In 1840 people generally were poor. There were no roads or markets, and the working classes were only gradually emerging from the state of serfdom in which they had been held by previous Governments. Since then their condition has materially improved, roads have been made, wild beasts have been reduced, extensive clearings have been effected, and all resort freely to the great marts at the foot of the hills at Ramnagar, Kotdwara, Dharon, and Patiya, where they exchange their own surplus produce for the commodities of the plains. During the past settlement every village had the power of increasing cultivation without being liable to extra revenue. They further had the right of pasturage and of using the spontaneous products within their boundaries and considering that every mile in the district, including the snow ranges, is supposed to be included within the boundary of some village; these privileges cannot be lightly estimated. No villages, however, had manorial rights which authorised them to dispose of timber, claim pasturage fee, and exclude their neighbours who from olden time had enjoyed the privilege of grazing their cattle, cutting wood, gathering leaves, &c. This system may be considered one of the chief causes of the increase of cultivation since 1840. Small hamlets have now become large villages, and villages have sprung up where cattle sheds only existed formerly.