SEPTEMBER 10. -- Took another day's rest to give our unfortunate cook
a little time to recover his energies. In the evening, the villagers
produced us a couple of hives of honey, which we packed away in
earthen jars for transport to the plains. The amount was 391/2 seers,
or 79 lbs. for which we paid ten rupees.
The unwillingness of the people to produce their honey the "Invincible
One" accounted for by saying that they were afraid of OUR not paying
them. On inquiry, however, the real cause turned out to be, that the
Sepoy himself was in the habit of exacting a heavy tax on all purchases
on our part, and fear of him, not us, was the true difficulty.
In the evening, we took a tour through the village, and DISCOURSED,
as well as we could, a native Zemindar, whom we found with his
household around him, gathering in his crop of grain, which had been
partially destroyed by the early snow. His land appeared to be about
four acres in extent, and for this, he told us, he paid twelve rupees
per annum to the Maharajah of Cashmere.
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