INDIA. 



f ; . - ' 



Bc'tl tnc. 



leaves, which are broad, are used for writing on and 

 for thatching. The palmyra or brab i another specie*, 

 the leaves of which are also used for thatching, and for 

 fuel. The largest species of this kind of trees is the great* 

 er fan palm, which u very abundant in the Payenghaut, 

 or lower Carnatic : it is sakl that each leaf of this tree 

 capable of covering a docen men, and that two or 

 three of them are snftcient to roof a cottage. The 

 wood of all these **** of palm* is excellent for water 

 pipe* and rafters. The most beautiful of the palm trees 

 which grows in India u the sago palm, but this it by 

 no means to common as any of the other species. \Ve 

 have by no means enumerated all the use* of the trees 

 of the palm kind. F. P. Bartolomeo says, that he has 

 rertannd up forty different properties that the real 

 palm tree possesses, which are all useful to nun. 



in the 



, or the canlamon plant, crew* 



i alx>ve Cochin and Calicut, chiefly in 

 on their declivities and in the Tallies. 

 The district of Wyniard, situated on the summit of the 

 Ghaut*, about the 12th degree of latitude, 

 i the beat cardamom in 1 1 i<lia. There are also 

 I at toe bottom of the Ghaut*, at Maleatur. c.irda- 

 i pahn, iaypur, &c. The tree rises about IS feet in 

 The cardamoms, or seeds, are brought chit-fly 

 in the ships from "Bengal, in esses containing about 

 190 Ibs. w, 



It has been long known that the long-pepper tree, 

 Piprr /<, waa a native of Indie,, particularly of 

 the M sis bar and Bengal provinces ; but it is only with- 

 in these thirty years that the discovery of the black 

 pfper plant (Pi/vr i.-nmi) was made hi the district 

 of Bampa, in the northern Cirear*. Dr. Roxburgh be- 

 gan the cultivation of it ia Uue province in 1787. It 

 is aUe much cultivated in the province of Malabar, and 

 constitutes one> of their principal article* of eipmt. 

 thnsjUBil plants yield from 500 to 1000 MM of 

 pigpen Tne plant climb* like vine ; ia from 8 to 

 1* fee* m length; and i* generally supported by the 

 Mooch? wood tree, Rrytknmm (rmfaaJrem. Nearly 

 all tbr forertt in the neighbourhood of Yellapora, a 

 town above the 



PIJKT brlri. the leaves of which are called irte/, U 

 found to succeed beat in India on such ground* a* can 

 be irrigated at particular ramns of the year. On that 

 tract of Und long the banks of the Mrna, the river 

 which boonds the Tipparah district of Bengal on the 

 west, particularly between DsjsjJaisjBily and Luck- 

 poor, the P. 6eM i* of excellent quality : the produce 

 of t hi* tract M so higMv esteemed by the natives of the 

 tbmm empire, that they make regalar contract* an. 

 Malty for the coming crop : it is nearly all bought up 

 by them for ready money. The general use of it, 

 alang with theestftandrfeawat, ha* been already men- 

 tioned ; the leaves of the betel inclose the cate and 



; -loary, the root of which is sometimes 



iu. o**l mfsMiiae aa a stomachic; grows in sandy 



rnpkcr* in Malabar, where it i* called acua bv 

 Beahmbj*. /J<W<cW prmieni, grows in Bengal, 

 where it !> railed caJjoct, the plant whi<h produces 

 the gom ammonisc. Hrrmdtum, rummifenrm, is alv> 

 a native of the East Indie*. The /MTW eauia, which 



in smne reoperts, but in a very inferior degree, supplies 

 the place of cinnamon in medicine, and for domestic 

 P*pus. i a native of" Malabar, nd frequently is 

 called Malabar cinnamon. There are two iptcies of 

 J m India. The P. draco, which 

 3 



supplies the dragan tree resin, commonly called dra- Statistic. 

 gon't blood; and the P. SanlaUntu, which supplies the X """V~ 1 ' 

 red sanders wood ; the former is used in medicine, 

 the latter as a colouring matter. I'. Itrnco rises to 30 

 feet high. P. Santalinui is a native of the mountains 

 of India; it was first discovered there by Ka-nip. 

 This tree thrives best on a strong soil, and is found in 

 the greatest abundance, as well as of the best quality, 

 in the Mysore, above the western Ghauts. About 20 SnJ* 

 miles to the south of Periapatam, there is a tract of wood - 

 land, on which an immense quantity of sanders wood 

 is grown : it is fit to cut in about ten years : the san- 

 dal is merely the heart of the wood, and in order to 

 obtain this, it is usual to cut the tree into pieces, and 

 bury them in dry ground for a month or two : during 

 this time, the outer wood U eaten by the white ants, 

 but they do not touch the heart : the smallest pieces 

 are generally brought up by the Arabians, who distil 

 an essential oil from them : the Chinese buy the 

 larger and the Indians n-f those of middle size. In 

 the neighbourhood of Periapatam, there is about 2000 

 weight produced annually. Tellicherry, on the Ma- 

 labar coast, is the great mart for the Mysore sandal 

 wood ; but in the province of Malabar it is scarcely 

 met with, and what there is, i* drxtitute of fragrance. 

 The fimriitnui ffbnfugn, which supplies an astringent 

 and tonic bark, is a native of the East Indies, grow- 

 ing among the mountains of the Kiijnhmundry Circar : 

 the natives use it for the cure of intermittent*. The 

 TamnrinHm nulica, tamarind tree of India, produces ta- 

 marinds of a darker colour, and drier than those from 

 the West Indies ; the pods also are nearly twice as 

 long. The ginger plant grow* in most parts of tin- 

 Malabar roast where the sea- water cannot penetrate; 

 it i* called alt by the Brahmins. 



The Bamboo trees are very common, and very u*c- Bsmboa. 

 ful in India ; scarcely any tree equals them for rapi- 

 dity of growth, as in the short space of five months 

 they rite to the height of SO yard*, with a circumfe- 

 rence of eight inches ; its greatest height is completed 

 during its first year ; and during the second, it acquires 

 those proper tie* of hardness and elasticity, which com- 

 poundly or singly renders it* wood so extremely useful 

 for such a variety of purpose*. A single acre of Bam- 

 boo*, if they are situated in a proper soil, and care is 

 taken of them, produce* more wood than ten acre* of 

 any other tree. The best bamboo* used for palan- 

 quin* grow near the summit of the rocks in the pcr- 

 gitnnah* of Tolean and Mindole, in the province of 

 Oriaam. They spring up in July, at which time the 

 stringent boot* are fastened to stake* driven into the 

 ground, in order to train them up to that form which 

 will render them most useful for palanquins. As soon 

 as the dry season begins, their tops are cut off; for, if 

 they were to stand longer, they would become too 

 weak to support a palanquin, in consequence of the in- 

 crease of the hollow part, and the wood growing thin- 

 ner. In some pltcea, they are u*ed for the purposes 

 of defence and protection, being planted on tnc banks 

 of the country fastnesses, on account of their thorns, 

 which are three inches long, and very strong and sharp. 

 In the dry season, however, they can afford little pro- 

 tection, as they are very inflammable. In the neigh- 

 bourhood of Goonsur, at the north-west extremity of 

 the northern Circars, the forests are almo-t entirely com- 

 posed of bamboos ; and as, besides their thorns, they 

 grow closer and resist the axe better than any other 

 tree, the inhabitants formerly tru-ttd entirely to their 

 forest* of bamboos, binding and intertwining them so 



