NATURAL HISTORY. 



569 



length ; on the contrary, they are 

 found in small portions of a foot, 

 and a foot and a half long, at 

 certain distances. The method 

 of extracting the oil is merely by 

 making a deep incision with a 

 Billiong or Malay axe, in the 

 tree, about fourteen or eighteen 

 feet from the ground, till near the 

 heart, where a deeper incision is 

 made with a small aperture ; and 

 the oil, if any in the tree, imme- 

 diately gushes out, and is received 

 in bamboos, or any other utensil 

 better approved of; in this man- 

 ner, a party proceeds through 

 the woods wounding the camphor 

 trees till they attain their object. 

 The camphor is procured in 

 pretty nearly the same way. The 

 trees are cut to the heart about 

 the same height from the ground 

 as in the former instance, till the 

 camphor is seen. Hundreds may 

 be thus mutilated before the 

 sought-for tree is discovered ; 

 when attained, it is felled, and 

 cut in junks of a fathom long, 

 M'hich are again split, and the 

 camphor is found in the heart, 

 occupying a space in circum- 

 ference of the thickness of a 

 man's arm. The produce of a 

 middling sized tree is about eight 

 China catties, or nearly eleven lbs. 

 and of a large one, double the 

 quantity. The camphor thus 

 found is called Se Tantong. It 

 is often the case that the trees 

 which have been cut, and left 

 standing in that state, will pro- 

 duce camphor in seven or 

 eight years after, which is dis- 

 tinguished by the name otOogar, 

 but is inferior in appearance, 

 though of the same quality. The 

 sorts of camphor called belly and 

 foot, are the scraping of the 

 wood which surrounded it." 



BRAHMINY LIZARD. 



(From the same.) 



My tent having remained 

 pitched on the same spot for a 

 length of time, a small lizard, of 

 the species known amongst Eu- 

 ropeans at the presidency by the 

 name of the Braliminy lizard, 

 became in a great degree domes- 

 ticated, and without any alarm 

 frequently made its appearance. 

 One day while reading, my atten- 

 tion was suddenly diverted from 

 my book by hearing a noise re- 

 sembling that of scratching on 

 the carpet just behind the chair. 

 — On looking round, I perceived 

 the lizard had caught a centipede 

 (about an inch and a half in 

 length) and held it fast by the 

 middle. The centipede strug- 

 gling violently to get free, and 

 the lizard at first with some dif- 

 ficulty preserving its hold. — In 

 about three minutes, however, the 

 lizard had contrived to master 

 and in part to swallow the centi- 

 pede, the extremity of which, as 

 long as it remained in sight, con- 

 tinuing to be much agitated — 

 after it had entirely disappeared, 

 the lizard crawled away, appa- 

 rently well satisfied with its prey. 



LOCUSTS IN INDIA. 



(From the same.) 



About the 20th June 1812, a 

 very large flight of locusts was 

 observed hovering about Etawah, 

 which at length settled in the 

 fields east of the town, where 

 they remained some time, and 

 were seen copulating in vast 

 numbers ; they then took their 

 departure, but continued to hover 

 aI)out the place for a month after- 

 wards. 

 II On 



