IO 
during my explorations in Pahang, I explained to the natives my desire for seed 
in r iv quantity of Dichopsis gutta , and offered to pay a cent a seed delivered in 
Pe an. Many, especially of the Kelantanese, said that they could get plenty in the sea- 
son and undertook to do so, but I am doubtful as to ever obtaining it. Two 
French experimenters visited Singapore with plans for extracting the gutta from 
leaves and twigs without destroying the tree. The methods adopted, however, were 
not successful, and 1 regret to say that, on my return from Pahang, I found that four 
of the best Dichopsis trees in the island had been cut down in one of the reserves, 
which loss was the more to be regretted as one or more of the trees were about to 
flower and. a supply of seed might have been obtained. 
Fires. 
7 • There have been only eight cases of fire in the reserves this year, as against 
twelve ol the previous year. In the Ang Mo Kio reserve two fires occurred, in one an 
acre in the other case 70 acres of lalang and secondary jungle were burnt; at Changi 
there were three (lies, in two of which about 30 acres of grass and brushwood were 
burnt , at Jurong a little grass was burnt ; at Selitar also there was a small grass fire ; 
and there was one at Pandan in which about 1 2 acres were burnt. Every effort to detect 
the incendiaries failed, but at Ang Mo Kio there .was no reasonable doubt but that the 
giasb was hied by Chinese grass-cutters, who were arrested afterwards cutting the 
young lalang shoots', and fined five dollars each, while at Changi it appeared'that the 
Malays at I anah Merab had ignited the grass to get the fluffy seeds of the lalang, pro- 
duced after burning, for stuffing pillows. 
Prosecutions. 
8. 1 here were 16 cases in all instituted during the year for cutting and remov- 
ing timber, etc., and fines to the amount of $127 inflicted, besides $16.15 paid in to 
the Government for the value of the timber cut. Two cases were withdrawn, one 
being connected w ith the reopening of an old cart track at Changi, and one being a 
case of tree tutting by a Government contractor, who paid the value of the tree's cut 
down to clear a piece of ground for landing road metal from the Tampenis River. In 
two cases summonses were issued — one against an Eurasian for cutting trees and 
making ligei pits at Changi Loyang, by which the lives of the forest watchmen were 
endangered; he was convicted and fined five dollars and costs: the oilier was issued 
against tour Malays for cutting young trees at Tanjong Penjuru, convicted and fined 
four dollars and costs. In two cases the defendants were cautioned and discharged, 
in one case for cutting lalang in the other for cutting pitcher plants the stems of 
which are used for tying bundles. In the remaining 10 cases fines amounting i n the 
aggregate to $110 were inflicted. 
Licenses for Timber cutting. 
* o 
q. Ouimg the- year, several poilions ol mangrove swamp have been let for 
cutting firewood, fishing-stakes, and pepper posts. The firewood-cutting licenses 
brought m $178, and a license issued for 1,500 fishing-stakes fetched §60. The 
prices charged by the Forest Department were considerably higher than those of 
the other departments, but there is no difficulty in getting the Malays and Chinese 
to take out as many licenses as are desirable. Thus" the permits for a sin Me man 
to cut bakau for firewood are $4 for two months, being an increase of one dollar 
above that of the other departments, and permits for fishing-stakes granted at the 
Land Office at $20 per 1,000 stakes were readily taken up from the Forest 
Department at 4.40 a thousand. One cause of this is that the more accessible 
ol the Government mangroves have been very heavily cut, so that the timber is 
at present small and hardly worth the cutting, while the Forest Reserves, hitherto not 
having been cut to any extent, produce plenty of good wood. But in any' -case the 
profit made by the cutters is quite large enough to allow of the increased charo-e. 
Bakau swamp forest ys more popular for firewood-cutting on account" of its 
accessibility by water, which is a much less expensive form of carriage than that by 
land, ant the trees giow close together and- have not to be sought for at considerable 
distances apart. he wood is very suitable for firing, and very good fishing-stakes can 
also be found in the swamp. 6 
* prim ipal woods cut are Biukup f Rhizophora mucronata) , Tumu (Kandeha 
Rheedii) and Akit (Rhizophora conjugate ) . A strong man can cut in a day 300 bundles 
of split firewood, tied up, and ready for sale. Each bundle contains five pieces 15 
inches long and about an inch thick : one hundred bundles sold on the spot fetch 10 
<. ents, and sell in Singapore for 25 cents. Engine firewood is of larger size, the pieces 
being 2 feet long and 4 inches thick and weighing about 3 catties. These fetch 40 
ents per hund-ed on the spot, and 65 tents in town. ' • ^ 
v 
