INTRODUCTION 9 
increased if work on a large scale is to be under- 
taken. 
It has been said that the continuance of the 
forests in India depends as a rule upon natural 
regeneration, and this process may be seen in all its 
profusion in those areas unfrequented by man. But 
Nature’s forces cannot be expected to contend 
against cattle that destroy the seedlings, against 
fires that kill the saplings, and against the axe that 
removes the seed-bearers. Persistent attacks by 
these enemies, ever increasing in strength with the 
increase of population, must result in the deteriora- 
tion and ultimate disappearance of the forest, and 
these are just those forces which have been active 
ever since the time when men were few and forests 
overwhelming. And now that the position is re- 
versed, and forests are restricted while men are all- 
powerful, yet so strong are inherited instincts that 
it is difficult for the victors to understand that it 
was but the supremacy of the forest that was a 
danger to their existence, and that when trained to 
their service it becomes of importance to the welfare 
of their daily life, and sometimes even necessary to 
their progress. A frequent custom of the East was 
to slay the defeated enemy, and so avoid further 
trouble. In this instance the Forest Officer inter- 
venes with his Western conviction that defeated 
enemies are useful as future allies, and introduces 
forest protection as the first step in the new policy. 
The incidence of his work is, roughly, as follows : 
He first explores forest areas, which may be but 
little known even to the neighbouring inhabitants, 
and decides on their value to the State, not only on 
