Malay Peninsula ] ORIENTAL COMMERCE. 



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of a fruit of the gourd kind, produced by a tree now called Ignatia amara 

 (Afanajwog and Cantara> Malay,) growing in some of the Eastern islands. 

 The figure of this seed is irregular ; it is nearly the size of a small nutmeg, 

 with a musky scent when fresh, and a taste somewhat bitter. Its external 

 colour is grey, but it inclines to black when stripped of the thin skin which 

 invests it ; the inside resembles a dark coloured jelly, but it is of as hard a 

 consistence as horn, so that it is difficult to cut or break it. If grated 

 (which is the easiest way of using it), it appears white in those places 

 touched by the points of the grater, which deceives those who see it of that 

 colour; it must be cut through the middle with a knife driven by a hammer 

 or mallet, in order to view its natural colour. 



Beech de Mer, (Becko do Jfcrr,) Trepan, a marine slug (nearly 

 allied to the genus Onchidium) ; it is an article of trade from the Eastern 

 islands to China, where it is considered as highly nourishing, and used in 

 soups, &c. It very much resembles the large garden-slug in appearance, but 

 is considerably larger, some weighing half a pound each. It is of two kinds, 

 the black and white ; the black is what we commonly see, and is reputed the 

 best; the white is larger, and one kind of it is said to be most esteemed in 

 China. It should be chosen in large pieces, well dried, and care taken thai 

 the worm is not in it. 



Benjamin, or Benzoin, (Luhan> Hind, and Arab.) is the concrete 

 resinous juice of the Styrmv Benxw, a tree growing on Sumatra, not to any 

 considerable size, and of no value as timber. When the trees have attained 

 the age of 7 years, and are 6 or 8 inches in diameter, incisions are made in 

 the bark, from whence the gum exudes, which is carefully pared ofl'. It is 

 denominated head, belly, and foot. 



Head, the purest, comes from the incisions during the first three years, 

 and is white, inclining to yellow, soft and fragrant : — this is again divided 

 into Europe and India heud, of which the first is superior, and is the only 

 sort adapted to the home market ; the latter, with most of the inferior sorts, 

 is exported to China, and various parts of India and Arabia, where it is 

 burned as a perfume. • 



Belly comes from the incisions after the first three years, and is of a 

 reddish yellow, inclining to brown, harder than the former, and less 

 fragrant : at length when the tree, which will not bear a repetition of the 

 process for more than ten or twelve years, is supposed to be worn out, they 

 cut it down, to procure the 



Foot, or third sort, which is obtained by splitting the tree in pieces, 

 and scraping up the gum, which is dark coloured, hard, and mixed more or 

 less with parings of the wood and other impurities. Benjamin is brought 



