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Many of the sticks have been sent to England to serve as masts and spars for her Majesty's ships of war, and altogether the trade in Kauri lumber is very large. The result is, a great deal has been cut away, and the time is not very distant when the Kauri forests will be gone.

"While we were walking among the Kauri trees our guide prodded the earth with a spear that he carried, and he kept doing this so frequently that we asked what it meant. He answered that he was looking for Kauri gum, and after a time he struck a hard substance, which he dug down to and brought to light.

"It was a lump of Kauri gum, and looked more like amber than anything else; in fact, it is said to be used very often in place of amber for the mouth-pieces of pipes and cigar-holders, and for other purposes where amber is ornamental. It is worth eight or ten cents a pound, and the shipment of Kauri gum from Auckland amounts to nearly a million dollars annually.

"'How do you get the gum?' one of us inquired of the man who was showing us through the forest.

"'In just the way you see,' he replied. 'The gum cannot be obtained