Dec,  i,  1892.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
383 
As  soon  as  the  buds  are  fully  formed  and  assume 
this  reddish  colour  the  harvesting  commences  and 
is  prosecuted  for  fully  six  months  at  intervals,  since 
the  buds  do  not  form  simultaneously,  but  at  odd 
times  throughout  the  said  period.  The  limbs  of  the 
tree  being  very  brittle,  a peculiar  four-sided  ladder 
is  brought  into  requisition,  and  the  harvesting  pro- 
ceeds apace. 
As  fast  as  collected,  the  buds  are  spread  out  m 
the  sun.  until  they  assume  a brownish  color,  when 
they  are  put  in  the  storehouse  and  are  ready  for 
market. 
A ten-year-old  plantation  should  produce  an  average 
of  20  pounds  of  cloves  to  a tree.  Trees  of  twenty 
years  frequently  produce  upwards  of  100  pounds  each- 
The  present  season,  commencing  with  July,  1889, 
is  very  favourable,  and  the  crop  will  exceed  that  of 
any  previous  season.  It  will,  in  all  probability, 
amount  to  13,000,000  pounds,  averaging  a local  value 
of  10  cents  per  pound. 
The  Sultan  derives  no  inconsiderable  portion  of 
his  revenue  from  thi3  source,  since  the  duty  is  levied 
at  30  per  cent,  ad  valorem,  thus  placing  to  the  Sul- 
tan’s credit  for  the  present  year  nearly  if  not  quite 
18-100,000. 
Besides  the  clove  buds,  the  stems  are  also  gathered, 
and  form  an  article  of  commerce,  commanding  about 
one-fifth  of  the  price  of  cloves  and  having  about  the 
same  percentage  of  strength.  To  this  circumstance 
is  due  the  fact  that  ground  clove  can  frequently  be 
purchased  in  the  market  at  a lower  price  than  whole 
cloves. 
For  the  past  fifteen  years  the  cultivation  of  cloves 
has  been  the  chief  occupaiion  of  the  Arab  planters, 
and  had  always  netted  good  returns.  It  seems  pro- 
bable that  it  will  continue  to  be  a profitable  crop, 
since  the  consumption  of  the  article  appears  to  keep 
pace  with  the  inevitable  increase  of  production. 
Up  to  the  present  time  the  plantations  have  been 
worked  with  slave  labor  at  comparatively  small  ex- 
pense; but  with  stoppage  of  slave  supplies  from 
the  mainland,  great  difficulty  will  be  experienced  by 
the  planters  during  harvest  time.  One  result  will 
be  an  increase  in  expenses ; but  what  the  planters 
have  most  to  fear  is  that  the  curtailment  of  the 
labor  supply  will  entail  a direct  loss  by  rendering 
it  impossible  to  harvest  the  crop  until  after  it  has 
blossomed,  when  it  would  he  unfit  for  the  uses 
of  commerce. — Oil,  Paint  and  Drug  Reporter. 
« 
EDIBLE  BIRDS’  NEST  COLLECTING. 
By  M.  V.  Portman. 
From  the  collection  is  generally  made  by  convicts 
whom  I have  trained,  as  I don’t  often  have  the 
chance  to  go  out  myself,  but  when  I do  go,  I find 
it  the  most  enjoyable  trip  of  the  year. 
The  work  is  as  follows : — 
The  edible  birds’  nest-building  Swift  Collocalia  nidi- 
fra  (or  “ Juciphaga")  arrives  in  the  Andamans 
about  the  end  of  November  in  each  year,  and  as  soon 
as  the  rain  ceases,  i.e.,  about  the  1st  of  January, 
commences  to  build  its  nests  in  the  caves  which  abound 
here. 
The  best  qualities  of  nests  are  found  in  the  caves 
in  limestone  and  volcanic  rock,  but  the  bird  also 
builds  on  serpentine,  and  soft  clayey  sandstone. 
Some  birds,  of  a lazy  or  unpatriotic  disposition, 
build  nests  of  twigs,  moss,  and  feathers  glued  to- 
gether, and  fastened  on  to  the  roof  and  walls  of 
the  caves  by  a gelatinous  mucus,  generally  green  or 
muddy-coloured.  These  birds  keep  to  themselves  and 
have  their  own  caves,  which  is  lucky,  as  their  nests 
are  of  no  value. 
The  marketable  nests  are  of  three  qualities  : — • 
1st  class  nests,  which  are  pure  white,  and  look  as 
if  they  were  made  of  thin  threads  of  isinglass  woven 
together.  They  resemble  in  shape  the  mud  Swifts' 
nests  one  sees  under  eaves  at  home,  but  are  smaller. 
2nd  class  nests,  which  have  feathers  and  other 
foreign  matter  mixed  with  the  “isinglass.” 
3rd  class  nests,  which  are  yellow  in  colour,  and 
contain  a good  deal  of  dirt  and  foreign  matter. 
In  addition  to  the  above,  what  is  called  “refuse,” 
that  is,  the  clippings  and  cleanings  of  the  nests, 
which  have  to  be  carefully  cleaned  and  packed,  bits 
of  white  “gelatine,”  which  may  occur  in  moss  of 
twig  nests,  and  the  old  nests  which  have  been  through 
the  rains,  is  collected  and  so’d. 
During  the  long  break  of  calm  fine  weather  which 
usually  occurs  in  October,  between  the  monsoons,  a 
party  of  convicts  and  Andamanese  are  sent  out  round 
the  islands  to  clean  the  caves.  This  is  a very  im- 
portant operation,  as  the  nests  which  the  birds  last 
built  during  the  preceding  dry  season,  and  in  which 
they  hatched  out  their  young,  are  still  in  the  caves, 
dirty  and  discoloured  from  the  rain,  etc.  It  is  neces- 
sary to  take  all  these  away,  and  to  scrape  and  clean 
the  roof  and  walls  of  the  caves,  leaving  a clean  surface 
for  the  birds  to  rebuild  on.  If  this  was  not  done 
they  would  breed  in  the  nests  of  the  former  year. 
All  the  dirty  nests  are  brought  to  me,  and  sold, 
as  they  are,  for  Rs.  2-8  per  lb. 
The  birds  arrive  in  November,  but  do  not  settle 
down  to  business  till  January,  at  the  end  of  which 
month  a party  is  sent  out  who  make  a clean  sweep  of 
all  the  nests  built.  As  a rule,  this  crop  of  nests 
is  small,  and  not  of  much  value,  and  if  there  has 
been  rain  in  December,  is  often  discolured  and  yellow 
from  the  droppings  from  the  roofs  of  the  caves. 
The  birds  who  have  hitherto  worked  leisurely  in 
their  building,  now  begin  to  hurry  up,  and  a second 
collection  of  nests  is  made  at  the  end  of  February. 
These  are  usually  large,  thick,  and  of  excellent  quailty. 
The  birds,  resolved  to  have  one  more  try,  buiid 
again,  and  the  next  collection  is  made  in  April, 
but  the  quality  of  these  varies.  The  nests  are  often 
thin,  and  very  dry  and  brittle,  though  the  color  is 
good.  It  is  the  making  of  this  third  collection  which  I 
generally  supervise,  and  I will  now  describe  it  in  detail. 
Bundles  of  torches,  (for  many  of  the  caves  are 
dark  as  night,)  a couple  of  iron  tridents,  some  clean 
linen  bags  with  long  straps,  a ladder  of  bamboos, 
some  rope,  and  a large  chest,  securely  locked,  are 
the  equipment;  and  taking  these,  with  the  two  con- 
vict collectors,  on  board  the  “ Ross,”  making  a boat 
and  an  Andamanese  canoe  fast  astern,  I proceed 
south  accompanied  by  a staff  of  40  Andamanese. 
The  first  thing  the  Andamanese  do  is  to  strip  off 
every  rag  of  clothing,  and  thank  heaven  they  are 
away  from  civilisation  for  a fortnight! 
Starting  at  7 a.m.  we  reach  the  Cinque  Islands  at 
noon,  but  as  the  caves  here,  and  on  the  next  island 
“ Passage,”  are  small,  and,  being  in  serpentine,  yield 
inferior  nests,  I don’t  go  ashore  always  but  send  the 
collectors  in  a canoe,  taking  shots  at  them  with  the 
camera.  In  about  an  hour  they  return,  and  if  the 
weather  is  very  fine  I go  to  the  Brothers  and  collect 
tortoise-shell,  and  then  return  to  Rutland  Island.  The 
caves  here,  on  Jollyboys,  and  Malay  Tapu  yield 
few  and  inferior  nests,  but  the  scenery  is  lovely,  the 
Labyrinth  Islands,  south  of  Port  Mouat,  being  one 
of  our  show  places.  As  Rutland  Island  rises  to 
1 ,400  feet,  and  all  the  country  is  more  or  less  hilly, 
there  are  plenty  of  good  views  to  be  taken. 
The  calophylla  and  bullet  wood  trees  covered  with 
hoyas  and  orchids  in  blossom,  make  the  beach  very 
lovely  from  March  till  June,  as  the  former  trees,  with 
two  or  three  other  species  often  in  flower,  hang- 
over the  sand,  and  the  sea  washes  in  under  their 
branches,  so  that  one  can  bathe  in  shade  and 
surrounded  with  flowers. 
The  next  place  to  go  to  is  Port  Campbell,  on  the 
west  coast,  about  20  miles  north  of  Port  Mouat. 
Here,  the  first  thing  that  would  strike  you  is  the 
fearful  damage  done  by  the  cyc'one  of  1st  November 
1891,  and  as  there  are  fine  cliffs  and  headlands, 
and  at  the  same  time  curious  patches  of  wrecked 
forest,  as  if  the  wind  had  really  gone  mad  (in  one 
place  a whole  mangrove  swamp  has  been  torn  up, 
and  the  trees  laid  fiat),  one  can  have  a busy  time 
with  the  cameras.  I now  unpack  my  15”  x 12" 
camera  to  the  disgust  of  the  Andamanese  who  have 
to  carry  it,  and  several  views  are  taken  which  I may 
be  tempted  to  send  to  your  Exhibition  next  winter. 
This  is  all  done  at  high  water,  and  when  the  tide 
has  fallen  we  row  round  to  the  sea  face  of  Mont 
