313 



The Mangosteen is also not wild so far as I have se n in the 

 Peninsula, but is described by the earlier travellers from [416, | 

 believe it has never been found in a wild state anywhere. But 

 like Durians there are wild species. 



The Rambutan is probably a native of the Peninsula. 



The following fruits also occur in a wild state in the Peninsula: 



Kechapi (Sandoricum radiatum), Bachang (Mangifera fcetida 

 and Binjai (M. caesia), Champedak (Arto carpus polyp he mi a), the 

 wild form of which contains a much smaller amount of pulp in pro- 

 portion to the number and size of the seeds, shewing that the Malay 

 cultivators have improved this fruit by careful selection, Rukam, 

 (Flacourtia Rukam). I am doubtful, however, about the Fiac 

 Cataphracta, the most popular of this genus, as I have nevei 

 it wild, the Rouminiya Bonea microphylla, and possibly B. mdcro- 

 phylla, the Langsat, Lansiuvi domesticum, of which the Duku is 

 a cultivated and improved form probably originating in Java. The 

 first mention of the Pulasan I can find is in^Newbold (1839), who 

 also mentions the Rambei (Baccaurea motley ana). I am doubtful as 

 to either of these plants being indigenous to the Peninsula, but they 

 are certainly natives of the Malay region and were probably brought 

 from Java or Borneo by natives much earlier than this. 



Pineapple. — Of strictly exotic fruits, the first to mention is the 

 Pineapple. This is first mentioned as occurring in the East by 

 LlNSCHOTEN in 1583, as quoted above. He does not directly men- 

 tion its occurrence at the time in Malacca, but it was doubtless 

 there about that time ; very easily grown and carried about, it reached 

 the other parts of the Peninsula as soon as they were colonised. 

 At first grown for its fruits only for local consumption, the Chinese 

 in Singapore, in about 1870 started working the fibre from the 

 leaves, but as apparently this became insufficiently remunerative, 

 this manufacture dwindled till in 1888 only a few Bugis in Singa- 

 pore were left, who extracted the fibre and these men ceased the 

 manufacture soon after. The Bugis also in the early days used to 

 make an intoxicating drink from the Pineapples, but only for local 

 consumption. 



Pineapple cultivation then decreased till some European firms 

 commenced the canning industry, but there was no great develop- 

 ment of this till about 1890, when the Chinese commenced tin- 

 business. Then, there began a great demand for Pineapples owing 

 to the starting of many Chinese factories. At first, the canning houses 

 increased so fast that many failed from lack of sufficient pines, but 

 pine cultivation quickly took the place of the dying Pepper and 

 Gambier industries, and later supplanted to a large extent the Indigo 

 cultivation. Large areas of land formerly under these latter culti- 

 vations, which have been abandoned and left a weary waste ol 

 lalang and secondary scrub were now put under Pineapples, and 

 what was less satisfactory most of the remaining bits ot forest neat 

 Singapore were destroyed for this cultivation. The Canning indus- 

 try increased rapidly to the present day. The European firms, 



