306 ' EFFECTS OF FORESTS UPON CLIMATE; CEYLON. 



Precautions against fires, daring the operations of catting wood. 



The reservation of certain valuable kinds, and proIiibiUoa against the barning of 

 these woods as fuel except the branches. 



Requiring every owner or tenant of woodlands to maintain a watch over the same, 

 and holding him responsible for damages. 



Preference given to the proprietor in working and drawing wood bought for the 

 King's service. 



Restricting the use for fuel to brush-wood and other kinds declared not fit for con- 

 eti-uction. 



Permitting the inhabitants of Port Louis to take wood for fuel where not declared 

 as reserved (but not for cabiuet-making) from certain royal reserves named. 



Proprietors cutting woods in regular manner were required to cut close to the 

 ground, and makers of charcoal to have their ovens at a distance from the woods. 



Restriction against allowing animals to graze in young woods, and requirements for 

 protecting such woodlands, by surrounding them with some defense. 



Requirement for planting trees along the public roads at the expense of the owners 

 of land. 



Appropriation of fines declared against owners becoming liable. 



In 17G7, a kind of tree known as the hois noire was introduced from 

 Bengal, and immense plantations were made. It proved extremely serv- 

 iceable, and grew so abundantly that cuttings could be made trien- 

 nially. A few years later the Litsea GJiinensis, known first as the 

 Chinese camphor, and later as hois d'oiseau.v, and the tree affording 

 the drug known as dragon's blood, were introduced and grew luxuri- 

 antly. 



Ordinances for the preservation of woodlands appear in the history 

 of the island through many years, and under these, the supplies became 

 abundant. The last of these regulations dates in 182G. The introduc- 

 tion of sugar-cane in recent years again led to extensive clearings, and 

 to the consequences above noticed. It can only be ascertained by 

 inquiries upon the spot, and by aid from records and the memory of 

 old inhabitants, as to whether plantings executed under these ancient 

 regulations had the full effect anticipated, or whether the apprehensions 

 then felt were from anticipated rather than existing injuries to the 

 climate of the colony. If it should be found that increased rain-fall fol- 

 lowed increased planting, the authorities of the island have their wel- 

 fare, in this regard, under their own control, and the world at large 

 will be taught another lesson in national economy.^ 



Cei/lo7i, 



The planting of tea and cofi'ee a few years since became an object of 

 active and to some extent a speculative enterprise, the soil and climate 

 being alike adapted to both, and with more profit than any other vege- 

 table products previously grown. This led to the extensive cutting off 

 of forests, to such extent that there was reason to fear that districts 

 hastily cleared under these inducements might be so changed that they 

 could not be permanently occupied when the fertility of the soil had 

 been lowered by a few years' cultivation. Dr. J. D. Hooker, of the 

 Eoyal Kew Gardens, to whom reports had been sent, in a letter dated 

 May 27, 1873, to the Earl of Kimberley, calling especial attention to the 

 consequences likely to follow this improvidence, says: 



It is principally on climatic considerations that the cutting down of forests seems to 

 require government supervision. There is good reason to think that in tropical coun- 

 tries the removal of wood operates eifectively in reducing the rain-fall. There can, at 

 any rate, be no doubt that the presence of forests plays a most important part in stor- 



'The regulations above noticed, and some facts concerning former planting, are 

 given in a pamphlet entitled, Sur le d^croissement des Forefs d lile Maurice (1837), con- 

 taining a memoir by L. Bouton, addressed to the Society of Natural History of Mauri- 

 tius, September 7, lb37, pp. 20. 



