174 
TIMBEE 
Chittagong Wood, a name somewhat vaguely given by 
cabinet-makers to various kinds of timber which come 
from the district of that name, on the east of the Bay of 
Bengal, is usually the wood of the Cliickrassia tahularis, 
a tree of the cedar family which is a native of this district. 
The timber is hard and varies in colour from yellowish 
brown to reddish brown with a beautiful satiny lustre and 
is much valued in India and Europe for cabinet work. It 
is tough, may be obtained up to 15 inches diameter, seasons 
and works up well, and the sapwood is of lighter colour. It 
is a fair-sized tree, attaining a height of about 70 ft. 
Besides being common in the Chittagong hills it is found 
in Assam and Eastern Bengal, and after jarul is probably 
the chief tree in the forests of Burma and the Andamans. 
A fine furniture wood, it is also used for pianos and carving. 
In some parts of India it is called cedar or " bastard " 
cedar. Annual rings distinct. 
Cedrela toona is another of the woods which come under 
the name of Chittagong wood. 
Weight of C. tahularis about 49 lbs. per cubic foot. 
Knmbuk (Tenniitalia glabra) is a Ceylon timber with 
reddish white sapwood about an inch thick, and browner 
heartwood sometimes of the colour of walnut and some- 
times almost black. It is apt to split in seasoning and not 
easy to work, but is hard and close of grain. The boring 
worms get right into the heartwood. It has been used for 
sleepers in Ceylon. Medullary rays are fine and numerous. 
Weight 48 to 54 lbs. per cubic foot. 
Red Eyne (Soymida febrifuga) is a Guzerat forest tree, but 
is not plentiful. The timber is red in colour, hard and 
heavy, and considered by natives one of the most durable 
of woods, therefore much used in the construction of 
