313 
The Mangosteen is also not wild so far as I have seen in the 
Peninsula, but is described by the earlier travellers from 1416. I 
believe it has never been found in a wild state anywhere. But 
like Durians there are wild species. 
The Rambutan is probably a native of the Peninsula. 
The following fruits also occur in a wild state in the Peninsula: — 
Kechapi (Sandoricum radiatum), Bachang (Mangifera fcetida), 
and Binjai (M, caesia), Champedak (Arto carpus polyphemia), the 
wild form of w r hich contains a much smaller amount of pulp in pro- 
portion to the number and size of the seeds, shewing that the Malay 
cultivators have improved this fruit by careful selection, Rukam, 
(Flacourtia Rukam). 1 am doubtful, however, about the Flacourtia 
Cataphracta , the most popular of this genus, as I have never seen 
it wild, the Rouminiya Bonea microphylla , and possibly B. macro - 
phylla , the Langsat, Lansium domesticum , of which the Duku is 
a cultivated and improved form probably originating in Java. The 
first mention of the Pulasan I can find is in Newbold (1839), who 
also mentions the Rambei (Baccaurea motley ana). I am doubtful as 
to either of these plants being indigenous to the Peninsula, but they 
are certainly natives of the Malay region and were probably brought 
from Java or Borneo by natives much earlier than this. 
Pineapple . — Of strictly exotic fruits, the first to mention is the 
Pineapple. This is first mentioned as occurring in the East by 
LlNSCHOTEN in 1583, as quoted above. He does not directly men- 
tion its occurrence at the time in Malacca, but it was doubtless 
there about that time ; very easily grown and carried about, it reached 
the other parts of the Peninsula as soon as they were colonised. 
At first grown for its fruits only for local consumption, the Chinese 
in Singapore, in about 1870 started working the fibre from the 
leaves, but as apparently this became insufficiently remunerative, 
this manufacture dwindled till in 1888 only a few Bugis in Singa- 
pore 'were left, who extracted the fibre and these men ceased the 
manufacture soon after. The Bugis also in the early days used to 
make an intoxicating drink from the Pineapples, but only for local 
consumption. 
Pineapple cultivation then decreased till some European firms 
commenced the canning industry, but there was no great develop- 
ment of this till about 1890, when the Chinese commenced the 
business. Then, there began a great demand for Pineapples owing 
to the starting of many Chinese factories. At first, the canning houses 
increased so fast that many failed from lack of sufficient pines, but 
pine cultivation quickly took the place of the dying Pepper and 
Gambier industries, and later supplanted to a large extent the Indigo 
cultivation. Large areas of land formerly under these latter culti- 
vations, which have been abandoned and left a weary waste of 
lalang and secondary scrub were now put under Pineapples, and 
what w'as less satisfactory most of the remaining bits of forest near 
Singapore were destroyed for this cultivation. The Canning indus- 
try increased rapidly to the present day. The European firms, 
t/lkS 
