44 



of all tlie other pa litis for this purpose I refer 

 to this species and the first two mangroves under 

 the section " Minor Forest Products.' 7 



There are many other species in the mangrove asso- 

 ciations, and these require identifying. Those that I 

 have enumerated are merely the very common trees. 

 As one rises from the mangroves, the beach forest is 

 of its water supply in a plant growing continually in encountered. Some of the species of this formation 

 water, is that the water is salt. It is essential that have already been mentioned. I add here Aegiceras 

 the little water that can be absorbed by the roots in ma jus, which has the same viviparous method of pro- 

 the selective assimilation, and which is absorbed very paction as the Jlhlzophora, which grows in the inter- 



slow indeed — so much so as to be inappreciable, except 

 over long periods of time. These trees, growing in 

 mud and salt water, and which are sometimes called 

 halophytes, have all the appearance of xerophytes. 

 The leaves are leathery and rounded at the ends; the 

 cuticle is thick, and there are water storage tissues. 

 The explanation of all these aids to the conservation 



slowly, should be conserve 



a 



So transpiration is mediate vegetation, and Acanthus ilicif alius, a climb- 



ing, scrubby plant with an attractive blue flower, and 



reduced to a minimum, and there is a tendency in 



many species to succulence. They have large aerial the leaf of Greek decorative art. 



roots, or, at any rate, root swellings, with surface 

 roots on the ground. Others, e.g., Sormercdia 

 avicennia, send up air roots from below the ground, 

 and they stick up like a young thicket of leafless seed- 

 lings all around the old tree. The stand of timber is 

 dense, and must carry a heavy volume per acre in such 

 places as Galley Reach, where the trees grow to a com- 

 paratively large size. The commonest species of the 

 mangrove swamps are : — 



No. 213 — Rhizoph ora m ucronafa, Rhizopho- 



The 



area 



of mangrove swamps in Papua is 



not 



known, but it must be large, particularly in the 

 western division, where huge rivers empty themselves 

 slowly into the sea, passing through mile upon mile of 

 low-lying tidal reaches. 



racece. 

 211—. 



3. FOREST POLICY. 



From the earliest times in history every nation with 

 212 — Jlrugvicra Rheedii, Rhizophoracecv. any sort of civilized customs and laws found it neces- 



Avicermia ofti 



Yerhf n<t<-( <t\ 



218 



Xylocarptis granafum, Meliacece. 



fru f 



Palmoe* lleritiera littoralis, Sterculiacoe. 



Xo. 213 is recognized by its very branched prop- 

 roots, which are like flying buttresses ; otherwise it 

 is very like 212 in general appearance. 



Ko. 212. — Except in flower or fruit, only dis- 

 tinguishable from 213 by the absence of 



sary to lay down rules for the use by its people of the 

 great national resources represented by the forests. 

 The earliest record is probably in Justinian's Pandects, 

 where provision is made for the cutting of timber on 

 conservative lines. The timber was to be felled with a 



due regard to the requirements of the people in general, 



cut in the same 



prop- 



roots. 



The timbers of these two — our principal man- 

 groves — are also very similar. Bruguiera wood is 

 slightly lighter in color and in weight than that of 

 Rhizophora. Both are very hard and heavy; 

 otherwise, with their pretty quarter grain, they 

 would make good cabinet woods. They should 

 make good flooring. 



No. 211. — Avicennia has a very thin, greeny- 

 yellow, almost smooth, but really thin, papery, 

 scaley bark, and is therefore very distinct from the 

 last two, which have dark brown, rugged barks. 

 Its wood has a fine grain on the back, owing to 



and the regeneration of the forest 

 way as a good father of a family would cut his own 

 private woodland. The cutting of vine sticks and 

 firewood was so regulated as to assure the reservation 

 of a sufficient number of trees to make timber later 

 on. This regulation as to the reservation of 



standards, as they came to be called, will be found in 

 the laws of all countries right up to the Code Napoleon, 

 and in France to-day the old terms are still in use. 

 The work of going through the coppice and reserving 

 the 



young trees — the future mill logs — is known as 



" which is derived from the word " Bali- 



the remarkably clear bands of white, soft tissues 

 showing up against the brown, hard tissue. It 

 grows best on the edge of the swamp, approaching 

 the beach forest (see page 21). 



No. 218. — Xylocarpus granatum (syn. Carapa) 



Balivage, 

 veau," the name given to the young reserved tree till 

 it is 50 years old, when it becomes a "Moderne"; at 

 75 it is an " Ancien," and at 100 a " Bis-ancien." All 

 through its life this tree, marked at the root with a 

 brand, is safe from the woodman; only an authorized 

 officer can mark it for felling, and this is only done 

 when the tree is ready for the axe. Tbe forests 

 are the property of the people to use, and not to abuse, 

 and a wise people so guards the cutting of its timber 

 with laws and rules that the quantity of timber cut 

 has a large brown cannon ball of a fruit, with from a forest in a year is equal to the quantity it will 

 twenty pyramidical seeds inside. These are washed grow in that time. The forest is a reservoir of wealth 

 all round tbe shores of Papua, and with the ISTipa only so long as the interest of the wealth is made use 

 fruit, are the commonest objects of the beaches. of. m Once the owner foolishly starts cutting into his 

 The wood is used for good cabinet work in other capital, the reservoir is soon emptied, and the nation's 

 parts of the world. Another Xylocarpus is kasi timber, being exhausted, her requirements in this neces- 

 kasi, a pile timber with a tremendous reputation sary commodity must be made good from outside her 

 for durability. 



lleritiera littoralis bears a dark fruit with the 

 Kurrajong rib to it. It also is to be picked up on 

 the beaches. The wood is sound for many pur- 

 poses, but very hard to work up. It has a good 

 reputation for resisting borers, and even gives the 

 ship worm some trouble. 



borders. Where sound government exists, such a possi- 

 bility is unthinkable, and shortage of timber is not due 

 to over-cutting, but through the growth of the popula- 

 tion and industries. There is, however, a form of 

 government which, while being of the very soundest 

 in theory, in practice fails to safeguard its natural 

 resources. It was Jean Jaques Rousseau who said — 

 I translate from memory — " Were a community of 



Xipa palm is so well known as not to require Angels to select its form of government, it would choose 



description. Its 



long, 



very 



green 



striking object along every tidal waterway and 

 salt swamp land. In other lands, it is a valuable 



leaves are a a democratic form." 



In practice, so far as care of 



forests is concerned, and safeguarding the timber supply 

 for democracy for all time, u government of the people 

 source of alcohol; here it is only used for thatch- by the people for the people," except when the demo- 

 ing. The leaves of the Xipa are preferred to those cracy has risen on the ashes of some less angelic form 



