Ill 
NUTMEGS AND MACE 
105 
nutmeg and clove plantations, the limit is reached at 
under 1000 ft., above which the tree will not grow. 
The highest point of Great Banda is 1500 ft. 
CLIMATE 
It is commonly said that nutmegs must be able to 
smell the sea, and cloves must see it, and it is certain 
that if proximity to the sea is not altogether essential 
for the success of the cultivation, there have been very 
few, if any, really successful plantations of nutmegs at 
any distance from the sea. It will be noticed that all 
the great cultivations of this plant have been on islands, 
viz. the Moluccas, Penang, Grenada, and Trinidad, 
while attempts to cultivate the plant far inland never 
seem to have been attended with much success. 
With regard to temperature, Dr. Oxley gives the 
temperature of Banda as ranging from 76° to 86° Fahr. 
in the south-east monsoon, and from 80° to 92° in 
the north-west monsoon. In the Straits Settlements 
the temperature is rather less regular, ranging from 64° 
to 93°, with an average of 79° for Penang, and 81° for 
Province Wellesley. 
The temperature of Trinidad is given as from 75° 
to 90°. 
Rainfall . — The rainfall of Banda is described as 
similar to that of the Straits Settlements, that is to 
say, from about 87 to 142 in. per year. This rain is 
constant, and there is no dry period. Occasionally, in 
the Straits Settlements, a month or even two may occur 
with very little or no rain, but this is not a constant 
occurrence, and usually there is a little rain every day, 
with heavier storms at the break of the monsoon. 
In Penang there is distinctly more of a trace of a 
dry season than there is in Singapore, and farther 
north in the Lankawi Islands, within sight of Penang, 
it is still more marked. A little drying of the air in 
the months of June and July does not seem to hurt the 
tree, even if grown with full exposure, as in Penang 
