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

1829. POADS MADE WITH LOGS. ^83 weather7boards of houses, also for shingling the roof ; for which purpose it is very superior and durable : after exposure to the weather it turns blue, and has the appearance of slate. It does not shrink or warp ; and though brittle, is of a very close grain, and well adapted for fui-niture. Of this wood the country people make staves for casks ; and the bark of the tree is used for caulking the seams of vessels, for which it answers remark- ably well, being extremely durable when constantly wet, though it soon decays when exposed to the sun and air. Spars of alerse, eighty or ninety feet in length, may be pro- cured ; and from eight hundred to a thousand boards are fre- quently obtained from a single tree. I was told that as many as one thousand five hundred have sometimes been cut out of one trunk. Alerse is found on the island, but not of any size. It is also common in the Strait of Magalhaens, in all those parts Avest of Cape Froward ; but there, from the poverty of the soil, it is of very stunted growth. The cypress is thought to be a different tree, but I rather imagine it to be only a variety ; the wood being white, whilst that of the alerse is of a deep red colour. As the trade of the island is principally carried on by water, roads are seldom used for that purpose, for which, indeed, the few that exist are far from being: convenient. Between San Carlos and Castro there is a road cut through the forest, forty or fifty feet in width, in the middle of which is a causeway, four or five feet wide, formed of logs of wood, laid transversely. This is the only way of communication, unless, which rarely occurs, the weather has been dry during some days ; for, off the causeway, there is a mere bog, in which a horse frequently sinks vip to the girths in mud. In many parts of the causeway, indeed, where the logs have decayed, and have not been repaired, the passage is equally bad, so that in wet weather, only persons without a load are able to pass. For the greater part of the way, the trees on each side prevent an extensive view ; but on approaching within five or six miles of Castro, the country becomes more open, having been cleared by cultivation, and there, of course, the road improves.