40 



AlMCKS — TUB CLOVK — PRPI't: It. 



Chinese are the only class disposed to lake a spice 

 plantation oil a lease; and it should Ik* nenerall\ made 

 kti >u n. thai rent, in their apprehension, means the 

 sharing the pfoduee equally with the landlord, while, 

 — unless hound down under a hiirh penalty winch few 

 can obtain security for — they invariably resort to such 

 a stwiulalinir and forcing mode of x tiliure, that, the 

 trees, if not ruined, will l»e so exhausted oir the expira- 

 lion of the lease as to require y ;u> for their recovery. 



Having now brought die account of these valuable 

 branches of cultivation to a close, the next product for 

 consideration i« 



PEPPER. 



Pepper was, during many years, tin staple product 

 of Pemiu^ soil, the average annual <piantih having 

 been nearly four millions of pounds; hut previous to 

 the year 1H10, the a how amount had deerea*»'d o. 

 about two and a half millions of pounds, which >\as 

 the result of the continental s\.deni. 



Tlicpriee having fallen at length to 3 and 3j, dollars 

 the pteul — with only a few occasional exceptions «>f 

 rises, — the cultivation of this spice was ^radnalh aban- 

 doned and die total produc at this da\ dot^ not exceed 

 '2,000 piculs. The original ctist, wlien pepper was at 

 a hi*4'h price — together with charges of transporting 

 it to Knrope, — amounted to £:jti.3>7 for ewry Hw* 

 hundred tons, and die loss by wastage mm estimated 

 at C&M05. In 1818, there remained mi the island 

 1 ,480/265 pepper vines in bearing, and the ave- 

 rage value of exports of pepper from Penan:*', includ- 

 ing that received from other places, was averajufed at 

 100,870 Sp. dollars. 



As might have been foreseen, the fall of prices has 

 so greatly diminished the cultivation of pepper to the 

 eastward, that a reaction is likely to take place; and 

 has in fact partially shewn itself already. Some Chinese 

 iuPenang and Province Wellesley seem to be prepar- 



