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31* 



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EXTRACT 





FROM A LETTER TO THE LATE J. STACKHOUSE, ESQ. 



BY MR. HAWKINS. 



<. 



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V" 



CC 



this rock. Of 



" You encourage me by what you say on this genus to communicate a few more of my observations. 

 I have abeady informed you that the Exaro? (Pinus Picea) occurs on all the high mountains of 

 Greece, viz. Olympus, Pindus, Parnassus, Helicon, Cithseron, Cyllene, Msenalus, Taygetus, &c. &c. and 

 in their upper region only serving as a sort of barometer, to mark their relative height, and growing inva- 

 riably on a calcareous rock, or, to speak more accurately, on a fine hazel mould which covers 

 these forests the lowest line of elevation I judge to be about 3000 feet. 



" I have already noticed a species of Fir, much resembling the m..os, and known among the Greeks 

 under the same name, which I found covering the mountains of Thasos, and forming pretty extensive forests 

 on Taygetus, Cyllene and Pindus. This tree has, I believe, escaped the notice of Dr. Sibthorp, but the 

 following are my reasons for thinking it a distinct species. First, its more sombre colour ; that of the true 

 n..«o, being a very pleasing and lively green. Secondly, a much straighter growth, and a more regular ramifi- 

 cation than that of the true m..o,, resembling in these characters the Pinus Sylvestris. Thirdly, a much more 

 elevated habitat; this being next in succession to that of the Bxaro?, or Silver Fir. 



" The nsu.os is perhaps the most common tree of Greece, and it constitutes very extensive forests in Ehs, and 

 the contiguous districts of Arcadia. There it finds a soil perfectly congenial to it, i. e. a stratified, more or less 

 indurated, sandstone, in which it attains a size fit for all the purposes of ship-building, and even sufficiently 

 large for the construction of ships of war. Accordingly, it is there only that an adequate idea can be formed 

 of the picturesque beauty of this tree, for in other situations and soils, its growth is comparatively msigm- 



Attica, We 



rowing on the mountains of Cyprus, and occasionally 



on those of Crete. 



local 



" The fourth species of this genus, which occurs in Greece, is the K«.evag<, our Stone Pine, the 

 of which is very remarkable, for it grows here and there in a narrow belt along the sandy shores of Elis 

 and Epirus, and within the reach of the salt spray. I found it however not exclusively in such situations, 

 for in Triphylia, i. e. the district on the south of the Alpheus, there is a forest of this tree which is above a 

 mile in breadth, and is bounded inland by another of the m.«o, with which it intermixes. But even in 

 the most favourable situations, the Stone Pine attains not one half of the height of the Pefkos (n.x„,) 

 although its timber, in other respects, is thought to be equally as good for ship-buildmg, and the quahty of 

 both is greatly superior in closeness of grain, toughness, and durability , to that of our Pinus Sylvestris. Of these 

 two sorts of timber are all the planks used in the construction of the Greek vessels, while the ribs are com- 



posed 



o 



Quercus Coccifera {Ui^va^O or CE 



Silver Fir from Fiume. 



4C 



The plank timber of the m.«o, is said to possess a greater pliability without being boiled, than even 



the oak ; and the knots in it, do not start, as in the common deal. 



iC 



Pitch and turpentine are extracted in every part 



of Greece from the newog. The splinters are 



used for candles, and retain the old name of AaS- 



a 



Plutarch says that the n.Tu? 



and her sister trees (a8sx<pai hv^a.) vezxai xa.i goii^i\oi are the best for ship- 



buildino-. The n.rus he observes grows eu a^y.^sSeo.? roVo.s in a clayey soil, 

 posed to the wind and covered with snow, produce m^..s .«. .?o3ixo.,. n.ro, 



Mountainous 



is termed by him Ka^Tnixog which 

 pported by Coray. 



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