KASHMIR AND ASSAM 267 
ing, or other industrial investments, remains to some 
extent at the mercy of those who have the power to 
regulate the flow of water between the hills and the 
plains. 
The method adopted by Nature for the purposes 
of holding up the water-supply, and of preventing 
surface flow and consequent erosion, is well under- 
stood in France and other European countries, where 
large sums are now being spent in reboisement and 
other protective works to remedy the neglect of the 
past. It is there admitted that, if the soil is per- 
mitted to clothe itself with vegetation, with trees, 
shrubs, or grass, not only are the immediate effects 
of heavy aqueous precipitation mitigated, but that 
time is afforded for absorption of moisture into the 
surface covering, and thence into the soil itself, from 
whence it is given off in perennial streams that 
maintain the water-level of the country below at a 
suitable height. If, on the contrary, the soil is ex- 
posed to a rainfall that is allowed to flow rapidly 
away from the mountain-slopes, first deep channels 
are cut in the soil, till ultimately the bedrock is 
exposed, and later the force of unchecked torrents 
forms deep ravines that carry stones, sand, and 
boulders, depositing them in the country below, to 
the inconvenience or danger of its inhabitants. If 
such things happen in France, in Switzerland, in 
Germany, where climatic influences are not so 
powerful, it is reasonable to infer that in India 
much more rapid and drastic results may be ex- 
pected; for though the Indian climate may not 
always come under the classification of tropical, yet 
the rainfall, limited as it is to restricted periods, 
