result from leaving matters in an inchoate and undetermined condition." In preferring their request the Madras Government submitted a long report by Mr. Comyn, now Collector (March, 1877), detailing the position arrived at. Some 1329 "jungles " had been dealt with; private claims had been admitted in 625, 23 were declared Village Reserves and 255 decided to belong to Government. No areas were given in any case, and no proper survey maps existed for the region.

In January, 1878, the Conservator reported that "South Kanara is at present in an unsettled state, as far as attempts towards conservancy are concerned, and it is not known what area of forest we shall eventually have charge of." As Cherry was going on furlough he proposed that no Senior Officer should be sent to replace him but that a Sub-Assistant Conservator should be placed in charge-a rather questionable action! Whichever way the decision was to go, in the interest of the community one would have been strongly inclined to send the best officer in the Presidency to the district. The Madras Government decided, however, that they did not think it necessary to depute any Forest Officer to the district in the existing condition of forest matters.

In reviewing the position, with all the papers before him, Brandis pointed out that the enquiry now being held in South Kanara would affect the proprietary right of Government in an area of at least 1000 square miles. That it was being undertaken in the absence of any suitable detailed survey maps, which did not exist. A survey was necessary, but this would not be sufficient. The investigation must be carried out in a much more thorough and searching manner than had yet been attempted. So far, the Conservator of Forests had been excluded from the enquiry altogether. The Collector had never referred to him, and the remarks made by the latter on the case had simply been based on information acquired privately. The Conservator should be consulted. Further, the enquiry should not be held by the Collector alone. It should be undertaken by a Special Commission partly comprised of officers who were independent of the Local Government. The orders of the Madras Government governing the enquiry were based on a one-sided interpretation of reports written seventyeight years ago. It would be the object of the Special Commission to make a complete and searching examination into the whole history of the British Administration of the district with reference to the exercise by Government and the people

of rights in the forest. The Inspector-General pointed out that the proprietary rights in the forests claimed by the Wargdars were probably analogous to those of the people in the forests in many other parts of India, and consequently were no more than rights of user for certain defined purposes. In the petitions received from the ryots in South Kanara the Collector had stated that the petitioners only claimed permission to use the forests in the immemorial way for the collection of fuel, leaves, etc., and grazing, which would seem to show that they only enjoyed an easement and were not asking for anything more now. It was the powerful Wargdars or landowners who were now claiming extensive forests. As Brandis said: "If arguments of this nature were sound there would be few forests in India which Government could claim as State Forests, and most of the State Forests in Germany and France would be regarded as private property. In England, if such arguments were to be the guide, the Commoners, and not the Lord of the Manor, would be the proprietors of the commons on which they dug turf, pasture their cattle and collect wood, grass and fruits." The information before the Government of India appeared clearly to indicate that even before Kanara became British territory the ruling power had asserted its right and the British Government had done the same ever since the commencement of the century.

The Board of Revenue had departed from the attitude which it had first held, and was now taking the view of the Madras Government in the question; the Board had expressed the hope that when the Wargdars were placed in absolute possession of their forests "they may in their own interests put some check on Kumri clearings." A pious hope of this kind had been expressed by Sir Thomas Munro in 1822 in the case of the Malabar Teak Forests, but it was not fulfilled. The Board of Revenue might well have studied the history of the forests of the Presidency from that date before committing themselves to the reiteration of such a fallacy. As Brandis pointed out, nowhere in India had such proved the outcome of placing the landowners or the people in full and unchecked possession of tracts of forest to which their proprietorship had been admitted.

The settlement of the Forest rights in South Kanara should be the first work of the Special Commission, but this work, Brandis advised, should be extended and they should be entrusted with the enquiry into the State ownership of the forests in other districts of the Presidency. In the meantime,

however, the Madras Government should take measures to effect the speedy demarcation of the public forests. The Inspector-General did not omit to draw a lesson from the late devastating famine and one of the causes of the deplorable conditions it gave rise to. "In the districts the demarcation, protection and improvement of the public forests is a measure of pressing necessity, which must be no longer deferred. The misery of the late famine has been greatly increased by the denudation of the country, which has diminished the production of cattle fodder and has had an injurious effect on the water supply in streams and tanks (ponds).”

In a statement from Madras before the Government of India the total area of the Madras Government Forests was given as 9905 square miles. This applied to 12 districts only out of the 21 (Anantapur had been recently made into a separate district). This figure was a general estimate and would probably prove smaller when the area was correctly surveyed. It was recognized that the Madras Government were not opposed to the demarcation of the Government Forests, but no comprehensive statement of their policy was in the hands of the Government of India, whilst some of the expressions made use of, as, for instance, that in connection with the Cuddapah Forests quoted above, appeared to show that the Local Government did not contemplate the adoption of the necessary measures for the adequate protection of their forests.

The area of forest plantations amounted to 15,985 acres, the receipts from which were Rs.1,28,822 whilst the charges were Rs.4,74,303, including Rs.80,000 for the purchase of land. The most extensive of these plantations were in South Arcot, area 3550 acres, and the famous Nilambur Teak Plantations, area 3492 acres. The estimated area of the Fuel Reserves was 134,315 acres, of which 16,830 acres were in Cuddapah, 65,410 in South Arcot, 12,160 in Coimbatore and 19,369 in Salem. These were chiefly in the vicinity of the railways. The receipts and charges were Rs.9,609 and Rs.1,46,931 respectively, Rs.45,000 being on account of the purchase of land. This was a good commencement, but, Brandis considered, on a very small scale and out of all proportion to the requirements of the country.

The Madras Government had proposed to prepare a draft Forest Bill, but so far no copy had been submitted to the Government of India, though the latter had pointed out its great importance (No. 1381 F., of 15th October, 1877, and Reminder of 5th June, 1878). The former Government

appeared to be still rooted in the belief that it was impossible to distinguish between the rights of the Government and the people in the forests of the Presidency. It will be remembered that they had forwarded a suggested Act for the Province which was vetoed by the Government of India and that they had refused to have the new Forest Act (VII of 1878) applied to the Province (vide Vol. II, p. 472), and lengthy minutes explaining their reasons were written (February, 1878) by the Governor (the Duke of Buckingham), Sir W. Robinson and Mr. Huddleston, Members of Council. These minutes put the view held at the time by the Madras Government on the forestry question in so unequivocable a light as to confirm the impression that they were completely out of sympathy with the ideas and intentions of the Government of India and the Secretary of State. An interesting point in Robinson's Minute seemed to infer the existence of village or communal forests in Madras. He wrote: "No legislation can be suitable to Southern India which does not in limine recognise in specific terms the ancient landmarks of village communal property, and secure to the community the income of their joint property and special interest in its administration." Brandis' comment was: "If such communal forests really exist in Madras there will be no difficulty in organizing the administration for the benefit of the community having rights in them. Well-managed Communal Forests are a source of wealth in many countries of Europe."

The last Report in connection with the Forests of India, written by Brandis whilst Inspector-General, was entitled "Suggestions regarding Forest Administration in the Madras Presidency," issued on January 10th, 1883. This is a large volume covering every aspect of the suggested future administration of the forests of the Southern Presidency. A change in policy, with a change in the Government, had taken place in Madras and they had suggested to the Government of India that Brandis should be allowed to visit the Presidency to confer with the Government on the whole subject of forest conservancy. Brandis was placed on special duty preparatory to retiring from the Service and deputed to Madras, where he arrived on 3rd November, 1881. In apologizing for the length of his report, he states that as it is submitted on the eve of his retirement he would not have an opportunity thereafter of explaining any proposals, in case of doubt, and hence it had been necessary to use a wealth of detail which would have

otherwise, perhaps, proved unnecessary. He quaintly adds: "Such reports are not intended to be easy reading, and the greater portion of the present Report is only intended to be read by the Forest Officer employed in the districts to which my remarks relate." But in this statement Brandis was too modest. His Report might well be described as the Charter of the Madras Forests. It is a mine of useful and interesting information, suggestions and advice, based on a quarter of a century of as wide an experience of varying forest conditions and methods taken for their improvement as no man before him, and perhaps no man since, had ever enjoyed. To summarize such a Report is a task of considerable difficulty, and even the best of summaries cannot reproduce a tithe of the information nor portray the grasp of detail and the breadth of view the author so unmistakably exhibits in its pages.

Brandis spent a year in the Madras Presidency, and the following is a brief résumé of his movements and work. He arrived in Madras early in November, and with the Government's permission started on the 28th to visit the forests in certain districts, arriving at Ootacamund on the 21st March, 1882. During his tour he marched through the Chingleput and Nellore Districts in order to study the management of Jungle Conservancy under Collectors; examined a portion of the Cuddapah Forests; marched through a large portion of Bellary and the new district of Anantapur; then proceeded to Salem, South Arcot and Tinnevelly; and after seeing something of Madura completed the tour in the Coimbatore District. From March to November he was at Ootacamund, and during that period, as opportunity offered, he visited the forests on the plateau and the slopes. His main work here was in connection with the Forest Bill and Reports. On April 3rd he submitted to the Madras Government a rough draft Forest Bill with a memorandum in which he sketched the outlines of the general policy which he considered should be followed in forest matters. In the preparation of the Bill Brandis had the assistance of Mr. A. J. Stuart, subsequently Collector of North Arcot, and two Forest Officers, Messrs. A. W. Peet and H. L. Wooldridge, of Coimbatore and South Arcot respectively. A Committee was appointed by the Government (Order 5 of 24th March) to prepare the Forest Bill and to consider the proposals prepared by Brandis with reference to the management of the forests. This Committee consisted of Brandis, Major Campbell Walker, now the Conservator, and the following