They cost about fifty rupees a pair--the late famine has made
them dear.'[12]
'What did the well cost in making?'
'I have heard that it cost about one hundred and twenty rupees; it
would cost about that sum to make one of this kind in the present
day, not more.'
'How long have the families of your caste been settled in these
parts?'
'About six or seven generations; the country had before been occupied
by a peasantry of the Kalar caste. Our ancestors came, built up mud
fortifications, dug wells, and brought the country under cultivation;
it had been reduced to a waste; for a long time we were obliged to
follow the plough with our swords by our sides, and our friends
around us with their matchlocks in their hand, and their matches
lighted.'
'Did the water in your well fail during the late seasons of drought?'
'No, sir, the water of this well never fails.'
'Then how did bad seasons affect you?'
'My bullocks all died one after the other from want of fodder, and I
had not the means to till my lands; subsistence became dear, and to
maintain my family, I was obliged to contract the debt for which my
lands are now mortgaged.
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