a province of Hindustan, extending between the twelfth and sixteenth degrees of north latitude. It is a narrow strip of territory running along the western coast of India, 200 miles in length by thirty-five in breadth; and is hemmed in on the east, by the great ridge of the Ghaut Mountains. It is bounded on the north by the Portuguese territory of Goa, on the south by Malabar, on the east by Mysore and the Balaghat territories, and on the west by the Indian Ocean.

Canara is a corruption of Karnata, the table-land above the Ghaut Mountains. It is a rocky and uneven country, where cattle are scarce, and where, even when they can be procured, they cannot always be employed; where every spot, before it can be cultivated, must be levelled by the hand of man; and where even the land that has been brought under cultivation, if it be neglected for a few years, is soon broken into deep gullies by the heavy torrents of rain which fall during the monsoons. The land is divided into small properties, and the country flourishes from the minute attention bestowed by each proprietor on his own little spot. It is not likely that Canara will ever become a manufacturing country, as it does not produce the necessary materials, and also on account of the heavy rains, which oppose insurmountable obstacles to all operations which require to be carried on under a clear sky. But these same rains give it a never-failing succession of rice crops, which are exported to Malabar, Goa, Bombay, and Arabia. "Canara," says Sir Thomas Munro, "produces nothing but rice and cocoa nuts; its dry lands are totally unproductive, so that the little wheat or other dry grain that is raised is sown in the paddy fields, where the water has been insufficient for the rice. It produces hardly any pepper. The sandalwood for exportation comes all from Nuggar and Soonda. The soil is perhaps the poorest in India. The eternal rains have long washed away the rich parts, if ever it had any, and left nothing but sand and gravel." In another letter he observes, "there is hardly a spot in Canara where one can walk with any satisfaction, for the country is the most broken and rugged perhaps in the world. The few narrow plains that are in it are under water at one season of the year; and during the dry weather the numberless banks which divide them make it very disagreeable and fatiguing to walk over them. There is hardly such a thing as a piece of gently rising ground in the whole country. All the high grounds start up at once in the shape of so many inverted tea-cups, and they are rocky, covered with wood, and difficult of ascent, and so crowded together that they leave very little room for valleys between." It was in ancient times in a very flourishing state, while it remained under its Hindu sovereigns, principally owing to the moderate land-tax to which it was subjected. An increase was made of fifty per cent. to this tax under the Bednore family, besides many smaller additions, making twenty per cent. more. But all these taxes were easily paid by the inhabitants; and the country, if it did not advance in population and wealth, fully maintained the position to which it had attained. Canara was conquered by Hyder in 1762; and at that time it was a highly improved country, filled with industrious inhabitants, who enjoyed a greater degree of prosperity, and were more moderately taxed, than the subjects of any native

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1 See Life of Sir Thomas Munro, chap. iv. Letter dated Haidipore, 20th December 1799. Canara. power in India. But no sooner was its conquest completed than Hyder ordered an investigation into every source of revenue, for the purpose of augmenting it wherever it could be done. These exactions were augmented by his son Tip- poo, who was determined to relinquish no part of his father's revenue, and whose policy it was to hold one part of the proprietors and husbandmen liable for the deficiencies of their neighbours. The effect of these violent regulations was to hasten the extinction of all the ancient proprietors of the soil, and to deteriorate the value of the lands until they became unsaleable. In this manner the agriculture of the country was heavily oppressed; and Canara, when it came into the possession of the British, had completely fallen from its ancient prosperity. It is said, in the report of the principal collector of Canara, "the evils which have been accumulating in the country since it became a province of Mysore have destroyed a great part of its former population, and rendered its inhabitants as poor as those of the neighbouring countries." The value of landed property has been greatly reduced; and those lands which are worth anything are reduced to a very small portion, and lie chiefly between the Cundapoor and Chundergbergy rivers, and within five miles of the sea. But it is only here and there even in this tract that lands are to be found which can be sold at any price. There is scarcely any saleable land even on the seacoast to the northward of Cundapoor, or anywhere except on the banks of the Mangalore and some of the other great rivers. The inland tracts near the Ghaut Mountains are generally waste and overgrown with wood. By the oppressions of its conquerors the population of the country has been diminished about one-third; and the value of property has been reduced in an equal proportion. "It may be said," observes the principal collector, in his report, "that this change in the condition of the country was brought about by the invasion of Hyder; by the four wars which have happened since that event; by Tippoo himself destroying many of the principal towns on the coast, and forcing their inhabitants to remove to Jumalabad and other unhealthy stations near the hills; by his seizing in one night all the Christian men, women, and children, amounting to above 60,000, and sending them into captivity to Mysore; by the prohibition of foreign trade; and by the general corruption of his government in all its departments." These circumstances, according to the opinion of the collector, accelerated the change; "but they probably," he adds, "did not contribute to it so much as the extraordinary augmentation of the land rents." "Whole villages," says Colonel Munro, who after the conquest of the country was appointed by the Company to survey it, and to reclaim it from its wild and unsettled state, "have in some places been abandoned by the owners, from the exorbitance of the assessment; in others they are barely able to keep their ground and to subsist; in others the rent is so moderate that the lands are saleable."

On the fall of Tippoo in 1799, Canara passed to the East India Company. The territory was in the first instance placed under the management of Colonel Munro, by whose vigilance and activity order was gradually restored. The people rejoiced in the protection they received; and under the equal rule of the British government the country soon began to revive from the state in which it had languished under its former tyrants. The assessment of this district has long been a subject of discussion among the local authorities, and much difference of opinion has been manifested in regard to the best mode to be adopted for placing it on a satisfactory footing. The government demand, though upon the whole moderate, is stated to be unequally distributed; but notwithstanding this inequality, the country has greatly increased in wealth and population, and a marked improvement is reported to have taken place in the condition of the people, which is exhibited in the dress, in the mode of living, and in the increase of their personal comforts. The lands are held for the most part under the Ryotwar tenure; and a maximum rent fixed for the best lands, which cannot be exceeded. Inferior lands, so long as they remain inferior, are of course assessed at lower rates, and the contracts with the cultivators are renewed from year to year, when remissions of rent are made if the unfavourable character of the season or the circumstances of the cultivator render such a measure expedient. Doubtless the greatest blessing which the British government could confer on the country would be the abandonment of the annual settlement, and the introduction of the revenue system which prevails in the north-western provinces of Bengal, where the government demand is limited to a fixed proportion of the net rent, and leases are granted for periods of thirty years. By this limitation of the public demand, a valuable and marketable private property is created in the land, and every cultivator, however petty his holding, becomes to a certain extent a capitalist. But before such an arrangement can be carried out, a new survey of the district must be made, and such a measure is in contemplation. In the mean time a regulation has been promulgated, under which the full benefit of all agricultural improvements effected by the cultivators has been secured to them, and no additional assessment is to be imposed on that account so long as the general rates of the district remain unaltered. The district consists of two divisions, North Canara and South Canara; and their aggregate population is officially returned at 1,056,333.

Canara, North. This division of Canara is situated between the thirteenth and the sixteenth degrees of northern latitude, and contains three smaller districts—Cundapoor, Onore, and Ancola. Its sea-coast, which is 100 miles in length, has scarcely any sinuosities, and within its whole extent there is hardly a safe station for large vessels. Here the Western Ghauts, although steep and stony, are by no means rugged or broken with rocks. On the contrary, the stones are buried in a rich mould; and the sides of the mountains are clothed with the most stately forests, in which are seen the finest bamboos and the most stately palms. There is no underwood or creeper to interrupt the passage through these woods; but they are infested with numerous tigers, and the climate is very unhealthy. The district of Ancola is larger than the other two, though, having suffered more severely from the ravages of Mahratta warfare, it does not yield above half the revenue of the other two. North Canara produces sandal-wood, sugar-canes, teak, wild cinnamon, nutmegs, and pepper. About midway up the Ghauts the teak becomes very common. In many parts, as in the western districts of Soonda, the cultivation of gardens is the chief object of the farmer. In these gardens are raised promiscuously betel-nut and betel-leaf, black pepper, cardamoms, and plantains. Towards the eastern side of the province there are very few gardens, but along the courses of the streams, and those of the plain country in general where water may be obtained by digging to the depth of a few feet, the lands are well suited for cultivation. Here the great object of cultivation is rice; and although the rains are not so heavy as to the westward, yet in cooler seasons, on a moist soil, they are sufficient to bring to maturity a crop of rice that requires six months to ripen. A few of the highest fields are cultivated with a kind of rice that ripens in three months. To the north of Battacolla a great portion of the soil is poor. About Beliluru are many groves of the tree from the seeds of which is expressed the common lamp-oil of the country. The

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1 See Fifth Report of a Select Committee on India Affairs, Appendix, p. 808. 2 See Life of Sir Thomas Munro, containing his instructive Letters, which give an account of his proceedings in this country. climate of the lowlands is considered unhealthy, producing intermittent and other fevers.

The principal towns in North Canara are Cundapoor, Battacolai, Anola, Carwar, Mirjaoor, and Onore. The rivers by which the country is watered, from the short intervals between the country and the sea, are of no great magnitude, being generally mountain streams.

Canara, South, is situated between the twelfth and fourteenth degrees of northern latitude; and is separated from the province of Malabar by a wide inlet of the sea. It is called Tulava by the Hindus, and South Canara by the British. It is a strip of land along the sea-coast, rising as it approaches the Ghaut Mountains; and the soil becomes gradually less adapted for grain as it recedes from the sea. The best in quality extends from Mangalore to Buntwalla. The banks of the river Mangalore, which in the rainy season is very large, are rich and picturesque; and the whole country resembles that of Malabar, only that the terraces on the sides of the hills have been formed with less care than in that district. Much of the rice land is so well watered by springs and rivulets, that it produces a constant succession of crops of that grain, one crop being sown as soon as the preceding one is cut. The second soil in point of quality is that which extends from Buntwalla to Punjalcutta, and the worst is that which extends from this place to the hills. There the rains are so excessive that they injure the crops of rice; but this inland portion of the country is very favourable for plantations. About Cavila, east of Mangalore, some of the hills are covered with tall thick forests, in which the teak tree abounds. From Urigara to Hopodirga the country near the sea is low and sandy, and too poor to produce even cocoa-nuts. This country has been dreadfully depopulated by the ravages of war. It suffered severely in its conquest by Tippoo. It had been previously shared among petty princes and numerous feudatories, who were all forced to retire before the armies of Tippoo, and to fly into the woods to avoid circumcision, a rite which was invariably forced upon them, in order to make them good Mohammedans; and it generally had this effect, for after suffering such an infliction from Tippoo, they lost their caste, and had therefore no alternative left. The inner parts of the country are much overgrown with woods, and very thinly inhabited.

The sugar-cane is cultivated on the low ground; but very small quantities only are raised. Between the rows are raised some cucurbitaceous plants, and kitchen stuffs that soon come to maturity. On the highest of rice land, where water may be had by digging to a little depth, capsicum is cultivated, as are also ginger and turmeric. The exports consist chiefly of salt, salt-fish, betel-nut, ginger, cocoa-nuts, cocoa-nut oil, and raw silk. The imports are chiefly cloths, cotton, thread, and blankets.

The chief inhabitants are Mopays (Mohammedans), who possess the sea-coast, as the Nairs do the interior. It is observed by Dr Buchanan, that the occupiers of land in this district are richer than those of Malabar; but he adds, that the universal cry of poverty which prevails all over India, and the care with which, owing to long oppression, every thing is concealed, render it extremely difficult to know the real circumstances of the cultivator. He concludes, however, from the obstinate contest which takes place for the possession of the land, that the cultivators have still a considerable interest in the soil. It appears, however, from the evidence of other collectors, that the inhabitants manifest in this way their regard to their paternal inheritance, for which they contend to the last; and when their interest as proprietors is lost in the increase of the assessment, they remain tilling the ground in the humble capacity of cultivators. There is no doubt that they never were so completely subdued by a foreign conqueror as the greater part of the Hindus, and always retained the title to their lands, which their rulers were never able entirely to take from them. When the province accordingly was conquered by the British, they found the landholders possessed of the clearest titles to their respective properties, which were recognised by the law of the country, as well as by immemorial usage. The chief towns of South Canara are Barcelore, Mangalore, and Callianpoor.

A number of Christians, to the amount of about 80,000, had been ordered to settle in this country by the ancient Hindu princes, with whom they had been in great favour. They were all of Concan descent, and had been instructed in the Portuguese and Latin languages, and in the doctrines of the Roman Church. About this period twenty-seven Christian churches existed in Tulava, each ruled by a vicar, and the whole under the control of a vicar-general, subject to the archbishop of Goa. Tippoo, when he conquered the country, proved himself to be the great persecutor of the Christian religion, throwing the priests into dungeons, destroying the churches, and forcing the laity to embrace the Mohammedan creed. After the conquest of the country by the British, many of these persecuted refugees returned and resumed their former faith; 15,000 came back to Mangalore and its vicinity; 10,000 made their escape from Tippoo to Malabar. These people are of quiet, sober, and industrious habits, and their superiority is acknowledged by the neighbouring Hindus. The Jain sect abound more in this province than in any other throughout India, and many of their temples are to be seen. Like other Hindus, they are divided into many sects, which cannot intermarry. (F. Buchanan's Journey from Madras through the Countries of Mysore, Canara, and Malabar. (p. 2—x.) (v. r.)