CH. V 



MAN AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS 83 



of forest administration reports will soon show. First 

 of all they may be caused by act of God, such as by 

 lightning. I have also heard of a case where a forest 

 was set on fire by a boulder of quartzite rolling down a 

 slope and, in striking another rock, giving out a 

 spark which set the dry herbage and pine needles close 

 by on fire. It is said that dry bamboos or branches 

 rubbing together in the wind may also cause fire, but 

 I know of no authenticated case. The Duke of the 

 Abruzzi, in his exploration of Ruwenzori, found the 

 traces of a fire among the Tree-Senecios, probably due 

 to natural causes, high above the habitations of man. 



In countries where dangerous wild animals abound, 

 such as elephants, rhinoceros, buffalo, tiger, lion, or 

 leopard, fire is often brought into requisition to clear 

 the paths through the forest and to enlarge the field of 

 vision or in order to drive the animals away. There are 

 also cases of mischief or revenge, as where some villagers 

 repay the administration for excluding their cattle from 

 favourite grazing-grounds, and others of simple curiosity 

 or carelessness ; and it may unfortunately happen that, 

 in burning fire-lines to protect the forest from invading 

 fires from outside, the wind may suddenly veer round 

 and enter the forest, notwithstanding the efforts of the 

 forest staff. 



The evergreen forests of the wet zone are the most 

 immune from the dangers of forest fires, but they are not 

 entirely so, and where they stand close to grazing- 

 grounds which are set fire to every year they gradually 

 give way to the onslaughts of the fires. In the wet 

 montane zone of Ceylon, for example, wide tongues of 

 grassland extend into the forest, which are due to the 

 encroachments of fires coming from the drier side of the 

 island. Upon the cleared area a herbaceous vegetation 

 has established itself, the remains of which form a sour 

 humus, the properties of which are such that forest trees 

 can with difficulty re-establish themselves. 1 



1 H.'H. W. Pearson, "The Botany of the Ceylon Patanas," in Linn. Soc. 

 Journal, Botany, vol. xxxiv. 



