The dominions of the Mysore rajah are at present di vided into three great districts, called the Patana, the Nagara, and the Chatrakae subayenas. The first of these is by far the largest, containing 0 districts, and is under the immediate insp..tction of the dewan or prime minister. The two last, which have been acquired since their conntxion with the British, and which contain, the one 13, and the other 19 (hstricts, are each superintended by a soubandar. Each chsttict is managed by an amil dal., who is an officer of police, justice, and revenue, but with authority. Under these are a number of accountants called parputties, and tinder them the vil lages arc managed hy liered.itaty officers, called gaudes and shanahogas, t:,c former representing the amildar, and the latter the 'village accountant.
The province of 1Nlysore appears to have been for merly in a much highet statc of cultivation than it is at present, but it is tapidly recovering from the depression in respect of agriceiturc and commerce. which it had ex perienced. Considerable attention is paid by the farmer to the manuring of the soil ; but tit, utmost (It gree of improvement of which they have any idea is, to make the land capable of beating rice crops. It is a com monly received opinion among them, that when titcre is an adequate supply of water, the ground is best preserv ed in a good state by successive crops of rice ; but they rarely take two crops of that grain from the same field in one year. In some parts of :Mysore, land of the first qtrility tvill produce 49 bushels, of the second quality, 42, and of thc third quality, 24. The farmers seldom have long leases; but the tenant is rarely moved as long as he pays the rent. \Vhen he runs away for arrears of rent or oppressive treatment, and goes into the district of another amildar, it is not customary in any native go vernment to give him up ; which proves a considerable check on arbitrary conduct on thc part of the amildars, who would in that case soon be deserted by their peasan try. Besides rice, and several other grains, the country yields crops of raggy, (cynosurus corocanus,) which is the most important of all the crops raised on the dry ficHs, and supplies the lower ranks with their ordinary food. The sugar cane is cultivated in soils of black clay, and the ricinus palma Christi, which produces abundance of castor oil. In low grounds, the betel leaf tree thrives well; and about Cedar, the pdppy is plentifully cutItiva ted, both for making opium and for the seed, which is much used in sweet cakes hy the higher classes. To bacco is not generally raised, and what is produced in the province is accounted of an inferior quality to that of the lower districts in India ; but the cocoa nut palm begins to bear at the age of 7 or 8 years, and lives to a great age. 'I'he grass roots are of great length, and sprout at every joint, so that they are difficult to be re moved in tillage ; and the ploughs are so extremely im perfect, (being without coulter or inould-board,) tivat the fields arc usually in a very foul state.
The cattle chiefly reared in the ticinity of Seringapa tam are, cows, sheep, buffaloes, and the long-legged goat. The sheep are red, black, and white. Swine WU once
vety common in the country, but Tippoo succeeded in banishing them front the neighbourhood of the capital. The native breed of horses is a small, ill-shaped, and vicious poney ; and, above the Ghauts, asses arc very much used ; but these animals also are of a stnall size, and no care is taken to improve the breed. The Mysore country is thinly inhabited in comparison with 13ungal. The adjacent provinces under the British government, and many districts, formerly well peopled, were almost completely desolated by the incessant wars and calami ties preNious to 1799. But, as soon as the new admini stration was established by the British government, all balances of revenue were remitted, and the ancient Hin cloo state of assessment restored, and vat ions other means employed to encourage the oppressed inhabitants. In 1804, the gross revenue of the Mysore rajah's state was 2,581,550 pagodas, and the number of inhabitants 2,171,754, ul which not one thirtieth part was of the Alatiommedan religion. As Mysore had submitted to the Mahommeclan yoke at a very recent period, com pared witn thc rcst of Ilindostan, its inhabitants retain the fitncloo manners and customs in considerable purity. In the country round Scringapatam, the people arc di vided into what are called the right and left hand sides, the first comprehending 9 castes, and the last 18. Thc Whallia caste are counted the lowest in this province, yet they arc very desirous of keeping up thc purity of the breed. Every where in Alysore the palanquin bear ers are of Telinga origin. The drcss of the females in most parts of the provinces is very becotring; they have in general fine forms. Owing to the custom of polyga my few of them are unmarried. Except a certain caste, the practice of widows burning alive with their dead husbands is becoming obsolete. In the villages near Se ritigapatam, a great part of the peasantry eat pork; but, though the river Cavery abounds in fish, the natives are not lond of them as food. The person who receives cha rity is, in this country, always regarded as of higher rank than the donor ; but it is understood that the receiver is one who has devoted himself to a religious life, and is ask ing alms in the name of God. In their plans of revenge, they sometimes bring calamity upon the whole village to which they belong, namely, by killing a jack-ass in the street, which instantly causes the whole inhabitants to desert the place. It is accounted criminal to kill the monkeys or squirt els, which are very nurr.crous in the country, and very destructive. The washerman of every village washes all the farmers' clothes, and, according to the number of the family, receives a certain proportion oldie crop as his wages. When a new village is founded, it is customary to erect a large stone near, or in the place, as representing the tutelary divinity. When the women have borne several children, they often go to the temple and cut off' one or two fingers of the right hand, to secure their infants from the wrath of the idol. Sec Hamilton's East India Gazetteer ; Dr. Francis Buchanan's Travels ; Lord Nr,i1cmi.t's Travels in India ; and General Dirom's Narrative of Campaigns in Mysore. (q )