There are in all about forty different species of pepper plant, consisting of herbs, shrubs, and trees. They are generally named from the city or country of export. The differences in appearance of the product coming from various sources are sufficiently marked to be readily noticed when samples of each are at hand side by side, but otherwise it is almost impossible to distinguish between some of them. The goodness of the pepper depends more on the quality of the soil than on the cultivation, although cultivation will increase the yield. The fine Tellicherry pepper together with the Alleppy are considered the best varieties. Tellicherry is named from the city of Tellicherry of British India, province of Maladar, district of Madras. Alleppy is named from the city of Alleppy, which is the capital of the native state Travancore in the district of Madras. These are closely followed by the Malabar pepper from the district of Malabar, India. These varieties are sun-dried. Next comes the fine Penang pepper, named from the city of Penang, meaning “_betalnut_” (see illustration) in the Straits Settlement. This is followed by the Singapore, named from the city of Singapore, and meaning City of the Lion (see illustration), which is also in the Straits Settlement, and is the largest export city of spice in the world, being the center of export for spices grown in the Malay Peninsula as well as in Java and Sumatra and of that rich state known as Johore, in the southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula. [Illustration: ACHEEN] [Illustration: TELLICHERRY COAST FROM OLD FORT, LOOKING NORTH] Singapore pepper, by reason of its dark color and fairly uniform quality, is a good-looking pepper, and for that reason it is esteemed, but for grinding purposes it has not been heretofore so highly regarded, because of its smoky odor, as it is dried over smoke. The pepper plantation and the gambier plantation of Johore are usually under one management, and in boiling down the gambier to make the vegetable extracts there are suspended over the kettle mats on which are placed quantities of the Singapore pepper.