WEST INDIA ISLANDS AND CENTRAL AMERICA 15:3 



compact grain. It is of rosewood colour, becomes harder 

 and darker with age, and when very old becomes almost 

 black, and is very difficult to work. Good for piling, 

 telegraph posts, sleepers, gate-posts, etc. 



Mahogany, a tree of the order of Cedrselacse, is found in 

 various tropical and sub-tropical climates, in the West 

 Indies, Central America, and West Africa. There is also 

 the so-called Australian mahogany, some of which is 

 eucalyptus, and of which only small samples come to the 

 English market. Fifty years ago mahogany only came 

 from Honduras and the West India Islands, Cuba and 

 Hayti, or St. Domingo. The so-called Spanish mahogany, 

 which was the most prized, came from the seaboard on the 

 south of Hayti, and was hardly ever obtained in logs of 

 more than 10 ft. long by 20 to 24 inches square. The 

 Honduras mahogany was often called "bay wood." The 

 botanical name of the West Indian tree is given as 

 Swietenia mahogani, but this is a disputed point. 



Of late years the mahogany trade has quite changed, and 

 now much the greater portion of the timber imported into 

 Great Britain comes from the west coast of Africa from 

 Cape Lopez in French Congo to Cape Palmas. It is known 

 by the names of the ports of shipment : Lagos mahogany, 

 which in colour and silkiness is very like the Tobasco 

 shipments of Central America ; Benin, of excellent texture ; 

 Sapeli, which is scented like cedar. It also comes under 

 the names of other ports, whilst under the name of 

 "African mahogany" large quantities are brought from 

 Assinee and Axim, which are of good colour but softer in 

 texture than other African wood, and more or less liable to 

 cross fractures, which are only seen when the wood is 

 opened out ; Sekondi, Grand Bassam, and other places on 

 the same coast. The logs of African mahogany are of 



