THE GREAT CHIR PINE FOREST 185 



acres, and the usual number of measurable trees per 

 acre is about twenty-eight, being seven trees of the 

 first class, and seven each of the second, third, and 

 fourth classes per acre, besides seedlings. The first- 

 class trees are over 8 feet in girth, and some chir-trees 

 measured 14 feet in girth and 140 in height. The age of 

 such a tree is computed from the rings to be 260 years, 

 and a second-class tree of 6 feet girth takes 160 years to 

 grow to that size. The timber of the chir is like pitch 

 pine or red pine, beautifully grained, and very strong and 

 durable under cover. It is full of turpentine. All the 

 roads which traverse the lower hills (generally bridle- 

 paths, following the ridges and contours as much as 

 possible to avoid constant descents and steep ascents) 

 pass through miles and miles of the familiar chir forest ; 

 and the recollection of those fiery-hot and almost shade- 

 less miles over dry and heated soil and rocks is burnt into 

 the minds of all hill travellers. The ground at certain 

 seasons, before the grass has been burnt over, is covered 

 with the spines or leaves shed in the spring season, and 

 these are so slippery that it is doubly tiring. The heated 

 air is drawn upward by the sun, and whistles and moans 

 through the branches, and the glare from the ground is 

 scarcely modified by the scanty shade from the loose, 

 feathery tree-tops. No underwood grows, as the annual 

 fires, fed by the turpentiny leaves, make a clean sweep of 

 all young vegetation except the grass, which is of a harsh 

 and slippery sort. No one is likely to forget the chir forest, 

 with its heat and wearisome monotony. Yet it is beautiful, 

 and the distant blue ranges through the red stems and the 



Acres. 

 Abies Smithiana (kurchella) - - - 26,908 



Cupressus torulosa (sarai) - - - 4'9.38 



Cedrus deodara {dtQdia,x) . . - 1,500 



