164 



HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part 1. 



1022. The pepper plant ["Piper nigrum, jig 



1 35. a) is a slender climbing shrub, which also 

 roots at the joints. It is extensively cultivated 

 at Sumatra, and the berries exported to every 

 part of the world. According to Marsden 

 {Hist, of Sumatra), the ground chosen by the 

 Sumatrans for a peppei -garden is marked 

 out into regular squares of six feet, the in- 

 tended distance of the plants of which there 

 are usually a thousand in each garden. The 

 next business is to plant the chinkareens, 

 which serve as props to the pepper-vines, 

 and are cuttings of a tree of that name, which 

 is of quick growth. When the chinkareen 

 has been some months planted, the most 

 promising perpendicular shoot is reserved for 

 growth, and the others lopped off: this 

 shoot, after it has acquired two fathoms in 

 height, is deemed sufficiently high, and its top 

 is cut off. Two pepper- vines are usually planted to one chinkareen, round which the 

 vines twist for support ; and after being suffered to grow three years (by which time 

 they acquire eight or twelve feet in height), they are cut off about three feet from the 

 ground, and being loosened from the prop, are bent into the earth in such a manner 

 that the upper end is returned to the root. This operation gives fresh vigour to the 

 plants, and they bear fruit plentifully the ensuing season. The fruit, which is pro- 

 duced in long spikes, is four or five months in coming to maturity : the berries are at 

 first green, turn to a bright red when ripe and in perfection, and soon fall off if not 

 gathered in proper time. As the whole cluster does not ripen at the same time, part of 

 the berries would be lost in waiting for the latter ones ; the Sumatrans, therefore, 

 pluck the bunches as soon as any of the berries ripen, and spread them to dry upon mats, 

 or upon the ground ; by drying they become black, and more or less shrivelled, according 

 to their degree of maturity. These are imported here under the name of black pepper. 



1023. White pepper consists of the ripe and perfect berries of the same species stripped of their outer coats. 

 For this purpose the berries are steeped for about a fortnight in water, till, by swelling, their outer coverings 

 burst ; after which they are easily separated, and the pepper is carefully dried by exposure to the sun ; 

 or the berries are freed from their outer coats by means of a preparation of lime and mustard-oil, called 

 " chinam," applied before it is dried. Pepper, which has fallen to the ground over-ripe, loses its outer 

 coat, and is sold as an inferior sort of white pepper. 



1024. The betel leaf (V) per Betle,j?g. 135. b) is also cultivated to a considerable extent. 

 It is a slender-stemmed climbing or trailing plant, like the black pepper, with smooth 

 pointed leaves. These leaves serve to enclose a few slices of the nut of the areca palm 

 erroneously called the betel nut. The areca being wrapped up in the leaf, the whole is 

 covered with a little chunam or shell-lime to retain the flavour. The preparation has the 

 name of betel, and is chewed by the better sort of southern Asiatics to sweeten the breath 

 and strengthen the stomach ; and by the lower classes for the same reasons as ours do 

 tobacco. The consumption is very extensive. 



1025. The areca palm (Areca Catechu) grows to the height of forty or fifty feet with a 

 straight trunk, and is cultivated in the margins of fields for its nut or fruit, which is sold 

 to be prepared as betel. 



1026. Three sorts of cotton are cultivated, including the silk cotton (B6mbax Ceiba), a 

 handsome tree, which has been compared by some to a dumb waiter, from the regularity 

 of its branches. 



1027. The live stock of Sumatra consists of horses, cows, buffaloes, sheep, and swine. They 

 are all diminutive. The horse is chiefly used for the saddle, and the buffalo for labour. 

 The wild animals are numerous, and include the civet cat, monkey, argus pheasant, the 

 jungle or wild fowl, and the small breed of poultry found also at Bantam on the west 

 of Java, and well known in Britain by that name. 



1028. Borneo is the largest island in the world next to New Holland. It is low and 

 marshy towards the shore, and in this respect and in its climate, is similar to Java. 

 The soil is naturally fertile ; but agriculture is neglected, the inhabitants occupying 

 themselves in searching for gold, which they exchange with the Japanese for the neces- 

 saries of life. 



1029. The ava, or intoxicating pepper (Piper melhijsticuni), is cultivated here. It is a 

 shrub with a forked stem and oblong leaves, bearing a spike of berries, and having thick 

 roots. The root of this plant, bruised or chewed in the mouth, and mixed with the saliva, 

 yields that nauseous, hot, intoxicating juice, which is so acceptable to the natives of the 

 South Sea islands, and which is spoken of with so much just detestation by voyagers. A 

 similar drink is made in Peru from the meal of the maize. They pour the liquor of the 

 cocoa-nut, or a little water, on the bruised or masticated matter, and then a small quantity 



