Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/103

 INDIISTEIAL PEODUCE, ETC. 77 the branches lest they should break beneath his weight. He guessed them to be eighteen feet long, and some struck off obliquely for a few feet, and then resumed a perpendicular direction. The nuts were never gathered. A few words are due to the native forest-trees, which yield valuable timber, both hard and soft, in considerable plenty. Among the hard timbers, the vesi — supposed to be the green-heai't of India — is impor- tant, as giving to the canoes of Fiji their superiority over those of other groups. The wood is very compact and resinous, often resembling good mahogany in colour and curl. My own experience proves it to be little less durable than English oak. The tree is often four feet in diameter, with a white bark, and small scaly leaves. The bau is about the same size as the former, but more valuable for cabinet-work. It is of deep red colour, close and straight grained, some- times as compact as ebony, and susceptible of a high polish. The dilo i^Calophyllum) — the tamanu of Tahiti — abounds in Fiji, and often reaches a great size, being a durable wood of pretty grain. The damanu is a fine tree, and its timber fit for every department of carpentry. The natives prize it, on account of its toughness, for masts. The noko- noko or iron wood, ( Casuarina^ is used chiefly for clubs. The caukaru is equally hard, and has a grain more like a wainscot. It is used for the upper parts of houses, but soon perishes in the ground. The gayali, I think, is lance-wood. Cevua^ or bastard sandal-wood, is hard, yellow, of rich silky grain like satin-wood, and full of aromatic oil. The most druable wood I have met with in the islands, is the hudbua, which is very heavy, and resembles boxwood. When being wrought, it gives out a peach-like smell, and works quite fresh after having been cut for years. Yasidravu and mali are two useful woods, the former like cedar in colour, and the latter a little browner. Dahua and dakua salusalu are varieties of the DamariaAustralis,OT Pinus kauri: a very useful pine, when kept from the wet. The v'aivai is something like the tamarind : its wood is yellowish, and works very smooth ; it is as light as pine, but much more lasting, and is the best of all woods for decks, since it will bear exposure to the sun better than any. The white resi- dents greatly value it. There is also the viriviri^ which is very light ; and the rara, little heavier than cork. All the timbers here mentioned I have either used myself, or had them worked under my direction. Twice the number of useful woods growing in Fiji might be added to this short list. It will thus be seen that the natives of this group are furnished with a most abundant and diversified supply of all their Wants, a supply