be necessary to procure two overseers to superintend the working of the forests. These points can only be decided by experiments made during the rainy season of 1865. If the experiment succeeds a large revenue will be immediately derived from the sâl forests of the Great Rungeet. To enable me to make this experiment, I shall require the services of an overseer to superintend the felling and sawing-up of trees to provide 1000 sleepers of sâl with a corresponding number of sleepers of Pinus longifolia to float them." (It may be remarked here that sâl timber will not float.) These sleepers should all be prepared in the cold season, so as to be ready to be floated down the Rungeet and Tista as soon as these rise to their rainy season level. The question to be decided by this experiment is, can timber be profitably floated over the rapids of these rivers during the rainy season, when the rapids almost disappear?

Anderson's plan, as above outlined, was a bold one; as all acquainted with the rocky nature of the beds of the rivers in question and the unhealthy climate of the two valleys during the rainy season will readily admit.

In recommending Mr. Gustav Mann to the suggested post of Assistant Conservator, Anderson mentions the valuable cinchona plantations which had been commenced by the Superintendent of the Calcutta Botanic Gardens in the Sikkim Hills many years before. Mr. Mann, an officer who had carried out explorations in West African Forests under the orders of the Admiralty as a successful botanical traveller before he arrived in India, was at the time the head gardener in charge of the cinchona cultivation in Darjiling, the hill station and sanatorium of Bengal, situated at some 6500 feet in this part of the Himalaya. Anderson proposed that Mann should continue to have general superintendence of the cinchona plantations, of which he had gained valuable experience, in addition to his new duties, and that his appointment as Assistant Conservator should be temporary until he had passed a colloquial examination in Hindustani. As actual incumbent at the plantations he proposed to appoint a Mr. John Scott, who was to shortly arrive, "a gardener sent out to me by Dr. Hooker and Mr. Darwin, both of whom recommend him as a person of superior attainments." Anderson proposed that these appointments should be made from December 1st, in order that a commencement might be made with the conservancy of the temperate forests, and the

enforcement of the Rules which had been drafted with reference to the cutting and sale of firewood, timber for charcoal, and other local purposes. Should his contemplated visit to the Rungeet and Terai sâl forests prove successful, he proposed that Mann should then commence the work of felling trees and preparing the 1000 sleepers to be floated out the following rains.

The establishment outlined for undertaking the suggested conservancy and working proposals, including portion of the salary of the Head Assistant at the Botanic Gardens to be credited to the Forest Department, amounted to a sum of Rs.4128 per mensem. This total also included a small establishment for the forests of the Bhutan Duars, in which military operations were still being carried on, and an establishment for the Assam Forests.

On the subject of the Assam Forests, Anderson wrote, in December, 1864: "The question of forest conservancy in Assam is not settled, and cannot be until I can fully examine the forests of that Province. Judging from the Reports submitted by the Commissioner of Assam, it appears to me that while there are valuable forests to preserve, still little revenue beyond what will be yielded by local sales of timber can be expected from the forests of Assam. I would, therefore, recommend that these forests should at first be entrusted to an Assistant Conservator on a salary of Rs.400 a month, including house rent." He also recommended the appointment of two overseers on Rs.100 with free house, a small local office establishment and "a small native establishment to work the forests."

The Government of India cut Anderson's proposed monthly expenditure on establishments down to Rs.538 from the suggested Rs.4128.

Mann's appointment was sanctioned, as also, the Conservator's office establishment in full; but the proposed Sikkim Forest staff was reduced. The Bhutan staff was disallowed until such time as the military operations came to an end, and the Assam proposals until the Conservator had been able to personally visit the forests and submit a Report on their possibilities.

The Revenue Survey of British Sikkim had not been completed at the end of 1864. For this reason Anderson found it impossible to "give an accurate statement of the extent of the forests belonging to Government in that district. From

my general knowledge of British Sikkim, and frequent examination of the map of Sikkim so far as completed, I am able to submit the following approximate statement of the extent of the Government forests, which, I believe, will be found to be tolerably correct."

This account was drawn up at the end of 1864, and forms a fitting termination to the review of the position and knowledge on the subject of the Bengal Forests at this time. Anderson's description of the Terai and hill forests of Sikkim is as follows:

"The Terai. The extent of this portion of the district may be estimated at 80,000 acres, of which about 25,000 acres consist of forests. The valleys of the tropical rivers of the Tista and Great Rungeet are filled with sâl forest. Since the annexation of the Bhutan Duars, both slopes of the Tista Valley have become British territory. I have carefully examined the Sikkim side of this valley, and find that it is rich in sâl. The portion of this valley which is British territory, that is, from the Terai to Independent Sikkim, at the junction of the Great Rungeet and Tista, is almost twenty miles in length. This gives about 30,000 acres of forest. The recently annexed slope of the river in Bhutan contains a much finer sâl forest than that existing in the British Sikkim side of the valley. From its geographical position, this forest must be worked by the officer in charge of the Sikkim Division. The entire valley is the property of the Government.

"The sâl forests of the Great Rungeet are, with the exception of about 200 acres, entirely the property of the Government. The forest is not less than 12 miles in length and extends to 2500 feet above the rivers. The northern slope of this valley is entirely covered with a valuable forest of sâl and Pinus longifolia. It is situated in Independent Sikkim, but I have been informed by Tehelm Lama that the right of working this forest might be obtained from the Raja of Sikkim on favourable terms.'

"The temperate forests of Sikkim comprehend all the territory of British Sikkim above 6000 feet, and has all been reserved for forest purposes since the notification dated 14th December, 1864. I estimate its extent at 600,000 acres. The forests of this region contain a large amount of valuable timber belonging to several species of oak, chestnut, magnolia, Bucklandia, Cedrela (tun), maple and walnut. The timber from these forests will be easily transported by means of the cart road."

The road here alluded to by Anderson was the Tista Valley road running down to Silliguri in the plains.

Anderson appended the following statement to this Report:

Approximate Tabular Statement of the Nature and Extent of the
Government Forests situated in the District of British Sikkim.

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE OPINIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA AND THE

SECRETARY OF STATE ON THE VALUE OF THE FORESTS, 1862

A

N endeavour has been made in the preceding chapters to trace the history of the forests in the different parts of India, so far as this has proved possible, during a period of approximately seventy years. The recognition of the value of the forests and of their importance to the general welfare of the community and the country as a whole, had been of very gradual growth. The realisation had not yet been achieved in some parts, whilst in others it was still questioned by the officials. Amongst the population, speaking generally, the value of the forests and the necessity of their conservation had received no recognition. That both the Secretary of State at home and the Government of India had become fully alive to the importance of the forests and imbued with the conviction that the introduction of a systematic conservancy was a work of immediate importance is evidenced by the two Despatches transcribed below, which form a fitting termination to this volume.

Some correspondence had taken place as to the Department of the Government of India under which the management of the forests should be placed. The Government of India had placed it under the Public Works Department on the grounds that that Department had the chief interest in the utilisation of the forests, a contention borne out, it is true, by the previous sixty years' operations in the forests. As the Secretary of State correctly pointed out, however, "the interests of the Public Works Department lie rather in procuring timber for present use than in preserving future supplies of the article." The Government of India explained that there was no separate Revenue Department in their Government. That unless placed under the Public Works Department the Forest Department would be under both the Home and Foreign Departments.