網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版

The instructions of the Lieutenant-Governor required Cleghorn to visit the forests of Kaghan along the banks of the Kunihar or Nainsukh, the only tributary of the Jhelum which he personally explored. The deodar forests in Kashmir above the confluence of the Kishenganga and Jhelum proper still remained, he said, to be examined.

I

CHAPTER XXIII

FOREST OPERATIONS IN THE PUNJAB, 1858-1864

(continued)

THE FORESTS OF THE FRONTIER

T has been deemed advisable to deal with Cleghorn's visits to forests on the Punjab Frontier in a separate chapter. His Report on this region indicates the lines upon which they were being exploited and treated by the Frontier Officers at this period, in addition to affording valuable information on their condition at the time.

The regions dealt with are the Kaghan, Hazara, Murree Hills and Rawal Pindi District; and a valuable Memorandum on the timber procurable from the Indus, Swat and Kabul rivers.

A great deal of interesting information, which is outside the purview of a history of the forests, is given (as demanded by the instructions of Government to Cleghorn) on the agriculture, orchards, flora, especially from a medicinal point of view, and so forth, of the areas visited. It is with regret that these details, exhibiting so clearly the remarkable powers of observation, scientific knowledge and energy with which Cleghorn was endowed, cannot be incorporated here. Allusion is made to them, however, as they exhibit in the most striking manner the lines upon which British administration, even in the wild frontier districts, was now being carried on; and with what devotion and self-sacrifice the British officials were throwing their whole hearts into ameliorating the condition of the people and bringing so far as possible order and the pax Britannica into regions which had known no orderly regime through the centuries. Those who ask what the British have done in India and for India can find their answer in Cleghorn's remarkable Report of what was being accomplished on the Punjab Frontier sixty years ago.

The valley of the Nainsukh or Kunihar is about 120 miles in length, from the source of the river in the Lalusar Lake to its junction with the Jhelum, the general course of the river being south-west. From the junction up to Balakot the valley is open and of considerable breadth, the lower slopes of the hills at this period being either bare or with scattered Pinus longifolia trees, while on the northern aspects of the summits were deodar and silver fir. Above Balakot the hills close in, and the mountain-sides are in many places very precipitous. A path along the bank of the river had been made some years previously by Colonel J. Abbott, and more recently this had been improved by Lieutenant H. Blair, R.E., to facilitate the passage of laden mules. The Kaghan Valley, at the time of Cleghorn's visit, had not been surveyed by the officers of the Great Trigometrical Survey, but was shortly to be brought within the triangulation. The only maps of this region in existence were a survey sketch of the river from its source at Garhi Habibulla Khan, by Captain Nightingale, 1853; and a military sketch of part of Kaghan, by Major Lumsden, D.Q.M.G.

On ascending the valley, Cleghorn met the first deodar, a clump of small-sized trees, before reaching Kawai. A few miles further up, from the village of Paras up to Narain, the northern slopes of the mountains were covered at intervals with fine deodar forests usually mixed with blue pine. Above Narain the deodar became scarce and more stunted, disappearing altogether at the source of the river. The positions and extent of the patches and forests of deodar, which lay adjacent to the river and its two chief tributaries, some thirty in number, were entered by Cleghorn on Nightingale's survey sketch.

Felling in these forests had taken place chiefly between Paras and Jereid, and much outlying timber had been left by contractors. The average dimensions of the mature trees was much smaller than in the forests of Chamba and Bushahr; about 9 to 10 feet in girth, 4 feet above ground-level, on a full average. A few specimens of giant growth were seen, but these were exceptional, and the size diminished in the higher part of the valley. The whole valley was British territory. The Syed and Swati proprietors received a half share of the former royalty, which was Rs.1.8 per tree; the rate had been recently raised, but the royalty paid remained 12 annas per tree. The existing rate per deodar was Rs.5 per tree in Hazara and Rs.2

in Kaghan. Cleghorn was consulted by Major Adams, the Deputy Commissioner, on the advisability of raising the rate in Kaghan, as the value of wood in the plains was increasing. The former thought that Rs.3 would be a fair average price, taking into consideration the size of the trees and the difficulties of transport.

After visiting the whole valley and ascending two high spurs from which a full view could be obtained of the two principal tributaries (Bhunja and Mannur Kus), Cleghorn expressed the opinion that as a maximum 1000 deodar trees could be felled per annum without permanently injuring the forests. Captain Melville, of the Great Trigometrical Survey, informed him, a statement confirmed by Mr. T. Arratoon, who was well acquainted with the deodar forests of the whole of the Punjab Region, that a large area of deodar forest existed above the junction of the Kurna River, only separated from the Nainsukh by the Kaghan Range, and also in the side valleys from the Kashmir Range. These tracts were in the Maharajah's dominions.

At low water the breadth of the Kunihar at Garhi Habibulla Khan was about 70 feet, and the depth in midstream 3 to 4 feet. The current during floods is very rapid. Cleghorn thought that up to Jeried no serious obstruction to floating logs of moderate length, 12 to 14 feet, was to be anticipated, and in this respect the river in this stage was more favourable than the Upper Ravi. About six miles below Kaghan the river bed became tortuous and blocked with large boulders, and "as had been observed in other rivers, the best pieces of forest are ever in the obstructed places. The Syeds state, apparently with truth, that it is only at the highest flood that logs are carried over these rocks and then with considerable damage."

Allusion has already been made to the earliest records of the forests of this region (p. 270), Colonel Abbott having been requested in 1852 to endeavour to get timber down the Kunihar River to Jhelum. The attempts made to carry out the order failed. Adams made two efforts in 1860 and 1861, which were partially successful. He arranged with the maliks (village headmen) for the felling of a thousand trees and the launching of the logs, which were not less than 25 feet in length, while Major Robertson maintained during the floods a gang of taroos to land them at the depôt at Jhelum. Eighteen hundred logs were launched in the river; of these 1500 passed

Balakot, and 900 were landed at Dangalli, the remaining 600 being appropriated as drift timber by the Maharajah of Kashmir, the marks being obliterated. Including all losses the timber secured was regarded as cheap! A sufficient commentary on the great demand which existed at the period in this region! Cleghorn expressed a high opinion of Adams' management of the Hazara Forests, which had been "careful, judicious and progressive."

Several contractors from Rawal Pindi had purchased trees in the Kaghan Forests and, as they had recently lodged money for a second supply, Cleghorn assumed that the speculation had proved remunerative. They all reported that the extraction of the timber was most difficult (a common enough complaint of timber contractors however, though in this instance doubtless justified), and though the length of the logs had been reduced to 10 to 12 feet, about 300 from the former operations were still stranded on the river banks. The mule path opened by Lieutenant Blair from the Balakot thanna (police station) through the lower forest had been carried as far as Jereid. There was an iron suspension bridge at Garhi, and wooden bridges at Balakot, Jereid, Kaghan and Narain.

The forest operations in this region had for political reasons remained under the Deputy Commissioner.

As a special case, Blair, who was in charge of the roadmaking work and was very popular among the Syeds, was requested to repeat Adams' experiment and have felled 800 trees (say 2400 logs), and also to remove all the felled timber lying in the forests. Much timber was required at Abbottabad for various works, and the surplus, if any, would be available for railway purposes.

Blair superintended the fellings in Kaghan, whilst Captain Strutt watched the arrival of the logs at Salgrain, and rafted them to Jhelum. The personal superintendence of this work by these two officers achieved success and the logs realised a profit; and during the operations convictions were obtained against several persons arrested for timber stealing.

Cleghorn stated that the best season for felling here was the cold weather, November to March, the people not being engaged in agricultural work at this period. The river had already a considerable volume of water in it in April as a result of the melting of the snows, which commenced in the Kaghan

« 上一頁繼續 »