( 28 ) 
smallest of all sorts. It Is good for eating,* 
Some Chinese authors speak of a roundish, 
large and a little conical sort. Our botanists 
distinguish also several species of Areca, 
.which give edible Arena nuts; I find in 
Lam ark’s Botany, I '239: Pinanga callaparia 
Ruranh., Areca magno fruetu. mieleo sub- 
rotunuo, acuminato, — and Pinanga nigra , 
Ettmph . Areca parvo fruetu, nueleo. oh- 
longo. conico, fuscante. Bindley (Treasury 
<*>!' Botany) mentions Areca Dicksonii in 
Malabar, which furnishes a substitute for 
the true Betelnut to the poorer classes. 
The most ancient Chinese work, which 
mentions the Pin-lang seem to be the San- 
fu-huang-tu , a description of the public 
buildings in Chang-an ( now Si-an-fu in 
iflhen-si), the Chinese, capital at the time of 
Emperor Wu-ti, 140-86 B. C. There it is 
stated, that when Yii e-nan (see below) was 
conquered (B. C. 111.) some remarkable 
Southern plants and trees were brought to 
the capital and planted in the Imperial 
garden ( Fu-li-kung). Among these trees 
were also more than 100 Pin-lang. Proba- 
bly at that time the Chinese became first 
acquainted with this kind of palm. — Lru-smi 
( an author of the Thing, 618-907 ) states, 
that the best Betelnut is brought by vessels 
to China and that these growing in China 
are inferior sorts, namely Ta-fu-tsu. The 
History of the Liang ( 502-367 ) mentions 
PaE M Yu-to-li as a foreign country, 
which produces Betelnuts of- a superior 
quality (Liang-shu Chap. 254, Hai-nan-kuo). 
There it is said, that Yii-to-li lies on an 
island in the Southern Ocean. The author 
of the hi torical geography Ha'-kuo-tbi-chi 
may be right in assuming, that this realm 
was in Sumatra. The History of the Thing 
(Description of the barbarous regions of the 
South, Chap. 258 CI ) names the following as 
countries, in which the Betelnut is chiefly 
produced ; J|| 
If II K °- l °’ si 
1 Us, 
Iluan-wang- kuo , 
Chen-la , 
m 
■jjjtf IIq 1 . Po-hui-kia-lu . — The San-f u-huang- 
tu (first century B. C. ) calls | yj Nan- 
yue a betelnut growing country. — la the 
JMan-fang-ts‘ao-mu-ch‘uang (4th century) it 
is said, that the Betelnut grows in 
Lin-yi and Kiao-chi. 
to other authors it is found also in 
a 
According 
.fc. 
* Purefoy -Garsery states: (Asiat. Jonrn. 1827 XXII 
p. 1 to Remarks on Cochin China.) In Cochin China are 
a kinds of Betel-nut, a red, a white, and a small kind, 
which is much exported to China, 
j u 
3c 
in E|L ^ K'un-lun 
countries refer all to 
Fu-nan* Su-kmig (an author of the Tang 
dynasty) states, that the Pin-lang grows 
Kiao-chou , in WR Ai-chow and 
The above mentioned 
India beyond tbe 
Ganges and the Malayan Archipelago. Our 
botanists agree in the view, that the islands 
in the Malayan Archipelago (the India 
aquosa) and especially Sumatra are the 
native country of Areca Catechu, for it is 
only on these islands, and the Philippines, 
that the palm can be found in a wild state. 
The export of Betel-nuts from Sumatra is 
enormous. The Betel-nut palm grows also 
plentifully on the adjacent coasts of the 
mainland, but its geographical distribution 
is more limited, than that of the Cocoa-nut. 
In British India Areca Catechu grows only- 
cultivated and hardly exceeds the tropical 
limit. To the East from the Malayan Ar- 
chipelago the growth of the Areca-palm soon 
ceases. 
* As these names of countries often occur in Chinese 
botanical works, I may be allowed to make here a few 
remarks oil these Chinese' geographical names, which 
relate almost ail to places in India beyond the Ganges. 
In ancient times, up to the time of the Han dynasty 
(3rd century B. CJ the little known countries to the 
South of China, namely the Southern border! of tho 
present China, and Tonking, Cochin China were called 
by the vague name "pj^| ^1^ Nan-Tile (Southern 
boundary.) Some Chinese historiographers report that 
in the year 2350 B. C. an Embassy was sent from 
YUe-chang to the Emperor Yao. Another Em- 
-M 
bassy proceeded from this country to the Chinese Court 
about 1100 B. C. The envoys are said to 1 ive brought 
as presents white pheasants and to Inn e he n sc; t 
back with a South-pointing chariot. This country 
Yiie-chang is also identified with T onking, Cochin 
China by some Chinese authors fCf. Li-tai-ti-li-chi 
VIII 33ft. and Hai-kuo-tu-chi.) Others say, that it lay 
more to the South. ("Cf. Pautliier’s Relations polit- 
i(,n.-8 &o. p. 5 and Dr. Legge’s Sbu-king. Part II p. p. 
£85-7 . ) 
'"'Xl! Kiao-chou comprised at the time of the 
Han dynasty the modern provinces Kuang-tung, 
Knang-si &c. (Of. Klapr< til’s tableaux histcriques, 
map Mo. 7), m later times only a part of Euang-si and 
the Northern part of Tonking (v. map. No. 1 1.) Ac- 
cording to the Il ii-lmo-tu-eM the Kiao-chou of the 
Tang dynasty corresponds with Cochin China and An- 
nam. As the Emperor Wu-ti 110-86 B. C. conquered 
these countries he established here a Chinese province, 
of which one district was called 
South of the sun) 
Ji-nan 
(meaning, to the South of the sun) and corresponds 
with the modern Tonking, another, the modern Cochin 
Kiao-chi 
China, 
at Kiao-chi (meaning joined toes, 
for the inhabitants of this country had crosswise toes.) 
This name seems to have been the origin of the name 
Cochin China. — Since the year 679 these countries were 
The sounds 
called 
An-nan by the Chinese. 
Vn-nan render the modern name Annam. 
'nS? 
Ai-chou belonged, according to the Geo- 
graphical Dictionary Li-tai-ti-li-chi (VII i.), at the 
iime of the Thing to the model ^ Annam. 
