DEMARCATION 261 



i 



necessary to divert the path a short way from the 

 boundary. 



Boundary pillars should be erected at all angles of 

 the line, and if a straight line be long, intermediate ones 

 may have to be erected from distance to distance. All 

 pillars should bear a serial number, the numbers starting 

 from a well-known point and running right round the 

 forest back to the starting-point. Roman numerals 

 should be avoided, as being more costly 

 and less well understood ; but it may be 

 necessary to mark the numbers in the 

 vernacular character of the country. 

 These boundary pillars may either be 

 monoliths or they may be made of stone 

 or brick masonry, or they may consist of 

 cairns or of cones of earth with a solid 

 timber post which has been driven into 

 the earth sticking out of the middle. 



j Stone monoliths are so fashioned that, 

 although the portion which remains above 

 ground is cut into rectangular, prismatic, or cylindrical 

 form, that which is buried below the ground is left rough 

 so as to get a better grip and to be less easily uprooted 

 (Fig. 85). These boundary marks, although they are 

 fairly portable and can thus be fashioned in one place 

 and easily distributed even with mule or donkey trans- 

 port, are not to be recommended for places where there 



j is a heavy traffic, as careless carters frequently knock 

 them out of the ground or break them with their carts. 

 They are also apt to be broken up by mischievous 

 persons or put into new positions. 



Brick or masonry pillars, with good foundations and 

 with the number engraved on a slab of stone let in on 

 the external face, are the best. In India it is usual to 

 put in some charcoal under the foundations, as it is not 

 perishable, and makes it possible to find the exact site 

 even when the pillars have been removed. As a usual 

 rule it will be best to paint the pillars with a coat of 

 whitewash or with some other conspicuous colour ; an 





