282 
and Benguila copal, ave all probably dcn by species of Copaifera, 
has t b 
but material for their determination ret been received. Sierra 
Leone and other fossil African copals are vu foundation of all fine var- 
nishes. ‘The locust tree of tropical South America (Hymenea Courbaril, 
ust 
.) yields a resinous substance resembling gum anime, which i s found 
in masses in cavities, and at the bases of old trees. The vittime: 
Dammar, or Kauri i,gum of New Zealand is yielded by Dammara 
forests, and the exports from New Zealand in 1883 were 6,518 tons, of 
the value of 336,606/. Indian copal, or white dammar, used in varnish 
on the Malabar coast, is obtained from Vateria indica, L. Black 
dammar is the produce of Canarium strictum, Roxb. 
Recently a new source of copal has been heirt in South-east 
Africa, which has created a good deal of inter 
The first particulars pueg this new pe communicated to this 
establishment are summa in a communication made by Mr. 
Thiselton e to the Lum Society (Journ. Linn. Soc., vol. xx. pp. 
In the course of last year we received from the Foreign Office a copy 
ot a despatch D ated June 11th, 1882) to the s lined of State from 
Henry G Ma ae di Consul for Mozambique. I 
extract the following passage 
our to sn that from Mr. — Heathcote, : 
trade of that place. He had just returned from an expedition to the 
interior, and writes: * The forest where I obtained this gum, of which I 
* send you specimens (I have collected six tons), is fully 200 miles long. 
* It is a belt which runs parallel with the coast and the first range of 
* mountains; from Inhambane it is nearly 100 miles to get right into it, 
* The distance of the forest from Inhambane may retard its being opened 
* up; but its discovery adds to the known wealth of the district, and a 
* new export to the place.’ Mr. Heathcote further adds : * The native 
name of the gum is Stakate and Staka ; the Zulu name for the gum is 
* Inthlaka, The tree domineers over all. The gum has a 
beautiful odour if pounded and burnt, also if boiled in a pot of water, 
‘The or dinary gum copal tree of the mainland of Zanzibar and Mozam- 
bique though, as a rule, lofty, i is by no means of the striking stature 
indicated by Mr. Heathcote. 
The first thing that struck ns from a superficial examination of the 
specimens uim by Mr. O'Neill was that they were entirely different in 
appearance ordinary East African copal (the produce of Trachy- 
lobium Horned exported from Z anzibar. T hey consisted in 
part of waterworn pebbles, and very much resemble the ees copal} 
which is exported from the West Coast of Africa. They are destitute 
of the characteristic goose-skin texture frequently dieere in Zanzibar 
A 
* Some extracts from Consol O'Neills despatch appeared in Nature for 
Aug. 10, 1382, p. 351, but I reprođuce the substance here in order to: make the 
plete. 
f An vetu piece by Dr. Welwitsch on West African Copals, in J'ourn. rues 
Noe 1X., pp. 257-302, may be consulted; it does not, however, carry o 
knowledge very fa far 
