March i, 1889.] 
TMF. TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
641 
tom-toms were beating, and the people were dressed 
in their best attire. From the Alloppy lighthouse, 
85 feet high, a good view was obtained, Looking 
out towards the sea, whips eouJd be se< D passing 
down the coast, and nearer land a few fishe men in 
their small canoes were diligcntlv playing their trade. 
The custom-house and port-oflices were the chief 
buildings on the sea-front, and near them were the 
cardamom and salt stores, kept under a military 
guard. The canal ran into the town at right angles 
to the shore, stopping short by about two hundred 
yards, and forming a i "id de sac. Along the. canal 
for two miles lay the town, the seven principal 
streets crossing it by as many bridges. Forests of 
coconuts trees stretched north and south as far as 
the eye could reach. Eastward, the broadost part of 
the backwater looked like a silver lake, and behind 
it rose the well-wooded hills of Travancore. 
Alloppy is the depot for the forest products of 
tho State, and is pre-eminently known for its exports 
of pepper and cardamoms. The Malabar and neigh- 
bouring hills are tho home of the pepper-vine, and 
for ceuturies the commodity has been supplied from 
this coast to western nations. In January 1 708, a 
peculiar agreement was made between the Rajah of 
Travancore and the English, by which he was to 
supply a large quantity of pepper to the Bombay 
Government in return for arm-*, ammunition, and 
European poods ; this was knowu as the pepper con- 
tract. Pepper is a special department of the Travan- 
core State, and it is compulsory that all the spice pass 
out of the ports of Alleppy and Quilon, or by certain 
routes on the backwater, or by land. The enormous 
trade done in pepper is seen by the exports, which 
show, as an average of the past five years, that 3,000 
candies — each equal to 500 English lbs — leave the 
country, and this brings in to the State an annual 
sum of about (5 lakhs of rupees, or b'0,000*?. 
Cardamoms are a monopoly of the State, and a 
Hource of considerable revenue to Travancore. A special 
forest officer is deputed to superintend the cultivation 
of tho plant and the collection of the spice in the 
Cardamom Hills. These hills are situated south of 
the Anamullies, with an elevation of 2,000 to 1,000 
feot above the sea. They are divided roughly into 
two tracts, known as Margari Alum and Kunni Alum. 
I'.oth these districts arc very malarial, but the latter, 
influenced by the - sea-bree/.e, has a better climate. 
'The export of cardamoms is about 00 tons annually, 
worth about 80,0001, The Government impose an ex- 
port duty on coconut produce, arecanuts, ginger, galin- 
gsl, tamarind*, arrowroot, turmeric, kutcholum, pepper, 
UOie] nuts, and laurel nut oil; the duty has been re- 
duced on lemon-grass oil, and has been abolished on 
gingolli seed and oil, and on castor seed and oil. The 
export returns and official books throughout Travan- 
core are kept according to the chronology of the 
Malaabr era — for instance, the present year, from 
August lb", 1883, to August 15, 1889, is represented as 
M. E. I. 1'oles* this were explained the uncon- 
scious possessor of some of these documents might 
fancy himself perusing records of Anglo-Saxon times. 
Too port of Alleppy was b it the same day in a 
boat called a "wallum." a kind of large canoe 20 
feet long ami (I feet wide, cut out of tho wood of 
Anjelly (Artocarpu.1 hirsutim). A gentle wind favoured 
a sail for the first part of the voyage, but as it 
nft«rwards turned contrary, the boatmen had to take 
to their bamboo poles ami push the craft along at 
the rat.> of two miln an hour. Cottayam was reached 
after sunset, and here I spent two days in one of 
the prettiest stations of the backwater. The town 
is seated upon several small hills, and tho bungalows 
of tho residents overlook; well-watered and fertile 
valleys. The lYerma.i.l plateau of the Travancore 
mountains, about fifty miles distant, is dovoted to 
the cultivation of coffee, tea, and cinchona, and 
beyond arc tho Cardamom Hills. Tho latter crop was 
Beginning to como in, and every week a quantity 
was brought undnr an escort of native soldiers to 
Oottayam for transport to Allcppj M.c bael 
ami wood-apple were in full fruit; the Indian cork 
trno (/■':/ > wot perfuming tho atmos- 
phere With its dowels; tho pepper-vino was clasping 
tho tree, loaded with itsgreeu berries; and Kanregamiia 
atala and Plkrithago rosea sheltered themselves under 
the hedges. 
A journey in a wallum of two days and one night 
brought me to the ancient; town of Quilon, where 
I stayed with Mr. Vernede, Conservator of the For- 
est Department. Quilon is the Ooilum of Marco 
Polo, and was once the greatest port on the Mala- 
bar coast. It was an emporium for pepper, Brazil 
wood, and ginger, the best kind of which was known 
till late in the middle ages as Ooiumbino ginger. 
The canals about here were lined with the graceful 
Cerbera udalum, with white and fragrant flowerg, and 
rounded green fruits somewhat similar to a mango. 
The fruits are extremely poisonous, and every year 
cases of severe illness, and sometimes death, are 
reported to the medical officers as a consequence of 
eating them. 
During the journey from Quilon to Trevandrum I 
passed the little town of Anjengo, where was born 
Robert Orme, the histcian, and where lived Eliza 
Drapor, the lady of Sterne's affections. Lemon- 
grass oil usually bears a label stating that it comes 
from this town, but I have before mentioned that 
it is obtained from the lower slopes of the hills. At 
Trevandrum my host, was Mr. Mateer, of the London 
Mission, who have interested himself in introducing 
economic plauts into the eouutry, and who has a 
veritable botanic garden around his house, laid out 
with great taste, and containing some valuable plants. 
At Neyoor, a few miles from Cape Comorin, a 
very important market is held every week, and it 
appears to be the centre of the laurel-nut trade. 
The laurel-nut tree, or Al xandrian laurel (Caiojihyl- 
I a in inophyUimn), is extensively grown in this part of 
Travancore, and hundred-weights of the round green 
froits were being brought into Neyoor by women. 
A few hours after collection they shrivel and turn 
black, when they are cracked open, and the white 
kernels are dried in the sun. The kernels are pressed 
in mills, similar to those used for making castor-oil, 
and yield a thick greenish-yellow oil, having an 
odour of melilot, and used for rheumatism and for 
burning. The price of this oil is about half that of 
coconut oil, and fetches a high price in Burma. 
Laurel-nut oil, called Puna-Kai, brings in a revenue 
of about 60,100 rupees a year to the Travancore 
Government. 
After a visit to the head-quarters of the Londou 
Mission at Nagercoil. I continued my journey to 
Tinnevelly, then entered the Aramboly pass, and 
crossed the Travancore frontier into British territory. 
— Chemixt and Druyyisl. 
I'ink-afim.ks.— A correspondent writing of the culti- 
vation of the above in tho West Indies, states that 
" When grown for fibre the plants should be set in 
a shady situation inside a wall ou the side of a house 
were the sun cannot get at them. The new growths 
attains a length of 2 feet in about ten days, when 
they are cut and soaked iu water for several days. 
They are then spread out oh boards and scraped with 
broken earthenware to remove the skin. If the plants 
are grown for the sake of their fruits they are plant- 
ed in the full glare of the sun, when the leaves attain 
only a few iuches iu longth. Pines bloom about April, 
and are ready for picking about Septemb.-r." — 
Gardener*' Chronicle. 
"Rfviewof tiik Planting anu Aobicuxtttrax, In- 
dcstribs OF OkxLON. "— Mr. dohu Ferguson bos re- 
printed in tho form of a small octavo volume a sorics 
of articles that appearod in the Tropical .4grict"hi<ri<! 
aud in the ( 'eulon Handfi6ok. The papers refer to 
tho staple product* of the Island —Tea, ColTco, C.iov, 
Cinchona bark. Rubber, and other economio pU ta. 
We are pleased to got so much autheutic inform- 
ation in so handy and accessible a form; and those 
who, like ourselves, have frequent occasiou to con- 
sult work on tropical cultivation, wilt acknowledge 
that this littln volume is a boou to thorn. It may 
bo had from M^n. dohu Haddon k Co., 3, Bourerio 
Street, E. 0.-/W, 
