CINNAMON. 153 



themselves of the advantages derived from 

 them. They destroyed all the cinnamon 

 trees about the kingdom of Cochin, and 

 thus for a long time kept the whole of this 

 aromatic spice in their own hands, and ex- 

 clusively supplied all Europe, in the same 

 manner as the eastern nations were anciently 

 served by the Gebanites. 



Cinnamon is now understood to be that 

 which comes only from Ceylon; that brought 

 from Java, Sumatra, and Malabar, being 

 considered cassia. NievhofF says, these trees 

 grow in such abundance in Ceylon, that it 

 would more than supply all the world, if 

 the inhabitants of that island were not some- 

 times to burn whole woods. 



We presume, likewise, that cinnamon is 

 much less in demand now than in ancient 

 times, when it was so much used at the altars 

 and the funeral piles, as well as by those 

 nations which embalmed their dead. 



Bauhine writes, in the sixteenth century, 

 " that the powder called the Pulvis Ducis 

 is used by many, which consists of cinnamon 

 and sugar; and is of so grateful a taste, 

 that, with an addition of wine, it is used as a 

 sauce in the entertainments of grandees, 



