192 FOREST LIFE AND SPORT IN INDIA 
profanation of historical antiquity by its adaptation 
to the needs of modern life. 
During the cold season of 1902 various tours 
were made in the districts of Lower Burma, where 
climate and surroundings were different from those in 
the north ; the country is, of course, more populous, 
and in consequence there is greater pressure on the 
forests, and the forester has other duties besides 
exploration and protection. Exploitation is in some 
districts here carried out departmentally, involving 
an enormous amount of labour both in the field and 
in the office, while the plantations of teak and 
“khair” absorb more time than the staff can afford. 
The timber depot at Rangoon was supplied from 
the Government forests, and monthly auctions were 
then held with the object of controlling the price 
of teak. Whether this object was attained is 
questionable ; no doubt the auctions tended to force 
up prices, but these, for various reasons best known 
to those acquainted with the working of the timber 
trade, do not always represent the actual market 
value of the wood. : 
The depot is served by the tide which at high- 
water fills the creeks that intersect it, and in conse- 
quence the elephants, when arranging the logs, 
worked laboriously in deep mud, and casualties 
were numerous. For some years past various 
schemes for mechanical haulage of the timber have 
seen the light, and may be one has been ere this 
adopted; but personally I was in favour of the 
abolition of a Government depot, being an opponent 
of Government-managed industries, and holding, with 
Professor Marshall, that Governmental intrusion 
