234 



THE ACACIA. 



though they had been iron ; whereas Oak trenails, 

 are usually bored out with an auger. The next 

 voyage the ship made was to the West Indies, 

 where the captain died, and with him ended, for 

 the present, any further prosecution of this mat- 

 ter ; for, though the success of the above expe- 

 riment was known to many, yet (as is frequently 

 the case with new discoveries) none, that I ever 

 heard of, made any use of Locust trenails in ship- 

 building till many years after; though on the 

 goodness of that article greatly depends the 

 strength and durableness of a ship. I frequently 

 recommended it, when opportunities offered, but 

 all to no purpose, till about twenty years ago, 

 when I was settled in trade at Rhode Island, I 

 persuaded some ship-builders to try the experi- 

 ment; but notwithstanding all my endeavours, 

 the use of Locust trenails still continued to be 

 little practised or known, till it happened to be 

 adopted by a builder of some eminence at New 

 York, and of late years has been introduced into 

 general use there, and in some parts of New Eng- 

 land. But, as yet, the use of the Locust-tree 

 in ship-building is confined to the article of tre- 

 nails, on account of its scarcity ; for, were it 

 nearly as plentiful as Oak, it woidd be applied to 

 more purposes, being much superior to it, both as 

 to strength and duration ; and from its spreading 

 into branches, affords full as large a proportion of 

 crooks as that timber." 



called a set-holt, which is an iron punch, something smaller than the 

 bolt or trenail to be taken out, against which it is driven with a 

 heavy blacksmith's sledge-hammer ; but Oak trenails, except such as 

 are very hard and sound, will seldom bear this operation, in which 

 case they are obliged to bore them out with an auger. 



