The cinnamon of commerce is chiefly produced in the island of Ceylon in the East Indies, from the Laurus Cinnamomi of botanists, the Kooroonoo-gahar of the Sinhalese, a plant which appears to have flourished in that island from the earliest period. We learn from Scriptural history (Exodus xxx. 23) that this spice was employed by the Hebrews in their religious ceremonies; and there can be little doubt that their supplies were derived from the Arabian merchants who traded between the Red Sea and the East.
When the commerce between the western and eastern world was opened by way of the Cape of Good Hope, cinnamon formed a valuable item in the precious commodities received from the regions of the sun in exchange for calamancoes, metal work, and silver coin. The Portuguese had their attention drawn to this spice at an early period; and there can be no doubt that their chief and perhaps sole reason for forming a settlement in Ceylon was to secure a monopoly of the trade in this article, since Colombo, their first fort, and afterwards the European capital of the island, possessed no other claim for their choice than its proximity to the cinnamon lands of that island.
The Sinhalese never attempted to cultivate this shrub, but were content to leave it in its indigenous state, and draw their supplies of the spice from the jungles of the sea-board and the forests of the interior. No sooner, however, had the Portuguese established a footing in the island on the west coast, and erected a stone fort at Colombo, than they commenced the exploration of the adjacent country where they had learnt the bulk of the cinnamon grew. It was found in greatest abundance as far as Negombo on the N., and to Morotto on the S. of Colombo, and scattered more thinly over a great portion of the western and southern coasts.
The little taste evinced by the Portuguese for agricultural pursuits, added to the continual state of warfare in which they found themselves involved with the native sovereigns of the island, proved a serious obstacle to the cultivation of this spice, which, indeed, appears to have received no care until the Dutch took possession of Ceylon, when they soon turned their attention to the subject. By clearing the cinnamon tracts from jungle and weeds, and draining the ground, they succeeded in producing a finer quality of bark; and by means of honorary distinctions and immunities from taxation granted to the Chalas or Cinnamon Caste, induced them to prepare the spice for the market in a far superior manner.
The cinnamon lands, or gardens as they are termed, were thus formed by the Dutch at Kaderani, Wellisere, Ekelle, Marandahin, and Moorotto, and are still existing at those places. They were very unequal in size and productivity, and together covered an extent of 12,000 acres. The cultivation and trade in this article were preserved in the hands of the government by the most severe enactments; the offence of injuring a plant, or cutting the smallest fragment of the bark, was punishable with death; and the entire management and control of the gardens vested in the office of the "Mahabadda" or Chalas caste, whose duties and privileges were made the subject of a long code of laws.
The cinnamon trade of Ceylon was greatly extended under the Dutch government; and we read that, in the middle of the eighteenth century, as many as 1500 bales were required for the Indian government, 200 bales for Persia, 400 bales for the Coromandel coast, and 8000 bales for Europe; which, at 88 lb. the bale, gives a total of 900,000 lb. The only mart for the sale of this and other spices in Europe at that period was Amsterdam. The following table of cinnamon sold at the Dutch capital from 1692 to 1792 will be a safe guide to the consumption of Europe during that period:
| Year | Quantity Sold | Average Price per lb. | |------|---------------|-----------------------| | 1692 | 375,000 | 4s. 1½d. | | 1702 | 300,000 | 3 9 | | 1722 | 425,000 | 4 3½ | | 1742 | 350,000 | 3 9½ | | 1762 | 350,000 | 9 10 | | 1782 | 200,000 | 17 4 | | 1792 | 250,000 | 14 7 |
The right of trading in cinnamon after the capture of the island by the British, was left in possession of the East India Company, who received annually from the local government a quantity ranging between 4000 and 4500 bales of 100 lb. each, at a stipulated price. This contract was terminated in 1821, after which the spice continued to be shipped to England by the Ceylon government, and there sold on their account to the extent generally of 4500 bales, which yielded a nett income of about £97,000.
In the year 1833, the monopoly in this spice, so long enjoyed by the crown, was abandoned, and the culture and trade thrown open to the public; a duty of 3s. 6d. per lb. being levied on the export of the spice. The government stock of cinnamon in the island was disposed of by public sales held monthly, as well as future crops from their gardens, until 1840, when they commenced the sale of those properties by monthly auctions, realizing for their price sums varying between £5 and £5 the acre. Since the gardens came into the possession of private capitalists, great improvements in the cultivation and preparation of the spice have taken place. Manuring, pruning, and draining have been successfully resorted to on an extensive scale, and the yield of cinnamon per acre has, in some cases, been brought up from 50 lb. to 500 lb.
In 1837 the first imports of cinnamon from Java into Europe took place; and, influenced by this new rival, the government reduced the export duty on the best cinnamon Cinnamon, to 2s. 6d. per lb. The inferior sorts had been two years previously reduced to that amount.
In 1841 the duty was lowered to 2s., and in 1843 to 1s. on all qualities. Subsequent reductions were made, first to 8d. then to 4d. per lb., and at present it is exported free of all duty. These continued concessions to the trade do not appear to have had so favourable an effect upon the consumption of the spice in Europe and America, (to which localities the demand has been confined during the present century), as might have been looked for. The sales of cinnamon in London during the nine years previous to the opening of the Ceylon trade, averaged 4138 bales annually; during the nine years succeeding that period, the deliveries of spice averaged about 5000 bales yearly. During the seven years ending 1852, the shipments from Ceylon averaged 5100 bales. From 1829 to 1833, the value of cinnamon in London ranged between 10s. and 5s. the lb. From 1834 to 1843, the London price fluctuated from 9s. 3d. to 3s. 9d. Since that period the highest price paid has been 6s., and the value at present ranges between 2s. 6d. and 1s.
In 1837, the Dutch government imported their first parcel of cinnamon from Java, amounting to 3961 lb. In 1839 the import was 16,312 lb. In 1842 it reached 124,696 lbs., and in 1845 its highest point of 180,000 lbs.; since which it has sensibly fallen off. Its early value varied from 6½d. to 5s. 6d. per lb., but it has since declined to prices ranging from 3d. to 3s. 4d.
A more decided rival to cinnamon has been the cassia of the Malabar coast and China, which has become an important article of our trade since 1817. In that year the imports into London amounted to 1745 chests, worth L10 to L13 per cwt. It has since been imported to the extent of 36,000 chests, but the value has declined to L5 and L3 per cwt. The countries to which this is chiefly exported are Russia, Prussia, Spain, and the Levant.
Cinnamon is chiefly employed in the manufacture of chocolate, confectionery, liqueurs, and medicines, and was at one time largely used in religious ceremonies on the continent of Europe, and for fumigations. For both of these latter purposes, however, cassia has been largely substituted, the low price at which it has been produced having been far below the cost of cinnamon when free from export duty.
The cinnamon of Ceylon, as now imported, is produced from three distinct sources; from the late government gardens; from private or inferior plantations; and lastly, from the forests of the interior. The average yield from these sources for the last four years of the monopoly was:—government gardens, 1453 bales per annum; from uncultivated plantations, 1135 bales; from forests, 1456 bales. The yield of these under the free-trade system may be stated at 3300 bales from the gardens; 1700 bales from the private lands; whilst the forests are rarely searched for spice at the present low prices. The finest cinnamon, both in flavour and appearance, comes from the government gardens, and the worst from the forests, where it is found thick in quill, of a dark colour, and of a bitter, acrid flavour. The best is that which is of a bright clear colour, of a soft, sweet, aromatic taste, not gritty in the mouth, and which is not thicker than stout paper. A pipe or quill of fine cinnamon should be smooth, clear brown, without blemish, and contain three or four layers of bark within it.
Cinnamon thrives best in a light sandy soil of some depth, free from stagnant water. A hot damp atmosphere, such as prevails along the sea-board of Ceylon, is highly favourable to the proper development of the plant; and without these desiderata it is impossible to produce a spice of good quality. It is the absence of these which has rendered the cinnamon recently cultivated in Java so far inferior to the Ceylon article.
The cinnamon plant, if left in its natural state, becomes a tree of considerable size, and in this state it is usually met with in the Ceylon forests. These trees are also to be seen in South America, although Spain ships larger supplies of Ceylon spice to that continent. The trees and large bushes bear blossoms, and the seeds, shaped like a small acorn, yield an agreeable oil, which used to be highly valued by the Singhalese, and kept for burning in the lamps of the royal palace of their kings.
Plants are reared from the seed, and placed in well cleared land, on the first setting in of the periodical rains, in clusters of five, of which about nine hundred cover an acre. These young plants require shading from the sun, and daily watering during the first two dry seasons; after which they will thrive unaided, and yield a small crop in the fourth year; arriving at maturity, if well tended, in the twelfth year; after which there does not appear to be any limit to their duration. The cinnamon bushes left by the Portuguese two centuries since still continue to bear abundantly.
The crops are taken off twice in the year at the setting in of the monsoon rains. The first or great harvest is usually secured between the first week in June and the middle of August. The second or small harvest is taken in during November and December. If a cinnamon garden be properly tended, there will not be a weed visible upon it. Drainage is highly necessary, and a little shade from lofty trees at wide intervals is desirable, to protect the plants during the hot dry months.
The operation of stripping the bark from the straight cinnamon sticks is performed by none but those of the Chalda caste, who are very expert at the work. Good "peelers," as these men are called, will prepare, with the aid of their family, from 80 to 100 lbs. of spice in a month; for which they are paid at the rate of 3d. or 4d. the lbs., according to quality. The bark being sorted or made into quills or pipes, forty inches in length, containing three or four layers inside, and being first slowly dried in the shade, is afterwards exposed for three days to the sun. At the end of two months the spice may be packed in gunny, a coarse native sacking, and shipped. It is made up in bales of 100 lbs. each, having generally the native name of the garden in which it was produced marked on the outside of the bales.
The ordinary yield of the old government gardens is about 30 lbs. of spice per acre; a few of the finest will produce nearly 100 lbs., and by the aid of high cultivation, as much as 500 lbs. Good cinnamon land is worth L10 an acre; though it may be planted and brought into full production for about L7.
An essential oil of great aroma is obtained by distillation from the broken and imperfect bark. When properly made, and produced from a good quality of spice, this oil is worth 3s. an ounce in the London market; but the great bulk is inferior, and sells at about 8d. It is used in perfumery, pharmacy, and confectionary, as a substitute for the powdered spice.—(Parliamentary Reports; Rybier's Ceylon; Ceylon Magazine.)
CINTRA, a town of Portugal, province of Estremadura, 14 miles N.W. of Lisbon, with about 4000 inhabitants. It stands at the foot of a stupendous rocky mountain, and is remarkable for the picturesque beauty of its situation and the salubrity of its climate, which render it a favourite resort of the wealthier inhabitants of Lisbon. On one of the adjacent summits stands the Penha convent; and on another are the ruins of a Moorish castle. It has also an ancient royal palace. The convention, by which the French were allowed to leave Portugal without molestation, was signed at Cintra, August 22, 1808.