Destruction and Deterioration 103 



recurring are not usually the work of a single fire, 

 but of numerous small fires burning throughout the 

 district. 



Ordinarily, during a dry season, there are many 

 small fires burning in all the forest regions of the 

 country, but especially where lumbering is actively 

 carried on, or where clearing for settlement is rap- 

 idly progressing. This is particularly true of the 

 coniferous forests, while broad-leaved woods are 

 comparatively exempt from fire. 



The odor of smouldering pine wood is one of the 

 most familiar sense impressions one experiences in 

 such districts. Its pungency is very characteristic 

 of the pineries, and never to be forgotten by one 

 who has once noticed it. These low smouldering 

 fires show very little flame. In the daytime, at 

 least, there seems to be nothing but smoke, a dense, 

 blue or grayish cloud rising towards heaven and 

 gradually taking a paler hue as it disperses in the 

 air. At night, one sees the fire itself gleaming 

 afar, close to the ground, without tongues of flame 

 breaking forth, but rather looking like a pile of 

 glowing coals. Very often the fire is located in a 

 stump of pine, or in a fallen log. In these cases it 

 rarely spreads to the surroundings. The grass and 

 litter for a foot or so surrounding the seat of the 

 fire is quickly consumed, marking a charred, black 

 circle. But thereafter this zone of charred litter 

 acts as a confining band, across which, under ordi- 

 nary conditions, the fire cannot spread to attack the 

 vegetation beyond. Thus the stump or log is 



