402 TIMBER AND TIMBER TREES. [CHAP. 



It rises with a clean stem to about 35 to 40 feet, 

 above which the branches are thrown out horizontally. 

 The foliage consists of sharp-pointed dark-green leaves, 

 of about i}£ inch in length by }( inch in width; they 

 are thick, rigid, and prickly to the touch. The bark is 

 red in colour, and ringed at about i foot apart; the outer 

 layers hang in thin long flakes ; strips of this bark are 

 often used as a thatch for roofing. 



The Totara tree yields timber 10 to 22 inches square, 

 and 20 to 45 feet in length. The wood is red in colour, 

 close, straight, fine and even in grain, and is moderately 

 hard and strong. It is probably the most valuable 

 timber in New Zealand. It works up exceedingly well, 

 and, although plain in appearance, would be found a 

 good substitute for Mahogany, whether used for furniture, 

 carpentry, or in the domestic arts. It might also be 

 employed with advantage in civil architecture. The 

 alburnum or sap-wood is generally from 2 to 3 inches 

 thick on this description of timber, and is lighter in 

 colour than the duramen or heart-wood. 



The natives make their small and medium sized 

 canoes of the Totara, and generally prefer that the rising 

 strake of the larger ones, and especially those employed 

 in war, should be of this wood, as it wears better than 

 Kauri, and is considered durable. I gathered the infor- 

 mation from several intelligent natives that in the southern 

 districts there are very large forests of Totara trees, of 

 sufficient size and length for masts of ships of 1,000 to 

 1,500 tons burthen. 



When fresh cut the specific gravity of this wood is 

 about 1230, but when seasoned it is only about 600. 



The Kauri, Kahikatea, Tanakaha, Rimu, Miro, 

 Totara, Rata, Pohutukawa, and Puriri trees are the 

 principal, and, except the Kahikatea, probably the most 



