20 TIMBER TBEES IN ALGEBIA. [Nov , 



scenery, unmatched in its beauty, — he will be content to seek the 

 quietude of the village inn, and ruminate on his wanderings 

 through one of the most picturesque forests in the kingdom. 

 Further on he would encounter an army of great Oaks, and the 

 magnificent mansion of Thoresby, standing in a park of 3,000 

 acres, with pretty Pearlthorpe Church, and historic Clumber — the 

 heritage of the young Duke of Newcastle — iu the far distance. 

 But premising he is content with his walk through one section of 

 the forest, he had better strike a ' bee-line ' from his resting- 

 place, and in a few minutes he will be approaching the village of 

 Edwinstowe, with its quaintly constructed church, where Maid 

 Marian is said to have been united in the bonds of matrimony to 

 her forest lover Robin Hood. In this old-world village he will 

 be able to find the needful rest and accommodation, and wdll not 

 be ungrateful for the simple fare set before him, nor unthankful 

 that he has been able to enjoy a sight of Nature's beauties in 

 their lavish loveHness. 



N. Haktley Aspden. 



The Timber Trees in Algeria. — The forests comprised in the colonised parts 

 of Algeria include at the present time some 15,000,000 trees ; 6,000,000 large forest 

 trees and about 9,000,000 mulberries, resinous, and ornamental trees. According 

 to the official returns there are 278,325 hectares covered with the cork oak, 

 605,622 with evergreen oak, 42,742 with cedar, while the remainder of the forest 

 area is occupied by the tree known as oak-zeen, Aleppo pine, thuya, wild olive, 

 broom, &c. The majority of the cork trees are in the province of Constantine, 

 fringing the coast line of La Calle and Bougie. Here, also, grows the oak-zeen, 

 peculiar to Algeria, which resembles the white oak, but has a leaf like a chestnut. 

 Some of these trees, especially in the forest of Skira on the Tunis frontier, grow 

 to a colossial size, and are excellent for shipbuilding j^urposes. The chestnut 

 flourishes in the forest of Edough, near Bona, while the plains in the neighbour- 

 hood of the coast contain elm and ash, and the river valleys willow, elder, and 

 poplar. The lower chains of the Atlas range are covered with evergreen oak, 

 mingled with broom and sweet acorn oaks. On the ranges above are the thuya 

 Aleppo pine and maple, though these latter are limited in their localities, such 

 as the Aures Hills and the environs of Bathna, where the summits of the 

 mountains are thickly planted with cedar. Towards the coast of the province 

 of Algiers are the forests of Sahel and Mazafran, near Koleah, the latter possess- 

 ing huge ash trees interlaced with the wild vine ; but the true forest country 

 does not commence until we reach the Atlas Mountains, where are the forests 

 of Ak-Fordoun, with very large oak-zeens, the forest of Beni-Menasser, consist- 

 ing principally of wild olive, the forest of Ourensenis, of thuya and Aleppo pine, 

 and the venerable forest of Teniet-el-Haad, where the cedars are from 15 ft., to 

 18 ft, in circumference, and from 45 ft, to 100 ft, in height. The province of 

 Oran is erroneously said to be bare of trees, but though they are rather scanty 

 in the coast section, the plateaux of the mountains are heavily timbered^ 

 especially beyond Mascara, as far as Sebdou, The forest of Duya in this 

 neighbourhood is at least 40,000 acres in extent, principally of evergreen Oak, 

 Thuya, and Aleppo pine. 



