The Institutes of Akbar 65.1.3

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.