22 AMERICAN LUMBER IN FOREIGN MARKETS. 



THE WOODS OF BRITISH HONDURAS. 

 [Printed inelosure in Consul Leitch's report.] 



The rise and progress of the colony of British Honduras has been indissolubly 

 connected with the fortunes of its trade in timber and dyewoods. 



Sub umbra floreo, in allusion to the mahogany tree, is the motto gratefully chosen 

 by the colonist; but it is to the humbler denizen of the forest, the logwood shrub, 

 that the colony owes its first recognition and early celebrity as a British plantation 

 or settlement. 



The chief industry of the colony is woodcutting, which has now been carried on 

 for over two hundred years, and as a result much of the finest timber within easy 

 reach of the principal rivers and their creeks has been cut down ; but there are 

 still vast tracts of virgin forests in the interior, abounding in some of the finest 

 timber trees to be found in any part of the world. The difficulty is that they are 

 beyond the reach of rivers, and, until the iron horse is introduced to solve the prob- 

 lem of bringing out our woods and stimulating the production and export of the old 

 staples of the colony, must continue so. However, the fact remains that the quan- 

 tity of wood exported maintains a fair average of the transactions for the last hun- 

 dred years. 1 Indeed during the last ten years the average shipments have been more 

 than doubled. The improved price of mahogany in 1883 stimulated its production, 

 but the export, as in the case of logwood, depends upon market prices. 



Mahogany (Swietenia mahogani). The best qualities of mahogany come from the 

 limestone soils to the north of Belize, those from the south being deficient in density 

 and fine grain. In the present century a tree was cut, by a Mr. Charles Craig, of 

 Honduras, the trunk of which yielded a log of 15 tons weight. It measured 5,168 

 superficial feet, squaring 57 inches by 64. The log was trucked out by Mr. Craig, 

 and the limbs of it would probably when "manufactured" that is, prepared for 

 shipment more than pay all expenses. 3 



Reliable returns are not procurable further back than 1802, when 2,250,000 feet 

 are mentioned as the quantity exported; 1803, 4,500,000 feet; 1805, 6,481,000 feet. 

 In 1824 it had kept the same figure; in 1840 it was reduced to 4,500,000 feet, but 

 there had been overexportation in the few years preceding, and stocks had accumu- 

 lated in the home markets ; in 1837, for example, there were shipped from Belize 

 8,500,000 feet. The same mistake was made in 1845-'46. In the first of these years 

 the returns show 9,919,507 feet, and in 1846 the enormous increase of 13,719,075 feet. 

 A portion of these annual quantities was wood cut outside of the limits. The 

 depression in the years 1848, 1849, 1850 is not difficult to account for. In 1874 the 

 the quantity had come down to the old figure of about 6,000,000 feet, and in 1878 

 lower still, 3,146,582 feet. The cost of cutting down and getting ready for shipment 

 is about from $40 to $50 per thousand feet. 1 



Cedar (Cedula odorata). Growing with the mahogany, it is a member of the same 

 family. The export of this wood from the colony has greatly increased within the 

 last few years. In 1876 the number of feet shipped was 18,923 ; in 1883, 469,144 ; in 

 1884, 348,341; in 1885, 277,111; in 1886, 132,498. In the colony the trunks of the 

 largest trees are hollowed out to make dorays and pitpans, for which purpose they 

 are admirably adapted on account of the light and durable character of the wood. 



Logwood (Decandria monogynia}. This wood really comes next to mahogany in 

 export value. It is found in rather moist lands, and grows luxuriantly in the 

 swamps to the north and west, where it forms immense thickets. 



The stem is crooked, and grows 16 to 24 feet high, seldom thicker than a man's 

 thigh, the branches also crooked and irregular, thorny; leaves winged, and flowers 

 pale yellow. The trunks are perpendicularly ribbed, and when cut down the outer 

 white or sap wood is removed, leaving only the reddish or dark heart wood, which is 



~ l Gibbs's British Honduras. Honduras Observer, 1843. 



