Page:Gazetteer of the province of Oudh ... (IA cu31924073057352).pdf/186

178 RAE Lucknow, and some ground near goes by the name of Sákhu-ka-Bagh to this day. There are now in this station over one hundred young plants raised from sál seed sown last June. Many of which will doubtless attain to maturity if not forcibly uprooted or villainously tapped, or subjected to some other destructive treatment. A small plantation of tun and shisham trees was made at Government expense in this district in the rainy season of 1868, and several of the trees had attained to a height of over twenty feet within three years, and the general result has made it evident that it rests with us to show why the next generation should not have better timber growing at their doors than we get now from the forest. Wild cattle.Herds of wild cattle are to be found in the pargana of Daundia Khera* near the river Ganges, also in Salon near the Sai. They are generally very poor small animals, but occasionally a fine ball is to be seen among them. The natives catch the male calves, and they grow into tolerable bullocks. There is no difficulty in domesticating the cattle if caught young, but the females give little, almost no milk beyond what is necessary for rearing their offspring. The herds devastate the crops by night, and think nothing of clearing the low walls and small ditches by which the cultivators endeavour to check their depredations. The fauna.-The Ferce nature are the same in Rae Bareli as in other parts of Oudh, but black buck are not found, except a very few near Bachb- ráwán; they are entirely absent from the southern portions of the district, although they have recently become numerous in Fatehpur across the river Ganges. Nil-gáe are common near the Ganges ; wolves are occasionally met with in the jungles. There are no tigers, leopards, spotted deer, gond (swamp deer), but with the exception of the above, which are confined to the Himalayan Tarai in Oudb, the fauna is the same as that described under Kheri. Climate and rainfall. These are treated under their medical aspects a little further on. In this general sketch it may be remarked that the rainfall has averaged 37 inches during the last eleven years. There is a considerable difference in the returns of the tahsils. The following are the returns for 1874 Rae Bareli Salon Digbijaiganj Lalgabi 277 The two former tahsils both adjoin the river Sai, the other two lie north and south of them. Whatever the reason, the central tahsils have steadily exhibited a fair rainfall, and the other two a scanty.one. Any rainfall less than 35 inches as a rule results in crops. .+1 ur 37-7 47.5 278 T. very inferior Now in the Unao district,