98 On the Varnish and Varnish Trees of India. 



the juice of the Jowar. The articles varnished with it at 

 Sylhet are of the most beautiful glossy black, and it seems 

 equally fitted for varnishing iron^ leather^ paper, wood, or 

 stone. It has a sort of whitish gray colour when first taken 

 out of the bottle ; but in a few minutes it becomes perfectly 

 black by exposure to the air. In the present temperature it 

 is too thick to be laid on alone, but it may be rendered more 

 fluid by heat. In this case, however, it is too clammy, and 

 seems to dry very slowly. When diluted with spirits of tur- 

 pentine it dries more rapidly, but still with less rapidity than 

 is desirable. 



The Tsi-tsi, or varnish of Rangoon, is less known than the 

 Sylhet varnish. Mr Swinton considers it to be made from 

 the juice of the Bhela, or Seme-Carpus anacardlum alone. 

 It appears to have the same general properties as the Sylhet 

 varnish, but dries more rapidly. 



The varnish from the Kheeoo, or varnish tree, may be the 

 same as the Rangoon varnish ; but it is at present considered 

 to* be different. The Kheeoo grows particularly in Kubboo, a 

 valley on the banks of the Ningtee, between Munnipore and 

 the Birman empire. It grows to such a large size, that it 

 affords planks upwards of three feet in breadth, and in ap- 

 pearance and grain it is very like mahogany. A British officer 

 who travelled through Kubboo in the beginning of the present 

 year, and an abstract of whose journal is now before us in 

 MS., gives the following account of the method of obtaining 

 the varnish from the Kheeoo. 



" The Sepoys felled a Kheeoo, or varnish tree, at Mure, of 

 which I took the measurements as follows : 

 Height to first branch, - - - 42 feet. 



From lowest branch to extreme of top one, - 18 



Diameter when hewed, - - 2J 



Circumference of do. - - 7$ 



This, comparatively with others of the same species, is a 

 small tree. I measured the circumference of one, which, near 

 the ground, was thirteen feot. I had an opportunity of ascer- 

 taining the process of extracting the varnish from the tree, 

 which is by making incisions in several parts of the trunk, to 

 which choonghas are fastened so as to receive the varnish 



