'No.'
'And the people whose fields they watered had good returns, and high prices for produce?'
'Yes, they had; but their cattle died for want of food, for there was no grass any where to be found.'
'Still they were better off than those who had no wells to draw water from for their fields; and the only way to provide against such evils in future is to have a well for every field. God has given you the fields, and he has given you the water; and when it does not come from the clouds, you must draw it from your wells.'[16]
'True, sir, very true; but the people are very poor, and have not the means to form the wells they require.'
'And if they borrow the money from you, you charge them with interest?'
'From one to two per cent. a month according to their character and circumstances; but interest is very often merely nominal, and we are in most cases glad to get back the principal alone.'[17]
'And what security have you for the land of your grove in case the landholder should change his mind, or die and leave sons not so well disposed.'
'In the first place, we hold his bonds for a debt of nine thousand rupees which he owes us, and which we have no hopes of his ever paying. In the next, we have on stamped paper his deed of gift, in which he declares that he has given us the land, and that he and his heirs for ever shall be bound to make good the rents, should Government sell the estate for arrears of revenue. We wanted him to write this document in the regular form of a deed of sale; but he said that none of his ancestors had ever yet sold their lands, and that he would not be the first to disgrace his family, or record their disgrace on stamped paper—it should, he was resolved, be a deed of gift.'
'But, of course, you prevailed upon him to take the price?'