I soon discovered that the most intelligent of the four was a Jat;
and I had a good deal of conversation with him as he stood landing
the leather buckets, as the two pair of bullocks on his side of the
well drew them to the top, a distance of forty cubits from the
surface of the water beneath.
'Who built this well?' I began.
'It was built by one of my ancestors, six generations ago.'
'How much longer will it last?'
'Ten generations more, I hope; for it is now just as good as when
first made. It is of 'pakka' bricks without mortar cement.'[9]
'How many waterings do you give?'
'If there should be no rain, we shall require to give the land six
waterings, as the water is sweet; had it been brackish four would do.
Brackish water is better for wheat than sweet water; but it is not so
good for vegetables or sugar-cane.'
'How many "bighas" are watered from this well?'
'We water twenty "bighas", or one hundred and five "jaribs", from
this well.'[10]
'And you pay the Government how much?'
'One hundred rupees, at the rate of five rupees the bigha. But only
the five immediately around the well are mine, the rest belong to
others.
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