and Botany of the Sandwich Islands. 257 



that essential oil on which its fragrance depends. It is con- 

 sidered the wood is never attacked by insects : this assertion 

 is erroneous, as I have seen the nidus of some species formed 

 in it. 



At the Sandwich Islands, the tree is named ilialii or lau- 

 hala, signifying sweet wood {tau, wood, hata, sweet) ; and, 

 when young, it is of very elegant growth. At Wouhala 

 (Island of Oahu), I observed numbers of the young trees, 

 some of which were covered by a profusion of beautiful 

 flowers of a dark red colour; the flowers, however, are often 

 observed to differ in colour on the same tree, and even on the 

 same stalk ; they grow in clusters, some having the corolla 

 externally of a dark red colour, and internally of a dull yel- 

 low ; others having it entirely of a dark red, and others again 

 have the corolla partly red and white externally ; the young 

 leaves are of a dark red colour, and give an elegant appear- 

 ance to the tree. Thfs was not observed in the species found 

 at the Island of Erromanga ; indeed, the species found at the 

 Sandwich Islands had a more handsome appearance in its 

 growth than that at Erromanga. At the Sandwich Islands, 

 two varieties of the wood are observed by the natives, depend- 

 ing, however, only on the age of the tree ; the young or white 

 wood is called lau, keo keo [lau, wood, keo keo, white) ; and 

 the red wood, lau, hula hula {lau, wood, hula hula, red). 

 As before stated, the wood, when taken from a young tree, is 

 white, containing but a small quantity of oil; as the tree in- 

 creases in growth, the wood becomes of a yellowish colour, 

 and the oldest and best is of a brownish red colour.* The 

 different varieties of the wood depend, therefore, on the age 

 of the tree ; and are of three kinds, white, yellow, and red ; of 

 which the yellow and red, from containing the largest quan- 

 tity of oil, are most esteemed in the Chinese market, where 

 the wood is principally used, the expressed oil being mixed 

 with pastiles, and burned before their idols in the temples. 

 The Chinese are said to procure the oil by rasping the wood, 

 and then expressing it through strong canvass bags. 



Indigenous to the Sandwich Islands is a speceis of Myopo- 

 rum (M. tenuifoiium), the heart of which is fragrant; and, from 

 having been mistaken for sandal wood, it has received the name 

 of spurious sandal wood from Europeans, and is called naiho 

 or naihio by the natives. The heart contains a (|uantity of 

 essential oil ; but the fragrance is not so agreeable as that 

 derived from the sandal wood, and for that reason it is not 



* The wood is frequently buried, and the sap allowed to rot off: and this 

 is considered to improve its quality. 

 Vol. V. -— No. 25. s 



