128 
LAUREL. 
“ After the quality of the cinnamon has been by 
this means ascertained, it is made up into large 
bundles, each about four feet long, and all of the 
same weight. The weight of each bundle is, at the 
time of packing up, eighty-five pounds, although it 
is marked and reckoned for only eighty pounds ; 
five pounds being allowed for the loss by drying 
during the voyage. The bundles are firmly bound 
and packed up in coarse cloths made of strong 
hemp from the cocoa-tree ; and are then carried on 
board the ships which touch at Ceylon for that 
purpose.” 
The refuse of the cinnamon is distilled for the 
sake of its water and essential oil, which last, from 
the little that is yielded by the wood, is extremely 
dear. Mr. Percival saw a pint bottle of it set up 
for sale among the effects of the late Dutch go- 
vernor ; but as it was put up at ten pounds sterling* 
no one chose to bid for it. An oil is obtained from 
the leaves of this tree, which, as we have already 
observed, smells exactly like oil of cloves. The oil 
extracted from the best cinnamon is of a bright gold 
colour, while that obtained from wood of an inferior 
quality is darker and brownish. 
The camphor tree, Laurus campliora Linn., is 
of a moderate size, of an elegant shape, and of deli 
cate foliage. It has a straight trunk, divided to- 
wards the top into many little branches. The 
leaves are alternate ; of an oval-lanceolate shape, 
smooth on both sides, and marked with three longi- 
