76 
THE  GUMS  AND  RESINS  OF  COMMERCE. 
named  varieties  are  called  after  the  ports  of  shipment,  and  only 
fetch  about  half  the  price  of  the  Felick  gum.  In  1851,  250  tons 
of  gum  Arabic  passed  through  the  Aden  custom-house,  the  selling 
price  there  being  about  24s.  the  cwt. 
The  local  names  for  the  gum  Arabic,  or  Summuk,  are  adad, 
wadi,  and  anhokib,  of  which  the  anhokib  is  considered  the  best. 
It  sells  at  Bunder  Murray  eh  for  11  dollars  per  frasila  of  20  lbs. 
The  tree  is  found  on  the  mountain  sides,  in  good  red  soil,  and 
varies  in  height  from  ten  to  twenty  feet.  The  inferior  qualities 
of  gums  are  sold  at  a  much  lower  rate. 
During  the  hot  season  the  men  and  boys  are  daily  employed 
in  collecting  gums,  which  process  is  carried  on  as  follows  : — 
About  the  end  of  February  or  the  beginning  of  March,  the 
Bedouins  visit  all  the  trees  in  succession,  and  make  a  deep  in- 
cision in  each,  pulling  off  a  narrow  strip  of  bark  for  about  five 
inches  below  the  wound.  This  is  left  for  a  month,  when  a  fresh 
incision  is  made  in  the  same  place,  but  deeper.  A  third  month 
elapses,  and  the  operation  is  again  repeated,  after  which  the  gum 
is  supposed  to  have  attained  a  proper  degree  of  consistency.  The 
mountain  sides  are  immediately  covered  with  parties  of  men  and 
boys,  who  scrape  off  the  large  clear  globules  into  one  basket, 
whilst  the  inferior  quality  that  has  run  down  the  tree  is  packed 
separately. 
The  gum  when  first  taken  from  the  tree  is  very  soft,  but 
hardens  quickly.  Every  fortnight  the  mountains  are  visited  in 
this  manner,  the  trees  producing  large  quantities  as  the  season 
advances,  until  the  middle  of  Septemper,  when  the  first  shower 
of  rain  puts  a  close  to  the  gathering  of  that  year.  Large  quan- 
tities of  gum  Arabic  are  collected  by  persons  in  the  employ  of  the 
Egyptian  government,  and  brought  to  Cairo  in  the  caravans  to 
be  warehoused.  The  annual  return  occasionally  reaches  to  20,000 
packages  of  78  lbs.  each. 
In  Morocco,  about  the  middle  of  November,  that  is,  after  a 
rainy  season,  which  begins  in  July,  the  gummy  juice  exudes 
spontaneously  from  the  trunk  and  principal  branches  of  the 
acacia  tree.  In  about  fifteen  days  it  thickens  in  a  furrow,  down 
which  it  runs,  either  in  vermicular  (or  worm)  shape,  or  commonly 
assuming  the  form  of  oval  and  round  tears,  about  the  size  of  a 
pigeon's  egg,  of  different  colors,  as  they  belong  to  the  white  or 
