The libanotophorous region of the old Sabæans is in fact the very country visited by Carter in 1844 and 1846, and lying as he states on the south coast of Arabia between long. 52° 47′ and 52° 23′ east.[532] It was also known to the ancients, at least to Strabo and Arrian, that the opposite African coast likewise produced olibanum,[533] as it is now doing almost exclusively; and the latter states that the drug is shipped partly to Egypt and partly to Barbaricon at the mouth of the Indus.
As exemplifying the great esteem in which frankincense was held by the ancients, the memorable gifts presented by the Magi to the infant Saviour will occur to every mind. A few other instances may be mentioned: Herodotus[534] relates that the Arabians paid to Darius, king of Persia, an annual tribute of 1000 talents of frankincense.
A remarkable Greek inscription, brought to light in modern times[535] on the ruins of the temple of Apollo at Miletus, records the gifts made to the shrine by Seleucus II., king of Syria (b.c. 246-227), and his brother Antiochus Hierax, king of Cilicia, which included in addition two vessels of gold and silver, ten talents of frankincense (λιβανωτοός) and one of myrrh.
The emperor Constantine made numerous offerings to the church under St. Silvester, bishop of Rome a.d. 314-335, of costly vessels and fragrant drugs and spices,[536] among which mention is made in several instances of Aromata and Aromata in incensum, terms under which olibanum is to be understood.[537]
With regard to the consumption of olibanum in other countries, it is an interesting fact that the Arabs in their intercourse with the Chinese, which is known to have existed as early as the 1Oth century, carried with them olibanum, myrrh, dragon’s blood, and liquid storax,[538] drugs which are still imported from the west into China. The first-named is called Ju-siang, i.e. milk perfume, a curious allusion to its Arabic name Lubân signifying milk. In the year 1872, Shanghai imported[539] of this drug no less than 1,360 peculs (181,333 lb.).
Collection—The fragrant gum-resin is distributed through the leaves and bark of the trees, and even exudes as a milky juice also from the flowers; its fragrance is stated to be already appreciable in a certain distance. Cruttenden,[540] who visited the Somali Country in 1843, thus describes the collecting of olibanum by the Mijjertheyn tribe, whose chief port is Bunder Murayah (lat. 11° 43′ N.)[541]:—
“During the hot season the men and boys are daily employed in collecting gums, which process is carried on as follows:—About the end of February or beginning of March, the Bedouins visit all the trees in succession and make a deep incision in each, peeling off a narrow strip of bark for about 5 inches below the wound. This is left for a month when a fresh incision is made in the same place, but deeper. A third month elapses and the operation is again repeated, after which the gum is supposed to have attained a proper degree of consistency. The mountain sides are immediately covered with parties of men and boys, who scrape off the large clear globules into a basket, whilst the inferior quality that has run down the tree is packed separately. The gum when first taken from the tree is very soft, but hardens quickly.... Every fortnight the mountains are visited in this manner, the trees producing larger quantities as the season advances, until the middle of September, when the first shower of rain puts a close to the gathering that year.”
The informations due to J. M. Hildebrandt, who visited the Somali in 1875, are in accordance with Cruttenden’s statements. The former says, that the latest crops are greatly injured by the rains, the drug being partly dissolved by the water.
Carter[542] describing the collection of the drug in southern Arabia, writes thus:—“The gum is procured by making longitudinal incisions through the bark in the months of May and December, when the cuticle glistens with intumescence from the distended state of the parts beneath; the operation is simple, and requires no skill on the part of the operator. On its first appearance the gum comes forth white as milk, and according to its degree of fluidity, finds its way to the ground, or concretes on the branch near the place from which it first issued, from whence it is collected by men and boys employed to look after the trees by the different families who possess the land in which they grow.” According to Captain Miles,[543] the drug is not collected by the people of the country, but by Somalis who cross in numbers from the opposite coast, paying the Arab tribes for the privilege. The Arabian Lubân, he says, is considered inferior to the African.
It would even appear that the collection of the drug has ceased in Arabia, and that the names of Lubân Maheri or Mascati or Sheehaz, referring to the coast of Arabia between Ras Fartak (52° 10′ E.) and Ras Morbas (54° 34′) are now applied to the olibanum brought there from the opposite African coast.[544] Hildebrandt informed one of us (letter dated 26th Dec., 1878) that he has ascertained at Aden, that all the frankincense imported in Aden comes from Africa.