But it is worthy of note that Ramusio has cubebs instead of turbit.
The former does not seem now to be a product of Western India, though
Garcia says that a small quantity grew there, and a Dutch report of 1675
in Valentyn also mentions it as an export of Malabar. (V., Ceylon, p.
243.) There is some ambiguity in statements about it, because its popular
name Kabab-chini seems to be also applied to the cassia bud. Cubeb
pepper was much used in the Middle Ages as a spice, and imported into
Europe as such. But the importation had long practically ceased, when its
medical uses became known during the British occupation of Java, and the
demand was renewed.
Budaeus and Salmasius have identified this drug with the [Greek: komakon],
which Theophrastus joins with cinnamomum and cassia as an ingredient in
aromatic confections. The inducement to this identification was no doubt
the singular resemblance which the word bears to the Javanese name of
cubeb pepper, viz., Kumukus. If the foundation were a little firmer this
would be curious evidence of intercourse and trade with Java in a time
earlier than that of Theophrastus, viz., the 4th century B.C.
In the detail of 3 cargoes from Malabar that arrived at Lisbon in
September 1504 we find the following proportions:
