1654 
September, in fact some ripened in June and July, and 
the villagers have collected about 350 baskets (60 
pounds each) of seeds, and have sold them to India. 
There are still a lot of seeds on the ground from fruits 
which ripened later and I am having them collected. 
This kalaw seed collecting is not as easy as I thought 
it would be: first, the season is over, and one has 
to go over large areas to find enough seeds to make 
it worth while; second, the kalaw forests are local, - 
the first kalaw forest I struck after leaving Mawleik 
was two and a half days' journey from the latter 
place. I found about 10 pounds of seeds, but no more; 
the next kalaw forest I encountered 7 miles from a 
jungle village called Khoung Kyew. I had to walk the 
whole distance bare-footed as we crossed Khodan river 
eleven times, and that meant wading up to the waist 
in water. The forest along this river is magnif icent-- 
the wildest jungle I have ever seen. It is no joke to 
pass through the jungle; one sees elephant tracks, 
bear tracks, tiger tracks, etc. The natives will not 
venture out of their villages unless they go 15 or 20 
together, and on this kalaw seed hunt I had that many 
with me. I have no rifle and these natives have no 
weapons save large knives. In July most of the fruits 
ripen, but the natives dare not go into the forests 
to collect them as bears then roam the kalaw forest 
and eat the fxuit flesh, - not the seeds. The seeds are 
devoured by wild pigs. 
"I wish I could describe the grandeur of the 
forests. The river banks are perfect walls of green, 
impenetrable jungle. The natives told me that in the 
evening they dare not leave their jungle village, as 
herds of wild elephants come out to the river bed to 
bathe. The natives have lost many buffaloes from ti- 
gers and the only way to get the tigers is by means 
of traps. Last week a coolie who carried some provi- 
sions from one village to another was found trampled 
to death by elephants. The men sing, while going 
through the woods, to scare the beasts away. Tomorrow 
I am going to the main kalaw forest with 30 coolies. 
Next week I will return to Mawleik, crossing the Kho- 
dan stream about 40 to 50 times." 
January 23, 1921. 
"To-day I returned with the coolies from a Hyd- 
nocarpus hunt. Time is getting scarce, and I hired 
one man from every house of this village. We went far 
into the forests, and there separated Into smaller 
