No teak or any first-rate timber .—There is no teak to be found, nor any 
timber equal to it in quality, so far as my explorations and our general know¬ 
ledge of the value of timber go. 
Palava or Kuppalee forests .—The palava of the Tamils or Kuppalee theet, 
as now called by the Burmese convicts at Port Blair, is Mimusops Indica , be¬ 
longing to the natural order of Sapotacese, This species yields the wood so 
much used for gun-stocks by the Madras Ordnance Department, generally known 
under the name of bullet wood. 
Kuppalee, therefore, belongs to the same natural order which yields the 
bullet wood of Guiana, which is said by Sir R. Schomburgk to be also a species 
of Mimusops. 
This tree has a very wide range, occurring not only in Tinnevelly and 
Ceylon, but also on the Andamans.* At the first mentioned locality it has 
become so rare, by the great demand for it, that all private cuttings have been 
prohibited. Dr. Thwaites, writing about this tree, says it is very abundant in 
the hotter, drier parts of Ceylon, and reports this timber as valuable, extremely 
hard, strong and durable. 
Nowhere, however, do such large quantities of this tree exist as here on 
the Andamans. Kuppalee occurs all along the coasts wherever level lands or 
valleys are favorable for its growth, ascending only in a few localities the ridges, 
up to 300 feet, which border the sea. 
The finest and most vigorous trees are found along MacphersoiTs Straits, 
and especially along the whole western coast of South Andaman, and on the 
Labyrinth Archipelago; but the species is abundant also all along the other 
coasts of these islands in such a quantity that it really forms the whole of the 
forests in many places. 
Kuppalee is the name which the Burmese give to the Andamanese ; and 
it is interesting to notice that we find the camps of the aborigines nearly al¬ 
ways placed where Kuppalee theet is abundant, or in other words, where the 
land is most level and fertile. It grows there in a black rich garden soil to 
an enormous height, but remains stunted where sandy or calcareous soil is 
prevalent. 
This tree grows up straight, and attains a height of 80 feet and more, with 
a clean stem ranging from 40 to 50 feet. The girth is, on the average, 12 to 
14 feet; but I found very many trees, especially along the western coasts, 
measuring 19 feet in girth. 
The quantity of growing trees is very large, and I have reason to believe 
that more extensive forests will be found from Island Bay northwards to 
North Andaman, as the lands appear more level in that direction. 
The density of growth (by estimate only) is, on the average, about 20 to 
30 trees in an acre, counting only those having a girth upwards of six feet. 
It is difficult for me to say how many square miles these Kuppalee forests 
occupy on these islands. The following numbers are a rough estimate :— 
Total circumference of South Andaman approximately=150 miles. 
Allowing only two-fifths of the length for being covered by Kuppalee 
forests (certainly too low an estimate) =60 miles. 
Supposing that these forests should not extend further inland than half 
a mile on an average=30 square miles of a Kuppalee forests. 
According to such an estimate 384,000 to 576,000 trees, with a girth of 
six feet and upwards, would be present on South Andaman alone. These 
figures, however, may be found far too low. 
Judging from the numerous vigorous seedlings I saw growing, natural pro¬ 
pagation must be easy. 
* Acc rding to dried spec! metis in Dr. Wallich’s Herbarium, it occurs also near Amherst in Martaban. 
