OF NEW ZEALAND. 
41 
united weight causes the main stem to hang like 
the branches of the weeping-willow, or a cluster 
of ostrich-feathers ; and the beauty of the whole 
is heightened by the liveliness of the colour with 
which it is decorated. It has a dark scaly bark ; 
and its wood is inclining to red, without any par- 
ticular marks of grain. It is hard and difficult 
to work, being brittle ; but its qualities are not 
sufficiently known, to make it, as yet, much sought 
after. There is, however, no doubt that it will 
be found a serviceable and enduring wood. It 
emits a strong resinous and turpentine smell ; 
and a little resin sometimes oozes from the upper 
branches. The tree is plentiful in the forests, 
where the soil is not clayey. 
Mairi — a tree of the Podocarpus species, grow- 
ing from forty to sixty feet high, but never 
arriving at a larger circumference than twelve 
feet. Its bark is peculiarly clean ; and resembles 
that of a healthy young oak, or the Tanekaha, 
when a shrub. It produces a brittly, close-grain- 
ed, durable wood, of a red colour; planes up 
smoothly; and appears capable of receiving a 
high polish. It flourishes best in rich soils, and 
seems to require much moisture. It has a spiral 
leaf, long and narrow, of a pale bright green. 
The wood is too brittle for the cabinet-maker, 
or it would not be a bad substitute for maho- 
gany. Another objection to its use, for ar- 
ticles of household furniture, except fixtures, is 
its weight. 
