THE TEAK TREE 111 



It grows wild over a great part of British India; in the 

 mountainous districts along the Malabar coast, in Guzerat, the 

 valley of the Nerbuddah, in Tenasserim and Pegu ; which, for 

 this reason alone, was well worth being wrenched from his gold- 

 footed majesty of Birmah and annexed to our Indian empire. 

 I nlike the oak and fir forests of Europe, where large spaces of 

 <;r()und are covered by a single species, the teak forests of 

 India are composed of a great variety of trees, among which the 

 ti ak itself does not even predominate. After a long neglect, 

 wliich, in some parts, had almost caused its total extirpation, 

 rjovernment has at length taken steps for its more effectual pro- 

 Icction, and appointed experienced foresters to watch over this 

 invaluable tree. Since 1843, hundreds of thousands of young 

 plants have been raised from seeds ; and in 1848, above 500,000 

 had been already set in the teak districts on the Malabar coast. 

 I iifortunately the teak is of as slow a growth as our oak, and 

 many years will still be necessary to repair the ruinous impro- 

 vidence of the past. 



In Java also the teak forests, both those of natural growth 

 and those that have been planted by the Dutch, are carefully 

 administered. This tree, which requires a century to attain its 



I full diameter of four feet, loses its leaves in the dry season, 

 when the grass and undergrowth of shrubbery is burnt, as the 

 heat which is developed does the trees no injury. The ashes 

 afford an excellent manure, and the fire makes crevices and 



. rents in the soil, through which the fertilising rain can after- 

 wards more easily penetrate to the roots. In Java the teak tree 

 attains only a height of eighty feet, inferior to its loftier Hin- 

 dostanic stature. 



Next to the teak tree, the Saul (^Shorea robusta) is renowned 

 in India for its excellent timber. It grows in the forests 

 at the foot of the Himalayan chain, on the dry grounds imme- 

 diately rising above the swampy Terai, and ranges over an 

 enormous though narrow belt from Kumaon to Assam. 



Among the numerous timber-trees of Ceylon, the Satinwood 

 {Chloroxylon Swieteiiia) is by far the first, in point of size and 

 durability. All the forests around Batticaloa and Trincomalee, 

 and as far north as Jaffna, are thickly set with this valuable tree, 



: under whose ample shade the traveller rides for days together. 



' It grows to the heiglit of a hundred feet, with a rugged grey 



f 

 I 



