LAUKACE^E 123
observers give the most reliable information on much affecting these
questions. In a Report on a Journey to Kwangsi, by H. Schroeter, 1887,
the writer says:—
" The shrubs destined for the production of the Cassia lignea proper
are partly stripped during the summer months of their minor branches
and exceptionally juicy leaves. They are then conveyed in huge bundles
into the valley, where they are boiled in large vessels. From the aro-
matic juice thus obtained the esteemed cassia oil is recovered by means
of a most primitive distilling apparatus. As the Li-kin stations on the
road to Canton levy an excessive duty upon the oil, in addition to that
exacted by the Imperial Customs, the oil is carried in tins across the
hills to Pakhoi and thence transported to Hong-Kong vid Macao, in-
stead of reaching Canton by the waterway intended by nature for its
conveyance."
These statements are in agreement with those contained in a report
presented to the Hong-Kong Government by Mr. Charles Ford, which
will be found reprinted in the Journal of the Linnaan Society, Decem-
ber, 1882, and in which much valuable information is given. More
recently (1895) Messrs. Siemssen & Co. of Hong-Kong, on whose be-
half Herr Schroeter's visit was made, sent a representative, Mr. Struck-
meyer, to the Loting-Chow districts, in company with the German
Consul, Dr. Knappe. The report of these travellers is sufficiently in-
teresting to warrant its reproduction here, as this oil is of great com-
mercial importance, and reliable information as to its production is
very scarce. It read as follows:— i —
" We embarked on the right bank of the West river, opposite Tack-
Hing-Chow, at six a.m. on 15th December, 1895. We left there our large
boat and went to a place with extensive matting factories, located on
the Loting-Chow or Lintau river, arriving there about half-past two
o'clock in the afternoon. Next morning we continued our march to
Loting-Chow, under the guidance of a Chinese, a manager of one of
the largest matting establishments in Lintau. We were attended by a
servant of the Consul, who also served as interpreter, and by several
Chinese coolies. After a brisk march we took up our quarters in a
small Chinese temple, and made strclls through the city, which, although
small, seems to be a busy trading place. Loting-Chow is pre-eminently
a centre for all the products of the cassia tree, and for firewood to be
shipped thence to Canton and Macao.
" The cassia plantations are still further inland, and we had to defer
visiting them until the next day, because they were too far off, accord-
ing to our informants in Loting-Chow. They proposed, however, to
accompany us the following day to cassia plantations as well as to a
distillery. During the afternoon we visited a dealer in cassia oil, the
only one in the place, he pretended. Subsequently, on our return, we
ascertained this statement to be false. At first he was very reticent,
but subsequently yielded to some pressure. He possessed a separating
funnel, a syphon, test-tubes, etc., and pretended to examine all oils offered
to him for sale, because he had been condemned, as he said, to $900
damages for inferior cassia oil sold by him some five years ago. He
assorts the commercial oil into four or five grades, but deals only in the
three best qualities, unadulterated in his opinion. He had in stock but
a small quantity of the best oil, and gave us small specimens of three
kinds of his oil, of which I shall treat more fully further on.