11 



{Dipterocarpus) are also found in company with it. The size of it varies ; but in general it attains very lar^e dimen 

 sions. Captain Grant speaks of trees having clear stems of forty-two feet to the first branch, with a circumference 

 near the ground of thirteen feet; and he mentions that they are known to attain a much greater size. All the 

 individuals grow in the same manner ; that is, they reach a great height before throwing out any branches ' • 



As long since as the year 1812. the late Mr. M. R. Smith, for nearly forty years an inhabitant of SiUet and during 

 the latter part of that long period a zealous contributor to the Honourable Company's botanic garden at Calcutta 

 furnished some very curious information concerning our tree to Mr. H. Colebrooke, then in charge of that institution' 

 He must therefore be considered as the first person who brought this valuable tree into notice, althouo-h he failed 

 in his endeavours to procure either dried specimens or fresh seeds of it.— I shall here subjoin some of his "remarks 



•' I have discovered a sort of varnish, which I consider as the identical one made use of by the Chinese in their 

 eastern and north-eastern provinces. It is procurable in great quantities from Munipur, where it is used for paying 

 river crafts, and for varnishing vessels destined to contain liquids, such as oil, ghee (clarified butter), milk honey 

 or water. The drug is conveyed to SiUet for sale by the merchants, who come down annually with horses and other 

 objects of trade. The tree which yields it grows to an amazing size. I am informed that it attains one hundred 

 cubits m height, and twenty cubits in circumference, and even more. It forms extensive forests, which commence at 

 a distance of three days' journey from the capital, and stretch in a northerly and easterly direction towards China 

 for many miles." 



That the Kheu which Mr. Smith describes is the same as that found by Captain Grant, there cannot be any doubt • 

 nor that it is identical with the Theet-tsee, or Varnish-tree of the Burmese. It follows, hence, that the tree has a 

 very wide geographical range, extending from Munipur (in latitude 25° N. and longitude 94° E.) to TavoyVin 

 latitude 14°, longitude 97°). The valley of Kubbu, which has been ascertained by actual survey, made by Lieutenant 

 Pemberton, to be only five hundred feet above the plains of India, is distant two hundred miles from the nearest 

 sea shore. Tlie tree there attains its greatest size, and I believe it becomes smaller as it approaches the sJa on 

 the coast of Tenasserim, where it grows in comparatively low situations. 



Our tree belongs to the Deciduous class, shedding its leaves in November, and continuing naked until the month 

 of May, during which period it produces its flowers and fruit. During the rainy season, which lasts for five months, 

 from the middle of May until the end of October, it is in full foliage. Every part of it abounds in a thick and viscid 

 greyish-brown fluid, which turns black soon after coming in contact with the external air. In the Edinburgh Journal 

 of Science, vol. viii. page 96 and 100, there are two interesting articles, containing valuable information concerning 

 the varnish produced by our tree, and its deleterious effects on the human frame. It is a curious fact, that, to my 

 certain knowledge, the natives of the countries where the tree is indigenous never experience any injurious con- 

 sequences from handhng its juices : it is strangers only that are sometimes aflfected by it, especially Europeans. Both 

 Mr. Swinton and myself have frequently exposed our hands to it without any serious injury. I have even ventured to 

 taste it, both in its recent state and as it is exposed for sale at Rangoon, and have never been afll'cted by it. It 

 possesses very little pungency, and is entirely without smell. I know, however, of instances where it has produced 

 extensive erysipelatous swellings, attended with pain and fever, but not of long duration. Of this description was 

 the eflfect it had on the late Mr. Carey, a son of the reverend Dr. W. Carey, who resided several years in the Burma 

 empire. Among the people who accompanied me to Ava, both Hindus and Mahomedans, no accident happened, 

 although they frequently touched the varnish, except in a slight degree to one of my assistants, whose hand swelled 

 and continued painful during two days. Dr. Brewster informs me that, after resisting its efl'ects for a long time, it 

 at length attacked him in the wrist with such violence that the pain was almost intolerable. It was more acute than 

 that of a severe burn, and the Doctor was obliged to sleep several nights with his hand immersed in the coldest 

 water. He considers it as a very dangerous drug to handle. One of his servants was twice nearly killed by it. 



In the neighbourhood of Prome a considerable quantity of varnish is extracted from the tree ; but very little is 

 obtained at Martaban, owing, as I was told, to the poverty of the soil, and partly also to the circumstance of there 

 being none of the people in that part whose business it is to perform the process. This latter is very simple : short 

 joints of a thin sort of bamboo, sharpened at one end like a writing-pen, and shut up at the other, are Inserted in a 

 slanting direction into wounds, made through the bark of the trunk and principal boughs, and left there for twenty- 

 four or forty-eight hours, after which they are removed, and their contents, which rarely exceed a quarter of an 

 ounce, emptied into a basket made of bamboo or rattan previously varnished over. As many as a hundred bamboos 

 are sometimes seen sticking into a single trunk during the collecting season, which lasts as long as the tree is 

 destitute of leaves, namely from January until April ; and they are renewed as long as the juice will flow. A good 

 tree is reckoned to produce from 1^ to 2, 3, and even 4 Viss annually, a Viss being equal to about S^lbs. avoirdupois. 

 In its pure state it is sold at Prome at the rate of one Tical, or 2*. 6</. the Viss. At Martaban, where every thing 

 was dear when I was there, the drug was retailed at 2 Madras rupees per Viss ; it was of an inferior quality, and 

 mixed with sesamum oil ; an adulteration which Is often practised. 



The extensive use to which this varnish is applied, indicates that it must be a very cheap commodity. Almost 



