156 
FLORA OF ADEN. 
the plant which was described by Colebrooke as Boswellia thurifera 1 
( = B. serrata Roxb.). It must not be forgotten,, however, that Arabian 
and African frankincense has long been regularly imported to India. It 
bears various names : kundur, luban, thus, visesh, esesh, parangi-sham- 
birani, kunurakkam-pishin, etc. Muhammedan writers distinguish 
several varieties of the olibanum imported into India : f kundur zakar \ 
male frankincense which is the best quality and consists of deep yellow 
tears; ‘ kundur unsa*, female frankincense ; ‘.kundur madharaj * the 
exudation artificially made into tears j 1 c kishar kundur 3 or ‘ kashfa \ 
the ‘ dhup 3 of the Bombay market, consisting of the bark of the tree 
coated with the exudation, and f dukak kundur ’ } the dust of the olibanum 
and substance reserved for the Indian and Chinese market, whilst the 
finer qualities are assorted and exported from Bombay to Europe . 2 The 
f kundur ; is and was thus an article imported and subsequently re- 
exported. In Hindoo books the frankincense is always mentioned 
as a foreign production, and to this day the people in the bazaars of 
Western India tell you that it comes from Arabia. It is besides, very j 
probable that nearly all that has been written about the medicinal pro- 
perties of the Indian Olibanum Tree (B. serrata) refers to the imported 
olibanum. The Indian product is only slightly aromatic and, being 
consumed almost entirely in Central and Western India, is hardly if at 
all exported. 
If the merchants of Arabia Felix were in need of greater supplies, 
they had only to cross the Red Sea, in order to find the aromatic pro- 
duct of several species of Frankincense-Trees. There is Boswellia 
papyrifera in Sennaar and Abvssina , 3 Boswellia frereana in Somaliland, 
which produces, besides, several varieties of Boswellia carterii . 4 
It is from these countries that the ancient Egyptians obtained their 
* anti ? (frankincense). Under the reign of Queen Hatespu a fleet of five 
ships was sent out to gather the treasures of that region. The success- 
ful expedition was represented afterwards on the walls of the temple of 
Deir-el-Bahari. The artist shows the transport and loading of the 
frankincense-trees. Thirty-one trees were dug out, put into baskets 
and brought to the ship . 5 
— — ■ — — — 
1 Colebrooke. On Olibanum or Frankincense. Asiatic Res. Calcutta, vol. 9, p. 377. 
Cf. Roxburg. FI. Ind. Serampore, 1832, II, 388. 
2 Watt. Commerc. Prod, of Ind. London, 1908, p. 174. 
s A. Richard. T'entamen florae abyssinicae. Pans, 1851, vol. I, p. 148. 
4 Joret, C. Les plantes dans l’antiquite. Paris, 1897, vol. I, p. 356, 499. 
8 Naville, M. Egypt Exploration Fund, archaeological report, 1894-95, p. 36—37. 
Diimichen. Die Flotte einer aegypfcischen Konigin. pi. 3. 
Maspero, G. Histoire ancienne des peuples de l’Orient. 1897, vol. 2, p. 247-253. 
Loret, Y. La flore pharaoniqme. 2nd ed. 1892, p. 96. 
