ABSTRACT
The project of clearing the island was started by the Government in 1811, but on vague and conjectural data, with the intention of benefitting the navigation of the river Hugli. The joint stock company was started in 1819 under the name of the Saugor Island Society, and the lease was executed on 10th June 1819. Various stipulations were provided as to the disposal of the island in the event of non-reclamation or excessive mortality, as to the manuafcture of salt, the division of the whole into smaller grants, and the maintenance of the trust. The Society commenced reclamation, constructing embankments, clearing the land, digging tanks, and settling cultivators. On the report of the Board of Customs, Salt, and Opium, the Bengal Government, agreeing with the Board, decided, in 1849, that it was no longer expedient to continue the privilege of making salt to the grantees of Saugor Island, and that the manufacture must be discontinued after that season.
