Note 568 — PRIMO VIAGGIO INTORNO AL MONDO

The black pepper (Piper nigrum), called lada in Malayan, lada in the Philippines, and maricha (pure Sanskrit) in Javanese, was probably introduced into the archipelago from Malabar. It is not found wild in any of the Malayan islands, but abundantly so in the mountains and valleys of most of the countries of the western side of India. It is produced in some parts of the Philippines, but little is exported, as sufficient attention has not been paid to it to enable the Philippine product to compete with that raised in other parts of the East Indies. See Crawfurd’s Dictionary, pp. 333–335; and Official Handbook of Philippines, p. 114. See also Yule’s Jordanus (Hakluyt Society edition), p. 27 (who confuses the long with the black pepper); Varthema’s Travels (Hakluyt Society edition), pp. 156, 157; Barbosa’s East African and Malabar Coasts (Hakluyt Society edition), p. 219; Linschoten’s Voyage (Hakluyt Society edition), ii, pp. 72–75; and VOL. III, p. 77.