THE CLOVE AND NUTMEG 229 



then red ; the calyces with their embryo-seed are in this stage of 

 their growth beaten from the tree, and, after being dried in the 

 sun, are known as the cloves of commerce. If the fruit be al- 

 lowed to remain on the tree after arriving at this period, the 

 calyx gradually swells, the seed en- 

 larges, and the pungent properties of 

 the clove are in great part dissipated. 



The whole tree is highly aromatic, 

 and the foot-stalks of the leaves 

 have nearly the same pungent quality 

 as the calyx of the flowers. " Clove 

 trees,- ' says Sir Stamford Eaffles, " as 

 an avenue to a residence, are perhaps 

 unrivalled — their noble height, the ciove. 



beauty of their form, the luxuriance 



of their foliage, and, above all, the spicy fragrance with which 

 they perfume the air, produce, on driving through a long line of 

 them, a degree of exquisite pleasure only to be enjoyed in the 

 clear light atmosphere of these latitudes." 



Cloves contain a very large proportion of essential oil, which 

 combined with a peculiar resin gives them their pungent aroma. 

 It seems, however, to require a combination of favourable cir- 

 cumstances of climate and soil for the full developement of their 

 virtues, for, though the tree is found in the larger islands of 

 Eastern Asia, and in Cochin China, it has there little or no fla- 

 vour, and the Moluccas seem to be the only place where the 

 clove comes to perfection without being cultivated. Though 

 it is at present planted in Zanzibar, Cayenne, Bourbon, 

 Trinidad, and other places, yet Amboina still furnishes the best 

 quality and the largest quantity, exporting annually about a 

 million of pounds. 



In spite of the endeavours of the Dutch to confine the nut- 

 meg-tree to the narrow precincts of Banda, it has likewise 

 extended its range not only over Sumatra, Mauritius, Bourbon, 

 and Ceylon, but even over the western hemisphere. 



It is of a more majestic growth than the clove, as it attains 

 a height of fifty feet, and the leaves, of a fine green on the upper 

 surface, and grey beneath, are more handsome in the outline, 

 and broader in proportion to the length. When the trees 



