The Centre Of
Pinang Is Wooded And Not Much Cultivated, But On The South And
South-West Coasts There Are Fine Sugar, Coffee And Pepper Plantations.
The Coffee Looks Very Healthy.
From the ridges in the centre of the
island the ground rises toward the north, till, at the Peak, it reaches
the height of two thousand nine hundred and twenty-two feet.
There is a
sanitarium there with a glorious view, and a delicious temperature
ranging from 60 degrees to 75 degrees, while in the town and on the low
lands it ranges from 80 degrees to 90 degrees. A sea breeze blows every
day, and rain falls throughout the year, except in January and
February. The vegetation is profuse, but less beautiful and tropical
than on the mainland, and I have seen very few flowers except in
gardens.
The products are manifold - guavas, mangoes, lemons, oranges, bananas,
plantains, shaddocks, bread-fruit, etc.; and sugar, rice, sweet
potatoes, ginger, areca, and cocoa-nuts, coffee, cloves, some nutmegs,
and black and white pepper. My gharrie driver took me to see a Chinese
pepper plantation - to me the most interesting thing that I saw on a
very long and hot drive. Pepper is a very profitable crop. The vine
begins to bear in three or four years after the cuttings have been
planted, and yields two crops annually for about thirteen years. It is
an East Indian plant, rather pretty, but of rambling and untidy growth,
a climber, with smooth, soft stems, ten or twelve feet long, and tough,
broadly ovate leaves.
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