370 THE HIGHLANDS OP CENTEAL INDIA. 



existing supply of plough-cattle would be highly objectionable. 

 But I think that no apprehension of the sort need be enter- 

 tained from the probable reclamation of such tracts as the 

 Mandla" savannahs. Sufficient forest land must always remain 

 in the higher regions to furnish the green bite at the end of 

 the hot season, which is all that is necessary to tide the herds 

 over the most trying part of the year ; and, for the rest, the 

 people will soon learn to do as other countries have done, and 

 as other parts of India even have done, namely, devote a part 

 of the cultivated area to the raising of green pasture, by 

 irrigation, for the cattle. This fine natural pasture is no 

 doubt a great advantage ; but it is not at all indispensable 

 even in India. 



It is indeed impossible that such a country as this can long 

 remain a wilderness occupied by herds of buffaloes and wild 

 beasts. In natural capabilities it is favoured beyond most 

 regions of India. Soil of every character abounds ; and almost 

 every known product of eastern agriculture thrives admirably 

 where trial has been made. Wheat, grain, rice, cotton, and 

 especially flax, have been proved to flourish; and there can 

 be little doubt that sites might be found in which every other 

 article that has been grown in India, including the potato, 

 tea, coffee, and cinchona, might be successfully raised. The 

 breeding of stock, including horses, but probably excepting 

 sheep, would no doubt be most profitable in a region where 

 natural pasture, shade, and water are so abundant. 



The resources of the country in iron and other mineral 

 wealth have never been fully examined, though it is evident 

 on the surface that they are abundant. Gold is washed out 

 of the sands of more than one of the streams, in small 

 quantities, however, which barely repay the labour; and it 

 is probable that its lodes are buried in the quartz of the 



