PUNJAB MEMORANDUM.

The system of excise administration in respect of intoxicating (hemp) drugs in the Punjab has been receiving a great deal of attention during the last five or six years ; and it so happens that, as the outcome of much inquiry and discussion, we are now on the eve of the introduction of a new set of rules which will alter and improve that system in many respects. It will, I think, be convenient if I explain how matters stand at present. The correspondence on the subject is voluminous, and there is certainly no dearth of information.

2. The broad facts with regard to these drugs in the Punjab may first be stated. Charas is imported across the northern and western frontiers (mostly from Yarkand) to the extent of about 4,000 maunds (the import actually rose to close on 5,000 maunds last year) annually. Of this quantity between one-fourth and one-fifth is retained for consumption in Punjab districts, the remainder passing on principally to the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, the Native States under the political control of the Punjab Government and the Rajpntana States. The quantity of the other forms of the prepared drug coming into the province is trifling and may be neglected. The supply of bhang is derived from the wild hemp plant which grows within the province in the sub-montane tracts under the Himalayas and the Suleiman range. The annual consumption of bhang (which is merely the leaves of the wild plant) falls little short of 4,000 maunds in the districts of the Punjab. The import into and the transport through the Punjab of charas, and the transport of bhang from the districts of growth to those of consumption are regulated by a system of passes; but no direct duty or tax of any sort is levied. With the exception of a few plots, grown by fakirs principally for their own consumption in one or two of the western districts, there is no cultivation of the plant for the production of intoxicants. The total area of these plots does not, I believe, exceed 100 acres; and the prcduce is taken in the form of bhang. There is so far as I am aware, absolutely no manufacture within the province of hemp drugs from the plant.* The only taxation now levied is in the form of fees for the monopoly of vend. "The excise income from intoxicating drugs in the Punjab is derived from the farm of the monopoly of sale within tahsils or other subdivisions of districts" (Rule 1), The total amount of this income is between 1 and 11 lakhs rer annum.

* Note.—This does not of course apply to the manufacture of majum, &c., by the licensed vendorsT. G. W.

3. With this explanation I would invite attention to the (printed) collection of papers in Punjab Government Proceedings, Revenue and Agriculture for January 1889, Nos. 1-5. That correspondence arose out of a reference from the Government of India in connection with a draft article in Dr. Watt's Dictionary of Economic Products ; but the local Government requested the Financial Commissioner to consider "the question of the feasibility of putting an import duty on charas." A reference to local officers produced the papers which will be found in the above quoted Proceedings, and it will be seen that they contain a great deal of information on the subject. The Punjab Government summed up the results in their letter No. 1, dated 3rd January 1889 (No. 4 in the Proceedings). From this I make the following extract (paragraph 4) : "In the Lieutenant-Governor's opinion, however, the whole subject is still rather obscure, and is one which should be carefully studied by the new Commissioner of Excise. The Commissioner should therefore be requested to find out exactly what the system of other local Governments is, and from what other places ganja and charas come to the Punjab besides Leh, and in what quantities.           
The Commissioner of Excise should also study the subject and the system and facts as regards bhang carefully, and report on the whole question after the end of a year."

4. I would next refer to the collection of papers in Punjab Government Proceedings, Revenue and Agriculture (Revenue), for January 1892, Nos. Re- 13-16, regarding "taxation of charas and bhang." In accordance with the orders contained in the passage quoted at the close of the preceding paragraph I took up the question early in 1890. My report will be found as No. 14 of the above Proceedings (my letter No. 76, dated 10th April 1890). I would invite a perusal of that report and more particularly of paragraphs 8-11, 14, 15, and 18. The proposals which I made are summarized in paragraph 29, and I submitted a set of draft rules with explanatory remarks. These proposals were referred for opinion to selected officers. During my absence on furlough (April 1890 to December 1891) the replies of the officers consulted were received and my locum tenens, Mr. R. M. Dane, considered the proposals in detail (his letter No. 240, dated 24th December 1890, which will be found in the Proceedings last quoted). The proposals involved Inter alia the imposition of a direct import duty at the frontier on all foreign (hemp) drugs; and, on a reference to the Government Advocate, it was pointed out by him that there was no power under.the Excise Act to impose such a duty. The orders of the local Government on the proposals are contained in Punjab Government letter No. 8, dated 11th January 1892 (No. 16 of the Proceedings). The Lieutenant- Governor "was of opinion.that a tax of Rs. 20 per maund might be imposed upon charas with effect from 1st April 1893. No doubt the retail price of eharas will be somewhat raised; but this in itself is an advantage, as the use of the drug is certainly pernicious." Accepting the opinion of the Government Advocate as to the manner in which the tax should be imposed, the letter describes the system to be adopted—the establishment of crolahs to which all charm should be taken on entering the Province and which it should be allowed to leave only under a license or pass for which a fee should be levied at the rate of 8 annas a seer. With regard to bhans.r, "the Lieutenant-Governor was not thoroughly satisfied with the proposals made by the Excise Commissioner, and he would prefer to reconsider the question hereafter when the tax upon charas has been actually introduced."

5. In accordance with these orders I drafted a set of rules giving effect to them. The draft was circulated to Commissioners and selected District Officers ; and on receipt of their opinions the case was submitted. to the Financial Commissioner in October 1892 for orders with regard to several points that had arisen in connection with the draft. In April 1893 Government passed orders calling for a copy of the rules in complete form, and pointing out that a tax on charas only and not on intoxicating drugs [section 3 (h), Act XXII of 1881] had been agreed to. Some further correspondence passed, and last month (August 1893) I submitted to the Financial Commissioner a final draft of the rules. In the meantime the Government of India had taken up the question of amending the Excise Act so as to make the imposition of an import duty on intoxicating drugs legal. With the passing of Act X of 1893 the necessity for the system of golahs and passes accepted by the Punjab Government in their letter No. 8, dated 11th January 1892, ceased. It will now be possible to revert to my original proposals of 1890, at least so far as they provide for a direct impart duty on charas.

6. It is probably unnecessary for the Commission to refer to the correspondence dealt with in the preceding .paragraph because it relates to a condition of things which has ceased to exist and represents so much labour lost. The present state of affairs may be described as follows :—(i) an import duty at the rate of Its. 20 per maund will probably be imposed with effect from 1st April 18941 on all charas entering the province ; (ii)- rules providind for this duty and also putting the system of licensing vend on a satisfactory footing will be submitted shortly to the Government of India ; (iii) with regard to bhane., His Honor the Lieutenant-Governor has recently referred to this question in reviewing the Excise .Report for 1892-93 (paragraph 6 of the Review). I quote the paragraph in full because it mentions the subject of an import duty on charas also : "The question of levying an import duty on charas was referred to in the 10th paragraph of the Review of the Report for 1891-92. There were legal difficulties in the way of imposing this tax under Act XXII of 1881, but these will be removed when the amending Bill now before the Legislative Council has been passed, and draft rules will shortly be submitted to the Government of India. The question of the taxation of bhang is a far more difficult one but it must before long be taken in hand. It must, however, be borne in mind that, as remarked in the 10th paragraph of last year's Review, 'in regard to matters of this sort, which involve an interference with ancient and firmly-rooted habits of- large masses of the people, it is desirable to proceed cautiously, doing one thing at a time." I will now proceed to give such detailed information as is available -with regard to the supply of these drugs, and will then describe the system under which their supply and vend are controlled.

7. Dealing first with the import of the drugs, I take the following figures from the Provincial Recorts of External Trade. The figures give the amount imported in maunds

These figures do not agree very closely with those given in our Excise Returns, which I will examine presently ; but I give them because they are in a way from an independent source. It will be seen that there is actually no import of ganja shown, while the quantity of "other kinds" is exceedingly. small. With regard to the large quantity of bhang shown as imported from Kashmir in 1890-91 this may be treated as if it were produced in our own districts (e.g., Gurdaspur). The wild plant grows in the sub-montane parts of Jummoo and comes into our districts just as it does from other areas of supply within the Punjab. It will thus be evident that except charas the import • of these drugs from beyond our northern and western frontiers is of very limited quantity.

As regards chards, what is shown as coming from Kashmir is from the same source (Yarkand) as that shown from Ladakh. Most of the Yarkand charas takes the ordinary route through Leh to Sultanpur (Kulu) ; but a certain quantity of it passes westward through Kashmir territory. This was pointed out by Captain Ramsay, Joint-Commissioner, Leh, in his letter which will be found at page 7 of the printed Proceedings quoted at the commencement of paragraph 3. In paragraph 5 Captain Ramsay says " shares will grow' though not well, in Kashmir ; but as a matter of fact it is not grown in Kashmir, ' and in Ladakh it of course could not be grown. The charas shown under the two heads Kashmir and Ladakh consists of Yarkand cbaras imported (1) vici Ladakh and Kashmir to the Punjab, (2) vici Ladakh direct to the Punjab through Kuhl." These trade returns are obviously defective in some respects. They show no drug as coming across the western frontier (from Sewestan) or the north-western (from Bajaur), except that from Kabul, while there is undoubtedly a certain amount of import trade into the Derajat and Hazara. This probably appears under other heads in the trade returns. But the figures given are useful as showing that there is a very large import of charas from Yarkand, and that the import of this drug from other quarters and of other drugs from all sources is unimportant in comparison with this.

8. The following figures of imports and consumption of charas are taken from the Excise Returns :—


The figures of imports given above are the totals of the district details, and the same consignments have undoubtedly been shown in many eases twice over. No systematic attempt has been made to obtain correct statistics of the quantity brought across the frontier ; and it is one of the incidental advantages which we expect to derive from the proposed new arrangements that we shall be able to register the import trade efficiently and acquire a proper control over it. There has been a great development of the trade in eharas during the last three years. The quantity coming into Hoshiarpur by the Kula route rose from 2,201 maunds in 1890-91. to 3,242 maunds in 1891-92 and to 3,932 maunds in 1892-93. In the last of these years the Kangra district returns give the quantity as 3,705 maunds. These figures are taken from the register of excise passes, and may be relied on as fairly accurate. Allowing for what went by the Kashmir and other routes, it seems probable that the imports in 1892-93 (which was an exceptional year) fell little short of 5,000 mannds. In an ordinary year they have averaged between 3,000 and 4,000 maunds, the trade being subject to great fluctuations. The figures of consumption given above show the quantity retailed by the licensees and are fairly accurate. The licensees are required to keep accounts and furnish returns of their dealings,

9. The quantity of bhang shown as sold by retail vendors in each of the last six years

There is a certain quantity consumed without passing through the hands of licensed vendors ; but this is probably not very great, because the people of the parts in which the plant grows wild are not addicted to its use, while the retail price (three or four annas a seer) is so small that it is not worth while for a consumer to attempt to obtain a supply elsewhere than from the nearest licensed shop.

10. The wholesale price of charas varies very much in different localities and from year to year according to the state of the market. The price at Kulu is said to have been Re. 1-4 a seer in 1892-93 as compared with Rs. 3 to Rs. 4 in the preceding year, the prices at Hoshiarpur for the same periods being reported as Re. 1 and Rs. 2 respectively. As already remarked, last year was an exceptional one, and the price of the drug on entering the province varies usually from Rs. 2 to Rs. 4 a seer, increasing at other places with the cost of carriage. The retail price varies from Rs. 7 to Rs. 10 a seer. The cost of bhang to the licensed vendor is only that of collecting on the spot and conveying to the place of sale. It is usually sold retail at the rate of four annas a seer.

11. The rules with reference to the import, transport, and sale of intoxicating hemp-drugs will be found at page 107 of the Punjab Excise Pamphlet. They were framed under Act X of 1871, and are inconvenient in form, besides containing much that is DOW obsolete. It is sufficient to say that the import into the province of charas and its subsequent transport, and the transport of bhang from the districts of growth to those of consumption, are regulated by a system of passes, no duty or fee of any sort being charged. Importers of charas must take their consignments to the Deputy Commissioner of the frontier district which they enter and obtain from him a pass covering subsequent transport, the packages containing each consignment being closed and sealed. Provision is made for attesting sales en route, changes of destination, and the like. For the transport of bhang by a licensed vendor a permit from the district of destination and a pass issued on this from the district of production are required. The whole system is rather loose, and the new rules will, it is hoped, give us a much more strict control over the movements of consignments of the drugs.

12. The existing arrangements in regard to taxation and vend are explained in Rule 1: "The excise income from intoxicating drugs in the Punjab is derived from the farm of the monopoly of sale
within tahsils or other sub-divisions of districts. In some districts the monopoly of opium and other drugs prepared from the poppy is farmed separately from that of other intoxicating drugs, while in others the same farm includes both." Ordinarily the farm or license is held for the year, the fee payable being determined by auction. The present rules make no provision for the issue of wholesale licenses (section 13, Act XXII of 1881) ; but licenses have actually been given in the Amritsar district, although there is no authority for this. The new rules, I may say, will provide for such licenses. As to retail vend, the practice is not quite in keeping with the rules. The hemp-drugs are in fact usually offered for sale at the same shops as opium, though their sale is covered by a separate license. The opium licenses are disposed of by shops, singly, or by groups of shops (by tahsils or smaller areas) ; and the hemp-drugs licenses go with them as a rule. The combined, licenses (except in four districts) are held by the year, the fee payable for each shop or group of shops being determined by annual auction. As a matter of account the fees paid in each district in respect of the combined opium and hemp-drug licenses, where these are held together, are distributed between the two heads of receipt in a proportion which is supposed to represent the actual value of each set of licenses. This proportion varies from district to district. As a result of the practice described above, the number and locality of the shops are fixed beforehand from year to year (they are as a matter of fact seldom altered). In four districts the combined monopoly of the vend of opium and of hemp-drugs at the authorized shops (of which the number and localities are fixed) have been leased for a term of years (three to five). I may add that in the new rules it is proposed expressly to provide for a system of licensing under which the number of shops and the locality of each shall be fixed, i.e., each shop will be separately licensed, although the licenses may be disposed of either singly or in groups.

13 As regards the consu,ption of charas, the following details may be given. The quantity (in maunds) retailed in each of the past two years was:

It will be seen from these figures that the consumption of this form of drug is heaviest in the Delhi and Jullundur Diovisions, while in the Rawalpindi and Frontier Divisions it is comparatively small. I am not prepared to give any explaination of these facts. Within Divisions the consumption is distributed on the whole very evenly. For further details I would refer to Provincial Excise Stetement C published with the Anuual Excise Administration Reports.

For bhang the following details (consumption in mauds) may be given

In none of the remaining districts did the consumtion exceed 100 maunds. With regard to these figures of thye consumption of bhang one very important fact is established. The Muhammadan population of the south-western districts (Mooltan, Muzaffargarh and Dera Ghazi Khan) who are prohibited by their religion from the use of spirits are to a very large extent addicted to drinking an infusion of bhang as an intoxicant. It will be observed that the consumption in the two districts of Mooltan and Dera ghazi Khan is between one-fourth and one-fifth of that of the whole provinces. In these districts bhang is undoubtedly a substitute with the Muhammedan population for the spirits which they creed forbids them to take.

Another fact that may be noted is that the districts of Ferozeporo, Ludhiana, Lahore and Amritsar which come after Mooltan and Dera Ghazi Khan in this matterb of consumption of bhang, are those in which the Sikh element is strongest. The Sikh population of the province being 1,389,034, these four districts contribute 781,439 towards this total. It seems likely that the prohibition amongst the Sikhs of tobacco-smoking has a good deal to do with their preference for the drug in a liquid state.

This question of the distribution of consumption according to locality, religion, caste, Sze., is one that will, no doubt, receive a great deal of attention from the Commission, and it seems unnecessary in this memorandum to do more than indicate the general features. Annexed to the memorandum will be found two maps showing the consumption of charas and of bhang separately by districts in the year 1890-91, and these will serve to illustrate the above remarks. it will be seen that, roughly speaking, as regards the use of charas the province divides itself into two parts—the eastern districts, In which the consumption ex'ceeds 5 oz. per 100 of the population, and the western districts, in Which the average consumption is less than this. As regards bhang, on the other hand, the districts fall into groups :—(1) the southwestern districts, in which the consumption exceeds 40 oz. per 100 of population ; (2) the central districts, in which it averages between 20 and 40 oz. ; and (3) the northern and eastern districts, in which it is less than 20 oz.

14. I will now take the special points mentioned in the note annexed to the Secretary, Indian Hemp Drugs Commission's letter in detail.

(a) The system in the Punjab is uniform. The arrangements are under the control in due gradation of (1) the Financial Commissioner, (2) Divisional Commissioners and the Commissioner of Excise, and (3) Deputy Commissioners, the actual administration in each district being in the hands of the Deputy Commissioners. The Act is the Excise Act (XXII) of 1881, and the rules are those which will be found at page 107 of the Punjab Excise Pamphlet.

(b) It is not possible to give any estimate of the extent to which the wild hemp plant grows. It is a mere weed, and cannot be said to corer any particular area, as it is scattered about. So much is taken in the form of bhang as is required for the consumption in our districts (4000 maunds of dried leaves), and in the Punjab Native States; and the remainder is probably allowed to die down. The dry stalks are sometimes, I believe, used for fuel. No preparation of any sort is extracted from the plant. The manner in which the transport and sale of bhang are controlled has been already described. With regard to possession, section 22 of the Excise Act prevents any one other than a dealer from having in his possession more than of a seer ; but, so far as I am aware, there is now nothing to prevent a person within this limit from collecting and using the leaves of the plant. He could not sell bhang. The Commission might usefully refer to Financial Commissioner's Circular No. 3, dated January 1882, in which the system is explained.

(c) With reference to the above, it will be evident that the necessity for cultivating the hemp plant for the production of bhang as a marketable commodity scarcely arises. A few patches of the plant are grown in the Mooltan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Dera Ismail Khan, Shahpur, and Bannu districts, but the total area is probably less than 100 acres. There is no restriction on or regulation of cultivation; and, so far as I can see, there is nothing to prevent a person who grows the crop from using the produce as an intoxicant, provided he is not at any time in possession of more than the quantity allowed by the Act. Where the plant is grown the object is to provide for private consumption. Manufacture of any nf the" preparations" is unknown in the Punjab. I may add that I proposed in 1890 either to prohibit the cultivation entirely or to impose an acreage duty that would be prohibitive. No notice has been taken by higher authority of the proposal. It will be easy at the present time to deal with the cultivation and to stamp it out, while there is the danger that, if we adopt measures which will restrict the supply and enhance the price of bhang, the result of these measures may be to encourage the cultivation. It has been suggested that steps should be taken to make persons on whose waste land the wild plant grows responsible for its destruction ; .but, as already explained, the local Government has not yet agreed to alter the existing arrangements in respect of bhang in any way, and the consideration of the proposal would, therefore, be premature (see Commissioner of Excise; Bengal's Circular No. 6075, dated 26th January 1893).

(d) Charas is imported by (1) Yarkandis, Ladakhis, and others who bring it in, dispose of it, principally at Hoshiarpur and Amritsar, and return with piece-goods, &c., and (2) merchants' ofAmritsar and other places who have established trade relations with Ladakh. I would refer the Commission for further particulars (if they are wanted) to paragraph 40 of the Report on the External Land Trade of the Punjab for the year 1891-92. The traders are not licensed. The only control over the trade is in the way of requiring a pass from the Deputy Commissioner of the frontier station where a consignment enters the Punjab, and the subsequent transport is regulated. Rule 7 is as follows : "Merchants bringing charas into the Punjab must obtain a pass (Appendix III) from the Deputy Commissioner of the frontier station where they enter the Punjab, and take it for countersignature to the Deputy Commissioner or Collector of every district in the Punjab or the North-Western Provinces, which they may subsequently enter with the charas. The article, its quantity (both gross weight of the package and net weight of the charas being given), and destination are stated in the pass, and the package is sealed up with the official seal of the Deputy Commissioner. It may be opened at any head-quarters station or tahsil while on the way to its destination, and a portion of its contents may be sold to the farmer of excise for drugs, the fact being recorded on the pass, and the package resealed. The owners must be warned that if the package is found open and any charas is sold from it, except as above stated, they will be proceeded against under the Excise Laws, and the package will be liable to confiscation."

Where a consignment is conveyed by rail, the provision requiring it to be taken to the Deputy Commissioner, &c., of every district through which it passes is dispensed with. Rules , 8-13 may also, if necessary, be referred to.

(e) There is no provision in the existing rules for licensing wholesale vend (section 13 of the Act) ; but this defect will be supplied in the new rules. The arrangements with regard to retail vend have been already described (paragraph 12 of this memorandum). •

(f) As above explained,' there is no direct tax on any of the drugs. Indirect taxation is taken in the form of license fees for retail vend in the manner already described.

(g) The system of licensing retail vend has been described in the preceding pares., and it has been explained (paragraph 12) that the practice in the matter is not strictly in accordance with the rules. The rules provide only "for the farm of the monopoly of sale" within certain areas, the monopoly being either combined with or separate from that of opium. The rules make no proVision for fixing the number and sites of the retail shops; but to the form of lease (Appendix I) is added a schedule "showing the names of places at which licensed shops for the retail vend of intoxicating drugs have been authorized," and the practice has always been to fix the numbeeand locality of the shops. The arrangements, it should be understood, in respect of licensing the sale of these drugs mostly depend on those for the retail vend of opium. In one or two districts the experiment is being tried of licensing a few shops for the sale of opium only; but with this exception opium and hemp-drugs are almost invariably offered for sale at the same shops, the licenses being in the hands of the same persons. For this reason the number and locality of the shops are really fixed under the Opium Rules. The number of shops is determined in a general way with reference to area and population, though there is no accepted standard. The number depends in a great measure on the habits of the people in respect of the consumption of opium and hemp-drugs. In the statement appended to this memorandum are given details of the average population in 1892-93 to each license for the sale of opium and of hemp-drugs; but in considering these figures it should be remembered that, as explained above, there is as a rule only one shop for every two licenses ; or, to put the matter in another way, hemp-druge are usually retailed at the opium shops. There is nothing in the nature of "local option." In practice the shop sites remain as they have been established for a long time, and the necessity for a change in the way of adding new shops or closing existing ones seldom arises.

The license fee to be paid for each shop or each group of shops is determined (except in the four districts where the fees have been farmed for a period of years) by annual auction. No upset price is fixed.

(h) No rate is fixed at which the drugs must be supplied by wholesale to retail vendors. The wholesale price of charas depends on the state of the market, and bhang cannot be said to have any wholesale price as the cost to the vendor is only that of collecting and carriage. The average retail price charged to the consumers is from Rs. 7 to Rs. 10 per seer (according to the state of the market and the wholesale price) for charas and four annas a seer for bhang. Both are sold in very small quantities to consumers, and the price charged, if worked out on the seer, varies a great deal from district to district within limits of (roughly) Rs. 4 to Rs. 15 for charas and 2 annas to 8 annas for bhang.

(i) The maximum quantity fixed for retail sale to or possession by consumers is that laid down in section 22 of the Excise Act [Section 3 (K)], bhang one-quarter of a seer; charas, &c., five tolahs. With regard to sale this is provided for by a condition in the form of license. No minimum price is fixed.

(j) Cases occasionally come to light of illicit sale of charas, &e., or of possession of more than the authorized quantity; but they are rare and unimportant. Illicit practices of other kinds are, I believe, unknown. It will, I think, be clear from this memorandum that there is really no room for such practices. No special measures of prevention have been found necessary.

(k) The modifications of the present system, which are under consideration, have been described in the early part of this memorandum.

(l) The sources of supply, the extent of cultivation and trade, as well as the other heads mentioned here, have been examined in the memorandum.

T. G. WALKER,   
Commissioner of Excise, Punjab.   



E'xtract paragraph 40 from the Report on the External Land Trade of the Punjab for the year 1891-92.

40. The main portion of the Ladakh trade finds its way into India through Kulu. The Assistant Commissioner in his report makes some interesting observations, pointing out that while the Kulu posts register as Ladakh trade much that is really trade with Thibet and other places, they also fail to include a large portion of genuine Ladakh trade which enters British territory vid Kashmir. He remarks :—

" In the Provincial Foreign Trade Report the returns furnished by the Kulu registration post constitute what is known as the 'Ladakh' trade. This general term, however, requires explanation. In so far as Leh is the chief emporium of this trade, it may be convenient to describe as imports and exports of Ladakh all merchandise of Yarkand which is exchanged here for goods from India; but, on the one hand, it is to be remembered that at the Sultanpur post all merchandise is registered which crosses the Rohtang pass, so that imports and exports of Thibet, baltistan, and the British districts of Lahul and Spiti are included in the Ladakh' trade, while, on the other hand, all exports from and imports to Leh which take the Kashmir route are treated in the Provincial Report as trade with Kashmir and not with Ladakh."

He makes some further remarks regarding the agency by which this trade is conducted :—

" The trade with Ladakh is in the hands of four classes :—(1) The merchants of Hoshiarpur, Amritsar, and Sultanpur.—Many of the latter are Lahulis, who deal chiefly in wool. The Indian merchants send up piece-goods or tea in the spring and bring down Yarkand and Ladakh produce, chiefly charas, in the autumn. They use mules for carriage. Latterly the more wealthy muleteers have commenced to trade on their own account. (2) The Yarkandis.— These men generally dispose of their goods at Leh, but some of them come on to India with charas, carpets, and numdahs. Many also, after selling their goods at Leh, bring; on for sale in India the hcrses upon which these goods were laden. Having disposed of their means of carriage, they generally return empty-handed. (3) The Baths of Baltistan, who visit Simla in the cold weather in search of employment as road coolies and the like.—They are often erroneously called Ladakhis. They do not visit India for the sake of trade, but they take the opportunity of bringing with them dried apricots, which accounts for the entry 'fruits' under the head of imports, returning to their own country with as much as they can carry of brass, copper, and iron vessels. Some of them also carry back with them China cups and saucers, which are in demand in a tea-drinking country. (4) Bhotis, which term includes the Mongolian races inhabiting Ladakh, Zanskar, Chinese Thibet, and Lahul.—The wool and pashm imported by the Bhotis are laden chiefly on the backs of sheep and goats. These sheep and goats figure in the returns of imports. On being discharged of their burdens at Sultanpur they are sold to butchers from Simla. Beyond the various food-grains which are in demand in their desolate, sparsely cultivated country the Bhotis carry little back with them from India. The amount of grain which they can take with them is not much, as they have disposed of their means of carriage."