146 AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY. 



of Sumatra, north-east of Nias, and south-east of the city of Baros) 

 the traveller's attention is attracted above all by the camphor-tree 

 {Dryobalanops Camphora), distinguished for its colossal, straight, 

 columnar trunk and its crown of leaves, which rises high above the 

 forest carpet. It exceeds in dimensions the Rasamala {Liqjiidain- 

 ber Altingiaiid), the highest tree of Java." ^ 



Both kinds of camphor were undoubtedly known and valued 

 throughout South and East Asia as early as the beginning of the 

 Christian era, as shown by the fact that it was brought into Europe 

 by Arabs in the first century. All through the Middle Ages, and 

 down to quite recent times, Borneo camphor especially was held to 

 be a medicine of the utmost importance, even by the Chinese and 

 Japanese, who greatly preferred it to their native sort. Its proper 

 Malay name is Kapur Baros or Bariis, i.e.^ camphor from Baros, 

 the chief place of export on the north-west coast of the island of 

 Sumatra, in distinction from Kapur China or Kapur Japun, Laurel 

 camphor. Sumatra camphor came from Baros, but also from the 

 other parts of the north-west coast between i° and 2\'' N. lat., viz., 

 Tapanuli, Natal, and Ajer Bangngies, via Padang to Batavia, and 

 via Atschin to Penang and Singapore. The Arabs, among others, 

 adopted the name Kapur, applying it also to the camphor-tree, 

 as may still be observed in Egypt. Marco Polo was the first 

 European to mention Sumatra camphor. He calls it Camfora 

 Fansuri, and says it is so fine that it is bought in China for its 

 weight in gold.^ 



Kaempfer states'^ that a Catti (605 grammes) of imported Borneo 

 camphor is exchanged for 80-100 Catti of Japanese camphor, and 

 de Vriese writes' as follows, in his previously mentioned article 

 on Sumatra camphor : " Une caisse de camphre, qui contenait en 

 tout 125 Hvres de camphre en trois diffentes qualites rendait au 

 Japon un prix de 2,500-3,000 rijksdaalders, c'est-a-dire d'environ 

 12,500-15,000 francs." He further remarks: " Pendant les annees 

 de 1750-1760, le commerce de cet article avec la Chine a rendu a 

 la Compagnie le provenu considerable de 153,490 florins." This 

 high estimation of the Ping-pien (ice-flakes) or Lung-nan (dragon's- 

 brains), as the Chinese call Sumatra camphor, appears still to exist, 

 for, according to the same authority, the total amount of this article 

 exported from Baros (less than 400 kg. annually) goes to China, 

 where its price exceeds that of the native product a hundredfold. 

 In the year 1760 it cost 44 Dutch florins per picul in Padang, and 

 about 60 florins in i860, against 114 florins in Canton and Shang- 

 hai. It has been valued not only as an internal medicine and a 

 cure for eye-diseases ; it used to be employed for another quite 



^ W. H. de Vriese, in 1856, gave a detailed description of the tree, with an 

 illustration, under the title : " Memoire sur le Camphrier de Sumatra et de 

 Borneo," 



2 Yule : " Marco Polo," ii. 282. 



3 E. Kaempfer : " Geschichte und Beschreibung von Japan," 1777, p. 131. 



