2-888-499 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Mahogany Trees in the West Indies, 1850. 'Mahogany, although now in such general use as a furniture wood, was not introduced into England till 1724, but it was used in repairing some of Sir Walter Raleigh's ships at Trinidad, in 1597. Mahogany is the wood of a tree of Swietenia, of the natural family Cedrelaceae, named by Jacquin In honour of J. Van Swieten. It grows in the West Indies and Central America...The mahogany is one of the most majestic and beautiful of trees, with a large spreading head, and pinnate shining leaves. Its trunk is often forty feet in length, and six feet in diameter, and is divided into many massive arms, and throws the shade of its shining green leaves over a vast extent of surface. It is abundant in Cuba and Hayti, and it used to be plentiful in Jamaica; but, in the latter island, most of the trees, at least in accessible situations, have been cut down'. From "Illustrated London News", 1850.