Even the European gentlemen remember their names
with kindness; indeed, it was at the suggestion of a European
gentleman, who was passing this place many years ago, and talking
with us as you are now, that we commenced this grove. "Look over this
plain," said he, "it has been all denuded of the fine groves with
which it was, no doubt, once studded; though it is tolerably well
cultivated, the traveller finds no shelter in it from the noonday
sun--even the birds seem to have deserted you, because you refuse
them the habitations they find in other parts of India." We told him
that we would have the grove planted, and we have done so; and we
hope God will bless our undertaking.'
'The difficulty of getting land is, I suppose, the reason why more
groves are not planted, now that property is secure?'
'How could men plant without feeling secure of the land they planted
upon, and when Government would not guarantee it? The landholder
could guarantee it only during the five years of lease;[14] and, if
at the end of that time Government should transfer the lease of the
estate to another, the land of the grove would be transferred with
it.
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