MYSORE , CANARA, AND MALABAR. 671

The people who manage the lac infedt, in the hills near Nandi-durga, are of the callcalled Woddaru; and for the exclusive ufe of the trees they pay a rent to government.The tree on which the infeft feeds is the jala, which is nearly related to the faul ofBengal, or the fhorea of Gcertner, and perhaps the vatica chinefis of Linnaeus . Allthe trees that I faw here were fmall, not exceeding eight or ten feet in height; andtheir growth was kept down by the infeft and its managers ; for this fize anfwers beft.The tree, left to itfelf, grows to a large fize, and is good timber. For feeding theinfect, it thrives very well in a dry barren foil; and is not planted, but allowed tofpring up fpontaneoufly as nature directs. It is often choked by other trees, and de-ftroyed by bamboos, w'hich, by rubbing one again!! another, in this arid region,frequently take fire, and lay wafte the neighbouring woods. By removing all othertrees from the places were the jala naturally grows, and perhaps by planting a fewtrees on fome other hills, and protecting them from being choked as they graduallypropagate themfelves, the lac infect might be railed to any extent on lands now to-tally ufelefs, and never capable of being rendered arable. In Kartika, or from aboutthe middle of Oftober to th - middle of November, the lac is ripe. At that time itfurrounds almoft every branch of the tree, and deftroys almofl every leaf. Thebranches intended for fale are then cut off, fpread out on mats, and dried in the fhade.A tree or two, that are fulled: of the infect, arepreferved to propagate the breed ; andof thofe a fmall branch is tied to every tree, in the month Chaitra, or from about themiddle of March to the middle of April; at which time the trees again fhoot outyoung branches and leaves. The lac dried on the flicks is fold to the merchants ofBalahari, Gutti, Bangalore , &c.; and according to the quantity raifed, and to thedemand, varies in price, from 5 to 20 fanams a maund. This is what is calledflick-lac. In my acccount of Bangalore , I have given the procefs for dyeing withthis fubftance; which after the dye has been extracted, is formed into feed andfhelldac.

I found the country beyond the hills more defolate than that near Chica Bala-pura,One-third of what has formerly been cultivated is not occupied ; many of the villagesare entirely deferted, and have continued fo ever fince the invafion of Lord Corn-wallis . The people fay, that they were then afflicted with five great evils : a fcarcityof rain, followed by that of corn ; and three invading, and one defending army, allof which plundered the country, and prevented grain from being carried from placeswhere it might have been procured ; but, in deftruction, the armies of the Marattahs,and of the Sultan, were eminently active ; and the greater part of the people perifhedfrom want of food. In this laft war they met with no difturbance from the armies ;but three-fourths of their cattle perifhed by difeafe. This was not owing to.a want offorage, of which there was plenty ; but is by the natives attributed to an infection,which was propagated from the cattle of the armies befieging Seringapatam . BetweenColar and Chica Bala-pura the difeafe has this year again made its appearance ; but ithas not yet come to this fide of the hills.

The whole land near Bhidi-caray has formerly been cultivated ; and the champaigncountry feerns to extend far to the weflward, where, at the diftance of thirty-twomiles, Siva-ganga rears its conical head. The ragy is now coming up, and makes awretched appearance ; for in every field there is more grafs than corn. Notwithfland-ing the many ploughings, the fields are full of grafs-roots, which are indeed of greatlength, very tenacious of life, fprout at every joint, and are of courfe difficult toremove ; but a good harrow would effeft much. The farmers of this country areabundantly induftrious ; but their want of fkill is confpicuous in every operation.

Chaiv