S?>'2 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[February i, 1884. 



incisions and falls to the ground, which is swept daily 

 and watched so that no earthy matter gets mixed up 

 with it. 



*■ The tree- attains from 3 to 6 feet in circumference, 

 and has a long trunk throwing out branches ou the top; 

 after six yejirs' growth it can be bled. The flowers are 

 attached to the small branches close to the leaves and 

 liRjjin to flower ill June. The tree throws out shoots'frora 

 the roots, :ind can be propagated by cuttings. The natives 

 also say that after the flowers fall otf, in a short time 

 a lot of young plants spring up.* The gum is a consider- 

 able articlt: of traftic, in fact a monopoly, fetching a good 

 price in tlie Bangkok market. It is used generally for 

 fumigating sick rooms and making scented water. Large 

 iju:intities generally find their way to Bangkok, being 

 brought overland on oxen to Sawaryaloke, Pitchai, and 

 other Siamese province's, and are exported to Europe by 

 several mercantile firms." 



Of the three young plants above mentioned, one was 

 given by Mr. Jamie to the Curator of the Singapore 

 liotanical (.lardens to forward to Kew, a second was 

 planted in Mr. Jamie's own garden, and the third died. 



The twig which I now exhibit was taken by Mr. Jamie 

 from the young plant in his garden. The specimen sent 

 to Kew is still living and seemed to be in a healthy 

 state when I saw it a fortnight since. Judging from the 

 appearance of the plant at Kew and from the leaves sent 

 by Mr. Jamie, the Siamese benzoin tree is probably a 

 distinct species, although nearly allied to S. hen-oin, Dry. 

 The leaves are rather thinner, the lateral veins are fewer 

 in number, and the veinlets more prominent beneath, but 

 it is necessary to wait until flowers and fruit are obtained 

 before the exact species to which it belongs can be ascert- 

 ained. Mr. Jamie has now the two growing together in 

 his garden, and remarks in his letter, " Judging from what 

 I have seen of the two kinds growing together, they are 

 'liferent." 



I have compared the specimens of the Styi'ax benzoin 

 tree from Mr. Jamie's garden, with Dryander's original 

 specimen in the British Museum, and they correspond 

 exactly. 



( 'ouceruing this tree Mr. Jamie writes : — " The Singa- 

 pore grown tree is thought to be from Palembang,f it is 

 about 30 feet in height, and the branches are all at the 

 top. The circumference of the trunk is from 14 to 16 

 inches. It flowers in Marcli and the fruit does not take 

 long to mature, then it falls off, producing seedlings in 

 abundance at the foot of the tree. How old this tree 

 iiiay be is rather difficult to determine, but it must be 

 over thirty years at the least." 



The tolerable certainty that in a short time flowers and 

 fruit of the Siam benzoin tree will be obtainable, and 

 that the soiu-ce of the drug can then be definitely set 

 at rest, nuist be my excuse for bringing incomplete inform- 

 ation before you. I need none for bringing the admir- 

 able specimens presented by Sir. Jamie under your notice. 



FPvESII "WEEDS (FIELDS) AND PASTURES NEW. 



{From '■'Tlirovf/h Madagascar'" hy the "Standard" Corre- 

 ,spondeiit.) 

 Although Mojanga is the chief seaport on the west coast 

 of Madagascar, and the second in importance in the is- 

 land, there is no regular communication between it and 

 tlio capital. Mojanga is on the borders of the Sakalava 

 country, and beyond furnishing the customs officials and 

 their protecting garrison, the Hovas of the interior pro- 

 \'iuce of Imerina have Httle interest in that portion of 

 their dominions. The trade of Imerina for the greater 

 part finds an outlet at Tamatave, on the east coast, so 

 travellers to iNIojanga are few and far between. Frequently 

 raiding parties of Sakalavas on '^ cattle lifting " exped- 

 itions are to be encountered, and other dangers of the road, 

 fancied more than real, interfere with the opening up of 

 traffic. Our way for the first dozen miles lay along the 

 banks of tbe Ikopa river, wliose stream we were again to 



* This evidently means that the seeds quickly germin- 

 ate, as is the case witli those of the Sumatra benzoin 

 tree. 



+ If so, then, it supports my supposition that Palem- 

 bang and Sumatra benzoin nvc. jirodured by the same 

 tree- 



strike some two hundred miles lower down. Here the 

 river was near its source, and its waters .spread out ou 

 the fields on either hand in broad glistenhig sheets. The 

 Hovas irrigate extensivel}% and long fields of green rice, 

 and some of sugar-cane, bounded our road as we went. 

 There is probably no country in the world where pro- 

 visions are so cheap as in Madagascar. We passed large 

 flocks of geese and turkeys on their way to market at 

 Antananarivo, where they would be sold at the ridiculous 

 rate of from twopence to fourpence each ; and droves of 

 huge pigs were met, wliose price per head would not ex- 

 ceed a dollar, or four shilHugs sterling. For a piece of 

 silver equal to about eightpence I 2:>urchased more water 

 melons, mangoes, ami pineapples of delicious flavour tlian 

 my score of men could eat and carry away. For the first 

 forty miles of our journey we passed through numerous 

 villages, the inhabitants, apparently, all well-to-do and 

 flourishing. But the population perceptibly grew more 

 sparse tlie further M'e left the capital behind; and the 

 country soon assumed that empty and silent aspect which 

 is characteristic of nearly the whole of IVIadagascar. Only 

 Imerina, for a distance of two hnuilred miles long by from 

 fifty to eighty broad can be described as inhabited. The 

 rest of the island is an en^ty though fertile wilderness, 

 where one may travel for iiiiles, almost for days, without 

 seeing man, bud, or beast. Mr. Stribling's station (40 miles 

 from the capital) was the last European's residence I met 

 with on the journey. For the remaining two hundred 

 miles I had either to sleep on the open veldt or in the 

 native villages. But, day by day, the latter grew fewer 

 and further between. The road from the east coast to 

 the capital, as I described on a former occasion, lies 

 through dense forests and over precipitous mountain ridges. 

 But on the western side the descent from Imerina to the 

 sea is much more gradual. Fifty miles from tlu^ capital 

 I reached the edge of the plateau, and thcnecforward 

 journeyed down gentle slopes, descending some four thou- 

 sand feet in one hundred miles. The last eighty miles of 

 these lay through what is knowni in Madagascar as *' The 

 Wilderness." It is a kind of *' No Man's Laud," lying 

 between the Hova territory and that of the coast Saka- 

 lavas, wherein, in the days of strife only a few j-eara 

 back, neither Hova nor Sakalava dared permanently to 

 dwell. But the grasses in this wilderness are sweet, and 

 water is plentiful. It contains the best feeding ground 

 for cattle in the island, and the Hovas have conse<|nently 

 built across it a few .scattered stockaded military posts, 

 aroun<l which immense herds of kinee graze. This tract 

 of country would form a Transvaal Boer's paradise. Roll- 

 ing veldt for hundreds of miles, with bubbling springs in 

 every kloof, and firewood plentiful, represent conditions 

 seldom found in Smth Africa; whilst in Madagascar nei- 

 ther cattle nor slieep are subject to epidemic disease. 

 Hence the startling cheapness of bullocks, to which I 

 referred in a former letter. Sixteen shillings to a pound 

 would, at any village on my joiurney, purchase me a whole 

 fat bullock, and tlie hide generality returned more thau 

 one-third of the cost. And there is this advantage both 

 over South Africa and South America, that the grazing 

 groun<ls of Madagascar are within easy reach of the sea. 

 Eight days my porters took in traversing the one hun- 

 dred and fifty miles to Mevotanana. They journeyed ou 

 untiringly across the grass from daylight to dark, and at 

 night, whil(^ we camped out, there was little rest. For it 

 rained incessantly every evening, and the thunder pealed 

 overhead. Four nights I passed in Hova villages, but my 

 recollections in connection with them are not pleasant. 

 I observed that on many occasions my servants were asked 

 whether I was a French or an English Waza — or foreigner 

 — and satisfaction was always expressed upon my nation- 

 ality being made kno\\^l. Looking down from the stock- 

 ade of JMevot^iuana on the broad valley underneath, the 

 Ikopa river again met my view. Very different it^ was 

 from the modest stream at Antnnanarivo. for now a mighty 

 flood, interspersed with i.'^lands and half bidden rocks, it 

 roared down in a suncession of rapids to where I could 

 see it subside in the distance into a long snake-like streak 

 that led on to the ocean nigh a hundred miles away. 

 Here the navigable portion of the river I.iegan. V'p to 

 the capital, except for short intermediate sections, it is 

 impracticable even for canoes. Do\nr to the sea, river 

 steamers might easily ply. The country behind us rose 



