The Madura Country A Manual

This book is an extract from a larger work called ‘The Madura Country A Manual, in 5 parts. This work is, as the title suggests, an historical account of the Madura, ancient and modern. The author reveals that he has failed altogether to discover sudden augmentations of the total area under cultivation obviously caused by the promulgation of new rules and regulations by the Board; or signs of periodicity in droughts and famines; or periods of depression or the reverse of trade and manufactures. All that he has learnt with any certainty is that since the assumption of the Madura District of the British a very marvelous change for the better has taken place in its condition. A wretchedly poor and debased population has become orderly, industrious, and on the whole, prosperous. Where there were no means of intercommunication, fairly good roads and bridges have sprung up in every direction. With the expression of a hope that the Board will excuse his omission to manipulate statistics, and be content to know that the state of the District is manifestly improving day by day; that a light assessment and steadily increasing prices of agricultural produce are bringing about a healthy increase of cultivation ; that the extra sources of revenue such as salt and stamps, exhibit an elasticity of promise for the future, and that considering the natural disadvantages under which Madura labors, its condition and prospects are all that could reasonably be expected. This book is a reprint of the 1866 edition.