116 i DR. G. BIRDWOOD ON THE GENUS BOSWELLIA. 
leaves the remainder, which is kept safe for the owners until they come and take it. 
But certain others say that the frankincense-tree is like the lentisck, and its fruit to the 
berries of the same, and thát the leaf of it is reddish ; and that the frankincense from 
the young trees is whiter and less fragrant, while that from the older trees is yellowish 
and more fragrant; and that the myrrh-tree is like the terebinth, but rougher and more 
thorny, and the leaf a little rounder and, if chewed, resembling the terebinth in taste ; 
and that of these, also, the older are the more fragrant. And that both grow in the same 
place, and that the ground [there] is argillaceous and flaky, and that springs of water 
are rare. These things, however, are contradictory [to the statement | that it snows and 
is wet [in that locality], and that rivers issue from it. And others also say that the tree 
islike the terebinth, and others that it is the terebinth itself; for that specimens of the 
wood were brought to Antigonus by the Arabs who conveyed the frankincense, and that 
they differed in nothing from the terebinth. These, however, showed still greater 
ignorance ; for they thought that both the frankincense and the myrrh grew on the 
same tree. On which account, the report brought by those that sailed from the City 
of Heroes is more credible; since the frankincense-tree that grew above Sardis, in a 
certain temple, has a leaf like the laurel, if from this we may form a conclusion, and the 
frankineense produced from it, whether from the trunk or branches, is like the other 
frankincense in appearance, and in smell when it is burnt. And this tree alone grew 
without [any culture]. And some say that the frankincense grows more abundantly in 
Arabia, but more beautiful in the neighbouring islands, over which the Arabs have 
sway; for there they make figures upon the trees of whatever they like; which is not 
incredible, as they admit of any incision that persons may wish to make in them. Some 
of the grains also are very large, in bulk as much as a handful, and in weight more 
than the third part of a mina. All frankincense is brought to market in a rough state, 
similar in appearance to the bark of a tree; but of myrrh there are two kinds, the one 
in drops, and the other in moulds. The quality is judged of by the taste; and from this 
they choose what is of uniform colour. Concerning frankincense and myrrh, this is 
nearly as much as we have heard up to the present time." 
A fragment of AGATHARCIDES (B.C. 200) is said, for I have not seen the passage myself, 
to enumerate balm, cassia, frankincense, myrrh, and cinnamon as the productions of 
Saba. 
Droporus (about B.c. 50) writes! :— Next to these inhabit those Arabians called 
 Carbi, and next to them the Sabæans, the most populous of any of the Arabians ; for 
they possess Arabia the Happy, exceeding rich in all those things which we esteem most 
precious ; and for breeding of cattle of all sorts, the most fertile country in the world ; 
,for the whole country is naturally perfumed all over, almost every thing growing there 
sending forth continually most excellent odours. On the sea-coasts grow balsam, cassia, 
and another herb of a strange and peculiar property, which while it is fresh is delightful 
and strengthening to the eyes, but kept awhile, presently loses its virtue. Higher in 
the heart of the country, are shady woods and forests, graced and beautified with stately 
* Book v. Chap. iii. Booth’s Translation, Lond. 1814, vol. i. pp. 186-189. 
