Fisherman from China became a millionaire after catching a log instead of a fish in his net

I wish we could fish like that, dear readers! Yes, for such fishing is not even sorry to let my husband go (well, if he is)).

If not, you can try your own luck))).

That very day began as usual, as any other day.

When 58-year-old fisherman Min Kwok from Hong Kong pulled a huge log (in fact, not even a log, and some snags), he was upset and wanted to throw the find. But a strange aroma emanating from the wood caught his attention. It smelled like a yellowish liquid, like honey.

At the time, the fisherman did not yet know that the log was worth about a billion Hong Kong dollars, or 128 million U.S. dollars.

It was a huge piece of Aquilria, an eagle or agarwood. Inside it was agar oil, which is valued more than gold because of its smell and medicinal properties.

The fisherman sold his find. Now he fishes only for his own pleasure from his own yacht, which departs from his villa on the ocean shore.

Why is eaglewood worth so much?

The fabulous price of the tree is due to the agarwood (eagle oil), which smells like sandalwood.

The fragrance remains on the body for over a day, which is why it is used to manufacture expensive perfumes.

Agar oil is valuable in medicine. It is used to make medicines to enhance immunity, treat heart, kidney and brain diseases.

Its ointments are used to treat skin diseases, wounds and burns. The oiled wood is prized and used to make aromatic sticks and incense that act as an aphrodisiac.

Why you can’t artificially produce agarwood oil

Unfortunately, you can’t just plant a plantation of trees and get the right amount of oil from them.

The oily liquid is a protective response to wood infestation by special rotting parasites carried by insect pests.

Since the middle part of the trunk is the softest, it is hardest hit by rot and gradually turns into precious oil. The higher the humidity, the more the tree rots and the more oily liquid is produced.

Many agarwood trees used to grow in Southeast Asia, but because of logging, they are now increasingly rare. Scientists tried to recreate the oil using chemical reactions, but failed. The resulting substance did not have such an intense odor and had no medicinal properties.

An attempt was made to grow eagle trees in the northern part of India. But the oil did not form in them, as there were no insects in the area that carried the parasites deep into the tree. Attempts to relocate the insects also failed – they simply could not survive in the local climate. Eagle trees are still growing there, but there is no fragrant oil inside them.

Therefore, unless scientists find a way to obtain this substance naturally, the price of natural incense will continue to increase.