Nutmegs And Mace Come From The
Island Of Banda, Where They Grow Together On One Tree, Which Resembles
Our Walnut Tree, But Not So Large.
Long pepper grows in Bengal, Pegu,
and Java.
All the good sandal-wood comes from the island of Timor. Camphor, being
compounded, or having to undergo a preparation, comes all from China.
That which grows in canes[171] comes from Borneo, and I think none of
that kind is brought to Europe, as they consume large quantities of it
in India, and it is there very dear. Good aloes wood comes from
Cochin-China; and benjamin from the kingdoms of _Assi_, Acheen? and
Siam. Musk is brought from Tartary, where it is made, as I have been
told, in the following manner. There is in Tartary a beast as large and
fierce as a wolf, which they catch alive, and beat to death with small
staves, that his blood may spread through his whole body. This they then
cut in pieces, taking out all the bones, and having pounded the flesh
and blood very fine in a mortar, they dry it and put it into purses made
of the skin, and these purses with their contents are the cods of
musk[172].
[Footnote 171: This is an error, as camphor is a species of essential
oil, grossly sublimed at first from a tree of the laurel family, and
afterwards purified by farther processes. - E.]
[Footnote 172: The whole of this story is a gross fabrication imposed by
ignorance on credulity.
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