268 THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 



were immense planks of beautiful wood used for squatting on by chiefs 

 holding councils, and also as beds. They were of a very hard, close- 

 grained wood of a deep red colour, taking a beautiful poUsh, and to my 

 thinking, finer and superior in qUahty to the best mahogany. The plank 

 on which I laid my ' tilang ' or bedding was over 2 inches thick, 8 feet 

 in Jength, and 6 in width." These huge planks — he also quotes Mr. 

 St. John as speaking of two planks 10 feet 6 inches by 6 feet 6 inches, 

 and 15 feet by 9 feet — are hewn out with axes, without the use of any 

 saws, from the huge buttresses of these enormous trees, which, in a 

 fluted manner, or, as Beccari describes it, in " great laminar projec- 

 tions," soar upwards from the butt. They are hewn out of the trunk 

 as if it were a rock, without cutting the tree down, and apparently 

 without doing it any injury. Dr. Hose brought back from Borneo many 

 such tapang planks, and some which had been shaped by the natives, 

 with the axe only, to a beautiful smooth poKshed surface which the 

 European finds it hard to beUeve has been worked with no other tool. 



This handsome wood has, till recently, been unknown commercially 

 in England. It has been used lately for vioUn bows, so far with good 

 results. 



The pores are scarce, rather large, and plugged with a bright glistening 

 gum. The medullary rays are clear and fine, but very irregular and 

 unusually rounded. They are joined at right angles by somewhat 

 similar light lines strongly defined, and giving, especially on the tangential 

 surface, a marked Ukeness to a spider's web. There is also a beautiful 

 ripple mark on all sections, which, coupled with the somewhat metaUic 

 lustre of the wood, gives, when finely worked, a very good appearance. 



Tapinhoan. Silvia navalium, Fr. AUem. Weight, 55 lbs. Brazil. 



This is a Ught straw-coloured wood with a firm, hard, even texture 

 and close grain. A feature of this wood is its uniform regularity of 

 colour. It resembles the canella tapinhoan, also of Brazil, but is of a 

 better character, and is likely to find more uses. It is reported as being 

 used in Brazil for building canoes and boats, and largely in cooperage 

 works for barrel staves, as well as for naval and civil construction. There 

 are many uses to which it could be advantageously put in the United 

 Kingdom, and particularly it might be employed in the brush trade. 



The pores are numerous, but very small. The medullary rays are 

 very obscure, and can only just be discerned with a magnifying glass 

 (12 x). 



Taraire. Beilschmiedia Tarairi, Benth. and Hook. f. New Zealand. 



The New Zealand Board of Agriculture describes this as of a " reddish- 

 brown colour, remarkably straight in the grain, close, but rather brittle 



