important to His Excellency in Council that these reserves should be in large blocks of compact shape, and with convenient boundary lines.

The large amount of irrecoverable balances due on account of forest revenue from timber, bamboos and grazing dues, Rs.15,600, as reported by Mr. Strettell in para. 13 of his Report, is unsatisfactory. The remarks on this subject by Captain Mackenzie, in para. 26 of his Report for 1867-8, would seem to indicate a faulty system in this respect. The management of the forests in the Assigned Districts has now been entrusted to the officers of the Forest Department, and His Excellency in Council trusts that efficient arrangements will be made to guard against similar losses of revenue in future.

In para. 169 you allude to a visit to Berar by the Inspector-General of Forests in March last. Mr. Brandis has reported that in April, 1869, he submitted to you a Report, with detailed proposals for the management of the Berar Forests, and I am directed to enquire whether any action has been taken regarding the proposals of that Report."

In the above review there is no mention of the remarks which Captain Mackenzie had made on the subject of the continued practice of "dhya " cultivation in the Berar Forests. The Secretary of State, however, commented on them, saying: "Every effort should be made to get rid of this pernicious custom, which keeps the people from civilisation, and renders proper conservancy impossible."

It is curious how much more backward Berar was in matters of Forest Conservancy at this date than the Central Provinces. It required a visit from Brandis to set the forest machinery in working order.

CHAPTER VII

THE PROGRESS OF FOREST CONSERVANCY IN THE PUNJAB,

D

1865-1870

R. J. L. STEWART was appointed the first Conservator of Forests in the Punjab in 1864 and, as will be related later, one of the first pieces of work he carried out was a careful enquiry into the fuel supplies required for the Punjab Railway. This matter, it will be remembered, had already received some attention from Cleghorn during his investigations into the state of the Punjab Forests, as already detailed in Volume I. Before considering this question of fuel supplies it will be of interest to glance at what was being done in the Himalaya.

From what has been already said in Vol. I, Ch. XXII, et. seq., on the subject of the Punjab Himalayan forests it will have become apparent that there was a serious danger of the supplies of deodar timber becoming restricted, if not of entirely failing, in a not distant future unless drastic steps were taken to stop the excessive and extensive felling to which these forests were being subjected. Cleghorn had pointed out quite clearly that neither the Chamba State Forests nor those of the Bushahr State could stand fellings on the scale that had been taking place during the past decade. On his own initiative the Rajah of Chamba, in 1864, suggested that the Government of India should lease his forests for a period of years, a suitable scale of payment being made to him for the lease. In their Despatch (Rev. For., No. 2, dated 23rd February, 1865) the Governor-General (Sir John Lawrence) in Council were able to inform the Secretary of State that a lease of these forests had been obtained. This lease provided that the sole control of all the forests in the territory of Chamba should be vested in the British Government for a period of 20 years, renewable on the expiry of that term at the pleasure of the British Government for a further period of 20 years, and so on for 99 years. At the expiry of the last period it would be open to the Rajah

to end the agreement, or enter into a fresh one. The main provision of this lease was that the Punjab Government undertook to pay the Rajah of Chamba an annual sum of Rs.20,000 during the first 20 years of the operation of the lease. This sum was calculated on the supposition that at least 5000 trees per annum would be available for felling, which, at the rates for deodar in force at the time, would cover the amount of the payment. The Punjab Government, however, provided a safeguard to some extent by a clause which allowed one-fourth of this sum of Rs.20,000, or as much of it as might be required within that limit, to be made available for the improvement of the forests and for opening out communications through them.

The Secretary of State (No. 29, dated 8th June, 1865) approved of the action taken.

On the 6th September following the Government of India (F., No. 13) were able to inform the Secretary of State that a lease had been obtained of the Bushahr Forests. In this Despatch they wrote: "On a proposal from the Government of the Punjab, made early in 1863, based on an offer of the Rajah of Bushahr that Government should take over the management of the forests within his territory, and in consideration of the important bearing of the forests in the Sutlej Valley on the supply of timber to the Public Works Department, and especially to the railway in the Punjab, a lease of these Forests for a term of 50 years has been entered into with our sanction.

The system of management to be pursued is generally similar to that approved in your Despatch, No. 29, dated 8th June last, for the Chamba Forests, and we have instructed the Punjab Government to give the Rajah a pledge to that effect as a counter-agreement.'

The Bushahr Forests had been carefully examined by Brandis, Stewart and Captain Wood, and a Report and valuation of their timber contents had been made. In the Report some reference was made to the possibility, if considered to be in the interests of the British Government, of working these forests without reference to their future maintenance or reproduction! The demand for timber on the part of Government Departments was, we know, very great at the time; but it is difficult to believe that Brandis could have ever entertained the idea of cutting out the Bushahr Forests to supply this demand.

In any event, the Secretary of State in his Despatch (R., No. 51, dated 30th December, 1865), whilst sanctioning the lease of the forests for a period of 50 years, wrote, on the above subject: "I must observe that even were it expedient, in the interests of the British Government, to work these forests without reference to their maintenance and reproduction, such a course would not be fair towards the Rajah without his full consent and approbation. The proposed re-examination of the deodar localities between Bussahir and the plains, however, seems very desirable, and I shall be glad to learn that it may be found that there are yet left some forests in that region which can be profitably worked."

The question of the supplies of sleepers and fuel for the Punjab railways was receiving anxious attention at this period. The latter will be dealt with later on. As regards the sleeper supplies, both Major Warrand, R.E., Deputy Consulting Engineer, Punjab, and Cleghorn had submitted Reports. The latter's estimates as to the amount of deodar which would be available were at first too optimistic and were somewhat reduced. In a Memorandum dated 4th February, 1865, on these Reports, Brandis discussed the amounts of timber available.

Most of the timber, he considered, would probably be drawn from the forests of Chamba, Bushahr and Tehri Garhwal, from whom leases had been obtained. It was estimated that about 200 tons of timber would be required for the sleepers of each mile of railway; but, under the contract, one-half of the length was to be laid with iron pot sleepers. For the other half, about 30,000 tons of timber would be required during the following four years. There appeared to be no reason to apprehend that by adopting fir (i.e. pine) impregnated with chloride of zinc, there would be any difficulty in meeting the demand. It was calculated that within this period 2,300 tons could be obtained from the forests of the Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, independently of the large supplies which might be obtained from those of the Jumna and Ganges. The sets of Burnetizing apparatus (for impregnating the pine sleepers) which had been got out by the Railway Company had been made over to contractors and were to be erected in suitable localities.

The Report on Forest Administration in the Punjab for 1864-5, drawn up by Stewart, gives evidence that considerable progress had already been made in the introduction of

conservancy into the Himalayan Forests, which were the first to receive attention, although the Conservator had travelled extensively in and inspected most of the forest areas in the plains during the year. The Himalayan Forests had been formed into five divisions, bearing the names of the five Punjab rivers.

The general results of the year's operations may be briefly summarised as follows:

"On two of the rivers, the Beas and Sutlej, operations commenced only in 1864; there was consequently no income from these divisions during the year. The expenditure incurred on them amounted to: Beas Division, Rs. 7,337; Sutlej Division, Rs.11,012; total, Rs.18,349.

Work was continued on the Chenab and Ravi Rivers, and the operations on the Jhelum River, which was not then a sanctioned division, are exhibited.

The results of the year's operations are:

(a) Expenditure incurred:

Rs.

Rs.

1,30,226

64,085

15,275

2,09,586

1,84,348

13,188

24,063

Total Sales

Showing that the sales exceeded expenditure by

2,21,599

12,013

(c) At the same time the estimated value of the timber at the

depots has not fallen, the figures being :

Value of timber depots at the end of the year

1863-64 .

Ditto, ditto, 1864-65

::

Showing an increase of the value of timber in

hand of

9,108

(d) Nor is there reason to think that the quantity of timber in the rivers, which has been launched but has not reached the depots, is less than it was at the end of the previous year, for :

The number of new logs launched is stated at

43,170

While the number taken out of the rivers is given at 36,953 only.