144 Voyage of the Novara. 



plant nutmeg, clove, and fruit-trees. But the majority of tlie 

 natives busy themselves with sowing the Gambir and Betel 

 shrubs in the jungle, the leaves of which are readily disposed 

 of at a good profit among the betel-chewing inhabitants of the 

 Indian Archipelago for an ingredient of their beloved masti- 

 catory. The mode of cultivating these, however, is very 

 peculiar. As Gambir speedily exhausts the soil in which it 

 is planted, and renders it quite barren, the cultivators find 

 themselves compelled to advance as though by a sort of per- 

 petual emigration. They hew their way into the jungle, 

 where they plant the Gambir {Nauclea Gamhw)* the withered 

 branches and leaves of which, after it has served their pur- 

 pose, are used as manure for the next shrub planted, the Betel 

 {Piper methysticmn). After a short time the soil becomes un- 

 suited for this also, and needs several years' rest before it can 

 again be made to produce any crop. 



In the prosecution of this thriftless cultivation the natives 

 are compelled to penetrate deeper and deeper into the forest, 

 in order to clear away with the axe spots of virgin soil for 

 the planting of the Gambir. They frequently pass months 

 at a time in the jungle, and with the carelessness character- 

 istic of all southern races, constantly allow themselves to be 

 surprised by wild beasts. Government, however, does not 

 neglect publisliing ordinances, by which as far as possible to 

 discourage these formidable invaders. They have offered a 



* From this shruL is prepared the drug Kino, once much used in the Pharmacopoeia, 

 but now displaced by catechu. 



