GABIBIER. 



387 



Besides the quantity of cutch sent to Europe from Singapore 

 there is a considerable export to Java, Cochin China, and other 

 neighbouring countries ; 15,252 cwt. of cutch were imported into 

 Penang in 1870. 



The imports of cutch into the United Kingdom were in — 





Tons. 





Tons, 



1866 .. . 



, . 2434 







1867 , , 



, 2111 



1873 , 



6998 



18G8 



.. 3541 



1874 .. 



, 4593 



1869 , , 



. 2573 



1875 , 





1870 , . 



, 5946 



1876 .. 



4956 



1871 , . 



, . 5532 







British India supplies the largest portion, 



Gambiee, — The gambler plant is a stout, climbing shrub, a native 

 of the countries bordering on the Straits of Malacca, and especially of 

 the numerous islands at their eastern end. There would appear to 

 be two species employed: — (1) The Uncaria Gamhir, Eoxb. ; the 

 Nauclea Gamhir of Hunter. (2) Uncaria acida, Hunt. The cultiva- 

 tion and manufacture seem to have been commenced at Singapore in 

 1819, and it rapidly extended, until there were about 600 or 800 

 plantations ; but, owing to a scarcity of fuel, without an abundant 

 supply of which manufacture is impossible, and labour becoming also 

 dear, they were reduced to about 400 in 1850, and in 1866 the cultiva- 

 tion was fast disappearing on the island. Of late years, owing to an 

 increased demand for the product, and higher prices ruling, it has 

 rapidly recovered. The first shipments from Singapore were 3234 cwts, 

 in 1830 ; in 1834, 2322 cwts. were sent to England, the price being- 

 more moderate, and its use becoming better understood, an active 

 demand arose, which has since continued. The culture is also largely 

 pursued on the mainland, where, in 1851, there were 200 plantations. 

 In the islands of the Hhio Linga Archipelago, lying south-east of Singa- 

 pore, and on the Island of Bintang, the most northerly of the grou]), 

 there were, in 1854, 1250 gambier plantations. In the three years 

 ending 1870, there was imported, chiefly from Ehio, into Singapore an 

 average of 240,000 cwts. of gambier. The total exports from Singa- 

 pore in 1870 were 34,550 tons, and in 1871, 34,248 tons, of which 

 19,550 were received from Ehio and the Malay Peninsula. In 1872, 

 190,600 piculs were made in Ehio. The plant is propagated either by 

 seeds or cuttings, but the latter are preferred. At the expiration of 

 fourteen months the first cutting of the branches, with the leaves on, 

 is made- The plantations are often formed in clearings of the jungle, 

 where they last for a few years, and are then abandoned, owing to 

 the impoverishment of the soil and the irrepressible growth of the 

 " lalang " grass {Imperata Koenigii, Beauv.), which is more difficult 

 to eradicate than even primeval jungle. It has been found profitable 

 to combine with the cultivation of gambier that of pepper, for which 

 the boiled leaves of the gambier form an excellent manure. The 

 gambier plants are allowed to grow from 8 to 10 feet high, and as 

 their foliage is always in season, each plant is stripped three or four 

 times in the year. The apparatus and all that belongs to the manu- 



2 c 2 



