404 JOURNAL BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1891. 



name Halai arose from the wood being brought to the West over 

 the Hala mountains in Sind by Multani merchants." 



Ruinphius describes two kinds of true and two of false aloe wood. 

 The first kind of true aloe wood, he says, is called Kihim ovHu-kilam 

 by the Chinese and Calambac by the Malays, and is produced by a 

 tree growing in the provinces of Champa and Coinam, and in Cochin 

 China. (This tree has been described by Loureiro under the name 

 of Aloexylon Agallochum, but it is unknown to modern botanists.) 

 The second kind, called Garo, is the product of A. malaccensis, Lamk., 

 which he figures : this is the Chin-heang of the P wn-tsaou-kong-muh, 

 or great Chinese Herbal. 



Modern investigation has shown that aloe wood (a corruption of 

 the Arabic Al-aod, or " the ivood par excellence "), is obtained from 

 two species of Aquilarico growing in Sylhet and extending, through 

 Manipur, Chittagong and Arakan, to Mergui and Sumatra. It first 

 reached Europe through China and Northern Asia or through India, 

 but when the early Arab navigators found their way to China, the 

 route was gradually changed. The collection of the wood in Sylhet, 

 where the tree was found by Roxburgh, has been described, and 

 confirms much of what has been said by the early Mahometan writers 

 above quoted. It appears that the trees are felled, and afterwards 

 searched to find the pieces of dark-coloured resinous agar which 

 occur here and there in the naturally soft white wood of the trunk 

 and branches. The blackest and heaviest portion, which is known 

 as gharld, because it sinks in water, is worth in Sylhet from six to 

 eight rupees per pound. From the specimens on the table you will 

 see how very limited the resinous infiltration often is. 



At the present day aloe wood is imported into Bombay from 

 Bankok, usually via Singapore or Batavia. Some of the Parsee silk- 

 merchants also import it from Hong-kong. Only two kinds are 

 known — Muwardi and Gaguli ; the first appears to be the produce of 

 A. malaccensis, and the second that of the Indian A. Agallocha. 



There are several kinds of false aloe wood in the market ; the most 

 important of these is Taggar, a wood from Africa or Madagascar, of 

 which I show you a specimen. 



Aloe wood is now hardly known in Europe, but in former times 

 the most expensive perfumes were sought for to be used as incense 



