THE SUGAR CANE AND SPICES. 33 



without the slightest cultivation, to greater perfection 

 than I have seen it in Ceylon under the care of 

 Europeans. The cultivated cane of the Chinese in 

 Sarawak I have frequently seen eighteen feet in length, 

 and abounding in saccharine juice of the richest 

 quality. The natives grow several kinds of sugar-cane, 

 some of which they assert were formerly found wild in 

 the island ; but the golden yellow cane, which appears 

 to have been imported by the Chinese, and is now 

 cultivated by them, is the most esteemed by the 

 Malays. It is not cultivated for the purpose of making 

 sugar, but, the outer skin being thrown off, the inner 

 is chewed by them much in the manner followed by 

 the orang utan of their woods, the fibrous part being 

 throw away after the sweet juice has been extracted. 



Some nutmegs, which were planted for experiment 

 by Mr. Brooke, grew, without manuring or any atten- 

 tion, remarkably well ; they were left entirely to nature, 

 the weeds not being once cleared away ; and the result 

 is satisfactory proof that the cultivation of this valuable 

 spice, which in Singapore and Penang is pursued at 

 so great an expense, may be here carried on with the 

 ordinary cost of cocoa-nut, or other cheap plantations, 

 merely at the cost of labour sufficient to clear away 

 the weeds. 



Some plants of the cinnamon, nutmeg, and 

 clove, together with oranges and many other exotic 

 plants, now growing in the beautiful garden of Mr. 

 Hentig, an English gentleman resident at Sara- 

 wak, afford abundant testimony of the suitableness 



D 



