208 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY 
would afford to pay freight as an article of ex¬ 
portation to Europe. Salt, or muriate of soda, is 
found in many of the lakes of the upper pro¬ 
vinces, under circumstances which I have alluded 
to in the Journal. From this there can be little 
doubt of the existence of salt in beds, although 
I could not find that its presence in this form 
has been actually determined. 
Among the useful Vegetable productions of 
Ava, the teak tree holds a distinguished place. 
The forests of this invaluable timber are unques¬ 
tionably the most extensive in India. The teak 
is, I believe, no where to be found in the low 
alluvial lands to which the tides reach ; but in the 
high lands beyond their influence, it seems to be 
very generally disseminated throughout the king¬ 
dom. In our own progress to Ava, we noticed 
it all the way from Shwe-daong to Melun, a dis¬ 
tance of at least one hundred and fifty miles. Dr. 
Wallich found it, again, growingside by side with 
oaks in the range of mountains north-east of Ava ; 
and in our new acquisitions to the south of the 
Saluen, we found that on the three rivers which 
water the province of Martaban, the teak tree be¬ 
gan to make its appearance as soon as the influ¬ 
ence of the tides had ceased. The most conveni¬ 
ent and accessible, if not the finest forest in the 
country, is that of Sarawadi, which furnishes 
nearly the whole of what is exported to foreign 
countries. Other considerable forests of teak 
