( 74 ) 



doned after the first year. This evidently shews ua that the primary cause of the rapid 

 decline in the production of grain is the exhaustion of pliosphates* in the soil. 



No doubt the rude way in which touiigyas are prepared, viz. by felling all the trees 

 growing on such a " ya," burning them down and sowing the crop in a rather lavish man- 

 ner at the commencement of the rains, is in itself prejudicial to the production of a good 

 return, but to these disadvantages must be added the steepness of the slopes themselves, on 

 which this kind of cultivation is carried on. 



The loss of the valuable ashes that are carried down these slopes at the beginning of 

 the rains, cannot be overrated at two-thirds of the whole quantity obtained by the burning 

 of the ya, and, to comprehend this more clearly, it must be remembered that the thunder- 

 storms and showers, at the commencement of the monsoon, are very heavy. With this 

 great percentage of loss of ashes, coincides the fact that very gentle slopes allow a second 

 year's crop, and fiat lands are usually still longer oooupied, often as long as in the plains 

 themselves. On steep slopes, all those valuable ingredients are not only lost to the cultiva- 

 tor, but to a greater or lesser degree also to the whole country, for they are carried down 

 into the sea. It is true that a portion of these waters inundates the plains, and thus fertilizes 

 the fields there, but in Burma this hardly takes place to such an extent as in the Nile valley. 

 Besides, it may be doubtful whether these submarine fertile deposits at the estuaries of our 

 streams will ever benefit future generations. This loss of phosphates, etc., might easily 

 be replaced by artificial means, but it would be simply wasteful to introduce manures, 

 while such rude cultivation is carried on. The first step towards improvement would 

 probably be the introduction of rice culture en terrasse, as carried on near liaugoon, in Java, 

 and other tropical countries. But this necessarily involves a good deal of earthwork, for which 

 Karens do not even possess the necessary implements ; and besides this, the system could be 

 adapted only to hills with gentle slopes of from twelve to fifteen degrees inclination, and 

 not to those steep ridges on which the hill-rice is chiefiy cultivated. I have reason, however, 

 to believe that the occupation of these lower lands and gentle slopes would alone be sufiicient 

 to support even double the present population if a proper management was introduced, resting 

 chiefly on the rotatory system, and if the clanships and concomitant claims to fixed lands 

 would allow of a more equable division of culturable lands. As it is, a I'ay of less than 100 

 families cuts down yearly for its support a quantity of timber, quite sufficient in tonnage to 

 build a first class man of war, and if the whole Karen population in Burma be taken into 

 account, the timber consumed by them (of course taken qu mtitatively and not qualitatively) 

 would represent in tonnage the whole English fleet. All the trees which are cut down, and 

 which are the natuial pumps of crude vegetable nourishment from the depths of the substrata, 

 have to grow again, in order to give another crop to these people. But I fear, with regard to 

 the Christian Karens in Martaban, that the natural reproduction of the forests is by no means 

 proportionate to their annual destruction. f Toungya cultivation in this country will always 

 remain a question of vital importance not only to the forester, but also to the public gener- 

 ally, and the destruction of forests caused by such a ruinous system, must sooner or later 

 become a matter for serious consideration. The remedy for the evil is probably not so diffi- 

 cult as it may at first sight appear to be. It is only a question of time, and it is hoped that 

 in the future by a gradual and judicious introduction of changes in the present system, the 

 sad consequences that must necessarily result, if the same principle is carried on with an 

 increasing population, will be diminished. As long as these unsettled tribes were left to 

 themselves, the consequences of such a system were not so conspicuous on account of the 

 continuous warfare in which they were engaged, which necessarily thinned the population, 

 and thus counterpoised the evil ; in present peaceful times, however, matters assume a different 

 aspect, and it cannot be said that toungya cultivation is the result of idle habits on the part of 

 the people, for harder work than this can scarcely be imagined. It is an innate hereditary 

 custom suited to the migratory propensities of the people, against which the only modus 

 operandi will be the sitaviter in modo et fortiter in re. 



It would really be a boon if the missionaries, who have so much influence with the 

 Karens (at least with the Christian portion), would take it upon themselves to teach these 



* This is not, however, always the cause. Leaving sexual relation alone, an unfavourahle substratum may 

 even in the presence of phosphates and sulphates, produce abortion of seeds. Amongst many examples I may 

 mention the following as au illustration : In 1868, I visited parts of the Sunderbuus, South of Mutla (saline allu- 

 vium), and there met with several experimental rice fields. The rice plants were tairly developed, although thia 

 and meagre, with about 30 to 40 fold produce, but the husks were all invariably empty. On the other hand the 

 agrarian weeds that sprung up along with the rice, like Blumea, Pongatium, Commelyna, Cyperus, etc., had 

 their seeds perfectly developed. Here evidently the saline character of the alluvium has in spite of the presence 

 of the other chemical compounds necessary for the development of seeds produced abortion in the rice plants, 

 while other plants remained unaffected. This shews us also why in deep alluvium a scantiness of chemical food 

 or an absence of certain necessary compounds may affect the constitution of certaiu trees and produce similar 

 abortion of seeds either directly or in the course of time, while othei's seed regularly. 



j- Compare mj' journal of 12tli March 1868, where it is sfcited that some 36 square miles teak-forests have 

 disappeared since Dr. Ijraiidis' sketch map of Mai'tabau was published iu 1861. 



