OF NEW ZEALAND. 
37 
nature ; and, when stripped of its bark, is imme- 
diately preyed upon by a small brown worm, 
which reduces a great portion of it to powder. 
As a shrub, and during its youthful days, the 
Kauri is not very graceful: it is crooked and 
shapeless, and has a few long, narrow, pale-green 
leaves, scattered here and there upon its branches : 
but when it comes to years of maturity, it stands 
unrivalled for majesty and beauty. Its top is 
crowned with the most splendid foliage ; and its 
immense height raises its head far above the 
other trees of the forest ; over which it stands the 
undisputed monarch, and affords, under its crown, 
an umbrageous retreat for many of the more 
humble plants. Its leaves are small, but very 
numerous, and not unlike those of the English 
box. The bark is thick, white, and smooth, and 
very soon hardens after the tree is cut down : if 
not stripped in a short time after it is felled, the 
task becomes difficult, from the pertinacity with 
which it adheres to the trunk. The wood is very 
light in its colour, is beautifully grained, planes 
up smooth, and otherwise works well. From the 
trunk of the tree oozes a gum, insoluble in water, 
and, I believe, in rectified spirits-of-wine ; also 
a kind of resin, which will answer the pur- 
pose of that useful article in ship-building. Both 
emit a strong resinous smell : the gum is, how- 
ever, very fragrant, and is chewed by the na- 
tives, for hours together, on account of the 
taste which it leaves upon the tongue. The 
