Story: Logging native forests

Royal Navy ship with spars

This pencil drawing shows a cutter towing kauri spars to the HMS Tortoise (middle distance, towards top) near the Tairua River, on the east side of the Coromandel Peninsula, in 1843. After tests in the 1820s showed that kauri made excellent spars for masts and rigging, Royal Navy vessels visited New Zealand to obtain cargoes.

Using this item

National Library of Australia
Reference: NZ 455B T3294 (nla.pic-an2946195)

Permission of the National Library of Australia must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

All images & media in this story
How to cite this page:

Nancy Swarbrick, 'Logging native forests - The timber trade before 1840', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/zoomify/12735/royal-navy-ship-with-spars (accessed 6 May 2024)

Story by Nancy Swarbrick, published 24 Sep 2007