70 i)i' Wallich'^s Accuunt of' the new genus Melanorrhosa 



speedily, and produced plants similar to those we already pos- 

 sessed. Captain F. Grant, who has a military command at 

 Munipur, had the goodness to furnish the following particu- 

 lars. — The tree grows in great abundance at Kubbu, an exten- 

 sive valley in the above-mentioned principality, forming large 

 forests in conjunction with the two staple timber-trees of con- 

 tinental India, the Saul and Teak (Shorea robusta and Tec- 

 tana grandis)^ especially the former. Numbers of the gigantic 

 wood-oil tree ( Dipterocarpus ) are also found in company with 

 it. The size of it varies ; but in general it attains very large 

 dimensions. Captain Grant speaks of trees having clear stems 

 of forty-two feet to the first branch, with a circumference near 

 the ground of thirteen feet ; and he mentions that they are 

 known to attain a much greater size. All the individuals 

 grow in the same manner ; that is, they reach a great height 

 before throwing out any branches. 



As long since as the year 1812, the late Mr M. R. Smith, 

 for nearly forty years an inhabitant of Sillet, and during the 

 latter part of that long period a zealous contributor to the 

 Honourable Company's botanic garden at Calcutta, furnished 

 some very curious information concerning our tree to Mr H. 

 Colebrooke, then in charge of that institution. He must 

 therefore be considered as the first person who brought this 

 valuable tree into notice, although he failed in his endeavours 

 to procure either dried specimens or fresh seeds of it. — I shall 

 here subjoin some of his remarks. 



*' I have discovered a sort of varnish, which I consider as 

 the identical one made use of by the Chinese in their eastern 

 and north-eastern provinces. It is procurable in great quan- 

 tities from Munipur, where it is used for paying river crafts, 

 and for varnishing vessels destined to contain liquids, such as 

 oil, ghee (clarified butter,) milk, honey, or water. The drug 

 is conveyed to Sillet for sale by the merchants, who come 

 down annually with horses and other objects of trade. The 

 tree which yields it grows to an amazing size. I am informed 

 that it attains one hundred cubits in height, and twenty cubits 

 in circumference, and even more. It forms extensive forests, 

 which commence at a distance of three days' journey from the 



