JOURNAL 



OF THE 



ASIATIC SOCIETY 



NOVEMBER, 1847. 



Report on the Timber Trees of Bengal,* by Capt. Munro, F. L. S. 



I know of no better mode of supplying, as far as may be in my 

 power, the information required relative to the timber trees of India, 

 than by making a catalogue of the best of them, appending such remarks 

 to each, as my own experience and reading may enable me to supply. 



1. Teak — Tectona grandis, Nat. Fam. Verbenaeece. Generally known 

 to the natives as Saguan or Segoon, although in central India two or 

 three other trees are also called by the same name. The Teak when in 

 flower is very pretty, and being so commonly cultivated nearly all over 

 India, is known to most Europeans. Although it thrives to my own 

 knowledge in almost every portion of Hindoostan, it attains perfection 

 in a few favored localities only. The Teak forests of Malabar, are well 

 known. They are very extensive, and produce according to experiment 

 finer teak timber than any other forest. The trees generally grow in 

 low hills of about 1 to 3000 feet elevation above the sea. Moulmein 

 is also noted for its teak. I have seen large forests of the tree in 

 Nagpore, and near the Nerbudda, the wood is very much used in 

 that part of the country, and appears to be of a very superior descrip- 

 tion. In the Metcalfe Hall there is a very good specimen of Teak 

 grown in the Botanical Gardens, which has been worked up into a table 

 and presented to the Society, by the late Mr. Robison. From experi- 

 ments carried on by Capt. Baker, and detailed in the 1st Volume of 

 " Gleanings in Science," it would appear that Rangoon, Bombay, and 



* Drawn up by Capt. Munro, al the request of the Asiatic Society, for the informs 

 lion of the Military Board. 



No. XL— New Series. 7 c 



