Early Attempts at Forest Control. 393 



Teak on a large scale at Nilambur. In 1847, Dr. 

 Gibson was appointed Conservator of Forests in 

 Bombay; from 1848 to 1856, Lieutenant (now General, 

 C. S. I.) James Michael conducted the government 

 timber operations in the Anamalai Teak forests 

 (Madras), and made the first recorded attempts to 

 protect Indian forests from injury by annual jungle 

 fires. 



In 1856, Dr. Hugh Cleghorn was appointed Con- 

 servator of Forests in Madras. He checked the 

 destructive practices of temporary cultivation in the 

 government forests of that Presidency, a measure, 

 which at first was strongly opposed by the people, 

 but his well-known desire to promote native interests 

 inspired the rulers of the country with confidence, 

 and finally his measures were successful. 



Various attempts at some kind of regulation of the 

 exploitation by lumbermen were also made by the 

 general government, after various examinations and 

 reports, and, in 1847, even a small and ineffective 

 forest department was organized. 



The annexation of the Province of Pegu in lower 

 Burma, in 1852, introduced a new complication, and 

 proved the turning point in forestry matters. In this 

 province, the right to cut Teak had been reserved by 

 the native princes, and hence became a right of the 

 crown, but private lumbermen began to cut this 

 timber, and, after an investigation and report, it was 

 decided to take definite steps to regulate the use of 

 these valuable Teak forests at least. 



Lord Dalhousie, the then Governor-General, upon 

 the basis of the report of the superintendent of forests 



