Botany the choice of the inhabitants > The plantain tree, the ginger, the fugar
\ cane,^'the turmeric, the pine the,yam, *4
an infinite-variety of kidney beans, cucumbers, melons, and;,gourds, are
found both cultivated and wild in inconceivable luxuriance;- th&larger
grafie? alfa, fueh as the bamboo, the canna, and naadus,
■which have been already noticed as- inhabitants of India, acquire a p ill
more ftateïjTgrowth in the fwamPs of Java and Sumatra thaIt‘ ^ the
hanks of the Ganges. The fandal wood and the precioua^ala*bacor
aloes wood," the. itfelaleuca leucadendroa, which affords the^ajeput oil,
and the canaria, from whofe bark flows, the gam elemi, the |if#]tta,
the caffia, and the ebonyi togetherwith many other .valuable woodland
gums, whofe ufés and even names are unknown to Europe, dreüfho-
duced’ in thefe - iflands in higher perfc&ion than elfewhere. € f the
plants diftinguifted chiefly for their brilliancy of coWing, r h ^ grace
and Angularity of form, it would bein vain, without -thbhelp. of painting,
to attempt a deferiptioa.; the greater part have never been-.intro-
du4dihto our hqtyEoulb, and thefe ialone who are famili&r wick exotic
botany can call up at mention of the names ofhibifcus,, erythrina, soft
chynomene, aralia, ixora, bauhiaia, and euphorbia, thoferimagbs bf
fplendour and fingularky, with which'they are affoeiatedih the;3Lic^
»scan fyftem.
The exceflfive heat and abundance of moifteè' Aat dïffiiSguilh thé
Indian iflands, conftitute a climate peculiarly favourable for thë^fsewth
of thofe plants whofe a&ive qualities and high aromatle-flavoUrlpace
them at the head of the vegetable world : this' therefore is the pative
country óf the moft valued fpices. Pepper, both theiriong'aniè the
round, is found-wild, and is largely cultivated in all thefe iflands; the
laurus cinnamomum, the inner bark of which conftitutes thnpungently
fragrant ipice of the feme name, is produced chiefly in- Sumatra and the
neighbouring ifles; caryophyllus aromaticus, the receptacle Ü ^hofe
bloffom is known m the European markets by the name of cloves,
abounds for the moft part in the Moluccas; and the myriftica, wbefe
fruit is the nutmeg, and its inner covering the macc, by the mean jea-
joufy of the Dutch Eaft India company has been alraoft entirely fe-
ftrided to the little iflands of Banda adjoining to Amboyna. But if
j ^ ( ' this
this part-of the gl9kg.be fprisc,hj§d»bj|i|feg' moft-precious aromatics, it is
aJfe armed .with ; the. feme burning
fqn that ex4:^h^itr,m^r.,.ipat^ts4h^l^cr4,.virfe*the ifland-of Geiebez
%Prf4«ccd tfi§ ^.gum^efiftTvhjcb exudesf|
Pl^^Ve ^eafVcs, ^j^bai-k pf a; kind nTrhus, .-probably, th?- toxicodep-
%?§k%Jogefher wjtb pqi^og^s. trees feme
ifedjtis pii|d;<by the natiye%»ipo< or.qpas, ^gana-q^y. hpcaortalized by
the deieter-jous a£fiy4ity oftflis
tps^that,, when deprive^-,^.^11 fi^e^^gg,ar||i<pq^4^ill remains unrivalled
in its powers of deftr^^Qn^roi^1, rlJy3?ar narrative of Rum-
p^ips we learn,that no„qthpr,y^f,t^!f can ljyetydtltina,nearer.diftance
ojit;, than a ftpne|s that, bkds^ei^ntaily ks,ya nr^ ,
ast> }-fnmedia,tel,y killed by, the pojfonous.? atmqfphere which furraumfe
iU. and that in prder ,t-o procure; tbtj jui&e with- iiH s; nGcdbiry to
covet; the whoje-b^y+with thick",cotton- ,-elath; ifea, pcrfom^M^cwrhes,
iftharerhCa4cd.lt catties- .the hair tq fell-.off;' and a drop,.of,the-frelfe
juice applied on the {kin, if it fhould ‘failft©;produce fimmediafce deaths
wbij'jganfe an ulcer very difficult ,;to be healed.
•All' that we know of the indigenous vegfetablestkf*-AuffraUfia ,is?-cOfH
fined .to the immediate neighbourhood of the Britifhjfkttlemeqt^at Port
Jackfon. The forefts here- are for the moft part compofed of lofty trees,-,
with little or na interruption of underwood, fb-that they are readily
penetrable in any direction, the principal fhelter afforded'to^t-he few wild-
afiWals being inthe long matted grafs- feveral(fegt; in length, rW-luGh-
ovftfpreads the open country. In nodifcoveredtegipqjiis-nature been-
leftfevifh iof her vegetable treafijrea than in this part ©Jf thq grqat fouth-
ern continent : the .only fruit-bearing plant is-a climbing ftirub, whole-
Li-nnapart na me is baHardtera fcandens, the feeds Qf'yhi^h; a^q»,enveloped
in y yellow cylindrical pulp tailing like a foafted appjg.; , The loftieft ,of
the trees, and which fometimes rifes to the height of at hundred, feet, is
thieucalyptus robufta ;..it yields the brown gum, and its"cpmpaift hard
redwood has bden imported into England by the name of New Holland
mahogany. The ted gum* is procured; from the eeratapetalum gummi-
feru-m j almoft the only .one of the native woods that -wilLikat-in -water..
A confiderable proportion^ of the vegetables, belong to the natural clafs
off
Botany.