THE BANDA NUTMEG PLANTATIONS. 5 



pull detaches the nut, and causes it to drop into the little open basket, 

 which contains only three or four Nutmegs. Thus the Mace escapes 

 the injury which it receives by contact with the ground ; and there is 

 no hunting for the fallen fruit. In the Straits, no pains are taken to 

 gather the Nutmegs : they are picked up as they drop : many are lost, 

 and all more or less damaged. The mode of breaking them is better 

 too : at Banda the nuts are spread on a sort of drumhead and struck 

 with a flat piece of board, which disengages many kernels at one stroke; 

 after which they are carefully stripped of the Mace, by detaching the 

 latter with the hand, beginning at the apex ; instead of scraping off 

 the Mace with large coarse knives from the base, which breaks and 

 curls the blade of the spice. 



The Mace is dried in the sun ; but the Nutmegs are smoked by 

 slow fires of wood, for three months, before they are fit for exportation. 

 Mace is of three qualities : it is packed in casks containing about 280 

 lbs. : a man stands in the cask and presses down the spice, as it is 

 filled in. The nuts are placed in wooden bins, filled with lime and 

 water, which are mixed to the consistency of mortar. There they re- 

 main for three months, and are then sorted into three qualities and 

 put in casks, like the Mace. The best Japan Teak is used for the 

 casks, of which there is a regular manufactory. The refuse nuts are 

 ground to powder, and converted into what is called Nutmeg Soap, by 

 steaming them over large cauldrons for six hours : the warm mass is 

 then subjected to strong pressure, when a brown fluid runs out, which 

 cools to a saponaceous appearance, and, under the name of Nutmeg 

 Soap, is stated to be an effectual remedy for chronic rheumatism.' 



Except Spice, the Banda Isles produce little : llice and the neces- 

 saries of life are imported. The large Canari-trecs* yield a sweet escu- 

 lent nut, which contains much oil. Vines are said to bear abundantly 

 the finest grapes ; and the ordinary fruits of the Indian Archipelago 

 all grow there, — as the Durion, Mangosteen, Jack, and many others : 

 but the Nutmeg is so much more valuable, that no importance is at- 

 tached to the other fruits, and even vegetables for the table are hardly 

 reared. From the observations which I made in Banda, I came to the 

 conclusion, that it is desirable always to obtain seed from thence, for the 

 culture of the valuable Nutmeg. In that group of islands the original 

 and distinctive character and qualities of the Nutmeg are retained : 



• * Canarium commune. 



