56 PEPPER AND COFFEE. 



bourhood of the capital have all been obliged to 

 leave, neither their lives nor property being secure ; 

 the few who are now in Bruni, and who do not pro- 

 bably exceed twenty in number, being detained as 

 slaves. The pepper at present exported from Bruni is 

 grown by the Kadyans and Meroots, a race of people 

 resembling the Dyaks, who inhabit the interior of the 

 Borneo river. It is a curious fact, remarked by all 

 writers on the East, that this aromatic is universally 

 esteemed, except by the inhabitants of the countries 

 which produce it; the Malays never use it in their 

 cookery, as they ascribe a heating quality to it : the 

 small kind of capsicums they use largely, and attribute 

 to them a contrary effect. In 1801 the district of 

 Banjarmasin alone, on the south coast of Borneo, was 

 capable of producing 1,500 tons of this spice. 



Coffee has been tried in the gardens of the Euro- 

 peqjis, and thrives remarkably well, producing a fine 

 and well-flavoured berry. I have been told by the 

 Malays that it is grown by the Dyaks of the Ponti- 

 anak river, for the use of that settlement, but its 

 cultivation on an extensive scale has not been en- 

 couraged; the government probably not wishing it 

 to come in competition with Java, which so largely 

 produces this berry. The hills on the main-land 

 opposite Labuh-an, would be well adapted for its culti- 

 vation, since here, as in Ceylon, it might be grown 

 without the trouble and expense of raising trees 

 amongst the plantations to protect the bushes from 

 the sun, as is done in Java. In 'Ceylon the best 

 elevation for the coffee estates is from 3,000 to 



