Development of Forest Policy. 333 
In 1839-40 the government of the Bombay Presi- 
dency stopped the cutting of Teak trees on government 
property. In 1843 M. Connolly, Collector of Malabar, 
in the Madras Presidency, began to plant Teak on a 
large scale at Nilambur. In 1847 Dr. Gibson was ap- 
pointed Conservator of Forests in Bombay; from 1848 
to 1856 Lieutenant (now General, C. S. I.) James 
Michael conducted the government timber operations 
in the Anamalai Teak forests (Madras), and made the 
first recorded attempts to protect Indian forests from 
injury by annual jungle fires. 
In 1856 Dr. Hugh Cleghorn was appointed Conserva- 
tor of Forests in Madras. He checked the destructive 
practice of temporary cultivation in the government 
forests of that Presidency, a measure, which at first 
was strongly opposed by the people, but his well- 
known desire to promote native interests inspired the 
rulers of the country with confidence, and finally his 
measures were successful. 
Various attempts at some kind of regulation of the 
exploitation by lumbermen were also made by the gen- 
eral government, after various examinations and re- 
ports, and in 1847 even a small and ineffective forest 
department was organized. 
The annexation of the Province of Pegu in lower 
Burma in 1852 introduced a new complication, and 
proved the turning point in forestry matters. In this 
province, the right to cut Teak had been reserved by 
the native princes, and hence became a right of the 
crown, but private lumbermen began to cut this timber, 
and, after an investigation and report, it was decided 
to take definite steps to regulate at least the use ot 
these valuable Teak forests. 
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