XXVI.] 



JARRAH. 



India Company's pilot brig ' Salween,' taking in a cargo 

 of Jarrah at Bunbury. This was supplied by Mr. W. 

 Pearce Clifton, and the vessel was sent at my instance 

 in order to a series of trials of the wood in the Kidder- 

 pore dockyard. These trials, I regret to say, were not 

 favourable to the character of the wood, and the result 

 was that no further supply was ordered. 



" When last at Calcutta I obtained the sanction of the 

 Government of Bengal to further tests of the wood, the 

 greater portion of the ' Salween's ' cargo being then still 

 in store, but I am sorry to say that the result was not 

 more favourable than before.'* 



The clerk of works at Freemantle reporting summarily 

 upon the opinions expressed by the ship-builders and 

 others, says : 



" The sound timber resists the attack of the ' teredo 

 navalis ' and ' white ant.' On analysis by Professor 

 Abel, it was found to contain a pungent acid that was 

 destructive to life. The principle, however, was not 

 found to be present in the unsound portions. Great care 

 is therefore necessary in preparing the wood for use by 

 flitching the log so as to cut all the defective portions of 

 the heart out, and using only the perfectly sound timber. 

 Fig. 25 will show the mode of 

 flitching, so as to retain the 

 sound wood in any required size 

 for all practical purposes, ABC 

 D E F being flitches. Very much 

 has been said about Jarrah being 

 subject to split when exported 

 to India or England in log. It 

 must be borne in mind that its 

 density renders seasoning very 

 slow, and that the inner portions of the larger trees are in 



o 



