Page:Timber and Timber Trees, Native and Foreign.djvu/132

 CHAPTER XX.

THE TEAK TREE (Tectona grandis).

tree is found principally in India; and from the southern limits of its range in Java it is distributed over about 2,000 miles, until it touches close upon the 23° of North latitude. Its range in longitude is also very considerable, since it is found to stretch across Hindustan, and through Burmah to near the frontier of China. It was formerly very plentiful in the Malabar district, but is now only sparingly met with there. At Bombay, where a few years since it was supplied in sufficient quantities from the adjacent province to meet all the demands for ship-building and other purposes, builders have now, owing to its almost complete exhaustion, to draw upon other sources to meet the local requirements.

The most extensive, and probably the best, forests of Teak at present existing are in Burmah, where they lie spread along the banks of the Salween, Thongyeen, Irrawaddy, and other rivers. They also stretch very far inland to the countries occupied by the Shans, the Karens, and the Chinese. Other forests stretch considerably to the north, and there, upon some of the undulating and mountainous districts, it becomes dwarfed to a rather insignificant tree. Teak is also