So far, fortune had favoured the brave Commissioner whose fertile mind had conceived and organized the undertaking. If he entertained any misgivings as to the ultimate success of the expedition, they never appeared on the surface, for he was bright, cheerful and sanguine throughout. We were far away from any kind of help; few indeed were aware of the expedition; and being himself the ruler of the country, there was no one to whom he could report progress. He was, moreover, dependent on the integrity of those who were guiding him through a country hitherto untrodden by Europeans, destitute of roads and bristling with almost insurmountable difficulties. He was mainly depending on secrecy and a circuitous flank movement. On the other hand, he doubtless placed considerable reliance on his thorough knowledge of the Burmese character. Yet, in spite of this, how could he be sure that intelligence would not by some means or other be conveyed to the party in revolt? We have reason to know how rapidly events and proceedings are communicated in the East; how they travel through the length and breadth of lands that know not the telegraph; and if anything like a determined opposition had been offered along the line of march, we should have suffered great losses, until retreat would have probably been still more disastrous than any advance. Thus the Commissioner was unquestionably taking upon himself a heavy responsibility and courting unusual risks, from motives best known to himself. We could only enjoy a satisfactory peep here and there, and indulge in conjectures; but ere long, the curtain was to be raised and the whole scene viewed at a glance. It was a bold conception, and ably carried out by a master mind! Hitherto it had not been my good fortune to come across a teak forest, but we now skirted one. Judging from the regularity of the spaces between the trees, it looked as if the process of thinning had been employed, and the survivors were of large size, great height and immense value. As this was the season at which they shed their large rough leaves, the interior of the forest was lighted up, otherwise it must have been as dark as Erebus. In one place, a bear was seen shuffling along as fast as he could travel, evidently dismayed at our intrusion, and too far off to have a shot at, even had we been so minded. There was then a craze for teak-wood, and, as the forests were indiscriminately and ruthlessly felled in this and subsequent years till irreparable mischief ensued, this one probably shared the fate of the rest. Subsequently our Government realized the gravity of the situation, and appointed a forest conservancy, which, considering the mischief was already done and the teak requires about eighty years to arrive at maturity, was rather worse than locking the stable-door after the steed has been stolen.