366 THE HIGHLANDS OF CENTEAL INDIA. 



information of the extent of the sal forests. The area they 

 already cover with good timber, and that which may with 

 conservation be recovered for the production of timber, is very 

 great ; and as, from its preferring the skirts and slopes of the 

 hills to the open valleys, it need never interfere with the 

 settlement of these splendid uplands, there is every reason to 

 believe that this must in future years be one of the chief 

 sources of timber-supply to the country. The timber of the 

 sal, if inferior to the teak for some purposes, such as carpentry 

 and transverse beams, is superior for others, such as wheel- 

 work and uprights, its straight firm grain giving it immense 

 power of resistance to crushing. It is almost the only timber 

 tree of Upper India, where teak is unknown. The unlimited 

 water-power of these rivers will supply the means of convert- 

 ing it on the spot ; and the Narbada will form a highway for 

 floating it to the open valley. Sal will not swim by itself, 

 until seasoned for several years ; but the hills produce an un- 

 limited quantity of the finest bamboos, a bundle of which tied 

 round a log will support it, and which are themselves of the 

 highest economic value. At present these forests have 

 scarcely been drawn on for the supply of timber, being distant 

 from the Narbada* some thirty or forty miles, without a road 

 capable of conveying heavy timber. I have already remarked 

 on the appearance of the sal tree. Singly it is a little formal 

 in outline, though possessing a fine firm aspect from its hori- 

 zontal branching, bright evergreen leaves like broad lance- 

 heads, and straight tapering stem covered with grey and 

 deeply fissured bark. Its great charm, however, resides in the 

 fresh cool aspect of the masses and belts in which it chiefly 

 grows. 



Besides the dammer resin of the sal, several other kinds of 

 minor forest produce are collected here, as in other tracts, for 



