144 TIMBER AND TIMBER TREES. [cHAP. 



Two kinds of Oak were met with in the forests to 

 the south-east of Broussa, that upon the upper ranges 

 of the mountains being similar in foHage and fruit to 

 the English Quercus Robur ; the other species, which is 

 found chiefly upon the slopes and in the valleys, is the 

 Quercus Cerris, or Mossy-cupped Oak. 



It was from these forests that most of the supplies 

 were drawn for the service of the imperial dockyards at 

 Constantinople and Gimlek ; the Turks very carefully 

 selecting the cleanest-grained trees for employment, 

 and apparently neglecting the hard, gnarly-looking trees 

 that would be difficult to work. They seem generally 

 to be quite content with a mild and free specimen, 

 which would require little labour to dress it to the 

 necessary form ; and therefore no correct opinion of the 

 quality of the timber in the forests of the Broussa 

 district can be formed from that seen in use in the naval 

 establishment on the Golden Horn. 



In the following year (i860) I made an inspection of 

 several of the forests in Herzegovina, Bosnia, and 

 Croatia, in European Turkey, and also some of the Oak 

 forests in Styria and Hungary, meeting with almost 

 inexhaustible quantities of Oak spread over the slopes 

 of the Kogaratz mountains, and in the district between 

 the rivers Verbas and Okrina. 



The Oaks seen over this wide range were chiefly of 

 the species Quercus sessiliflora, but mixed occasionally 

 with Quercus Cerris ; they were all of straight growth, 

 with long clean stems, and generally of good quality, 

 but varying considerably in this respect according as 

 the situation and soil were favourable or otherwise to 

 the development of their character. There is, however, 

 good reason to believe that by selecting from the best 

 description of Oak trees in the districts I have named. 



