&PIC.E9. 



either has not been very widely ex tended by the ingenui- 

 ty ot man. They originally grew on the proper Muluc- 

 ca Islands ofTernate and Tidor only. These Islands 

 were first visited in 1510 when Alberqiierqne pene- 

 trated to tfie Eastern Archipelago. In 1521, one of 

 Magellan*;* companions esia I dished at Tidor a factory 

 for the purpose of collecting spires, 



In 1515, the Portuguese introduced spices into Am. 

 boyna ; and on these dying off\ the stock was again 

 replenished in 1650 . 



The Dutch who supplanted the Portuguese, con- 

 fined the Cultivation nf spices to Jlmboyua and Bamfa 

 with their circumjacent dependencies, in order to se- 

 cure the exclusive monopoly of them. Termite and 

 Jidor, as do the other Molucca Isles, lie on the great 

 volcanic belt whic h stretches from Katnpskatha to 

 Barren J stand in the Bay of Bengal, and are a little 

 more than ten decrees distant from that portentous 

 focus of volcanic energy, Sumbawa. W as the era of 

 the appearance of the clove and nutmeg, on this 

 globe, coeval with that, when these islands were first 

 heaved up from the bossom of the deep ? If so, their 

 antiquity must he considerable, fbr the clove was 

 known to the ancient Egyptians. 



Leaving such speculations, may it not be conjec- 

 tured, from analogy, that places hing, like Penang, 

 near to the prolongation of this volcanic belt — and 

 about the same distance to the north of the Line that 

 the Moluccas are to the south of it — will lie found 

 most congenial to the growth of spices : more par- 

 ticularly to the nutmeg, whieh i> partial to islands, 

 and pines under an arid atmosphere. 



It may likewise be supposed that altho' spices may 

 lie found to grow in other regions, the produce will 

 be inferior to (hat > f die eastern portions of the globe 

 where ill -\ re, if not actUtftly indigenous, now success- 



