62 THE NEW FOREST 



Forest, apart altogether from any questions of 

 preservation of game or of sport. They are the 

 custodians who do all the policing of the public 

 property, and their duties are manifold. The Gypsy 

 population at some seasons very numerous and 

 often very lawless almost require a staff to them- 

 selves. For many reasons it has not been found 

 practicable to banish them altogether from a 

 Forest that is practically open to all His Majesty's 

 subjects ; but there is a code of rules for the 

 regulation of their camps and other proceedings, 

 and a great deal of the time of the keepers is 

 spent in enforcing those rules and checking the 

 depredations of these semi-savages. Again, the 

 very fact that the Forest is open to all the 

 public needs a staff of men to guard against ad- 

 vantage being taken of this liberty. Were it 

 not for the watchers employed, there would be 

 endless damage done by cutting of trees, stealing 

 of timber and of any portable property that is 

 worth money. 



The keepers also are in charge of the gravel 

 and sandpits which are all over the open Forest. 

 They measure the gravel dug ; regulate, under the 

 direction of the Deputy Surveyor or his assis- 

 tants, the ground where the gravel is to be dug ; 

 and render their accounts to the various High- 

 way Boards or other purchasers of gravel. Thus 



