CHAP. XXXVIII.] KAHIKATEA. 305 
of; and it is said that a beverage, resembling in its 
.anti-scorbutic qualities the well-known spruce beer, may 
be manufactured from the branches.* These trees are 
generally overrun with strong elastic creepers, of from 
4 to 6 inches in diameter, which intertwine with the 
branches, and, clustering there, render the whole a grand 
and densely thick mass of rich foliage. 
The Kahikatea yields timber 12 to 30 inches square, 
and 20 to 60 feet in length. The wood is white in 
colour, light, straight in the grain, soft, and with little 
of the horny texture observable in the outer part of 
the concentric circles of -the Fir and Pine species. It 
resembles the Pinus Strobus, or Yellow Pine of Canada, 
more closely, perhaps, than any other wood. It is easy 
to work, but is inferior in quality, being neither strong 
nor durable. 
The natives of New Zealand sometimes make their 
canoes from this wood, as it is easily obtained. It does 
not, however, wear well, and, except for its buoyancy 
and handiness upon the streams, has little to recom- 
mend it to notice. It is not employed in buildings if 
other timber can be readily procured. The Kahikatea 
is liable to be speedily attacked by a small worm. I 
found this to be the case with some specimens, after 
being only about six months in store. 
The Kahikatea has sometimes been mistaken for the 
Kauri, it being similar in dimensions ; when hewn, how- 
ever, the quality is immediately seen to be inferior, and 
quite unfit for mast purposes. The specific gravity of 
the seasoned wood varies from 428 to 490, and averages 
about 460. 
* Lindley’s ‘* Vegetable Kingdom.” 
