fand of the vallies, come to maturity in five years. Seba fays,
that the ages o f the trees are fourteen, fifteen, or fixteen years.
It is the heat which gives the bark that quilled form in which it
comes over to us, efpecially the fmaller and more delicate fort,
which is taken from the fmaller branches. The bark is firft
freed from the external coat, when it is on the trees; is then
cut lengthways, ftripped off, dried in the fand, and fo becomes
merchantable.
T he barkers o f cinnamon are brought up to the trade; and
are called Chialiafes.- The account given by Mr. Efcheljkroon '
o f the management, is moft authentic; from him I {hall tranf-
cribe what will be'highly fatisfaétory to the readers. At page
339 of Wolfe's account of the ifle o f Ceylon, he begins thus:—
« The time for barking the tree commences in the months of
“ June and July, and fometimes even in Augujl: now as foon as
H they come out o f their villages for that purpofe, every dif-
“ triit fends a detachment of Dutch foldiers, and another com-
“ pofed o f the natives themfelves, called Lafcaryns, along with
“ them, in order to guard the wood where they are to work,
“ and this partly on account of the roving Cingalefe mounts
taineers, which fometiiries fall on the barked cinnamon, and
“ make it their booty ; but ftill more for the purpofe of having
“ an eye upon the Chialiafes themfelves, that they may not be
“ able to conceal any of the cinnamon, and afterwards carry
“ it off.
“ T he ba rk that is peeled during the day, mu fi be carried every
“ evening to the Dutch guard, belonging to their re fp e iliv e dif-
“ t r ié is ; there cleanfed, well dried, and made up into bundles,
« and afterwards taken in clofe cafes to the faétory, where they
u are
“ are weighed, and received by the company as payment o f the
“ affeffment or tax impofed on thefe people by government.
* A man muft be a very good hand indeed, that can gather
“ thirty pounds of cinnamon in a day; whence it is eafily
“ calculated, how many perfons it will take to gather ten or
“ twelve million pounds, and that too of thebeft; for what
“ is brought in is looked over before it is weighed, and the
“ refufe of it burned.
“ At the time for gathering this drug, the company are
“ obliged to draw out a cordon of feventy-two miles in cir-
“ cumference; and as there are a great many o f thefe corps de
“ garde, it follows that the company mufi: pay a great many
* Europeans, as Well as Cingalefe. Thefe cinnamon barkers are
“ under the command of a captain, called a Malabadde, and are
“ diftributed into four different claffes. All the Cbiliafes mufi;
“ be ready at all times to work at the Governor’s command, for
“ on him it depends how much is to be barked and delivered in;
“ and this again depends on the demand for it from E u r o p e '
T his important article o f luxury was well known to the an-
tients. The Greeks called it Kmap/apm, and fometimes SuXmccdia,
or Cajia Lignea, and K®nrla to the bark, from the pipelike
form it affirmed by the rolling up. We have applied the
word Cajfta to the inferior cinnamons of Malabar and Su->
matra.
T h e Romans called it Cinnamomum, but generally with fome
addition. The Xylo-cinnamomum, or the wood, we are told by
Pliny, was fold for twenty denarii, or twelve ihi'lliifgs and eleven
pence per pound. The juice, or expreffed oil, at one thoirfand
V o l. I. G g denarii,