In 1868 a report had been drawn up on the question of selecting teak Reserves, in which conditions as to accessibility, nearness to floating streams, extent, tendency to form irregular stems and so forth, had been laid down. But little of this demarcation of Reserves had been accomplished in the interval, and, as Brandis remarked, "since 1868, eight years of incessant taungya cutting have elapsed, and the area of good forest now available for demarcation is much less than it was at that time. Within the limits to which the present remarks relate, therefore, we must demarcate good forest whenever we can obtain it in compact blocks of sufficient size to make its protection and management possible, leaving in every forest district, but outside the Reserves, areas amply sufficient for the requirements of the Karens."

It may be suggested that Brandis' proposals, as here adumbrated, might be well worthy of the consideration of Officers in the Forest Services under the Colonial Office, many of whom are faced with the problems of shifting cultivation and the rapid disappearance of valuable forests which this practice inevitably brings in its train.

The Inspector-General then considered in detail the procedure to be followed by the Forest Settlement Officers in the work of demarcation, a procedure which is now well known and therefore need not be gone into here. He advised, however, that the Forest Officers, whilst engaged on the selection work, should record preliminary proposals regarding the girdling operations to be conducted in the selected Reserves. This would be a help to the future Divisional Officer. They might even in some cases undertake girdling operations in more inaccessible areas. Pending the selection of the Reserves, it may be mentioned that girdling had been stopped under orders of the Government.

The Demarcation Officers were to lay out the boundaries of the Reserves so as to leave sufficient forest outside from which the agricultural population of the vicinity could obtain their bona fide requirements in wood, bamboos, grass and grazing,

etc. When this was not possible it would be necessary to allocate blocks of forest for the local villages and give them certain definite privileges to materials within them. But no occupiers of agricultural land taken up after the creation of the Reserves could participate in these privileges. All existing rights would be enquired into on the spot by the Demarcating Officers, and eighteen months would be allowed for appeals

from their decisions. After the lapse of this period a special Commission should go round the boundaries, with powers to enquire into the appeals and settle them once for all.

The question of the District Forests now requires consideration. After the conquest of Pegu, by notification of the 26th September, 1853, all forests in the Province were declared the property of the Government, and teak was at the same time declared a reserved tree (vide Vol. I, p. 244). Government had therefore the indisputable right to all unalienated forest and waste lands as the successors to former Governments who held this right. Under this right, and under Rule XII of the Rules of 1865, by notification of 2nd June, 1873, thitkado and thitka trees, and by notification of 1st January, 1876, thingan, thitvee, kodoh, pyinkado, padouk, anan (Fagraa fragrans), engyin, thitya, eng, þymmah, kanyin (Dipterocarpus turbinatus), and sha (Acacia Catechu) had been declared reserved trees. The definition of District Forests would be simple; the forests demarcated as Reserves would be State Forests, and those not included in Reserves would be District Forests. Brandis, however, anticipated that a third class of forest might eventually be demarcated, in Burma, in the following words:

"In the open and forestless parts of the country, such as portions of the Irrawaddy valley and delta, an attempt will be made to preserve scrub and jungle on high ground or elsewhere where the land is not fit for paddy (rice). In such localities the formation of village forests would probably be a popular move among the agricultural population. These woodlands would be demarcated and sufficiently protected. No taungya or other cultivation should be permitted within them, but they should be maintained to furnish fuel and grazing, shade and shelter to the village cattle.

"Government should retain full proprietary rights over these woodlands, and should, in the interests of the people, control their management, but otherwise they would be in the position of communal forests, their produce would be shared by the villagers, and they would be free to them for pasture as far as would be compatible with their proper maintenance."

Here we have the dream of every keen and thoughtful Forest Officer put into a nutshell, the control being by the Forest Officer and based on a Working Plan, as in Europe.

The suggestions for the management of the District Forests may be briefly epitomized as follows:

They were to be in charge of the Civil Officers, assisted by the Forest Officers. No demarcation of these areas had yet been undertaken in any district, so no general proposals for their management could be laid down. Brandis suggested (1) There would be no interference with taungya cutting, save that teak must not be touched without permission. (2) Local agricultural population to obtain their bona fide requirements, including the reserved trees (except teak) free from the forests. This permission to be also granted to old residents living near the outer line. (3) For trade purposes two classes of permits to be issued: first, for minor products to be issued by the District Officer, the counterfoils to go to the Forest Office; second, for timber of certain reserved kinds, the payment would be a fee before the tree was felled, and a royalty on the material when it passed the Forest Revenue station. Only eng, pymmah, engyin, thitya, thingan, kodoh and pyinkado could be so sold, the other reserved species, being more valuable, to be worked out departmentally as required. (4) Custody of teak throughout the Province should remain under the Forest Department; since its strict protection had come into force the beneficial results had been surprising. (5) Receipts and expenditure on account of the District Forests to appear in the accounts of the Forest Department.

Brandis commented on certain articles of minor produce which were becoming scarce, instancing the leaves of mhayaben (Cordelia sp.), which furnish the best covering leaf of Burmese cheroots. Owing to the wasteful methods of collecting, these trees were now scarce in forests (Magayee and Hline) from which in former years large quantities were sent to Rangoon.

In the last section of this admirable Report Brandis turns to the question of the organization of the Staff and its work.

In his 1873 Report Baden-Powell had recommended an increase in the subordinate establishment. This had been effected and the staff now consisted of 18 Rangers, 17 Head Foresters, 20 Junior Foresters and 24 Forest Guards, the rates of pay having been increased throughout on the incremental basis. At this period the staff was stationed on the streams, each stream being in charge of a Junior Forester or Forest Guard, whilst the Rangers and Head Foresters were in charge of groups of streams. This, of course, followed the old precedent in the manner in which the timber contractors and licensees worked, as they had no care for the improvement of the forests. In future, however, as soon as the demarcation was completed in any Division, the staff would be redistributed to the Reserves (have charge of blocks of forest) and no longer be confined to looking after the extraction work on the streams.

In the controlling staff the important departure made was to appoint separate Demarcation Officers. This staff was not yet complete, but, as has been shown, it was to be concentrated on the area above described and not frittered all over the Province. Brandis strongly advised that this staff should be maintained until all the demarcation work was completed. The proposed strength was 2 Deputy Conservators and 3 Assistant Conservators. As regards the Province as a whole, the Forest Divisions which should be formed or maintained were as follows: (1) Timber Depot, Agency Office and Rangoon Division, I Deputy, I Assistant Conservator; (2) Drift and sea-shore timber, river police and drift-timber stations on Irrawaddy and Hline Rivers, I Assistant Conservator (this Division was formed for the better control of drift-timber and to work out more vigorously the large quantities of timber drifted out to sea, some of it years ago, and lying stranded and half buried in the mud of the Sittang River). (3) Tharrawaddy Division, I Deputy, 1 Assistant. (4) Prome, I Deputy. (5) Western Division, north, I Deputy. (6) Western Division, south, I Assistant. (7) Sittang, 1 Deputy, I Assistant. (8) Salween Division, including Kado Depot, I Deputy, I Assistant Conservator. In addition, at least 2 Supernumerary Sub-Assistant Conservators would be required. Brandis considered that this was the minimum staff necessary for Burma at this period, and to maintain it at its full strength a regular recruitment of junior trained assistants at one per year should be maintained. "Language, climate and vegetation," said Brandis, "separate the forest service of Burma from that of the other Provinces under the Government of India, and the Forest Department in this Province will probably more and more become a local service." He also pointed to the disparity in pay in the controlling ranks between the Forest and the Police, whose emoluments were much higher although they did not receive a specialized training before joining the service.

Although strongly advocating commencing the demarcation work in the area above alluded to, it is apparent that Brandis would have himself preferred to start demarcating Reserves in the Attaran Forests and commencing plantations on a large scale there," but it would probably be necessary to defer this, like many other useful projects, for the present.'

The average annual revenue for the six years 1856-7 to 1861-2 (Brandis' regime) was Rs.2,77,352, and for the seven

years 1868-9 to 1874-5 was Rs.9,08,908. The average annual cash surplus for the same periods rose from Rs.30,357 to Rs.4,66,621. Nearly the whole of the revenue was from teak timber. The question to be solved was whether the growing stock of teak in the forests under the control of the Department was equal to furnishing a continuous annual yield of 45,000 tons. That point could only be determined by a systematic examination of the growing stock, and this work could not be commenced until the staff had been increased to the cadre above mentioned.

In 1880 Brandis paid another visit (his last) to Burma and spent the first four months of the year there. At this period Mr. B. Ribbentrop was Conservator of the Pegu Circle, and Major Seaton Conservator of the Tenasserim Circle. The Report written by Brandis on this visit, entitled Suggestions Regarding Forest Administration in British Burma " (dated Calcutta, 20th January, 1881), is a volume in itself. It forms a concise history of the progress made in Forest Conservancy since he first landed in Burma in 1856, and introduced the true principles of forest administration, which he was subsequently to be the means of spreading throughout the Indian Empire. Through its pages it is possible to trace the steps, both retrograde and progressive, which had placed Burma in the position she had now attained. And in imagination one can visualize and sense the pride of the man who, on the threshold of retirement, was able to compile such a Report as this and speak with the authority which rings through it. It is more than probable that, for many parts of our more backward Empire Forests, a perusal of this Report would be as valuable to-day as at the time it was penned. It may be added that the Report only relates to the Pegu and Tenasserim Forests. No regular forest administration had yet been introduced into Arakan; and Upper Burma had not yet been annexed. It is unfortunately impossible to do more than deal briefly with its main points.

The demand for teak timber, as Brandis had forecasted, showed no signs of diminishing. For the eight years 1856-7 to 1863-4 the total mean annual imports had been 85,056 tons (of 50 cubic feet), the mean annual exports 76,763 tons, and mean annual local consumption 8293 tons; for the five years 1869-70 to 1873-4 the figures respectively were 133,204, 98,095 and 35,109 tons; and for the years 1874-5 to 1878-9 respectively 227,149, 134,563 and 92,586 tons. The quantities imported approximately represent the

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