I836J 



the Gamboge of Commerce. 



301 



apparently of the best quality, and much superior to the common Cey- 

 lon gamboge, having a fine, rather light, colour and glassy fracture. 

 The true Ceylon gamboge is darker coloured, and mixed with dark 

 brown spots. The Ceylon tree which produces the fine gamboge is 

 rare, as Colonel Walker informs me he has only met with it in one 

 place, and that an old garden near a former Dutch settlement, not far 

 from Negombo. It cannot surely be supposed that a tree so exceed- 

 ingly rare as this is represented, can be the one which affords all the 

 gamboge produced in that island, still less so when it is borne in mind, 

 that that obtained from it, differs in quality from that usually produced 

 there, and known in commerce under the name of "Ceylon gamboge." 

 From these facts I think we are entitled to conclude, that Dr. Graham 

 has drawn a wide inference from insufficient data, or, in other words, 

 has attempted to form a general rule from a solitary example. I do 

 not, however, wish it to be supposed, that I insist on our statement being 

 held strictly correct, because a degree of uncertainty attaches to the 

 t-ree or trees from which this substance is procured, that all the efforts 

 of Botanists for the last century, have been unable altogether to re- 

 move ; all that I have attempted, or indeed wish to prove is, first — that 

 the facts adduced by Dr. Graham are not sufficient to invalidate our 

 position, that the Xanthochymus ovalifolius is the only, indigenous, 

 plant in Ceylon that produces Gamboge fit to be used in the arts ; 

 though I fear from further enquiries, that we were premature in hazard- 

 ing so strong a statement; and secondly — that the tree, from which Dr. 

 Graham's specimens were procured, is of exotic origin. I shall now 

 attempt to account for the appearance in the island of that tree which is 

 neither a Garcinia nor Xanthochymus. 



About the beginning of the 1 7th century, the Dutch first imported 

 Gamboge into Europe from China, and, not long after, they expelled the 

 Portuguese from Ceylon, and formed settlements of their own there, 

 which they retained until near the end of the 18th century. Is it at all 

 unreasonable to suppose, that, in the course of that long period, they 

 should endeavour to procure from their own territories a lucrative article 

 of commerce, in place of having to purchase from others all, of the finer 

 sorts, required for their European trade ? If not, we may readily sup- 

 pose they imported the plants above referred to, and which have re- 

 mained unnoticed by the English, until Colonel Walker accidentally 

 discovered them about two years ago, in just such a situation as one 

 might expect to find introduced trees, namely, in a garden close by a 

 Dutch settlement. A most interesting discovery it is, since it seems 

 to prove that they are of exotic origin, that the soil and climate are 

 suitable for its growth and propagation, and leaves room to infer, that 

 it might be introduced with success on the west coast, at least, of 



