Mr. Ravenshaw, Commissioner of Orissa, has, it is said, sent
home a report on the famine, which will, we trust, be published, which admits the deaths of 600,000 before July last, and states that in many places three-fourths of the population have perished. As Mr. Ravenshaw is an official and a personal friend of the Lieutenant-Governor, this report is probably under-coloured ; and considering that the famine is not over yet, that it covered districts never entered by a white man, and that even the English officials had a difficulty in procuring food, it may be questioned if the Missionary estimate of half the population was not nearer the truth. The Viceroy has now ordered a semi-independent inquiry, to be ready by the meet- ing of Parliament, and Lord Crauborne, it is stated, has already taken one necessary step. He has absolutely forbidden after 1867 the annual flight to the Hills. Of course the officials, compelled to do their duty, will protest that they are murdered, —but after all, the empire is of more importance than their lives. The simplest plan perhaps would be to let them go, but stop their salaries for the term of absence, when they would immediately discover that the plains were healthier than the hills.
