol. ii. p. 143. ] “a literal belt of death, which even the natives tremble to go near, and which, during the rains more especially, the monkies are forced to abandon. After the middle of November this is dry, practicable, and safe.” Kemaon proper is separated on the north-east from the province of Gurwal by a range of mountains, which, in point of ruggedness, presents a contrast to the hills of Kemaon. These latter appear to rise in a regular gentle acclivity from their bases; and the soil is fertile, consisting of rich earth, which gives nourishment to fine verdure and extensive forests. The hills are also intersected by rather spacious valleys, rendered fertile by tillage; and the cultivation is more extended, and carried farther up the hills, than in Gurwal with a denser population. In these valleys, rice is produced in abundance, and the cultivator is thus in a manner rendered independent of the seasons, as the numerous mountain streams, descending in ever}' direction, enable him to irrigate all the lower lands. The higher lands produce wheat, barley, and various small grains, which being raised in a redundant quantity, form an article of traffic with Bhutant. There are several passes into Kemaon from the districts of Bareilly and Morabad, but those leading through Cossipoor and Roderpoor are considered as the best, and are most frequented. The first leads by Chilkeah, where an annual k fair is held, to which the hill people resort in great numbers. Similar meetings also occur at Bhagesur, on the banks of the Cali, each continuing ten days, and are frequented by merchants from Bhote and the low countries. Chilkeah is one of the principal marts of trade in Kemaon, and through that country into Thibet and Tartary. The article which meets with the readiest sale is cloth with distinct colours on each side. European articles, of a coarse quality, are also in demand, such as knives, razors, wine-glasses, tumblers, spying and looking glasses, spectacles, and cheap enamelled watches; and Bishop Heber also saw exposed to sale English cloths, and eastern shawls of good appearance, with many other serviceable and valuable commodities. The greatest staple that is exported from this southern frontier has always been timber, found in the immense forests already mentioned, which skirt the border. Here the saul forests are of great extent, and produce some of the best timber of that species in India. Owing to the difficulty of access, it is necessary to convert the trees into planks on the spot, that they may be the more easily transported to the populous parts of the country. In some parts they have to be carried down a perpendicular height of 500 feet. The fir-tree grows to an immense size, and it is much stronger than the firs of Europe, and as heavy as teak, the grain strong and full of turpentine. Some of the trees have from sixty to seventy feet clear of branches, and the spans are from twenty to twenty-three inches in diameter. Rosin, turpentine, doedwar, oil, and hemp of an excellent quality, are to be found among the Kemaon Hills. The bamboo, though small, grows remarkably tough, and seems to gain consistency and soundness from a certain degree of frost. The same is said to be the case with the plantains. The tea-plant grows wild all through Kemaon, but cannot be made use of, from an emetic quality which it possesses. The upper mountains produce copper, lead, iron, and the Panar River gold, but there is no mine of consequence. The northern parts are cold, and yield pasture for numerous flocks of sheep; and in summer a considerable intercourse is carried on with the country subject to China.

The towns and villages of Kemaon, when viewed from a distance, present a neat appearance. But a nearer approach does not confirm these favourable prepossessions. They are generally surrounded by dirt and filth; though Bishop Heber mentions, that the town of Almorah is very neat, with a natural pavement of slaty rock, which is kept beautifully clean. He mentions, however, of the peasantry, namely, the Khasyas, that, near Almorah, though they are honest, peaceable, and cheerful, they are dirty to a degree which he never saw amongst the Hindus, and extremely averse to any improvement, using their women ill, and employing them in the most laborious tasks. These people are rigid Hindus. The houses are generally constructed of large masses of stone, roofed with slate, and of two stories in height, the lower story being allotted to cattle. Their poverty is extreme, their food consisting of coarse cakes made from the grain of a kind of holcus, in which the flour, bran, and husk, are mixed together, and baked, or rather scorched, on the fire. In other parts, however, as he advanced farther among the hills, Bishop Heber saw tolerably neat and comfortable cottages, the people better fed and clothed than most of the Khasyas. Polygamy is common among the lower classes.

Wild animals abound in the mountains and forests of this country. The tiger is found quite, up to the glaciers, of size and ferocity undiminished. There are also lynxes, and bears are common and mischievous throughout the province. Though they do not, except when pressed by hunger, eat flesh, preferring roots, berries, and honey, yet, as if out of capricious cruelty, they often worry and destroy passengers. The chamois is not uncommon in the snowy mountains, but scarce elsewhere; and the hares are much finer and larger than those in Hindustan, and not much inferior to those of Europe. The musk-deer is also found in the highest and coldest parts of the province, and the neighbouring countries of Thibet and Tartary. It cannot, says Heber, even bear the heat at Almorah. In like manner, the yak or mountain ox of Tartary droops as soon as it leaves the neighbourhood of the ice. The shawl-goat will live, but its wool degenerates. On the other hand, [7:12:689]English dogs, impaired by the climate of the plains, improve in strength, size, and sagacity, amongst the mountains; and it is remarkable that, in a winter or two, they acquire the same fine short shawl-wool, mixed with their own hair, which distinguishes the indigenous animal of the country. The same is in some degree the case with horses. Flying squirrels are also common amongst the colder and higher parts of these woods. Some of the marmots, of the alpine kind, also abound in the neighbourhood of the snow. A singular species of wild dog is mentioned as a native of these hills. In form and fur these animals resemble a fox, but they are much larger. They hunt in packs, give tongue like dogs, and possess a very fine scent. They make great havock of the game amongst the hills, and even attack and destroy the tiger, overpowering him by their numbers. Of birds, the condor is to be found of a remarkable strength and size. Eagles are numerous, and very large and formidable; and these birds do much injury to the shepherds and goatherds, and sometimes carry away the poor naked children of the peasants. Their nests being in the remote glaciers, and among inaccessible crags, there is no possibility of destroying these dangerous animals. There are larks in Kemaon, not very different from the English, as well as quails, partridges, pheasants, thrushes, &c. A little bird resembling the robin, and the goldfinch, are found at the foot of the snowy mountains.^[2. Heber, Narrative of a Journey through the Upper Provincer of India, vol. ii. p. 218, 219. ] This country, though, from its elevation, the climate is colder than in Hindustan, with ice and snow in winter, is remarkably unhealthy, from a certain malaria which prevails in all the lower valleys, especially during and after the rainy season, and which gives rise to ague, intermittents, and fevers which assume the appearance of typhus, and under which the powers of life decline more rapidly, though often not more surely, than under continued fits of the ague. Several of the inhabitants seen by Bishop Heber in this devoted region, he describes as singularly wretched; the fever and the ague destroying all their energy, and preventing them from adopting the simple means of dry and well-raised dwellings, and sufficient clothing, to support life and health. “They are,” says the intelligent traveller already quoted, “a very ugly and miserable race of human beings, with large heads, and particularly prominent ears, flat noses, tumid bellies, slender limbs, and sallow complexions, and have scarcely any garments but a blanket of black wool, though most of them have matchlocks, swords, and shields.” The chief region of insalubrity is at the foot of the lowest hills, where a long, black, and level line of forest extends, though the mountainous country is also more or less unhealthy in all the low valleys. This insalubrity is said to be increasing. The industry of the inhabitants was at one time reclaiming the forest, and the cowmen and woodmen were pushing their incursions farther every year; and the plains, now desolate, being shunned as the abodes of disease, were once populous. But the country was ruined by the invasion of Meer Khan in 1805, and it has never recovered from the devastation to which it was exposed from his licentious soldiery. So terrified are the natives to approach it, that no witnesses can be procured, at certain seasons of the year, to attend the circuit court; and two of them, rather than go to Chilkeah, forfeited a small pension which was due to them.

This country was acquired by the British government in 1815, when its limits were extended to the westward by the annexation of a portion of Gurwal, east of the Aleananda and the Ganges. Prior to this, it was ruled by military chiefs, who owned a nominal allegiance to Nepaul, though they were nearly independent within their own territories. They were extremely tyrannical, and not only divided the lands amongst themselves, without regard to the rights of the ancient proprietors, but, on any arrears of rent, sold the wives and children of the peasants as slaves, to an amount almost incredible, whilst they quelled every murmur among the people by the most barbarous severity. The court of Nepaul issued repeated edicts against the practice, but without effect, since most of the young persons who were of a marketable age were sold into slavery when the British, to the great joy of the inhabitants, who gave them every possible aid, acquired possession of the country. Since this period uninterrupted tranquillity has prevailed, which may be partly ascribed to the peaceable and orderly habits of the people, and to the general popularity of the British government. The revenue of the country has been fixed at 85,746 rupees for Kemaon proper, and at 37,614 for the annexed districts of Gurwal; and, as a proof that the assessment is moderate, it has been punctually realized, and has even been paid in many instances in advance.

Almorah is the chief town. The population of Kemaon proper is estimated at 300,000; that of Gurwal, east of Alcananda, is yet more considerable; and the people generally are in a high state of civilization. (r.)