[37] From internal evidence it is apparent that this relation is
written from Nueva Espana, a thing which the reader must constantly
keep in mind; also that it was written in 1619--probably in January
or February, as it was considered by the Council in May of that year.
[38] Delgado (_Historia_, pp. 418, 419) and Blanco (_Flora_,
pp. 428-429) describe a tree called _dangcalan_, or _palo maria_
(_calophyllum inophyllum_--Linn.), which is probably the tree referred
to in the text. While generally a tree of ordinary size, it is said
to grow to huge dimensions in Mindanao. Besides its use as above
mentioned, an oil or balsam is distilled from the leaves, or obtained
from the trunk, which has valuable medicinal uses, in both external
and internal application. This oil sometimes serves to give light,
but the light is dim, and to anoint the hoofs of horses. It blooms
in November, the flowers growing in bunches of seven or nine each;
and its leaf is oval and tapering. The wood is light, exceedingly
tough, and reddish in color. It is very plentiful in the Visayas,
and generally grows close to the water. It is known by a number of
different names, among them being bitanhol or bitanjol, and dincalin.
[39] Perhaps the guijo (also spelt guiso or guisoc; _Dipterocarpus
guiso_--Bl.), a wood of red color, which is strong, durable, tough,
and elastic; it produces logs 75 feet long by 24 inches square, and is
now used in Hongkong for wharf-decks and flooring, but in Manila for
carriage shafts (_U.
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