“The rains which usually fall in the months | of October and November, ceased at an unusually early | period in the year 1853; and the showers which usually | fall in June and July had been scanty. The grain harvests | were consequently almost universally deficient, and | considerable distress occurred in several parts of this | presidency. In Bellary district the season had been | exceptionally unfavourable: an average fall of only 9½ | inches of rain having taken place during the year, | against an average of about double that quantity in | previous years. The stocks of grain on hand were small: | for serious damage had been occasioned by a storm in 1851 | to several of the irrigation works of the district; and | in 1852 the falls of rain had been unseasonable, and the | crops short.”—Danvers. | 1860-61 | India. “In 1859-60 the Delhi territory suffered from want | of rain. The great Nujjufghar Jheel became entirely dry—a | thing never before known within the memory of man. The | rains of 1860 completely failed in the country between | the Jumna and the Sutlej; and except where irrigation was | available, no autumn or spring crop could be | sown.”—Danvers, 1877. | 1861-62 | India. Considerable scarcity of food in Kach and various | other districts of the Bombay Presidency, owing to scanty | and unseasonable rains in 1861, and to short fall in the | early part of 1862. | 1866 | India. Awful famine in the Lower Provinces of Bengal, | Orissa, Behar, &c.; 1,500,000 persons reported to have | perished. | | “The total quantity of rainfall for the year (1865) was | not unusually small in most of the districts of Bengal, | but it fell abnormally and out of time. Much rain fell | early in the season, before the usual time for sowing, | while the later rains, which are usually expected in the | end of September and October, failed.”—Danvers, 1877. | | Great scarcity also in Madras Presidency, through many | districts. | 1868-70 | India. Famine and scarcity in a considerable number of the | north-west provinces, including Delhi, Meerut, &c. This | was occasioned by failure of the harvest of 1868, | following upon the inferior crop of 1867. | 1874 | India. Bengal; famine arising from drought. The Government | took early measures, and at a cost of £6,500,000 | organised a system of relief. About 1,000,000 tons of