[Footnote 147: Pepper, sugar, and coffee, are produced in very considerable quantities, especially the first, which has been reckoned one of the chief commodities of the place. As to sugar, one may have some notion of the quantity yielded, by a circumstance noticed by Stavorinus in his account. He says that thirteen millions of pounds were manufactured, in 1765, in the province of Jaccatra alone. Much of it used to be sent to the west of India, and a considerable part found its way to Europe before the derangement, or rather annihilation of the Dutch trade, by the effects of the revolutionary wars.--E.]
But the most abundant article of vegetable luxury here, is the fruit; of which there is no less than six-and-thirty different kinds, and I shall give a very brief account of each.
1. The pine-apple; Bromelia Ananas. This fruit, which is here called Nanas, grows very large, and in such plenty that they may sometimes be bought at the first hand for a farthing a-piece; and at the common fruit-shops we got three of them for two-pence half-penny. They are very juicy and well flavoured; but we all agreed that we had eaten as good from a hot-house in England: They are however so luxuriant in their growth that most of them have two or three crowns, and a great number of suckers from the bottom of the fruit; of these Mr Banks once counted nine, and they are so forward that very often while they still adhered to the parent plant they shot out their fruit, which, by the time the large one became ripe, were of no inconsiderable size. We several times saw three upon one apple, and were told that a plant once produced a cluster of nine, besides the principal: This indeed was considered as so great a curiosity, that it was preserved in sugar, and sent to the Prince of Orange.
2. Sweet oranges. These are very good, but while we were here, sold for six-pence a piece.
3. Pumplemoeses, which in the West Indies are called Shaddocks. These were well flavoured, but not juicy; their want of juice, however, was an accidental effect of the season.
4. Lemons. These were very scarce; but the want of them was amply compensated by the plenty of limes.
5. Limes. These were excellent, and to be bought at about twelve-pence a hundred. We saw only two or three Seville oranges, which were almost all rind; and there are many sorts, both of oranges and lemons, which I shall not particularly mention, because they are neither esteemed by Europeans nor the natives themselves.
6. Mangos. This fruit during our stay was so infested with maggots, which bred in the inside of them, that scarcely one in three was eatable; and the best of them were much inferior to those of Brazil: They are generally compared by Europeans to a melting peach, which indeed they resemble in softness and sweetness, but certainly fall much short in flavour. The climate here, we were told, is too hot and damp for them; but there are as many sorts of them as there are of apples in England, and some are much superior to others. One sort, which is called Mangha Cowani, has so strong a smell that a European can scarcely bear one in the room. These, however, the natives are fond of. The three sorts which are generally preferred, are the Mangha Doodool, the Mangha Santock, and the Mangha Gure.
7. Bananas. Of these also there are innumerable sorts, but three only are good; the Pissang Mas, the Pissang Radja, and the Pissang Ambou: All these have a pleasant vinous taste, and the rest are useful in different ways; some are fried in batter, and others are boiled and eaten as bread. There is one which deserves the particular notice of the botanist, because, contrary to the nature of its tribe, it is full of seeds, and is therefore called Pissang Batu, or Pissang Bidjie; it his however no excellence to recommend it to the taste, but the Malays use it as a remedy for the flux.
8. Grapes. These are not in great perfection, but they are very dear; for we could not buy a moderate bunch for less than a shilling or eighteen-pence.