The mode in which it is prepared for sale, consists in carefully separating from the leaves and seeds, the larger stalks, retaining only the smaller stems, which are compressed into a conical mass, varying from two to four inches in diameter, and from one to two feet in length, the whole being covered by some dried vegetable, firmly secured by thin withes. The substance thus manufactured is ordinarily employed for the purpose of smoking, and is endowed with powerful stimulant and intoxicating principles, consequently it is proportionately prized by those nations who are familiar with those peculiar qualities, and is probably viewed more in the light of a luxury owing to the absence of all other sources of excitement, for which, perhaps, it was the only available substitute. The Zulu Kaffirs and Delagoans of the South Eastern Coast use it under the same or like names. Amongst the former the herb is powdered and used as snuff. The true tobacco is known amongst them, and is grown to a certain extent, but the use of hemp both for smoking and snuffing, is far more common. Perhaps, requiring less cultivation, it suits best their indolent habits. The most eminent of the Persian and Arabian authors refer the origin of hemp intoxication to the natives of Hindostan. But few traces, however, of its early use can be found in any part of India. In the “Rajniguntu,” a treatise on materia medica, the date of which is vaguely estimated at about six hundred years ago, there is a clear account of this drug. The names under which it is there known are, “_Bijoya_,” “_Ujoya_,” and “_Joya_,” meaning promoters of success; “_Brijputta_,” or the strengthener; “_Chapola_,” the causer of a reeling gait; “_Ununda_,” or the laughter-moving; “_Hursini_,” the exciter of sexual desire. In another treatise in Sanscrit, of later date, the above is repeated; and in a religious treatise, called the Hindu Tantra, it is stated that _Sidhee_ is more intoxicating than wine. In the fifth chapter of the Institutes of Menu, Brahmins are prohibited to use Pabandoo or onions, _Gunjara_ or _Gunjah_, and such condiments as have strong and pungent scents.