for strength and durability, and is very much used for large beams in building stores for heavy goods, railway bridges, sleepers, and other purposes where great strength is required. The iron-barks are generally admitted to be the strongest and most durable of known timbers; they are very much employed in fencing and building, and will stand undecayed in the ground for several years.

The cedar species are superb timber producers, yielding the finest wood for cabinet work, the darker kinds being almost equal to mahogany, and taking an exquisite polish. The older the timber the finer the grain and the darker the veins. This is the favourite wood of the cabinetmakers and house carpenters of the luxurious East. It is generally known as toon wood, and is very remarkable for its lightness, being only a little more heavy than deal, unless of the scarce mountain species, when its density increases, as its beauty also.

The pencil cedar resembles the red cedar; it is used for building purposes, works easily, and is durable. In very old specimens the wood has a beautiful wavy appearance, and is suitable for the finest cabinet purposes. The colour and quality is not unlike the juniper used for black-lead pencils-hence the name.

Rosewood is very durable, prettily grained, of a red colour, and takes a good polish. The common name has been given to it from the similarity of the odour of the wood to the scent of the rose. This wood has been cut on the Clarence for planking the sides of vessels, and found to be very suitable for this purpose.

Some of the Australian woods for furniture veneers are admirable, having mottled and tortoiseshell-like grain, durability, susceptibility of high polish, and fine aromatic scent. Nothing can exceed the exquisite silky grain of blackwood, the rich wavy pattern of musk, the speckled beauty of the huon pine, the gay zebra-like stripe of tulip wood, or the wine-coloured jarrah (the so-called mahogany) of Western Australia. The lustre and tint of some of these woods when polished are unrivalled. It may be interesting to mention that the very first export of the present Colony of VICTORIA, as far back as 1803, was timber. H.M.S. Calcutta, one of the two vessels that took out the party which endeavoured to form a settlement on Point Nepean, was ordered to take home a cargo of timber fit for naval purposes. Before leaving the bay, Captain Woodruff shipped 150 pieces of what Lieutenant Tuckey, the historian of the expedition, calls timber compass, the which, he goes on to inform us, was chiefly honeysuckle. History is silent as to the use made of this early consignment of shipbuilding timber.

Recent explorations show that the great Australian trees exceed in height, though not in circumference, the giants of California; some of the Australian trees must be regarded as very respectable in girth

as well as in height, the hollow trunk of one of them being large enough to admit three horsemen to enter and turn without dismounting, while they led a fourth horse. A fallen tree, in the recesses of Dandenong, Victoria, was measured not long since, and found to be 420 feet long; another, on the Black Spur, ten miles from Healesville, measured 480 feet. The highest trees on the Sierra Nevada, California, yet discovered, reach only 450 feet, the average size being from 300 to 400 feet in height, and from 24 to 34 feet in diameter. The wood of these trees closely resembles red cedar, and the reddish-brown bark is sometimes 18 inches thick, and the age of some of the oldest has been computed at 2,000 years.

The Colony of NEW SOUTH WALES is rich in its resources of indigenous timber. Not only along the coast districts, but in the far interior there are extensive bush forests; and vast tracts of country yet remain to be explored by the botanist. The supply obtained from the coast districts has been so ample, that there has been no necessity yet to penetrate into the interior for timber of a serviceable character. Many of the woods now used possess a hardness and durability unsurpassed by any in the world. Whilst some are characterized by the extraordinary beauty of their colour and grain, others are remarkable for their fibre-producing" qualities. The number of species, and the size to which many of the trees attain, are astonishing.

The flooded gum is a famous timber for shipbuilding and for housecarpentering; it is often 7 feet in diameter, with a stem, without knot or flaw, of from 70 to 80 feet in length. It is procurable from many parts of the Colony. The blue gum, of the coast districts, is another magnificent timber, adapted to the same purposes, but it is not so hard or heavy, and scarcely so durable, as the iron barks. It grows from 3 to 6 feet in diameter, 100 to 160 feet high. There are many other of these gum trees that might be named. The black butt, one of the largest of the eucalypti, furnishes timber of excellent quality for house carpentry or other purposes where strength and durability are objects.

The differences of climate to be met with in the Colony, are, of course, conducive to the growth of a large variety of species. Whether required for shipbuilding, house-carpentering, or cabinet work, timber of all kinds is to be had in great profusion. Upwards of 420 specimens of New South Wales and Queensland woods were shown at the London Exhibition of 1862, and at the Paris Exhibition of 1867, the number from all the Australian Colonies had increased to 726, thus divided (Tasmania and New Zealand being unrepresented): New South Wales, 360; Queensland, 251; Victoria, 115.

As regards the lightness and strength of these woods, experiments made a few years ago, showed that whilst some of the strongest

timbers averaged but the weight of water, they required a weight of from one to two tons to break a stick only 4 feet long, and 2 inches square; and from four to six tons to crush 1 cubic inch against its fibre.

The extensive shipbuilding establishment of Mr. Cuthbert, at Miller's Point, Sydney, is capable of building vessels up to 500 tons. It has turned out, besides a large number of sailing vessels, many screw and paddle steamers, gunboats, and dredges. The native timber chiefly used is, for beams, the iron bark, black butt, and the flooded, blue, red, and spotted gums; and for fittings, the tea-tree, iron bark, black butt, and bangally. Mr. Booth's establishment, at Johnstone's Bay, is also large, occupying an area of 2 acres, with a water frontage; it embraces the largest sawmills in the Colony, and has capabilities for shipbuilding up to 200 or 300 tons.

America has the advantage of Australia in timbers of the ash, beech, and hickory descriptions, but cannot compete with it in the production of kinds equivalent to the red gum and iron bark. Of blackwood, there are several kinds, one of which is so different from the wood usually meant by that term, that it is called "lightwood." This is one of the most useful products of the Australian forest, being the least liable to shrink, and it is put to many uses for which, in Europe and America, ash is employed. The native wood most resembling hickory is the white honeysuckle, which is extensively used for the manufacture of adze and fine hammer-handles. The best wooden treenails and keys for railway purposes here are made of oak, but Australian ironbark far surpasses that timber in all the requisite qualities.

As a proof, it may be stated that ironbark treenails were used for over five years by the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company, and found to be far superior to oak; one taken up, after it had been in use three or four years, was perfectly sound. There is a considerable trade in Colonial timber already between Victoria, New South Wales, Adelaide, and Queensland.

In 1873, the value of the shipments of wood from each of the Australian Colonies was

In some years the exports are much larger; for instance, New South Wales has, occasionally, shipped timber valued at £82,000, and New Zealand to £30,000 or £40,000.

The jarrah wood, of Western Australia, a species of eucalyptus, has always been esteemed, but is growing more and more into favour as

it becomes generally known. The special advantages of this timber are its great strength, hardness, and closeness of grain, combined with durability under exposure to either salt or fresh water. The tree grows to an immense size, attains a great height, and is very plentiful. Indeed, it was stated in evidence, some years ago, before a Committee of the House of Commons, by Admiral Sir James Stirling, that there was sufficient in the Colony to build twenty British navies. The forests have been much drawn upon since then, but the tree is of rapid growth.

The Western Australian Timber Company has had ceded to it by the Colonial Government 320 square miles of forest rich in this timber, near Geographie Bay, and have constructed a railway of 12 miles to the timber district, where they have extensive saw-mills. In the Colony, vessels of considerable burthen are built entirely of jarrah wood, the peculiar properties of which render copper sheathing unnecessary, although the teredo, or sea-worm, is most abundant in those waters. The wood is much sought after for railway sleepers and telegraph posts. It is admirably adapted for dock-gates, piles, keel pieces, kelsons, and for other heavy timber in shipbuilding. There are two other useful timbers of Western Australia-the tooart and the red gum, both eucalypts. The tooart has a very close grain, is extremely hard, cannot be split, and is capable of enduring great heat without rending. It has been suggested for gun-carriages on account of its non-liability to split; it is absolutely impervious to the inroads of those minute. creatures so destructive to wharves, jetties, and any sort of naval architecture exposed to the sea, and it equally resists the attacks of termites. In these properties the red gum largely shares. This is a very valuable species of timber, for the extraordinary endurance of the wood under ground, and for this reason it is highly valued for piles and railway sleepers; for the latter it will last a dozen years, and, if well selected, much longer.

In TASMANIA it is estimated that there are about 4,000,000 acres of heavily-wooded land. Of the timber trees there are at least thirty varieties, some of which grow to a size almost incredible to those who have not seen them. The species of eucalypti grow to large proportions, in some instances to 800 feet high, with a girth of 102 feet. Of these timbers very large planks can be obtained, sometimes 3 and 4 feet wide, to 140 feet length, without a flaw. The specific gravity of the gumwood, as it is called, is greater than that of the oak or the teak of India, and its weight per cubic foot much greater. Its strength is so great that a lath, 7 feet long and 2 inches square, will maintain a weight of 1,300 lbs. Of the blue gum tree there is one growing in a valley about five miles from Hobart Town, on Mr. Hull's estate of Tolosa, estimated to be 330 feet high,

which was measured by Sir W. Denison, K.C.B., and found to be 76 feet in circumference. At the Cam river, on the north, is a stringy bark tree, 200 feet to the first branch, and estimated to contain 225 tons of timber. In D'Entrecasteaux's Channel a swamp gum was cut down and split into palings, laths, and shingles for house purposes, and its produce was sold for £245. For many years there was a very large export from the island of sawn timber and split timber of all sorts, reaching, in some years, to the value of nearly £400,000. These are the larger and coarser timbers.

The ship-timbers produced by the gum trees, such as knees and other tough parts required in shipbuilding, have been found to be durable and not susceptible to dry rot. Well-authenticated instances of great durability in old piles and posts are of everyday occurrence; and scaffolding-poles of great length have been in use for twenty years and more by builders in the city of Hobarton, and they are as firm and tough as when first used.

Besides these, there are the myrtle, blackwood, musk, dogwood, honeysuckle, pine, and sassafras, cabinet woods of various colours and textures, and all producing the most beautifully-marked veneers for cabinetmaker's work. Of blackwood large quantities are exported for furniture purposes to Victoria, where it is extensively used for billiard tables and large furniture.

The myrtle slabs of 30 or 40 feet in length and 3 or 4 feet wide of a rich salmon or pink colour, make very beautiful cabinet work. The roots of this tree are veined in a variety of figures. The musk, huon pine, and honeysuckle make handsome picture frames, and take an excellent polish. These ornamental woods excited great notice at the various International Exhibitions in Europe.

In general character the NEW ZEALAND Woods to a great extent resemble the growths of Tasmania and the Continent of Australia, most of the known varieties being harder, heavier, and more difficult to work than the majority of European and North American timbers. They vary, however, very much among themselves; for instance, kauri pine is a light, free-working wood, very suitable for house carpentery, ships' decks, and similar works, and about the same transverse strength as Memel deal. White manuka (and perhaps a few others) when sound and well grown, appear at least to rival the best specimens of Tasmanian blue gum, both in density and in transverse strength. Many of the less known woods also possess admirable qualities, and bid fair to be more used in future when the districts, in which they are plentiful, shall have become more thickly peopled.

As a rule, the New Zealand woods appear to be not so durable as the Tasmanian, at least stumps of felled trees seldom remain sound for any