INDIAN FAMINES - Institute for Social and Economic Change

RECENT FAMINES. 79
wild, and in excellent condition; but when
taken out of the country, languish and get thin,
unless supplied with grain and condiments to
make up for the loss of the rich grasses on
which they have been accustomed to feed. In
Marwar alone, before the famine, there were at
the very least 2,250,000 head of horned cattleincluding
Mullanee, the number may be stated
at 3,000,000. . . . All these, with the exception
of about one-tenth, were taken out of
Marwar by the departing emigrants. Two millions
at least of cattle, and three-quarters of a
million of human beings, poured in great floods
over the neighbouring countries! 'Vhere, however,
are now the cattle 1 The tenth which
remained behind may be said to have died off.
The masses of bones round the villages, and the
few walking skeletons left, attest the frightful
mortality. An almost equal mortality seems
to have followed the herds. . . • I do not
think that I shall be exaggerating when I say
that the wealth of the country in its horned
cattle will have been reduced to one-quarter
what it was at the same time last year-a loss
which, I believe, is unprecedented.