Morowa is a large town, well situated and surrounded with groves of the finest trees in great variety; and, to the surprise of the officers with me, they saw a respectable house of burnt brick.  It belongs to the most substantial banker and agricultural capitalist in these parts, Chundun Lal.  These capitalists and their families are, generally, more safe than others, as their aid is necessary to the Government and its officers, and no less so to the landholders, cultivators, and people of all classes.  Their wealth consists in their credit in different parts of India; and he who has most of it may have little at his house to tempt the robber, while the Government officers stand generally too much in daily need of his services and mediation to molest him.  A pledge made by these officers to landholders and cultivators, or to these officers by such persons, is seldom considered safe or binding till the respectable banker or capitalist has ratified it by his mediation, to which all refer with confidence.

He understands the characters and means of all, and will not venture to ratify any pledge till he is assured of both the disposition and ability of the party to fulfil it.  Chundun Lal is one of the most respectable of this class in Oude.  He resides at this place, Morowa, but has a good landed estate in our territories, and banking establishments at Cawnpoor and many other of our large stations.  He is a very sensible, well-informed man, but not altogether free from the ailing of his class—­a disposition to abuse the confidence of the Government officers; and, in collusion with them, to augment his possessions in land at the cost of his weaker neighbours.

I am told here that the Tilokchund Byses, when bitten by a snake, do sometimes condescend to apply a remedy.  They have a vessel full of water suspended above the head of the sufferer, with a small tube at the bottom, from which water is poured gently on the head as long as he can bear it.  The vent is then stopped till the patient is equal to bear more; and this is repeated four or five times till the sufferer recovers.  I have not yet heard of any one dying under the operation, or from the bite of a snake.  I find no one that has ever heard of a member of this family dying of the bite of a snake.  One of the Rajahs of this family, who called on me to-day, declared that no member of his family had ever been known to die of such a bite, and he could account for it only “from their being descended from Salbahun, the rival and conqueror of Bickermajeet, of Ojein.”

This Salbahun* is said to have been a lineal descendant of the sake-god! He told me that the females of this family could never wear cotton cloth of any colour but plain white; that when they could not afford to wear silk or satin they never wore anything but the piece of white cotton cloth which formed, in one, the waistband, petticoat, and mantle, or robe (the dhootee and loongree), without hemming or needlework