NATURAL HISTORY. 



541 



bushes all winter unaifected by 

 the frost : they are sometimes 

 gathered and hung in the lodges 

 in bags, wheie they are dried 

 without further trouble. 



6. The deep purple berry, like 

 the huckleberrj'j teiminates blunt- 

 ly, and has a cap or cover at the 

 end : the berries are attached se- 

 parately to the sides of the boughs 

 by a short stem, hanging under- 

 neath, and they often grow very 

 near each other, on the same 

 bough : the berry separates very 

 easily from the stem ; the leaves 

 adhere close4v : the shrub rises 

 to the height Of six or eight feet, 

 and soraetimt's grows on high 

 lands, but moi e frequently on low 

 marshy grounds : the shrub is an 

 evergreen, and about ten inches 

 in circumference, divides into 

 many irregilar branches, and 

 seldom more than one stem 

 springs from one root, although 

 they associate very thickly : the 

 bark is somewhat rough and of a 

 reddish brown colour : the wood 

 is very hard : the leaves are al- 

 ternate and attached by a short 

 footstalk to the horizontal sides 

 of the boughs : the form is a long 

 oval, rather more acute towards 

 the apex than at the point of in- 

 sertion : its margin slightly ser- 

 rate, its sides collapsing, thick, 

 firm, smooth, and glossy : the 

 under surface is of a pale or whit- 

 ish green, and the upper of a fine 

 deep gieen. Tliis beautiful shtub 

 retains its verdure througliout 

 the year, and is more peculiarly 

 beautiful in winter. The natives 

 sometimes eat the berries without 

 preparation: sometimes they diy 

 them in the sun, and at others in 

 their sweating kilns : they very 

 frequently pound them, and bake 



them in large loaves, weighing 

 from ten to fifteen pounds : the 

 bread keeps very Avell for one 

 season, and retains its juices bet- 

 ter by this mode of preparation 

 than any other -. this bread when 

 broken is stirred in cold water, 

 until it acquires the consistency 

 of soup, and tlien eaten. 



TREES. 



The trees of a larger growth 

 are very abundant ; the whole 

 neighbourhood of the coast is 

 supplied with great quantities of 

 excellent timber. The predomi- 

 nating growth is the fir, of which 

 we have seen several species. 

 There is one singular circum- 

 stance attending all the pine of 

 this country, which is, that when 

 consumed it yields not the slight- 

 est particle of ashes. The first 

 species grows to an immense size, 

 and is very commonly twenty- 

 seven feet in circumference, six 

 feet above the earth's surface : 

 they rise to the height of two 

 hundred and thirty feet, and one 

 hundred and twenty of that height 

 without a limb. We have often 

 found tliem thirty-six feet in cir- 

 cumference. One of our party 

 measured one, and found it to be 

 forty-two feet in circumference, 

 at a point beyond the reach of an 

 ordinary man. Tliis tnnik for 

 the distance of two hundred feet 

 was destitute of limbs : this tree 

 was perfectly sound, and at a 

 moderate calculation, its size may 

 be estimated at three hundred 

 feet. The timber is throughout, 

 and rives better than any other 

 species ; the bark scales oft" in 

 Hakes irregularly round, and of a 

 reddish brown colour, particularly 

 the younger growth : the trunk 



is 



