296 TIMBER AND TIMBER TREES. [CHAP. 



The Kauri is a slower-growing tree than most other 

 Firs and Pines; it is slower even than the Pitch Pine of 

 America, and makes only I inch of wood diameter in 

 about 6 or 7 years. Thus, the two noble trees to which 

 I have referred were, by computation, respectively 

 about 1,300 and 2,000 years old; they were, however, 

 almost unavailable for any industrial purpose, as it 

 would be impossible to move these excessively large 

 trees if they were cut down. 



The Kauri has a dense foliage of tough leathery 

 leaves, resembling in shape those of the Box plant ; they 

 vary from ^ to i % inch in length, are sessile, and the 

 fruit is a cone of a spherical form of about 3 inches in 

 diameter, enclosed in which are the winged seeds. The 

 bark is quite smooth, and about I inch in thickness. It 

 is a peculiarity of this species of Pine, that a fluid gum, 

 or resin, of a milk-like character, oozes spontaneously 

 out from every part of the tree, and hardens upon the 

 surface by exposure to the air, immense masses of this 

 opaque gum being often seen on old trees, suspended 

 from the stem at the forked part of the branches. 



Some few years since the British Government sent 

 out several expeditions in succession to New Zealand, 

 to procure spars fit for top-masts for line-of-battle ships, 

 and it was while engaged on this special service that I 

 first became acquainted with the properties of the Kauri 

 Pine timber. Since the colonisation of that country, 

 however, the business has been left to private enterprise, 

 and spars, timber, and gum have occasionally formed 

 part of the return cargoes of store and emigrant ships. 

 Much more timber would, no doubt, have been shipped, 

 were it not for the great expense that attends the work- 

 ing of the forests, and the cost of freight for so long a 

 voyage. These two very costly items effectually pre- 



