I observed very fine groves of mango-trees close to Sandee, planted by merchants and shopkeepers of the place.

The oldest are still held by the descendants of those by whom they were first planted, more than a century ago; and no tax whatever is imposed upon the trees of any kind, or upon the lands on which they stand.

Many young groves are growing up around, to replace the old ones as they decay; and the greatest possible security is felt in the tenure by which they are held by the planter, or his descendants, though they hold no written lease, or deed of gift; and have neither written law nor court of justice to secure it to them.

Groves and solitary mango, semul, tamarind, mhowa and other trees, whose leaves and branches are not required for the food of elephants and camels, are more secure in Oude than in our own territories; and the country is, in consequence, much better provided with them.

While they give beauty to the landscape, they alleviate the effects of droughts to the poorer classes from the fruit they supply; and droughts are less frequently and less severely felt in a country so intersected by fine streams, flowing from the Tarae forest, or down from the perpetual snows of neighbouring hills, and keeping the water always near the surface.
These trees tend also to render the air healthy, by giving out oxygen in large quantities during the day, and absorbing carbonic acid gas.
The river Gurra enters the Ganges about twelve miles below Sandee.
Boats take timber on this stream from the Phillibeet district to Cawnpoor.