District, labouring communities belonging to the Hill Tribes of the Hazaríbágh District and Chhotá Nágpur are found in small numbers. They are chiefly employed as labourers in indigo manufactories, to which they were attracted in more prosperous times. Many of them are now found in the Sundarbans, where they have lately settled and taken to agriculture. A number of these people are also employed by the Calcutta Municipality as street scavengers, and to keep the sewers in order. The Census Report classifies the aboriginal tribes in the 24 Parganás, and gives their respective numbers, as under:—Bhumij, 660; Gáros, 2; Khariás, 7; Kols, 389; Nats, 21; Santáls, 814; Uráons and Dhángars, 3362; others, 47. Total, 5302.
Immigration.—Uriyás and up-country men are the principal immigrants into the District, and are chiefly employed as palanquin-bearers and domestic servants. The Uriyás also settle in the Sundarbans, and many of them are elsewhere employed as gardeners. Among the Muhammadans, the chief immigrants are from Jessor and Faridpur, the majority being boatmen and day-labourers. A number of people emigrated to the 24 Parganás, from Hijili and other places in the Midnapur District, after the cyclones of 1824 and 1834, and settled permanently in the Sundarbans and adjoining places. They are hence called bhásá, i.e. ‘came floating.’ These people still receive fresh accessions from the same District, and the new-comers go by the same name. They follow agriculture as a means of livelihood. People from all parts of the country take up their residence in the town and neighbourhood of Calcutta, chiefly for the purposes of trade; and Hindustani and Bengali inhabitants of other Districts carry on trade in the village markets. A few Kanauj Bráhmans have permanently settled in the District, and now hold lands or carry on business as grain merchants (mahájans). The incomers do not amalgamate, as a rule, with the rest of the population, and although dwelling together in the same villages, are looked upon as a distinct caste. They generally return to their own District after they have made a little money. No statistics exist showing the number of immigrants, or the proportion of those who settle permanently in the District as compared with those who ultimately return to their original homes.
Emigration.—A very small number of the people also leave the District in search of employment, and for purposes of trade. They go to the North-Western Provinces and the Panjáb, or to
