Neither the nutmeg, clove, nor cinnamon, is indigenous; those which have been cultivated, are found to have thriven very well. But it does not comport with the views of the government to extend the cultivation of spices in Java: it is even in contemplation to destroy the rice plantations on Sumatra, in the neighbourhood of Bencoolen. The vine was extensively cultivated in some of the eastern provinces; but the growth of it was discouraged by the government, as it interfered, at that time, with the Dutch possessions at the cape of Good Hope. The soap-tree, of which the kernel is used in washing; the cotton-tree, the wax and caoutchouc, or the tree which yields the gum-elastic, and the bamboo and rattan, are common. The cocoa-nut, and gomuti-palms, are also very abundant, &c., &c.
FRUITS OF JAVA.
No region of the earth, says Marsden, can boast an equal abundance and variety of indigenous fruits as Java; but the Mangusteen bears the pre-eminence among Indian fruits, and, in the opinion of most foreigners, is superior to the cherrapayer of Lima, or any other known fruit; it suits the greatest diversity of tastes: is mildly acid, of a most delicate flavour, by no means luscious or cloying to the appetite; the shape is globular, the rind about a fourth of an inch in thickness, and it is as large as a good-sized apple; the shell is of a deep crimson or rather purple and quite brittle; disrobing it of its purple coat, there is displayed to view a snow-white pulp, distributed in three or four cloves; they are soft, very juicy, and occasionally touched with imperial purple, a colour once thought worthy of royalty only, and had it been known in ancient days, it would have been called the royal fruit; within this truly delicate pulp lies the seed. But in the opinion of the natives and many foreigners who have long resided in the East, the durian has the highest rank: the odour is peculiarly offensive to most foreigners, savouring of roasted onions: it has the appearance of bread-fruit, but the spires of the husk are larger: it is of a spherical shape, generally, and the size of a man’s head, some being larger; when ripe they are yellow, and crack like a ripe melon, at the stalk end: they are generally split into quarters, each one having several small cells, that enclose the fruit, which is covered with a pellicle or skin, and encloses a stone covered also with a skin; these are roasted and eaten, and partake of the flavour of chestnuts; the fruit is the size of a small egg, white as milk but sometimes tinged with yellow, and as soft as cream; it can only be eaten when at maturity; it grows on the body or greater branches of the tree, is the product only of the Indian islands, and does not grow in Siam or Cochin-China; it is always more expensive than any other fruit. I do not deem it necessary to name any other fruits, excepting the wild raspberry, which grows in the mountains, and the fruits named in the account of Buitenzorg.
Of esculent vegetables which contribute to the food and sustenance of man, rice is the most important, of which it is said there are upward of a hundred varieties. Maize or Indian corn ranks next. They cultivate also wheat, the sweet and the American or European potato, the yam or ubi, and pulse in a great variety; the bread-fruit also, and most of the vegetables of colder climates, the seed being imported continually from the cape of Good Hope.
Neither milk, nor any preparation from it, is prized by the natives; salted eggs are an important article of food: they are covered with equal parts of salt and ashes, or salt and brick-dust, made into a thick paste: it preserves them for many months.
The chewing of areca-nut, as well as siri or betel-leaf, tobacco and gambir, is common to all classes. Every person who is able owns a siri-box, more or less valuable; opium is exceedingly coveted by them, and is both chewed and smoked; added to these is the disgusting practice of holding tobacco between the lips, and at one corner of the mouth, the saliva from it staining the lips, and running over the chin; they use, also, arrack, and an intoxicating liquor made from the gomuti palm.
There are no metals or precious stones, but there are many minerals.
They possess a fine breed of horses, strong, fleet, and well made, of about thirteen hands high—also the ox, buffalo, goats, some sheep, and the hog. Of wild beasts, there are several species of tiger, cat, the jackall, wild dog, rhinoceros or wild Javan ox, the wild hog and the stag, the rib-faced and axis deer, the weasel, squirrel, and a variety of monkeys. The turkey, goose, duck, fowls; also, two kinds of parrots: the peacock, falcon, carrion-crow, and the owl. The number of birds of distinct species are said not much to exceed two hundred.