C a s ia *.
C a m p h o r .
woody mountanous tracts; there it pervades the higlieft treesr
and interlacing its branches from bough to bough, forms, by its;
innumerable ramifications and fpinous Items, an impenetrable'
thicket.
In order to fit this cane for the purpofe o f a walking ftick, a.
fingle interftice o f fufficient length between two joints is made-
choice- o f ; this is loaded with a weight, or bound tight to a board,,
for the fpace of a month, and alfo expofed to fmoak,,to diminiih .
fomewhat o f its natural pliability^
Rumphius obferves, Herb. Amb. vol. 3. p. 100, that no author
he had feen defcribed this cane, which he imputes to its growing
only in the remote parts of India, and fequeftered mountains,,
rarely vifited by Europeans, till they acquired fovereign power
over fome of the regions.
Laurus Cafia*, or baftard cinnamons grows- in abundance ins
the interior parts o f the north o f the iiland; it is fometimes-
fifty and fixty feet high, and two feet in diameter; much o f
the bark is exported as the true cinnamon ;. and from the root,,
a camphor may, as is faid, be extrailed.
A t r e e t producing camphor, abounds here and in Borneo y
it grows near to the fea, and is- equal in bulk to our largeft oaks,,
being fometimes fifteen feet in circumference, and a hundred'
feet high- The timber is excellent for the ufe o f the carpenter,,
being light and durable, and. refills the injury o f infe&s- This
valuable drug, Camphor J, is as much valued by the Sumatrans as
by the Europeans■, and ferves for medical, purpofes-. It has very
* Outlines ofthe Globe, vol. i. p. 142; f: Linichotten, p. 80
% Marfden’s Sumatra,.p.-120;
long
long been in ufe among the Arabs ; much is fent to China as well
as Europe.
T h e Styrax Benzoin o f Mr. Jonas Dryander *, grows chiefly
in the Battas country, but not to a great fize. The gum is procured
by incifion, and fent down to the ports in large cakes; a
vail quantity is tranfmitted to Europe, where in Roman Catholic
countries it is ufed as incenfe; the reft is a moft valuable medicine
as an expectorant and ftyptic, and forms the bafis of Burlington’s
balfam. It is burnt in all the Malaye iiles to perfume the rooms,
to expel the infeCls, the unwholefome air, and noxious exhalations.
I am doubtful whether this tree has- been well afcer-
tained, for Einfchotten +, who feems weU acquainted with it,
fpeaks o f it as o f vaft height and fize.
Coffee is cultivated in Sumatra, but, for want o f ikill, the berries
are not in any efteem.
B o t h the Goffypium arboreum and berbaceum, may be had
here in any quantities,- but for want o f encouragement, no
more is cultivated than ferves for the ufes o f the country.
Bombax Ceiba is planted near every village, and ftrikes the
eye of ftrangers by its Angular form, being in ihape o f the
branches like a dumb waiter; fo regularly do they fpread one
above the other.
E b o n y , Diojpyros melanoxylon J , t h a t v a lu e d w o o d f o r f u r n i t
u r e , fo h i g h l y e f t e em e d b y o u r a n c e f to r s , is c om m o n h e r e . It
h a s b e e n k n o w n f in c e t h e d a y s o f Virgil.
India fert ebenum> molles fua thura Sabcei,
B e n z o in .
C o f f e e .
C o t t o n .
E b o n y ;
* Phil. Tranf. lxxvii. p. 307. tab. xii. t
X Flor. Coroman, tab. xlvi.
C 2