Of Timbers there is an immense number in India occasionally used; but practically you will find yourself restricted to a very few varieties, which are the only ones procurable in any quantity. In the Punjab, for instance, the Deodar (Cedrus Deodara) is the principal wood employed, being nearly identical with the famous cedar of Lebanon. It is found in the Himalayan forests, where it is cut, thrown into the rivers, and left there till the succeeding rains swell the stream and carry the logs down below, when it is rafted and floated into the plains. It is a very valuable timber, procurable in great scantlings, and used for every purpose: trees of 7, 8, or 9 feet diameter at the foot, and 70 feet long, are by no means uncommon. In the North-Western Provinces the Saul (Shorea robusta) is the principal tree; it has a long fibrous grain, is straight and strong, of a reddish colour, and very valuable for all purposes.
In Burmah and Western India, the Teak is the principal wood: its many excellent qualities are doubtless well known to you. Other common timbers are the Mangoe, used only for planking or furniture, and readily attacked by insects; the Sissoo or Sheeshum, a hard, strong, but crooked wood, in general request for many purposes, especially furniture, as it takes a beautiful polish; the Keekur or Babool, an acacia, a very hard tough wood, much used for carts; the famous Bombay Black-wood, of which some beautiful specimens of carved furniture are to be seen in the Indian Court of the International Exhibition; the Toon, an inferior mahogany; the Sandal wood, which has a strong perfume, and many others.
Timber in India is generally seasoned by the air or water process, and is occasionally Kyanized or Burnettized. Well-seasoned timber stands the climate well if carefully protected from white ants, those pests of the East. For this purpose, the ends of beams fitting into walls are generally charred and tarred, or the timber is soaked in a solution of sulphate of copper; but the best preservative is carefully to prevent any earth or mud from coming in contact with it. Wooden posts buried in the earth will very soon be useless.
I don’t know that there is anything special to be said about the Indian Carpenters, who are generally very fair, and sometimes very clever workmen, though they do squat on the ground, and hold a piece of wood with their toes while they work the drill by means of a bow and string with their hands. Carpenters’ benches were introduced in the railway workshops at Lahore; but the superintendent told me that he had no sooner turned his back than the men at once proceeded to squat on the benches, so he gave them up in despair.
Of the Metals used by the Indian engineer I need only mention Iron, which is nearly all brought as pig from England. There are valuable iron, copper, and other ores in India; but the great cost of fuel and of carriage have hitherto prevented their being worked extensively. A good deal of native iron is certainly brought into the market, and worked up into tools, straps, bolts, &c.; but nearly all iron roofs and bridges are imported from England; even those made at the Roorkee workshops being manufactured from English iron.
Having now touched very briefly on the chief materials employed, I may usefully give you some information with regard to Wages of workmen and Cost of work. Wages, of course, vary more or less; but the pay of a common labourer all over India may be fairly set down at 2 annas, or 3d. a day, and of an ordinary mechanic at 6d. to 7½d., with which he finds himself in everything. A beldar, or navvy, will get 4½d., and a skilled carpenter or mason from 9d. to 1s. These wages seem very low compared with English prices; but you must remember that the men all do far less work than an Englishman; thus, the lowest estimated rate of common earthwork is now about 5s. per 1000 cubic feet, which is at the rate of 50 cubic feet only per day for each man of the gang employed.
Of course, I need not trouble you with a long string of rates; I only wish to give you some idea of relative prices and money value. Good ordinary brickwork will cost about 40s. per 100 cubic feet; ashlar about 2s. per cubic foot; timber-work, 7s. per foot, “wrought and put up.”
Taking into consideration the price of food, and other things, we may fairly reckon, I think, the difference in the value of money employed in constructing public works in India and in England as 1 to 4, i.e. that a work costing 10,000l. in India would cost 40,000l. in England.