64 WILD LIFE IN NORTH CANARA. 



ferent race from the fishing population 

 on the coast. 



The system of forest cultivation was 

 rude but very successful. A hill side 

 was chosen covered with the less valu- 

 able and smaller kinds of trees, these 

 were felled and burnt during the hot 

 dry months of March, April, and May ; 

 then the ashes were roughly levelled 

 and sown with millet or pulse, and the 

 space was protected by a strong, rude 

 fence. During the rains a luxuriant 

 crop sprung up, and an almost equally 

 good one could be raised in the second 

 year. Then the plot was abandoned, 

 and left untouched for ten or twelve 

 years, by the end of which period the 

 copious rainfall and the tropical sun 

 had reclothed it with a forest growth of 



