294 FOREST LIFE AND SPORT IN INDIA 
After a second visit to Madras, we returned to 
Calcutta towards the end of January. Christmas 
had meanwhile been passed at Ootacamund. The 
settlement was empty save of its permanent resi- 
dents and a few visitors, but nevertheless the walks 
across the breezy downs and through the plantations 
of eucalyptus and wattle were most enjoyable. It 
was years since we had seen the hoar-frost on such 
English-looking hedges, and the long sprays of 
whitened bramble sparkling over the narrow lanes, 
and the change from the plains and their hot forests 
to the open country and brisk cold of Ootacamund 
was all the more enjoyable in that there was some 
reminiscence of the West in the air. Perhaps the 
giant heliotrope and fuchsias, or perhaps the scent 
of the fragrant eucalyptus firewood, called to re- 
membrance Cornwall or the South of Europe. 
To the forester the acclimatization of the euca- 
lyptus was most interesting. The tree grows and 
coppices freely, providing a full and cheap supply 
of fuel that must be most convenient. The fuel 
question is one that is particularly prominent in all 
hill-stations in India, and causes the forester endless 
thought and trouble. In Simla the problem is 
nothing short of acute, when good wood fuel is 
valued at over £1 a ton, and coal is sold at double 
that price, and yet fails to meet the requirements of 
the native inhabitants, whose simple meals necessi- 
tate the use of a clear fire that will at once give out 
heat. The reboisement of the bare hills around 
Simla with eucalyptus and wattle is a matter that 
has received a passing consideration, but the under- 
taking will need care in the selection of species that 
