my general knowledge of British Sikkim, and frequent examination of the map of Sikkim so far as completed, I am able to submit the following approximate statement of the extent of the Government forests, which, I believe, will be found to be tolerably correct."

This account was drawn up at the end of 1864, and forms a fitting termination to the review of the position and knowledge on the subject of the Bengal Forests at this time. Anderson's description of the Terai and hill forests of Sikkim is as follows:

"The Terai. The extent of this portion of the district may be estimated at 80,000 acres, of which about 25,000 acres consist of forests. The valleys of the tropical rivers of the Tista and Great Rungeet are filled with sâl forest. Since the annexation of the Bhutan Duars, both slopes of the Tista Valley have become British territory. I have carefully examined the Sikkim side of this valley, and find that it is rich in sâl. The portion of this valley which is British territory, that is, from the Terai to Independent Sikkim, at the junction of the Great Rungeet and Tista, is almost twenty miles in length. This gives about 30,000 acres of forest. The recently annexed slope of the river in Bhutan contains a much finer sål forest than that existing in the British Sikkim side of the valley. From its geographical position, this forest must be worked by the officer in charge of the Sikkim Division. The entire valley is the property of the Government.

The sâl forests of the Great Rungeet are, with the exception of about 200 acres, entirely the property of the Government. The forest is not less than 12 miles in length and extends to 2500 feet above the rivers. The northern slope of this valley is entirely covered with a valuable forest of sâl and Pinus longifolia. It is situated in Independent Sikkim, but I have been informed by Tehelm Lama that the right of working this forest might be obtained from the Raja of Sikkim on favourable terms.'

"The temperate forests of Sikkim comprehend all the territory of British Sikkim above 6000 feet, and has all been reserved for forest purposes since the notification dated 14th December, 1864. I estimate its extent at 600,000 acres. The forests of this region contain a large amount of valuable timber belonging to several species of oak, chestnut, magnolia, Bucklandia, Cedrela (tun), maple and walnut. The timber from these forests will be easily transported by means of the cart road."

The road here alluded to by Anderson was the Tista Valley road running down to Silliguri in the plains.

Anderson appended the following statement to this Report:

Approximate Tabular Statement of the Nature and Extent of the Government Forests situated in the District of British Sikkim.

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE OPINIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA AND THE SECRETARY OF STATE ON THE VALUE OF THE FORESTS, 1862

A

N endeavour has been made in the preceding chapters to trace the history of the forests in the different parts of India, so far as this has proved possible, during a period of approximately seventy years. The recognition of the value of the forests and of their importance to the general welfare of the community and the country as a whole, had been of very gradual growth. The realisation had not yet been achieved in some parts, whilst in others it was still questioned by the officials. Amongst the population, speaking generally, the value of the forests and the necessity of their conservation had received no recognition. That both the Secretary of State at home and the Government of India had become fully alive to the importance of the forests and imbued with the conviction that the introduction of a systematic conservancy was a work of immediate importance is evidenced by the two Despatches transcribed below, which form a fitting termination to this volume.

Some correspondence had taken place as to the Department of the Government of India under which the management of the forests should be placed. The Government of India had placed it under the Public Works Department on the grounds that that Department had the chief interest in the utilisation of the forests, a contention borne out, it is true, by the previous sixty years' operations in the forests. As the Secretary of State correctly pointed out, however, "the interests of the Public Works Department lie rather in procuring timber for present use than in preserving future supplies of the article." The Government of India explained that there was no separate Revenue Department in their Government. That unless placed under the Public Works Department the Forest Department would be under both the Home and Foreign Departments.

It would be inconvenient to place the new Department under the Home Department alone, as the mass of the forests were in the Non-Regulation Provinces. That if placed under the two Departments there would be divided control, which would be objectionable. The connection between the Forest and Public Works Departments would be a merely nominal one, no control being exercised by the officers of the Public Works Department over the Forest Officers or their management of the forests. In view of this explanation the Secretary of State reluctantly agreed to the proposal, stipulating that the new Forest Department should be strictly enjoined to act in concert with the Revenue Department, and that papers in connection with forest matters sent home should be marked Revenue Forests" in addition to " Public Works."

The Despatch from the Governor-General in Council to the Secretary of State on the subject of the forests is dated 1st November, 1862, and (omitting a few paragraphs irrelevant to the matter in question) is as follows:

"It will be convenient in the first place to refer briefly to the past history of forest administration by the Government of India, and to point out the steps by which matters have been brought to their present position. As to Madras and Bombay, no sensible interference with forest management by us takes place. Both of these Governments have an organised forest administration, but regarding this nothing need be said here, as it is not our present wish to suggest any change in regard to those Presidencies.

In Bengal till now (1862) nothing has been done in the matter of forests, and a sufficient commentary on the results of this neglect will be found in the fact that it is still necessary to import railway sleepers from Norway, because the available supply of suitable timber from indigenous sources is too costly or too small. Quite lately a proposal has come from the Bengal Government to appoint an officer to inspect the forests of Assam, with a view to determining what should be done with them, but we regret that we have not been able to name a qualified person for this duty. It appears that hitherto a certain revenue has been derived in that Province from licences to fell timber, but no regular system has been established. No doubt much the same state of things obtains in the other forest tracts of Bengal.

In Burma the importance of the forests has long been recognised. From the date of our first acquisition of the Tenasserim

Provinces the value of the teak timber exported from Moulmein was apparent. The late Mr. J. R. Colvin commenced the organisation of a Forest Department as long ago as 1847, when he was Commissioner of those Provinces; and since Dr. Brandis, the present Superintendent of Forests, has been in office, a period of seven or eight years, a steady improvement in the state of the Forest Department in the Burmese Provinces is believed to have been made, as well in the system of administration as in the net money return obtained by the Government, and in the supply of timber rendered available for the public.

In Oudh a Superintendent of Forests has been appointed since the reoccupation of that Province; from the latest information before the Government he is engaged in fixing the boundaries of the tracts of forest that are to be preserved and in preparing for their survey, which is going on at the same time.

In the North-Western Provinces the difficulty of obtaining timber has been painfully felt for the last fifteen years or more, but the administration of the forests there up to the time of the mutinies was a melancholy failure. A superintendent was appointed in 1854 to the charge of the forests in the Dehra Dun and the west of Rohilkund, the result of whose bad management was the completion of the ruin of almost all the forests that still contained good-sized trees. At present the most important part of the North-Western Provinces Forests is under the direct management of Lieutenant-Colonel Ramsay, the Commissioner of Kumaun, who has at last introduced order into the administration. But he works on the wreck of the forests, and it will take many years to restore them to a proper condition.

In the Punjab it is believed that there is no timber of any appreciable value, except on the mountain slopes within the Himalaya, and the tracts which contain timber are shared between the British Government and Native States. Dr. Cleghorn from Madras is now engaged in visiting these forests, and his Report to the Local Government may be expected

soon.

In the Central Provinces a superintendent was appointed in 1860, and it is hoped that matters are in train there to prevent further deterioration, and the development of this part of the resources of those districts; but here also all operations are based on almost ruined forests.