at when the work of reservation is complete
there will be 25,000 sq.m. of preserves or 12% of the total area.

_Fisheries._--Fisheries and fish-curing exist both along the sea-coast of
Burma and in inland tracts, and afforded employment to 126,651 persons in
1907. The chief seat of the industry is in the Thongwa and Bassein
districts, where the income from the leased fisheries on individual streams
sometimes amounts to between L6000 and L7000 a year. Net fisheries, worked
by licence-holders in the principal rivers and along the sea-shore, are not
nearly so profitable as the closed fisheries--called _In_--which are from
time to time sold by auction for fixed periods of years. Salted fish forms,
along with boiled rice, one of the chief articles of food among the
Burmese; and as the price of salted fish is gradually rising along with the
prosperity and purchasing power of the population, this industry is on a
very sound basis. There are in addition some pearling grounds in the Mergui
Archipelago, which have a very recent history; they were practically
unknown before 1890; in the early 'nineties they were worked by Australian
adventurers, most of whom have since departed; and now they are leased in
blocks to a syndicate of Chinamen, who grant sub-leases to individual
adventurers at the rate of L25 a pump for the pearling year. The chief
harvest is of mother of pearl, which suffices to pay the working expenses;
and there is over and above the chance of finding a pearl of price. Some
pearls worth L1000 and upwards have recently been discovered.

_Manufactures and Art._--The staple industry of Burma is agriculture, but
many cultivators are also artisans in the by-season. In addition to
rice-growing and the felling and extraction of timber, and the fisheries,
the chief occupations are rice-husking, silk-weaving and dyeing. The
introduction of cheap cottons and silk fabrics has dealt a blow to
hand-weaving, while aniline dyes are driving out the native vegetable
product; but both industries still linger in the rural tracts. The best
silk-weavers are to be found at Amarapura. There large numbers of people
follow this occupation as their sole means of livelihood, whereas silk and
cotton weaving throughout the province generally is carried on by girls and
women while unoccupied by other domestic duties. The Burmese are fond of
bright colours, and pink and yellow harmonize well with their dark olive
complexion, but even here the infl