OH..X.] . COAL-FIELD OF LABTJAl^. 157- 



in clear crystalline masses, and with it an essential oil 

 known as camphor oU, which is believed by some to be 

 camphor in an imperfectly formed condition. Although, 

 however, the oil is artificially crystallised, it does not pro- 

 duce camphor of so good a quality as that which is found 

 already solidified in the cavities of the wood. The camphor 

 which has already been alluded to as obtained from For- 

 mosa, has a different source, viz. the Laurus camphora, or 

 Camphora officinarum, a tree of the laurel family, in which 

 wood, branches, and leaves, aKke yield camphor by dry dis- 

 tillation — as it were, a solid evaporable oil. This commer-; 

 clal camphor is, however, more volatile than the hard 

 camphor obtained from the Dryobalanops, and its presence 

 as a vegetable secretion is not confined to the true camphor 

 laurel, it being also found in other lauraceous plants, espe- 

 cially cinnamon. 



The Dammar trees are Coniferse, of the genus Dammara, 

 yielding a hard and brittle resin, like copal, which is itself 

 a Dipterocarpous product. A substance similar to Dam- 

 mar, however, appears to be produced by several kinds of 

 trees in these forests. 



It is in this dense jungle that the mineral wealth of 

 Labuan so long lay concealed ; but the coal crops out so 

 conspicuously, less than half a mile from the sea-shore, 

 that it is no matter of surprise that it attracted notice. The 

 district containing the coal-beds is composed for the most 

 part of a soft yellow sandstone, which dips 33° N, by E., 

 and the coal exists in several seams, of which the largest is 

 no less than 11 ft. 4 in. in thickness, though the quahty of 

 this seam is by no means so good as that of some thinner, 

 ones. The coal roof is a stiff blue clay (not a fire-clay), and 

 beds of shale alternate with the seams. The uppermost. 



