280 



VARIETIES OF WOOD, 



a great abundance, as well as variety, of wood fit for exporta- 

 tion, as well as home consumption. The following is a list of 

 the principal trees, with their qualities, and the use to which 

 they are most adapted. 



Avellana {Quadra heterophylla), a handsome tree, in ap- 

 pearance like the ash of Europe, of a light wood, which shrinks 

 very much when dry, and may be used with advantage for 

 oars, being light, strong, and springy, as well as for planking 

 small vessels below the water, and for the ceiling within ; it is 

 bad for firewood, being too light. The seed is a nut, about the 

 size of a cherry, the kernel of which is roasted and eaten. The 

 tree abounds at Concepcion, and in the country to the south, 

 and grows on the Peninsula of Lacuy. 



Roble {Fagus ohliqua, Mirb.), a large tree ; and, from the 

 durable quality of its timber, considered the best in the island, 

 for ground-frames of houses, planks for vessels, and beams. 

 The piraguas are built chiefly of this wood. There are two sorts, 

 one an evergreen, and the other a deciduous- leaved tree. It is 

 evidently a beech, and the same that grows in all parts of the 

 Strait of Magalhaens ; the smooth-leafed sort is F. ohliqua of 

 Mirb. — see Bertero, in Mercurio Chileno, No. 14, p. 640. 



Tiqui, heavy wood ; but esteemed strong and durable. Pira- 

 guas are sometimes built of it. 



Laurel, used for house building in-doors, for beams and 

 rafters, and posts; durable when not exposed to damp, in which 

 it soon perishes. 



Manu, a tree of great dimensions, tall and straight, the leaf 

 is like that of a yew; it is a very useful wood in ship-building, 

 for planks, and, next to alerse, is the best for spars which the 

 island produces ; but the large trees have a great tendency to 

 become rotten at the heart, owing possibly to the humidity of 

 the climate, and to the very wet soil. 



As the Adelaide wanted a mast, I sent her round to Castro for 

 a manu spar, for which I agreed to pay eighty dollars ; but of 

 twenty trees that were cut down, not one was sound at the heart. 

 The wood is heavy, with large knots, which penetrate into the 

 trunk to a great depth. A great deal of this timber grows in 

 the Gulf of Penas. 



