106 EAST INDIA. 



started a plantation which is now well known as the Nilambur 

 teak plantation. Dr. Gibson was appointed Conservator of 

 Forests in Bombay in 1847. Lieutenant Michael was in 

 charge of operations in the Anamalais from 1848 until 1855. 

 Dr. Cleghorn commenced forest conservancy in Mysore in 1847, 

 and he was appointed Conservator of Forests in Madras in 

 1856. These are some of the earlier pioneers of forest conser- 

 vancy in Southern and Western India. In the meantime, in 

 1852, Pegu had been annexed, and the question of the Burma 

 teak forests occupied the Government of the time. It was at 

 this juncture that Lord Dalhousie, the great administrator, 

 took up the matter and for the first time laid down a com- 

 prehensive forest policy. The steps which he took are indicated 

 in paragraph 82 of his " Minute," dated 28th February, 

 185G, reviewing his administration in India from 1848 to 1856. 

 One of his last measures in connection with forest adminis- 

 tration in 1856 was the appointment of Dr. Brandis (now Sir 

 Dietrich Brandis) to the post of Superintendent of the Pegu 

 forests. This officer, in his endeavour to preserve the fine 

 Burma teak forests, carried on a determined struggle with the 

 mercantile community of the province, whose object was to 

 see the forests thrown open to private enterprise en the plea 

 that the supply of teak was inexhaustible, and v.iLh the object 

 of getting the greatest possible profit out of the forests in the 

 shortest possible time. Lord Dalhousie having then left 

 India, victory hung long in the balance, but with the 

 help of Major Phayre (afterwards Sir Arthur Phayre), 

 Dr. Brandis was ultimately victorious, and the greater 

 portion of the Lower Burma teak forests was saved, forests 

 which now yield an average annual net revenue of 2^ million 

 rupees. 



In 1862 Dr. Brandis was called to Simla to advise Govern- 

 ment on forest conservancy in other parts of India. At the 

 outset he worked in conjunction with Dr. Cleghorn, and in 

 1864 he was appointed the first Inspector-General of Forests 

 to the Government of India. From the year 1862 until 1883 



