MYOPORUM TENUIFOLIUM. 



103 



oldest and best is of a brownish red colour :=^ 

 the different varieties of the wood depend, there- 

 fore, on the age of the tree, and are of three 

 kinds, white, yellow, and red, of which the 

 yellow and red (from containing the largest 

 quantity of oil) are most esteemed in the Chinese 

 market, where the wood is principally used, the 

 expressed oil being mixed with pastiles, and 

 burned before their idols in the temples, as I 

 have before mentioned. 



Indigenous to the Sandwich Islands is a spe- 

 cies of Myoporum, {M. tenuifdlium,) the heart 

 of which is fragrant; and, from having been 

 mistaken for sandal-wood, has received the name 

 of spurious sandal-wood from Europeans, and is 

 called Naiho, or Naihio, by the natives. The 

 heart contains a quantity of essential oil ; but 

 the fragrance is not so agreeable as that derived 

 from the sandal-wood, and for that reason it is 

 not esteemed in the Chinese market ; the heart 

 is also surrounded by a lighter wood, termed 

 the sap, as in the sandal -wood tree. An in- 

 stance of the resemblance this bears to the 

 sandal-wood, so as to deceive a common ob- 

 server, occurred during my visit to the island of 



* The wood is frequently buried, and the sap allowed to 

 rot off; and this is considered to improve its quality. 



