SANDAL WOOD. 



97 



name given to that particular tree ; and Heong, 

 'scented wood ;) and it sells from two and a half 

 to twenty dollars the pecul, according to the 

 quality of the wood. The usual size of the wood, 

 as an article of commerce in China, is of a dia- 

 meter of four or six inches, and a length of three 

 or four feet ; from eight to twelve pieces of wood 

 of that size usually weighing a pecul. A j)iece 

 of sandal-wood, of the size just nientioned, is 

 considered the most acceptable offering that a 

 person can carry in his hand to present to the 

 idols in the temples : the large pieces are the 

 votive offering of a rich person, to burn on par- 

 ticular occasions, such for instance as at the com- 

 mencement of the new year; small pieces are then 

 abundantly sold about the streets, for the lower 

 class of people to purchase, for burning before 

 the deities. " The Canton people," said a Chi- 

 nese merchant, "do not burn so .much sandal- 

 wood as those of the northern provinces, as in 

 the latter superstition reigns to a greater extent 

 thaii in the former." * 



In the plantations of this tree, belonging to 

 the Honourable East India Company, upon the 

 Coromandel coasts, it is not permitted to attain 

 a large size, but is cut down when of a growth 



* The sandal-wood brought from the Bonin Islands, I am 

 informed, is of a very excellent quality. 



VOL. II. H 



