CHAPTER XXVI.
THE TIMBER TREES OF AUSTRALIA.
THE TEWART TREE (Eucalyptus).
A Variety of the White Gum. Is found principally in the Swan River and King George's Sound district of Western Australia. It is a tree of straight growth and noble dimensions, yielding timber of from 20 to 45 feet in length by from 11 to 28 inches square.
The wood is of a yellowish or straw colour, hard, heavy, tough, strong, and rigid; the texture close, and the grain so twisted and curled as to render it difficult either to cleave or work. It is a very sound wood, possessing few or no defects, with the exception of a mild form of heart and star-shake at the centre, which would necessitate a small amount of waste, if it were required to reduce the logs into thin planks or boards; but, if employed in large scantlings, it will be found a most valuable wood, especially where great strength is needed.
The Tewart shrinks very little in seasoning, and does, not split while undergoing that process; it is also characteristic of this wood that it will bear exposure to all the vicissitudes of weather for a long time without being in any but the least degree affected by it. I have known it subjected to this severe test for fully ten years, and when afterwards converted, it opened out with all
