Szafra and Beder are the only places in the Hedjaz where the balsam of Mekka, or Balesan, can be procured in a pure state. The tree from which it is collected grows in the neighbouring mountains, but principally upon Djebel Sobh, and is called by the Arabs Beshem. I was informed that it is from ten to fifteen feet high, with a smooth trunk, and thin bark. In the middle of summer, small incisions are made in the bark; and the juice, which immediately issues, is taken off with the thumb-nail, and put into a vessel. The gum appears to be of two kinds; one of a white, and the other of a yellowish-white colour: the first is the most esteemed. I saw here some of the latter sort, in a small sheep-skin, which the Bedouins use in bringing it to market: it had a strong, turpentine smell, and its taste was bitter. The people of Szafra usually adulterate it with sesamum oil, and tar. When they try its purity, they dip their finger into it and then set fire to it; if it burn [p.310] without hurting or leaving a mark on the finger, they judge it to be of good quality; but if it burn the finger as soon as it is set on fire, they consider it to be adulterated. I remember to have read, in Bruce’s Travels, an account of the mode of trying it, by letting a drop fall into a cup filled with water; the good Balesan falling coagulated to the bottom, and the bad dissolving, and swimming on the surface. I tried this experiment, which was unknown to the people here, and found the drop swim upon the water; I tried also their test by fire upon the finger of a Bedouin, who had to regret his temerity: I therefore regarded the balsam sold here as adulterated; it was of less density than honey. I wished to purchase some; but neither my own baggage, nor any of the shops of Szafra, could furnish any thing like a bottle to hold it: the whole skin was too dear. The Bedouins, who bring it here, usually demand two or three dollars per pound for it, when quite pure; and the Szafra Arabs re-sell it to the hadjys of the great caravan, at between eight and twelve dollars per pound in an adulterated state. It is bought up principally by Persians. The Balesan for sale at Djidda and Mekka, from whence it comes to Cairo, always undergoes several adulterations; and if a hadjy does not casually meet with some Bedouins, from whom he may purchase it at first hand, no hopes can be entertained of getting it in a pure state. The richer classes of the hadjys put a drop of Balesan into the first cup of coffee they drink in the morning, from a notion that it acts as a tonic. The seeds of the tree from which it is obtained, are employed in the Hedjaz to procure abortion.