MAHOGANY. 



149 



" I believe the profits of this business are 

 considerable. Single logs have been sold for 

 upwards of a thousand pounds. The body of 

 the tree is the most valuable for works for 

 which solid wood is required ; but the knotty 

 places on the branches afford that beautifully 

 veined wood, which, cut into thin slices, called 

 veneerSy are used to face our most elegant 

 furniture." 



And how long is it/' inquired Mrs. L. 

 since our ancestors first learned to use ma- 

 hogany instead of walnut-tree for the furniture 

 of their houses ? " 



I think," replied Mr. L., it was at the 

 commencement only of the last century. It 

 was, indeed, employed for the repair of ship- 

 pings by Sir Walter Ralegh, at Trinidad, in 

 1597 ; but it remained neglected until about 

 the year 1724, when a gentleman had a few 



