IN THE MADEAS PRESIDENCY. 25 



from the staging bungalow at Waliar, sees several " tentative 

 lines of rail, each 200 yards broad." The Government suppose 

 that Dr Cleghorn refers to the first attempts at opening the line 

 through the Palghat gap some two or three years ago, and 

 which Colonel Pears noticed at the time. The question of the 

 payment of seignorage for sleepers, also referred to, will be dis- 

 posed of elsewhere. 



6. Par. 7. The collector of Madura will be called upon, with 

 reference to this paragraph, to state whether he bas succeeded in 

 putting an entire stop to the devastation formerly caused on the 

 slopes of the Pulny Hills by the formation of plantain gardens. 



7. Pars. 8, 9. The improved methods of felling and trim- 

 ming which have been introduced are satisfactory, though Dr 

 Cleghorn mentions that, in some places, " peculiarities of tenure" 

 have operated as an obstacle to the introduction of improvement. 

 In what way these peculiarities of tenure operated disadvan- 

 tageous^ should have been explained. 



8. Pars. 10-12. The proposed system of operations, and the 

 measures taken to economise fragments and pieces of timber 

 unsuited to naval purposes, are approved. The auctions de- 

 scribed in par. 13 should be systematically held. At the end of 

 par. 4 mention is made of the difficulties which still exist as to 

 the supply of firewood to the large towns ; if a regular supply of 

 timber were ensured to the people by means of these sales, it would 

 go far to prevent clandestine cutting ; and judging from the 

 result of the sale of teak held in the Anamalai Forest, they are 

 likely to be a source of no inconsiderable gain, for even the frag-, 

 ments were greedily bought by the general trader, the Eailway 

 Department, <fec. 



9. Par. 13. Teak. This invaluable wood, the Conservator 

 states, has received the special attention of the department. 

 There is said to be very little ripe teak on government land be- 

 low the ghats, along the whole length of the Malabar coast,* 

 and there are only three localities above the ghats where it is 

 found in abundance and of good size, viz. : — 



I. The Anamalai Forest. 



* Travancore is not alluded to, as not being in the jurisdiction of the 

 Conservancy Department. 



