INDIA, BURMA, AND ANDAMAN ISLANDS 169 



Padouk is a majestic evergreen which grows in India and 

 Burma, and is the most valuable timber found in the 

 Andaman Islands. It is generally known as Andaman red- 

 wood. Pterocarpiis indicus is the Burmese tree and 

 P. dalberyioides the Andaman tree. The timber of the' 

 Burmese tree is of lighter colour, and though this is 

 the more ornamental tree, the Andaman tree furnishes 

 the better timber and is what is known in commerce. 

 It is a wood of rich red or crimson colour, streaked 

 with black, of great beauty, close grained, moderately 

 hard, and takes a fine polish ; there are soft bands running 

 through it, making it rather difficult to work. The sapwood 

 is of a straw or yellowish brown colour, and in some trees 

 there is a good deal of it. The timber may be had in 

 lengths up to 25 ft. and 4 ft. square ; it is stronger than teak 

 in every direction, lasts longer, is much handsomer as a 

 furniture wood, and does not warp in seasoning. It is 

 much appreciated for railway sleepers, but is expensive, and 

 in some districts has taken the place of sal ; in the Andamans 

 it is used for boat-building. For gun wheels and carriages 

 and for ordinary carriage-building it is a material of the 

 finest quality, is the rival of mahogany for cabinet work, and 

 can scarcely be distinguished from it when polished. It is 

 more costly to work than mahogany, and has, owing to this, 

 been abandoned by one well-known firm of English shop- 

 fitters, but in one establishment in the Bigg Market, New- 

 castle-on-Tyne, it has been in place for fifteen years, has 

 weathered very well, and looks handsome. The Burmese 

 padouk is used chiefly in that country or exported to 

 India, but quantities of Andaman padouk are regularly 

 brought into the London market, generally in planks 3 

 to 8 inches thick, and are used for furniture, internal 

 fittings, and railway carriage work. It has been laid as 

 a ball-room floor in tbe house of a member of the Council 



