132 VOYAGE TO THE 



c ^ p require considerable search and labour to find suffi- 

 "— ~<~—' cient to construct a bouse. The young trees have 

 1825. thriven but partially, arriving at a certain growth, 

 and then stopping. A tree of this kind, which was 

 the largest in the island, measured, at the time of 

 our visit, twelve feet in circumference ; another was 

 nine feet seven and a half inches in girth, at five 

 feet from the root; its trunk grew to the height 

 of thirty feet, perfectly straight, and without 

 branching. 



The banyan is one of those large spreading trees 

 common in India. Nature has been so provident to 

 this island that there are very few trees in it which 

 cannot be turned to account in some way, and this 

 tree, though it yields no fruit, and produces wood 

 so hard and heavy as to be unserviceable, still con- 

 tributes to the assistance of the islanders, by sup- 

 plying them with a resin for the seams of their 

 boats, &c. This useful substance is procured by 

 perforating the bark of the tree, and extracting the 

 liquor which exudes through the aperture. 



We saw dyes of three colours only in Pitcairn 

 Island, yellow, red, and brown. The yellow is pro- 

 cured from the inner bark of the root of the nono 

 tree (morhula cifrifolia), and also from the root of a 

 species of ginger. We did not see this plant grow- 

 ing, but it was described as having leaves broader 

 and longer than the common ginger, a thicker root 

 in proportion to its length, a darker hue, and not so 

 tubercular. The red dye is procured from the in- 

 ner bark of the doodoe tree, and may have its inten- 

 sity varied by more or less exposure to the rays of 

 the sun while drying. These dyes are well coloured, 

 but for want of proper mordants the natives cannot 



