440 THE HIGHLANDS OF CENTKAL INDIA. 



thought that before we reached Jubbulpiir on the 16tb 

 of July, I should have had to sit down decently and 

 give up the ghost. I had marched close on a thousand 

 miles in changes of camp alone since I left the station in 

 the preceding January. How much more should be 

 added for our exj)lorations it would not be easy to 

 say. 



The monsoon burst a day or two after ; and in the 

 comfort of the beautiful little station, and its pleasant 

 society, I soon got over my troubles. I was very much 

 broken in health, however, by constant exposure to the 

 malaria of the jungles, at all seasons of the year. 

 I had never lost the remains of the fever I had con- 

 tracted the previous year ; and, I may add, never did 

 so till I had a trip to England. 



I have no intention of attempting a treatise on 

 Indian forestry, for which, indeed, there are as yet few 

 available materials ; but a few remarks on the present 

 aspect of the question may not be out of place before 

 concluding my work. 



The Government of India has been ftdly awakened 

 to the necessity of watching over the important part of 

 their trust which resides in the forest regions. Even 



o 



now it is doubtful whether the clearances already 

 effected have not seriously deteriorated the rain- 

 fall of the country, as they certainly have much 

 impaired the supply of useful timber ; and the 

 example of many countries, ancient and modern,* 

 is a warning against rash interference with the life- 

 giving forests of hilly regions where rivers are born. 

 The scientific forester must now take the place of 



* A pamphlet, admirable for learning and research, on this 

 subject, by Dr, Dalzeil, Conservator of Forests in Bombay, exhausts 

 the subject. 



