304 
that one had to look at it frequently to see that it did not run over ; where 
the atmosphere was saturated with moisture and the heaviest thunder shower 
you have ever known in England, lasting only a few minutes, is there con- 
tinued for days and nights without ceasing, sending down torrents of water 
that wash away every loose portion of earth on the plateau, and fall in great 
and magnificent cascades down to the plains below, which are very soon 
converted into a sea. Under such circumstances, it is not to be wondered 
at that one should have given some attention to the study of this subject. 
I was enthusiastic in those days. Going to Burmah, it seemed to me 
necessary that I should know something of meteorology. I therefore kept 
registers, and day by day for months I used to note the barometer, the 
thermometer, and the rainfall ; and once every hour of the 24, on term days , 
which was by no means an easy task, as one felt very sleepy towards two or 
three o’clock in the morning. I am afraid, however, that those observations 
did not lead to much, unless they contributed something in the shape of an 
inducement to others to undertake the same kind of duty. I am happy to 
think that at the present time there is no department in India the working 
of which is more thoroughly organised than that of the Meteorological Depart- 
ment, under my old friend Mr. Blanford. In reading my paper I omitted 
certain paragraphs, because I thought I should have wearied you had I 
read them all ; otherwise you would have noticed that I alluded to the 
value of Mr. Blanford’s reports, which one can hardly extol too much, 
not only for the ability and science they display, as well as the 
perseverance and patience with which they have been worked out, but also 
for their prospective value, for I am quite satisfied they will yield excel- 
lent results in time to come ; so that, whatever may have been the case 
in the past, we may for the future look forward with great satisfaction 
towards the culture of that branch of science in India. Dr. Chevers spoke 
on the important subject of the destruction of the forests and the use of wood 
on the railways. I have no doubt whatever that at the inception of the rail- 
way system in India much damage was done in this way, and I am afraid 
that some is done even now. The wood — not the forest trees so much 
as the smaller trees and the brushwood— used to be cut down to supply fuel 
for the lines of railway ; but I believe that this is not the case now. As 
to railway sleepers, I do not think the forests we are concerned in are 
much indebted to them for their destruction, as the timber for this purpose 
comes chiefly from the great forests of that magnificent region where I 
have spent many happy months — the forest district at the foot of the 
Himalayas, where those magnificent trees, the sal and the sissu grow. These 
are the valuable trees, especially the sal, from which the sleepers I believe 
are made. Another speaker alluded to the importance of the effects produced 
by the melting of the snows upon the rivers. It is quite true that after the 
winter, when the great heat falls on the hill- sides and melts the snows, the 
rivers come down in floods, which no doubt help considerably towards the 
irrigation of the country, an'l even render a special arrangement of inunda- 
