1841.] Report on the Island of Chedooba. 365 



purposes. The wood of this tree is hard and close grained, of a yellow 

 colour and most durable. In the Southern Provinces of Tenasserim it 

 grows to an immense size, and also in the Sandoway district ; hereafter 

 its qualities may be appreciated by other than the Natives, with whom its 

 durability has given rise to the proverb that * a Cemoe of Thew-gaan 

 lasts 99 years.' 



It has been thus seen that the soils of Chedooba to the very summit of 

 the Hills, and even there more so, are both productive and easily wrought. 

 That therefore in any future agricultural improvement of the Island, man's 

 industry will lay claim to a very large portion of that extent, now entirely 

 in a state of nature, there can be no doubt ; and over the face of all the 

 lower hills, crops of various produce take the place of the jungles, which 

 now occupy them. Such cultivation, even though limited to the extension 

 to the greatest amount practicable of those products which are now 

 but so partially grown on .the Island, would therefore leave but a narrow 

 space to be provided for, below those steeper, almost precipitous hills, 

 which must always be given over to nature whereon to maintain supplies 

 of timber and fuel. What such a space might be most profitably occu- 

 pied with, it is perhaps attempting to look too far into the probable 

 future, to make it other than presumption to speculate on. Yet in con- 

 sidering the nature of the soil, and comparing it with that of the spice 

 gardens of Penang and Singapore,it has seemed at times likely that a similar 

 produce might be found practicable here. For taking into consideration 

 the very great disparity in the mode of the distiibution of moisture 

 between the two localities, still the pepper vine flourished at Sandoway, 

 and at Mergiu, if not Moulmein ; places all subjected to the same pecu- 

 liarities of season. The growth of the Nutmeg, Cloves, and Coffee, are 

 not yet despaired of. 



Of the productions of the animal kingdom, the Island exhibits but a 

 limited variety — under the head of agricultural produce it has been 

 already mentioned, that large cattle thrive, and are plentiful and might 

 be no doubt much improved— not only at present are they not killed 

 for food, but even their milk is not used, and authority was obliged to be 

 exerted in order to procure this luxury in the midst of herds. 



The use to which they are applied has in the same place been already 

 noticed, and beside them there are none. 



One pony lives on the Island, the property of the Soogrees, and two 

 goats are claimed, as belonging to the party of police, which is stationed 

 at the chief village of Chedooba. 



2 Z 



