the ports of Malabar and Canara, except under the special authority of Government, or to modify Act VI of 1848 to such an extent as would empower the Collectors of these districts to levy a duty as before on undersized teak timber exported from these districts, leaving other timber and teak of larger girth free of all duty.

On receipt of this letter the Government of India called for a copy of all rules which were in force in the Madras and Bombay Presidencies and in Tenasserim for the conservancy of the forests. Madras replied that there were none save local rules drawn up by the Collectors of Malabar and Canara. Bombay said that their rules for the conservancy of the forests had not been definitely determined upon. In January, 1849, the Government of India asked for the Bombay Government's opinion on the Madras Government's letter on the subject of the prevention of the felling of young teak. Gibson was asked to express an opinion, and in his report stated that a legislative enactment interdicting the export of undersized teak timber would be of much service in Malabar and Canara. With reference to Bombay he stated that in parts the teak only grew to a small size and was cut and exported owing to the demand which existed. Such teak would never be serviceable for naval purposes. The trade in this small material should not be interfered with, but even here" it will be found necessary to fix the 'seignorage' on the smaller wood at a rate so high as to discourage the cutting of immature trees." On May 26th, 1849, the Government of India replied to the letter of the Government of Madras, and their reply appears to show that so far they had learnt little from the experience of the past. After making allusion to the inconvenience that would arise from a partial repeal of Act VI, 1848, the letter states that His Honour in Council is unable to satisfy himself of the propriety of legislating even in this indirect manner, for the purposes of interfering with individuals in the management of their private property. . . .

"It does not appear in the first place that the Government forests, in which of course any conservancy arrangements that may be desirable can be introduced without a law, are not alone sufficient for public purposes. In the next place His Honour in Council finds it difficult to believe that proprietors of forests will be found, as a body, to pursue to an excessive degree the unwise and improvident course, the existence of which is assumed as sufficient proof of the necessity

for the interference of the law to restrain them in the management of their own property. A few such may possibly be found, but with regard to the majority, His Honour in Council cannot suppose but that they are likely to discern for themselves and to follow that course which is most conducive to their real interests, and that no such general and wholesale destruction of the forests will be found to take place as appears to be apprehended."

The enunciation of this opinion, in face of the correspondence before them, indubitably showing the devastation to which the forests had been subjected during the past halfcentury, exhibits a surprising lack of statesmanship and want of foresight. It also displays an ignorance of the customs and mode of outlook of the proprietors of woods, and of the necessities and requirements of the agricultural community who formed the bulk of the population for whose welfare His Honour in Council was responsible.

CHAPTER VIII

FOREST OPERATIONS IN TENASSERIM, BURMA, 1796–1840

T

HE history of the forests of Burma, so far as the British personally are concerned, commenced with the enquiries into their resources made by the Government on the acquisition of the Tenasserim Provinces, which were ceded to the British by the Burmese under the treaty of Yandaboo early in the year 1826. Although for some time previously trading in teak timber had been undertaken by the British in Moulmein (as also from Rangoon), it was from the date of this treaty that the resources and physical characteristics of the Province became the subject of interest and enquiry. Soon after the cession of the Provinces Captain Grant and Lieutenant de Montmorency were appointed to make a survey of the newly acquired territory. Captain Grant fell ill before any great progress had been made and the projected survey appears to have been abandoned; for although a map of a "Survey of the three Pagodas " prepared by Lieutenant Scotland is extant, which appears to indicate that he was appointed as a Survey Officer, no further papers have been traced regarding either of the projects.

In the following year, 1827, Dr. Wallich, the Superintendent of the Honourable Company's Botanical Gardens at Calcutta, was deputed to examine and report upon the botanical features of the Tenasserim Provinces, and while at Moulmein upon this mission he was desired by the Government of India (letter dated 1st March, 1827) to take advantage of the opportunity "to acquire the fullest and most complete information" of the resources of the country, in regard to both "botanical science and military and commercial objects"; as it was believed that the whole of the Tenasserim Provinces presented a most favourable and abundant field for botanical researches, and that the productions of timber for military and other purposes were not only ample but of very superior quality."

The above early recognition of the great value of the resources of the Provinces furnishes admirable evidence, if evidence were required, of the acknowledged "flair” for the possible richness of newly acquired territories of which the Company's officials so often gave evidence.

In compliance with the order received, Wallich, whose name stands high in connection with the first researches into the botanical value, scientific and commercial, of the Tenasserim forests, left Moulmein on the 10th March, 1827, and proceeded on his tour of exploration. In his first expedition he ascended the Salween River for about 40 miles, and on his return he went up the Attaran River to a distance of 100 miles. His journals of these two excursions make delightful reading and present a vivid picture of the conditions of the country visited as existing a century ago. They also give evidence of the high administrative qualities possessed by the author and of a shrewd insight into the value of the resources of the new Province and of the dangers which would accrue if they were not protected from a ruthless exploitation by traders.

Up the Salween River. Leaving Moulmein on 10th March, 1827, Wallich crossed over to Martaban and entered the Salween River. This river, unlike the Attaran, becomes perfectly fresh within a few miles of its mouth. In consequence its banks soon lose the characteristic appearance presented by the mangrove forests of the brackish water and become covered "with high grass, erythrinas intermixed with betel palms and occasionally clumps of plantain trees." From its mouth the course of the river runs due north with frequent bends to east and west. Higher up the river the banks became steep and the hills were more or less covered with shrubs and trees. Wallich noted that at this time of the year the jungles were extensively burnt, and he "had no doubt that the ashes produced by the universal practice of burning the jungles during the dry season must have a very salutary effect on the soil as a species of manure." Several islands were noted on which cotton was grown, and the doctor recorded, "I do not recollect having ever seen finer cotton than what I procured here... Indeed, I think it exceeds even the Barbadoes cotton which I cultivated near Barrackpore and which in the opinion of the Court of Directors was superior to any on the London market. At Trugla, a village lower down the river, this cotton sells at Rs.30 (Madras) for 100 viss, equal to 365 pounds avoirdupois, if I rightly compute the viss," which was

considered to be wonderfully cheap. On the 13th March Wallich reached a small village called Phanoe on the right bank of the river in the neighbourhood of which there was a grove of sixty to seventy teak trees; the best trees here had evidently been removed long ago. He notes "at this time of the year the tree is almost destitute of leaves" and therefore it is easily confounded with the Nauclea, another common timber tree, with a "sort of Careya," and several species of Dillenia and Lagerstroemia, all of which are like the teak deciduous and grow to forest trees of considerable dimensions. The average measurements of three trees measured here were 9 feet & inches in girth (at 4 feet above ground) and 12 feet 5 inches of height to the first branch (his measurements were always taken at these points). The following day Wallich arrived at a village situated at the upper end of the island of Koa Theyu. "The village," he remarks, "is small and chiefly occupied in the cultivation of tobacco and cotton-two objects of agriculture which, together with sugar-cane, coffee and many others, would, I imagine, succeed extremely well on a large scale on this river." At the island of Koa-Lung they saw a float (raft) of 6000 bamboos of the small sort called Woa Tew, which had been brought from Miyang, where they cost Rs.10 per thousand, and were being taken to Moulmein, where the price was at the time Rs.3 per hundred. Wallich afterwards met with this bamboo in full flower, and he describes it as "a curious bamboo with the stem as thick as a moderate-sized arm, elegantly marked lengthways with irregularly white stripes like leaves of the striped grass. Four miles to the south-west at Miyang there was a teak forest estimated to contain two hundred good trees-those measured averaging in girth 9 feet 10 inches and height 19 feet 911 inches. The wood was dark-coloured and compact. Several of the trees had been felled, and writing of the felling of teak trees by the wood-cutters, Wallich observed, "Nothing could be worse than the miserable mode adopted here of felling the trees, in no instance below and generally above 3 feet from the base, and, if any obstruction occurred, which could easily be removed in many instances, even as high as 4 feet. . . . Few forests can be fairly said to be inexhaustible until they are placed under salutary laws; and those of teak have been too long and too constantly laid under contribution not to require prompt and vigorous measures for their redemption. Among the produce of the land on which we may safely rely for