Page:Twelve men of Bengal in the nineteenth century (1910).djvu/220

The Sundarbans had been divided by Government into lots with a view to reclamation and Lords I, II, III and IV had been settled with one Babu Kalinath Roy of Taki for a period of 99 years, the only stipulation being that he should bring under cultivation a certain portion of the land within a fixed period. In spite of his efforts he had been unable to overcome the initial difficulties of cultivation in the Sundarbans and only 800 bighas had been reclaimed on the expiry of the time allowed. Government therefore issued a fresh notice to resettle the remaining portion of the Lots. An English woman, a widow named Mrs. Morrel, came forward offering to take settlement in the name of her three sons, and in 1857 Government settled the Lots with them for a period of 99 years. The three brothers Robert, who had been a Captain in a British Regiment, William and Henry at once set out from Calcutta to undertake personally the work of cultivation, old Mrs. Morrel in spite of her advanced age accompanying them. Arriving after a seven days' journey in country boats, they fixed upon the most suitable site for their head-quarters. There was then nothing but impenetrable forest, and the Morrels and the men they had brought with them, were forced to live in their boats until sufficient space had been cleared whereon to erect temporary shelters. It was a splendid position that they selected where Morelgunj now stands, the anchorage in the broad