32 THE HIGHLANDS OF CENTRAL INDIA. 



of their line * There is something wrong where this is the 

 case ; and that something is the want . of a good road into 

 the Sal regions from the railway at Jubbulpur, which road 

 should have been made, for many other reasons besides this, 

 long ago {vide pp. 376-7). 



So much for the Sal forests. As regards the Teak, the sup- 

 ply available for railway uses had already been much reduced 

 from the causes mentioned. A good deal was, however, still 

 left in the remoter forests, where communications were not so 

 easy ; and the forests, if properly taken in hand, might have 

 yielded a steady supply of large timber for many years. But 

 unfortunately the grave mistake was now made of announcing 

 that after a certain time the forests would be brought under 

 Government management and strictly conserved. This was 

 the death-blow to the remainder of the Teak throughout the 

 northern parts of the tract. The railway contractors, and 

 numerous speculators, foreseeing the value that timber was 

 likely to acquire, owing to railway operations and the closing 

 of the forests, then went into the jungles with bags of rupees 

 in their hands, and spread them broadcast among the wild 

 tribes, with instructions to slay and spare not to fell every 

 Teak tree larger than a sapling that they could find, and 

 mark them with their peculiar mark. It was only too faith- 

 fully done ; and scarcely anything that was accessible escaped 

 the axe. Now came delay in the railway works, failure of 

 the contractors, and want of money. The cut timber was 

 abandoned wholesale where it lay. Teak wood is full of oil, 

 and burns readily after lying for a short time. The jungle 

 fires occurred as usual in the long dry grass where the logs 



* I would not be understood to say that no Sal timber has been used. A 

 little has ; but it has always proved to be a losing speculation in its cost as com- 

 pared with the imported material. 



