CHAPTER XXVI. 
THE TIMBER TREES OF AUSTRALIA. 
THE TEWART TREE ( Eucalyptus ). 
A VARIETY of the White Gum. Is found principally in 
the Swan River and King George’s Sound district of 
Western Australia. It is a tree of straight growth and 
noble dimensions, yielding timber of from 20 to 45 feet 
in length by from 11 to 28 inches square. 
The wood is of a yellowish or straw colour, hard, 
heavy, tough, strong, and rigid ; the texture close, and 
the grain so twisted and curled as to render it difficult 
either to cleave or work. It is a very sound wood, 
possessing few or no defects, with the exception of a mild 
form of heart and star-shake at the centre, which would 
necessitate a small amount of waste, if it were required 
to reduce the logs into thin planks or boards; but, if 
employed in large scantlings, it will be found a most 
valuable wood, especially where great strength is needed. 
The Tewart shrinks very little in seasoning, and does, 
not split while undergoing that process; it is also 
characteristic of this wood that it will bear exposure to 
all the vicissitudes of weather for a long time without 
being in any but the least degree affected by it. I have 
known it subjected to this severe test for fully ten years, 
and when afterwards converted, it opened out with all 
