IN THE MADRAS PRESIDENCY. 55 



6. Almost all the girdled trees were felled and trimmed this 

 season, and Es. 84 were spent in clearing the brushwood round 

 the outlying timber and young saplings, to guard against fire. 

 This amount was expended chiefly in February and March, pre- 

 vious to the periodical fires. No timber was lost by fire this 

 season. I could wish to do more in the way of clearing, trim- 

 ming, and protecting the young teak saplings in the forest, but 

 the impossibility of procuring labour is an obstacle that I cannot 

 contend against. 



7. The timber slip was put into fair repair at the end of No- 

 vember, at the small cost of Es. 70. These repairs only last for 

 the slipping season, and require to be repeated each year. It 

 is useless attempting any repairs until after the rains, as the slip 

 is then a watercourse, and everything is swept away with heavy 

 rain. The slipping of Bombay planks, however, need not com- 

 mence until December, and logs and butts are not much damaged 

 by the slip being out of repair. 



8. The slipping of planks, &c, has this year been entirely per- 

 formed by our elephants. The Malsars will never undertake 

 this work ; and the Colongode coolies, who undertook part of this 

 work last season, lost so many of their number, and suffered so 

 much from the fever, that they refuse to come this year. 



9. I have had great annoyance and difficulty with cart con- 

 tractors this season ; many have left us and gone over to the rail- 

 way, preferring to take work in and near Palghat to entering 

 the forests. The advances formerly given to these cart con- 

 tractors were very large. I have lessened these, never in any 

 case giving more than Es. 10 per cart in advance, and half of 

 this is withheld until the carts are brought up above ghat. I have 

 lost the services of several contractors by so doing, but the 

 measure seemed necessary. 



10. Of the planks cut this season, 885 have been carted to 

 Mungara, 105 remain at foot of ghat, and will be carted before 

 the end of the month. 



11. I tried this year to procure coolies to float planks down the 

 river to Ponany, thinking that thereby a saving might be made 

 upon the eontract system ; all the coolies, however, are in the pay 

 of the contractors, who have the monopoly of floating all the 



