Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.1): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

280 VARIETIES OF WOOD. 1829- a great abundance, as well as variety, of wood fit for exporta- tion, as well as home consumption. The following is a hst of the principal trees, with their qualities, and the use to which they are most adapted. Avellana (Quadra heterophylla), a handsome tree, in ap- pearance like the ash of Europe, of a light wood, which shrinks very much when dry, and may be used with advantage for oars, being light, strong, and springy, as well as for planking small vessels below the water, and for the ceiling within ; it is bad for firewood, being too light. The seed is a nut, about the size of a cherry, the kernel of which is roasted and eaten. The tree abounds at Concepcion, and in the country to the south, and grows on the Peninsula of Lacuy. Roble (Fagus ohliqua, Mirb.), a large tree ; and, from the durable quality of its timber, considered the best in the island, for ground-frames of houses, planks for vessels, and beams. The piraguas are built chiefly of this wood. There are two sorts, one an evergreen, and the other a deciduous- leaved tree. It is evidently a beech, and the same that grows in all parts of the Strait of Magalhaens ; the smooth-leafed sort is F. ohliqua of Mirb. — see Bertero, in Mercurio Chileno, No. 14, p. 640. Tiqui, heavy wood ; but esteemed strong and durable. Pira- guas are sometimes built of it. Laurel, used for house building in-doors, for beams and rafters, and posts ; durable when not exposed to damp, in which it soon perishes. Mariu, a tree of great dimensions, tall and straight, the leaf is like that of a yew; it is a very useful wood in ship-building, for planks, and, next to alerse, is the best for spars which the island produces ; but the large trees have a great tendency to become rotten at the heart, owing possibly to the humidity of the climate, and to the very wet soil. As the Adelaide wanted a mast, I sent her round to Castro for a manu spar, for which I agreed to pay eighty dollars ; but of twenty trees that were cut down, not one was sound at the heart. The wood is heavy, with large knots, which penetrate into the trunk to a great depth. A great deal of this timber grows in the Gulf of Pehas.