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curly- grained and not very easily worked, but a good 

 timber for boat building and various other purposes. 

 The large crooked branches are used as knees. In some 

 tropical countries, such as Ceylon, this tree is exten- 

 sively planted for its shade, along the sides of roads 

 and streets. Large branches lopped off and put into 

 the ground strike root rapidly, and in a few years 

 are medium sized trees. 



The vug a (nelitris vitiensis) and vug a vug a (metro- 

 sideros polymorpha) are trees of less than medium 

 size. They grow to a height of 30 or 35 feet, 

 with trunks about 20 feet in length, and seldom ex- 

 ceeding 2^ or 3 feet in circumference. They are most 

 common in the dry parts of Viti Levu and Vanua 

 Levu, and grow in the poorest soil. Both are pretty 

 flowering trees. The timber is very hard and durable 

 and is used by the settlers as piles to support the frame- 

 work of their wooden houses. For this purpose they 

 are let into the ground to a depth of 1 or 2 feet, and 

 the earth rammed hard about them to keep them firm. 

 They are then all cut to the same level, at the required 

 height above ground, for the floor of the house. In 

 such a situation good timber of either kind is said to 

 stand the vicissitudes of climate and weather for about 

 20 years. 



The koka (Bischoffiia javanica) grows to a height 

 of 45 or 50 feet, and has a large wide-spreading 

 head, resembling the plane-tree in outline. . The 

 trunk is seldom more than 20 feet in length, and does 

 not exceed 12 feet in girth. The tree is not often seen 

 in thick forests, but is abundantly represented on land 

 that has been cultivated, particularly on alluvial soil 

 near the rivers. Orchids, ferns, and lycopods would 

 seem to have a special favour for the JwJca as it 



