[According to some, ad. native African name kambi.] The hard red wood of Baphia nitida (N.O. Leguminosæ), imported from West Africa, and used for dyeing, and in turning and cabinet-making; called also BARWOOD.
1698. Dampier, Voy. (1705), II. II. 58. At Cherburg near Sierra-Leone … there is Camwood, which is much like Bloodwood, if not the same.
1701. Lond. Gaz., No. 3758/8. Cam Wood and Elephant’s Teeth, lately cast away upon the Goodwin Sands.
1788. Clarkson, Impolicy of Slave Trade, 7. The first African woods, that were known to be objects of commercial importance, were Camwood and Barwood.
1876. R. Burton, Gorilla L., I. 257. Corisco had long been celebrated for cam-wood … yielding a better red than Brazil.
