171 
he Committee of the Privy Council, on the recommendation 
of the Minister of seating advise that Your Excellency be 
pleased to submit an an n the sense of this Minute, to His 
Excellency Her Majesty’ 8 i Arabi dor to the United States. 
All which is respectfully submitted for Your Excellency’s 
aipsovel, 
(Signed) JOHN J. MCGEE, 
Clerk of the Privy Council. 
DCXIV.—CHILLIES. 
Pod peppers or eae oe fruits of Capsicum annuum and 
allied species, are a well kno spice and condiment. They are 
an indispensable ee ae in curries and are largely consumed 
in the fresh and dried state and in pickles. Some forms of 
Capsicums known as Bell peppers are entirely free from the acrid 
and burning pungency so characteristic of these fruits, and may 
be eaten cooked as a vegetable or in salads. 
Chillies, Bird or Guinea Peppers the fruits of the shrubby 
Capsicum minimum (usually much smaller than the {Eo 
grow generally in tropical countries. These are in c 
in commerce. When thoroughly dried and ponai, and after- 
wards passed through a hand mill and sifted, they are the principal 
source of the well-known Cayenne pepper 
It is estimated that about 100 tons of dried chillies are annually 
received in this Veri from the West Indies and the East and 
West Coasts of Afri The price at which they are sold appears 
to be liable to eoi dei blo fluctuation. In May 1898, “50 bags 
dull Zanzibar sold gra reserve e 29/- to 29/6: whi ile 58 bags 
good Japan sold at 39/- to 41/- per cwt.” A sa a a of capsicums 
grown at St. Lucia in ie "West Indies, dull and uneven in colour, 
were valued (in February last), i in limited demand, at 20/- per cwt. 
What is evidently required is an article bright in eei even in 
quality, and possessing great pungency. 
ZANZIBAR CHILLIES. 
In the Kew Bulletin (1892, p. 83) the following information 
respecting chillies was given in an article on the Agricultural 
Resou etn of Zanzibar, contributed by Sir John Kirk, G.C.M.G., 
“ The - smell red peppers or chillies are largely grown in the 
more dry and rocky part of the island, where the upheaved coral 
presents a honeycombed surface, that favours the accumulation of 
rich soil in the crevices. The ‘pods are picked when ripe, sun- 
dried, and packed in mat bags made of the split frond of the 
Hyphene palm for edema 'This is an industry that has sprung 
up within the last 30 years 
(F. 0. Checa 1892, Misc. Series 0. 396) — 
"T. r plant growi ng on the island is Spem 
minimum, usually termed the ‘shrubby capsicum,’ and pro 
ducing the bird's-eye chillies forming the basis of cayenne 
