506 OUDH. per assessed acre, ranging from 25. 91d. in the District of Bara Banki to is. Id, in Kheri. In 1883–84 the area assessed was about the same (14,873,441 acres, or 23,239 square miles), the assessment being £1,449,135, at an average rate of is. 1d. per assessed acre, ranging from 25. 9 d. in the District of Bara Banki to is. i{d. in Kheri. The total cultivated area in 1876–77 was 8,276,175 acres, or 56 per cent of the assessed area, of which 2,957,398 acres, or 20 per cent. of the grand total, was returned as irrigated, entirely by private enterprise. The total cultivated area in 1883-84 was 8,274,467 acres, of which 2,957,765 acres were irrigated by private enterprise. There are no Government canals in Oudh. The rate of assessment on cultivated land averaged 3s. 6 d. per acre in 1876–77, and 35. 6d. in 1882 – 83. The total area of uncultivated land in 1876-77 was 6,609,460 acres, or 44 per cent. of the assessed area; in 1882–83, the total area of uncultivated land was 6,598,974 acres. This last figure includes 4,031,916 acres of grazing and cultivable land, and 2,567,058 acres of uncultivable waste. The average rate of assessment on cultivated and cultivable land together was zs. 5 d. per acre in 1876–77, and 25. 4 d. in 1883–84. The highest assessment on cultivated land was in Lucknow District (45. rod.), and the lowest in Kheri District (25. 3d.). Commerce and Manufactures.—Under native rule, trade in Oudh was practically non-existent. The only superfluities for export were salt and saltpetre, while the imports were confined to articles of luxury required for the court at Lucknow. It is said that in those days the imports exceeded the exports in value; but this must be accepted, not so much as a literal fact, as a lively indication of the impoverished condition of the people. With the introduction of British authority, though the opulence of Lucknow has declined, countless small centres of traffic have sprung up throughout the country. More especially, the opening of railways has permitted the agricultural wealth of Oudh to find a market even in countries so distant as Europe; while English wares of many kinds are received in exchange. The staple exports at the present day are oil-seeds, wheat, and other food-grains; the imports --- cotton piece-goods, cotton twist, and salt. It is impossible, however, to quote any trustworthy figures showing the total value of the trade. A brisk trade is also carried on with the independent State of Nepál, along the three frontier Districts of Kheri, Bahraich, and Gonda. The general policy of the Nepál darbár aims at compelling this traffic to be transacted at marts within its own dominions, of which the most flourishing are Golámandi, Bánki or Nepalganj, and Butwal. At all of these a considerable number of Oudh merchants are permanently settied, whereas Nepálís rarely cross the frontier to trade, except for
