PREFACE. XI 



a work such as the present, which could be placed in the 

 hands of their employes arriving in the country igno- 

 rant of Indian woods, of their appearance, capabilities, 

 and place of growth. Similar statements have been made 

 by the authorities in England ; and perhaps to some ex- 

 tent the present volume may supply the information re- 

 quired. The increasing opportunities and encouragement 

 afforded for the development of European capital in India 

 are calculated also to give a practical value to any work 

 which will describe to the merchant or settler his exact 

 relations to the Government, in regard to the forest pro- 

 ducts of the country. 



It ought to be stated, that the greater part of the con- 

 tents of this volume are on record in the Archives of the 

 Madras Government ; but they are not easily accessible. 

 The work lays no claim to literary excellence of any kind. 

 It is simply a compilation of papers, commencing with 

 three Annual Reports, which indicate the progress of the 

 department, and which are followed by a memorandum 

 on Kurnari, — an injurious practice, which destroys vast 

 quantities of the most valuable timber, — and by other me- 

 moranda bearing more or less on the subject of Indian 

 forests. The compilation is not what was originally in- 

 tended, and what it would have been, if prepared under 

 more favourable circumstances. It has been drawn up 

 during the scanty leisure of a twelvemonth's furlough 

 on sick certificate. The book might have been more 

 acceptable to the general reader had it been less formal 

 in its style, and less fragmentary in its character ; but 

 this would probably not have increased its practical 

 utility. 



