274 JOHORE PRODUCE. 



however, take place in private, or, better still, in the 

 bath, as a noble French traveller suggested, for its 

 juicy flesh obstinately adheres to both peel and stone, 

 the latter nearly half the size of the entire fruit. His 

 Highness's carriage then came round and took me to 

 some of his plantations, from which he derives a very 

 large revenue. The first we came to was one of 



Black Pepper [Piper nigrum) : a large shrub with 

 ovate leaves, the fruit growing on a spike ; 

 a stick is required to support the slender 

 stem, which gives to a pepper-garden some- 

 what the appearance of a vineyard. It 

 must be remembered that this is a very 

 different plant to the elegant pepper-tree 

 we admire so much in the wide avenues at 

 Athens, whose berry is similar, but its 

 leaves are pinnate as those of the mimosa. 

 Next we visited acres of 

 Gambeer (Uncaria cjamhir) : a climbing shrub 

 with oblong leaves. The latter, l^y under- 

 going a process of boiling or infusing in 

 water, produces the colouring matter, 

 which is its principal value ; the leaves 

 are also used by the Malays for chewing 

 with betel, then called pawn. Thence to a 

 Gamboge plantation [Garcinia morella) : its fruit 



