Foreign Notices : — Australia. 237 



AUSTRALIA. 



The Timber Trees of Australia. — The forests of New Zealand present an 

 abundance of materials, literally inexhaustible, for the purposes of the builder, 

 the shipwright, and the cabinet-maker. Upwards of sixty kinds of more or 

 less valuable timber have been sent to England as specimens ; and, doubtless, 

 in the impenetrable recesses of these forests there are many trees whose exist- 

 ence is unknown to the botanist. In illustration of this remark, I will men- 

 tion, that a missionary showed me a piece of wood under the hands of an 

 experienced cabinet-maker, which had been floated down the Kaweranga river, 

 and which we all pronounced to be undistinguishable from mahogany. It was 

 the first specimen of the wood that Mr. Pruce had seen, after a residence of 

 many years in the district. A brief notice of the principal and most plentiful 

 species will be interesting. 



Kaori Cerroneously pronounced Courie by Europeans) is the Dammara 

 austrdlis of botanists. It is a gregarious tree, generally inhabiting the sides and 

 declivities of clayey ranges, and attains the enormous altitude of from 50 ft. to 

 90 ft. without a branch, and a circumference of from 15 ft. to 30 ft. near the 

 base. The bark being of a silver-grey colour, the stem resembles an enormous 

 antique column. Round its base there accumulate large masses of the gum 

 resin which it exudes : it is a very clear and transparent substance, which 

 burns freely with a black smoke, and tastes very resinous. It has been em- 

 ployed at the Bay of Islands as a varnish, and a good many tons of it have 

 been carried to America, where it has been sold for 1 8/. a ton ; being used, it 

 is said, as a substitute for gum copal, or, more probably, in the adulteration of 

 that substance. 



The kaori tree, being very light in proportion to its strength and its noble 

 dimensions, is used by the Admiralty for the masts of men of war, and one or 

 two cargoes, worth from 100/. to 200/. each tree, are annually sent home to 

 her majesty's dockyards. Its timber is as easily cut and wrought, and is there- 

 fore as well adapted for ship-building, as the white pine of Canada or the 

 larch, and it is more buoyant than the British oak and the Indian teak wood. 

 Nearly all the coasting craft of New Zealand is built of this wood ; the largest 

 vessel constructed of it, as yet, is the Sir George Murray, which was built at 

 Ho-Rianga. The kaori is limited to the country north of Tauranga. 



The kaikatea (Daciydium excelsum) inhabits low wet soils, and is found 

 extending in belts along the margins of rivers, as the Thames, the Hutt, the 

 Piako, &c. Its great height and straightness would render this a valuable 

 tree, but for the softness of its wood, which speedily decays when exposed to 

 alternations of wet and dry weather. The timber of the kaikatea, being sub- 

 ject to decay when exposed to alternate wet and dry weather, is only suited 

 for inside work, and will doubtless be cheaper than the other kinds of timber, 

 being found on the banks of rivers, and therefore very accessible. The kai- 

 katea becomes less spongy in texture towards the south, and at Stewart's 

 Island it is said to be nearly as durable as kaori. 



Totora (Tdxtis), a tree which inhabits rising grounds, and attains frequently 

 a height of from 50 ft. to 60 ft., without branches. The wood is reddish, splits 

 well, and is very hard. Its general appearance is that of a yew. 



Rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum), an elegant tree, with a very graceful bright 

 foliage, which has been compared to that of the weeping willow, or to a cluster 

 of ostrich feathers. Its wood is hard, dark, rather brittle, and emits a resinous 

 odour. The diameter of its trunk, when full grown, seldom exceeds 4 ft. 



Kawaka (JDacrydium plumosum) has a very fine hard grain, is well adapted 

 for cabinet-work, and said to resemble the tulip wood of Moreton Bay. 



Puridi (Yitex littordlis), called, from the hardness and durability of its 

 timber, the New Zealand oak, furnishes strong and durable timbers for ships, 

 and ground-plates for houses. It is dark, close-grained, and takes a good po- 

 lish, but is unfit to be sawn into boards, owing to its being much perforated 



