Book II. Chapter II. AMBOINESE HERBAL.

placed, so that they may be impregnated with smoke, and beneath these a smoky fire is situated; they are left in this fumigation for several days, which is called Soffo, from which they acquire a reddish color. Most inhabitants, however, stifle them in smoke in this way without first dipping them in water, and these smoked Cloves Latin: Caryophylli; Dutch: Nagelen are then exposed to the burning sun and dried, or in rainy weather over a fire in the smoke; however, in the sun is much better, and they soon take on a black color. The Laryxen cloves, however, are not entirely black, but remain reddish. The test, however, of whether they are well-dried consists in this: that a certain portion can be scraped off with the fingernails, and inside it shows a bright purple color, like that of a sliced cherry. However, such Cloves that are dried only in the sun or smoke without this stifling or fumigation (which happens with those that fall off spontaneously, or if the portion is so small that the labor of stifling does not repay itself) are wrinkled, light, and unsightly; these are rejected or culled by buyers and collectors. To deceive them, the inhabitants used to tint them with the smoke of Dammar A natural resin used as incense or varnish, but this can be detected if they stain the hands. The true harvest of these fruits is from October until December; in the following months they are placed on the scales, if they have been cleaned of stalks and other filth. The little heads called Kabeletten remain, but these gradually fall off of their own accord, wherefore in huge heaps of Cloves a large quantity of grit from these fallen heads and withered blossoms always appears and is found.

If the Cloves are delivered to merchants, no Mother-cloves Latin: Anthophylli; Dutch: Moernagels — cloves that have been allowed to reach full maturity or those aforementioned white Cloves should be mixed in, since in both of these no aromatic strength is found. The Wild Cloves are indeed very easily distinguished, since they are much larger, paler, and more tasteless than the common or true ones; nor will the inhabitants easily mix them in, being well aware that they would be punished for this crime. According to the account of the Ternatans, a Clove tree can live over a hundred years, as a Clove tree was observed near Amian in the region of Hoëamobel, which was cut down during the first wars with Kimelaha Madyra, and according to the calculation of the inhabitants it was then one hundred and thirty years old; this tree was so vast and thick that two men could scarcely embrace it with their arms. This tree bore in a single season two Bahara A unit of weight; here defined as 550 pounds each, that is, 1100 pounds of Cloves; and fifty years ago, when the people of Hitoe called the Dutch into this land, they plucked from the same tree one Bahar, that is, 550 pounds of Cloves, which they gave to the Dutch as a specimen. Today, however, they do not grow so old, the cause of which is thought to be the aforementioned rough handling of the fruit collection, or because the mountains of Amboina are colder than the Moluccas. For around the year 1666 in Hitoe, various Clove trees perished from old age, which according to the inhabitants' account were planted under the rule of Frederick Houtman, the first governor of Amboina, that is, about sixty years ago. In other parts of Leytimor some are also now dying out, which were planted under Governor Herman Speult, that is, fifty years ago; they suffer the greatest damage, however, from the immense and unusual dry weather which in some years plagues this Province. For the Clove is by its nature hot and seeks moist air, wherefore it desires moderate rains and moist soil, otherwise the tree perishes.

The greatest pest of these trees, however, is a certain worm in the form of the common white Grubs or Caterpillars, having a hard and blackish-brown head. This Wood-borer Latin: Teredo is born and grows in the wood itself, from which the tree soon perishes; this is recognized if its trunk emits tears sap or resin here and there, and from this defect in the year 1667 and the following years many thousands of trees perished in Leytimor and the Hitoe region.

Cloves, besides being propagated by men, are furthermore spread by four kinds of birds: namely by green and white wild pigeons, by the bird called the "annual bird" Dutch: Jaar-vogel; likely the Hornbill, and the Cassowary, just as in Banda the Nutmegs are propagated by the same pigeons.

Use. Regarding the use of Cloves, we shall say little in this place, partly because their use is sufficiently publicized through European books, and partly because they are little used in India The East Indies. For it seems the Creator of nature produced these not so much for the use of these wild inhabitants as for the benefit of the Europeans, and especially for the Northern people. For since Cloves have a hot essence, surpassing in heat, not—