88 



CHAPTEK I. 



BRITISH POSSESSIONS IN ASIA. 

 EAST INDIA. 



It would be beyond the scope of this work to give here a 

 detailed account of all those points on which the general 

 forest policy of India must depend. A few notes on the 

 physical configuration of the country and its climate are, 

 however, indispensable, before dealing with the forest question 

 itself. 



India is a very large country ; it extends from the 8th to 

 the 35th degree northern latitude, and from the 67th to the 

 100th degree eastern longitude. Its length from north to 

 south is 1,920 miles, and its greatest breadth, including 

 Upper Burma, is about the same. On the whole, India 

 proper is of a triangular shape, the Himalayas forming the 

 base on the north, while the southernmost point is Cape 

 Comorin. The triangular peninsula has the Arabian Sea on 

 the west, the Indian Ocean on the south and the Bay of 

 Bengal on the east. Burma lies to the east of the Bay of 

 Bengal. The total area of the Indian Empire is given as 

 1,766,797 square miles, or about fourteen times that of the 

 United Kingdom, and the population as 294,360,356, or about 

 seven times that of the United Kingdom. An area of 1,087,000 

 square miles, with 232 million people, is British territory, 

 while the rest is divided amongst native states which are 

 under British suzerainty. 



1. PJiysical Configuration of the Country. 



The physical configuration of India is very peculiar. 

 Generally speaking, apart from Burma, the country may 



