The Dindings. 
The demarcation of Forest Reserves in the Dindings commenced in July, 1896, 
and was completed on 30th April, 1897. The work was carried out by a special staff 
of coolies acting under the instructions of the Forest Inspector, and on its completion 
a Forest Staff consisting of the Forest Inspector and 7 Malay Guards was organized, 
their salaries being as follows : — 
Forest Inspector, ... $40 per month. 
3 Guards, ... ... 9 do. 
4 Do., ... ... 8 do. 
2. The Reserves are six in number, and the total area of reserved land amounts 
approximately to 3,700 acres. I attach a sketch plan shewing the position of the 
reservations, lettered A to F. 
3. A.—Lumut Reserve . — Area 500 acres, of which about 400 acres is hill-land 
and 100 acres low and swampy. 'Phis Reserve contains valuable timber, such as Da- 
mar Laut, Ebony, Kranji, Rasak, Rengas and Meranti. 
B. — Pangkor Reserve. — Area 1,100 acres, viz., 900 acres hilly, 200 acres swamp. 
This Reserve includes the whole of Pangkor Island with the exception of the villages 
and adjoining kampongs, which extend along the East shore, and certain holdings 
across the centre of the Island towards the South. The timber found here is similar 
to that in A. 
C. — Tanjong Hantu Reserve . — A small but valuable Reserve comprising the one 
steep hill from which the promontory takes its name. Area about 300 acres. Timber 
includes Rasak, Rengas, Chengai, Halbau, etc., but the trees are mostly of small size 
at present, many of the larger ones having been cut down some ten years ago by a 
Chinese timber merchant whose kongsi was afterwards abandoned owing: to extraor- 
dinary mortality among his coolies. 
D — Gunong Tunggal Reserve . — Includes only high-land, viz., the Gunong Tung- 
gal ran^e of hills. Area about 400 acres. This is the finest of the six Reserves and 
contains some most valuable timber, being especially rich in Damar Laut, Pataling 
and Meranti Merah. 
E. — Bukit Segari Reserve . — Area about 1,100 acres. A fine Reserve containing 
some 900 acres of very hilly land and 200 acres of swamp. Bukit Segari is the 
highest hill in the Dindings, its summit being more than i ,800 feet above sea-level. The 
timber found is similar to that in Reserves A and B, while various kinds of Getah are 
also to be had in the low-lying parts. 
F. — Tanjong Burong Reserve.— Area, 300 acres. This Reserve is entirely man- 
grove swamp, and it is not clear to me why it was thought advisable to demarcate it. 
ft contains an abundance of timber which is excellent for firewood or for piles, but for 
nothing else. For some time previous to May, 1897, the right of cutting firewood at 
Tanjong Burong was farmed out to a Chinaman, but the lease was then determined 
owing to the Farmer persisting in cutting trees of a less diameter than was authorized 
by the District Officer. The iarm has, however, been renewed again this year to 
another syndicate under strict conditions and a large cash guarantee for the protec- 
tion of the smaller timber. 
4. Only one case of fire occurred in the Reserves during 1897, an ^ this — which 
was of a trivial character — was apparently accidental. No encroachments on Reserve 
land were reported. 
5. Twenty-nine cases of illicit timber cutting were dealt with during the year, the 
prosecutions resulting as follows : — 20 Convicted; Withdrawn 1; 8 Acquitted. 
The amount of fines inflicted was $229, of which $116 was realized. The 
timber cut in these cases was almost exclusively mangrove wood, and not a single 
case occurred where large or valuable timber was unlawfully felled. Indeed since the 
organization of the Forest Staff it may be said that the illicit cutting of large timber 
has been practically made impossible. 
6. The head-quarters of the Forest Ranger and Forest Inspector are, of course, 
at Lumut, and the Guards were, originally, distributed as follows: — 3 at Luinut; 2 at 
Beting Luas ; 2 at Pengkalan Bharu (Bruas). 
I11 consequence, however, of the constant thefts of bakau wood in the Sungei 
Panchor district, the culprits being chiefly the Chinese fishermen from Bagan, a 
village on the Perak bank of the river, I transferred one of the Lumut Guards to 
