206 REPORT — 1872. 



India into regions and zones according to the more or less heavy rainfall during the 

 year. The arid region, with an annual rainfall of less than fifteen inches, occupies 

 a large portion of the north-west corner of India, from the Salt range in the north 

 to the mouths of the Indus in the south, and from the Suleiman range in the 

 west to the Aravulli Hills in the east. It includes the southern portion of the 

 Pun j ah, the province of. Sindh, the States of Bhawulpoor, KhjTpoor, Bikanir, 

 Jessulmir, and the greater part of Marwar. Throughout this vast region, which 

 covers an area equal to that of the kingdom of Prussia, with a population of from 

 twelve to fifteen millions, the rains are not only scanty but most uncertain. It is 

 not a rare occurrence for several years to pass in succession without any showers, 

 and then there is a heavy downpour, generally in winter, and occasionally in 

 August or September. There are, however, no regular winter or sximmer rains. 

 A scanty, thorny scrub on the hills and in the northern part in the plains also 

 gives ample emplojonent to the botanist, for it is here that the representatives of 

 the Arabian and Persian flora mingle with the vegetation which is peculiar to 

 India; but the work of the forester is mainly confined to the belts of low country 

 along the Indus and its great branches. In Sindh, for instance, the area of forest 

 land which is under the exclusive control of the State covers 350,000 acres, all 

 situated on the fertile alluvial soil on both banks of the Indus, some of which is 

 inundated annually by the summer floods of this large river, the remainder being 

 moistened by percolation. In lower and middle Sindh a large portion of these 

 forests consists of Acacia arahica, more or less pure, with a shade so dense that 

 very little grass or herb gTOWS imder the trees. In northern Sindh extensive shrub- 

 forests of tamarisk, with standards of Acacia and Pojndus eiiphratica, cover large 

 tracts along the banks on both sides of the river. As the Indus changes its course 

 from time to time, leaving dry last year's bed and breaking through at another 

 place, forming a new channel, the fresh banks and islands which are thus tlirown 

 up are covered at once by a dense growth of self-sown seedlings of tamarisk, with 

 a sprinkling here and there of the acacia and poplar; and in other places large 

 tracts of old forests are earned away by the encroachments of the river. Outside 

 these forests a little further inland, but still to a certain extent under the moisten- 

 ing influence of the river, are vast tracts of Prosopis spicigera, Sulvaclora, and Capi- 

 piaris aphrjlla, and further north, in the Punjab, where the rainfall is more regular 

 and its annual amount approaches or exceeds ten inches, these dry woodlands, 

 mainly composed of Prosopiis, Ca2>paris, and Salvadora, cover a vast extent of 

 country between the rivers of that province. These woodlands are commonly 

 known imder the name of Rukhs, and they extend far into the second zone, which 

 the author proposes calling the dry region of India, and in which the normal rain- 

 fall is between fifteen and thirty inches. There are two zones of dry coimtry : one 

 running on the north and east of the arid region in a belt from one hundred to two 

 hundred and fifty miles wide, leaving tlie foot of the Himalaya range about Umballa, 

 touching the Ganges at Futtehgurh, and including Agra, Jhansi, Ajmere, and 

 Deesa. This he proposed calling the northern ry zone : its natural forest vege- 

 tation is scanty, but better than that of the arid region. In some of the States of 

 Eajpootana there are extensive woodlands of Acacia arahica, Prosopis, and a species 

 of Anogeissus, carefully preserved, to fm-nish cover for game, a regular supply of 

 wood and grass, and, in times of drought, pasture for the cattle of the vicinity ; 

 and in some parts of the Aravulli Hills, where cultivation mainly depends on the 

 water stored up in tanks, the value of preserving the scanty thorny scrub on the 

 hills, in order to regulate the filling of the tanks from rain, is recognized by the larger 

 landholders. Nor must we forget that we owe the maintenance of the forests in 

 Sindh and of the rukhs in the Punjab to the action taken by the former rulers, 

 and that during the first period after the occupation of the country the action of 

 the British Government has not in all cases been favourable to the preservation 

 of the forests and woodlands in the arid and dry regions of India. Great exertions 

 have, however, been made of late years to make up in some measure for past 

 neglect in tliis respect ; and in the Punjab extensive plantations have been esta- 

 blished since 18G5, which now cover upwards of 12,000 acres, the main object in 

 the formation of these new forests being to provide fuel for the consumption of the 

 railways, and fuel and timber for the large towns in that province. There is a, 



