296 
TIMBER AND TIMBER TREES. [chap. 
The Kauri is a slower-growing tree than most other 
Firs and Pines; it is slower even than the Pitch Pine of 
America, and makes only 1 inch of wood diameter in 
about 6 or 7 years. Thus, the two noble trees to which 
I have referred were, by computation, respectively 
about 1,300 and 2,000 years old; they were, however, 
almost unavailable for any industrial purpose, as it 
would be impossible to move these excessively large 
trees if they were cut down. 
The Kauri has a dense foliage of tough leathery 
leaves, resembling in shape those of the Box plant; they 
vary from ^ to inch in length, are sessile, and the 
fruit is a cone of a spherical form of about 3 inches in 
diameter, enclosed in which are the winged seeds. The 
bark is quite smooth, and about 1 inch in thickness. It 
is a peculiarity of this species of Pine, that a fluid gum, 
or resin, of a milk-like character, oozes spontaneously 
out from every part of the tree, and hardens upon the 
surface by exposure to the air, immense masses of this 
opaque gum being often seen on old trees, suspended 
from the stem at the forked part of the branches. 
Some few years since the British Government sent 
out several expeditions in succession to New Zealand, 
to procure spars fit for top-masts for line-of-battle ships, 
and it was while engaged on this special service that I 
first became acquainted with the properties of the Kauri 
Pine timber. Since the colonisation of that country, 
however, the business has been left to private enterprise, 
and spars, timber, and gum have occasionally formed 
part of the return cargoes of store and emigrant ships. 
Much more timber would, no doubt, have been shipped, 
were it not for the great expense that attends the work¬ 
ing of the forests, and the cost of freight for so long a 
voyage. These two very costly items effectually pre- 
