From this statement it will be seen that with the exception of the resurvey of Midnapore (which the Survey Department consider must be undertaken), the survey of Bengal Proper is now completed. The bulk of the area still to be dealt with lies in Assam, where an immense tract in district Lukhimpore, estimated roughly at 8,000 square miles, extending beyond the revenue-paying portion already completed, north and east tip to the water-shed, is to be surveyed topographically on the scale of 1 inch to 1 mile.

The surveys of Ganges alluvium and diluvium, in accordance with

the provisions of Act IX of 1847, land"erS °f 8ettIemenl8 of ncw aUuyial were commenced in the Patna division

about 1863 and brought to a close in the Bajshahye division last year. The object of the law was to obviate the effects of the changes constantly going on in the banks of rivers and adjacent lands. By these changes large portions of land are often washed away—sometimes suddenly, sometimes by slow degrees—from one side of a river, while an accession of land takes place on the other side. It was thought advisable for the security of the land revenue that some provision should be made for allowing a proprietor whose estate had suffered diluvion an abatement of revenue corresponding to the extent of his loss, and on the other hand for assessing the proprietor whose estate had gained land with an additional revenue proportionate to the amount of his gain. The law accordingly enacts that in districts of which a revenue survey has already been made, Government may, whenever ten years may have elapsed from the date of approval of such survey, have a new survey made of lands on the banks of river with a view to ascertain the extent of the changes since the last survey. Having ascertained by inspection of the new survey map which estates have lost, and which gained land, a corresponding abatement from, and addition to the revenue assessed on the estates respectively losing and gaining is to be made.

The settlements made were formerly made permanent, except when the proprietors of some of them refused to take the engagement, in which case the lands were let in farms for periods of from three to ten years; but latterly orders have been issued by Government prohibiting further permanent settlements, and temporary settlements are made.

M

CIVIL DIVISIONS OF BRITISH TERRITORY.

The territory subject to the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal is

portioned off into eleven large tracts, ommissioners ip«. officially called divisions, eaoh of which

is superintended by a Commissioner. Five districts of Bengal Proper west of the Bhagiruttee or Hooghly constitute the Burdwan division, and are known as Western Bengal. The Presidency, Rajshahye, and a part of the Coooh Behar divisions, are comprised in Central Bengal; Eastern Bengal comprises the Dacca and Chittagong divisions. The province of Behar contains the Patna and Bhaugulpore divisions. Each of the provinces of Orissa, Chota Nagpore, and Assam, constitutes a separate division.

These divisions are divided into 36 Eegulation and 18 Non. ...... regulation districts. The Regulation

Districts and sub-divisions- j.°, . , . -0 i_ j • • •

districts comprise 78 sub-uivisions, besides the head-quarters division of each district. When the subdivisional system is fully carried out, the number of sub-divisions in these districts will be increased by about 30, so that each of the present districts may then comprise about four sub-divisions, including the headquarters division. The Rajshahye, Dinagepore, and Rungpore districts

Re Uation districts °^ ^e Rajshahye division, Sylhet of

egn a ion is nc • Dacca, and Chittagong and Tipporah

of the Chittagong division, and a few other districts, are not yet fully sub-divided, and there are some smaller districts regarding which it is doubtful whether they will be maintained or reduced into sub-divisiona The annexed table shows the divisions, districts, and out-lying subdivisions of the Regulation districts as they stood on the 31st March 1873.

HoU.—Sub-divisions marked with an asterisk (•) have been sanctioned, but not yet opened.

The Non-Regulation districts, as shown below, form three entire Non-reguiation district,. Commissionerships, and portions, con

sisting 01 the oonthal .Fergunnahs, C3iittagong Hill Tracts, and Gachar, belong respectively to the Bhaugulpore, Chittagong, and Dacca divisions. They contain 22 sub-divisions.

Note.—Sub-divisious marked with an asterisk (*) have been sanctioned, but not yet opened.

The area and population of these tracts is given in detail in the chapter on the census. One division, that of Patna, contains more inhabitants than the Bombay Presidency; another division, Chittagong, has only a fourth the number of inhabitants and one half the area of Patna. The districts vary in size from about 1,500 to between 11,000 and 12,000 square miles, while their population varies from a quarter of a million to four millions and a quarter. The population of sub-divisions varies from 15,000 to 900,000.

The boundaries of districts and sub-divisions have undergone frequent changes with improvements in the administration. These changes unfortunately were not in the past carried out on any fixed principles, and there was till lately much confusion of jurisdiction. Thus although the offioes of Collector and Magistrate are vested in the Bame individual, it by no means followed that the jurisdiction of the Collector was conterminous with that of the Magistrate. The civil courts again have sometimes a looal jurisdiction of their own, so that the same distriot was not unfrequently found to have different boundaries, according as it is regarded as the district of the Collector, of the Magistrate, or of the Judge. Recently much has been done, and is still being done, to assimilate the jurisdictions.

For the purposes of revenue administration the country was

divided by the Mogul Government into ergnnn s. pergunnahs, each pergunnah comprising

a certain number of villages with their lands. This arrangement still forms the basis of our own revenue system; but from its want of compactness, as well as for other reasons, it has been found extremely