134 TIMBER 
growth, the monarch of the woods is laid low. The 
trunk is then measured into suitable lengths, mostly 
from 12 to 24 ft., and in most instances logs are also 
obtained from the branches of the tree, it not being an 
unusual occurrence to get ten out of one tree, although 
four is about the average number. The sections of 
the tree are then squared, with one end tapered or 
shaped to facilitate hauling; and after numbers and 
marks have been painted on each log, and a Government 
pass-mark likewise imposed, the logs are ready for 
transport to the rivers. Roads are cut through the bush 
to the nearest creeks or waterways, and on this path 
small round trunks of trees to act as rollers are placed. 
A wire rope is passed round the log, and to this is attached 
a further length having, at intervals of about 3 ft. apart, 
pegs of wood inserted. With a hold on these the gang 
of perhaps 80 or 100 men commence with a 
sing-song chant their task. of hauling these logs, with 
an average weight of perhaps 3 tons, to the water- 
courses. Here, if they are in creeks where there is 
little water, they have to await the rainy season, and 
on the flooded currents they find their way into the 
larger streams and, ultimately, to the coast. _ 
Very few of the so-called ports along the West Coast 
have good loading facilities, owing to the nature of the 
seaboard, and the logs are therefore, in many cases, 
towed out to the boats that lie off the coast, being lifted 
by the special and powerful appliances these vessels 
possess, straight out of the water into the holds. A 
further stage in the history of the logs follows. They 
are transported by these vessels to a port—probably 
Liverpool—where they are first yarded, then included 
in a catalogue with many others, and afterwards sold 
by public auction. They may possibly be purchased 
for re-transportation over the Atlantic to American 
