TIMBER. 365 



stem, a dense, dark-green foliage, pinnate leaves, flowers 

 of a bright yellow colour, arrayed in terminal panicles, 

 at first sight easily mistaken for those of a Cassia, and 

 a curious cultriform fruit (legumeri). A hard and 

 durable timber is produced by the Sagali (Lumnitzera 

 coccinea, Wight et Arn.), a tree with blackish wood, 

 glossy foliage, and bright scarlet flowers, abounding in 

 maritime swamps, as well as by another inmate of the 

 same localities, the Dogo or mangrove (Ehizophora mu- 

 cronata, Lam.). The sap of the latter has a blood-red 

 colour, much employed by the natives, amongst whom 

 it is almost as fashionable to dye their hair red as it was 

 amongst the ladies of ancient Rome, after their roving 

 husbands and brothers had become acquainted with the 

 fair locks of the Teutonic race. When first put on, 

 the sap is allowed to run freely over face and neck, 

 producing an effect much like that a crown of thorns 

 is represented as doing. On Nukubati, off the Macuata 

 coast of Vanua Levu, I saw it employed by potters for 

 painting their crockery. Just after the pots had been 

 baked and were still quite hot, a mixture, consisting of 

 this fluid and the sap of the Wakiwaki (Hibiscus \_Abel- 

 moschus] moschatus, Linn.), was used for that purpose, 

 the colour of the paint remaining almost unchanged 

 after the vessels had become cool and dry. The aerial 

 roots of the Dogo being very elastic, offer good mate- 

 rials for bows, of which the Fijians avail themselves ; 

 whilst the fruit is made into bread (madrai) in times of 

 scarcity. 



The Vuga (Metrosideros collina, A. Gray), a tree with 

 glossy foliage and scarlet flowers, yields a hard wood of 



