sixty pounds, provided his progress was satisfactory, towards defraying the expenses connected with his training. On the question of salary to be offered to the trained probationers Brandis wrote as follows:

"The next question is, What salary should be offered to induce good men to go through the training here described? Forest Officers in India frequently live isolated, far from immediate control of their superior officers; they require tact, consideration and sound judgment in their constant, and often difficult, dealings with the natives of the country. Moreover, the fatigue and exposure which the work necessarily entails, are great, and the malaria in most of the forests is an undeniable fact. We require, therefore, pre-eminently picked men, of a high moral character, a good constitution, even temper, and superior abilities; and it may be found, as a rule, advantageous to give preference, cæteris paribus, to young men of good family connections.

Under these circumstances I fear that it would be necessary to offer as high a salary as £300 per annum, to commence on the day of their landing in India. They would become entitled to the rights and privileges of other Forest Officers in the Uncovenanted Service as regards travelling allowances, leave and pension rules and promotion. But to ensure their devoting themselves with zeal to the study of native languages, a provision should be made that no rise of their pay on account of promotion would take place previous to their passing an examination in one of the languages, as prescribed by the Government under which they were serving.

It must, however, not be forgotten that, under the existing organisation, great hopes of promotion cannot be held out to these candidates. Should this experiment succeed, so as to induce Government to send out annually a number of men trained in a similar manner, the question of uniting the whole of the forest appointments, those of the Madras and Bombay Presidencies excepted, into one general list for promotion, would then have to be considered. This measure might make it possible to reduce the commencing salary, and still to secure the services of better men.

Another obstacle against the services of good men being obtained by the plan here suggested will be found in the fact that, at the present time, a number of young men go out to India on the chance of obtaining appointments in the

Uncovenanted Service of the police, the forests and other departments. Instances are not rare of such men obtaining, without previous special training, appointments in India worth £300 per annum, and more. Under these circumstances candidates for forest appointments, who have devoted nearly three years to a special training, may find themselves when joining their Department in India at a disadvantage as compared with others who gained time by going out to India without such training. This disadvantage can only be removed by making special training compulsory for forest appointments.'

Brandis then developed his reasons for having proposed that the whole training should take place out of Great Britain.

"I suppose I may assume as granted that, in Germany and France, forest administration is carried on on a much larger scale than in this country. Forestry there is a calling followed by young men of the best families, and the forests are managed according to a methodical system based on scientific principles.

A short time might, indeed, with advantage, be spent with an experienced wood manager in Scotland, and candidates for appointments in India should be encouraged to do this, and to obtain a certificate of their having done so. But the main part of the practical training, and the study of forestry as a science, must be done abroad. This being the case, it seems more convenient that candidates should go through the whole of their studies at one place, where the teaching is specially arranged to meet the requirements of Forest Officers.

Otherwise it would be possible to study the natural sciences, mathematics, the elements of surveying and engineering, in this country either with private tutors or at one of the Universities (Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin, University College, London), or at the School of Mines in Jermyn Street. But for forestry, the candidates would require to go to Germany or France, and it would, under this arrangement, be difficult to bring the whole course of studies and practical training within less than three years.

In conclusion, I deem it important to meet two objections to the plan here set forth. The first objection is, that the science and practice of forestry, as it has developed itself in Germany and France, is not applicable to India, the trees not being the same, and the climate being altogether different.

To this I reply, that the fundamental laws of vegetation, that is, of reproduction by seed or from stools, of nutrition, growth, disease and death, are the same in all climes and for all species of trees, which are of importance to the Forester; and that the plain fundamental principle of forestry, not to cut more within one year on a given area than is produced within the same time, either by natural growth or by planting, holds good wherever forest conservancy is attempted. Though the elaborate working plans of the French and German forests cannot at present be imitated in India, yet the study of a system carefully devised and successfully carried out in Europe will furnish the thinking Forester with useful suggestions for applying the principles of forestry in India.

The second objection is, that in the same manner as there are separate forest schools in the different countries of Europe, so a forest school should be established in India. To this I reply that it would be exceedingly difficult and expensive to secure for India the services of competent professors of forestry; that for many years to come the candidates for the higher branches of the Service must be drawn from England; and that their training in India would entail great expense without any corresponding advantage; finally, that the number of junior appointments to be filled up annually is not sufficient to warrant the establishment of a separate forest school."

These proposals received hearty commendation and support from the Secretary of State and Government of India, as is shown by the following extract from the former's Despatch, No. 8 (Rev. For.), dated 28th February, 1867 :

"In continuation of my Despatches of the 31st October, No. 63, and the 15th December, No. 81, of 1866, I have to inform your Excellency in Council that the selection of the young men to be trained on the Continent for forest service in India has been made by me, after the production of the requisite certificates by the candidates and their examination, conducted partly by Dr. Brandis, Inspector-General of Forests under your charge, and partly by the Civil Service Commissioners, with a view to ascertain the qualifications of the several applicants.

These examinations, as well as that by the Medical Board, were dispensed with in only one instance, that of Mr. Louis Gavin, the son of a deceased British soldier who served through the latter part of the Indian Mutiny, and died as a sergeant

instructor of musketry in Her Majesty's 71st Highlanders, at Gwalior, in 1860. This young man resided at Nancy, in France, where he had been brought up, and, whilst his physical capacity was shown by a medical certificate, his qualifications and character were vouched for by Monsieur Nanquette, the Director-General of the Forest School at Nancy, under whom all the young men sent to France will be placed, and who has most obligingly assisted the views of Her Majesty's Government in concerting with Dr. Brandis the necessary arrangements relating to this experiment. I therefore added him to the list of selected candidates, the other four being those who had shown themselves best qualified by their knowledge of the subjects required. Walter Henman, aged 17; Alfred Pengelly, aged 23; Edward M'Arthur Moir, aged 18; and Framjee Rustomjee Dasai, aged 20, son of a merchant at Bombay. These four, together with Louis Gavin, aged 18, have been directed to report themselves to Monsieur Laydeker, DirecteurGénéral des Forêts, at Paris on the 1st of March, to receive instructions for the commencement of their training.

I transmit herewith a copy of the Règlement, for this purpose, agreed upon by Monsieur Laydeker and Dr. Brandis, and approved by me in Council.

As these five young men were not, from their want of knowledge of the German language, qualified for training at Hanover, and as it seemed to me important that the experiment should be tried by the employment of men educated in forestry in Germany, as well as in France, I determined to select from the list of candidates who had passed the examinations two more, and have nominated John Kipper Hume, aged 20, and Albert Edward Wild, aged 20, who have been instructed to proceed to Hanover by the 1st of March, and report themselves to Forest Director Burckhardt, who has undertaken the charge of training them.

You will, I hope, therefore, receive seven persons well trained for service in the Forest Department at the end of 1869, or the beginning of 1870."

Brandis' third suggestion had reference to

(3) A general scheme for permanently improving the administration of the Forestry Department of India by sending out trained men from Europe.

Brandis explained his proposals with reference to this scheme in his letter to the Under-Secretary of State for India,

dated London, 13th July, 1867. The scientific training of young men for the Indian Service on the Continent had been attacked from several quarters in Britain, it being maintained by some botanical experts that all the training required could be given in the Science Schools of such Universities and Colleges as gave instructions in these subjects, and that the forestry part of the curriculum could be given in a botanical garden or nursery combined with visits to British woods, chiefly Scottish. Further, that a knowledge of German and French was not necessary to the Indian Forest Officer.

At some length Brandis discussed the difference between the scientific conservation of the forests in Germany and France which had been carried on for a considerable period of time (details now well known and therefore unnecessary to recapitulate here) and the management of woods in Britain which, with a few notable instances, and these, compared with continental forests, in comparatively small areas only, was very deficient. He explained the considerable difference in the training demanded of the scientific Forest Officer and that of the Forester who had charge of the British woods, although a long period was to elapse before this difference was clearly understood in Britain. To meet some of the views expressed he proposed, however, to modify his original proposals, and suggested that a year and a half of the period of training of the selected probationer should be spent at a British University or College in studying the natural sciences and so forth, the spring vacation being spent at work in a Scottish nursery. That an examination should then be held unless the certificates of the professors at the University were considered adequate, and that the probationers should then be sent to France or Germany to take a two years' course. As the period of training would be longer he suggested that a sum of £120 a year should be paid to the probationer during these two years.

Brandis' reason for advocating that the probationers should have eighteen months' training in the natural sciences was put forward partly to meet the opposition which had made itself felt at home on the subject of the men being entirely trained on the Continent, and partly because he said it would place the British students on a more level footing with their fellow-students at Nancy, the French students receiving full courses in these subjects before joining at Nancy.

The Government of India had called for the opinions of the Local Governments on Brandis' suggestion for the future