ORIGIN OF CASSIA LIGNEA. 21 
reached by a pleasant walk leading over a plain; but the nearest 
Cassia-plantations are situated twenty-five or thirty miles further 
in à southern or south-westerly direction, to which there is no 
communication by river. Taiwu is about 180 miles west of 
Canton. The Taiwu people said that the area of cultivation was 
not increasing *. 
“ The next most important, if not the most important (or at least 
tending in that direction) district is the Loting one, commencing 
at about eight or ten miles distant from the city of Loting. After 
leaving the West River about eighty miles of the Loting River— 
the Nam Kong--has to be traversed before reaching the city, 
and from there the distance to the plantations has to be accom- 
plished overland. One of the largest cultivators said that in this 
district there were about 1,000,000 maus (about 52,600 English 
acres) under cultivation, and that the area was greatly extending 
every year. The cultivation of Cassia has been carried on here for 
only about twenty-five years, i. e. since the Tai-Ping rebellion, 
at which time, for the preservation of the plants and protection of 
them from destruction by the rebels, they were transferred from 
a district further south, at which it is reported the cultivation of 
Cassia was abandoned when it was commenced at Loting. 
“The next district is that of Lukpo, which is much less impor- 
tant than the other two. The city of Lukpo is situated on the 
northern bank of the West River; and the plantations are situ- 
ated at about 15 miles between the nearest one and the city. 
“In addition to these places there are several small localities 
near the West River at intermediate places, where small patches 
of Cassia are grown ; and as the quantities of bark obtained are 
too small to send to market towns, it is brought off by small 
boats and sold to larger boats which carry produce down the 
river. 
“ About six miles south-west of the small town of To Shing, 
which is situated on the southern bank of the river about 25 
miles above the confluence of the Loting and West rivers, there 
are some plantations, from which, however, no bark has been 
obtained for two years and no new plantations made for ten, 
because the low prices which can now be obtained for the bark 
do not.leave any profit to the producers. This was the only 
* “Near the town of Taiwu, according to Mr. Moss (Narrative of an Explora- 
tion of the West River, 1870), the best Cassia-bark is produced " (Bretschneider, 
* Early European Researches into the Flora of China,’ p. 13). 
