and dry on the worn summit of some cliff or island, or
in the fork of a tree ; and there it remains—it may be
for years—till some new flood, big enough to answer
its call, heeds it lying there, and sweeps it on to its
destiny. Thus a man may die and his heirs inherit his
wealth, and some of it may still remain, unrealised, into
the days of his son’s sons, or even for ever.
But this is of the Romance of the Timber-Cutten
There is no lonelier life for a white man than that
of the forest assistant, whose duty it is to see that:
the timber is cut in accordance with the State regulations,
and sent upon its way to the seaport towns.
The pictures given in the first chapter of this book
illustrate better than many words the history of a
log from the time it is cut to the time it reaches its
destination. They were taken by an officer of the
Bombay-Burma Company—that famous company to>
which the fall of the kings of Burma is attributed.
Book IX
T H E Y U N Z A L IN
