The Sun.
London, England, 1818-08-27 00:00:00

PRICE SEVENPENC F.

LTTERAIIY REVIEW.

MR. 'CLARKE ABEL'S JoUItNEY IN THE INTERIOR

OF CHINA

The ptiblic curiosity having been rather stimu•
late(' than sat isfi,d by the accounts hitherto pub.
lished of the late Embassy to China; the appear.
auce of tl►is long promised Work has been looked
for with considerable impatience. Mr. ABEL has

acted judiciously it takMg due time to mature it,
and has certainly shewn more genuine respect
both for himself and his readers, than if, availing
himself of the popular rage for novelty, he had

hurried his journal through the press, and trusted
to the attraction of the subject as an excuse for
all imperfections. The scientific nature of his
undertaking, indeed, demanded greater delibera-
tion and more extensive research than are usually

exacted from ordinary travellers ; and in the dis-
charge of these imperious obligations, he might
contentedly forego the chance of ephemeral no-
toriety, for the sure prospect of a well-grounded
aml durable reputation. -
The narrative, included in a relation of the
voyage outward and homeward, contains an ac-
count of the most interesting transactions of the
Embassy, and may be said to comprise all that

he predecessors of the writer had left If half-

told." But these advantages, though great, are
only of secondary importance, compared .vith the
researches and discoveries in natural .history
which form the distinguishing feature of the
work. By his intelligence and zeal in tlicepur-
suits, Mr. ABEL has amply justified the high
,re-
commendation to which he owed his station in. '-
the Embassy, and it is pleasing. ►o add, that his

descriptions are delivered in a much happier style
than that which Professors in general deign to -.
adopt. They are dives.ed, as much as possible,
of technical formality, and are relieved, by apt and.
lively illustrations, from the ft igid brevity of strict
definition ; we may characterize them in short,
by observing►, that they unite the resolute. ac-
curacy of PENNANT, with the simplicity and grace
of St. PIERRE.

We shall dose our notice of this interesting
work for the present, by citing the author's de-
scription of the camphor tree, and of ths process
for extracting the gum.

" In giving some account of the magnificent
plants which often adorned the banks of the river,
during our progress through the southern pro-
vinces of China, I
must not omit to mention Om
camphor tree, Lauri's camphora, growing to the
size of our largest elms or oaks, in the provinces
of Kiang-si and Canton. The Chinese affirm
that it sometimes attains the height of more than
three hundred feet, and a circumference greater
than can be embraced by the extended arms of

hrenly men. We saw no instance of its mavii-

rude tl►at at all jusiifiod this description. The
largest that was turasured by the persons of the
Ethba..sy was 20 feet in circumference, and about
fifty feet high, and was chiefly remarkable for the
size of its l?ranches; many of them being nine
feet in circumference.

" The camphor ob.'.ained from this tree is less
valued by the Chinese than that which they pro-
cure from Borneo. This preference probably de-
pends on the adulteration of the article by the
Chinese manufacturer, since the mode of relining
it is well known. The piocess pursued in many
respects resembles that. used hi Japan, and has
been described by.the Pere d'Entrecolles. Fresh,
gathered branches of the tree having been steeped
for two or three days in water, are then boded
in a proper vessel, being the whole time conti-
nually stirred about with a stick, till the guni he-
gills to adhere to it in the form at a ,‘ bite jelly.
The fluid is then poured off into a glazed vessel,
and atter being at rest for some hours, is
found concreted. The el ode camphor is then pu.
rifled in the following manner. A quantity of the
finely powdered materials of some old wall,
built of earth, is put as a first layer at the bot-
tom of a copper basin ; on this is placed a layer
of camphor, and thin another of earth, and so
on till the vessel is nearly filled; the series being
terminated with a layer of earth. Over this is laid
a covering, of the leaves of the plant Po-Ito, per-
haps a species of Menihq. A second basin is now
inverted over the first, and luted on. The whole,
thus prepared, is put over a regulated tire, and
submitted to its action for a certain length of

rime; it is then !moved uiiil sutiered to'cool.—
The.complior is found to have sublimed, and to
be attached to !he upper basin. ]t is further re-
fined by repetitions of the same process.
" Besides the Laurus camphora, I found ano-
ther species of laurel highly impregnated with the
pungency; amid flavour of the gum, and which is
probably used by the Chinese for its extraction.
li so neatly resembled its congener when grow-

in{;, as to require a close examination to distin-
guish. it is, however, distinctly srpaiated by
the form of its leaves And the distribution of their
nerves. The camphor tree is one of the ptiuripai
timber trees of Chit!:,, being used in buil/hug,
a:id in the labnication vi tutidei of furniturn.''