1825.—"A great deal of the furniture in Ceylon is made of ebony, as well as of the Calamander tree ... which is become scarce from the improvident use formerly made of it."—Heber (1844), ii. 161.
1834.—"The forests in the neighbourhood afford timber of every kind (Calamander excepted)."—Chitty, Ceylon Gazetteer, 198.
CALAMBAC, s. The finest kind of aloes-wood. Crawfurd gives the word as Javanese, kalambak, but it perhaps came with the article from [Champa] (q.v.).
1510.—"There are three sorts of aloes-wood. The first and most perfect sort is called Calampat."—Varthema, 235.
1516.—"... It must be said that the very fine calembuco and the other eagle-wood is worth at Calicut 1000 maravedis the pound."—Barbosa, 204.
1539.—"This Embassador, that was Brother-in-law to the King of the Batas ... brought him a rich Present of Wood of Aloes, Calambaa, and 5 quintals of Benjamon in flowers."—F. M. Pinto, in Cogan's tr. p. 15 (orig. cap. xiii.).
1551.—(Campar, in Sumatra) "has nothing but forests which yield aloeswood, called in India Calambuco."—Castanheda, bk. iii. cap. 63, p. 218, quoted by Crawfurd, Des. Dic. 7.
1552.—"Past this kingdom of Camboja begins the other Kingdom called Campa (Champa), in the mountains of which grows the genuine aloes-wood, which the Moors of those parts call Calambuc."—Barros, I. ix. 1.
[c. 1590.—"Kalanbak (calembic) is the wood of a tree brought from [Zírbád]; it is heavy and full of veins. Some believe it to be the raw wood of aloes."—Āīn, ed. Blochmann, i. 81.
[c. 1610.—"From this river (the Ganges) comes that excellent wood Calamba, which is believed to come from the Earthly Paradise."—Pyrard de Laval, Hak. Soc. i. 335.]