;
and which on their way up through the lower ranges of the Himalayas they
had seen growing in vast brakes, its tall stems often rising to the
height of a hundred feet.

The deodar, under favourable circumstances, attains to vast dimensions,
trunks being often met with in the mountains upwards of ten feet in
diameter, and rising to the height of one hundred feet. A few sticks of
this description would have made their labour both short and easy.

Failing the bamboo, therefore, they selected the second best material
which the forest afforded them--the tall "deodar." This tree, which is
known to the Anglo-Indian residents of the Himalayan countries as the
"cedar," has long since been introduced into English parks and
arboretums, under the name of _deodara_--its specific botanical
appellation. It is a true pine and is found in most of the hills and
valleys of the Himalayan chain, growing at almost any elevation and on
any kind of ground--in the low warm valleys, as well as near the line of
everlasting snow. Its favourite habitat, however, is on the lower
hills, and though by no means a beautiful tree, it is valuable on
account of the great quantity of tar which can be extracted from its
sap.

Where many deodar trees are growing together, they shoot up in long
tapering shafts, with short branches, and present the acute conical form
characteristic of the pines. When individual trees stand singly, or at
some considerable distance apart, their habit is different. They then
stretch out long massive arms in a horizontal direction; and as the
separate twigs and leaves also extend horizontally, each branch thus
presents a surface as level as a table. The deodar often reaches the
height of one hundred feet.

The wood of the deodar is everywhere esteemed throughout the countries
where it is found. It is excellent for building purposes, easily
worked, almost imperishable, and can be readily split into planks--an
indispensable requisite in a country where saws are almost unknown. In
Cashmere, bridges are built of it: and the long time that some of these
have been standing, affords a proof of its great durability. A portion
of these bridges are under water for more than half the year; and
although there are some of them nearly a hundred years old, they are
still in good preservation, and safe enough to be crossed.

When the deodar is subjected to the process by which tar is extracted
from other pines, it yields a much th