In 1862-3 the revenue was distributed in the following proportion : From the Pinus longifolia forests. Rs. a. p. 2242 7 4 6209 II 2 8452 2 6 Cleghorn refers to the Report of the Committee appointed by Sir John Lawrence in 1856 to consider the matter of the iron works of Kangra and Mandi (already dealt with in Chapter XV) and its bearing on the forestry question, since iron smelting made large demands on the forests for wood. He concluded his Report of the Beas as follows: "Considering the enormous indents for railway sleepers, for the next 3 years at least, the pressing demands for other public works, the great consumption of fuel for iron manufacture, and the prospective want of wood for tea boxes in Kangra Valley, I recommend the immediate nomination of an officer to carry out the necessary operations (marking trees, launching logs, and registering the seignorage) in communication with the revenue authorities of the district. It is impossible to prevent the felling of trees placed in such a convenient locality as Manoli without an Assistant Conservator, whose services would be of great value in examining the forest resources of this division and in carrying out strict conservancy management. The forests of Kulu are extensive, but the woods of Kangra and Hoshiarpur are open and sparse. They have all acquired an increased value from the advancing prosperity of the district and the approach of railways. Heavy drains are being made upon them, and the remaining woods must be husbanded and turned to account as much as possible. This can only be effected by the reservation of tracts as Government domains, and the marking of mature trees by skilled persons to meet the annual demands." What an advance this is upon the old ideas which were prevalent for over half a century ! THE VALLEY OF THE RAVI RIVER Cleghorn crossed from Holta, in the Kangra District, to the head waters of the Ravi River in Chamba by the Waru Pass. The only previous record of a European having crossed this part of the Dhaola Dhar (White Mountain) was that of Mr. P. Egerton, C.S. Cleghorn made the journey in the last week of June, 1862, in wet weather, as the monsoon had broken, but was fortunate in obtaining a very fine view from the top of the pass (12,500 feet). He joined Mr. Smithe, the Superintendent of the Chenab and Ravi Forests, at Agralli on the Chamba side, elevation 8000 feet. The Ravi is the smallest and most rapid of the Punjab rivers. It rises in the British pargannah of Bara Banghal, and continues its intramontane course for 150 miles, debouching at Shahpur. General A. Cunningham was the first European to visit its source. In Bara Banghal the river is called the Rawa, and is formed by several impetuous streams issuing from large glaciers of 14,000 feet on the south side of the MidHimalaya, and hence the floods come down earlier than in the other Punjab rivers and subside sooner. The bed was at this period obstructed by rocks for many miles during its passage through the districts of Bara Banghal and Bara Bansu into Chamba. About forty miles below its source the Ravi proper is joined by two large tributaries, the Budhil and the Nai or Duna. There was not, Cleghorn records, a large supply of deodar at the head of the Ravi, either in the territory of the Rajah of Chamba, or in the British district of Bara Banghal. The mature trees adjacent to the river had been felled to a great extent, and those remaining were generally immature or high on the banks. The District of Bara Banghal is shut in with high hills on every side, the Ravi flowing through a cleft in the rocks, and is comparatively rainless. The drainage basin of the river in this part is therefore comparatively narrow. The great floods in the Lower Ravi are from the Seul, which flows through a wide open valley; from the Siawa, and from other streams below Chamba where the high hills recede and the periodical rains fall in abundance. The Budhil Stream, rising in the Lahul Range, issues in part from the sacred lake at Rani-Mahes, a mountain much frequented by Hindu pilgrims. Barmawar, the ancient capital of the Barma family, is beautifully situated over the stream, and the carved temples are shaded by lofty deodar trees. The Rajahs of Chamba for long carefully preserved the forests fringing the holy Budhil, but felling was commenced here by the then Rajah in 1858, in order to supply the British Government, and when granting permission to carry on forest operations in 1860 the district of Barmawar was specially named by the Rajah as being considered suitable for the work; the forest within a certain distance from the temples being reserved. This forms a striking, if somewhat sad, illustration of how the tempting offer of great profits from a source hitherto held sacred, for this particular deodar forest must have been revered by many for a long period, overcame the Rajah's religious feelings. And incidentally afforded evidence of how strong even then the craze for this particular timber animated one and all. Felling had been carried out by a contractor in 1860-1 on the Nai River, which rises in the Kalidebi Pass, and has a course of thirty miles to its confluence with the Ravi. Cleghorn considered that it was very desirable that this small valley should be examined with a view to forest operations, as a fair portion of the annual supply might be obtained from it. The Seul, coming from the north, drains a considerable basin between Chamba and Badrawar, joining the Ravi below the capital. Rising near the Sach Pass the Seul receives several long impetuous tributaries, at the heads of which clumps of deodar occurred; but owing to their configuration they were difficult for floating purposes: for instance, the sides of the Tisa nullah were only 20 feet apart and 162 feet above the water. Longden, in 1851, reported that 5000 logs might be expected annually from the valley, and Cleghorn and Smithe considered this estimate a probable one in 1861; but it would entail a considerable labour force and adequate supervision, as the forests were scattered and separated from each other by deep ravines. The Seul Valley is open and fertile, and was termed the "Garden of Chamba," supplying the capital and Dalhousie with grain. No good road existed, and Cleghorn recommended that the existing track should be improved, as it would be useful alike to the Forest Department in proceeding to and from Pangi, to the local inhabitants and to travellers. The Siawa falls into the Ravi above Bissoli. It was by this stream that deodar timber had been, and could still be, brought down from the territories of Jummu. The Maharajah of Kashmir had kept the felling of timber in his own hands apparently, and only sold to merchants when it had been brought to the river banks, following the plan adopted years previously by the Rajah of Nilumbur in Madras, as has been narrated. "By this wise policy," says the Doctor, |