72 THE CAMPHOR-TREE OF SUMATRA. 
wood, and the native of the Battas scrapes it off with small splinters 
or with his nails. : 
2. By maceration and decoction of the branches and pieces of bark 
and wood, another liquor containing camphor is obtained, but still in 
small quantities, and much mixed with water. The wood is cut into small 
fragments, and the leaves are bruised and boiled with water in an iron 
kettle, at the time that the trunk is being cut down, in order to use the 
pieces in their fresh state. In boiling, an oily substance rises to the 
surface, which is taken off with the shell of a cocoa-nut cut in half 
and provided with a handle. The liquor is poured into a bamboo, and 
closed in with a stopple formed of hindoe fibres, and at the return of the 
expedition after many months it is poured into bottles. Dr. Junghuhn 
has two bottles filled with the liquid at the place itself. 
After a long stay in the woods (frequently of three months) the com- 
pany, consisting of thirty persons, departs. It frequently happens that 
during that period they fell more than a hundred trees, and yet they 
rarely take with them above fifteen to twenty pounds of solid camphor, 
worth £40 to £50. 
Use and price of the Camphor in Sumatra.—Camphor is here collected 
in a comparatively small quantity. While some thousands of quintals 
of benzoin are yearly sent into the European markets (e. g., in 1837 
= _ three thousand), but ten to fifteen quintals, and often less, are sent of 
Sumatra camphor. The price is £2. 10s. a pound. It generally comes - 
from Baros, whence the name of Baros camphor. From that place - 
several caravans set out yearly to collect this substance in the woods- : 
The same product comes from Tapanuli, Natal, and Ajer Bangis. - It 
= _ is not exported, for it is collected for the use of the natives wherever 
~ the tree grows. : 
Besides the small quantity which is employed as a remedy against - 
various diseases, we must mention here a particular use, by which à - 
great deal of camphor is wasted, and its rarity and price much in- 
 ereased ; and this lavish application of it, together with the slaughter - 
. of hundreds of buffaloes sometimes in one day, is one of the principal - 
causes of the poverty of the Batta royal families (Rajahs). 
E: À very ancient eustom prescribes, that at the death of a considerable 
person among the Battas, who, during his life, had a claim to the title 
of Rajah (sovereign prince), rice be sowed in a sacred place, and that - 
the corpse be kept above ground among the living till the rice has - 
