The ripe Areka-nut is called also Pénu, massa, and the green Pénu, mudr; the Gambir, used with the Betel, Gambé; the Betel-leaf, Ránu; the Chunam, Gapu; the tobacco, Bákun.
The rajah of Pedir claims ten per cent. as a duty levied in kind upon all the Areka-nut disposed of to ships arriving in his territory; and, besides this, his subjects are obliged to dispose of the nuts to the ship, at the price he or his ministers have agreed upon with the supercargo.[156]
The red colour, produced by chewing the Betel-leaf, in combination with the Areka-nut, lime, &c., is not produced by them when used separately. The mastication of the “Betel” is considered very wholesome by those who are in the habit of using it: it may be so, but the black appearance it gives to the teeth, although it is said to be an excellent preserver of them, together with the brick-red lips and mouth, give any thing but an agreeable appearance.[157] Its use certainly does not impart additional beauty to the native females, who habituate themselves to an equal extent to those of the opposite sex.[158]
There was an old native of Madras, a Moorman, forming one of the rajah’s attendants on board, whose duty it was to visit ships, and report their arrival to his highness, and also to attend the ship daily to see the cargo taken on board; this individual had one of his hands rendered useless by a blow from a Klawang, or Malay sword. Besides the scar resulting from this wound, there was an unreduced dislocation of the carpal extremity of the ulna, and a fracture of the radius, which, being disunited, an artificial joint had been formed: the cause of this personal injury, he said, proceeded from an attack made upon a vessel he was in, by one belonging to the rajah of Acheen, in which several people were killed. This individual, being on board one morning, although professing in external appearances the Mahometan creed, expressed a desire of having a tumbler of the stimulating beverage denominated “grog,” if it could be administered without its being seen; proving that his religious scruples were not so strong in private as his veneration for public opinion, or a fear of losing caste. A stiff glass of grog was, therefore, prepared for him, which the old withered disciple of Mahometanism regarded with glittering eyes. There was also on board another Mussulman, whose duty it was to take account of the cargo as it came to the ship, and report the quantity to the rajah; the sinner was about to raise the glass to his mouth, exclaiming, “What would the other man say if he was to see me now?” when the old saying was verified, of “there is many a slip between the cup and the lip;” for the scribe was, at the same instant, seen descending, and there was only time to conceal the glass before he was close to him. The old fellow stroked his whiskers, and began seriously to talk about opium; and as the white turbaned man saw him clear out from below, the long-sought enjoyment was obliged to be postponed.
A Chittagong brig, commanded by a black Portuguese, anchored in the roads, on the 10th of July, from the Maldive islands, bound to Penang, with a cargo of dried fish and some tortoiseshell, which had been procured in exchange for rice; his object was to dispose of his cargo in exchange for dollars and Betel-nut at this place. The dried fish was the Bonito cut into small pieces. The Maldive natives prepare it in the following manner:—A long slice is cut from each side of the fish, and these again are divided into two parts, so that each fish is divided into four pieces; it is then boiled for a short time in salt water, after which it is smoked and placed in the sun to dry; it then becomes extremely hard, and resembles, when broken, a piece of wood, having a reddish appearance at the fractured parts: after it has been soaked, it is used for curries and other native dishes.
The “Golden Mountain” is a very conspicuous and beautiful object from the anchorage; but it ought to be mentioned, that, from this position, two mountains are seen to the westward, one towering to a peak, and densely wooded, the other, anterior to it, is a lofty rounded hill: the first is the one known to Europeans as the “Golden Mountain;” the second, or rounded mountain, is not named in the charts, but it may be called the “Pedir Mountain.” The “Golden Mountain” is called by the natives Yamori, and the other Yamora; the first the natives designate as the father, the second the mother (probably of all the little mountains about them).
The natives state, that once every year the mountains come together, occasioning rain, thunder, lightning, earthquakes, and violent storms; the Urong Salle, or Fire King, then sits upon the mountain, surrounded by hideous demons, enjoying the noise and uproar occasioned by the conflict of the elements; the winds blow in violent tornados; the thunder is so loud as to occasion the earth to tremble under the feet of the terrified inhabitants: the rain causes tremendous mountain torrents, inundating habitations and plantations, carrying all before them in their impetuous course, and spreading devastation around. In the midst of this dreadful conflict of the elements, the mountains meet with a horrible crash. As the forked lightning plays around them, the Urong Salle, or Fire King, surrounded by his satellites, laughs and sports in the scene; the mountains remain united for a minute, when they again separate, regaining their former position. No person dare ascend the hill at any time, for there sits the Fire King and his demons, and should any mortal cast his eyes upon him, that instant he would be struck with blindness.
Yamora is stated to be distant, inland from Pedir, two days’ journey travelling on foot, and Yamori is the same distance from the other mountain; not, however, as the crow flies, but it would take that period of time to reach it, from the winding and difficulties of the road. From this account there is every reason to suppose that earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are occasionally felt upon this coast. As far as we could ascertain, there was no appearance of a burning volcano existing in either of the mountains just mentioned; they were both densely clothed with vegetation, more especially the “Golden Mountain.”
Near the banks of the river, a short distance up, is an uninclosed native burial-ground; the graves had a stone or piece of wood placed both at the head and foot: there were several trees of Hibiscus tiliaceus, Tamarindus Indica, and a very large one, called Ba, Glumpong by the natives, (Sterculia fœtida, Linn.) which was described by them as being poisonous, producing violent vomiting and pains in the head, if the fruit be eaten. I subsequently saw it, planted about the fences in the village. There were two of these fine, lofty, and spreading trees in the burial-ground, and I procured specimens both of the flowers and fruit: the former grew in clusters upon erect spikes, with the corolla of a dark red, mixed with yellowish green. They have a handsome appearance, but diffuse so fœtid a smell around, as soon to fill a room with the exceedingly disagreeable effluvia. The fruit is kidney-shaped; the trees were sixty or seventy feet in height, and from eight to ten feet in circumference.
A piece of sandal wood, of good quality, was brought off to the ship by one of the natives; he stated that large quantities of it could be procured, as the tree grew abundantly in the mountains. He gave it the usual Indian appellation of Chandana.[159]