VALUE OF WOOD OF CUNNINGHAMIAS 235 



fact that a great many seeds were brought back by 

 Wilson a few years ago from Western China, and if 

 so be it, they have been collected from hitherto 

 unvisited areas of severer climes, and from places 

 whereon falls a more plentiful sprinkling of snow 

 and cold than heat or rain. We w^ho have risen 

 plants from these sources may perhaps be permitted 

 to indulge in hopes that these young trees, now three 

 or four years old, that promise so far so well, will 

 continue to flourish until the}' become a green-clad 

 blessing, rather than a brown-coloured curse — as 

 they have often previously proved — upon our par- 

 ticular plot of earth, for the delectation of another 

 generation of island dwellers. 



We have brought these trees into our review more 

 with the idea of drawing attention to this recent 

 importation of seed, and also for calling attention to 

 the interesting account Mr. Wilson has given of them 

 and their wood value, from recent experiences. 



Trees, no less than men, although not wittingly 

 aspirants to fame, are equally liable to find themselves 

 unexpectedly the recipients of peculiar honours. 



The peculiar greatness that has been thrust upon 

 this tree by its own people in its own country is that 

 its fragrant wood has provided the costliest of coffins 

 for mandarins, and for other of the Celestials who 

 are either mighty, great, or wealthy in the lands of 

 the Flowery Kingdom. 



Whether measured at a maximum (as does E. 

 Wilson) of 1,500 ounces of silver per plank, or as 

 Elwes and Henry have estimated and reduced it, to an 

 English standard of sixty golden sovereigns, there 

 is no gainsaying the fact that such a price demanded 

 for coffin boards is a staggering consideration for 

 any economic householder, however earnestly he may 

 be desirous of paying lavish respect to a defunct 

 relation. 



