ÖÖI 8x 3 ^c- 0 - Acehbooks.org

128 S U M A T R A .
might be produced of a quality equal, perhaps fuperior, to that imported
from the Weft Indies; though probably the heavy rains on Sumatra,
may prevent it's attaining to the perfection of the coffee of
Mocha f.
Turpentine. The dammar is a fpecics of turpentine, and ufed for the fame purpofes
to which that and pitch are applied. It is exported in large quantities
to Bengal and elfevvhere. It exfudes, or flows rather, fpontaneoufly,
from the tree in fuch plenty, that there is no need of making incifions
to procure it. The natives gather it in lumps from the ground, where
it has fallen, or colledt it from the fhores of bays and rivers, whither it
has floated. It hangs from the bough of the tree which produces it, in
large pieces, and hardening in the air it becomes brittle, and is blown
off by the firft high wind. When a quantity of it has fallen in the fame
place, it appears like a rock, and thence,, they fay, it is called dammar
tattoo; by which name it is diftinguifhed from the dammar cruyen. This
is another fpecies of turpentine, yielded by a tree growing in Lampoon
called cruyen, the wood of which is white and porous. It differs from the
common fort, or dammar battoo, in being foft and whitifh, having the
confiftence, and fomewhat the appearance of putty. It is in much eftimation
for paying the bottoms of veffels, for which ufe, it ought to be
mixed with fome of the hard kind, to give it firmnefs and duration,
of which it corrects the brittlenefs. The natives, in common, do not
boil it, but rub or fmear it on with their hands; a practice which is.
probably derived from indolence. To procure it, an incifion is made
in the tree*
Gum - There is a gum produced abundantly from a tree called Paly, which
much refembles gum arabic, and as they belong to the fame genus of
plants it is not improbable, that this might anfwer equally well, for
« This obfervation on the growth of the coffee, as well as many others on the vegetable production
of the ifland, 1 am indebted for to the letters of Mr. Charles Miller, entered on the
Company's records at Bencoolen.
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