SPICES. 349 



been produced, from the earliest records, so abun- 

 dantly, that in exchange for their spicy produce, the 

 inhabitants were enabled, before the intrusion of the 

 Europeans into their country, to procure for them- 

 selves the productions which they required of almost 

 every other region. Although Europeans have for 

 more than two thousand years known the use of this 

 spice, yet little more than three hundred years back 

 they were ignorant whence it was obtained. The 

 Persians, Arabians, and Egyptians formerly brought 

 cloves and nutmegs to the ports in the Mediterranean, 

 and hither the Venetians and Genoese resorted to buy 

 the spices of India, until the Portuguese, in 1511, 

 discovered the country of their production. This 

 nation did not, however, long enjoy the fruits of its 

 discovery ; the Dutch soon drove them from the 

 Moluccas, and for a long time retained a very strict 

 monopoly over the productions of these islands. It 

 is said that they destroyed the clove trees growing 

 on the other islands, and confined their culture 

 wholly to Amboyna. They allotted to the inhab- 

 itants four thousand parcels of land, on each of. 

 which it was expected that one hundred and twenty- 

 five trees should be cultivated ; and in 1720 a law was 

 passed compelling the natives to make up this num- 

 ber ; there were in consequence five hundred thou- 

 sand clove-trees planted in this small island, each of 

 these on an average produced annually more than 

 two pounds of cloves, so that the aggregate pro- 

 duce weighed more than a million of pounds. Sub 

 sequently to this period, the policy of the Dutch 

 somewhat relaxed, and the tree has been suffered to 

 grow on other islands, and even to be carried to the 

 West Indies ; where, however, it does not appear 

 until very lately to have succeeded. Sir Joseph 

 Banks introduced it into this country about 1797, 

 VOL. xv. 30 



