Corenso.—Botany of the North Island of New Zealand. 269 
beautiful polish. Its detriment, however, as a wood is its great tendency 
to shrink and contract in length as well as in breadth, and this it does, 
however old or seasoned, when freshly planed. It is largely used by the 
shipwright, the house-builder, and the cabinetmaker; two-thirds of the 
houses in the North Island, and all the many vessels and boats, are mainly, 
if not entirely, built of this timber, and from a time long before the date of 
the colony, many cargoes of kauri spars were taken to England for the 
purposes of the Royal Navy. The demand for this timber is very great, 
and has ever been increasing. The quantity exported from Auckland and 
the northern ports of the Auckland Province in 1863 was—of spars and 
rickers, 270 tons, value £1,953; of sawn timber, 1,552,636 feet, and of 
squared wood 1,641 loads, the value of the two last items being £16,000. 
Although confined to the northern parts of the North Island—see par. 13, 
(2)—it grows in all soils, and at several altitudes from the sea-side to 
1,500 feet, preferring, however, the dry and sterile clays of the hilly dis- 
tricts. It is still very plentiful, and is likely to meet all demands for fifty 
future years; although, as a matter of course, it is yearly getting less 
accessible. Many miles of valuable kauri forests have been from time to 
time thoughtlessly consumed by fire; which fires, it is sincerely hoped, will 
not hereafter be so frequent as they have been. There are few sights more 
impressive of grandeur than an untouched forest of this stately tree ; few 
more impressive of misery and devastation than a worked-out and aban- 
doned one! 
(2.) The next valuable tree of this class, and scarcely less so than the 
kauri pine, is the totara (Podocarpus totara) ; which, while generally found 
throughout the North Island, abounds in the Provinces of Hawke Bay and 
Wellington, where it forms fine forests. It often attains the height of 
120 feet and upwards, with a clean trunk of from 50 to 60, or even 
70 feet, without a knot; having a diameter of 5 or even 6 feet, tapering 
gradually to 20 inches. It is not generally found near the sea (although it 
has been met with overhanging the tidal rocks), and flourishes most on rich 
alluvial levels. The wood of this tree is hard, and generally of a dark dull 
pink colour, resembling pencil cedar ; it works freely, and when polished is 
handsome, and very suitable for massy ornamental interior work. In the 
southern parts of the North Island (particularly Wellington), the better 
and more durable houses, churches, &c., are generally built of it. It is the 
best New Zealand wood for bridges, wharfs, piles, &c., as it possesses the 
valuable property of resisting rot, more especially in wet situations. It 
splits well, and makes excellent shingles for roofs, and is very extensively 
| used for posts in fencing. The heavier articles of furniture are sometimes 
. made of it; and the portion of its wood which grows under a knot (or 
