REMARKS ON THE CINNAMOMUM TREE, 
105 
extremities of the branches, clustering in bunches, which resemble in size and shape 
those of the lilac, but they are white with a brownish tinge in the centre ; these are 
followed by one-seeded berries of the shape of an acorn, but not so large as a common 
pea. When first gathered their taste resembles that of a juniper berry. When dry, 
this fruit becomes merely a thin shell, containing a kernel about the size of an 
apple seed. The smell of the flowers, though not powerful, is extremely fragrant. 
The footstalks of the leaves have a strong flavour of cinnamon. The fruit, if boiled, 
yields an oil, which, when cold, becomes a solid substance like wax, and is formed 
into candles ; these emit an agreeable odour, and in the kingdom of Candy are 
reserved for the sole use of the Court. 
The trees which are cultivated are kept as a sort of coppice, and numerous 
shoots spring apparently from the roots ; these are not allowed to rise higher than 
ten feet. We are told, that " when the trees first put forth their flame-coloured 
leaves and delicate blossoms, the scenery is exquisitely beautiful." In three years 
after planting, each tree affords one shoot fit for cutting, at the fifth year from three 
to five shoots may be taken, but it requires the vigour of ten years' growth before 
it yields as many as ten branches of an inch in thickness. From the ages of ten to 
twelve years is the period of its greatest perfection ; but its duration of life is not 
hmited, as the root spreads, and every year sends up new shoots or suckers. 
Trees which grow in rocky situations, and the young shoots, when the leaves 
are of a reddish colour, yield the best and most pungent aromatic bark. The tree 
is known to be in the best state when the bark separates easily from the wood, and 
has the inside covered with a mucilaginous juice; but if that be not carefully 
removed, the flavour of the spice is injured. The shoots are cut when from half 
to three quarters of an inch in thickness, and in lengths of from two to three feet. 
Many hands are employed in this work ; each man is obliged to furnish a certain 
quantity of sticks. When this part of his task is fulfilled, he conveys his fragrant 
load to a shed allotted for the purpose, where the bark is instantly stripped from 
the wood and freed from the epidermis, which is scraped off*. 
The fragrance diffused around during this process, is described as being ex- 
tremely delightful, but in parts of the plantation remote from this spot, unless the 
trees be agitated with violence, the peculiar smell of the cinnamon cannot be dis- 
tinguished. The wood deprived of the bark has no smell, and is used as fuel. 
When the bark is perfectly cleansed it is of a pale yellow colour, and about the 
thickness of parchment. It is then placed on mats to dry in the sun, when it curls 
up, and acquires a darker tint. The smaller pieces are then put inside the larger, 
and the whole close together in the tubular form in which it is sold in the shops. 
When the rind, or part forming the cinnamon, is first taken from the tree, it is 
described as consisting of an outer portion which tastes like common bark, and an 
inner portion, which is very sweet and aromatic. In the course of the drying, the 
oil of the inner portion on which the flavour depends, is communicated to the whole,, 
and the quality of the entire bark is understood to depend more upon the relative 
quantities of those portions of the bark than upon anything else. The cinnamon of 
VOL. IV.— NO. XLI. P 
