DR. G. BIRDWOOD ON THE GENUS BOSWELLIA. 137 
“ The gum is procured by making longitudinal incisions through the bark, in the months 
of May and December . . . On its first appearance, the gum comes forth white as milk, 
and, according to its degree of fluidity, finds its way to the ground, or concretes on the 
branch, . . . from whence it is collected by men and boys employed to look after the 
trees by the different families who possess the land in which they grow." 
He found the Mogl or bdellium-tree growing with the frankincense, but not the 
myrrh-tree, as Theophrastus relates. 
* The insalubrity of that part of Arabia . . . is fabulous . . . It is most invigoratihg 
and healthy, the abode of the Bedouins, and the resort of the lowland people of the coast 
during the hot season.” 
Of the thuriferous district he writes :—'* Coming from the north-east, we first meet 
with the franki -tree on the Sabhan mountains, in latitude 17^ 30' north, and 
longitude 55° 23! east [near Merbat ?], where the desert ends, and the wooded moun- 
tainous region commences; and following the coast, which runs south-west, we find the 
frankincense exported from the different towns gradually diminishes, after the bay of 
Al Kammar, until we arrive at Makalla, from whence none is exported from the interior 
of Arabia, and but little used, except what is brought from the African coast, opposite 
that town. By the same inquiry we learn that the produce of the Arabian trees is 
exported in largest quantities from places on that part of the coast which intervene 
the longitude and latitude mentioned (viz. 17° 30' north, and 55° 23 east) and the 
town of Damkote, in the Bay of Al Kammar, 52° 47” east longitude [Ras Fartak °]. 
Between these two points the trees are congregated in two distinct localities—on the 
summits and sides of the highest range of mountains near the coast, and on the plain 
between them and the sea; the former is called Nedjee, or high land, and the latter 
Sahil, or plains on the coast. The Nedjee is about two days' journey from the shore ; 
it is the most elevated portion of the great limestone formation of this coast, which, from 
a height of 5000 feet here, descends in sudden and lofty steps upon the Arabian Sea. 
To get to it you first cross the Sahil, already mentioned, and then ascend a minor range, 
which is covered with long grass and trees, and, after passing a less fertile region called 
the Gäthän, at last arrive at the Nedjee, where there is no grass, and but few trees 
besides those which produce the frankincense. The soil is red and sub-argillaceous ; and 
in consequence of its scarcity, the trees are generally found growing out of the crevices 
of the limestone-rock. It is from this part that the frankincense is chiefly brought, 
` and, as I have before said, that the largest quantities of it are exported from the 
different towns on the coast, between the longitudes of 52° 47! and 55? 23' east." “The 
libanophorous region therefore lies behind the towns 0n piis es of the coast, where 
Theophrastus places it, and not as Ptolemy places it, in Oman. I think this is hyper- 
critical on Ptolemy; but it is invaluable as accurately limiting the frankincense-region 
of Arabia and demonstrating the extreme accuracy of Theophrastus. 
That Haines did not find the frankincense-tree on the Arabian coast, between Aden and 
Makaila, confirms the accuracy of both Theophrastus and Carter. ne d 
When I was placed in charge of the Agri-Horticultural Society's ** Old Gardens in 
Bombay, in 1859, I found the tree which Carter had brought from pen growing 
