uS The Hiflory of Book I. 



which ailiirance, it will be no digreffion from the Natural Hi- 

 ftory we treat of, if we perfume this Chapter with the fweet 

 fcent of this Aromatick Drug, which certainly is the rareft 

 and moft precious of all thofe productions which the Ocean 

 hath yet caft up out of its vaft and unexhaufted bofom to en- 

 rich that new world. 



The Maldives call Amber-greece Tanahambar, that; is, -4**- 

 ber of gold, by reafbnof its worth.* The Inhabitants of Fe&, 

 Morocco, and the ^Ethiopians call it by the lame name as they 

 do the Whale 5 whence it is probably conje&ur'd, that they 

 thought it proceeded from the Whale. Moft certain it is, that 

 neither Hippocrates, Diofcorides, nor pale n ', ever heard any 

 thing of Amber-greece, no more then they had of the Be%p- 

 ar-jlone, Guayacum, Sajfafras, Sajfaparilla, Rhubarb , Mechoa- 

 cban, and many other Drugs : Amber-greece therefore is one 

 of thofe whereof the knowledge is wholly modern, and the 

 origine not well known. 



Some have imagin'd that this Amber, not known among 

 the Ancients, is an excrement of the Whales : Others are of 

 opinion, that it comes from the Crocodiles, in regard their 

 flefti is perfurn'd : Some others are perfwaded , that they are 

 pieces of Iflands and fragments of Rocks conceal'd in the 

 Sea 5 and carried away by the violence of the waves 9 foraf- 

 much as there are fometimes found pieces of this Amber which 

 weigh a hundred pound, and of the length of rlxty hands- 

 bredths, and that, as is affirmed by Linfcot, in the Year M. D. 

 L, V. there was a piece found neer Cape Comorin , which 

 weigh'd thirty hundred weight. There are alfo thofe who 

 conceive it to be a kind of Sea-foam, which gathers toge- 

 ther and grows thick after a certain time by the agitation 

 of the Sea-water, and is hardned by the heat of the Sun. 



But the moft probable conjecture is, that it is a kind of 

 "Bitumen engendred at the bottom of the Sea 3 'and when it 

 comes to be extremely agitated by fome extraordinary tem- 

 peft, it lets go this Bitumen, and forces it towards the ftjores: 

 for indeed it is commonly found only after fome great tempeft. 

 Thilofiratm in the life of Apollonius affirms, that the Panthers 

 which are neer the Mount Cancafw are very much delighted 

 with the fweet fcent of that place : But certain it is, that of 

 all creatures the Birds are very great lovers of this Amber- 

 greece, and that they will fcent it at a great diftance: Where- 

 fore as foon as the tempeft is laid it muft be fought after and 

 , taken away, otherwife it will be devoured. Nor is it the 

 fweet fcent of it, but the ill, which caufes the Birds to flock to 

 it , for this precious and admirable perfume, when it is frefti 

 and foft, and newly come out of the Sea, fmells very ftrong, 

 and thofe creatures which run to it do but as they would do to 

 fome carrion ; for the fcent of it is like that of rufty bacon, 



