387 



tree, when grown hard, is light and tough, and the natives make 

 some of their vessels and drums of it. The bark is of a pale color. 



7. NiJca kuroondu, wild cinnamon, whose leaf resembles that of 

 the nicasol (Vitex Negundo). The bark of this tree has neither 

 taste or smell when peeled, and is made use of by the natives 

 only in physic, and to extract an oil from to anoint their bodies. 



8. Mai kuroondu, flowering cinnamon, because this tree is 

 always in blossom. The substance of the wood never becomes so 

 solid and weighty in this as in the other named species, which are 

 sometimes nine or ten feet in circumference. If this ever-flower- 

 ing cinnamon be cut or bored, a limpid water will issue out of the 

 wound ; but it is of use only for the leaves and bark. 



9. Toupat kuroondu, trefoil cinnamon, of which there are 

 three varieties, which grow in the mountains and valleys of the 

 interior about Kandy. 



10. We kuroondu, white ant's cinnamon. 



The first-named four of these are, however, alone varieties of 

 the Cinnamonum verum. 



Good cinnamon is known by the following properties : It is 

 thin and rather pliable ; it ought to be about the substance of 

 royal paper, or somewhat thicker. It admits of a considerable 

 degree of pressure, and bends before it breaks ; the fracture is 

 then splintering. It is of a light color, approaching to yellow, 

 bordering but little upon the brown ; it possesses a sweetish 

 taste, at the same time it is not stronger than can be borne 

 without pain, and is not succeeded by any aftrr-taste. The 

 more cinnamoa departs from these characteristics, th^ coarser and 

 less serviceable it is esteemed ; and it should be rejected if it 

 be hard, and thick as a half-crown piece ; if it be very dark 

 colored or brown ; if it be very pungent and hot on the tongue, 

 with a taste bordering upon that of cloves, so that it cannot be 

 suffered without pain. Particular care should be taken that it is 

 not false-packed, or mixed with cinnamon of a common sort. 



The following remarks, by Mr. Punewille, of Malacca, as to 

 the suitability of the Straits' Settlements for cinnamon culture, 

 are interesting, although in some instances a repetition of previous 

 observations : 



It appears, from experience, that the soil of Ceylon is more favorable to the 

 growth of cinnamon than to that of any other aromatic plant, and I find the 

 climate of Ceylon, if at all, differs but in a very slight degree from that of the 

 Straits. I therefore conclude that the spice, if cultivated in the Straits, will 

 prove superior to that of Ceylon, if one may judge from the various spices that 

 grow here almost wild, and it would moreover yield a better return than in 

 Ceylon. My supposition is confirmed from having seen the spice which was 

 prepared last year in Pringet by the Honorable Resident Councillor of Malacca, 

 and which I found to be equally as good in every respect as that grown and 

 cultivated in the maritime provinces in Ceylon. 



A sandy soil is that which is generally selected for cinnamon, but other soils 

 may be chosen also, such as a mixture of sandy with red soil, free from quartz, 

 gravel, or rock, also red and dark brown soils. Such land in a flat country is 

 preferable to hilly spots, upon which, however, cinnamon also grows, and are 

 known by the name of the " Kandyan Mountains." The soil that is rocky and 



2 c 2 



