SPURIOUS SANDAL WOOD. 105 



the difference, or have only known the ' ' spurious 

 kind" by name. An instance of this occurred 

 under my own observation. A vessel arrived 

 from the New Hebrides group at the Bay of 

 Islands, (New Zealand,) in July, 1829, having 

 on board some sandal wood. This was pur- 

 chased by the commander of a ship lying at 

 that place ; he had heard of the existence of a 

 spurious kind when at the Sandwich Islands, but 

 never having seen it, was unable to judge of the 

 difference. When the sandal-wood came on 

 board, it was found to consist of the white, 

 yellow, and red varieties, having been procured 

 from trees of different ages ; that which was of 

 a whitish colour, and had less fragrance than 

 the other'wood, was considered immediately to be 

 what he had heard of as spurious wood, and was 

 rejected, much to the annoyance of the owner, 

 who declared it was all sandal-wood. This sup- 

 posed spurious kind was laid aside, and was 

 finally delivered to the cook for fire-wood ; and, 

 when burning, it diffused a delightful fragrance 

 over the ship. Some of it was landed amongst 

 the fire-wood from the same ship, at the Sand- 

 wich Islands, much to the surprise of some of 

 the merchants, who thought that sandal- wood 

 must be very common on board when it was used 

 as fire- wood. 



