Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v2.c29.t2.97

v2.c29.t2.97

In these arid regions, where they depend entirely on the heavens for water, and where they calculate on a famine every seventh year, nothing that can administer to the wants of man is lost. The seeds of the wild grasses, as the bharut, baru, harara, sawan, are collected, and, mixed with bajra-flour, enter much into the food of the poorer classes. They also store up great quantities of the wild ber, khair, and karel berries; and the long pods of the khejra, astringent and bitter as they are, are dried and formed into a flour. Nothing is lost in these regions which can be converted into food.