The Malayan Po-Sb — Lac, Camphor 479 



is ascribed to Bali §1 ^'J (P'o-li, *Bwa-li) 1 ancl to Po-se. Camphor is 

 not produced in Persia; 2 and Hirth 3 is not justified in here rendering 

 Po-se by Persia and commenting that camphor was brought to China 

 by Persian ships. 



63 . The confusion as to the two Po-se has led Twan £ 'en- si 4 to ascribe 

 the jack-fruit tree (Artocarpus integrifolia) to Persia, as would follow 

 from the immediate mention of Fu-lin; but this tree grows neither in 

 Persia nor in western Asia. It is a native of India, Burma, and the 

 Archipelago. The mystery, however, remains as to how the author 

 obtained the alleged Fu-lin name. 5 



Pepper {Piper longum), according to Su Kun of the T'ang, is a prod- 

 uct of Po-se. This cannot be Persia, which does not produce pepper. 6 



In the chapter on the walnut we have noticed that the Pei hu lu, 

 written about a.d. 875 by Twan Kuh-lu, mentions a wild walnut as 

 growing in the country Can-pei (*Cambi, Jambi), and gathered and 

 eaten by the Po-se. The Lin piao lu i, written somewhat later (between 

 889 and 904), describes the same fruit as growing in Can-pi (*Cambir, 

 Jambir) , and gathered by the Hu. This text is obviously based on the 

 older one of the Pei hu lu; and Liu Sun, author of the Lin piao lu i, 

 being under the impression that the Iranian Po-se is involved, appears 

 to have substituted the term Hu for Po-se. The Iranian Po-se, however, 

 is out of the question: the Persians did not consume wild walnuts; 

 and, for all we know about Can-pi, it must have been some Malayan 

 region. 7 I have tentatively identified the plant in question with Juglans 

 cathayensis or, which is more probable, Canarium commune; possibly 

 another genus is intended. As regards the situation of Can-pi (or -pei) 

 and Po-se of the T'ang, much would depend on the botanical evidence. 

 I doubt that any wild walnut occurs on Sumatra. 



The Hai yao pen ts'ao, written by Li Sun in the second half of the 

 eighth century, and as implied by the title, describing the drugs from 



1 Its Bali name is given as [§ ^fC §| ^ ku-pu-p'o-lil, *ku-put-bwa-lwut, which 

 appears to be based on a form related to the Malayan type kapor-bdrus. Cf. also 

 the comments of Pelliot {T'oung Pao, 1912, pp. 474-475). 



2 Schlimmer (Terminologie, p. 98) observes, "Les auteurs indigenes persans 

 recommendent le camphre de Borneo comme le meilleur. Camphre de menthe, 

 provenant de la Chine, se trouve depuis peu dans le commerce en Perse." Camphor 

 was imported into Slraf (W. Ouseley, Oriental Geography of Ebn Haukal, p. 133; 

 G. Le Strange, Description of the Province of Fars, p. 42). 



8 Chau Ju-kua, p. 194. 



4 Yu yan tsa tsu, Ch. 18, p. 10. 



5 Cf. Hirth, Chau Ju-kua, p. 213. 



6 See above, pp. 374, 375. 



7 See the references given above on p. 268. 



