Nutmegs. 295 



moisture of these islands, where it rains more or less every 

 month in the year, seem exactly to suit the nutmeg-tree 

 which requires no manure and scarcely any attention. All 

 the year round flowers and ripe fruit are to be found, and 

 none of those diseases occur which, under a forced and un- 

 natural system of cultivation, have ruined the nutmeg-plant- 

 ers of Singapore and Penang. 



Few cultivated plants are more beautiful than nutmeg- 

 trees. They are handsomely shaped and glossy-leaved, 

 growing to the height of twenty or thirty feet, and bearing 

 small yellowish flowers. The fruit is the size and color of 

 a peach, but rather oval. It is of a tough, fleshy consistence, 

 but when ripe splits open, and shows the dark-brown nut 

 within, covered with the crimson mace, and is then a most 

 beautiful object. Withm the thin hard shell of the nut is 

 the seed, which is the nutmeg of commerce. The nuts are 

 eaten by the large pigeons of Banda, which digest the mace 

 but cast up the nut, with its seed uninjured. 



The nutmeg trade has hitherto been a strict monopoly of 

 the Dutch Government ; but since leaving the country I be- 

 lieve that this monopoly has been partially or wholly dis- 

 continued, a proceeding which appears exceedingly injudi- 

 cious and quite unnecessary. There are cases in which mo- 

 nopolies are perfectly justifiable, and I believe this to be one 

 of them. A small country like Holland can not afibrd to 

 keep distant and expensive colonies at a loss ; and having 

 j)Ossession of a very small island where a valuable product, 

 not a necessary of life^ can be obtained at little cost, it is al- 

 most the duty of the state to monopolize it. No injury is 

 done thereby to any one, but a great benefit is conferred on 

 the whole population of Holland and its dependencies, since 

 the produce of the State monojiolies eaves them from the 

 weight of a heavy taxation. Had the Government not kept 

 the nutmeg trade of Banda in its own hands, it is probable 

 that the whole of the islands would long ago have become 

 the property of one or more large capitalists. The monopo- 

 ly would have been almost the same, since no known spot on 

 the globe can produce nutmegs so cheaply as Banda, but the 

 profits of the monopoly would have gone to a few individ- 

 uals instead of to the nation. As an illustration of how a 

 State monopoly may become a State duty, let us suppose 



