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X. Description of the Mora Tree. Bif Mr. Robert II. Schomburgk. Com- 

 municated hy George Benth.vim, Esq. F.L.S. 



Read March 20th, 183S. 



J: IIOMINENT among the trees which adorn the forests of Guiana, and 

 which astonish by their profnse verdure and gigantic size, stands the majestic 

 Mora, the king of the forest. Rising to the height of from sixty to ninety feet 

 before it gives out its branches, it towers ov^er the wall-like vegetation which 

 skirts the banks of the rivers of Guiana, forming a crown of the most splendid 

 foliage, overshadowing numerous minor trees and bushes, and hung with Lianas 

 in the form of natural festoons. The trunk, rugged and clothed with epiphytes, 

 juts towards the base into tabular buttresses or excrescences (resembling in that 

 [)roperty the silk-cotton tree, Bomhax Ceiha) . These buttresses are subjected to 

 an early decay, and they sometimes form a cavern, which would afford room and 

 protection against tlie incleu\ency of the weather to several persons ; and I have 

 often wondered, when I considered tiie heavy mass which these half-decayed 

 excrescences had to support, how they were able to withstand the tornado that 

 so frequently sweeps through the forest, shaking the crown like a reed. 



Tlie j\Iora, of all other trees of the forests of Guiana, is peculiarly adapted 

 for naval arcliitecture ; and it is to be found in such abundance, that if once 

 introduced for building material into the dock-yards, there can never be any 

 apprehension that tliere would be a \vant of that timber which could not be 

 supplied. The wood is uncommonly close-grained, and gives scarcely room 

 for a nail when driven into it : when clear of sap, it is durable in any situation 

 whether in or out of the water. 



With this property it unites another of eqial consideration to builders ; it is 

 strong, tough, and not liable to split, and has never been known to be subjected 

 to dry rot, and is considered, therefore, by the most competent judges to be 



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