88 ON TAMANU RESIN AND OIL, ETC. 



island. It is still found in great numbers at the present day, and prin- 

 cipally in the districts of Papara, Hitiaa, and Tiarei. The natives have 

 cut down many of these trees to make the posts and stakes which they 

 used at Hitiaa for enclosing their portions of land. Fine specimens of 

 this tree are rare at this present day, but are still to be found in the 

 valley of Papara. They distinguish two varieties of Tamanu, which 

 differ only in the more or less bright colour of the wood and in the 

 fibres which are either straight or undulating. The first kind bears the 

 name of Tamanu hiva, the wood of it is hard and works easily ; it is 

 common at Tahiti, Moorea, Huahine, and Raiatea. The second, called 

 Ati, has a less hard wood which splits easily and is more difficult to 

 work. It must be bought a long time beforehand, and well dried in 

 the shade before made use of. 



The islands of Huahine, Raiatea, and Bora Bora, possess a great 

 quantity of it ; all the canoes in these islands are made of Ati. 



Raiatea contains an enormous quantity of Tamanus. There are consi- 

 derable quantities on the numerous small islets which surround that 

 island. The trees are of very great size, and the quantity of nuts that 

 can be gathered from them for the manufacture of the oil is prodigious. 

 At the Marquesas Islands there are a few enormous trees of this kind, of 

 which the wood is very red. The island of Atiou in Cook's archipelago, 

 contains it in profusion ; the wood has less colour. It is found also at 

 New Caledonia, where it bears the name of Pits. The tree blossoms many 

 times a year, and gives a large quantity of seed. It is planted at Java 

 in avenues on account of the perfume of its flowers and the elegance of 

 its foliage. It is in request for cabinet-making ; beautiful furniture is 

 made from it. When intended to be thus used it is important that it 

 should be bought a long time previously ; for if it be not very dry the 

 articles of furniture warp and split in a short time. 



From what has been said about the Tamanu, its value for 

 industrial purposes can be appreciated, and how far it would be useful 

 to multiply this plant which is diminished continually in number. We 

 cannot lay too great a stress upon the facility of extraction of the 

 new oil which is lost, and which might be a true source of riches for the 

 country. "When it becomes better known it will doubtless be in request 

 for the arts, and will, with oil of Aleurites, so long neglected in 

 these seas, lead to loads being brought back by ship, which have been 

 up to this time so completely deprived of it. 



