SANDWICH ISLAND SANDAL WOOD. 10] 



about two feet in diameter. I always remarked, 

 however, that after attaining a moderate size, it 

 was invariably fomid. rotten in the heart. Sandal- 

 wood is very heavy, sinks in water, and the 

 part of the tree which contains the essential oil 

 (according to Cartheuser, one pound of the wood 

 will yield two drachms of the oil) on which the 

 agreeable odour depends, is the heart, the other 

 portions of the tree being destitute of any fra- 

 grance : this portion is surrounded by a lighter 

 wood of some thickness, denominated the sap, 

 which is carefully removed from the heart-wood. 

 Sandal-wood is sold by weight, and varies in 

 price, according to the size and quality, from 

 three to twenty dollars and upwards the pecul 

 (one hundred and thirty -three pounds.) When 

 young, the wood has a whitish colour, and pos- 

 sesses but little fragrance ; as it increases in 

 age it becomes of a yellowish colour, and when 

 old of a brownish red colour, and at that period 

 is most .valued, from containing the greatest 

 quantity of that essential oil on which its fra- 

 grance depends. It is considered that the wood 

 is never attacked by insects : this opinion is erro- 

 neous, as I have seen the nidus of some species 

 formed in it. 



At the Sandwich Islands, the tree is named 

 Iliahi, or Lauhala, signifying sweet wood, (lau, 



