Page:Timber and Timber Trees, Native and Foreign.djvu/183

XXIV.] 18. Panacoco. This wood is dark in colour, hard, heavy, straight, and of good quality, the sap-wood being about 1⅝ inch thick. It might be used as a substitute for other hard wood in architecture, or for general purposes. The sample log was in a round state, 17 inches diameter, and 32½ feet in length.

All the woods, from 2 to 18 inclusive, were readily taken by the Parisian and local dealers at Havre for cabinet and other purposes, and realised good prices.

A great many specimens of other woods growing in the French colony at Guiana were also sent with the foregoing; but as they were quite small pieces it was difficult to judge of their fitness for employment in architectural or other works. Probably before long some of these may be supplemented by sample logs, similar in dimensions to Nos. 2 to 18, and if so, a better estimate may be formed of their commercial value.

THE JUBA TREE (Erythroxylon)

is found in Havana. Two sample pieces of plank, cut from the Juba tree, were sent by the Consul-General in Cuba, in 1858, to the Admiralty, with a view to the introduction of this wood into the royal dockyards for ship-building purposes.

It was understood they were forwarded at the request of Mr. Donald, a gentleman of considerable experience in the timber business, who was of opinion that it would be found a useful wood. He reported that the tree attained the same dimensions as the Sabicu, and that it could be supplied in large quantities. It, therefore, appeared to be well worth a consideration, as the importation of Sabicu timber was very limited, and scarcely equal to the demand for it.

The samples referred to, upon examination at