CHAPTEE II. 



THE FORESTS OP THE UNITED PROVINCES. 



THE forests of the United Provinces are found at all elevations Topogm- 

 from a few hundred feet above sea level in the forests of the P 2/ 1 

 Gangetic plain, to the limit of arboreal vegetation at 13,000 feet 

 on the main ranges of the Himalaya. Consequently the situa- 

 tion of the forests varies from the perfectly level divisions of the 

 plains and the Tarai to the precipitous mountains forming the 

 sources of the Ganges and the Jumna. The forests of the Eastern 

 Circle are all in the plains south of the Nepal boundary, which 

 here runs at a distance varying from nothing to some 30 40 

 miles from the foot hills. The Western Circle comprises the 

 important Forest divisions which lie along the foot hills, consisting 

 partly of level land sloping towards the plains and partly of the 

 outer forest clad ranges of the Himalaya which here rise abruptly 

 out of the plain to an elevation of some 7,000 feet. This circle 

 stretches from the Sarda river to the Jumna and includes the 

 hill forests of Chakrata. The Kumaun circle includes all the 

 hill country of Naini Tal, Almora and Garhwal intersected 

 with innumerable streams and rivers on all aspects and with 

 every degree of slope from comparatively easy ground to abrupt 

 precipices. 



The forests of the United Provinces may be divided into five 

 broad zones : 



(1) The forests of the Himalayas. 



(2) The forests of the Submontane Siwaliks. 



(3) The forests of the Bhabar. 



(4) The forests of the Tarai and plains. 



(5) The forests of Jhansi and Banda. 



