THE TEAK KEGION. 207 



were the attention of persons capable of testing it drawn to 

 the subject. It is also not unlikely that the soft woody fibre 

 of the tree would prove to be adapted for the manufacture of 

 coarse paper or cloth. Should any economic value be found 

 to attach to any portion of the tree, the supply would be 

 practically unlimited ; and reproduction of the forests would 

 be easy in the extreme, large stakes when stuck in the ground 

 during the rainy season rapidly taking root and shooting into 

 trees. This quality of the tree has recently been taken advan- 

 tage of by the railway company for the construction of live 

 fence-posts on which to stretch their fencing wires. The Salei 

 is of a highly social character, emulating in this respect the Sal 

 (Shorea), but admitting in a greater degree than it the com- 

 panionship of other species. The principal of these are the Saj 

 (Pentaptera) ; the Torchwood tree (Cochlospermum), with its 

 bright yellow solitary flowers gleaming on the extremities of its 

 naked branches; and the Iron wood tree (Hardwickia binata), 

 which is perhaps the most graceful forest tree in these regions. 

 The aspect of these vast forests of the Boswellia, of which 

 the country about the Tapti is a specimen, and which cover, 

 I should say, fully one half of the whole of this trap region, 

 is very remarkable. During the height of the monsoon 

 (July to October) the grass is green, and the trees have 

 thrown out a thin foliage of small bright green pinnated 

 leaves. The river beds, too, are then filled by foaming tor- 

 rents, and the fervor of the sun is moderated by a canopy of 

 grey clouds. At this season one might almost mistake the 

 valley for a scene in some northern primeval wilderness. But 

 gradually, as the clouds clear off and the rain ceases, a change 

 occurs. The rivers shrink in their beds, till a trickling stream 

 in a wide bed of boulders represents the resistless mountain 

 torrent of a month before, while the higher gullies are 



