No. 5,-1849.] 



WOODS OF CEYLON. 



139 



After the four first-enumerated woods may be placed 

 others equally useful, though less valuable, because more 

 abundant, such as the teak, jak, kina, milila, suriya, 

 hal-mUila, nd, &c. Of these, the only one employed for 

 furniture is the jak, which, when well selected and polished, 

 very frequently equals good mahogany. The want of grain 

 in the others named alone prevents them from being used 

 for similar purposes, as they are equally compact in texture 

 and smooth under the tool. 



It is doubtful if teak is indigenous to Ceylon, but however 

 this may be, the chief supply is derived from Moulmein 

 and Cochin, though a good deal is to be met with in various 

 parts of the Western and Southern Provinces, having been 

 planted by the Dutch Government to a considerable extent. 

 The quality of this cultivated timber is superior to that of 

 the imported, though it does not often arrive at the same 

 size. For quality the Ceylon teak stands first, the Cochin 

 second, and the Moulmein timber last. 



It will not be easy to find a tree more generally useful 

 than the jak, if we except the cocoanut tree. Scarcely a 

 native garden of any size is to be found without at least one 

 spreading its ample shade over the space before the dwel- 

 ling, and yielding its abundant harvest of fruit, Jak wood, 

 besides being most valuable for furniture, is admirably 

 adapted for all purposes of house or boat-building. It 

 stands the action of the weather and attack of worms, it 

 lasts longer under water, when used in boats, than does teak, 

 and it is far superior to that wood for upper planking of 

 boats, where it is liable to come in frequent collision with other 

 bodies. For this quality of resistance jak is only inferior 

 to satinwood. Domba, being cheaper, is usually employed to 

 form the stems and stern posts of large cargo boats. The jak 

 tree hollowed out makes an excellent canoe ; indeed, there 

 are very few purposes for which this wood is not adapted. 



