kauri

or Cowry, or Kauri-Pine

,n.

Maori name for the tree Agathis australis,Sal. (formerly Dammara A.), N.O. Coniferae.Variously spelt, and earlier often called Cowdie. In`Lee's New Zealand Vocabulary,' 1820, the spelling Kaudiappears. Although this tree is usually called by the genericname of Dammara (see quotation, 1832), it is properlyreferred to the genus Agathis, an earlier name alreadygiven to it by Salisbury. There is a Queensland Kauri( Dammara robusta, F. v. M.). See Pine.

1823. R. A. Cruise, `Ten Months in New Zealand,' p. 145:

«The banks of the river were found to abound with cowry; and. . . the carpenter was of opinion that there could be no greatdifficulty in loading the ship. The timber purveyor of theCoromandel having given cowry a decided preference tokaikaterre, . . . it was determined to abandon all furtheroperations.»

1835. W. Yate, `True Account of New Zealand,' p. 37:

«As a shrub, and during its youthful days, the kauri is notvery graceful . . . but when it comes to years of maturity,it stands unrivalled for majesty and beauty.»

1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1855), p. 285:

«The kauri ( Dammera [sic] Australis) isconiferous, resinous, and has an elongated box-like leaf.»

1860. G. Bennett, `Gatherings of a Naturalist,' p. 349:

«When Captain Cook visited New Zealand (nearly a century afterthe discovery of the Dammara of Amboyna), he saw, uponthe east coast of the Northern Island, a tree, called by thenatives Kowrie; it was found to be a second species of Dammara, and was named D. australis.»

1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 140:

«The Kauri-pine is justly styled the Queen of the New Zealandforest . . . the celebrated and beautiful Kauri.»

1874. W. M. B., `Narrative of Edward Crewe,' p. 169:

«The kauri is the only cone-bearing pine in New Zealand. Thewood is of a yellow colour, wonderfully free from knots, andharder than the red-pine of the Baltic. Beautifully mottledlogs are sometimes met with, and are frequently made up intofurniture.»

1875. T. Laslett, `Timber and Timber Trees,' p. 295:

«The Kaurie or Cowdie-Pine ( Dammara Australis) is anative of and is found only in New Zealand. . . . A tall andvery handsome tree with a slightly tapering stem. . . . Formasts, yards, etc., is unrivalled in excellence, as it not onlypossesses the requisite dimensions, lightness, elasticity, andstrength, but is much more durable than any other Pine.» [Thewhole of chap. 37 is devoted to this tree.]

1883. F. S. Renwick, `Betrayed,' p. 47:

«As some tall kauri soars in lonely pride,

So proudly Hira stood.»

1886. J. A. Froude, `Oceans,' p. 318:

«Only the majestic Kauri tolerated no approaches to hisdignity. Under his branches all was bare and brown.»

1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 143:

«The Native name `Kauri' is the only common name in generaluse. When the timber was first introduced into Britain it wastermed `cowrie' or `kowdie-pine'; but the name speedily fellinto disuse, although it still appears as the common name insome horticultural works.»

1890. Brett, `Early History of New Zealand,' p. 115:

«`The Hunter' and `Fancy' loaded spars for Bengal at the Thamesin 1798.» . . . «These two Indian vessels in the Thames wereprobably the earliest European ships that loaded with NewZealand Timber, and probably mark the commencement of theexport Kauri trade.»