1 2 o Ma hog a ny Rosewood Ebony. 



99. Those trees which yield wood used 

 chiefly in the manufacture of pianos, boxes, 

 furniture, etc., are the mahogany and rosewood, 

 which come from Brazil, Central America, 

 and the West Indies. Some of these trees 

 are sawed into layers about one-eighth of an 

 inch in thickness, called veneer, which is used 

 to cover over cheaper woods. 



100. Several thousand dollars have been paid 

 for the logs from a single tree. The forests on 

 the coast of Honduras supply large quantities 

 of mahogany ; but the best sorts, called Spanish 

 mahogany, are found in Cuba and St. Do- 

 mingo. 



oi. The first use known to have been made of mahog- 

 any was about 300 years ago, by Sir Walter Raleigh, who 

 repaired his ships with it, at Trinidad, an island off the 

 coast of Venezuela. 



102. Box-wood is a hard, smooth wood used by wood- 

 engravers ; it comes from countries bordering the eastern 

 part of the Mediterranean Sea. 



103. Ebony is a hard, black wood, used for inlaid and 

 other ornamental work ; the tree grows in Madagascar 

 and Ceylon. 



104. The date-palm grows abundantly in Persia, Ara- 

 bia, Asia Minor, Egypt, Tunis, Algeria, Morocco, 

 and in the oases of Sahara, or the Great Desert. Its 

 fruit forms the chief article of food in many parts of 

 these countries. An oasis is a fertile spot in a desert. 



