687 
May  i,  1893.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
GAMBIE. 
{From  the  Agricultural  Bulletin  of  the  Malay  Peninsula.) 
[Concluded  from  page  034.) 
Manufacture. 
The  leaves  and  twigs  are  brought  to  the  factory, 
a3  above  stated,  in  large  rattan  baskets,  each  of 
which  contains  about  four  cubic  feet.  Ten  of  these 
baskets  will  produce  about  120  pounds  of  gambir. 
After  roughly  taking  out  the  larger  sticks,  the 
leaves  and  small  twigs  are  thrown  into  a large  iron 
cauldron  of  boiling  water. 
The  cauldron  is  sunk  in  the  clay  floor  of  the  shed, 
which  is  so  raised  as  to  allow  of  a large  fire  being 
built  underneath.  It  is  about  five  feet  across  and 
four  feet  deep  and  is  filled  full  of  the  leaves. 
There  are  from  (wo  to  twelve  or  more  cauldrons 
in  the  shed,  according  to  the  size  of  the  plantation. 
While  it  boils  two  coolies  are  employed  in  stirring 
it  round  with  large  three-pronged  stirrers  made  out 
of  the  hard  wood  of  the  Tampinis  tree  ( Sloetia 
sideroxylon).  These  implements  are  about  six  feet 
or  more  in  length,  with  a strong  handle  ending  in 
a club-shaped  portion  with  three  prongs  arranged 
in  a circle.  They  are  made  from  a single  piece  of 
wood.  This  stirring  is  considered  the  hardest  part 
of  the  manufacturer,  and  the  coolies  employed  in 
it  are  paid  at  a higher  rate. 
The  leaves  are  boiled  for  some  hours  till  they 
are  quite  broken  up  and  yellow.  They  are  then 
removed  with  the  aid  of  a large  wooden  fork  and  a 
kind  of  rattan  racket  is  also  used  to  collect  the 
bits  which  escape  the  fork.  They  are  then  thrown 
into  a large  trough  made  out  of  half  a tree-trunk 
scooped  out,  about  12  feet  in  length,  and  cold  water  is 
poured  on  them.  The  first  two  washings  are  allowed 
to  run  back  into  the  cauldron  and  then  a small 
bamboo  trough  is  put  to  the  end  of  the  large  one, 
and  the  remaining  liquid  allowed  to  run  off  into 
the  next  cauldron.  This  liquid  is  used  to  boil  the 
next  lot  of  fresh  leaves  in.  The  broken  up  leaves 
while  being  washed  are  constantly  stirred  up  with 
the  large  fork,  and  when  the  water  runs  off  clear  it 
is  allowed  to  run  into  the  second  cauldron. 
The  liquid  in  the  cauldron  is  still  boiled  for  some 
time  longer  after  the  removal  of  the  leaves,  till  it 
becomes  of  a deep  brown  colour,  during  which  a 
perforated  coconut  shell  attached  to  a rattan  is 
suspended  in  it  in  which  all  the  remaining  bits 
are  caught  as  the  liquid  boils.  It  is  then  baled  out 
into  little  tubs  about  13  inches  tall  and  a foot  or 
nine  inches  across  and  set  to  cool.  Any  remains 
of  sticks,  leaves  &c.  are  carefully  taken  out,  or,  the 
Chinese  say,  it  will  not  set.  When  the  cauldron  is 
used  for  the  first  time,  it  is  necessary  to  boil  some 
other  leaves  in  it  for  some  hours,  or  the  gambir 
will  turn  out  black  owing  to  the  formation  of  tannate 
of  iron.  Bamboo  leaves  are  generally  used  partly  on 
account  of  their  abundance  and  partly  perhaps  on 
account  of  the  silica  which  they  contain  scouring 
the  rust  off  the  new  pan. 
When  the  liquid  is  cool,  the  coolie  commences  the 
operation  of  setting  the  gambir.  This  is  done  with 
the  aid  of  small  cylindrical  sticks  of  wood  about  an 
inch  and  a half  thick  and  9 inches  in  length,  a little 
shorter  than  the  diameter  of  the  tub.  These  sticks 
are  commonly  made  of  Mahang  putih  ( Macaranga 
hypoleuca),  but  really  any  stick  of  the  right  eize 
will  do,  and  I have  seen  even  joints  of  bamboo  used. 
Sticks  which  have  been  used  several  times  will  make 
the  gambir  set  faster  than  newly  cut  ones.  The 
coolie  takes  a stick  in  each  hand  and  squats  down 
by  two  tubs,  and  commences  by  giving  the  liquid 
a stir  or  two.  Then  holding  the  stick  beneath  the 
liquid  in  a sloping  position  away  from  him  he  passes 
his  hand  down  it  in  a spiral  direction,  rubbing  hard 
against  the  stick.  This  operation  takeB  about  a 
quarter  of  an  hour.  The  liquid,  which  is  at  first  of 
a deep  brown  chocolate  colour,  becomes  gradually 
lighter  and  yellower,  and  almost  suddenly  becomes 
as  viseid  as  treacle.  It  shrinks  considerably,  about  an 
inch  in  a pailful,  at  the  same  time.  When  the  hand 
can  no  longer  move  easily  in  the  gambir  the  opera- 
$ipn  js  complete.  In  a very  few  minutes  the  whqle 
has  set  in  to  a bright  yellow  claylike  mass.  It  takes 
some  hours  to  become  solid  enough  to  be  taken 
out  of  the  tub,  but  eventually  a knife  is  passed 
round  the  sides  Of  the*  tub,  tend  the  wholfi  is  turned 
out  and  allowed  to  dry. 
In  the  bigger  plantations  it  is  put  into,  a large 
hand-press  and  squeezed  to  expel  the  water.  It  is 
then  cut  into  small  blocks  of  2 or  3 inches  cube  and 
put  out  to  dry  on  a frame  of  rattan.  It  is  dried 
partly  over  a fire  and  partly  in  the  silii.  As  it 
dries  the  outside  of  the  blocks  becomes  dark  brown, 
the  interior  remaining  yellow,  and  it  is  still  quite 
soft  like  wet  clay.  It  takes  about  half  a month  to 
dry  properly,  and  is  then  made  up  into  oblong  blocks, 
wrapped  in  grass  mats  (Bale  gambir),  or  left  in 
the  cube  shape  (Cube  gambir)  and  sent  to  town  for 
export.  This  is  the  Chinese  method  of  manufacture 
of  bale  and  cube  gambir  in  Singapore  and  the 
Straits  generally.  In  Bangka  the  method  adopted 
is  different,  and  will  be  described  below.  The  Malays 
adopt  the  Chinese  plan,  with  some  variations  in  the 
making  up  of  the  stuff,  as  they  manufacture  gambir 
for  chewing  with  betel,  and  have  hardly  as  yet 
begun  to  manufacture  for  export.  In  Couperus'  time 
the  method  was  slightly  different.  The  cauldrons 
had  at  the  top  a continuation  in  the  form  of  a cask 
of  staves  three  feet  high  and  luted  with  clay,  so 
that  it  was  not  burnt  by  the  fire.  The  advantages 
of  this  were  that  a smaller  kettle  could  be  used, 
the  liquid  is  said  to  boil  better  in  it,  besides  offering 
a smaller  surface  of  iron  to  the  liquid  gambir,  by 
which  a better  coloured  product  was  produced  (owing 
to  a smaller  formation  of  tannate  of  iron).  I have 
seen  this  arrangement  in  some  boiling  sheds.  Copper 
boiling  pans  would  obviate  this  chemical  ohange  to 
a large  extent,  as  copper  is  not  acted  upon  by  tannic 
acids. 
The  liquid  was  then  poured  through  a sieve  into 
earthern  pans  and  set  to  cool.  When  cool  enough 
to  put  the  hand  in  the  planter  took  a piece  of  linen 
in  his  hand  with  which  he  continually  stirred  the 
sap,  and  every  now  and  then  wrung  the  linen  ih 
the  liquid  whereby  the  sap  became  speedily  thick 
and  stiff.  It  was  then  left  till  quite  cold,  when  it 
was  bundled  in  a piece  of  flemish  linen  and  placed 
under  a press  to  drive  out  the  remaining  water. 
The  press  consisted  of  a long  beam,  one  end  of 
which  was  inserted  into  a hole  in  a tree  or  a post 
and  the  other  weighted  with  stones.  The  gambir 
was  put  in  the  cloth  between  two  boards  and  the 
weight  of  the  stones  allowed  to  drop  on  it  so  as  to 
squeeze  out  the  water. 
This  method  is  not  in  use  now,  as  far  as  I know, 
but  the  Malays  sometimes  get  the  gambir  by  merely 
crumbling  the  liquid  as  it  were  in  their  hands  and 
not  using  a stick  or  piece  of  linen  at  all. 
Bangka  Methcd. 
The  account  of  this  I take  from  Dr.  Van  Rom* 
burgh’s  Roport,  1891  ( Korte  Benchten  nits  Lands  Plan 
tentuin).  The  leaves  and  twigs  are  first  gathered 
and  exposed  to  steam  for  15  minutes,  the  mass  still 
hot  is  put  into  a basket  made  of  plaited  rattan  and 
placed  under  a wooden  press  of  most  simple  con- 
struction. The  liquid  is  collected  in  earthenware 
dishes  and  exposed  to  sunheat  until  it  is  sufficiently 
inspissated,  when  it  is  removed  on  to  a flat  board, 
with  very  low  sides,  of  a height  equal  to  the  thick- 
ness of  the  cakes.  In  this  wooden  tray  the  gambir 
is  cut  up  into  cakes  by  means  of  threads  and  is 
left  till  it  is  dry  enough  to  be  turned  over  and 
still  futher  dried  in  the  sun. 
Here  it  will  be  noted  that  there  is  no  stirring 
of  the  liquid  or  rubbing  it  with  a stick  required. 
It  seems  to  set  of  itself. 
The  Bangka  gambir,  which  was  analyzed  by  Dr. 
Romburgh,  consisted  of  light  yellowish  brown  flat 
square  pieces  that  floated  on  water  and  only  sank 
after  long  immersion.  In  fact  it  is  what  is  known 
here  as  gambir  papan. 
The  result  on  analysis  of  this  product  is  very 
different  from  that  given  by  Mr.  Evans  from  gambir 
exported  from  Singapore,  but  1 dp  npt  quite  under* 
