68 THE EQUINOCTIAL ZONE. 



wrinkled surface, forming black pepper. "White 

 pepper is prepared from the perfectly ripe 

 berries, by soaking them in water to deprive 

 them of their skins, which are carefully sepa- 

 rated, and the pepper is then sun-dried. The 

 berries require four or five months to ripen. 



Full-grown pepper plants yield two crops in 

 the year ; and the produce of one thousand 

 plants is considered to be equal to four hundred 

 or four hundred and fifty pounds of pepper. 

 In Java, the crop is so great sometimes, that 

 the leaves of the plant cannot be seen for the 

 immense quantity of berries. A much larger 

 quantity of pepper is consumed in hot countries 

 than in Europe, the inhabitants of warm 

 climates being very fond of highly seasoned 

 dishes. The quantity imported into England, 

 in 1848, was 8,125,158 pounds, of which 

 3,189,313 pounds were retained for home 

 consumption, 4,385,030 pounds being again 

 shipped for the continent, etc. The produce 

 of the pepper countries is thus stated by Mr. 

 Crawford : 



Sumatra 23,000,000 pounds. 



Islands in the Straits of Malacca . 3,600,000 



Malay peninsula 3,733,333 



Borneo 2,666,667 



Siam . ; 8,000,000 



Malabar 4,000,000 



Total annual produce 50,000,000 pounds. 



In the Asiatic Archipelago, also, the nettle 

 tribe assumes its most pernicious character. 

 One species of nettle, (Urtica stimulans,) a 

 native of Java, has so virulent a sting, tha* it 



