SETTLEMENTS ON THE DEMERARY, &C. 257 



The ducollabolla tree grows to the height of forty feet. 

 The trunk is about twenty inches in diameter, and is covered 

 by a rough reddish bark. The tree is wholly without branches 

 until near the top. The wood is like mahogany, but excels 

 it in colour, grain, hardness, and weight. 



The bourracourra, or letter w^ood, is the heart of a tree 

 which grows here. It commonly grows to the height ot 

 thirty feet, and is about sixteen inches in diameter. The 

 trunk is covered by a reddish bark, and sends out numerous 

 branches, bearing purple flowers. When the bark and sap are 

 cut away, the heart is about twelve inches in diameter. It is 

 of a deep red colour, marked with black spots and figures; 

 is very hard, solid, and ponderous, and receives a polish un- 

 equalled by any other wood. From the smallness of the 

 quantity which can be procured from each tree, and from its 

 beauty, it is very valuable, even here. It is worked into 

 rows, walking sticks, &c. 



The mahogany-tree has a cedar-like appearance, and grows 

 to a height of fifty feet, which is rendered more conspicuous 

 by its preferring a rocky station, where there is apparently 

 little soil for its nutriment : it is not common, being less 

 adapted for the flat humid land at the mouths of the rivers, 

 than for the mountainous district of the interior. It is of the 

 decandria monogynia class ; the calyx has five segments, the 



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