J 1 ' 1 ^] Hardy, Tall Trees of Australia. 



51 



mencement of the ' die-hack ' portion of the tree," and, as 

 the stem there was from 6 to 7 inches in diameter, he estimated 

 the " die-back " portion to have been from 15 to 25 feet, thus 

 giving an approximate length of 360 feet. " The last of the 

 big trees in that district," he says, " were cut down in 1862." 



(3) The third is our best measurement, by a legally-qualified 

 measurer. I sent out many inquiries drawing attention to 

 Mr. Robinson's contribution to the Victorian Naturalist, seeking 

 evidence as to a taller tree. The replies were, with one excep- 

 tion, in the negative, and the exception was that from Mr. 

 G. Cornthwaite, licensed surveyor, Colac. In response to my 

 further inquiry, I received a letter from Mr. Cornthwaite, and 

 of which, with his permission, I am recording the part appro- 

 priate to the subject in hand : — 



" Colac, 12th June, 1916. 



" Dear Sir,— In reply to yours of the 6th inst., in reference 

 to the big tree measured by me in Gippsland, I beg to say that 



1 cannot find the old notes taken at the time, but I am quite 

 sure as to the measurement of the length. The tree was 

 growing on allotment No. 1, parish of Xarracan South, about 



2 miles from Thorpdale, and was in a dense forest of tall trees, 

 but this one was manifestly taller than the surrounding trees. 

 The measurements were taken during the Christmas holidays 

 of 1880. I measured the tree as it was standing by means of 

 a clinometer and chain, and made it 370 feet. Afterwards, 

 when it was chopped down, I measured it — 375 feet, allowing 

 for the stump. The tree was a Victorian Mountain Ash or 

 ' Blackbutt,' and, where it was spring-boarded, about 12 feet 

 from the ground, was about 6 feet in diameter. About 240 feet 

 length of the barrel was worked up into palings, &c, and all 

 the material for a six-roomed house was obtained from it. My 

 brother also worked a paling tree in the same locality after- 

 wards, which was regarded as the champion paling tree of 

 Gippsland. The palings were worth £100 at the stump. . . 

 My brother had the stack of timber photographed. 



" (Signed) G. Cornthwaite." 

 The greatest recorded girth of a eucalypt is that given by 

 the Conservator of Forests (Mr. Hugh Mackay), with photo- 

 graph, in the " Handbook to Victoria," prepared for the 

 information of the British Association meeting at Melbourne 

 in 1914. The tree pictured is " King Edward VII.," and is 

 an imperfect specimen of E. regnans growing near Marysville, 

 on a slope of the main Dividing Range. The girth of 80 feet 

 was measured at about 10 feet from the ground, thus avoiding 

 the greater spread of the buttresses. But the old fire-scarred 

 stumps of larger stems exist in the Otway region. " King 



