84 BRITISH . era parts, which they term " live oak," is, however, very firm, and remarkably durable. The grey, or more properly, white oak of Canada , is a tolerably close-grained and lasting wood, and much used in ship-building. It is the same, or dif¬ fers very little from that of the United States : and it resembles very closely the quercus pedunculata of the continent of , and is probably as durable. The quercitron oak (quercus tinctora) is consi¬ dered, in the United States, of very lasting quality. The bark also contains a great portion of tannin, but imparts a yellow colour to the leather, and is therefore objected to. The red oak of is the most plentiful, but of very porous and indifferent quality. It is, how¬ ever, frequently made into staves, and its bark is valuable for tanning. The beech-tree (fagus sylvatica) thrives abun¬ dantly, but always on fertile soils. It is, in , usually a beautiful, majestic tree, and sometimes three feet in diameter. It is useful for the same purposes to which it is applied in England ; under water it is remarkably durable, and it affords a great quan¬ tity of potashes. Its bark contains a fair portion of tannin, and it produces, every second year, heavy crops of mast, or nuts, which are pleasant to the taste, and on which partridges, squirrels, mice, &c, feed; the hogs of the settlers ramble through the woods as soon as the beech-nuts begin to fall, and fatten so rapidly on them, that they acquire one to three inches