SCENTS AND PERFUMES. 347 



quality of Cassia bark, from New Guinea, deserves in- 

 vestigation. 



The flowers of the Uci or Sacasaca (Evodia hortensis, 

 Forst.) diffuse, like those of most Diosmaceoe, an over- 

 powering, rather sickly odour, highly esteemed by the 

 natives, but only appreciated by those Europeans who 

 can enj oy patchouly, musk, and scents of a similar cate- 

 gory. The perfume emitted by the flowers of the Ma- 

 kosoi (Uvaria odorata, Lam.) and of the Balawa (Pan- 

 danus odomtissimus, Linn.) commands a greater number 

 of European admirers, whilst that of the Bua (Fagrcea 

 Berteriana, A. Gray) may be said to be universally in- 

 haled with delight. The Bua blossoms in September 

 and October, and one of the months of the Fijian ca- 

 lendar is occasionally called the Vulai Bua, or Bua 

 month. The flowers, or rather corollas, are gathered 

 after they have dropped on the ground, and brought 

 home in baskets. They are tubular, white, and fleshy, 

 and are either strung into necklaces, which retain their 

 delicious and powerful perfume long after they are dry, 

 or they are placed while still fresh in cocoa-nut oil, in 

 order to impart scent to it. Sanclal-wood and Bua 

 flowers are often put into the same vessel of oil. The 

 abundance of the tree (which yields a hard, white 

 wood) at Sandal-wood Bay may have given rise to its 

 native name " Bua," a form of " Pua," by which the 

 plant is known in the Society Islands. 



Another perfume largely employed in scenting oil is 

 furnished by the Makita (Parinarium laurinum, A. 

 Gray), a tree about fifty feet high, supplying tough spars 

 for canoes, and having oblong leathery leaves, formerly 



