258 Sandal Wood Tree (Santalum), 



esteemed in the Chinese market : the heart is also surrounded 

 by a lighter wood, termed the sap, as in the sandal wood tree. 

 An instance of the resemblance this bears to the sandal wood, 

 so as to deceive a common observer, occurred during my visit 

 to the Island of Oahu (Sandwich Islands), in December, 1829. 

 Two large pieces of the naiho, deprived of the sap, were col- 

 lected for me, and had been placed in the yard of a mercan- 

 tile gentleman previously to my taking them on board. At 

 this time there was some sandal wood, of small size, weigh- 

 ing in the yard, to be sent on board an American ship about 

 to sail for Canton. The supercargo, who was superintending 

 the weighing, seeing these pieces, mistook them for sandal 

 wood ; and, anxious to secure two such large pieces among 

 the small kind which he had purchased, placed them in the 

 scales ; and they were sent on board with the rest, the person 

 engaged in weighing being also ignorant of the difference. 

 This circumstance was not discovered until some time after 

 the ship had sailed : engaged in other pursuits, I had for 

 some time forgotten my wood ; but on enquiring for it, its 

 disappearance was accounted for, after some time, by the 

 cause just related. I was informed that a cargo of the wood 

 was taken by an American ship to Canton ; and, on its arrival 

 there, it was only considered fit for fire-wood. 



The name of a " spurious sandal wood " is a source of 

 alarm to those who, engaged in purchasing sandal wood, are 

 not able to judge of the difference, or had only known the 

 " spurious kind " by name. An instance of this occurred 

 under my own observation. A vessel arrived from the New 

 Hebrides group at the Bay of Islands (New Zealand) in 

 July, 1829, having on board some sandal wood. This was 

 purchased by the commander of a ship lying at that place ; 

 he had only heard of the existence of a spurious kind when 

 at the Sandwich Islands, but, never having seen it, was unable 

 to judge of the difference. When the sandal wood came on 

 board, it was found to consist of the white, yellow, and red 

 varieties, having been procured from trees of different ages ; 

 that which was of a whitish colour, and had less fragrance 

 than the other wood, was considered immediately as what he 

 had heard of as spurious wood, and was rejected, much to the 

 annoyance of the owner, who declared it was all sandal wood. 

 This supposed spurious kind was laid aside, and was finally 

 delivered to the cook for fire-wood ; and, when burning, a 

 delightful fragrance was diffused over the ship. Some of it 

 was landed amongst the fire-wood from the same ship at the 

 Sandwich Islands, much to the surprise of some of the mer- 



