282 



MYETACE^. 



s 



In tlie beginning of the 8th century, the same spice is noticed 

 by Benedictus Crispus,^ archbishop of Milan, who calls it Cariophylus 

 ater ; and in A.d. 716, it is enumerated with other commodities in 

 the diploma granted by Chilperic II. to the monastery of Corbie in 

 Normandy.^ 



We find cloves among the wares on which duty was levied at Aeon 

 (the modern Acre) in Palestine at the end of the 12th century, at which 

 period that city was a great emporium of Mediterranean trade.^ They 

 are likewise enumerated in the tariff of Marseilles of A.D. 1228,* in that 

 of Barcelona of 1252^ and of Paris, 129G. 



These facts show that the spice was a regular object of commerce at 

 this period. But it was very costly : the Household Book of the 

 Countess of Leicester, A.D. 1265,' gives its price as 10s. to 128. per lb., 

 exactly the same as that of saffron. Several other examples of the 

 high cost of the spice might be adduced. 



Of the place of growth of cloves, the first distinct notice seems to be 

 that of the Arabian geographer Ibn Khurdadbah,^ a.d. 869-88.5, who 

 names the spice, with cocoa-nuts, sugar, and sandal-wood as produced 

 in Java. Doubtless he was misinformed, for the clove-tree had not 

 come so far west at that period. Marco Polo " made the same mistake 



four centuries later : 

 growth of the island. 



finding the 



spice 



m 



Java, he supposed it the 



Nicolo Conti," a Venetian merchant who lived from A.D. 1424 o 

 14^48 in the Indian Archipelago, learned that cloves are brought t» 

 Java from the island of Banda, fifteen days' sail further east. JV "n 

 the arrival of the Portuguese at the commencement of the 16th century, 

 more accurate accounts of the Spice Islands began to reach Europe . 

 and Pigaf etta," the companion of Magellan, gave a very good description 

 of the clove-tree as he observed it in 1521. , . 



The Portuguese had the principal share in the clove trade for near) 

 a century. In 1605 they were expelled by the Dutch, who took excn 

 sive possession of the Moluccas and adopted extraordinary measure* i^^ 

 keeping the traffic in their own hands. Yet notwithstanding this, iaij,L 

 supplies of cloves reached England direct. In 1 G09 a ship of the h^^ 

 India Company called the Consent arrived with 112,000 lb., the ai^^ 

 on which amounted to £1400 and the impost to as much more. ^ 

 spice ungarbled was sold at 5s. Q>d. and hs. M. per Ib.—of course, 

 bond.i- 



To effect their purpose, the Dutch endeavoured to extirpate t e 

 clove-tree from its native islands, and even instituted perw^i 



dical 



* Poematium Ifedicum—'M.igne, Patro- 

 logim Cursus, Ixxxix. (1850) 374. 



^I'^'i-'lessus, Biplomaia, Charlce, etc., ii. 



^ JiecueU dea Bistorien-s des Croisaden, 

 Lois, (1843) 173. 



•» Mdty et Gmndon, Hid. des Actes . . . 

 (l^'JamunkipaliM de Marseille, 1841. 373. 

 Capmany, Memorias sobre la marina 

 etc. de Burcdona, iii, 170, 



(18o^)^^ir '^''^'^^' ^^'''"^ ' arcMologique, ix. 



7 Maimers and JJou,chold Expenses ia 

 England (Roxburgh Club), 1841. Hi. 



8 Ze Livre des routes et <^^' j!%m 

 tracluit par C Barbier de Meynard, 



Asiat. ser. 6. tome v (l^y-^— ''\ 217.-1* 

 Yule, .Varco Polo, "" (^/^itbat the 

 should however be bonie in ^' ,,i sense 

 name Java was appbcd m a h • i^nds of 

 by the Arab geographers to tue 



the Archipelago. ,.,/„,\5 /n*"*"* ''" 



" Kunstniann, I^'^p'f'TlSa '^■ 

 X V"^ Jahrhundert, Miiiichen, ^^ i^ 



11 Ramusio, DcUe navtgat^oui 

 Venctia, 1554, fol. 4046. (j^i^jtial 



13 Calendar of State Papers, 

 series. East In-Ues, 1SG2. itji- 



