INDIA, BURMA, AND ANDAMAN ISLANDS 173 
peculiarly feathery figure is very beautiful, and a log of 
this character sometimes sells for 10s. per square foot. 
Not so much used as formerly for furniture, it is chiefly 
cut up into veneers, and is largely used as panel work in 
passenger steamers. The timber is called yellow wood in 
the Bahamas. Porto Kico satinwood is most fancied, and 
is sold either at per square foot or in short lengths by 
weight. Some time back the price varied in one sale from 
£7 to ±'51 per ton, and from lOd. to 18d. per square foot 
1 inch thick, and one log sold at £150 a ton, nearly Is. 5d. 
a lb. A few logs of Benin satinwood from West 
Africa occasionally come over with the mahogany, 14 to 
19 ft. long and 23 to 27 inches deep, but are not much 
appreciated. 
Sundri {Heritiera rninor) is an evergreen tree of small 
size producing a heavy, tough, hard, durable timber, used 
for beams, buggy shafts, planking, furniture, etc., but 
chiefly for boat-building. Extensively used in Calcutta, it 
is the chief timber of the Sunderbund forests, the sundri 
forests of which are some of the most valuable of the 
Government properties of India. The colour of the 
timber is a dark reddish brown. 
Weight about 67 lbs. per cubic foot. 
Butter Tree or Mahwa {Bassia latifolia), a large deciduous 
tree 40 to 60 ft. high of the tropical genus Sapotacce, comes 
from the North-West Provinces. The wood is of close, 
even grain and very hard, of a reddish colour, something 
like jarrah, but Hghter. The annual rings are indistinct, 
the medullary rays numerous. Though one of the most 
important of Indian forest trees the wood is not much 
used. Seasoned wood is used for house-building, furniture, 
and naves of wheels. 
Weight 62 lbs. per cubic foot. 
