INDIA, BURMA, AND ANDAMAN ISLANDS 179 



is reddish brown like mahogany or jarrah. It is used for 

 house-building, bridges, and railway sleepers, but is difficult 

 to get, so much so that sufficient cannot be obtained for 

 the requirements of the Burmese railways. It is hard 

 to work and unless well seasoned is liable to split w 7 hen 

 exposed to the sun. The pores are filled with a thick 

 glutinous substance which oozes out of the wood after being 

 worked. In Siam it is called Mai deng. 

 Weight 58 to 66 Ibs. per cubic foot. 



Teak (Tectona yrandis) (Fig. 29) grows in various parts 

 of India, in Chittagong, Darjeeling, Terai, and Assam, 

 whilst in Java there are extensive plantations ; it is also 

 found in the French colonies of Cochin China and in the 

 Dutch East Indies, but the chief supplies come from Burma 

 and Siam. Latterly large quantities have been sent to the 

 European market from Java. 



The best quality is got from the south-western slopes of 

 the range of mountains on the Burma-Siamese frontier. 



The trunk is straight, and an ordinary full-grown tree in 

 good soil may measure 90 ft. to the first branch and 18 ft. 

 in girth 6 ft. above the ground, but these dimensions as a 

 rule vary from 30 to 60 ft. to the first branch and 6 to 

 12 ft. in girth. One of the tallest measured was 106 ft. to 

 the first branch. Owing to the difficulties of transport 

 timber of the above sizes is not often brought into the 

 market, and it is exceptional to see logs in Rangoon over 

 50 ft., and these are not of large girth ; for special purposes 

 round logs 40 to 50 ft. long may be brought down, but the 

 usual lengths are 25 to 27 ft. A few come occasionally over 

 50 ft. to the English market. The bark is thin, of yellowish 

 grey colour, and the leaves are large and round in shape, 

 resembling a cabbage leaf, and about 10 inches in diameter. 

 Teak occurs in small patches in large forests of other trees 



N 2 



