44 THE NIPAH AND MANGROVE. 



by its flower -stem. The fruit, though tasteless, is 

 esteemed by the natives, and is said to make an ex- 

 cellent preserve. Its leaves, on luxuriant plants, are 

 occasionally twenty feet long, all growing from the 

 centre, the plant having no stem, unless a kind of 

 rhizoma, which is found on the ground, like that of a 

 fern, and attached to the old plants, may be called 

 such. 



The mangrove, which abounds in situations similar 

 to the nipah, is valued an account of its timber, 

 which is used as the best firewood ; from the aerial 

 roots of this tree a bitter and coarse salt is made, 

 similar to that from the nipah. 



Such are the principal products of the /vegetables 

 of the island which are used for home consumption. 

 We will now notice those which are principally col- 

 lected for exportation; of these perhaps the first in 

 rank is camphor, or, as it is called by the natives and 

 in commerce, the * kapur barus,' or Barus camphor, 

 to distinguish it from the production of the Laurus 

 camphora, or Japan camphor. It derives its name of 

 Barus from a place in Sumatra, where it is produced, 

 and whence it was probably first exported. The 

 true Dryobalanops camphora, which produces it, 

 has not hitherto been found on any of the Indian 

 islands, with the exception of those of Borneo and 

 Sumatra, and only on the northern parts of these 

 islands : the tree is said by Mr. Marsden to be 

 very common in Sumatra, in the country of the 

 Battas, but not to be found to the south of the line. 



