206 THE HIGHLANDS OF CENTRAL INDIA. 



hundred are the Salei, or frankincense tree (Boswellia thuvi- 

 fera). 



This tree has hitherto been regarded as a mere incumbrance 

 to the ground. Its timber is soft and spongy, and is certainly 

 valueless for building and such purposes. It has also been 

 rejected as firewood, its specific gravity being so low that a 

 great bulk of it has to be transported in comparison with teak 

 and other hard w^oods to produce a given effect. Yet it pro- 

 duces excellent charcoal, and is perfectly adapted for most 

 ordinary purposes of fuel ; and, wherever the carriage of better 

 sorts from remote parts has rendered their use more expensive, 

 the Salei has been actually used instead. This points to 

 another mistake we have hitherto made in our Indian forestry. 

 Undoubtedly this and other soft wood trees should have been 

 forced into common use by the people as fuel long ago, 

 instead of our giving way to their outcry for hard woods and 

 bamboos, the use of which should be confined to certain special' 

 requirements. The Boswellia possesses other properties, which 

 will probably at some future time render these great desolate 

 tracts of high economical value. It yields a fragrant gum 

 resin, which is burnt as incense in Hindu temples. It was long 

 thought to be the Olibanum of the ancients, employed for a 

 similar purpose ; but Dr. Bird wood has, in a recently published 

 pamphlet, attempted to show that this substance was procured 

 from other species of the Boswellia in countries to the west of 

 India. It is, however, singular that its Sanscrit name, labdnd, 

 should still so closely resemble that of antiquity ; and it may 

 perhaps be doubted if our knowledge of the ancient com- 

 merce of India suffices to exclude India from the list of 

 countries which contributed the frankincense of the Boswellia 

 to the fanes of heathen gods. It is highly probable that some 

 much more general utility would be found in this gum resin, 



