Brazil wood

“ Most of the woods are absolutely valueless. Still, when it is realized that the forests of Brazil extend for several millions of square kilometres, it is easy to conceive that there is plenty of room among a majority of poor trees for some good ones. Most Brazilian woods are interesting on account of their high specific gravity. Few, very few, will float on water. On the central plateau, for instance, I could not find a single wood which floated—barring, under special conditions, the burity palm (Mauritia vinifera M.) . ”

“ The best way of treating Brazil wood is to macerate it cold in alcohol for several days; a little salt of tartar, potash, or soap, will make this color pass into purple; a little alum gives it a fine crimson-red, and an acid will make it pass into yellow, of which the shade is deeper according to the quantity employed. ”

“ Further inland the higher country becomes more open and the forests are less luxuriant. Giant cacti and spiny scrub abound. Then come the catinga tracts, and, beyond these, the open campos of the elevated plateau, dotted with clumps of low growing bushes and broken by tracts of carrasco, a thick, matted, bushy growth 10 to 12 ft. in height. Formerly this coast region furnished large quantities of Brazil-wood (Caesalpinia echinata) , and the river valleys have long been the principal source of Brazil’s best cabinet-wood—rosewood (Dalbergia nigra) , jacarandá (Machaeriumfirmum, Benth.) ”

“ Yes; the forests of the Amazon valley are said to be the largest in the world, having fully four hundred species of trees. In marshy places and along streams reeds, [193] grasses and water plants grow in tangled masses, and in the forests the trees crowd each other and are draped with parasitic vines. Along the coasts mangroves, mangoes, cocoas, dwarf palms, and the Brazil-wood are noticeable. In one of the southern provinces more than forty different kinds of trees are valuable for timber. On the Amazon and its branches there are an almost innumerable variety of valuable trees ”

“ If the colour of the Brazil-wood be very strong, there [251] may be reds obtained in an hour's boiling. This is a wood which is of a hard nature, and it is difficult to extract the colour from it, although a good dye.
A claret may be produced from Brazil-wood mixed with red archil, and boiled in the usual manner, dipped in potash liquor, or brilla will act in the same way to strike the colour; use hard water.
A fiery brown may be made from fustic and turmeric boiled together with alum and a little crystal of tartar, (soft water for this dye) , and then dip in liquor of potash. ”

“ Mild and temperate, with occasionally cold weather, is experienced in the southern portions.
The soil is very fertile in a large portion of the country, and produces an immense variety of rich and valuable plants and vegetables, many of them being peculiar to this region. The forests are admirable for their beauty and grandeur; the growth of trees being gigantic, and the number of ornamental ones surpassing calculation. An important article of export, are several kinds of what is called Brazil-wood, not to speak of timber for ship-building, mahogany, and an infinity of dyeing woods. ”

“ The only vegetable product extensively used in trade was the brazil-wood, whose beautiful dye and application to various ornamental purposes made it, from the first, one of the most important monopolies of the crown. ”

“ The forests, which occupy much of the Atlantic coast-region and the lower mountain-slopes abound in mahogany, rosewood, cedar (Bursera) , logwood (Hæmatoxylon campecheanum) brazil-wood (Cæsalpinia Braziliensis) , sarsaparilla (Smilax) , and other marketable products; the principal timber regions being on the rivers Ulúa, Aguan, Negro, and Patuca,—all on the Atlantic side. ”

“ The fruits as they ripen fall from their lofty position, and they are at the proper season annually collected and broken open by the Indians. Brazil nuts are largely eaten; they also yield in the proportion of about 9 oz. to each ℔ of kernels a fine bland fluid oil, highly valued for use in cookery, and used by watchmakers and artists.
BRAZIL WOOD, a dye wood of commercial importance, obtained from the West Indies and South America, belonging to the genera Caesalpinia and Peltophorum of the natural order Leguminosae. ”

“ Along the coast, much of the virgin forest has been cut away, not only for the creation of cultivated plantations, but to meet the commercial demand for Brazil-wood and furniture woods.
The chief characteristic of the Amazonian forest, aside from its magnitude, is the great diversity of genera and species. In the northern temperate zone we find forests of a single species, others of three or four species ”

“ Compared with any of the provinces already spoken of, it is well peopled, there being about 140,000 inhabitants to 32,000 square miles. A few cargoes of Brazil wood were formerly shipped here, being the best quality produced in the whole empire, and prized accordingly, till it fell into disrepute from the causes we have already specified, in speaking of that once-prized ingredient in the art of dyeing. Like Piauhy, Rio Grande do Norte is favourable to cattle-rearing ”

“ I crossed the bay, which is about four leagues broad, in one of the regular trading vessels, which are about forty tons burden; these carry over from Alcantarà cotton and fire-wood, the former is cultivated at some distance in the interior, whence it is brought in on the backs of horses; the fire-wood is obtained from the stems and branches of the mangrove (Rhizophora Mangle) , which grows in great abundance along the muddy shores: it burns in the green state better perhaps than any other kind of tree. ”

“ The specimens ought not to be chosen, however, as they have hitherto been, solely with reference to those parts which are absolutely necessary to identify the species; the collections, to be complete, ought to include the wood, the bark, the roots, and the soft fruits in alcohol. The abundance and variety of timber in the Amazonian Valley strikes us with amazement. We long to hear the saw-mill busy in these forests, where there are several hundred kinds of woods, admirably suited for construction as well as for the finest cabinet-work ”

“ They are constructed, however, at an enormous expense, owing to the great distance from which timber can be obtained; it is all dragged by bullocks from the Sertão, a distance of from four to sixteen leagues, over a rugged, hilly country, through which carts cannot pass; owing to the same reason, fire-wood is extremely dear in the city, and very bad in quality, as it is often brought for sale in a half green state. ”

“ These specimens of wood represent the useful growths of timber in this district of the province of São Paulo, and there are likewise a great number of palm trees, different qualities of cane, (bamboo and taqueira,) with a variety of vines, of which the sipo is especially valuable for cordage and other uses.
The guaranta is the best material for fencing, as it splits readily and is very durable. The hardness of most of the wood in this country is the most serious obstacle to using it in the form of plank. ”

“ The woods produce large and durable timber, well calculated for building. Of their trees, all of which retain their Indian names, some yield very fine gums. The jacarandá, called in England rose-wood, is here very common. Many of their shrubs bear beautiful flowers, and are very aromatic. Among the innumerable creeping plants which clothe the soil of their uncleared lands, there are some distinguished as infallible antidotes to the bite of venomous reptiles ”

“ The pao santo or holy-wood is scarce, and is much sought after for certain purposes, as it is not liable to split, bend, or break; it is particularly required for the teeth of the sugar-rollers. The wood is beautifully veined with yellow and brown, but becomes after some time of a dusky brown colour. There is likewise a tree which is called cedro, but whether it is the cedar or not I cannot determine; the wood is hard, and is much esteemed for building. ”

“ This was also the case with coffee and other staple articles. Many gentlemen, more knowing than others, sent home lots of curious wood, and even entered into the illicit [459] trade of shipping the dye-wood, which generally proved very disadvantageous, as the wood of that species grown in the vicinity of Rio de Janeiro is very inferior in quality to that of Pernambuco, from whence that trade is carried on for account of the Crown. The folly of speculation did not stop here: precious stones appeared to offer the most abundant source of riches ”

“ Some wood, indeed, grows on the margin of the Riachuelo, which is used for the building of hovels and for fuel. There is a pleasant stream about ten leagues from Monte [17] Video, called the Louza, the banks of which seem to invite the labor of the planter, and would certainly produce abundance of timber [2] . It is to be remarked that the almost entire want of this article here, occasions great inconvenience and expense: wood for mechanical purposes is extremely scarce, and planks are so dear that hardly one house with a boarded floor is to be found. ”

“ This part of the country is very thinly populated; the greater part of the soil being of a gravelly nature, is neither adapted for cultivation, even were water abundant, nor for feeding cattle. It is besides very hilly, some of the ranges being the highest we had yet passed over; from the top of one of the elevations I obtained a fine view of the undulating thinly-wooded country below; scattered here and there were to be seen large pink or yellow Bignonias, or the azure-blossomed Jacaranda, raising their magnificent diadems above the other denizens of the wood ”

“ Many slaves are employed by their owners in cutting the large shrubs that grow in the ravines, within a short distance from the city, the branches of which are made up into bundles, and offered for sale from house to house; the stems of the large tree-lily (Vellozia) are also collected for fuel, particularly a kind that exudes abundance of resinous matter. The Tropeiros on approaching the city with their loaded mules, always bring with them, from the wooded countries, as many bundles of split wood as suffice them for the purposes of cooking till the period of their departure. ”

“ In taking a general view of the country, a stranger cannot but observe, with regret, that while nature has been profuse in her blessings, the inhabitants have been neglectful in the improvement of them. Here is, for instance, abundance of excellent clay and plenty of wood on the margin of the rivers, yet it is rare to meet with an inclosure, even for a kitchen garden, much more so for a corn-field. ”

“ Brazil (14,000) , the largest South American State, almost equal to Europe, occupies the eastern angle of the continent, and comprises the Amazon basin, the tablelands of Matto Grosso, the upper basin of the Paraguay, and the maritime highlands, with the valleys of the Paraná and San Francisco. Great stretches of the interior are uninhabitable swamp and forest lands; forests tenanted by an endless variety of brilliant-plumed birds and insects; the coasts are often humid and unhealthy, but the upper levels have a fine climate. Almost all the country is within the tropics. ”

“ Scarcely any attempt at regular cultivation has yet been made in any part of Amazonas; but the natural productions of its teeming soil are numerous as they are varied and valuable. The forests contain many trees which afford solid and durable timber, and others that furnish excellent cabinet woods, among which may be mentioned the beautiful muirapinima, or tortoise-shell wood. There are numerous plants, unknown in Europe, famous for their medicinal uses; and others which produce valuable resins and oils. ”

“ The mode and materials of building here, as in other parts of South America, are such as to obviate, in a great degree, the danger of fire. Stone or brick, iron, stucco, and tiles are the chief component parts of a house; little wood is employed, except for beams, and this is generally hard and heavy, especially in Brazil, and not readily combustible, as explained in a previous chapter. The floors, except in some houses built by foreigners, are not constructed of wood, but of glazed tiles, as in the South of Europe ”

“ With the exception of a hill situated two and a half leagues to the S.W. of the town, and which rises six or eight hundred feet, and a few sand hills near the coast, the country all round is so flat, that the horizon is about as level as that of the sea. The houses are built of a frame-work made of the stems of the Carnahuba palm filled up with brick. The stem of this useful tree is used by the inhabitants for almost every purpose to which wood can be applied; it is so durable that the lower part, particularly of the full grown stems, lasts for many years, even when exposed to the weather ”

“ For these purposes a large supply of fine timber was (and, I presume, continues to be) readily obtained from the interior from the number of fine rivers which flow into the bay. The wood holds iron better, and is superior to our oak.
The manners and customs of the people differ little from those of the inhabitants of the capital; but it is said that in the best societies here, more gaiety and refinement prevail, and the higher classes are more sociable, than in Rio de Janeiro. A taste for music is general ”