CHAPTER I

EARLY HISTORY OF SPICES

“Be still! oh North winds, and come, oh Southern breezes, and blow upon my garden, that the spice trees therein may blossom and bear fruit!” “His cheeks are as a bed of spices, of sweet flowers.” —_The Song of Solomon._

THE terms spices and condiments are applied to those articles which, while possessing in themselves no nutritious principles, are added to food to make it more palatable and to stimulate digestion. They are of an exclusively vegetable origin, and occupy an important position in the diet of the human race.

A ride of thirty-five days by ocean steamer from New York City brings us to the city of Singapore, situated on a small island of that name, the principal exporting city and the metropolis and capital of Malaysia, the Straits Settlement, India. The islands that constitute the Straits Settlement are crowned with spice forests. Here the noonday sun is truly vertical twice each year, and for many days it passes so near the zenith that change is scarcely perceptible. Here the grand constellation Orion passes overhead, while the Great Bear and Pole Star lie low down in the horizon. To the south may be seen the Southern Cross, and the planets high in the zenith.

No autumn tints, like those of our Northern woods, deck the spice forests. There is no purple and yellow dying foliage which rivals, and even excels, the expiring dolphin in splendor, and the long, cold sleep of winter and the first gentle touch of spring are unknown. But instead, we behold a ceaseless round of active life, which weaves the fair scenery of the tropics into one monotonous whole, the component parts of which exhibit in detail untold variety and beauty; and no one component part impresses us more forcibly than the spice trees. It is said that sailors, several miles at sea, in favorable weather, with a gentle land breeze, can tell they are nearing land long before they come in sight of the islands by the fragrance of the spice gardens. Singapore has a population of only 200,000, and the small island on which it is built contains but 145,000 acres, yet the city does a business of $200,000,000 a year and can count its millionaires by the score. Eighty years ago, the place where it stands was simply a jungle for tigers.

Singapore has ships from every port of the world going in and out of its harbor, and its streets are as lively as those of New York. You can go from it to the continent in a rowboat in one-half hour. Close connections are also made at Singapore for Siam, Borneo, Australia, China, Japan, Sumatra, and Ceylon, and it is the half-way station of the voyage around the world. The Island of Ceylon, with Colombo as its capital and chief city of export, also produces many fine spices. What could India do without her Spice Forests? This is a question which remains unanswered. We might as well ask what the United States could do without its wheat fields.

The different grades of spices take their names from the country or city from which they are exported, each different kind having a flavor of its own. Our best grades come mostly from Penang, and are called “Penang Spice,” while spice of nearly as good a quality comes from parts of Malabar. Other chief cities of export are Bombay, Batavia, Calcutta, and Cayenne, South America; but the most important is Singapore, as has been before mentioned.

The declared value of all spices shipped direct to this country averages about $12,000,000 worth annually. Among the cities that import spices New York stands first, probably receiving more than three-quarters of all importations. In 1898, 5,000,000 pounds of ginger were received at New York—19,000 bags being from Calcutta, 9,010 from Africa, 65,000 from Cochin, 3,608 barrels from Jamaica. There were 6,000,000 pounds of pepper received at New York, and probably nearly as much more at other ports. This may seem a large amount, but when we consider the quantity used in prepared meats and pickles, and the fact that pepper is on every table which can afford a pepper-box or caster, and that pepper enters into some of our food at nearly every meal, the above amount, which gives less than one-sixth of a pound per capita, is not large. A larger sum is paid for pepper than for any other spice. The amount paid for spices in this country annually does not fall much short of one dollar per capita at retail prices.

Four and one-half days by ocean steamer from New York brings us to the Island of Jamaica; and this chapter would not be complete if I did not mention that gem of the West Indies, the home of the Pimento and the famous Jamaica Ginger. Xaymaca (the Indian name for Jamaica) is like a huge mountain standing alone in the Caribbean Sea, with its hard, white coral beach and ideal climate. The ride from Kingston, the capital of the island, with its 50,000 population of picturesque folks (Americans, Europeans, West Indies women, gorgeously arrayed, and the coolie women loaded with ornaments), to beautiful Montego Bay and Port Antonio is an experience never to be forgotten.