"The native products comprise red sandal-wood, dark red sugar-cane, elephants' tusks, ambergris, native gold, ya tsui tanfan, lit., 'duck-bill sulphate of copper.' "The goods used in trading are ivory boxes, trade silver, coloured satins, and the like." (ROCKHILL, T'oung Pao, XVI., 1915, pp. 622-3.) Cf. CHAU JU-KWA, p. 126." XXXIV., p. 423. "There is a great deal of trade, and many merchants and vessels go thither. But the staple trade of the Island is elephants' teeth, which are very abundant; and they have also much ambergris, as whales are plentiful.” Chau Ju-kwa has, p. 126: "The products of the country [Ts'öng-pa] consist of elephants' tusks, native gold, ambergris and yellow sandal-wood." XXXVI., p. 438. ADEN. In the Ying yai shêng lan we read that "the kingdom (of A-tan) is on the sea-coast. It is rich and prosperous, the people follow the doctrine of the Moslims and their speech is Arabic. Their tempers are overbearing and violent. They have seven to eight thousand well-trained soldiers, horse and foot, whom the neighbouring countries fear." (W. W. ROCKHILL, T'oung Pao, XVI., 1915, p. 607.) There is a description of the giraffe under the name of K'i lin; it "has forelegs over nine feet long, its hind ones are about six feet. Beside its ears grow fleshy horns. It has a cow's tail and a deer's body. It eats millet, beans, and flour cakes" (p. 609). In the Si Yang Chao kung tien lu (1520 A.D.), we have a similar description: "Its front legs are nine feet long, its hind legs six feet. Its hoofs have three clefts, it has a flat mouth. Two short fleshy horns rise from the back of the top of its head. It has a cow's tail and a deer's body. This animal is called K'i lin; it eats grain of any kind." (Ibid.) Cf. FERRAND, J. Asiatique, July-Aug., 1918, pp. 155-158. XXXVI., p. 439. At the time of Chau Ju-kwa, Aden was perhaps the most important port of Arabia for the African and Arabian trade with India and the countries beyond. It seems highly probable that the Ma-li-pa of the Chinese must be understood as including Aden, of which they make no mention whatsoever, but which was one of "the great commercial centres of the Arabs." HIRTH and ROCKHILL, P. 25 n. XXXVI., pp. 442 seq. THE CITY OF ESHER. Shehr, a port on the Hadramaut coast, is mentioned by Chau Ju-kwa under the name of Shi ho among the dependencies of the country of the Ta-shï (Arabs.). (HIRTH and ROCKHILL, p. 116.) XXXVIII., pp. 444-445. DUFAR. We read in the Ying yai shêng lan: "This country [Tsu fa erh] is between the sea and the mountains. To the east and south is nothing but the sea. To the north and west are ranges of mountains. One reaches it from the kingdom of Ku-li (Calicut) journeying north-westward for ten days and nights. It has no walled towns or villages. The people all follow the religion of the Moslims. Their physical appearance is good, their culture is great, the language sincere. "The native products are frankincense, which is the sap of a tree. There is also dragon's blood, aloes, myrrh, an-hsi-hsiang (benzoin), liquid storax, muh-pieh-tzu (Momordica cochinchinensis), and the like, all of which they exchange for Chinese hempen cloth, silks, and china-ware." (ROCKHILL, Toung Pao, XVI., 1915, pp. 611-612.) The Sing ch'a sheng lan mentions: "The products are the tsu-la-fa (giraffe), gold coins, leopards, ostriches, frankincense, ambergris." (Ibid., p. 614.) Dufar is mentioned by Chau Ju-kwa under the name of Nu-fa among the dependencies of the country of the Ta-shy (Arabs). (HIRTH and ROCKHILL, pp. 116, 121.) XXXVIII., pp. 445-449. FRANKINCENSE. Chau Ju-kwa (HIRTH and ROCKHILL, pp. 195-196) tells us: "Ju hiang ('milk incense'), or hün-lu-hiang, comes from the three Ta-shi countries of Ma-lo-pa, Shr-ho, and Nu-fa, from the depths of the remotest mountain valleys. The tree which yields this drug may, on the whole, be compared to the sung (pine). Its trunk is notched with a hatchet, upon which the resin flows out, and when hardened, turns into incense, which is gathered and made into lumps. It is transported on elephants to the Ta-shï (on the coast); the Ta-shr load it upon their ships for barter against other goods in San-fo-ts'i: and it is for this reason that the incense is commonly collected at San-fo-ts'i [the three ports of the Hadhranaut coast]. "When the foreign merchants come to that place to trade, the Customs authorities, according to the relative strength of its fragrance, distinguish thirteen classes of incense. Of these, the very best is called kién-hiang, or 'picked incense': it is round and of the size of the end of a finger; it is commonly called ti-ju or 'dripping milk.' The second quality is called p'ing ju, or 'potted milk,' and its colour is inferior to that of the 'picked incense.' The next quality is called p'ing hiang, or 'potted incense,' so called, they say, owing to its being prized so much at the time of gathering, that it is placed in pots (p'ing). In this ping hiang (variety of frankincense) there are three grades, superior, medium and inferior. The next quality is called taihiang, or 'bag incense'; thus called, they say, because at the time of gathering, it is merely put into bags; it is also divided into three qualities, like the p'ing hiang. "The next kind is the ju-t'a; it consists of incense mixed with gravel. "The next kind is the heï-t'a, because its colour is black. The next kind is the shui-shi-hei-t'a, because it consists of incense which has been 'water damaged,' the aroma turned, and the colour spoiled while on board ship. "Mixed incense of various qualities and consisting of broken pieces is called chö-siau ('cut-up'); when passed through a sieve and made into dust, it is called ch'an-mo (powder'). The above are the various varieties of frankincense." |