The Camphor Tree and Ca,niphor 

 Lang-uagre of Johore. 



By H. Lake and H. J. Kelsall, 



The Bornean Camphor, Kapur Bar us, is an important product 

 of the islands of Borneo and Sumatra and although for some time 

 time it has been known that the tree producing- it (Dryohalanops 

 aromatwa, Gaertn) is a native of the Indau district of Johore, the 

 fact has not been recorded in any botanical work. During the 

 recent expedition across Johore, the account of which is also pub- 

 lished in this Journal, Messrs. Lake and Kelsall not only obtained 

 specimens of the tree, but collected also as much as possible of 

 the Camphor language used by the Jakuns while on the search 

 for the camphor. The following notes on the history of the 

 product may be of interest to, and may serve as an introduction 

 to, the list of vocabulary. 



Dryohalanops aromafica, Gaertn, D. campkora Colehr is a lofty 

 tree belonging to the order Dipterocarpese, an order well known 

 as producing most of the resins known as Damars. The stem is 

 about 3^ feet in diameter at the base, and from 100 to 150 feet 

 in height, straight and unbranched till near the top, where it 

 forms a large crown of branches ; at the base it often throws out 

 large buttresses. The bark is rough and of a dark brown colour, 

 and is used for making walls of huts, etc. The wood is dark 

 brown, very resinous and strongly aromatic. It is much used 

 in Borneo for building. Like most Dipterocarps it appears to be 

 a tree of very slow growth. 



The tree is a native of North Borneo, Labuan, North-West 

 Sumatra, and on the Madek and Kahang rivers in Johore, but 

 there is no record of it from any other part of the Malay Penin- 

 sula. It yields two distinct products. Borneo camphor (Kapur 

 barus), and Camphor oil (S'mp'loh kapur in the camphor langu- 

 age.) Minyak Kapur, in Malay Barus, is the name of a locality 

 in Sumatra where for many centuries the camphor has been 

 obtained. 



