MUDUMALAI FOREST. 165 



the forest stock, paid out of barrack estimates, — and partly by 

 buffaloes purchased fur the purpose. 



5. The carriage from the forest to the barracks is performed by 

 two sets of contractors, chiefly Mahomedans, one set carrying 

 only as far as Utakamand, and the second from Utakamand to 

 "Wellington. The reason that the whole work is not performed 

 by one set of contractors is, that the bullocks would then be two 

 days above ghat, which the owners say proves injurious to the 

 cattle from the low country, giving rise to bronchial affections. 



6. Charge for felling. — The logs are cut and squared by Kurum- 

 bars, at the rate of A. 1 per cubic foot, which is a fair wage, and 

 corresponds with the charge in many parts of western Mysore. 



7. Sawing. — The rate is 40 running feet per rupee, when the 

 log does not exceed one foot in the square ; when the cut exceeds 

 13 inches in depth, the rate is 20 feet per rupee. The Mysore rate 

 is 45 square feet per rupee, — the average here is 30, which, con- 

 sidering the unhealthy climate and distance from their home, is 

 not excessive. There is little sawing done now, except dividing 

 large logs, which are otherwise unmanageable for carts. 



8. Carriage. — When the weather is favourable, the commis- 

 sariat bullocks are employed in conveying logs from the western 

 extremity of the forest to the eastern limit, viz., the high road at 

 Tipakadu, a distance of 18 miles, from which the wood is con- 

 veyed by contract carts to Utakamand. 



9. Measurement. — The logs are measured at Mudumalai by the 

 manager or his assistant, and payment is made accordingly. 

 Every axeman (Kurumbar) receives his due partly in money, but 

 chiefly in grain (by preference, and I may say of necessity), at 

 the market rate, and a settlement takes place weekly ; the average 

 earnings of an axeman is Es. 5 per mensem, but an industrious 

 man easily earns Ks. 8. 



10. The measurement in the forest is of the actual cubic con- 

 tents of each log, — a difference, however, occurs in the accounts 

 of remeasurement at Wellington ; which (from the explanation 

 given to me) arises from taking the measurement to which the 

 log would square to in its whole length, the former I need hardly 

 remark is the usual mode. A further difference arises from the 

 officers at the barracks measuring within the draghole, which is 



