ABSTRACT
By May 1866 hardship and death were already in full sway. Wood asserts to his superior that the famine was at hand and money and food supplies had to be made available immediately. He was directed by the Committee of the Chamber of Commerce to bring under the special notice of the Right Honourable the Governor General in Council, that a very grievous scarcity of food prevails in Orissa and other districts, amounting to positive famine in some places, which must be greatly aggravated before supplies of the new crop can relieve the distress. The condition of the people is understood to be such as to require immediate assistance, and the Committee of the Chamber would urge upon the consideration of his Excellency the Viceroy, that the balance of the Indian Famine Relief Fund of 1860-61 be placed at the disposal of the Government of Bengal for relief of the distress.
