At this period cinnamon was cut from trees growing wild in the forests in the interior of Ceylon, the bark being exacted as tribute from the Singhalese kings by the Portuguese. A peculiar caste called chalias, who are said to have emigrated from India to Ceylon in the 13th century, and who in after-times became cinnamon-peelers, delivered the bark to the Portuguese. The cruel oppression of these chalias was not mitigated by the Dutch, who from the year 1656 were virtually masters of the whole seaboard, and conceded the cinnamon trade to their East India Company as a profitable monopoly, which the Company exercised with the greatest severity.[1930] The bark previous to shipment was minutely examined by special officers, to guard against frauds on the part of the chalias.
About 1770 De Koke conceived the happy idea, in opposition to the universal prejudice in favour of wild-growing cinnamon, of attempting the cultivation of the tree. This project was carried out under Governors Falck and Van der Graff with extraordinary success, so that the Dutch were able, independently of the kingdom of Kandy, to furnish about 400,000 lb. of cinnamon annually, thereby supplying the entire European demand. In fact, they completely ruled the trade, and would even burn the cinnamon in Holland, lest its unusual abundance should reduce the price.
After Ceylon had been wrested from the Dutch by the English in 1796, the cinnamon trade became the monopoly of the English East India Company, who then obtained more cinnamon from the forests, especially after the year 1815, when the kingdom of Kandy fell under British rule. But though the chalias had much increased in numbers, the yearly production of cinnamon does not appear to have exceeded 500,000 lb. The condition of the unfortunate chalias was not ameliorated until 1833, when the monopoly granted to the Company was finally abolished, and Government, ceasing to be the sole exporters of cinnamon, permitted the merchants of Colombo and Galle to share in the trade.
Cinnamon however was still burdened with an export duty equal to a third or a half of its value; in consequence of which and of the competition with cinnamon raised in Java, and with cassia from China and other places, the cultivation in Ceylon began to suffer. This duty was not removed until 1853.
The earliest notice of cinnamon in connexion with Northern Europe that we have met with, is the diploma granted by Chilperic II., king of the Franks, to the monastery of Corbie in Normandy, a.d. 716, in which provision is made for a certain supply of spices and grocery, including 5 lb. of Cinnamon.[1931]
The extraordinary value set on cinnamon at this period is remarkably illustrated by some letters written from Italy, in which mention is here and there incidentally made of presents of spices and incense.[1932] Thus in a.d. 745, Gemmulus, a Roman deacon, sends to Boniface, archbishop of Mayence (“cum magnâ reverentiâ”), 4 ounces of Cinnamon, 4 ounces of Costus, and 2 pounds of Pepper. In a.d. 748, Theophilacias, a Roman archdeacon, presents to the same bishop similar spices and incense. Lullus, the successor of Boniface, sends to Eadburga, abbatissa Thanetensis,[1933] circa a.d. 732-751—“unum graphium argenteum et storacis et cinnamomi partem aliquam”; and about the same date, another present of cinnamon to archbishop Boniface is recorded. Under date a.d. 732-742, a letter is extant of three persons to the abbess Cuneburga, to whom the writers offer—“turis et piperis et cinnamomi permodica xenia, sed omni mentis affectione destinata.”
In the 9th century, Cinnamon, pepper, costus, cloves, and several indigenous aromatic plants were used in the monastery of St. Gall in Switzerland as ingredients for seasoning fish.[1934]
Of the pecuniary value of this spice in England, there are many notices from the year 1264 downwards.[1935] In the 16th century it was probably not plentiful, if we may judge from the fact that it figures among the New Year’s gifts to Philip and Mary (1556-57), and to Queen Elizabeth (1561-62).[1936]
Production and Commerce[1937]—The best cinnamon is produced, according to Thwaites,[1938] from a cultivated or selected form of the tree (var. α.), distinguished by large leaves of somewhat irregular shape. But the bark of all the forms possesses the odour of cinnamon in a greater or less degree. It is not however always possible to judge of the quality of the bark from the foliage, so that the peelers when collecting from uncultivated trees, are in the habit of tasting the bark before commencing operations, and pass over some trees as unfit for their purpose. The bark of varieties β. multiflorum and γ. ovalifolium is of very inferior quality, and said to be never collected unless for the purpose of adulteration.
The best variety appears to find the conditions most favourable to its culture, in the strip of country, 12 to 15 miles broad, on the south-west coast of Ceylon, between Negumbo, Colombo and Matura, where the tree is grown up to an elevation of 1500 feet. A very sandy clay soil, or fine white quartz, with a good sub-soil and free exposure to the sun and rain, are the circumstances best adapted for the cultivation. The management of the plantations resembles that of oak coppice in England. The system of pruning checks the plant from becoming a tree, and induces it to form a stool from which four or five shoots are allowed to grow; these are cut at the age of 1½ to 2 years, when the greyish-green epidermis begins to turn brown by reason of the formation of a corky layer. They are not all cut at the same time, but only as they arrive at the proper state of maturity; they are then 6 to 10 feet high and 1 to 2 inches thick. In some of the cinnamon gardens at Colombo, the stools are very large and old, dating back, it is supposed, from the time of the Dutch.