MYETACE^ 331
clove tree, described by Pigafetta, a shipmate of Magellan, as he saw
it growing in 1521. For nearly a century the Portuguese had the lion's
share of the clove trade. Holland then came to the fore as a naval
Power in the East, and the Molucca Islands were wrested from the
Portuguese by the Dutch, who adopted drastic measures to secure a
monopoly of the spice trade.
In spite of all their efforts their enemies and competitors managed
to run many a rich cargo of Eastern products right through to England.
In 1609 the East India Company's ship " Consent" arrived in London
with 112,000 Ib. of cloves, the duty alone on which amounted to £1400r
and the impost as much more. The price in bond at that time was from
5s. 6d. to 5s. 9d. per Ib. ex bale.
The Dutch, in desperation, endeavoured to eradicate the clove tree
from its native islands, and even made annual attacks on all young trees
that might have sprung up meanwhile, with a view to confining the
growth of this spice to a group of small islands, of which Amboyna is
the chief. This practice has only of late years been discontinued (since
1873), and though there is no restriction of cultivation in other islands,
the " clove parks " of Amboyna remained the property of the Nether-
lands Government. It is said that the original Moluccas, or Clove
Islands, now produce no cloves at all. By the eighteenth century
France had become an important factor in Eastern affairs. The
French Governor of Mauritius (or " Isle de France," as it was then
styled), De Lozier Bouvet, adopted the suggestion of the financier,
Pierre Poivre, to introduce spice cultivation into the island, in spite
of the rigorous precautions of the Dutch.
It was not until 1770 that Poivre could revert to his long-cherished
scheme regarding these valuable spice trees. The spice plantations
thrived, and became famous under the name of " King's Garden," and
to-day have developed into the " Eoyal Botanical Garden," Pample-
mousses.
1
Three years later, in 1773, the French transported the clove
tree to their Western Colony of Cayenne, where, however, it does not
appear to have flourished with any marked success. At the close of
the century, an Arab, by name Harameli-bin-Saleh, accompanied a
French officer from Zanzibar to Bourbon (where the clove had been
introduced about the same time as into Mauritius), and obtained leave
to take back a small quantity of clove seeds and plants with him. This
was the beginning of the clove cultivation in Zanzibar, Harameli mak-
ing the first plantation at Mitoni, on the road to Chueni, and the enter-
prise was most successful. The local Swahili name for the tree is
" garafu," presumably a corruption of the French " giroflier". The
industry was almost destroyed in Zanzibar by the terrible hurricane
of 1872, but in spite of this reverse has in later years recovered its
position. Pemba, a small island thirty miles North-West of Zanzibar,
is also an important seat of clove cultivation, though the quality of the
product is not equal to that of the Zanzibar growth.
The clove also flourishes in the Straits Settlements. Many years*
ago it was introduced into Penang and cultivated by European planters
and wealthy Chinese settlers. Penang cloves have a high reputation
for quality, but the Eastern consumption is so great that not a great
deal of the spice finds its way on to the European market.
1
Mauritius Illustrated (Macmillan), 1916.