NUSINGAN. Tlie name of a large lake in tlie interior of tlie island of Mindano,
in the territory of the Illanos or Lanuns, and in the centre of the isthmus formed
by the Bay of iligan to the north, and that of Illanos to the south. I t is said to
communicate with the lake of Apo, which discharges itself by a river into the lagune
of Panguil, a continuation of the Bay of Iligan.
NUTMEG. This is the fruit of the Myristica moschata, the true nutmeg, a tree
of the natural order of Myristicacese. It is an evergreen, bearing a general resemblance
to the laurel or bay, and in its native climate growing to the height of forty or
fifty feet. I t is a dioecious plant, or bears male and female flowers on separate
trees, but when cultivated, it has a tendency to become monoecious, or to produce
both flowers on the same plant. The p,pices of the genus Myristica are numerous
and wide-spread, for some are found in all the islands of the Archipelago, in several
parts of Hindustan, in the Hindu-Chinese countries, in the Philippines, in Australia,
and in tropical America. As a spice, however, the moschata or aromatic is the only
one of which the nut or mace is of any value, and of this the geographical limits are
comparatively narrow, being comprehended between the 126th and 135th degrees of
east longitude, and the 3rd degree of north, and the 7th of south latitude. I t is, or
has been, found wild in the proper Moluccas, in Gilolo, Ceram, Amboyna, Boeroe,
Damma, the north and south sides of the western peninsula of New Guinea, and in
all its adjacent islands. I t certainly does not exist in its wild state in any of the
islands west of these, nor in any of the Philippines. Wherever the soil and climate are
suitable for its growth, the aromatic nutmeg is raised with great facility. I t is even
transported to remote parts, and the seed is disseminated by birds that feed on the
mace dropping the nut. These birds consist of two species of pigeon, Coloinba perspi-
cillata and senea, which prey on the nutmeg as our own wood-pigeons on the acorn.
In its native country the nutmeg tree comes into full bearing in its ninth year,
and lives to seventy-fiye. In shape and size, the ripe fruit resembles a peach, or rather
a nectarine. When ripe, the fleshy outer substance bursts, the nutmeg in its
black shining shell is seen through the interstices of its reticulated crimson
envelope, the mace, which last amounts to about one-fifth part of the weight of the
whole dried fruit. These two articles, the nut and mace, constitute the spices which
for so many ages have been in request among the nations of Europe and Asia, although
never used as a condiment by the inhabitants of the countries that produce it.
The Hindus, who had traded for ages with the western parts of the Archipelago,
such as Jacatra, Bantam, Malacca, and Achin, appear at these places, to have obtained
the nutmegs, which they have immemorially used as a condiment. The Portuguese, on
their arrival in the Archipelago, furnish us with the first accurate account of the
nutmeg, and of the course of the trade by which it was conveyed from the place of
its growth to western Asia and Europe. The Malays and Javanese, as stated elsewhere,
carried on the interior trade of the Archipelago, and brought the nutmegs, as well as
the cloves to the western ports, where they were purchased by the merchants of
Continental India, and in later times also by the Arabs and Persians. The Banda,
and not the true Molucca Islands, formed, latterly at least, the emporium to which
the Malays and Javanese resorted for the purchase of both the clove and nutmeg,
although they yielded the latter only. “ From Amboyna,” says De Barros, “ Antonio
D’Abreu, (the Portuguese discoverer of the Spice Islands) proceeded to the
Isle of Banda, losing on his way the ship of Francisco Serrao, but, by God’s blessing,
saving the crew. And as the Moluccas comprehend five islands, so under the name
of Banda, there are also five, each with its appropriate name. In truth, the chief of
them is called Banda, to the principal port of which, called Lutatam,” (possibly a
misprint for Lontar, the name of the principal island,) “ all ships resort that come
for nutmegs.................. Every year, there repair to Lutatam the Malay and Javanese
people to load eloves, nutmegs, and mace. This place is in the latitude most easily
navigated, and as the cloves of the Moluccas are usually brought hither, it is
not necessary to go there to seek for them. In the five islands above alluded
to, grow all the nutmegs and mace which are conveyed to every part of the world,
in the same way as in the five Moluccas are grown all the cloves.”—Decade II., book
5, chap 5.
This account of the course of the spice trade is confirmed by the current names of
objects of trade, as well as by the names of places, all of which are either Malay, or
Javanese; or Sanscrit through one of these tongues. Thus, in the case of the nutmeg
itself, it had a native name in the language of the inhabitants of the Banda Islands,—
galago; but this was unknown beyond the locality, and the current name for it was
pala, as it still continues to be, and this has every appearance of being a corruption
and abbreviation of the Sanscrit jatipahla. In the same manner we have Sanscrit
names for sugar, black pepper, sandal-wood, and even for the clove, which seems to
point to the fact of these commodities being chiefly wanted for the consumption
of Hindus. As to the names of places, we have that of the whole group, which is
properly Pulo or Nusa-Mnda, literally, “ Islands of wealth,” and Lontar, which is
half Javanese and half Sanscrit, and signifying, “ the leaf of the Palmyra palm.” In
or near to the islands of the Molucca Sea, we have the following Javanese names
of places :—Nusa-laut, “ sea-island,” Nusa-niva'(niba), “ fallen island,” and Nusa tanuh,
“ magic island.” As to Malay names of places, or names common to it and the
Javanese, they are innumerable within the navigation embraced in carrying on the
internal spice trade.
Barbosa, in his price current, gives us the cost of nutmegs in the market of
Calicut in the beginning of the 16th century, before the native trade was interrupted
by the conquests of the Portuguese, and as far as can be made out from the
weights and moneys to which he refers, it seems to be about three pence halfpenny
a pound. But as the nutmegs in this case were, no doubt, in the shell, the
actual price of clean nutmegs may be stated at about five-pence. The cost of
nutmegs in Europe at the same time, enhanced by land and sea transports, and many
imposts, was about four shillings and six-pence a pound, or close upon eleven times
their prime cost at the nearest port of India to Europe. The present average price in
the European market, although aggravated still by a monopoly in the genial land of
production, does not exceed, exclusive of duty, above one-third of what it did before
the discovery of the route by the Cape of Good Hope, a striking illustration of the
difference between the Indian trade of the 16th and the 19th century.
The Banda or Nutmeg Islands, as elsewhere stated, were reached in 1512, by the
Portuguese, under Antonio D’Abreu. From this time, until they were expelled
by the Dutch in 1621, they were in possession of the monopoly, having driven away
the Malay and Javanese traders, and changed the whole course of the trade. The
aim of their successors, the Dutch, was exactly the same as theirs,—an exclusive
monopoly. In the course of their efforts to carry this into operation, they were
immediately involved in war with the natives, represented as a warlike and independent
people, and the end of the war was the extermination of the inhabitants
of all the Banda Islands, and the re-peopling of these islands by slaves and convicts.
After a lapse of between two and three centuries, the monopoly still continues.
This is certainly absurd enough in our times, but in justice to the Dutch nation, it
must be stated that any other European nation would have, at least, in the earlier
periods of the spice trade, pursued the very same policy they did. Our own was,
above all others, solicitous to do so, and when even, in very recent times, it had twice
over an opportunity of abolishing the monopoly, it left it untouched.
The result of the monopoly as to production is instructive. In 1708, after the
Portuguese and Dutch had been for close on two centuries tampering with the trade,
the total annual produce of mace and nutmegs was 870,000 pounds. In 1786, or in
70 years, it had fallen to 760,000, and at present is stated not to exceed
530,000 pounds, or by 340,000 less than it was about a century and a half ago, and
indeed singularly enough, exactly the same quantity which is supposed to have been
the consumption of all Christendom before the discovery of the route to India by
the Cape.
The English, after the unsuccessful efforts of two centuries, succeeded at length in
participating in the nutmeg trade, in consequence of having occupied the Spice
Islands in 1796. In 1798 the nutmeg was introduced into Bencoolen and Penang,
and in 1819 into Singapore, and at these places it is now largely cultivated, but
certainly under the disadvantage of growing a not readily acclimated exotic. In
countries native and congenial to it, the nutmeg is reared with great ease,
requiring little care beyond shelter from the sun and weeding. In the
countries to which it has been transplanted, the young trees require artificial
shade, rich dressings of manure, and a fastidious care and attention in every
stage of cultivation. With this expensive husbandry the trees will yield the same
quantity and the same quality of fruit as in their native country, but will not
attain above half the size or live above half the time. This is certainly very
remarkable, and proves that the nutmeg is a peculiarly delicate plant, for the
latitudes and monsoons of the countries of the western parts of the Archipelago to
which it has been transferred are, generally, the same as those of its parent countries,
nor can the soils be always dissimilar, for although those of the Banda Islands be
x