their fine wool, skins, pure wines, raisins, and railroads have gone through the land, devasother dried fruits, etc., etc. The question of questions, however, is that of railways. Perhaps all other agencies combined do not more rapidly dissipate the forest resources of a nation than they do. Until railways were introduced into India, all other demands upon her forests were borne unconsciously. Yet these included at once the domestic supply of her dense population, ship-building upon a large scale and steady, heavy exportation. That was in 1854. Railway extension, held in check by the mutiny, did not begin until 1861; and in '62 we saw the government partially awake to the necessity of establishing a conservation. Prompt measures then would have obviated the necessity of stringent and unpopular enactments in '65, and subsequently; and, it may be, by this time, have removed the difficulty. In Nova Scotia, where coal is so abundant and accessible, the locomotives still consume much wood. How, then, will it be along the more extended lines of Canadian railway? Judging from the rate of movement of the Intercolonial, it will probably be some time before that, and others projected, reach their maximum of consumption of fuel; but whenever they do, the question of what proportion of it must be of wood, will become vitally important particularly when we keep in mind that the experience of American roads proves that an average of about thirty-five acres of woodland are necessary to supply one mile of railway. Besides, fuel is not the only feature of the question. The mode of supplying the needful timber is, if possible, more absurd and thriftless than in the cases already specified. The people who undertake this work observe but one rule of conduct namely to deliver at as little expense as possible, the beams, sleepers, bridge-stringers, or other material engaged for, in order to clear the widest practicable margin of present profit. Consequently our tating the timber right and left in the vicinage of the track. There was no more regard to the future, than if there was no future. The proprietors of the intersected lands were lamentably deficient in the intelligence needed for the proper appreciation and care for this species of property. Hitherto it had been looked upon as an encumbrance-no second railway, it was argued, could ever be constructed near that already in hand; consequently the most was to be made of an opportunity never to be repeated. No regular Department of Woods and Forests existing, the timber question was the concern of nobody in particular, and the owners themselves would undoubtedly have looked upon any effort to rescue their own property from their own destroying axes, as an interference of the most unwarrantable kind. Down went the trees, all "along the whole line"-wherever they stood most convenient-wherever they stood in the way of others more particularly wanted-in any and every stage of growth-at seasons when felling is equivalent to extirpation, or otherwise, as occasion might decide, and with no regard whatever to the chances of renewal. It is certainly sufficiently perceptible that if this stolid and unthinking recklessness prevails a few years longer, we shall be unable to build either ships, railroads, or dwellings without deriving every splinter of material from foreign sources. On the other hand, it is equally obvious, that, with the needful care, there will be abundance for all, as long as an abundance will be required. To attempt to show how forest conservation should be established, would carry this paper far beyond its limits. But it may not be amiss to summarize the principal difficulties with which such legislation must grapple: All the broad tracts that have been stripped (referring only to those not intended for tillage, which are the great majority,) are left without any effort to encourage a second growth. 3rd.-There is a general use of insufficiently seasoned materials—especially in house building. In an extreme climate like ours, we may remark, this is a particularly mischievous practice, since such stuff does not last half the time it should, and, therefore calls for correspondingly frequent renewal. Perhaps, the exportation of green, and partly-seasoned timber, and deals might be worth some consideration also; though possibly this objection is in a large measure neutralized by the more careful management and economization of the consumers. 4th. Fires, free axes, and the incursions of our | wasteful devastators upon the public lands, fuel, etc., etc. 5th.—Influence of railways. There are also certain reforms in ship-building, which-if carried out would lessen materially the demand of that branch of industry. The class of vessels known as "composite" could be most advantageously substituted for the present wooden product of our ship-yards-in every respect being cheaper, considered with reference to their superior classification, as well as better, and forming the natural and easy stage of transition to the production of iron tonnage. Such a substitution would at once cut down the shipwrights' demand on our rapidly diminishing woodlands, by at least four-sevenths. WHEN John and I were married-of a speech when she presented them, and WHEN and I were a course we had a quite a number of presents from our various friends, and equally, of course, those of the least value were made the most fuss about. Old Mrs. Stingyton, for instance, who gave us a set of doyleys, which she said she had knitted herself; although I am quite sure she bought them at some cheap sale; made quite really made me feel as if I had received a silver tea-service at the very least; while dear old Mr. Harty sent a lovely little epergne, with just a few lines of congratulation. But of all our presents that which Uncle Robert sent was by far the most beautiful. It was a bracelet made of tiger claws, polished till they looked like clear amber, and joined together by such tiny delicate gold chains-which looked more like cobwebs than goldsmiths' work, and could only have been produced by the supple fingers of an eastern jeweller. Uncle Robert has lived many years in India, and has made heaps of money; but he isn't a bit like the old Indian one reads about in novels. They are always yellow and cross, and seem to live upon nothing but curry and hot pickles, and have a native servant whom they ill-treat dreadfully; but Uncle is quite rosy and stout, and has such a hearty jolly laugh, and says he would rather be waited upon by our little table-maid, Jessy, than by all the kitmaghars in the East Indies. Indeed I confess that Jessy is very brisk and attentive at table; although I must say she is much too pretty for a servant, and rather too fond of ribands, and I think I should rather have a plainer table-maid; but then the plain ones are generally cross and disobliging; and, indeed, to tell the truth, Uncle Robert has so often complimented me on being above the weakness of most young wives, who, he says, always pick out ugly servants, that I am rather afraid to change. John, who is looking over my shoulder, says I am getting "discursive," as most ladies do who attempt to tell a story-but that is all nonsense-and I am sure it is necessary to have the full particulars in order to understand a thing properly. Well, as I was saying, Uncle Robert's bracelet was as lovely a thing as ever was seen, and as I knew that he had been a great sportsman in the East, of course I was very anxious to learn all about his fight with the tiger to whom the claws originally belonged; so I said to him one evening after dinner: "Now, Uncle, it will give additional value to your lovely bracelet if you will tell me the full particulars of how you killed the tiger-in fact I am determined to know all about it." "Well, my dear," replied Uncle, "if you Some eight or nine years ago I joined a large sporting party in the North-West Provinces of India. Our principal object was, of course, "big game," by which an Indian sportsman understands tigers, elephants, and such like; but we were not at all particular and shot anything that came in our way with laudable impartiality. We had made a pretty fair bag of small game, but had been singularly unfortunate as regards the larger animals, and although we had news of several tigers in the neighbourhood we had not succeeded in even getting a shot at one. We were encamped on the skirts of the jungle, at the foot of the lower range of the Himalayas ; having received information that a famous man-eating tiger had carried off several villagers during the past week, and had been tracked to his lair not far from where we had pitched our tents. Our shikarees, or native hunters, had started off to procure exact information as to the whereabouts of the animal, and we were awaiting their return before proceeding to surround him. I was sitting under the verandah of my tent smoking a last cheroot, and listening to the subdued chatter and laughter of our native servants, as they squatted round their fire some little distance off, and passed their hubble-bubbles—as their rude pipes are called from hand to hand. The moon was at her full-shining as she only shines in the tropics—and pouring down a flood of radiance by which I could with ease have read the smallest print of a newspaper. The croak of the frogs and the chirp of the innumerable crickets was incessant, while from the distant jungle came at intervals the long unearthly howl of the jackal. I was just about retiring for the night. when I observed the tall figure of a man bearing a long matchlock on his shoulder, emerge from the shadow of a clump of bamboos just opposite my tent, and, as he was crossing towards the servants' quarters, I recognized old Rustum Singh, who had been sent off in charge of the shikarees on the previous evening. Rustum was a splendid specimen of an old Punjaubee hunter. Nearly six feet in height, broad shouldered, thin flanked, and as straight as a dart, with not an ounce of superfluous flesh on his body. He moved about among our crowd of coolies like a stately deer-hound in the midst of a pack of village curs. His breast was almost covered with medals given him by the East India Company as rewards for the destruction of ferocious animals, and the old man wore them with as much pride as a famous general carries the trophies of his hard-won battles. Anxious to get the earliest intelligence, I called to Rustum as he passed my tent, and enquired if he had brought any news of the tiger. Placing the palms of his hands together, and bowing almost to the ground, he replied, "Oh hokee, waukee cumfooselah shallabelah," that is "My Lord, a ferocious tiger which has long been the terror of the surrounding villages, has been tracked to the neighbouring jungle where he awaits the death-dealing bullets of your Highness." You see, my dear, Hindostanee is a very expressive language, and you can say a great deal in a very few words. At this moment a brilliant idea flashed across my mind. What if I should take Rustum at once and kill the tiger, singlehanded? The old shikaree and I were great friends, and I knew I could depend upon him to stand by me to the death; and, although I was quite conscious that it was no child's play to encounter a tiger alone and on foot, I thought of the triumph of return ing successful in the morning, and became excited beyond the bounds of discretion. I therefore proposed to Rustum that we should start at once, without saying anything to the others, and attack the tiger in his lair before he could become alarmed and move out of the neighbourhood. The old man looked doubtful; but it is a point of honour with these hunters not to hold back when a European leads, and he merely replied:-"Where the Sahib goes Rustum will follow." So I turned into the tent to get my trusty double-barrelled "Purdy," and putting my spirit-flask in my pocket, I joined Rustum without giving my enthusiasm time to cool. From further questioning, I learned that the tiger lay in an old lair in a dense patch of jungle about five miles from the camp. He had carried off a native child on the preceding evening, and would not probably change his quarters for a day or two, unless alarmed. Rustum had tracked him into a thick clump of bushes in which he had no doubt his den was situated; but had retired quietly to avoid disturbing the beast. should tell you that these "man-eaters " seldom remain more than a few days in the same place, but travel great distances, chiefly by night, so that the first intimation. the unfortunate villagers have of the presence of these animals, is the disappearance of one or more of their friends or relatives. Following the shikaree, who led the way with smooth, rapid strides, we made our way through the long grass which fringed the jungle to the eastward, and reached nearly to our knees. Every now and again as we passed through the rank herbage, an ominous rustle, accompanied by an angry hiss, denoted the passage of some prowling snake which we had disturbed, and certainly did not tend to re-animate my fast cooling courage. I now sincerely regretted the unpleasant position into which my foolish impetuosity had led me but my pride would not allow me to draw back, and I followed my guide with sullen determination. proceeding in this way for fully an hour, Rustum turned suddenly to the left, and |