66 MASTS OF SHIPS. 



possesses great strength and durability ; and, 

 though liable to split, sometimes disastrously, 

 as every bungling nail-driver knows, it is capa- 

 ble of being worked with the utmost neatness, 

 and even with elegance." 



There is another purpose," added Mr. 

 Longhurst, " to which pine timber is applied, 

 and I scarcely know what other trees could 

 supply its place : I mean the masts of ships." 



I should have noticed," I rejoined, '^''that 

 the structure of the pine is that of a straight 

 undivided stem, from the root to the topmost 

 twig ; and the tree thus often attains the sur- 

 prising altitude of two hundred feet ! Here 

 then is a mast ready huilt ; and certainly no 

 tree of the forest can shew a spire so tall, so 

 straight, so strong, and, at the same time, so 

 light as this." 



I am thinking," said Mr. Longhurst, that 



