The Isle of Spice.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 5, 31 January 1912, Page 37

The Isle of Spice.

The Clove Industry! — The Beauty of a Plantation —A First Visit —The Labour Question — The Possibilities of Artificial Heat — The Government and the Clove Industry — The Primeval Forest.

By!

LASCELLES HASBROUCK.

WTV WENTY-SEVEX miles north of ||l Zanzibar, and about the same dis'l 1 tanee from the African mainland. lies the great clove-growing island of Pemba. Its coast abounds with bays and narrow inlets, and above the dense greenery of its heights, towers everywhere the graceful coroanut palm. In the not very remote days, when stealing slaves from the mainland was a popular and profitable business, these shelters once gained, ensured safety to the dhows; anyone attempting pursuit unacquainted with their tortuous currents and shelving reefs, was simply courting disaster. The sea is decked with innumerable green isles, where the

wild guinea-fowl is at home; and large monkeys utter endless protests whenever man invades their domains. Shells of great beauty and rarity, as well as coral and Hower-like sponge growths, are found all around the coast. Pemba, an important part of the Sultan of Zanzibar’s dominions, has known Persian and Portuguese rulers, neither of whom have left deep imprints behind; but the Arab, who succeeded them, has stamped his character and influence deeply upon the life of the island. Its importance dates from the introduction of the clove, about one hundred years ago, when, soil and climate proving congenial, its cultivation progressed so rapidly that Pemba soon became a recognised source of clove supply, and now. with Zanzibar, yields seven-eighths of the world's entire product. Harvest brings with it a sudden transformation in the easy-going life of the island. Of men, women, and children, few are too old. or too young, to be pressed into service. Picking having

begun, henceforth until its close, you talk, live, breathe, and dream cloves. The yield, price, and supply of pickers, become one burning question, to the exclusion of all other topics. A FIRST VISIT. Whoever forgets his first visit to a clove plantation; when, turning from the blinding glare of the fierce tropical sunshine, he finds the welcome shade of cool, leafy arcades. An exquisite sweetness greets him, in which all the perfumes of Araby are surely blended. Unknown until now, it is yet faintly reminiscent of scents which haunt the memorv, and touch the imagination.

Certain old-time flowers are recalled, hut only to be dismissed in quick succession; perhaps the carnation, but no. this subtle fragrance is too. dainty, too delicate for comparison; it is sui generis. Clove trees, slight, elegant, and manybranched. attain a height of sixty or seventy feet; and so dense is their foli age that only at intervals does a stray sunbeam filter through, to bring light and shadow into play, and change the dark leafage into vivid shimmering green. The stillness and beauty of those lofty, far-reaching avenues, recall the solemnity and grace of Gothic cathedral aisles, and linger in the memory with the same unforgettable charm. At sunset, looking along a darkening glade, you find it framing a circle of gold; gold so manifestly palpable that you have •but to hasten onwards to gather up the fairy treasure. And. lastly, walk there under the moonlight, in ebon shade or silversheen,

and you become a veritable pagan. As the night progresses you begin to realise how teeming with life is this equatorial land. A thousand voices, mute by day, awake and swell into a ehorus; the myriad many-toned insect pipe blending with the sharp cry of the lemur, the

angry ehatter of the monkey, and the wailing howl of the pariah dog, and unfortunate animal which has become such an outcast that he no longer barks. THE CLOVE TREE. Like all Pemba’s trees, excepting that ghost of the woods, the Baobab, the devil’s peculiar property, the clove is evergreen, its oval leaves suggesting thornless holly, by their smooth, shining surface. Unlike tree products in general, cloves do not succeed the blossom, but are unopened flower buds, resembling honeysuckle in form, passing from palest green, through faint shades of pink, to rose red. An average stalk bears from eight to fifteen, but crowning bunches often reach double that number. Should they flower, the value of the clove is impaired, the cap, which marks the perfect product, falling off in drying. Five months usually intervene between budding and picking, and harvest lasts about three months. One picking gen-

erally suffices, but, in exceptional years, there is sometimes a second and even a third gathering. Unpicked buds flow er. and develop largely in size, until they resemble long, slender plums, which, as they are seed-bearing, are known as "Mother of cloves.” The ordinary clove

being the undeveloped bud, and consequently immature, will not germinate. A walk through the avenues when picking has begun gives the impression that a host of invisible Dryades has taken possession: chatter, laughter, and song have vanished silence. The picker (clove harvest recognises no disabilities of sex) climbs a tree, and securing foot hold iu the clefts of the branches, which grow upwards like those of the poplar, draws the outer end towards him with a hooked stick, and snaps off the bum-lies which he deposits in a bag. A rope thrown round the boll enables him t.> swing out. and lessens his liability to fall. Small branches and leaves suffer considerably, but this provokes little censure, as it reduces the necessity for pruning. The ground underneath is kept bare save for beds of pineapples, which grow wild in abundance. Occasionally there is a cocoanut palm. Arabs believing that, unless it is planted, cloves will not bear.

THE LABOUR QUESTION. Although the labour question grows each year a more serious problem there -evin- little prospect of the introduction of any aids to hand picking. In slavery day-/ when the hau ls on the planta lion- were hugely in excess of the pre -cut number, laddeis were used, ae tending to -afety. but have been abandoned because they make picking slower, and. < oii-e«pient I\. more expensive; and economy m production is a condition of tin* first importance in clove growing. Work liegins a- early as daylight per mils ami proceed- until a drum sound a--2 p.m., when the industrial army marclos with it- spoils to the receiving -beds, where are also the drying ground wide, open -paves of hard earth or conmete. Each picker -pleads out a mat and proceeds to "stem.*’ A bunch 13 taken in the palm, ami a quick contrac lion of the fingers cause- the buds to tall. Stalk- are cast a-ide, but finally sold at one-seventh the price of cloves. 4hi succeeding day- the buds, taken under cover at night, are spread out thinly on mats in the sun and stirred at intervals by attendants, who keep a keen eye on the weather, as heavy shower* come up quickly, with disastrous results. In a few hours the delicate hues have faded, and in about five days there is the brown clove of commerce. On the tree the perfume of the clove is merely suggested, but with drying its pungency develops rapidly. So intense is it that, when cloves are stored in bulk, it often produces headache. Deciding when the final stage in dry-

ing has l>een reached requires close attention and discrimination from even experienced testers, although a standing rule usually assists the decision. >hould the dove beml without breaking, it is n<»t -utli- ieiitly dry: if it -nap-, it is too dry. ami 10-es value in consequence: l»ut .f. while landing, it break- with a fracture it i- in perfect condition, lhe •d<we- are then put in coarse sacks and < onveyed on men’- heads to the nearest shipping point, whence they are taken in dhow- to Zanzibar, to be sold .it the ( ustom llou-e. HIE l’< > — I ’ll IJTIES <>E ARTIFK lAL HEAT. \c- the clove is a product the value of which de|H-n I- largely on it- -uccessfnl drying the po-sibilities of artificial heat bring supplied in Ad -ea-on- ha- orcii pied the attention of grower-, but with out producing an\ - iti.-fa< -tort results. Sheds with sliding tray-, ami al-o dry ing under ■_'!• -♦•emed to pre-ent soiiu encouraging po--ibilitie-. but in bot’i - the initial expense?* and cost <>l im rea-ed labour prevented their adop tioii. lhe application of artificial heat i- not pra'ti« - abl<* with the dove owinj to it- 10-ing -trength ami consequent \alile -luring the operation. I*he conditions on which, ♦•loves ar« p>. ked \ a r.\ eon-ider ibly. Where th -rower ha- m»t -uila lent help he con tracts with a ■ ■ o a i pa u v o t pickers for th* harvct-’ing of a pl i nt a t ion on eqii.l share-, or will let the picking for ertain -uni under -iq»crv i-ion. or some

times he sells the growing crop. While enjoying tolerable immunity from the ravages of insects and blight, the clove is somewhat uncertain as to yield. It is affected by under or excessive rainfall, and a wet harvest largely increases the cost of picking as well as causing deterioration in quality. In bearing it is verv variable. A tree which has pro

dueed 2001 b (a large amount) one year will probably be barren the next, and in the following may give only a few pounds. Pemba, during the last few years, has been passing through what threatened to be a crucial period. When, after much temporising, the fiat went forth

that slavery must cease in the Sultan’s dominions, the Arab, the landowner and agriculturist of the island, was aghast at the thought of what must follow, the extinction of the old and cherished institution. The Swahelies, owing mainly to the degrading influence of slavery, were a steadily diminishing race, and for some time it had been impossible

to increase their number by the importation of slaves from the mainland. Of what use was the harvest if there were not hands to gather: and dire were the predictions, and dolorous the anticipations. when the legal status of slavery was finally abolished. The great clove industry, the mainstay of the island,

would be irretrievably ruined, and general bankruptcy would ensue. Pemba depended entirely on her agricultural produce; and in this edict the deathknell of her prosperity was sounded. THE INDIAN MONEYLENDER AND ms INFLUENCE. Happily those dark forebodings have not been realised and freedom was established, not only

without producing friction or outrage, but practically without ei anomie dieorganisation. Returns show that the average in the quantity of cloves picked has increased, and also that the value of plantations has risen. This last, however, may be partly attributed to an advance in price; and it must be admitted that the planters’ inability to control labour has resulted in individual and general loss in certain directions. Rice, for instance, cnee

largely grown in low valley., there the eocuanut and clove will not flourish, has ceased to be an export. The neglected conditions of some plantations, nnpruned and partially picked trees, with rank undergrowth approaching the character of a jungle, also speak of changed circumstances, and the steadily increasing size of the mortgagee’s hand. The Indian, a shrewd business man, is the money-lender; and when those properties fall into his hands order will come out of chaos. As a general trader be can command the labour of his small debtors in a way impossible to the Arab, who is being financially done to death by high interest. The act of manumission, while grant-

ing a email compensation to the owner, required every slave to apply for his papers; and it says much for the character of the Arabs that the majority ot slaves availed themselves very slowly of the privilege, and indeed their general feeling was that they should be compensated for the loss of their master.! They had never groaned under their yoke, and if they were bound, they hugged their bonds. Though the freedmen did not show themselves averse from earning money by clove picking as had been predicted, it soon became evident they could not be counted upon throughout the season. Labour, beyond the point of supplying immediate necessities, does not appeal to the Swahel ; it is a shrine at wjiich, at the best, he pays but unwilling homage, and as he was also inadequate in numbers, manv plantations for a few years were insufficiently picked. THE COVERNMENT AND THE CLOVE INDUSTRY. The Government, which, as it draws a large revenue from the elove industry, is keenly interested in its preservation, seeing the inability of the growers to grapple with the record crop of 1907, sent pickers from Zanzibar, supplemented by drafts from the mainland. This course of action, it is more than evident, will have to be pursued iii every bountiful season. Many mainland pickers had to be inducted into suitable garments before leaving Africa, as, having lived the simple life, they had not attained to the doctrine of clothes but, and it may be counted as evidence that man is meant to be a elothes-'wearing animal, such earnest converts did they become that many returned wearing full ponge suits and high silk hats. The Government owns many wellmanaged properties, and an encouraging feature for future mav be found in the increasing number of small, carefully cultivated shambas, owned by natives. These small cultivators are mainly Waa Pembas, a native race distinguished in many respects from the Swahieli. They have never been enslaved, or of a certaintv not since the davs of the Persians, but historv is somewhat nebulous about that period. Phvsieally they ire finer and handsomer, are country dwellers, and preserve familv life, which is held verv b'chtlv among the Swaheli; on lhe other hand the bitter, who are town dwellers bv preference, are less primitive, and farther removed from barbarism. dne to long association with their Arab masters '■"hose civilisation and religion the” have to some degree imbibed. The Universities and Friends’ Missions are earnest.lv labouring to introduce Chrisfianitv and education, but as vet it is too early to observe or predict results. THE GREAT KING CLOVE. Pemba, though not, broadly speaking, a white man’s country, save as the implayer and director ot native labour, is not unhealthy, and seems to offer good prospects of return for enterprise ami capital, both of which will be welcomed and fully protected by a benevolently paternal, but strictly efficient Government. There i» every prospect of the clove grower soon finding his taxes substantially lightened and his returns proportionately increased. The cocoanut and fruits flourish abundantly and offer strong inducements for cultivation. Tn addition to being the best spot on earth on which to grow eloves it his soil and climate suited to almost any tropical product, and might become the isle of many spiees, instead of the home of one. Affairs, however, move slowly near the equator, and it mav be long jefore ae.y rival will have the temerity to question the pre-eminence of her reigning monarch, the great King Clove.