( 3 ) 



the manuscript of one whose caligraphy has often been compared 

 to the trails of a spider after an ink bath. 



I would here also beg respectfully to draw attention to the very 

 commendable manner in which my Interpreter, Moung Yan Sing, 

 behaved throughout the journey, boldly facing every difficulty and 

 standing by me in the thick of danger ; and I trust the local Gov- 

 ernment will see fit to recognize his good services in such manner 

 as may be deemed adequate for work faithfully performed, even at 

 the jeopardy of his own life. He is not only a remarkably well- 

 educated man, but is strikingly intelligent, and I can without hesita- 

 tion strongly recommend him for promotion to the rank of Sub- 

 Assistant Conservator — an office he is peculiarly adapted for, having 

 a good constitution, and already acquainted with the local (and in 

 many instances botanical) names of most of the forest trees, and 

 their various economic uses. 



It now only remains for me to add that, although my 

 mission was attended with privation and danger, yet I shall ever 

 have reason to look back on this tour as a bright and merry holiday ; 

 the work deputed me, is a life I revel in, and the fact that I have 

 succeeded in bringing my errand to a successful end, is of itself 

 ample compensation for the hardships encountered. 



Although my connection with this province is about to be 

 severed, and it is questionable whether I shall ever see the fruits of 

 my labour, yet I shall always feel a deep interest in this branch of 

 forest industry — a new and important source of economic wealth, that 

 must redound to the credit of the Chief Commissioner (the Hon'- 

 ble Ashley Eden), whose great administrative powers has rendered 

 his name a household word in the province. 



G. W. STRETTELL, 

 Rangoon ; \ Deputy Conservator of Forests, 



The 11th April 1876. j British Burma. 



