6 FOREST LIFE AND SPORT IN INDIA 
him who visits them. Whether he stands on the 
upland meadows and looks down through forests of 
birch, cedar, fir, and pine, to where, clad in lighter 
green, the less hardy species flourish; or wanders 
through the damp forests of the Tarai, or amongst 
the burning hills of Central India, or in the gloomy 
shades of the evergreen forests, he will realize that 
this is all part of the vastest sylvan property ever 
set apart by any Government in the interests of the 
people, and he will be glad that, while its utility is 
indisputable, it renders yet another service to man 
in delighting his eye and in imparting a feeling of 
rest and calm. 
An explanation of the system of management of 
these great forest areas will afford further insight 
into their national importance. 
In former days the forester, when on furlough 
from India in England, was frequently asked the 
question, ‘What do you do in the forests?” And 
as a rule, being unprepared to explain his multi-- 
farious duties in few words, he commenced a hesita- 
ting reply, and was relieved when the subject was 
dismissed by the remark, “Oh, you plant trees, I 
suppose.” At the present time the number of those 
with a knowledge of, or an interest in, forestry has 
vastly increased ; but the large majority still natu- 
rally base their ideas of Indian State Forestry on 
what they see around them in the British Isles, and 
they cannot be expected to realize the fundamental 
differences which exist between forests at home and 
those in our distant Empire in the East. Here 
there may still be some remnants of the primeval 
forests which once covered the land, but even these 
