200 



chronicles of the King of Oude, or the Ruler of some 

 other native State, yet it is taken from a Blue Book 

 on waste lands situated in territories under British 

 rule. 



' After spending nearly 40 ; 000/. in the three estates 

 of Hope Town and Arcadia alone, in reclaiming the 

 waste lands, bringing a population into the Doon 

 from the plains, building mills, machinery, canals, 

 draining, &c., the Government ruled that our pro- 

 prietary right was inchoate only, and therefore not 

 complete even in lands brought under cultivation.'"* 



'Permission was given to any one who sought it, 

 to fell and carry away the timber in our forests, 

 on the payment to Government of a price for the 

 privilege and right of so doing, and which was col- 

 lected on it its leaving the Doon, not as a toll or 

 tax, for the tax 'upon timber and other articles 

 imported had been abolished in 1836. f Our right 

 to protect and preserve our pro- 



and"xfv ta onl4 3 : fl83G ' P<7 disputed or overruled 

 by the Government, until the 

 right for which we had been straggling was annul- 

 led, by the destruction of all timber, even to the 

 seed-bearing trees. We were compelled to submit 

 to trespassers from the plains, who brought with 

 them extensive herds of murrain-infected cattle 



* The opinion of counsel was taken on this subject, both in India 

 and England, which declared the proprietary right of the graatees 

 to be complete, Note by Col, Thomas. 



