VOYAGE FROM INDIA TO SIAM AND MALACCA. 77 



I saw two quadrupeds lying on the top branch of a tree, one 

 behind the other ; I shot twice at them and so did one of my 

 people, but in vain ; they remained where they were, without 

 even moving- very much. I only reached the ship in the after- 

 noon, on account of the strong" wind. 



In the evening I went to see the sick child of Captain 

 Welsch, and I had the good luck to learn from him in what 

 manner the Malacca dragons-blood is made. They boil the sap 

 of the flower of the cane Dsiemang Rotting, which forms a dark 

 substance when boiled ; then they take three or four parts of 

 Damar resin and pound it in their usual wooden pounders until 

 it forms a fine powder: then they mix it with the equally pound- 

 ed genuine sap of the dragon's blood, pour boiling water over 

 all, form it into a kind of molass by stamping' it well and take 

 it out while it is still soft, putting in into proportionately sized 

 little sacks, made of matting. Then the water is pressed out and 

 the whole substance allowed to dry. This furnishes the best 

 kind of dragon's blood. The inferior kind consists of inferior 

 sap and a greater addition of Damar resin. He told me many 

 things concerning the Damar, as he has been trading with it for a 

 considerable time in Sumatra and the Malay coast. He told me 

 that the clear fine Damar is often found among the common 

 damar resin in Quedah, and that just now he had entered upon a 

 special contract with a merchant living there, who who was 

 to pick out a pikul for him, which he could sell in Bengal for 

 a much higher price, as the commercial houses there use it in- 

 stead of the powder of the Laudracis, to cover spots in the paper. 

 He said that when quite fresh this Damar was greenish white 

 and quite transparent like Venetian glass. In the course of 

 time however, and specially among the large amount of inferior 

 Damar, it turned moie and more yellow. He had experienced, 

 much to his loss, that this Damar could not be dissolved with 

 common oil, that it burns into hard lumps, and could not be 

 lighted in the fire, at least only with great difficulty. At this 

 occasion he showed me a piece, five ounces in weight, which was 

 quite transparent and yellowish green. 



He also said that according to his experience, the Chinese 

 Damar was very much superior if used for ships, but I will not 

 assert that he is quite right in his opinion that there was a difference 

 from eight to ten parts to two parts of oil, and that the Chinese 



