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richest saccharine juice. The natives grow several kinds, some of 
which they assert to be the wild produce of the country ; but 
the Golden-yellow Cane, imported by the Chinese, is most 
esteemed. It is not used for making sugar ; but, the outer skin 
being removed, the inner part is chewed, and the fibrous portion 
is thrown away after the sweet juice has been thus extracted. 
Some Vutmegs, planted for an experiment by Mr. Brooke, 
grew admirably without manuring or any attention, bemg wholly 
left to nature and not even the weeds removed. ‘The result 
proved that this valuable spice, which requires much care and 
cost for its production at Sincapore and Penang, may here be 
raised, as cheaply as Cocoa-nuts, viz., merely by clearmg away 
the weeds. : 
‘Some plants of Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Clove, are growing 
now in a garden at Sarawak, and attesting the suitableness of 
its soil and climate to the production of the finer spices. 
As may be supposed, the heat and moisture of Borneo are 
too great for European fruits and vegetables in general. Some 
kinds, as French Beans, Cucumbers, Endive, Tomatos, and Aspa- 
ragus, have succeeded tolerably ; and it may be hoped that, on 
the mountains, others will do well; and that the Settlement of 
Labuhan will never be so destitute of culinary vegetables as Is 
Sincapore, where the few cabbages which are produced are 
cultivated in flower-pots and require the greatest attention. 
The Chinese in Sariwak have several gardens of native escu- 
lents near the town. The Eyg-plant there yields an excellent 
fruit; and a large Radish is much prized, which, when boiled, 
tastes like a Turnep. Sweet Potatos, Yams, Earth-nuts (Arachis 
hypogea), and various kinds of Pulse, Cucumbers, and pot-herbs 
are grown for the use of Europeans ; also Sugar-Cane and Pine- 
Apples for the Malays, who are averse to the trouble of culti- 
vating these esculents for themselves. Some kinds of Fern 
afford an excellent vegetable in their unopened fronds, which 
are boiled and preferred by foreigners to most of the productions 
of the island, except the cabbage of various Palms. Though 
several sorts of Fern are eaten, the AZarattia, which grows plen- 
tifully on river-sides, is preferred. 
Of all the esculent vegetables, the heart or cabbage of the 
Palm called Widong, is the most esteemed. It consists of the 
whole unexpanded foliage, and is delicately white, with a very 
sweet nutty flavour. It excels the cabbage of the Cocoa-nut 
Palm, but is inferior to that of the Pinang or Areca, which, 
however, on account of the value of the tree, is very seldom 
used, the extraction of this edible part causing, invariably, the 
