.UH 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Mstwet 0- 



MAXNKU OF I!AI'TIN(! LOGWOOD ON 

 Ipi'iiig ;i noii-fliiating tiiiibiT, the transportation 

 .if it from the forests to the bar or port 

 uliere it can be received by the extracting 

 faetory, or the ship that carries it to mar- 

 ki-t, is the most difficult problem connected 

 with the logwood trade. The cuttings are 

 usually located as near as possible to streams 

 where there is a sutBeient stage of water for 

 rafting, but the timber has been nearly cut 

 out in localities easily reached or near to 

 streams suitable for the transportation of 

 large quantities of this wood. The hauling 

 Irnm the woods to the rivers is usually per- 

 il. imed with ox carts, and at some works or 

 nil. re extensive operations where there are 

 ..ther products of the forests to be handled 

 tram roads of considerable length have been 

 b\iilt to bring out the various woods to the 

 rivers or the coast. 



Where the rivers arc of sufficient depth 

 to float them, crib-rafts which draw from 

 three to six feet of water are used. These are 

 built according to the known stage of the 

 water and the cost of transportation is very 

 materially lessened by them on account of the 

 large quantities of material that can be so 

 cheaply handled by them. These cribs are 

 built of the trunks of cabbage palra trees, or 

 :i species of giant bamboo. These are cut 

 into logs, or rather sections from ten to thirty 

 feet long, according to the capacity required 

 ill the crib, which is sometimes as much as 

 fifteen feet wide by thirty feet long and six 

 feet deep, inside measurement, sufficient to 

 carry about twenty cords of wood. The bot- 

 tom or floor of the raft is made of these 

 palm logs arranged so as to touch each other 

 and extend across the narrow way of the raft. 

 They are then lashed together with what the 

 natives call tie vine, which is found most any- 

 where in tropical forests. It is almost as 

 strong and pliable as whang leather and can 

 he found in almost any length up to a hun- 

 dred feet or more, and any size from that of 

 a shoestring to an inch cable. 



BELIZE UIVElt, IIUITISII HONDURAS. 



Wlicn the floor of this floating bin is thus 

 arranged and made fast the side walls are 

 built up of the same material or sometimes 

 of poles of a species of very light wood. These 

 cross each other at the corners and are built 

 up like a pen, with the ends thoroughly lashed 

 together with the vine and firmly fastened to 

 the bottom at the corners and along the sides. 

 These palm logs are from twelve to eighteen 

 inches in diameter and are composed of a 

 hard hull or exterior that is impervious to 

 water and the interior is filled with a spongy, 

 pithy like substance that is very light. The 

 logs are separated by solid partitions at the 

 joints, which divide them into water-tight 

 compartments, and after they have been cut 

 for some time they become dried out and are 

 as buoyant as an empty cask and by reason 



of this sustain a great weight. Dormys, bat- 

 teaus and other native craft are also used for 

 bringing out logwood, especially where the 

 water is not of sufficient depth for floating 

 cribs. Kbony, rosewood, lignum-vitse and 

 other varieties of non-floating timbers arc 

 also transported in this way. It would also 

 afford a splendid and cheap means of bring- 

 ing out sapodilla, another heavy wood which 

 I believe is destined to become in the near 

 future a recognized substitute for hickory, as 

 it is evident that such a substitute must ere 

 long be found, and the nature of this wood 

 is such that it should completely fill the bill. 



Wlicu a crib is completed and ready for 

 the cargo it is ranked full of logwood and 

 settles down into the water as it is being 

 loaded to the required depth and is then ready 

 to begin the long, tedious trip of floating 

 many miles down to the sea. Each raft is in 

 charge of a man with a push pole to guide it 

 in the channel of the stream and prevent it 

 from running around. A meager supply of 

 provisions is provided for the trip. The raft 

 is usually steered ashore and tied up during 

 the night, so its pilot who makes his bed on 

 the raft may have an opportunity for sleep. 



There is usually seen piled on the main 

 cargo a number of boxes, bales or packages of 

 various kinds of goods from the forests, such 

 as ehicklee, rubber hams or medical herbs or 

 barks, as a side line to the real cargo. This 

 enterprise is and has been going on at Belize, 

 British Honduras, for years. There are ac- 

 cumulated at different yards along the river 

 front vast piles of logwood awaiting shi[)- 

 ment. Here it is assorted, weighed and graded. 

 During my sta.v in that city I know of a large 

 steamer taking an entire cargo of probably 

 3,000 tons of this wood for the English trade, 

 and other partial cargoes were taken to the 

 same market. 



The mangrove is a tree in many respects 



ASSORT ING LOGWOOD AT BELIZE, BRITISH HONDURAS. 



