OF THE BIJNOUtt FOREST. 413 
crease owing to the shutting of some of the Doons. The pdhdrU who 
bring their herds down for grazing purposes are mostly from Kumaon, 
the cause of which is said to be that cattle-raising is there more attended 
to, while there is less extent of waste land than in Gurhwal. The 
principal product of this grazing is ghee (fluid butter), which is exported 
hence to the plains in very large quantities, being bought upon the spot 
by dealers. 
Of the 260,000 acres (including a few thousand acres of cultivated 
land) contained in the Bijnour forest, nearly 70,000 are in private 
hands. This state of things was partly unavoidable, but the larger pro- 
portion of the 70,000 acres consists of that part of the Kehur estates 
which became forfeit after the mutiny. This might still have remained 
Government property, had we not here done as on the Nepal frontier, 
though on a very much smaller scale, in giving as rewards to those who 
doubtless deserved them well but might have been equally well- 
satisfied with jaghirs elsewhere, land we may one day wish that we had 
kept. 
The management of most of the forest which remains to Govern- 
ment having hitherto been conducted on the plain principle of " clearing 
as rapidly and profitably, as possible " has been simple enough. The 
Chandee forest, i. e., the extreme north-west corner of the district tying 
to the west of the Peelee Kas nuddee, including some outlying spurs of 
the Siwaliks, and containing some 50,000 acres, has for special reasons 
been lor the last eight or nine years under charge of the Kumaon forest 
officers, and there all wood cutting has been nominally prohibited, only 
bamboos and minor produce being allowed in the contract. But else- 
where the system has been that the forest in several segments has been 
put up to auction annually, the parties leasing it for the year having 
the right to all spontaneous produce, and being authorised to " cut and 
sell" all they can (sal excepted in one segment). What is realized by 
them for timber, bamboos, &c, is thus theoretically construed to be the 
price of these articles, but in reality is levied and considered as a rate 
or due paid to the contractor, by those who cut and remove timber and 
collect minor products (or graze cattle) in the forest. 
It is possible that with the non-capitalist natives who at present 
generally lease the forest, it might not be easy to work any other 
system ; but the plan might be tried of letting it in much smaller seg- 
ments, or, as is said to be the case in Chandee just now, monied men 
might be found to take the contracts. In either case such rules might 
be adopted and insisted on as would make the lessees work the forests 
systematically, so as to ensure not only the present but the prospective 
good of Government, the public, and themselves. The frequent 
changes of lessees, and sudden annual fluctuations of rent, do not indi- 
cate a very healthy state of things as to these leases. 
The amount for which all the forest now in the hands of Government 
