234 " TIMBER AND TIMBER TREES. [chap. 



upon the merits of the Jarrah, with a view to getting it 

 recognised at Lloyds'. 



Most of the ship-builders and ship-owners have 

 reported very favourably, and speak of it as a good 

 description of wood. They say that, when used with iron 

 fastenings, neither material is in any way injured by the 

 other, and, also, what is a little remarkable, that it bends 

 well without steaming. In speaking of its merits, how- 

 ever, they nearly all do so under some reserve, such as 

 insisting on the felling being done at a certain time of 

 the year ; getting it from some particular district, and so 

 forth. Lloyds' agent at Freemantle, however, does not 

 report quite so favourably of it; indeed, he differs so 

 widely from the rest, that perhaps it would be well to 

 •quote his report in extenso : — 



" In reply to your letter relative to the qualities of the 

 Jarrah of this country as a ship-building timber, I con- 

 sider it valuable wood for planking purposes as high as 

 the wales, and I also consider it especially excellent 

 wood for small craft which are not intended to be 

 sheathed with metal, inasmuch as it resists the sea-worm 

 better than almost any other wood, and is less liable to 

 foul ; but I do not consider it suitable timber for top- 

 sides, or deck work, where it must necessarily be much 

 exposed to the effects of the sun, it being, in such 

 positions, more than ordinarily subject to shrink and 

 warp ; and it is rather deficient in tenacity of fibre, so 

 that in situations where eccentric or sudden bends occur 

 it cannot generally be employed with advantage. It is 

 probable you may have heard of the Honourable East 

 India Company's pilot brig Salween taking in a cargo 

 of Jarrah at Bunbury. This was supplied by Mr. W. 

 Pearce Clifton, and the vessel was sent at my instance 

 in order to a series of trials of the wood in the Kidder- 



