VIZAGAPATAM.
timber is left in them except the mohwa, tamarind and jack trees which the hill people have spared for the sake of their fruit.
The only good growth remaining is that in the extreme north of the Bissamkatak and Gunupur taluks; in the country north of the Indrávati; in the west of Jeypore taluk round about Rámagiri; on the line of hills which separates this from the lower levels of Malkanagiri; and between Kondakambéru in this last taluk and the boundary of Hill Mádgole.
In the north of the Bissamkatak and Gunupur taluks grows the finest sál in the district. Except trees which were too big to transport, all which was near enough to the Vamsadhára river to be dragged thither by buffaloes, has long since been felled by the Reddi timber-contractors of Gunupur, and floated down on bamboo rafts to Kalingapatam in Ganjám district. A royalty on each raft used to be collected by the Gudári ámín. Difficulties of transport have, however, saved the more inaccessible sál. At Majjikóta, where the three main tributaries of the Vamsadhára meet, there is a waterfall, and the streams above this are full of rocky barriers. Consequently no floating is possible north of this point. Moreover the country to the east of the river, between it and Chandrapur and Bijápur, is too rough for timber-dragging. Further north, the sál in the Jagdalpur and Dongasúrada muttas has also escaped owing to its inaccessibility, and still includes trees as much as ten feet in girth.
The country to the north of the Indrávati, especially along the valley of the Tél, is one great forest with scattered cultivation in isolated glades. Here again there is much fine sál, and the difficulty of getting it out has preserved it from destruction. The tree makes a beautiful forest, for if it has a chance it eventually ousts other varieties and forms a jungle clear of undergrowth and consisting of tall, straight trunks topped with a heavy canopy of leaves. Round Umarkót grows the Schleichera trijaga on which the lac insect deposits its valuable secretions and here also, especially towards the Kálahandi side and near the frontier north-east of Raigarh, is some scattered teak of fair dimensions.
In the Rámagiri forests the sál again appears in strength, and at Mattupáda, near Rámagiri, are some saw-mills which were put up while the Jeypore estate was under management during the present Mahárája's minority.
On the range of hills which divides the Jeypore taluk from the lower Malkanagiri country is more fine sál; but just below them, along a line drawn from Pangam to Salimi, is the southern limit of the tree, and the most valuable timber in Malkanagiri
120
