OF PRODUCTION OF ALOES-WOOD. 85 



more, with provisions for a month, and with arms 

 for defence against the wild beasts ; such as tigers, 

 rhinoceroses, elephants and snakes, which abound in 

 those parts; and with implements requisite for cutting 

 the wood. They traverse the distant parts of forests, 

 and examine every Aloexylum-tree they find. 

 Such as are very healthy and have green leaves 

 they pass by ; those on the other hand, which are 

 either already dead, or have their leaves of a pale 

 yellow hue (a symptom of approaching disso- 

 lution), they immediately fell, cut them open in a 

 longitudinal direction with their hatchets, and dis- 

 cover the object of their pursuit. They sometimes 

 find it accumulated into large pieces, one Arroba 

 or more in weight, sometimes only into smaller ones 

 of a few pounds, according to the length of time 

 the tree may have been deceased. 



The traders distinguish three sorts of true Agal- 

 lochum produced by the Aloexylum-tree. The first 

 the Europeans call Calamba ; the natives of 

 Cochin China, Ki-nam. This is the most valuable 

 and rare, being found in Cochin China only ; and 

 there, only upon those mountains which lie towards 



