The Imperial Gazetteer of India
Meyer, William Stevenson, Sir, 1860-1922.
Burn, Richard, Sir, 1871-1947.
Cotton, James Sutherland, 1847-1918.
Risley, Sir Herbert Hope, 1851-1911.
....................................
New edition, published under the authority of His Majesty's secretary of state for India in council.
Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1908-1931 [v. 1, 1909]

240 NORTHERN SHAN STATES
but in the cis-Salween States the total is probably nearly r00 square
miles. Much ingenuity is spent on these canals, and on the embank-
ments keeping the water in the terraces of paddy-fields, which follow
the contour of the ground. A considerable amount is spent in some
States on irrigation works, the actual digging of the waterways being
often done by Maingthas. In places fields are irrigated by means of
the Persian water-wheel.
Teak is found in Hsipaw, Tawngpeng, and North Hsenwi ; but so
far Reserves of teak have been formed in Hsipaw only, which cover
181 square miles, the largest being the Kainggyi
Forests. Reserve (121 square miles) and the Namma Reserve
(50 square miles). It is not possible to give even the approximate
areas of other forest tracts, though there are thousands of square miles
of virgin forest. The hill-sides are often covered with pines (Pinus
Xhasya), oaks (of which there are several varieties, including the
Himalayan species), and chestnuts. The pine forests are very ex-
tensive and probably cover many hundreds of square miles; they are
generally found on the more exposed ridges at an altitude of about
4,000 feet. Chestnut-trees always form a subordinate feature in the
forests in which they occur. Ingyin (Pentacme siamensis) and thitya
(.Shorea obtusa) are found in many parts of the Northern Shan States,
the latter being very common in both South Hsenwi and Manglon,
often occurring in the midst of pine and oak forests. Thitsi (Melano-
rrhoea usitata), the black varnish tree, grows in Hsipaw, on the northern
slopes of Loi Leng, 'and in the Manhsang circle of South Hsenwi.
The gum or resin that exudes from it is much prized for varnishing
and for making lacquer-work. The Cedrela Toona is another useful
tree common in both North and South Hsenwi. The wood has been
found admirably adapted for da sheaths. The paper mulberry (Brous-
sonetia papyrifera) furnishes the raw material used in the manufacture
of Shan paper ; and the silk cotton-tree (Bombax malabaricum) is
valued for its down, which is employed for stuffing the pillows or pads
inserted below the pack-saddles of bullocks. Both these latter trees
are common throughout the States. Bamboos grow freely in the
vicinity of the villages, and, as elsewhere, are put to almost every
conceivable household use. The right to the timber in the forests is
reserved to the British Government.
Coal has been found along the valley of the Nam Yao in the Lashio
circle of the North Hsenwi State, and higher up the same stream
Minerals. near Mongyaw, as well as along the valleys of the
. Namma and Nam Pawng in South Hsenwi and
Hsipaw. Analysis has shown the coal found at Lashio to be of very
inferior quality. The product of the Namma valley is described as
bituminous coal, which should properly be called lignite, and is

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