160 
MAHOGANY. 
Though the Mahogany be a native of too warm a climate to allow of its cul- 
tivation as a timber-tree in this country, yet it is applied to so many uses, and is 
so well adapted for most of them, that some notice of it is required. 
There are three species of mahogany: — common mahogany (Swietenia maho- 
gani), Swietenia f ebr if ug a, and Swietenia chloroocylon : the first being a native 
of the West India Islands, and the central parts of America, and the second and 
third natives of the East Indies. They all grow to be trees of considerable mag- 
nitude ; the first and second being among the largest trees known. They are all 
excellent timber. 
Swietenia mahogani is, perhaps, the most majestic of trees ; for though some 
rise to a greater height, this tree, like the oak and cedar, impresses the spectator 
with the strongest feelings of its firmness and duration. In the rich valleys among 
the mountains of Cuba, and those that open upon the bay of Honduras, the maho- 
gany expands to so giant a trunk, divides into so many massy arms, and throws 
* the shade of its shining green leaves, spotted with tufts of pearly flowers, over so 
vast an extent of surface, that it is difficult to imagine a vegetable production com- 
bining in such a degree the qualities of elegance and strength, of beauty and subli- 
mity. The precise period of its growth is not accurately known ; but, as when 
large it changes but little during the life of a man, the time of its arriving at 
maturity is probably not less than two hundred years. Some idea of its size, and 
also of its commercial value, may be formed from the fact that a single log, im- 
ported at Liverpool, weighed nearly seven tons ; was, in the first instance, sold for 
£378; re-sold for £525 ; and would, had the dealers been certain of its quality, 
have been worth £1000. Mahogany of remarkable fineness is very costly, as we 
shall show when we come to speak of fancy-woods. 
As is the case with much other timber, the finest mahogany trees, both for 
size and quality, are not in the most accessible situations ; and as it is always Jim- 
ported in large masses, the transportation of it for any distance overland is so 
difficult, that the very best trees, both on the island and the main-land — those that 
grow in the rich inland valleys — defy the means of removal possessed by the 
natives. Masses of from six to eight tons are not very easily moved in any 
country ; and in a mountainous and rocky one, where much attention is not paid 
to mechanical power, to move them is impossible. In Cuba the inhabitants have 
neither enterprise nor skill adequate to felling the mahogany trees, and transport- 
ing them to the shore ; and thus the finest timber remains unused. 
The discovery of this beautiful timber was accidental, and its introduction into 
notice was slow. The first mention of it is that it was used in the repair of some 
of Sir Walter Raleigh's ships, at Trinidad, in 1597. Its finely -variegated tints were 
admired ; but in that age the dream of El Dorado caused matters of more value to 
be neglected. The first that was brought to England was about the beginning of 
last century, a few planks having been sent to Dr. Gibbons of London, by a 
brother who was a West India captain. The Doctor was erecting a house in 
King-street, Covent Garden, and gave the planks to the workmen, who rejected them 
