The opinion that the Rajah had nothing whatever to do with the murder, and that the gang was secretly hired for the purpose by his eldest son, Surubjeet, has been confirmed by time, and is now universal among the people of these parts.  He died soon after of dropsy, and the people believe that the disease was caused by the crime.  He left an only son, Krishun Dutt Sing.  The Rajah, Seo Sing, survived his eldest son some years; and, on his death, he was succeeded by Krishun Dutt Sing, who now leads precisely the same secluded life that his father led, and leaves the management of the Bhinga estate entirely to his only surviving uncle, Kaleepurkas Sing, the youngest of the two boys who visited Mr. Ravenscroft on the evening of the murder.  The other three sons of the old Rajah are dead.  The actual perpetrators of the murder were never punished or discovered.  Mrs. Ravenscroft afterwards became united in marriage to the Resident at the time, Mr. Mordaunt Ricketts, and still lives.  Her child, a boy, was drowned at the Lucknow Residency some time after his mother’s marriage with the Resident.  He had been shut up by his mother in a bathing-room for some fault; and, looking into a bathing-tub at his image in the water, he lost his balance, fell in, and was drowned.  When the servants went to let him out they found him quite dead.

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CHAPTER III.

Legendary tale of breach of Faith—­Kulhuns tribe of Rajpoots—­Murder of the Banker, Ramdut Pandee, by the Nazim of Bahraetch—­Recrossing the Ghagra river—­Sultanpoor district, State of Commandants of troops become sureties for the payment of land revenue—­Estate of Muneearpoor and the Lady Sogura—­Murder of Hurpaul Sing, Gurgbunsee, of Kupragow—­Family of Rajahs Bukhtawar and Dursun Sing—­Their bynama Lands—­Law of Primogeniture—­Its object and effect—­Rajah Ghalib Jung—­Good effects of protection to Tenantry—­Disputes about Boundaries—­Our army a safety-valve for Oude—­Rapid decay of Landed Aristocracy in our Territories—­Local ties in groves, wells, &c.

December 15, 1849.-Wuzeergunge.  On the way this morning, we passed Koorassa, which is said once to have been the capital of a formidable Rajah, the head of the Kulhuns tribe of Rajpoots.  The villages which we see along the road seem better, and better peopled and provided with cattle.  The soil not naturally very fertile, but yields fine returns under good culture, manure, and irrigation.  Water everywhere very near the surface.  The place is called after the then Nawab Wuzeer, Asuf-od Dowlah, who built a country-seat here with all appurtenances of mosque, courts, dwelling-houses, &c., on the verge of a fine lake, formed in the old bed of the Ghagra river, with tillage and verdure extending down to the water’s edge.  The garden-wall, which surrounds a large space of ground, well provided with fruit and ornamental trees, is built of burnt bricks, and still entire.  The late minister, Ameen-od Dowlah, persuaded his master, Amjad Allee Shah, to give this garden and the lands around, with which it had been endowed, to his moonshee, Baker Allee Khan, who now resides at Fyzabad, and subsists upon the rents which he derives from them, and which are said to be about twelve hundred rupees a-year.