THE CAMPHOR LANGUAGE OF JOHORE. 37 



(Clusius appends a note to this saying-, " Copies of the last edition 

 do not give Alcuz, but Alkausuri and Ariagie, then Alczeid and 

 Alescek." Alkansuri is evidently the kansur alluded to above. 

 And what Serapion says came from the region of Calca is cor- 

 rupt, and he should have said from Malacca, since it is produced 

 in Bairros, near Malacca.) 



" Camphor is a gum (not the pith or heart of wood, as Avicenna 

 and some others think) which falling into the pithchamber of 

 the wood is extracted thence or exudes from the cracks. This 

 I saw in a table of Camphor wood at a certain Apothecary's, and 

 in a piece of wood as thick as the thig-h presented to me by 

 Governor John Crasto, and ag-ain in a tablet a span broad at a 

 Merchant's. I would not, however, deny that it may sometimes 

 be deposited in the hollow of a tree. It is told me as a fact 

 that it is the custom that when any one who g'oes out to collect it 

 has filled his g-ourd, if any other stronger person sees 

 him with the g'ourd, he can kill him with impunity and take away 

 the g'ourd, fortune assisting- him in this. That which is broug-ht 

 from Borneo is usually mixed with small . bits of stone or some 

 kind of gum called Chamderros, much like raw sugar or saw- 

 dust. But this defect is easily detected ; I know no other 

 method of adulteration. For if sometimes it is seen to be spotted 

 with red or blackish dots, that is due to treatment with dirty or 

 impure hands or they may be caused by moisture. But this defect 

 is easily remedied by the Indians. If it is tied up in a cloth and 

 dipped in warm water to which soa,p and lime-juice has been 

 added and then carefully dried in the shade it becomes very white, 

 the weight not being altered. I sa-w this done by a Hindu friend 

 who intrusted me with the secret. * * * * What they say as 

 to all kinds of animals flying' together to its shade to escape the 

 fiercer beasts is fabulous. Nor is it what some, following- Sera- 

 pion, write less so, namely, that it is an omen of larger yields 

 when the sky glitters with frequent lightning or echoes with 

 constant thunder. For as the island of Sumatra, which some 

 think to be Taprobane, and the adjacent regions are near the 

 equinoctial line, it follows that they are subject to constant 

 thunderstorms and for the same cause have storms or slight 

 showers every day ; so camphor ought to be abundant every year. 

 From which it is clear that the thunder is neither the cause nor 

 indication of a larger supply of camphor. 



