294 



SPICES 



CHAP. 



picul. Unlike most pioneers in planting, he ended by 

 making a fortune by his plantations. The cultivation 

 soon increased, and continued a prominent feature of 

 the country till about 1896, when, partly from the low 

 price, and partly from the exhaustion of firewood for 

 cooking the gambir, and making burnt earth for the 

 pepper, and also of suitable timber for pepper posts, 

 both the gambir and pepper plantations dwindled away, 

 and in 1906 hardly one was left. During this period, 

 the area under pepper and gambir was very large, and 

 almost the whole of the original forest of the island was 

 destroyed to make way for the two plants. After the 

 abandonment of the ground, it became covered with 

 lalang grass, and eventually with secondary scrub, and 

 was valueless for many years. The cultivation was 

 carried on exclusively by Chinese, and the pepper was 

 grown more as an adjunct to gambir than as an 

 independent crop. 



Singapore has for many years been the great 

 emporium for pepper. In 1872, 25,000,000 Ibs. was 

 imported into England from Singapore and Penang, 

 while British India sent only 256,000 Ibs.; and in 1877, 

 26,500,000 Ibs. was exported. Most of the white pepper 

 in trade comes from Rhio and the Straits Settlements. 



The following are the trade figures given to me by 

 Mr. W. C. Klin, the Eegistrar of Imports and Exports 

 of Singapore, since 1875, for each fifth year : 



IMPORTS 



