TIMBER. 365 
stem, a dense, dark-green foliage, pinnate leaves, flowers 
of a bright yellow colour, arrayed in terminal panicles, 
at first sight easily mistaken for those of a Cassia, and 
a curious cultriform fruit (Jegumen). A hard and 
durable timber is produced by the Sagali (Lwmnitzera 
coccinea, Wight et Arn.), a tree with blackish wood, 
glossy foliage, and bright scarlet flowers, abounding in 
maritime swamps, as well as by another inmate of the 
same localities, the Dogo or mangrove (Rhizophora mu- 
cronata, Lam.). The sap of the latter has a blood-red 
colour, much employed by the natives, amongst whom 
it is almost as fashionable to dye their hair red as it was 
amongst the ladies of ancient Rome, after their roving 
husbands and brothers had become acquainted with the 
fair locks of the Teutonic race. When first put on, 
the sap is allowed to run freely over face and neck, 
producing an effect much like that a crown of thorns 
is represented as doing. On Nukubati, off the Macuata 
coast of Vanua Levu, I saw it employed by potters for 
painting their crockery. Just after the pots had been 
baked and were still quite hot, a mixture, consisting of 
this fluid and the sap of the Wakiwaki (Hibiscus [_Abel- 
moschus| moschatus, Linn.), was used for that purpose, 
the colour of the paint remaining almost unchanged 
after the vessels had become cool and dry. The aerial 
roots of the Dogo being very elastic, offer good mate- 
rials for bows, of which the Fijians avail themselves ; 
whilst the fruit is made into bread (madrai) in times of 
scarcity. 
The Vuga (Metrostderos collina, A. Gray), a tree with 
glossy foliage and scarlet flowers, yields a hard wood of 
