THE ISLAND OF CEYLON. 
34g 
spice. The jealousy of the Dutch has prevented the exact 
quantity procured from the hundred weight from being ever 
accurately ascertained. The usual price on the spot was 
three-fourths of a Dutch ducat ; but of late years little lias 
been to be procured at any price. I saw a pint bottle of 
it set up for sale among the effects of the late Dutch Go- 
vernor Van Angtebeck ; but the upset price, which was up- 
wards of ten pounds sterling, deterred any one from be- 
coming the purchaser. Cinnamon-oil is esteemed an excel- 
lent remedy for spasms in the stomach. That extracted from 
the finer sorts of cinnamon is of a beautiful gold colour, 
while that from the coarser bark is darker and brownish. 
The process for obtaining the oil of cinnamon which 1 
have at present described is that which was put in practice 
by the Dutch. The manufacture has not been carried on 
since the island came into our possession, and indeed it can 
never be resumed with much advantage, or to any consider- 
able extent. The small quantity of oil which the finer cinna- 
mon yields, however valuable, does not fetch a price equal to 
what the cinnamon itself brings on being exported to Europe ; 
and the oil from the coarser kinds is of a very inferior 
quality. 
After this description of cinnamon, and the processes 
employed in bringing it to market, it may not be unim- 
portant to enquire how this valuable branch of commerce 
may be improved or extended. The growth of cinnamon 
seems to have been confined by nature to the island of 
