FOREST DESTRUCTION 



and more dangerous than wild beasts. Some neolithic genius 

 imagined an artificial island made of logs in the midst of a 

 lake or inaccessible swamp. Such were the lake dwellings 

 which persisted into historic times, and which are indeed 

 still in existence in some parts of the earth.^ 



The trees were abundant ; they could be felled by the help 

 of fire and an axe, and the lake dwelling gave a secure 

 defence. The wood of some of the piles supporting the 

 great villages in Switzerland seems to be still sound, though it 

 has been under water for many centuries. Some villages are 

 said to have required hundreds of thousands of trees. 



The forest afforded man almost everything that he used, 

 bows and arrows, shelter, fuel, and even part of his food. 



Nuts and fruits would be collected and when possible 

 stored. In seasons of famine, they used even to eat the 

 delicate inside portion of the bark of trees. 



But as soon as the first half-civilized men began to keep 

 cattle, sheep, and especially goats, more serious inroads still 

 were made upon the forest. Where such animals are allowed 

 to graze there is no chance for wood to grow (at any rate in 

 a temperate country). The growing trees and the branches 

 of older ones are nibbled away whilst they are young and 

 tender. The days of the forest were nearly over when 

 cultivation commenced. Dr. Henry describes the process of 

 " nomadic "" culture in China as follows : " They burn down 

 areas of the forest ; gather one or two crops of millet or 

 upland rice from the rich forest soil; and then pass on to 

 another district where they repeat the destruction."^ A 

 very similar process of agriculture existed until the eighteenth 

 century in Scotland. 



^ Munro, Lake Dwellings. 



^ Royal Dublin Society^ vol. i. part v. No. 11. 



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