IOR/F/4/168/2950

[pp 1-2] Extract of Public letter from Bengal in the Department of the Ceded Provinces, dated 20th October 1803, regarding the appointment of W A Gott to carry out an investigation into the products of the countries situated beyond the Hills bordering on Rohilkhand, and of the commerce carried on with those countries.

[pp 3-14] Correspondence regarding deputing a proper person for the purpose of determining by actual examination whether the forests situated at the foot of the Almora Hills and adjoining to that part of Rohilkhand which had lately been ceded to the East India Company by the Nabob Vizier contain Fir trees of a proper size and quality for the construction of masts and for other purposes of ship building, July 1802. W A Gott appointed to examine the forests for the purposes specified.

[pp 15-19] Letter from G Mercer, Acting Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of the Ceded Provinces, to William A Gott, dated 17th November 1802, furnishing him with instructions for his guidance in prosecuting the objects of his appointment by the Supreme Government, to investigate the products of the Hills bordering upon Rohilkhand.

[pp 20-23] Correspondence between William Augustus Gott and G Mercer, Acting Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of the Ceded Provinces, regarding Gott's arrival at Chilkea, and the conduct of Fazil Khan as Darogah of the Hill Fairs at Chilkea, November to December 1802.

[pp 23-45] Letter from William Augustus Gott to G Mercer, Acting Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of the Ceded Provinces, dated Chilkea 17th December 1802, reporting his progress, and enclosing his diary of his investigation of the product of the Hills bordering on Rohilkhand from Saturday 20th November to Saturday 11th December 1802, and the reply from Mercer dated 24th December 1802.

[pp 45-65] Letter from William Augustus Gott to G Mercer, Acting Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of the Ceded Provinces, dated Chilkea 28th December 1802, reporting his progress, and enclosing his diary of his investigation of the product of the Hills bordering on Rohilkhand from Sunday 12th December to Saturday 18th December 1802. Also enclosed with his progress report is a list of articles in demand at Almora (pp 60-61), a list of the articles brought down from the Hills to Chilkea Ghat, with their average prices at Chilkea Ghat and Almora (pp 62-63), and a list of articles required in the Hills at Chilkea Ghat (pp 64-65).

[pp 66-77] Correspondence between William Augustus Gott and G Mercer, Acting Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of the Ceded Provinces, December 1802 to January 1803.

[pp 77-90] Letter from William Augustus Gott to G Mercer, Acting Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of the Ceded Provinces, dated Camp at Chilkea 26th January 1803, reporting on the amount and nature of the Duties on wild elephants captured under the Hills, and enclosing his diary of his investigation of the product of the Hills bordering on Rohilkhand from Sunday 19th December 1802 to Sunday 2nd January 1803.

[pp 91-108] Correspondence between William Augustus Gott, the Board of Trade, G Mercer, Acting Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor of the Ceded Provinces, and Archibald Seton, Commissioner at Bareilly, regarding Gott's survey of the produce of the forests bordering on Rohilkhand, February to April 1803.

[pp 109-127] Letter to Richard Marquess Wellesley, Governor General in Council, Fort William, from the Board of Trade, dated 8th June 1803, enclosing a letter to them from W A Gott, dated 3rd May 1803, and giving their observations on its contents. In his letter, Gott reports on his examination of the Fir forests on the banks of the Ramganga River.

[pp 127-131] Orders of Government respecting W A Gott's survey of the of the forests of Almora and Kumaon, dated 30th June 1803.

[pp 133-144] Correspondence regarding a specimen of Fir tree from the forests of Rohilkhand, including a letter from Andrew Waddell, Master Builder, Kidderpore, dated 21st June 1803, giving his opinion of the specimen and enclosing a statement giving details of experiments made in November 1800 on the weight and strength of various Indian timbers.

[pp 145-160] Letter to Richard Marquess Wellesley, Governor General in Council, Fort William, from the Board of Trade, dated 17th October 1803, enclosing a letter to them from William Augustus Gott, dated 16th September 1803, and giving their observations on its contents. In his letter, Gott reports on his efforts to procure a supply of Hemp seeds, suggests a trial of growing hemp at Chilkea, and gives some remarks on the flax plant produced in the northern parts of Kausepoor. Gott also gives an Estimate of articles (Fir spars, Saul planks, Hemp seed, Deodar oil, Resin, Turpentine, Gond Beroja), as directed by the Board of Trade at Fort William, to be purchased from the Kumaon and Almora Hills, together with their estimated expenses in conveying to the Presidency, including his opinion respecting the means of obtaining regular supplies of the articles as well as to what extent.

[pp 161-187] Correspondence regarding the progress made by W A Gott in the performance of the duty which had been assigned to him, December 1803 to June 1804. The correspondence includes a letter from William Augustus Gott to C M Ricketts, Secretary to the Board of Trade, Fort William, dated 24th February 1804, enclosing Estimates of the probable expense in cultivating and manufacturing hemp and flax at Chilkea in the Ceded Provinces, and a list of Fir spars with length and girth at the partners, got out of the Kumaon Hills down to the 7th February 1804, together with Saul planks for ship building.

[pp 187-192] Report, with related correspondence, on the strength of samples of hemp received from W A Gott by the Export Warehouse, Calcutta, April to May 1804.