The Institutes of Akbar 65.1
The Áín i Akbari (Blochmann, Jarrett) 65.1
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65.1.1
1. ’Ambar. Some say that ’Ambar grows at the bottom of the sea, and that it is the food brought up again after eating, by various animals living in the sea. Others say that fishes eat it and die from it, and that it is taken from their intestines. According to some, it is the dung of the sea-cow, called sárá; or the foam of the sea. Others again say, it trickles from the mountains of islands. Many look upon it as marine gum; others whose opinion I adopt, take it to be wax. It is said that on some mountains a great deal of honey is to be found, so much in fact that it runs into the sea; the wax rises to the surface, when the heat of the sun reduces it to a solid state. As the bees collect the honey from sweet smelling flowers, ’Ambar is, naturally, scented. Bees are also occasionally found in it. Abū Sīnā thinks that there is a fountain at the bottom of the sea, from which ’Ambar rills, when it is carried by waves to the shore. ’Ambar, when fresh, is moist; the heat of the sun causes it to dry up. It is of various colours: the white one is the best, and the black is the worst; the middling-sort is pistachio-coloured and yellow. The best kind goes by the name of ashhab. It feels greasy, and consists of layers. If you break it, it looks yellowish white. The whiter, lighter, and more flexible it is, the better. Next in quality is the pistachio-coloured ’Ambar; and inferior to it the yellow kind, called Khashkhāshī. The black kind is bad; it is inflammable.
65.1.2
Greedy bāzār-dealers will mix it with wax, Mandal, and Lādan, &c.; but not every one has recourse to such practices. Mandal is a kind of ’Ambar taken from the intestines of dead fishes; it does not smell much. 2. Lādan is also often called ’Ambar. It is taken from a tree which grows in the confines of Qubrus (Cyprus) and Qīsis (Chios) or Qistis. It is a moisture that settles on the leaves of the tree. When goats in grazing pass near it, the hairs of their legs and the horn of their hoofs stick to it, and the whole then dries up. Such Lādan as is mixed with goat’s-hair, is counted superior. It looks greenish, and has a good smell. But Lādan which is mixed with horn is looked upon as inferior. Sometimes people tie ropes round about the trees, and collect the Lādan which sticks to them. Afterwards they boil it in water, clean it, and make it into cakes.
65.1.3
3. The Camphor tree is a large tree growing in the ghauts of Hindustan and in China. A hundred horsemen and upwards may rest in the shade of a single tree. Camphor is collected from the trunk and the branches. Some say that during summer a large number of serpents wind themselves round about the tree, for the sake of its coolness; people then mark such trees by shooting an arrow into the trunks, and collect the camphor during the winter. Others say that camphor trees are much frequented by leopards, which like camphor so much as never to go away from the trees. The camphor within the tree looks like small bits of salt; that on the outside like resin. It often flows from the tree on the ground, and gets after some time solid. If there are earthquakes during a year, or any other cosmical disturbances, camphor is found in large quantities. Of the various kinds of camphor, the best is called Ribāhī, or Qaiçūrī. Although different in name, they are the same; for it is said that the first camphor was found by a king of the name of Abdi near Qaisur, which is a place near the island of Ceylon. According to some books, it is white like snow: and this is true, for I have broken it myself from the tree. Ibn Baitar, however, said that it was originally red and shining, and only got white by artificial crystallization. Whatever the case may be, there is certainly a kind of camphor which is white in its natural state.
65.1.4
And of all other kinds it is the best, the whitest, which has the thinnest layers, the cleanest, and the largest. Inferior to it is the kind called Qurgit, which is Blackish and dirty. Still inferior is the light brown kind called Kaukab. The worst camphor is mixed with pieces of wood; it goes under the name of Balis. By artificial crystallization each kind will become clean and white. In some books camphor in its natural state is called Jiddnah or Bhimsini. If kept with a few barley grains, or peppercorns, or surkh ddnahs, it will evaporate the less. The camphor which is made of Zurumbad by mixing it with other ingredients, is called Chini or Mayyit-camphor. White Zurumbad is finely pounded, and mixed with sour cream of cow or buffaloe's milk; on the fourth day they put fresh cream to it, and beat it with the hand till foam appears, which they take away. With this they mix some camphor, put it into a box, and keep it for some time in the husks of grains. Or, they reduce some white stone to fine powder, mix it at the rate of ten dirhams of it with two dirhams of wax, and half a dirham of oil of Violet, or oil of Surkh Gul. The wax is first melted, and then mixed with the powder, so as to form a paste. They then put it between two stones, and make it thin and flat. When it gets cold, it looks like camphor, bits of which are mixed with it. Unprincipled men profit in this manner by the loss of others. 4. Zabad (civet) is also called Shakh.
65.1.5
It is a moist substance secreted during the rutting season by an animal which resembles a cat, having however, a larger face and mouth. The zabad which is brought from the harbour-town of Sumatra, from the territory of Achin, goes by the name of Sumatra zabad, and is by far the best. The moist substance itself is yellowish white. The animal has below its tail a bag, of the size of a small hazel nut, in which there are from five to six holes. The bag may be emptied every week or fortnight, and yields from half a tolah to eight mashahs. Some civet cats become so tame as to hold quiet when the bag is being emptied; but in the case of most animals, they have to catch hold of the tail, and draw it through the cage, when they take out the zabad with a shell, or by pressing gently against the bag. The price of a civet cat varies from 300 to 500 Rs. The zabad of the male is better than that of the female, because in the latter the vulva is just above the bag. When removed, the zabad is washed, and becomes afterwards one of the finest perfumes. The smell will remain a long time in the clothes, and even on the skin. There are several ways of washing it. If the quantity be small, they put it into a cup, or if greater, into a tin vessel, and wash it thirty times in cold water, and three times in warm water. The latter renders it thin and removes impurities.
65.1.6
Then they wash it again in cold water till it gets solid, when they wash it three times in lime juice, which removes all unpleasant smell. After this, they wash it again three times in cold water, pass it through a piece of cloth, put it into a China cup, and wash it three times in rose water. They then smear the zabád on the inside of the cup, keep it at night inverted in extract of Chambélí, or Raibél, or Surkh gul, or Gul i Karnah, and expose it at day-time to the rays of the sun, covered with a piece of white cloth till all moisture goes away. It may then be used, mixed with a little rose water. 5. Gaurah looks greyish white, but does not smell so well as the preceding. It is a moisture secreted during the rutting season by an animal like the civet cat, but somewhat larger. It is also brought from the confines of Achín. The price of this animal varies from 100 to 200 Rs. 6. Míd resembles the preceding, but is inferior to it. They mix it with other substances; hence they sell it in larger quantities. The animal which yields Míd, is found in various countries, and only sells from five to six dáms. Some say that Míd is the dried bag of the civet cat, pounded and boiled in water; the greasy substance which rises to the surface is the Míd. 7. ‘Úd, or wood of Aloes, called in Hind. Agar, is the root of a tree. They lop it off and bury it in the earth, when whatever is bad rots, and the remainder is pure aloes. Some say that they do so with the whole tree.
65.1.7
The statement occasionally found in some old books that the habitat of the tree is Central India, is an absurdity of fanciful writers. There are several kinds: the best is called Mandalí, and the second in quantity, Jabalí or Hindí. The smell of the wood, especially that of the first kind, is a preventive against fleas; but some think both kinds equal in this respect. Of other good kinds I may mention the Samandurí; the Qumárí, which is inferior to it; the Qáqulí, next in rank; the Barrí; the Qit‘í; and the Chinese, also called Qismúrí, which is wet and sweet. Still inferior are the Jalálí, the Máya-táqí, the Lawáqí, the Rítalí. But of all kinds the Mandalí is the best. Samandurí is grey, fatty, thick, hard, juicy, without the slightest sign of whitishness, and burns long. The best of all is the black and heavy; in water it settles at the bottom, is not fibrous, and may be easily pounded. The wood which floats is looked upon as bad. Former kings transplanted the tree to Gujrát, and now-a-days it grows in Chánpánír. It is generally brought from Achin and Dahnasari. Nothing is known of the habitat mentioned in old books. Aloewood is often used in compound perfumes; when eaten, it is exhilarating. It is generally employed in incense; the better qualities, in form of a powder, are often used for rubbing into the skin and clothes.