Chapter 24 Note 6, on the Formation of Black Cotton Soil. the Gwâlior

plain is covered with this soil.

3. It has a very desolate appearance. The Indian Midland Railway now passes through Gwâlior.

4. In many parts of India, especially in Mathurâ (Mattra) on the Jumna, and the neighbouring districts, the peacock is held strictly sacred, and shooting one would be likely to cause a riot. Tavernier relates a story of a rich Persian merchant being beaten to death by the Hindoos of Gujarât for shooting a peacock. (Tavernier, Travels, transl. Ball, vol. i, p. 70.) the bird is regarded as the vehicle of the Hindoo god of war, variously called Kumâra, Skanda, or Kârtikeya. the editor, like the author, has observed that in Bundêlkhand no objection is raised to the shooting of peacocks by any one who cares for such poor sport.

5. In British India the manufacture of salt can be practised only by persons duly licensed.

6. The Revenue Settlement Regulations now in force in British India provide liberally for the encouragement of groves, and hundred of miles of road are annually planted with trees.

7. Sanitation did not trouble native states in those days.