Chap. 31.] THE TREES THAT BEAR FRANKINCENSE. 125 



Minaei were the first people who carried on any traffic in 

 frankincense, which they still do to a greater extent than any 

 other persons, and hence it is that it has received the appella- 

 tion of " MinaBan." It is the Sabsei alone, and no other 

 people among the Arabians, that behold the incense-tree ; and, 

 indeed, not all of them, for it is said that there are not more 

 than three thousand families which have a right to claim that 

 privilege, by virtue of hereditary succession; and that for this 

 reason those persons are called sacred, and are not allowed, 

 while pruning the trees or gathering the harvest, to receive 

 any pollution, either by intercourse with women, or coming in 

 contact with the dead ; by these religious observances it is 

 that the price of the commodity is so considerably enhanced. 

 Some persons, however, say, that the right of gathering in- 

 cense in the forests belongs to all these people in common, 

 while others again state, that they take their turns year by 

 year. 



CHAP. 31. THE TREES THAT BEAR FRANKINCENSE. 



Nor is it by any means agreed what is the appearance of 

 the incense-tree. We have sent several expeditions against 

 Arabia, and the Eoman arms have penetrated into the greater 

 part of that country ; indeed, Caius Csasar, 97 the son of Augus- 

 tus, even earned considerable renown there ; and yet this tree 

 has been described by no Latin writer, at least that I know 

 of. The descriptions given of it by the Greek writers vary 

 very considerably : some of them say that it has exactly the 

 leaf of the pear-tree, only somewhat smaller, and of a grass- 

 green colour. Others, again, say, that it has a rather reddish 

 leaf, like that of the mastich, and others, that it is a kind of 

 terebinth, 98 and that King Antigonus, to whom a branch of it 

 was brought, was of that opinion. King Juba, in the work 

 which- he wrote and dedicated to Caius Caesar, the son of 

 Augustus, who was inflamed by the wide-spread renown of 

 Arabia, states, that the tree has a spiral stem, and that the 

 branches bear a considerable resemblance to those of the Pontic 

 maple, while it secretes a sort of juice very similar to that of 



9" See B. vi. cc. 31 and 32. He was the son cf Agrippa and Julia, the 



daughter of Augustus, bv whom he was adopted. 



as 3 This seems the most probable among these various surmises and con- 

 jectures. 



