280 VARIETIES OF WOOD. 1829. 
a great abundance, as well as variety, of wood fit for exporta- 
tion, as well as home consumption. The following is a list of 
the principal trees, with their qualities, and the use to which 
they are most adapted. 
Avellana (Quadra heterophylla), a handsome tree, in ap- 
pearance like the ash of Europe, of a light wood, which shrinks 
very much when dry, and may be used with advantage for 
oars, being light, strong, and springy, as well as for planking 
small vessels below the water, and for the ceiling within ; it is 
bad for firewood, being too light. The seed is a nut, about the 
size of a cherry, the kernel of which is roasted and eaten. The 
tree abounds at Concepcion, and in the country to the south, 
and grows on the Peninsula of Lacuy. 
Roble (Fagus obliqua, Mirb.), a large tree; and, from the 
durable quality of its timber, considered the best in the island, 
for ground-frames of houses, planks for vessels, and beams. 
The piraguas are built chiefly of this wood. There are two sorts, 
one an evergreen, and the other a deciduous-leaved tree. It is 
evidently a beech, and the same that grows in all parts of the 
Strait of Magalhaens ; the smooth-leafed sort is F’. obliqua of 
Mirb.—see Bertero, in Mercurio Chileno, No. 14, p. 640. 
Tiqui, heavy wood ; but esteemed strong and durable. Pira- 
guas are sometimes built of it. 
Laurel, used for house building in-doors, for beams and 
rafters, and posts; durable when not exposed to damp, in which 
it soon perishes. 
Manu, a tree of great dimensions, tall and straight, the leaf 
is like that of a yew; it is a very useful wood in ship-building, 
for planks, and, next to alerse, is the best for spars which the 
island produces ; but the large trees have a great tendency to 
become rotten at the heart, owing possibly to the humidity of 
the climate, and to the very wet soil. 
Asthe Adelaide wanted a mast, I sent her round to Castro for 
a manu spar, for which I agreed to pay eighty dollars; but of 
twenty trees that were cut down, not one was sound at the heart. 
The wood is heavy, with large knots, which penetrate into the 
trunk to a great depth. A great deal of this timber grows in 
the Gulf of Penas. 
