APPENDIX A.
"Jarrah or Swan River Mahogany is a local name. The tree is not in any way connected with the genus Swietenia, nor does it resemble it in growth. The term Mahogany has been accepted from the wood in some instances bearing a resemblance to that from Honduras and the neighborhood. Although it is one of the Eucalypti peculiar to the Australian Continent, yet this variety is alone to be found in the South-western Districts of the Western Colony. The finest trees grow on the summit of the granite and ironstone ranges, south of Perth, the Capital; those grown on the sandy plains nearer the sea yield a timber of inferior quality, twisted and short in the grain, and not very durable. The forests are of considerable extent, full of noble looking trees springing from among rocky boulders to a height, clear of branches, of from 50 to 60 feet, straight as a mast, and having a girth of from 10 to 20 feet; the foliage evergreen, and just after the hot season covered with large bunches of white sweet scented flowers. When the girth stated is exceeded, the trees generally exhibit signs of decay; but this, the writer has observed, arises from the oldest trees being unable to resist the action of bush fires, which sweep through the forests nearly every year, and from the effects of which only the younger growth can recover."
"Undoubted authority, to be found in the records of the Colony, has declared that Jarrah Timber cannot be equalled, and is, under certain conditions, indestructible. Following are a few extracts: The late Governor of the Colony, His Excellency Sir F. Aloysius Weld, K.C.M.G., in a communication to Earl Kimberley, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, on the subject of Jarrah for marine purposes, says, "that after strict enquiry and the collection of a vast amount of information from sources likely to set at rest all doubts, he takes on himself the responsibility of its introduction to 'Lloyds.'" The Committee of Lloyds', on Governor Weld's representations, informed Earl Kimberley that they had "determined to rank this "timber with those named in line No, 3, Table A, attached to the "Society's Rules for the construction and classification of ships." According to this estimate it was second only to English and American live oak, and standing before sal (shorea robuta) and
