GIFT OF
SEELEY W. MUDD
and
GEORGE I. COCHRAN MEYER ELSASSER
DR. JOHN R. HAYNES WILLIAM L. HONNOLD
JAMES R. MARTIN MRS. JOSEPH F. SARTORl
to tin
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
SOUTHERN BRANCH
HISTORY
INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.
Printed by George Hainsay &, Co.
HISTORY
OF THE
INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO:
CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT
MANNERS, ARTS, LANGUAGES, RELIGIONS, INSTITUTIONS,
AND COMMERCE OF ITS INHABITANTS.
JOHN CRAWFURD, F.R.S.
LATE BRITISH HESIDEVT AT THE COURT OF
THE SULTAN OF JAVA.
WITH MAPS AND ENGRAVINGS.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. III.
EDINBURGH:
PRINTED FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND CO. EDINBURGH
AND HURST, ROBINSON, AND CO. CHEAPSIDE, LONDON.
1820.
S 5 9
\
i>
(b \
CONTENTS
VOLUME THIRD.
BOOK VIII.
POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS.
Page
Chap. I. — Government, - _ 3
Chap. II. — Classification and Distribution of the
People, ... 29
Chap. III.— Public Revenue, - 45
Chap. IV.— Laws, - - 75
BOOK IX.
COMMERCE.
Chap. I. — Domestic and Internal Commerce of the
Archipelago, - - - 140
VI CONTENTS,
Page
Chap. II. — Commerce with Asiatic Nations, - 154
Chap. III. — Commerce with European Nations, 211
Chap. IV. — Intercolonial Commerce, - 293
Chap. V. — Description of Articles of Exportation, 344
Chap. VI. — Description of Articles of Importation, 500
HISTORY
OF THE
INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.
VOL. III.
BOOK VIII.
POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS.
CHAPTER 1.
GOVERNMENT.
Forms of Political Association various. — Despotism increases
tvith Civilization. — Government in ihehumblest state of social
existence. — Formation of Villages or Torons, each a State or
Nation. — Form of Political Association arising out of the
Shepherd State unknown. — Elective and Federal forms of
Government. — Absolute Monarchies. — Example of the Fe-
deral form of Government in that of the Bugis state of
Boni, in Celebes. — Varieties of this form of Political As-
sociation. — Example of the absolute form qf Government in
that of the Javanese. — Illustrations of the History of Go-
vernment from an examination of Language. — Oscillation
between the Federal and Absolute forms cf Government in
the Progress of Society. — Influence of Foreign Manners
and Institutions on the forms of Government among the
Indian Islanders.
Examples of every form of social union, from
the equality which reigns among savages, to tlie
most absolute form of oriental despotism, may be
VOL. III. *
^ GOVERNMENT.
found within the wide mno-c of the Indian islands.
In these regions, the more abject the state of man
in the scale of social improvement, the freer the
form of his government ; and in proportion as he
advances in civilization, is that freedom abridged,
until, at the top of the scale, he is subjected to a
tyranny where not a vestige of liberty is discover-
able. In short, he enjoys freedom when he has
nothing else worth enjoying ; and when the com-
forts of civil life accumulate around him, he is de-
prived of the liberty of benefiting by them. No
nation, indeed, inhabiting a warm climate has ever
known how to reconcile freedom and civilization.
In that portion of the globe there is hardly any
medium between the unbounded licence of savage
independence and uncontrolled despotism. Man
there no sooner acquires a little industry and a
little property, than he is made a slave on account
of them, just as he himself enslaves the docile and
laborious animals, while the useless savages of the
desert or forest enjoy their freedom.
The cause of this phenomenon is in a good mea-
sure to be sought for in the softness and fruitful-
ness of the climate, and the consequent facility of
living with little exertion ; in a word, to the ab-
sence of that wholesome discipline by which man,
in severer regions, is bred to habits of hardihood,
enterprise, and independence, and certainly not in
any imagined innate feebleness of frame, for, on ex-
GOVERNMENT. 5
amination, it will be found fhat the physical consti-
tution of every race is best adapted for the cli-
mate it inhabits.
An example of the very rudest and earliest
form of social polity is afforded in the man-
ners of the negro tribes which inhabit the moun-
tains of the Malayan Peninsula. The least im-
proved of these are the tribes which inhabit the
mountain Jarai^ in the territory of (the Malayan
Prince of3Queda, bordering upon (the empire of)
Siara. There are not in the whole mountain
above three or four hundred grown persons. This
population is subdivided into hordes of thirty or
forty families each, who roam about the forests of
the mountain, picking up wild roots or honey, and^
shooting, xvith poisoned arroxcs, the smaller game.-
They seldom stay above fifteen days in one spot,
and their houses consist of a few moveable posts,
and a little occasional thatchj (They are in a state
of perfect nakedness, though living in a medium
rather inclement, for their usual station is seldom
lower than the middle height of a mountain pro-
bably six or seven thousand feet high.} There is a
perfect equality of rank among them, and they
have,Cwith respect to some descriptions of pro-
perty ,3a community of goods. They acknowledge
no leader, consulting age and experience just when '
it suits their purpose, and then only.
Another race of the same people, whose station
O GOVERNMENT.
is farther south, and In a less elevated tract of
country, within the territory of the Malay Prince
of Perak, have a wider range of country, — are
more numerous, improved, and powerful. They
make a prey of the larger game, and have skill
enough to encounter and destroy the elephant it-
self. These people acknowledge the authority of
a chief, and have, in their way, a regular form of
social polity.
The next step in the progress of improvement
is the formation of permanent residences. This
would be brought about in the peculiar circum-
stances of the Indian islands, ;hy the acquisition of
competent subsistence, either from an improvement
in agriculture, — from the discovery of a favourable
fishing-ground, with improved skill in fishing, — or
from both. In this manner >-the village would be
formed, i For protection from the aggression of
neighbouring hordes, and from the attacks of wild
animals, the institution of villages is the necessary
resource, and must have been coeval, in these, and
similar climates, with the first attempt to quit the
erratic course of life. In that early period of so-
ciety, a village and a nation were synonymous
terms. *
The village or nation thus formed would neces-
* " In the centre of Anahuac, as well as in the Peloponnesus,
Latium, and wherever the civilization of the human species
GOVERNMENT. 7
sarily require a form of polity for the maintenance
of internal order, for attack, and for defence;
and for this purpose would elect an elder for their
government, — officers to assist him, — and, perhaps,
a priest or astrologer to make their peace with Hea-
ven. This is precisely the form of the village as-
sociations which, even at present, exist in Java,
and the circumstances which have tended to per-
petuate them there, while they have disappeared
elsewhere, will be afterwards pointed out.
The extension of the ''nation, or the formation
of new villages, may be readily imagined. When
the population began to press against the means
of subsistence in the first association, by the ex-
haustion of the good lands in the vicinity of
the village, or by the incompetency of the sup-
ply of fish, it is needless to say, that, in such a
state of society, the village could not be extend-
ed to the formation of a town. Emigrations would
be the necessary recourse of the society, and a
swarm would be thrown off to form a new settle-
ment, as near to the parent one as circumstances
would permit, in order that the infant settlement
might receive its support and assistance. In seve-
ral parts of Java, where the population is rapidly
increasing, such a process is at present going for-
was merely commencing, every city, for a long time, consti-
tuted a separate state." — Humboldt's New Spain, Book III.
8 GOVERNMENT.
ward. It is not unfrequent to see one, two, or
three smaller villages depending upon a greater
one, although at several miles distance from it ; and
in many cases, the history of the emigration of these
little colonies can be traced to no very distant pe-
riod of years. Among the Malays, too, we find
traces of the same progress of population, in the
distinct names given to the dependent plantations.
When formed on a river, as in their situation they
must often be, they are very frequently denomi-
nated " child," or " progeny," terms which at once
point at their origin. All the languages, it may
be remarked, have a copious phraseology on this
subject, while there is but one name in all for
toivn or city, and that a foreign one ; — in short,
one borrowed from the Hindus, (Ndgri.)
In tracing the progress of social order among
the tribes of the Indian islands, I make no refer-
ence to the shepherd state. Such a form of socie-
ty could, in fact, never have existed in these coun-
tries, from the very nature of things. In regions
abounding in rivers and narrow seas, and covered
with stupendous forests, emigrations would take
place by water, and not by land ; — an important fact,
which constantly presents itself to us. The abun-
dance of wild roots, honey, and game, but, above all,
of fish, would, in a rude period of society, suggest
these as materials of subsistence more easy and ob-
vious than the taming of cattle. Minor considera.
GOVERNMENT. 9
tions would contribute. The cattle of tlie Indian
islands, in common with those of other tropical
countries, afford milk in too meagre quantity to sup-
- ply a material of subsistence. The sheep does not ex-
ist at all ; and had it existed, would have been an
animal of very little value ; for its coat is hair, and
not wool ; but had it even been the latter, it would
have little contributed to the useful necessities of sa-
vages, inhabiting a soft and warm climate. The
taming of cattle in these countries, therefore, is a
considerable effort of civilization; and cattle were in
all probability first made subservient to the purposes
of agriculture, after that art itself had made consider-
able advances. Among many of the savage tribes,
who procure some portion of their subsistence from
the growing of corn, cattle are still unknown. A
tribe which applies the labour of cattle to the pur-
poses of husbandry, necessarily adds so greatly to
its means of supporting an increasing population,
that it cannot long remain stationary.
The progress of government, from the simplest
form of elective magistracy, to the last verge of
despotism, may be traced in its various stages.
The office of leader, or chief magistrate, at first
elective from the whole body of society, would
in time become elective from a privileged fa-
mily, and, in course, hereditary in that family.
AVars, conquests, and the spoliation of a hostile
horde, would soon give a victorious leader such
10 GOVERNMENT.
power and authority as would render him despotic,
and, in process of time, the body of the people
would be reduced to be the mere slaves of his will.
These abstract reflections on the progress of so-
ciety and government are naturally obtruded upon
our attention by those practical illustrations which
our obseiTation oftlie manners of the Indian island-
ers is constantly presenting.
Among the least improved of the civilized tribes,
the petty lords or tyrants of villages, or little dis-
tricts, have, for offence or defence, found it conve-
nientto associate, and to elect fromamongtheir num-
ber an individual to preside over their councils.
This may be deemed the second great step in the
progress of government towards despotism. We have
examples of it in all the governments of Cele-
bes, of the Suluk Archipelago, and less perfect ves-
tiges in those of Sumatra. In some of these aristo-
cratic federations, the Presidency \s, elective from the
body of the electors, but more generally from a par-
ticular family. Such a form of government, I ima-
gine, in an earlier period of society, was very general
among the civilized tribes, but the same advantages
which enabled the village chief to usurp over his
fellows, would enable the elective president of a
confederacy to do the same thing over the federal
chiefs. The office determined to a privileged fa-
mily would soon become hereditary, and necessarily
despotic. Such a change has actually taken place
GOVERNMENT. 11
among all the more highly civilized tribes ; for ex-
ample, the Javanese, the Balinese, and the Malays,
^0 doubt, the arbitrary maxims imported along
with the Mahomedan and Hindu relio^ions have
contributed, with these internal causes of change,
to the establishment of uncontrolled despotism
among these tribes.
From what has been here laid down, it will ap-
pear, that, among the tribes and nations of the In-
dian islands, there are no fewer ihanjive distinct
forms of social union, besides numerous varieties of
each particular form, — beginning with the rudest sa-
vages, among whom no subordination is recognized,
and none required, and^roceeding successively, — to
the simplest form of elective magistracy, — to the
establishment of hereditary monarchy, — of elective
confederacies ; — and, lastly,"^ ending with the estab-
lishment of unlimited despotism.
Among the civilized tribes, the two last forms
of government only exist. To these, therefore, it
will be necessary to devote more particular atten-
tion. With this view, I shall furnish the reader
in detail with an example of each, choosing for the
federal government a sketch of that of the people of
Boni in Celebes, and for the despotic government
a similar one of that of the Javanese, supplying as
I proceed any necessary or interesting illustrations
from the other modifications of social union.
The federal state of Boni consists of eight petty
12 GOVERNMENT.
states, each governed by its own hereditary despot,
while the general government is vested in one of the
number elected by the rest. The presidency has
been long elective in the family of the Prince of the
state of Bontiialah, even at present little more than
a considerable village. The princes in their own
language are denominated king, Arung, and the
only distinction left to the head of the confede-
racy is to have the letter a appended to this appel-
lative. The distinction among the Macassars is
exactly similar ; they make the word Kraingy or
prince, Kraiiiga, when they speak of the supreme
head of their confederation.
The head of the Boni confederacy can do no-
thing without the other princes, who arc his coun-
sellors. The public treasure is in their charge,
and they decide on peace and war. The same
council chooses the Tumilalang, or first minister,
by whom, or through whose agents, justice is ad-
ministered. The chief of the confederacy cannot
correspond in his own name on public affairs, but
the letters must run thus, " We, the king, and the
people of Boni, decree, resolve," &:c. I have^per-
used several of these. The seven counsellors are
called from their number Arnug-pitUy which is as
much as to say, the council of the seven lords or
princes. Besides choosing the head of the confede-
racy, these are themselves elected. Their offices
are hereditary in families, but the council chooses
GOVERNMENT, 13
the individual, and not only fills up vacancies by
death, but will take upon them to remove an ob-
noxious individual, and proceed to a new election.
Independent of their deliberative functions, the
members of the council of seven hold also executive
offices ; one, for example, is first minister, another
commander of the army, &c.
Any individual of the privileged families, even
a woman or an infant, is eligible to be raised either
to the government of the particular states, or to
be head of the general government. When a wo-
man or minor, as very frequently happens, is rais-
ed to the latter office, the constitution provides a
guardian. This person is called in their language
Madangrangy which means literally " a prop or
support."
The head of the confederacy cannot separate him-
self from his council to go on a warlike expedition,
or similar employment, without, by a kind of fic-
tion, making a temporary abdication of the throne.
In this case he is at liberty to nominate a viceroy,
an officer who, in the Bugis language, is called his
Sulexvatang, or proxy. The majority of the
council then attend the king, and the remainder
stay with the Sulexvatang to render him assistance.
In illustration of this peculiarity of the govern-
ment, I shall report the substance of a conversa-
tion which took place in 1814, in the council of
Boni, as it was rendered to me from the native
li GOVERNMENT.
language, respecting a meditated attack on tlie
Britisli settlement of Macassar, with the view of
throwing off the dependence of Boni on the Euro-
pean authority. " I am determined," said the
king of Boni, " for my own part, (addressing him-
self to two of his councillors,) to submit to the
English no longer ; and on this account I say, that
one of us three must assume the command of the
army, I perhaps leading, and you two, one to my
righty and one to my left.** Arung-Chinay the
commander of the army, observed, " The king of
Boni cannot by any possibility take the command
while the legitimate commander exists." The
king answered, " Do not trouble yourself about
that matter, for you know I have a sister whom I
can nominate sovereign of Boni, for the time."
All the governments of Celebes are formed on
principles such as now exemplified in that of Boni,
but there is some variety. The most extraordi-
nary is in that of the Goa Macassars. The king
is chosen by ten electors, who also choose the offi-
cer called, in his capacity of elector, Faclialnya,
and in that of first minister, Bachara-httali. To
this officer belong powers similar to those of the
Mayors of the Palace of France. Of his own au-
thority he can remove the king himself, and direct
the electors to proceed to a new election ; he can
also remove any member of the council of nine, or
BatO'Salapang, and direct another to be chosen.
GOVERNMENT. 15
The history of this oflficer's usurpation of such ex-
traordinary powers is not recorded, but may be
readily imagined.
The Bugis state of Wajo affords another singu-
lar anomaly. There are forty princes in this state,
who constitute the great council of the nation.
This council is subdivided into three chambers,
from each of which there are elected two princes,
who in their turn elect the chief of the confederacy,
called the Maticwa. This smaller council of seven
princes, from which, by custom, women are ex-
cluded, and in which the president, if necessary,
has two votes, carry on the affairs of the general
government, and decide upon all questions of go-
vernment, those of peace and war excepted, which
must be referred to the great national council of
forty.
I am now to furnish the reader with a picture of
absolute government, as exemplified in that of the
Javanese. This government is a hereditary despo-
tism, exactly such as is established in all the great
empires of Asia. There is no hereditary nobility
with privileges to control or limit his authority.
He is himself the first minister of religion, so that
even religion has but trifling influence in restrict-
ing his authority ; in short, the monarchs of Java
may be considered as among the most absolute of
eastern potentates. In every word which relates
to the monarch, the sei'vile copiousness of the Ja«
16 GOVERNMENT.
vanese language proclaims his unbounded autho-
rity. When he is addressed, words which literally
imply *' the royal feet," and " the royal slave,"
have superseded all other pronouns of the second
and first person. The usual exordium of a peti-
tion to the monarch is, *' the royal slave places
his life at the royal disposal." The language of
adulation has no bounds. It would be sacrilege
to call the monarch's head by any other name than
that which literally means " the pinnacle of a
temple." In the same language his eyes are a
" pair of gems," and his face is "the sun." ^' The
prince, on his side, addresses the highest of his
subjects in language the most insolent, and " slave,"
* The of Prince Gelgel in Bali is usually called by the
strange title of Deiva-Agung, which literally means the Great
Deity or God. The author of the General Ilistory of Voyages,
quoting the manuscript relation of a Dutch mission to Bali,
has the following passage : " Sur I'article des moeurs, la re-
lation ajoute a la suite, des coutumcs barbarcs de ces peuplcs,
une simple explication de quelques uns dc leurs titrcs fas-
tueux. Celui de Gusty, qu'on a Ifi souvent, ne signifle que
consoiller ; mais le roi, ses freres scs soeurs et ses fils, sunt dis-
tingues par le nom de Dewa, c'est a dire Dieu, appellant leur
idole meme Dewa Ratus, ou le Grand Dieu (correctly " king-
gods!") Dans Ics degres plus eloignes de la tige royale, ou
n'employe que le titre de Sava Jang, ( Sang yang^) que repond
a celui d'ange, et ces epithetes sont les memes pour les deux
Sexes ; la difference qu'on en fait ne consistc que dans les noms
proprcs." Vol. XVII. p. 59.
4
GOVERNMENT. 17
or " fellow," are applied by him alike to the
first minister, to a prince of the blood, and to the
humblest villager. * In an ethical work, com-
posed in the reign of the Sultan of Pajang, about
250 years ago, implicit obedience, and unlimited
devotion to the sovereign, are recommended in
the following odious strain!: "He who serves a
prince is exalted by an implicit obedience to his
will. Should the monarch order you to embrace
* The language of the Malays, and their laws, contain si-
milar evidence. To shew the spirit of their institutions, I
shall quote a few passages from their customary laws. " The
forbidden words, say these, arc Titah, Barpatek, Marka,
Ampun^ Darma-kurnia,) and Anggurha. If an inmate of
the palace apply these terms to any but the prince, to whom
they by right belong, he shall be put to death. If a person
without the walls use them, he shall be struck a blow over
the mouth at the time he is pronouncing them. If any maa
direct these words to be addressed to himself, he shall suffer
death."
In the sumptuary laws of these people, the same spirit is
discernible. The following are examples :
" If persons come into the presence chamber, or even en-
ter the precincts of the palace, wearing clothes of extraordi-
nary fineness, without the royal approbation, their clothes
shall be torn from their backs, and they shall be turned out.*'
— " If a person use a mat for sleeping on, ornamented with
yello'My (the royal colour,) or a yellow coloured pillow, or a
yellow handkerchief, the punishment of such offence \s death."
— " If a person wear a golden hilted h-'is, without the royal
orders, such kris ehaU be taken from him and confiscated."
VOL. III. B
18 GOVERNMENT.
the neck of a tiger, do it without delay ; should he
o*rdei' you to kiss the cheek of an angiy serpent,
do it without hesitation. Do not flinch in either
case, for your obedience will gain you renown, and
lay for you the foundation of prosperity. When
you are ordered to walk over gi'ound strewed with
sp'.kes, forthwith walk over it ; you will receive no
harm, for, even should death be the consequence,
the reward of your devotion will be a smooth road
to heaven."
In their extravagant efforts to appear servile, the
Indian islanders may almost literally be said to
mimic the gait and manners of the very beasts of the
field. In approaching the sovereign, the subject
creeps or goes on all-fours, and retires in the same
humiliating manner. He never stands erect, by
any chance, in tlie presence, whatever his occupa-
tion. In the early intercourse of Europeans with
the Javanese, a Dutch admiral and his suite, hav-
ing stood erect before a Javanese monarch, though
that monarch was a refugee claiming assistance, the
courtiers were so shocked at his presumption, that
they began to use force to compel him into an at-
titude of more humility, and a serious quarrel was
the consequence. *
• " At Mindanao, they may look at their prince ; but, from
the highest to the lowest, they approach him with the great-
est respect and veneration, creeping Tery low, and ofttimes on
6
COVERNMENt. 19
The languages of the tribes which have the fede-
ral and aristocratic forms of government, have no
such extravagant expressions as those now alluded
to, for with them there are many competitors for
panegyric, and no one to make a thorough mono-
poly of it.
The government of Java, and all the other forms
of absolute government, are hereditary in the fa-
mily of the reigning prince, but the rule of primo-
geniture, so indispensable to tranquillity, is neither
practised nor understood. By custom it is gene-
rally thought necessary that the heir to the throne
should be the son of a legitimate wife, or queen,
and not of a concubine. The sovereign, during
his lifetime, proclaims the eventual successor, who
is honoured as the first subject, but seldom entrust-
ed with any share in the administration. This
practice, which is universal in all the absolute forms
of social polity, deserves to be looked upon as an
improvement on these forms of government.
Under the Javanese monarch, a minister^' or
Patehy and four assistants, superintend the admi-
nistration of the country. Two of the assistants
are intended to aid in the management of the
llicir kiiocs, wi(h their eyes fixt on him, and when they with-
draw, ihoy return in the same rr.anntr, creeping backwards,
and slill keeping their eyes on him, fill (hey are out of sight."
JJampier, \'ol. I. p. 143.
20 COVER N'MEMT.
household^ and two in the conduct of the affairs of
state, which is as much as to say, that these two
departments are of equal importance, — perhaps, af-
ter all, no small concession from a despot. The
minister and his assistants form a council, the de-
liberations of which are, as occasion may require,
assisted by calling in those heads of departments,
whose advice may be deemed useful, as the Pang-
kuluy or High Priest, in matters of religion and
jurisprudence ; and the governors of provinces in
such affairs as touch their respective jurisdictions.
The administration of the provinces is conduct-
ed by the vicegerents of the prince, who execute,
each within his jurisdiction, all the authority of the
sovereign, or nearly the whole of it. They have,
as he has, their Pateh, or minister, and he his as-
sistants._JJ\. miniature of the same form of admi-
nistration is discovered, indeed, in the very vil-
lages, from which, in effect, the whole institu-
tion originally took its origin, as already pointed
out. '"^lil*
The authority of the immediate deputy of the
sovereign is divided and subdivided in proportion
to the extent of his province or jurisdiction. This
department of administration, in Java, in conse-
quence of the great changes brought about by the
extension of agriculture, and the increase of popu-
lation, is not so well defined as in the more station-
ary state of society in Bali, to which I shall, there-
GOVERNMENT. 21
fore, refer. The smallest subdivision in Bali is
into twenty families, five of vrhicli constitute the
second subdivision of the hundred, under an officer
called in that country Klijjan-tempel\ From two
to three of these, according to the nature of the
country, constitute the third division, under an of-
ficer called Par ball al. Several of these, according to
the extent of the district, constitute a province under
the authority of the Gusti, lord or viceroy. The
imperfect relics of similar institutions are discover-
able in Java, in the division called Tat07igo, or the
" immediate neighbourhood," Machapat, or the
four next villages, and Manchogaiigsal^ or the
five next villages, and in the jurisdiction of the of-
ficers called Frapat and Gugimung. These are
institutions almost exactly parallel to those of the
Hindus, Peruvians, and Anglo-Saxons. There is
no sensible reason to believe that either borrowed
from the other simple and natural contrivances,
which readily occurred to barbarians in the same
state of society.
In all these cases the deputy of the sovereign is
vested with nearly his whole authority. The au-
thority of the chiefs of smaller subdivisions dimi- ,
nish downwards, each being amenable in his turn (
to his immediate superior j the vicegerent, in his '
turn, is amenable to the first minister, and the first
minister to the sovereign. -^ p- ^1 *
I have no doubt, that, wherever, in the Archipe-
lago, despotic government is now established, it
^2 GOVERNMENT.
must have passed successively through all the other
four modes of government adverted to in tracing
the history of the forms of political association. An
examination of the languages of the people throw
a few lights on this interesting subject. * The
genuine native term for king in Javanese is Ratu,
(which is the same word that is written Dalu in
some other languages. Its literal meaning is
grandfather, and by a slight inflection a senior or
elder, from which last is taken its figurative mean-
* " AVe have examples of the theocratical forms of govern-
ment in South America, for such were those of the Zac of
Bogota, the ancient Oundiniamarca ; and of thclnca of Peru,
two extensive empires, in which despotism was conctaied
under the appearance of a gentle and patriarchal government.
But in Mexico, small colonies, wearied of tyranny, gave
themselves republican constitutions. Now, it is only after
long popular struggles that these free constitutions can be
formed. The existence of republics does not indicate a very
recent civilization." — Humboldt's Neiv Spain, Book II.
chap. 6. — I consider that the argument of this great travel-
ler in favour of the civilization of the Mexican tribes, de-
duced from the republican form of their government, is
•wholly unfounded. I have no doubt, indeed, but the Mexi-
can republics were just such institutions as the aristocratic
federal associations which 1 have described. In almost every
particular connected with the progress of manners and so-
ciety, the Indian islanders and Americans are more like each
other than cither is to any other race of men, notwithstand-
ing that no rational ground exists for imagining that the
least intercourse ever existed between them.
GOVERNMENT. ^3
ing, a lord or chief. This brings us to that early-
period of society, when, perhaps, no form of social
contract existed, and the community listened to
the advice of the aged and experienced, when they
had need of their counsel.
From attother^name W title of the Javanese so-
vereign, a plausible inference is to be drawn respect-
ing the immediate derivation of the despotic form
of monarchy from the federal and aristocratic. The
name of the higher order of nobility in Java, and
especially of those to whom the governments of
provinces is delegated, is Bopati. The title of
the sovereign now alluded to is Sribopati, which
means nothing more than the Jirst noble, though
this more literal interpretation is of course, now-
a-days, never given to it. This would make his
office to have been precisely parallel to the Aruiiga
or Krainga of the Bugis and Macassar forms of
government, — make him, in short, the president of
a federal association.
A sort of oscillation between the despotic and
the federal forms of political association may, I
think, be traced in the history of both, but parti-
cularly of the latter. In the former, the powers
delegated to the chief of the confederacy must na-
turally lead to abuse and usurpation. One ambi-
tious and able prince would effect a great deal a-
gainst the unskilful combination of a number, and
a succession of such princes from the same family,
24» GOVERNMENT.
under favourable circumstances, would hardly fail
to overthrow the power of the inferior nobles, and
render them in time, not the hereditary despots of
their little principalities, but the mere creatures of
his will, and the instruments of his power in the
provinces. It was thus that, on the introduction of
the Mahomedan religion among the Macassars, a
succession of able princes, with the influence ac-
quired by their extensive conquests, seem to have
put them in the way of becoming absolute.
The possession of wealth, the necessary conse-
quence of a soil of great fertility, encouraged in
Java the progress of absolute power, by strengthen-
ing the hands of those in authority. The devo-
tion of the people to agricultural industry, by ren-
dering themselves more tame, and more at the mercy
of power than the wandering tribes, and their pro-
perty more tangible, went still farther towards it,
for wherever, in the east, agriculture is the princi-
pal pursuit, there it may certainly be reckoned,
that the people will be found living under an ab-
solute government. * The influence of Hindu and
♦ This fact is finely illustrated by Humboldt in the fol-
lowing passage, which did not occur to' me until I had writ-
ten what is in the text. " The northern provinces, New Bis-
cay, Sonora, and New Mexico, were very thinly inhabited in
the sixteenth century. The natives were hunters and shep-
herds ! and they withdrew as the European conquerors ad-
vanced towards tlic north. Agriculture alone attaches man
GOVERNMENT. 25
Maliomeclan manners must, no doubt, have had
considerable effect in forwarding the same object.
In whatever country of the Archipelago arbitrary-
government exists, the titles of the prince, of
his nobility, and of many of the offices of go-
vernment, will generally be found purely Hindu ;
but in the federal associations, their political in-
stitutions do not afford a restio:e of the lansuasre
of India.
The feebleness, unskilfulness, and barbarism
even of the most improved of the nations of the
Indian islands, have always prevented them from
establishing permanent empires, and the most con-
siderable states have been but of momentary dura-
tion. A succession of princes of ability overthrew
the federal establishments : from the feeble hands
of a succession of weak ones, power fell into the
hands of the governors of provinces, who became
hereditary lords of their respective jurisdictions.
The society having, however, become familiar with
to the soil, and dcvclopcs the love of country. Thus ^vc sec
that, in the southern part of Anahuac, in the cultivated re-
gion adjacent to Tcnichtitlan, the arctic colonists patiently-
endured the cruel vexations exercised towards them by their
conquerors, and suffered every thing rather than quit the soil
■which their fathers had cultivated. But, in the northern
provinces, the natives yielded to the conquerors their unculti.
vated savannahs, which served for pasturage to the buffa.
loes." Humboldt's New Spai7t, Book II. chap. 0.
26 GOVERNMENT.
principles of absolute government, its restoration
on an extensive scale required only the success of
a new line of usurpers from the ranks of the petty
sovereigns, whose power was established on the
downfall of the last absolute government. This
oscillation may be easily traced in the history of
those nations of the Archipelago, where there has
been a field for the establishment of considerable
states, as among the Malays and Javanese.
Whatever be the form of government amon<r
the civilized tribes of the Archipelago, slavery, or
at least servitude, is alike the lot of the people, but
their condition is invariably most easy and com-
fortable, where the absolute authority of one des-
pot has superseded that of the many. * They even
enjoy a larger share of personal freedom under
such a government ; for their immediate rulers
are in some degree responsible. The government
* " The history of the lower classes of a peojile is the re-
lation of the events which, in creating at the same lime a
great inequality of fortune, enjoyment, and individual happi-
ness, have gradually placed a part of the nation under the tu-
torage and control of the otiier. We shall seek for this
relation in vain in the annals of history. They transmit to
us the memory of the great political revolutions, wars, con-
quests, and other scourges which have afflicted humanity, but
they inform us nothing of the more or less deplorable lot of
the poorest and most numerous class of society." — Humboldt' %
Political Essat^ on Netu Spaing Book II. chap. 6,
GOVERNMENT. 27
is also more regularly administered, and, therefore,
there is less anarchy and disorder.
Wherever there exist nmnerous petty states, there
is perpetual warfare and contention ; and the peo-
ple are bought and sold without mercy. Thus sla-
very and rapine are more general under the federal
government of Celebes, than under any of the abso-
lute governments. In Java, for example, it is re-
markable that there is no personal slavery, no buy-
ing and selling of human beings. The petty ty-
rant of the village or district is engaged in the per-
petual exercise of his tyranny ; but the greater des-
pot has no time or opportunity. In the villages
of the federal governments there is, of course, no
vestige of elective government. In those ^f Java
the people frequently choose their village officers
with a remarkable degree of freedom, and with
very little control. This benefit arises from the
removal, to the greatest possible distance, of the
influence of power and authority^] Even where
absolute government is established, if the jurisdic-
tion should be small, the mischievous effects of the
interference of the sovereign are immediately felt. *
* " The sultan (of Mindanao) is absolute in his power over
all his subjects. lie is but a poor prince ; for, as I men-
tioned before, they have but little trade, and therefore can-
not be rich. If the sultan understands that any man has
money, if it be but twenty dollars, which is a great matter
28 GOVERNMENT.
The village officers are no longer nominated by
the franchises of the people, but by the fiat of the
sovereign ; anarcliy and disorder prevail, and the
people are seized and sold into slavery. All this
is the case among the petty principalities of the
island of Bali, almost to the same extent as in Ce-
lebes, the great nursery of slaves.
among them, he will send to borrow so much money, pre-
tending urgent occasions for it ; and thej dare not deny him.
Sometimes he will send fo sell one thing or another that he
hath to dispose of, to such whom he knows to have money,
and they must buy it, and give him his price; and if after-
wards he hath occasion for the same thing, he must have it if
he sends for it." — Dampicr, Vol. I. p. 333.
CHAPTER II.
CLASSIFICATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE
PEOPLE.
The people divided into six classes. — Account of the royal fa-
mily, or Jirst class — Of the nohdity, or second class. — Of
the priesthood, or third class. — Of the freemen, or fourth
class. — Of debtors, or the ffth class. — Of slaves, or the
sixth class.
Among the Indian islanders, generally, there ex-
ists no factitious and hereditary distribution of
the people into various employments — no insti-
tution of casts. The following natural orders
exist in the society, of each of which it will be
necessary to give a separate account. The royal
family — the nobles — the priests — the cultivators,
or freemen — debtors — slaves.
Amono; all the tribes of the Indian islands where
absolute government is established, the title of the
royal family to the throne is considered divine
and indefeasible. Their claims are guarded by
superstition ; and the Malay and Javanese lan-
guages have peculiar words to express the judgment
of Providence that would fall upon the man of in-
so CLASSIFICATION AND
ferior birth who shoukl presume to aiTogate the
office or titles of royalty. We have a singular and
authentic illustration of the veneration with which
the Indian islanders regard the royal blood in the
circumstances attending the elevation of the prince
called the Susunan Kuning in Java during the Chi-
nese war. This person was a lad of twelve or thir-
teen years of age, and removed in the third degree
from the throne. The Chinese strongly objected
to his elevation, but their Javanese coadjutors in-
sisted that none but those of the blood royal could
by possibility ascend the throne of Java. Marta-
pura^ one of the Javanese chiefs, spoke as follows to
the chief of the Chinese : *' Father, it is the imme-
morial usage of Java, that none should be king save
he who is of the blood of those to whom the kingdom
as of right belongs ; and the presumptuous man
would be short-lived who, without title, should in-
trude himself into the throne. He would forfeit
his wretched life, and it would be his fate to be
beat to death with clubs." *
With all this veneration for the royal family,
there is nothing attached to it that is hereditary
but the throne. The unbounded prerogative of
the crown tolerates nothing that can by implication
be considered independent of it. The title of
Pangercuiy or prince, is, in Java, for example,
* Javanese manuscript.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE PEOPLE. SI
usually conferred upon the sons, and sometimes
upon the grandsons of princes, because these ho-
nours reflect a lustre upon the sovereign himself;
but, after this, their families are permitted to melt
unnoticed into the common mass of the people.
In the federal government, the persons who
appear at first view hereditary nobles, are, in fact,
as already explained, the little despots of their
respective principalities. A hereditary nobility
is incompatible with the unlimited authority claim-
ed and exercised in the absolute governments.
There all rank emanates from the sovereign, and
is held during his pleasure. * The genuine spirit of
this branch of the East Insular institutions will be
thoroughly understood from the tenor of a Java-
nese writ or patent of nobility, which is literally in
the following words : *' Take notice ! This the
royal letter of us the exalted monarch (such a
one) we give in keeping to our servant the fellow
Csuch a one. J Be it known to you all our slaves,
whether high lords or inferior chiefs of our royal
city or provinces, that we have given in custody
* '' It is the nature of despotism," snys Burke, " to abhor
power held by any means but its own momentary pleasure,
and to annihilate all intermediate f^ituations between bound-
less strength on its own p:irt, and total debility on the part of
the people." — TJwugliis on the Causes of the Present Dis-
coiitents.
32 CLASSIFICATION AND
this our royal letter to our servant, that he may be
made high from being low, and be placed in our
confidence by being raised to the rank of a noble.
Moreover, we empower him to wear and use such
dress, decorations, and insignia, as belong to a high
noble, giving for his subsistence of our royal pro-
perty within a certain district, the quantity of land
laboured by one thousand families." This, in a
few words, points out the absolute dependence of
the nobility upon the will of the sovereign. Tlie
noble once nominated may be looked upon as a
kind of emanation of his master, and receives from
all his dependants, in their several gradations, a
portion, and a large one, of the honours due to
the sovereign, of whom he is the representative.
The inferior chiefs are addressed by their depend-
ants on their bare knees. This patriarchal subor-
dination extends through every class of society,
and is not confined to political dependance, but
pervades the domestic economy of the people.
The genius and the idiom of the language has
taken the impression in proportion as the refine-
ments of absolute power have been extended, a
subject which has been already treated at length in
considering the Javanese language, the dialect of
that tribe which has the most despotic government.
Though there be no hereditary nobility among
the Indian islanders, and every man's title dies with
himself, no people are fonder of titles, or pride
7
DISTRIBUTION OF THE PEOPLE. S3
themselves more upon the possession of them.
The refinement established on this point in the
ranks of nobility which exist in Java deserves a
particular description. According to the customs
of that country, there are two distinct classes of no-
bility, a higher and a lower, which may be explain-
ed by comparing them respectively to our barons
and knights, or, perhaps, more appropriately, to
the nobles and noblesse of old monarchical France.
The first are distinguished by the general appella-
tion of Bopati, and the second, by the Hindu name
of Mantri. The first class of nobility consists of
two orders, the Adipati and the Tumangiing ; the
second of three, the Ingabai, the Ronggo, and
the Damang. The nobility of either class, and all
orders, are again subdivided into three grades, by
prefixing to their titles the epithets Mas, Kyayi,
and Raden, words which may be considered to
import, though they do not literally mean, Dis-
tinguished. Honourable, and Illustrious. By cus-
tom or courtesy all who are descended from the so-
vereign, in the third or fourth degree, or who have
the honour to receive one of the royal daughters
in marriage, are entitled to the most distinguished
epithet, or illustrious.
From the first class of nobility are chosen the
governors of provinces, the ministers of state, and
other high functionaries j and from the second the
VOL. III. c
34 CLASSIFICATION AND
inferior officers, down to tlie chiefs of large villa-
ges.
No class or rank of nobility is to be considered
exclusively civil or military, for, in such a state of
society, such an appropriation of employments has
no existence. When the Javanese would aim at the
organization of a regular military force, they trans-
fer to the military body the civil subdivision of
ranks, from the highest noble down to the hum-
blest officer of the village polity.
Under the Malay governments we have a nobi-
lity of the very same description as under that of
the Javanese. The first class is there denominat-
ed Mantri, and the second HidubaUmg. The
first hold the principal offices of state, and the se-
cond the subordinate ones.
The influence of Hhulu manners, as stated in the
chapter on Government, appears to have had no
small share in the establishment of absolute power,
and its influence may be traced in the titles of nobi-
lity, particularly in Java. The Hindu w^ord Mdntrij
meaning a viceroy, has, among the Javanese, been
strangely degraded, in modern times, to the lowest
class of nobility ; among the Malays it is more ap-
propriately applied. The probability is, that, with
the former, it was driven from its station, like many
other words of the same origin, by becoming too
familiar, and, consequently, vulgar. The words
adipatl and nayoko are also Hindu words, not to
DISTRIBUTION OF THE PEOPLE. 35
mention the titles of office, as several of the names
of the sovereign himself, as Bqjaj Nare}idra, and
Naradipay with Senapati, commander of the anny,
&c.
The third class, or priesthood^ is next to be con-
sidered. Religion, even the Hindu religion, seems
never to have established, among the Indian island-
ers, that extraordinary influence upon the minds of
men which has accompanied it in some other coun-
tries, and particularly in the country of the Hindus
themselves, whom we are most naturally led to com-
pare with the Indian Islanders. The Hindu religion
does not appear, among the latter, to have been
artfully interwoven with the political institutions
of the country, nor to have mixed with all the
common offices and common business of life In the
wonderful manner it does In continental India.
The ministers of religion seem, therefore, never to
have acquired an undue and pernicious Influence
in society, and the veneration for absolute power
seems, In all ages of the history of these countries,
to have superseded that for the priesthood. At
the period of the conversion of the Javanese, and
for some time afterwards, the priests exercised un-
usual authority, and the government was a sort of
theocracy, but the civil authority soon regained
its natural ascendancy, and the powers of the
priesthood were absorbed Into those of the so-
vereign, who assumed and maintained the title
36 CLASSIFICATION AND
and authority of the head of the church. The
Indian islanders have, indeed, an ample stock of
credulity and superstition, but the temper of the
people is not of that gloomy and enthusiastic cast
which affords the materials that would kindle into
a flame of fanaticism or intolerance, and however
abject their political servitude, they are not subject
to the still more pernicious slaveiy of the priest-
hood. The Mahomedan religion authorizes no
regular priesthood, yet among the Indian island-
ers it has become a distinct profession, and in
Java we see them the virtual successors of their
Braminical predecessors, a peaceful unaspiring race
of men, whose influence is kept under through
control by the all-limiting supremacy of despotic
power.
Although, in considering the class of nobles, I
have stated that an official rather than a hereditary
nobility exists, yet, from the nature of things, it
must necessarily happen that such nobility is in
some measure hereditaiy in families. The pos-
sessor of oflice acquires, in that situation, a portion
of power, wealth, intelligence, and experience,
which is naturally more or less inherited by his fa-
mily ; and, from habit, convenience, and necessi-
ty, the nobility are often chosen from the same
stock. In such a state of society, there can be no
middle class ; and, accordingly, as mentioned in
another place, the mercantile order had in Java,
DISTRIBUTION OF THE PEOrLE. SJ
when the people were Hindus, no existence. Tlie
community is divided, in fact, into two great
and distinct classes, and the influence of this
division is discoverable in all their languages.
In those of the Malays and Javanese, the dis-
tinction is drawn in a most humiliating and mor-
tifying manner. A great man, in both, means
a person of rank ; and a little one is the usual ex-
pression for a peasant. In the Javanese, the chiefs
are designated the head, and the mob the Jeet. In
the same language, the two classes are frequently
designated from a comparison taken from the fami-
liar appearance of the rice grain ; the lower orders
being called by the same word which is applied
to the motes and broken fragments of the grain,
and the privileged order by that which expresses
the perfect ones ; or, as the idiom of our language
would make it, " the chaff and the corn." The
Malay language, in one example, draws a still
more degrading distinction for a rich man * and a
man of rank, are one and the same thing, which,
in such a state of society, implies pretty plainly
that none but the great can be the possessors of
wealth. Such a disregard to the rights of the
people is what we must expect in such a state of so-
ciety. Not trusting altogether to the evidence of
* Orang-kaia.
850 90
S8 CLASSIFICATION AND
philological argument, I shall quote, on this subject,
the words of a Javanese historian, when he is de-
scribino; the hostilities conducted against the Eu-
ropean power by the combined Chinese and Java-
nese, and when a mock action is thought neces-
sary to deceive the common enemy, the Dutch.
" Sing sell and Sapanjang (the Chinese leaders)
obseiTcd to the Javanese chiefs, the Adipati (the
first minister) has now arrived with a countless
liost, and we are unacquainted with the practice of
the Javanese, and how they conduct a mock fight.'*
" Fathers, said the Javanese chiefs, such a battle
is conducted by us in perfect earnest, with mutual
slaughter, for not the smallest compassion is shewn
to the people ; keeping your secret and saving
the life of the Adipati, you may exterminate the
rest."
The condition of the peasantiy or occupiers of
the soil will afterwards be described in a separate
chapter ; and, in the meantime, it may be suffi-
cient to observe, that their tenure depends upon
the will of their masters, and that the only secu-
rity for their possession is the utility and neces-
sity of their labour to their superiors. Among
themselves, the peasantry live in their villages
on terms of much equality. In many parts of
Java, the village is a kind of co?^poration, in
which the chief and officers, including the priest,
are elected by the cultivators, privileges which they
DISTRIBUTION OF THE PEOPLE. SQ
exercise because they are not worth interfering
with, and which never fail to be usurped when ca-
price or interest suggest it to the government or its
officers.
A*iburth, but a small class, existing in every ,
country of the Arcliipelago, but most where anar- \
chy and disorder most prevail, are called debtors in
the native languages. These are people who either {
voluntarily, or by the laws of the country, mortgage \
their services for a certain period, or during life, to |
discharge some obligation which they have no other ]
means of liquidating. Their condition is, in fact, a \
mitigated kind of slavery .J These debtoi"S, with free-
menandslaves, constitute the three orders into which
the laws of the Malays, and other tribes, divide the
people, for the higher orders are literally above the
law, and not noticed except as administering it.
jWhen any country is distressed by war, famine, or /
intestine commotion, hundreds of the lower orders f
mortgage their services to persons of wealth or in- ;
fluence, who can afford them subsistence and pro-
tection, just as the peasantry of the middle ages of
Europe were wont to make a sacrifice of their per- j
sonal liberty to obtain the countenance of religious |
institutions, and of the nobility. This is the ori-
gin of a class very numerous among some of the
states.
Slavery exists in every country of the Indian
Archipelago except Java. The anomaly of its ab-
40 CLASSIFICATION AND
sence in the latter country will be afterwards ex-
plained. The origin of slavery in these islands is
referable to four heads ; prisoners of U'ar ; debt-
ors who cannot redeem themselves ; criminals,
condemned to slavery by sentences of courts of
law, and persons kidimpped. None but the most
savage of the tribes destroy their prisoners ; and
the more improved nations, like other men in a
corresponding state of civilization, make slaves
of them. In Java, we perceive that, in the con-
quests of the dynasty of Mataram, the population
of the districts which were overrun were carried
off into slavery, more particularly the female por-
tion of it, to satisfy the vicious demands of poly-
gamy. In the wars of Celebes, even whole na-
tions were, by the right of conquest, made slaves.
We perceive the Macassar nation at one time in
possession of ten thousand male slaves, of the van-
quished Bugis, and employing them, without dis-
tinction of rank, on the labour of public works.
The right is, indeed, universally established, or
rather the violence universally practised. The
second source of slavery is the failure of the debt-
or to redeem himself, and this must, from the
indigence or indolence which gave occasion to
pawn his liberty, be a frequent cause of servitude.
Another ample source of slavery is the arbitrary
and iniquitous sentences of the native law, with
which the deprivation of personal liberty is a fre-
DISTRIBUTION OF THE PEOPLE. 41
quent punishment, extended often to the whole fa-
mily and relatives of the real or pretended crimi-
nal. The practice of kidnapping, among the Indian
islanders, has chiefly had its origin in their connec-
tion with foreigners, and mostly in consequence of
the establishment of European settlements.* Per-
sons enslaved by kidnapping could not, from the
nature of things, find a market in their own coun-
try, but are advantageously exported to foreign
countries. This abominable proceeding is recog-
nized by the native laws, where we find the heredi-
tary slave, from his subdued spirit, and servile edu-
cation, fixed at double the value of the reluctant
and untractable freeman who has been filched of
his liberty.
Among the Indian islanders predial slavery has
♦ '• For Macassar is not far from hence, ( Boufon,) one of
the chiefest towns the Dutch have in those parts. From thence
the Dutch come sometimes hither to purchase slaves. The
slaves that these people get here, and sell to the Dutch, are
some of the idolatrous natives of the island, who, not being
under the sultan, and having no head, live straggling in the
country, flying from one place to another, to preserve them-
selves from the prince, and his subjects, who hunt after them
to make them slaves. For the civilized Indians of the mari-
time places, who trade with foreigners, if they cannot reduce
the inland people to the obedience of their prince, they catch
all they can of them and sell them for slaves, accounting
them to be but as savages, just as the Spaniards do the
poor Americans." — Dawpier, Vol. I. p. 457.
42 CLASSIFICATION AND
hardly existence any where. The condition of so-
ciety scarce admits of it, for freemen, as occupants,
till the soil, and afford the master a higher profit
than his own ignorance and supineness could give
him, hy his superintendence of the labour of more
nominal slaves. Slaves among the Indian islanders,
then, may be looked upon as a kind of personal
luxury, contributing, even according to their own
estimation, rather to pomp and display than profit.
It gratifies the vanity of a master to be the uncon-
trolled and unresponsible lord of the life and for-
tune of his servant, and the supple and flexible
manners of the slave afford his pride a gratifica-
tion which could not be so well satisfied by the
less servile and uncertain attentions of a freeman.
The slave among the Indian islanders is treated
with kindness and tenderness, and considered
rather in the light of a child, or favoured do-
mestic, than even a dependant.
Whenever the services of freemen may be obtain-
ed on nearly the same terms, the obvious inutility,
or rather striking disadvantages, of slavery become
evident, and this is the true cause why slavery is
unknown to the present race of Javanese, among
whom, from the internal evidence of language,
and from their writings, it is proved, in earlier
times, to have existed as among the other tribes.
The numbers and docility of his countrymen
will now furnish a Javanese chief with attentions
DISTIIIBUTION OF THE PEOPLE. 43
as supple and sen'ile as any slaves could admi-
nister.
On the principle now stated, I think it will be
found, that, wherever the manners of the lower or-
ders are most untractable, there slavery mostly pre-
vails, and where they are most docile, it is rarest.
For the extremes of both, Celebes and Java may be
quoted as examples.
The severest lot of the condition of servitude is
no where experienced in the Indian islands. That
lot can only be felt in the higher stages of civiliza-
tion, where there is an immeasurable distance be-
tween the political condition of the master and the
slave — where the latter is considered as a por-
tion of the stock of the former, and the spirit of
gain excludes every other consideration. Of all the
masters of slaves in the Indian islands, the Chinese,
and the Arabs, alone are disposed to make this use
of slaves, but they are themselves depressed orders,
jealously watched by their European masters, and,
no doubt, in some measure influenced in the treat-
ment of their slaves by the mild example of their
native neighbours. The Dutch, in their predilec-
tion for slaves, are actuated by the same principles
as the natives of the country. Their vanity is
gratified by their suppleness and docility, and
even in Java, where they might be more cheaply,
and as agreeably, served by freemen, their early
estrangement from the inhabitants of that country
44 CLASSIFICATION, &C.
has now become habitual, and slaves continue to be
the fashion with them. These are all domestics,
and, with the exceptions which the uncertainty
of human passions compels us to make an allowance
for, are treated with kindness and humanity.
CHAPTER III.
PUBLIC REVENUE.
Enumeration of the sources of public revenue. — Land-tax.—
Its origin traced. — Its amount among the different tribes.
— Condition of the cultivator. — Mode oj dividing the crop
between the cultivator and the sovereign in Java. — Mode of
paying salaries and making the public disbursements
General rejlections. — Scheme of a land-tax. — Capitation or
poll-tax. — Taxes on consumption. — Monopoly of trade by
the sovereign. — Customs — Transit duties — Market duties.
— Du'y on opium and salt. — Principle of farming the pub-
lic revenue universal. — Its advantage in so rude a state of
society.
1 HE object of this chapter is a description of the
modes practised by the native governments of the
Indian islands for raising a revenue, and will be
comprehended under the three heads of Land-tax,
Poll-taxes, and Taxes on Consumption. The first
of these, on account of the extent to which it is
carried, and its influence on the state of society, is
out of all proportion the most interesting and im-
portant, and will afford the principal matter of this
chapter.
Abundant examples of that early period of so-
ciety before land is appropriated, exist in the In-
4C PUBLIC REVENUE.
dian islands. Even amonjr the most civilized and
populous tribes, by far the greater portion of the
land is unoccupied and unclaimed, and it is the most
fertile and productive alone that yields a rent. The
first and rudest description of agriculture in these
countries consists in snatching a fugitive crop of rice
or maize from a virgin soil, the productive powers
of which are increased by the ashes afforded by
burning the stupendous forest that stood upon it.
This expensive and rude process, from its very na-
ture, supposes the land unappropriated ; and,
w^herever it is practised, we find that no rent is
pretended to be exacted. The appropriation of
land, and the exaction of rent, in these countries,
increased with the introduction of that improved
husbandry of rice which consists in growing it by
the help of water ; a fortunate discovery, which
places, of itself, the agriculture of a rude people, in
point of productiveness, on a level with that of the
most civilized nations. The appropriation of the
most fertile lands, and those most conveniently si-
tuated for irrigation, with the construction of water
courses and dikes, is at once the creation of a pro-
perty of the most valuable description ; and a de-
mand for rent must have been coeval with it.
Wherever this description of husbandry prevails,
the pretence for the sovereign's first demand
of a share of the produce may be traced to the
necessity of vesting in the state a general super-
PUBLIC REVENUE. 47
inteiiclence of the distribution of that water of
irrigation on which the whole success of the pro-
cess rests, and which could not, without loss and
inconvenience, be left in private hands. It is re-
markable that the sovereigns of Bali, as will be af-
terwards pointed out, though among the most ab-
solute, claim the tax on land solely on the prin-
ciple of distributing and supplying the water of ir-
rigation. It may, indeed, be suspected that the
early establishment of this right or prerogative has
afforded the sovereign one of the principal means
of subverting the equality of society, and of esta-
blishing absolute power.
The legitimate impost exacted as the reward of
superintending the water of irrigation, increases
in the progress of arbitrary power, and, accord-
ingly, among every tribe where the right of
property in the land is established, that is, among
the whole of the civilized tribes, the sovereign,
in one shape or another, comes at length to be
considered as the sole proprietor, and the people
as labouring it for his benefit. The proportion
exacted as tax depends on the fertility of the
soil, the extent of improvement, and the amount
of the population. The encroachments of the so-
vereign advance with the improvement of the so-
ciety, and the peasant is ultimately left with no
more than a bare subsistence. The whole of this
subject will be more perfectly understood by fur-
48 PUBLIC REVENUE.
nishing a short account of the condition of landed
tenures among the different tribes.
Agriculture can hardly be deemed the primary
occupation of the maritime tribes, who are so much
engaged in fishing and traffic. Whenever, among
them, the right of property in the soil is worth ex-
ercising, it is sure to be claimed. I do not dis-
cover, among them, that any numerical propor-
tion of the produce of agriculture is claimed, but
among those with whom I am best acquainted, a
stated tax on all cultivators is imposed. This, by
the Malays of Perak and Queda, is called Rtipai^
and consists of about one hundred pounds of rice for
the land cultivated, be its extent what it will, but
that extent, from the state of society, is necessarily
limited by the labour of the individual and his fa-
mily, and cannot exceed a few acres. The nobles,
or officers of government, instead of the sove-
reign, receive this contribution on the estates as-
signed to them, on a principle to be afterwards ex-
plained.
Among the governments of Celebes where the
sovereign is every thing, and the people nothing,
it would be incompatible with the absolute sway
of the former to suppose him not vested with a
proprietary right in the land. A tenth is thus the
numerical proportion of the crop exacted from the
people for the benefit of the immediate lord, from
which one-third is paid to the general fund for
7 •
PUBLIC REVENUE. 49
the expences of the supreme government. It
may here be noticed, that a tenth, or tithe, seems
to be the nnmerical proportion determined upon
by all the nations of the east, as the sovereign's
share of the produce of the land, as soon as his
claim is regularly established. It would seem to
mean nothing more than the smallest share, being
the fraction of the denary scale of numeration,
and, except in its convenience for computation, to
be entirely arbitrary, and unconnected with any ra-
tional estimate of the capacity of the soil.
The claim of the sovereigns of Bali to a share of
the produce of the land is very peculiarly modified.
No numerical proportion is stated, and every thing
hinges upon what is most important and indispen-
sable to the peculiar husbandry of the country, the
water of irrio-ation. The land itself is lost sight
of, and we do not hear of the sovereign's claim to
the landj but to the xvater. This singularity arises
from the very peculiar circumstances of the island,
where all the agriculture that is either valuable or
important depends solely on artificial irrigation.
In other parts of the Archipelago, indeed, we ne-
ver hear of any land but cultivated land, and sel-
dom of any but wet rice lands, so that the term for
rice lands ("SawahJ means, in popular language,
any landed property whatever. In Bali we see
that they go still further, the soil being lost sight
of altogether. The dues of the sovereign are not
VOL. III. D
50 PUBLIC REVENUE.
determined at any numerical proportion, nor have
the Balinese any regular land measure by which
these dues are assessed. The tax is fixed upon the
seed-corn, and not upon the produce. Observing
that a given quantity of land, of a given fertility,
which fertility is determined by long usage, re-
quires an estimated number of sheaves of seed-
corn, they assess each sheaf at a fixed amount, pay-
able partly in money, but mostly in kind.
Among the Sundas, or mountaineers of the
west end of Java, a tithe is, as in Celebes, the por-
tion of the crop claimed by the sovereign authority,
by whatever name that authority is distinguished ;
but, from some very good lands, we find double
this proportion, or one-fifth claimed.
It is among the Javanese, properly so called, that
the proprietary right of the sovereign in the soil
is most unequivocally established, and, perhaps,
most arbitrarily exercised. The principle is open-
ly avowed and proclaimed. In his patents of no-
bility, the sovereign bestowing a revenue on the
noble, or other chief, distinctly terms the land
" our royal property," and he expressly specifies
that it is le?it or given in trusty and not alienated.
Such is the universality of this principle, that I do
not believe, in the whole territory of the native
princes, there are a hundred acres, over which, by
the customs or laws of the country, any distinct
proprietary right could be pointed out, independent
PUBLIC REVENUE. 61
of the sovereign. There may be here and there a
little forbearance, from motives of religion or super-
stition, but a proprietary right in the soil, on the
part of a subject, according to the present notions
of the people, it will not be going too far to assert,
would be unintelligible to thein, so strongly con-
trasted are their opinions and oiu'S on this point.
The more absolute authority of the sovereign in
Java, — the greater servility of the people ; — the su-
perior fertility of the soil, — and the superior modes
of husbandry which prevail, have enabled the sove-
reign to exact a larger share of the produce of the
soil than in any other part of the Archipelago.
One-half the produce of wet lands, and one-third
of that of dry lands, are the long established and
well known shares of the government. AVhether
these ratios have been assumed by the Javanese of
themselves, as the highest possible scale of exac-
tion which decorum could suggest to such rude
financiers, or have been copied from the Hindus,
it is not easy to determine, but the exact accord-
ance of this scale with that established among the
Hindus of the Deccan, from whom the Javanese
borrowed so many of their ancient institutions, is
good ground for believing that the latter had at
least some share in the establishment of this rate
of taxation.
In the condition of the cultivators there is con-
siderable nominal, though perhaps little essential
52 PUBLIC REVENUE.
diflPerence, in the different countries of the Archi-
pelago. The relative situation of the sovereign
and cultivator may justly be compared to that of
a Russian or Polish lord with his peasants. The
European noble estimates the value of his estate,
not by the number or fertility of its acres, but by
the amount of his peasants. This is exactly what
is done in Java. The sovereign, in his letters of
nobility, does not say that he gives a certain num-
ber of acres, or a certain quantity of land, but that
he gives a certain number of cultivators, or, which
is the same thing, the labour of a certain number
of cultivators. The subject of landed tenures in
oriental countries has been, for the first time, ad-
mirably explained by the philosophical author of
that invaluable and great work, The History of
British India, when he states, that, " In a country
in which the revenue of the sovereign was increased
in proportion to the number of cultivators, there
would be a competition, not of cultivators for the
land, but of the land for cultivators.*' That " If
a ryot cultivated a piece of ground, and paid his as-
sessment punctually to the sovereign, the sove-
reign would be far from any wish to remove him
when it was difficult to supply his place ;" and
that, " If he sold the ground to another ryot,
or left it to a successor, that is, put another in
his place who would fulfil the wishes of the so-
vereign, the sovereign, whose source of fear was
PUBLIC REVENUE. 53
the want of a cultivator, had still cause for sa-
tisfaction ; and seldom if ever interfered.'* * This
principle is, if possible, still more applicable to the
Indian islands than to any part of Hindustan ; for
the competition of the land for cultivators is still more
pressing. There is not a country of the whole Ar-
chipelago, the fifth part of which is occupied, and
of many the hundredth part is not in a state of cul-
ture. It will constantly be found, that, in the
agricultural countries which are best peopled, the
cultivator is invested with the smallest power over
the land, and, on the contrary, that he possesses
the greatest power over it in the countries worst
peopled, or where the competition for cultivators
is greatest. In Celebes, in liali, and in that ill-peo-
pled portion of Java called the country of the Sun-
das, the cultivator is invested with a ki?id of proprie-
tary right. By sufferance he can bequeath, alien-
ate, or mortgage his little tenement. In the highly
peopled provinces of Java, where the population be-
* Mill's Hislory of British India. — The enlightened Fifth
Report of the House of Commons on Indian Atfairs, and Mi-
Mill's book, both written by gentlemen who never visited
India^ and the better for being so, will constitute a new era
in the history of our Indian legislation, and are, at once, a
proud evidence of the difl'usion of knowledge among us, and
a satisfactory refutation of the pernicious prejudice that an
Indian residence is indispensable to an understanding of In-
dian affairs.
54t PUBLIC REVENUE.
gins already to press on the good land, the culti-
vator exercises no such risrhts over the soil, and I
hardly know any privilege which he possesses in
regard to it, except the liberty of abandoning it.
Under governments so arbitrary as those of the
Indian islands, it would be idle to speak of a pri-
vate right of property in the soil, — the most tangi-
ble of all sources of revenue, and that most inva-
riably within the grasp of an absolute sovereign.
A bare establishment of the amount of the peasant's
tenement, which never exceeds the little spot which
he and his family are capable of labouring with their
own hands, and which never increases or accumu^
lates beyond it, is quite conclusive on this subject.
Had an actual right of property existed, we should,
without doubt, find estates of some magnitude in
private hands, accumulated by industry, or acquir-
ed by violence. No such estates are found to exist.
The unbounded influence of arbitrary power ob-
literates all private or minor rights.
With all the rudeness, barbarism, and despotism
which characterize the governments of the Indian
islands, the condition of the peasant or cultivator
is perhaps, upon the whole, more fortunate than in
any other country of the east. This advantage
arises mainly from two causes, — the competition for
cultivators and for labour in general, in countries
where an extraordinary quantity of good land is
still unoccupied, — and the habits and character of
PUBLIC REVENUE. 55
the people themselves, who, frotn the simplicity of
their manners, to give it no higher name, are,
when placed in authority, fortunately incapable of
practising those refined arts of extortion, chicane,
and knavery, with which we are so familiar in
the people of Hindustan. The fiscal agents either
want the skill or have not the inclination to med-
dle in the details of the revenue. The village
associations are, therefore, left to manage it them-
selves ; and the share of the government is paid
by them with good faith, while all classes observe
towards each other a great share of forbearance.
The high price of labour, and the extraordinary
demand for cultivators, is strikingly exemplified in
the wages paid to shearers, which, in every part of
Java, is no less than one-sixth of the gross produce,
a rate continued even in the most populous pro-
vinces of the island, where the competition for la-
bour is necessarily smaller, such among these peo-
ple is the influence of the empire of custom.
The whole of this subject will be better under-
stood by presenting at once a short sketch of the di-
vision of the crop and of the internal organization of
the vilhige in regard to it, selecting for an example
the institutions of the Javanese, as not only those
with which I am myself most familiar, but those,
too, which arc acknowledged in matters of this na-
ture to be most systematically defined. In Java, the
lands arc separately tilled by each cultivator, and
not in connnon, as is frequently the case in the
56 PUBLIC REVENUE.
Hindu village. The quantity varies with the fer-
tility of the soil ; and the state of population, being
generally not less than half an acre, and seldom
exceeding half a dozen. The cultivators are
upon an equality, until one among them is chosen
by themselves, or nominated by their superiors, to
preside in the affairs of the village. Even in the
latter case, it is a measure of policy not to offer vio-
lence to the feelings of the villagers by placing an
obnoxious person over them. The chief of the vil-
lage thus appointed is the person entrusted with
the collection of the public revenue, and the fol-
lowing is a fair example of the division which he
makes of the crop. Suppose the crop of a given
quantity of land consists of sixty parts, one-sixth is
deducted from the gross amount at once for reap-
ing, which, in almost all cases, goes necessarily to
the cultivator and his family. Of the remaining
fifty parts, a tvventy-iifth, or four per cent, goes to
the village priest or astrologer, after which the re-
mainder is divided in equal parts between the cul-
tivator and the sovereign. Although the nomiutil
share of the sovereign and cultivator therefore be
one-half each, the actual shares of the parties are
as follow :
The cultivator, - - 84 parts.
The priest, - - 2
The sovereign, - - 24>
60
PUBLIC REVENUE. 57
The share of the sovereign is necessarily farther
reduced by the remissions he is compelled to make
for management ; the amount of which, however,
it is not practicable to state, as no regular scale of
charges is established. One-fifth of the sovereign's
share has been occasionally paid as the commission
for collection.
From this account of the Javanese village, it will
be seen that it possesses many decided advantages
over the similar municipal institution of the Hindus.
Each man's possession is in his own immediate ma-
nasement, and therefore must feel the advanta^-es
of individual exertion and enterprise, which are pal-
sied by the system of common management. The
customary allowance of a sixth for reaping is just so
much in favour of the cultivator j and his ultimate
share with the sovereign is not frittered away by
beins: wasted on the vile herd of miscreants and
vagabonds belonging to the Hindu village, under
the various and hicongruous appellations of astro-
nomers, doctors, poets, musicians, barbers, and
dancing girls. Even the lazy artificers of the Hin-
du village, v.'ho receive a share of the crop, and are
of course paid on a principle which excludes all the
advantages of competition, have no existence in the
organization of the Javanese village, each peasant
of which resorts to the general market for the best
or the cheapest work. This state of things contri-
butes, with the demand for labour, the abundance
58 PUBLIC REVENUE.
of good land ; or, to speak in general terms, the
progi'essive state of the society towards improve-
ment, to render the condition of the Javanese cul-
tivator more comfortable than that of the Hindu
one, notwithstanding the admitted inferiority of the
Javanese to the Hindus in the scale of civilization.
That the habitation of the Javanese peasant is neat-
er, his clothing and food better, and his modes of
husbandry more perfect, is admitted by all who have
had an opportunity of instituting a fair comparison
between the Hindus and Javanese.
Another circumstance which contributes materi-
ally to the comfort or ease of the husbandman in all
the countries of the Indian islands, is the almost
universal exemption of all lands from taxation, ex-
cept those employed in raising bread corn, substi-
tutes for it, or the materials of clothing. In Java,
it is roughly estimated by the natives themselves,
that one-third of the area of all the arable land is oc-
cupied by the sites of villages, including the gardens
and orchards interspersed with the buildings. It
matters little whether this proportion be accurate
or not ; the belief that it is so may, at least, be ad-
mitted as proof that a very large proportion is so oc-
cupied. A Javanese village, and the same observa-
tion applies to the villages of the other agricultural
tribes, may be described as the mixture of a garden,
orchard, and plantation of useful woods, in the grove,
formed by which are interspersed the dwellings of
PUBLIC REVENUE. SQ
the peasantry. Whatever is grown within the pre-
cincts of the village, as here defined, is free from
direct taxation, among which may be enmnerated
a variety of leguminous plants and farinaceous
roots, fruits, materials of cordage, and the useful
and abundant bamboo, of almost universal applica-
tion in the domestic and agricultural economy of
the cultivator.
If we would know what is the amount of the re-
venue of a sovereign in the Indian Archipelago,
we cannot do this by an examination of the records
of his treasury, nor by the extent of his territory,
but we can commit no great error if we have ascer-
tained the number of his cultivators. The effective
records of their exchequers do, in fact, consist of
such documents. The revenue in Java, for example,
is mostly paid in kind ; but, neither in this shape nor
in any other, does much of it find its way into the
treasury. Almost every one connected with the
government or its administration is paid by assign-
ments of land ; including princes of the blood, fa-
vourites, officers of state, the army, from its highest
to its lowest functionaries, and the very menials of
the palace. The prince does not say to his first mini-
ster, " Your salary shall consist of so much money,
butit shall consist of so much corn, or of theproduce
of the labour of so many cultivators." He holds the
same language to one of his grooms. The quanti-
ty of land, or, to speak more in the language of
60 PUBLIC REVENUE.
the people, the number of cultivators reserved by
the prince for the production of a direct revenue
in money or kind, is very inconsiderable. So fa-
miliar is the manner of payment by assignments of
land to the notions of the people, that one of the
distinctions of official rank is founded upon it j and
as the Tartar sovereigns of Hindustan ranked
their military captains by the nominal establish-
ment of horses assigned to them by the sovereign,
so we find the rank of the nobles of Java frequent-
ly determined by the number of cultivators on their
assignments of land, from the chief of fifty Cha-
cliaJis, or families, to him of five hundred, of a
thousand, or upwards. The first minister, ibr ex-
ample, whose income, after that of the heir to the
throne, is the highest of all, is denominated " the
lord of two thousand ;" that is, of two thousand
cultivators.
As long as a revenue is paid in kind, and as long,
indeed, as the character of the people continues
what it is, I cannot help thinking that there is an
evident advantaj^e in this rude mode of conductin":
the business of the treasury, if I may so call it. It
is, in the first place, attended by marked economy,
for the inevitable waste which would accompany its
collection by the officers of government is avoided.
The cultivator is placed, by this system, either
under the protection of an individual, whose in-
terests are assimilated with his own, or who is too
PUBLIC REVENUE. Gl
insignificant to injure them, instead of being sub-
jected to the scourge of the venal officers of the re-
venue. But the greatest advantage which accrues
from it is its superseding the employment of a
crowd of revenue agents, and that system of chicane-
ry and tergiversation which yniist ever accompany
such employment. I feel convinced that it is to the
absence of this system, in no small degree, that we
must ascribe the candour and good faith which has
been remarked in the Javanese cultivator, so strik-
ingly in contrast with the notorious chicanery and
mendacity of the demoralized cultivators of Hin-
dustan.
Before concluding this branch of the subject of
taxes, some observations will be necessary on its in-
fluence on agricultural improvement, and upon the
circumstances of society more generally. Except
the advantages resulting from superior soil ^d cli-
mate, and a greater abundance of good land in pro-
portion to the number of inhabitants, the agriculture
of the Indian islands cannot be deemed to be in a
more favourable situation than that of Europe in
the middle ages, when the soil was cultivated by
wretched bondmen, or tenants at will, whose con-
dition was little better. When the sovereign, as he
does in Java, exacts, as tax, one-half the produce of
the best and greater part of the cultivated lands,
and one-third of that of the poorest, it is evident
that, in such an exorbitant impost, he demands not
62 PUBLIC REVENUE.
merely that portion of the produce of the earth paid
to tlie proprietor for the use of the original and inde-
structible powers of the soil, or that which is a re-
muneration for the expenditure of capital in its im-
provement, but also the whole of the legitimate pro-
fits of the farmer and cultivator. The amount thus
exacted is expended in revenue, and falls into unpro-
ductive hands, — is spent, in short, upon the court, its
officers, or agents, and not a farthing returns to be
added to agricultural capital and to the improvement
of the land. What but the extraordinary productive-
ness of the soil, and benignity of the climate, with
the peculiar relation of the land to the popula-
tion, could, for a moment, render so enormous an
impost tolerable, and present to us, notwithstand-
ing such disadvantages, the extraordinary spectacle
of a rich husbandry under such privations as those
of the Javanese cultivator. Should such a system
be persevered in when the wages of labour fall,
the land becomes scarce, and the population begins
to press against the means of subsistence, a period,
according to the present rapid increase of popula-
tion, not extremely remote, the peasantry of Java
will be driven to wretchedness and poverty, and to
crimes and immorality, to which, even in their pre-
sent state of degradation, they are strangers. The
very best that could be predicted of any system of
revenue arrangements, founded on the extravagant
and iniquitous principles of the native institutions.
PUBLIC REVENUE. 63
would be the perpetuation of the present abjectness
and indigence of the cultivator, and, consequently,
the poverty and debasement of the whole society.
If, according to Adam Smith, the opulence or po-
verty of a nation " depends very much, in every
country, upon the proportion between that part of
the annual produce which, as soon as it comes
either from the ground or from the hands of the
productive labourers, is destined for replacing a
capital, and that which is destined for constituting
a revenue either as rent or as profit,'* Java, and
every other country of the Archipelago, are really
poor countries, and must, in spite of a soil the most
eminently gifted, always continue so while a land-
tax, founded on the native principle, or almost any
modification of it, is persevered in.
It is only in reference to countries in the occu-
pation of Europeans, that it can be necessary to
propose any scheme of amelioration. In doing so,
the interests of a very heterogeneous population
must be considered. We have to legislate for Eu-
ropeans, for Chinese, and for a mixed mass of na-
tive inhabitants. The law should make no distinc-
tion between them. Java is the coimtry which £ have
chiefly in view in throwing out these suggestions.
The first point is to establish a right of private pro-
perty in the land. In the present abject state of
society, there is no class of the native inhabitants to
whom it belongs, or that has a better claim to it
CA public revenue.
than another. This is so universally felt by them-
selves, that to insist upon it were unnecessary. The
sovereign's right to the soil, with the reservation
of a land-tax, should then be sold to the highest
bidder. This would place the proprietary right
where it ought to be, in the hands of men of in-
fluence and property. The competition for the
first sales of such lands as are in the actual occu-
pation of the natives should be confined to them,
but all future sales ought to be unrestricted. This
regulation would obviate the inconveniences which
mifTfht arise from too sudden a transition of rio;hts
into the hands of unpractised and inexperienced
stranf2;ers, but secure eventually the wholesome and
familiar admixture of the different races, the only
means of reconciling them to each other, and com-
municating to the least improved the intelligence
and information of the most civilized. The com-
petition for unoccupied land should be general.
Such lands would, of course, fall chiefly into the
hands of strangers whose capitals and industry,
notwithstanding the inferior fertility of their pos-
sessions, would place them on some equality with
the natives. As an encouragement to the clear-
ing and cultivation of such lands, they ought to be,
according to circumstances, exempted from taxa-
tion for a period of ten, twenty, or thirty years.
The extent of the lots exposed to sale would ne-
cessarily be regulated, in a good measure, by their
PUBLIC REVENUE. 65
fertility or otherwise. That extent should not be
so great as to confine the competition to a few great
capitalists, incapable, from the extent of their pos-
sessions, of improving them with advantage, nor so
minute as to throw the lands into the hands of the
ignorant and improvident peasantry, still more in-
capable. Neglected lands should be resumable
by the state.
Such a measure as now proposed could not be
carried into effect at once by the mere issue of
a government edict, but ought to be the gradual
work of many years. In estimating the amount of
the land-tax to be reserved by the state, care
should be taken that the tax be confined to what
is strictly rent, that is, to a value for the use of the
land, and of the land only. * The assessment, by a
numerical proportion of the crop, is fallacious and
unjust. A sixth of the produce might be a heavier
tax on poor lands which demanded much labour
in the culture, than a third of that of richer lands.
A general standard for the whole country could
not be fixed ; but a regulated scale for each pro-
vince or district might easily be framed. The
amount of the tax should be invariable and per-
petual ; and, to obviate any deterioration of the
public revenue, ought to be stated in com as well
as in money, although paid in the latter; the govern-
♦ Ilicardo's Piin, of Polit. Econ. p. 222.
VOL. III. B
66 PUBLIC REVENUE.
iiient reserving to itself tlie option of adjusting' it
by a reference to the former, at stated but distant
periods of time. The public sale of the govern-
ment lands would place at the disposal of the state,
for a long period of years, a large fund applicable
to the general charges of government, or to par-
ticular improvements. Strangers of enterprise and
capital, chiefly from Europe and China, would
be encouraged to settle ; improvement would be
rapid ; and, long before the sale of the whole
lands, the prosperity and wealth of the society
would furnish, if necessary, other sources of pub-
lic revenue, which would far more than compen-
sate for any imaginary loss.
According to Mr Ricardo, a tax on rent falls
wholly upon landlords, cannot be shifted to any
class of consumers, and caimot discourage the cul-
tivation of new lands, for such lands pay no rent.
In Java, or any country similarly situated, where
there are no landlordSy and the sovereign is the
sole proprietor, it is evident, therefore, that -the
whole of what is strictly the true rent of land, ex-
cluding the produce of capital laid out in improve-
ments, might be taken by the state as tax, without
injury or injustice to any class of society. If,
along with this, we take into consideration the
extraordinary productive powers of the soil of Java,
it will not be too much to assert, that no govern-
ment was ever presented with so favourable an
PUBLIC REVENUE. 67
opportunity of organizing a system of taxation so
certain, productive, and beneficial, as the admi-
nistration of tliat island has it now in its power to
establish.
In speculating upon this vital question I must
here remark, that it is upon the justice, liberality,
and entire equality, in this as well as all other great
questions of legislation, with which the different
classes of inhabitants are considered, that the pro-
sperity of European colonies, so circumstanced as
those in the Indian islands, must mainly depend.
Difference of colour and language are the great
obstacles to the happiness, improvement, and ci-
vilization of mankind in such situations. We
have the fatal example of the Spanish colonies of
America to warn us against the danger and impo-
licy of laws, the tendency of which is to create castes.
No specific regulation should, therefore, exist lor
the peculiar protection of any one class. This is not
a matter for legislative interfei'ence. Every class
shouJd be permitted to enter freely into contracts
with another ; and the dark-coloured races should
not be looked upon as minors under the guardian-
ship of the state, or their imbecility will be increased
and perpetuated, while then* morals will be corrupt-
ed by the temptation to evasion and chicanery which
the very laws themselves will hold out. 1 cannot
better impress this subject upon the mind of the read-
er than by quoting the high authority of that en-
68 PUBLIC REVENUE.
lightened philosopher Baron Humboldt, who, speak-
ing of the stai'e of the natives of New Spain, makes
the following reflection, which is unexceptionably
applicable to the Indian islanders, though certain-
ly a more vigorous, moral, and improved race
than the Americans. " In an age when it was
formally discussed, whether the Indians were ration-
al beings, it was conceived granting them a benefit
to treat them like minors, to put them under the
perpetual tutorage of the whites, and to declare
null every act signed by a native of the copper-co-
loured race, and every obligation which he contract-
ed beyond the value of fifteen francs. These laws
are maintained in full vigour, and they place in-
surmountable barriers between the Indians and the
other castes, with whom all intercourse is almost
prohibited. Thousands of inhabitants can enter in-
to no contracts which are binding ; and, condemn-
ed to a pei-petual minority, they become a charge
to themselves, and the state in which they live."*
In almost all the countries of the Archipelago,
something in the form of a capitation oy poll taa: is
levied, but, when more closely examined, this im-
post is discovered to be another form of assessing the
land, being a tax levied on the cultivation or culti-
vators jointly, and on no other class of the people.
It does not bear a proportion to the rent or quali-
* Political EssoTj on New Spain, Book II. chap. 6.
PUBLIC REVENUE. 69
ty of the land, except that it is confined to tiet
lands, Its amount is but a mere triHe. The west-
ern inhabitants of Java term the tax Fdgalantang,
and the eastern Pachumplang\ sometimes sarcasti-
cally Pangatvang, or air-taj^y which is as much as to
say, that they are not convinced that it is exacted
on any reasonable ground ! The demand of one-
half the produce of their hibour from tlie soil does
not appear extravagant or unreasonable, so natural
does this prerogative of the sovereign appear to them ;
but the trifling poll-tax is not so much associated
with their habits and feelings, and is consequently
unpopular. I conjecture that, in the first instance,
it was a tribute levied on conquered countries.
The eastern Javanese, when tbey conquered the
Sundas, in the reign of the Great Sidtaii, imposed
this tax on the conquered people, while the land-
tax was left to their natural chiefs.
It would be in vain to pretend to render an ac-
count of all the irregular contributions and requisi-
tions to which a people are liable who labour under
the evils of a rude and arbitrary government. At
festivals, at marriages and births, wh' ther in the
family of the sovereign or of the chief who presides
over them, the cultivators are called upon for con-
tributions. In the transportation of public pro-
perty, or the conveyance of the minions of the
court or its officers — in the repair or construction
of roads, bridges, and other public works, the ser-
70 PUBLIC REVENUE.
vices of the people are exacted unmercifully, and
without thank^ or leward.
In Java a direct tax is imposed an Jjsheries. Ex-
tensive tracts of country along the sea side, consist-
ing of salt marshes, and little inlets of the sea, have
been converted into fish-ponds, in which are bred
the ordinary sea fish in great quantities. The so-
vereign claims a proprietary right in the greater
number of these fish- ponds, and derives a large re-
venue from farming them.
Taxes on consumption in these countries are
but of comparatively recent introduction, and, per-
haps, have been owing chiefly to the example of the
Chinese. A direct tax is a plain mode of levying a
revenue, but an indirect impost a less obvious one.
The first attempt to tax foreign commerce is in
making a monopoly of it, and the principle is still
ndhered to in most of the native governments of
the Archipelago. The petty prince must have the
refusal of the stranger's cargo, or such parts of it as
may suit his fancy ; he barters his goods in return,
and it is only through favour or forbearance that
the foreign merchant is permitted to trade with
private persons. Buying cheap and selling dear
are gross expedients which readily occur, but the
wisdom of encouraging trade by moderate imposts,
of which the result would be a much ampler reve-
nue to the sovereign, implies a refinement and fore-
thought of which the rude understandings of the'
PIJBLIC REVENUE. 7^
Indian islanders are incapable. It is only with a
very few of the native princes, and these common-
ly Arabs, or of Arabian stock, that a better system
has been partially adopted.
Transit duties are another rude expedient,
resorted to universally in all eastern countries,
wherever roads or inland navio-ation exist. The
roads and rivers of Java may be described as abso-
lutely infested with such impositions. As the toll
varies with every station, or custom-house, and is
variously assessed on every description of goods,
without reference to any rational principle, it would
be in vain to attempt rendering any account of the
rate of taxation.
Another set of taxes of the same character con-
sists in imposts levied on all goods sold in the pub-
lic marketSf and repeated with every sale. 1 he
impost thus levied may be said to consist of three
parts, a monopoly of the market-place, the ground
rent of the stall where the goods are exposed, and
the direct tax on the goods. It is unnecessary to
say that a tax levied on the first and third princi-
ple, is a tax on industry of the most pernicious kind.
These rude and unskilful financiers make no dis-
tinction between a tax upon the necessaries of life
and a tax upon luxuries, innocent or vicious. The
productiveness of the tax, and the facility of levy-
ing it, are the only questions. Foreign and do-
mestic manufactures, raw and wrought produce, the
72 PUBLIC REVENUE.
necessaries of life, includin^j corn of every kind, and
animal food,are alike objectsof this form of taxation.
It is upon this principle that opium, the substitute
of the Indian islanders for wines and spirits, and
salt, the universal subject of heavy taxation in all
ages, and almost all countries, are equally objects of
extraordinary and distinct taxation. In Java, the
great manufacturing country of salt, the commodity
was sold on the spot where it was made at about
fifteen times its natural value, — in distant places,
sometimes as high as seventy times. Opium, in the
same country, may be reckoned to be sold at about four
times the amount of the monopoly sales in India,
and at probably not less than ten times the natu-
ral cost. In every part of the i\rchipelago, opium
and salt are, under one form or another, objects of
a rigid monopoly on the part of the governments.
The system of farming the public revenue, in all
its departments, is universal in the Indian islands,
wherever European influence has made no innova-
tion. The farmers are either natives of the east coast
of the peninsula of India, or Chinese, but most fre-
quently the latter. We hear them generally deno-
minated Bandar, s. corruption in orthograpliy, and a
more palpable one in meaning, of the Persian word
Bdndury-a. sea-poit, or commercial emporium, which
the accommodating geniusof the Polynesian tongues
applies not only to the custom-houses on the coast,
but to the toll ports of the interior, where the
PUBLIC REVENUE. 7^
transit duties are levied, and, as now stated, even
to the farmer himself. In the early state of com-
merce in all countries, the pernicious system of
farming such branches of the public revenue as
consist of taxes on consumption is general. From
the peculiar commercial capabilities of the In-
dian islands, and the resort of strangers, they
may justly be said to be possessed of a share of
trade beyond its usual extent, in countries of
equal civilization. The incapacity and ignorance
of men in their state of society, renders the
Indian islanders quite unequal to the details of
a business of any degree of compiexness, and
the necessary consequence is, that the manage-
ment of the revenue, in all the more difficult
branches, falls into the hands of rapacious stran-
gers. Tlie employment of the Chmese in the di-
rect collection of the duties is found impracticable
from their utter want of moral character and inteo-ri-
ty, so that the farming system becomes, by necessity,
the only resource, and the only means of securing
the just amount of the public revenue, is the dis-
posal of the farms by the competition of a pub-
lic sale. Even in European establishments, from
the unwise restraints imposed on European coloni-
zation, the employment of European officers in
the direct management of the revenue has not
been found to answer. The smallness of their
numbers does not admit of the employment of
7^ PUBLIC REVENUE.
instruments either sufficiently cheap, or sufficient-
ly expert. They are both unwiUing for, and un-
equal to the task of bestowing the attention ne-
cessary to the minute details of a laborious business.
Under their management the inferior agents of the
revenue commit depredations on the trader, the re-
venue suffers defalcation, and nothing is gained.
The employment of the Chinese farmers, therefore,
as long as the impolitic principle of interdicting
European colonization is persisted in, is far less
injurious both to the subject and the state. The
native trader, who woukl hesitate to complain of the
injustice of an European agent, will not fail to com-
plain of that of a Chinese one, who possesses no po-
litical power, and is an object of jealousy, but not of
fear, both to the trader and the man in power.
On this subject I speak distinctly from the results
of my own personal experience in the control of
two of the most considerable commercial establish-
ments in the Archipelago, those of Samarang, and
Surabaya, in Java. Until, in the progress of colo-
nization, an active race of Europeans, by constitu-
tion fit to bear the climate, and by education and
experience equal to transact business with the va-
rious inhabitants of these countries, be available,
the assumption of the dhect management of those
branches of the public revenue, to which I have al"
luded, by the servants of the European government,
will prove injurious both to the sovereign and the
subject.
11
CHAPTER V.
LAWS.
Xatw of the Indian islanders a mixture of native Hindu and
Arabian laiv. — Account of writings on Jurisprudence —
Modes of administering justice. — Courts, — Proceedings. —
Rides of evidence. — Civil laws. — Purchase and sale.—"
Deposits. — Letting and hiring. — Loans. — Latos of inherit-
ance. — Marriage-contract. — Penal laws. — Description of
punishments. — Frequency of capital punis/unent. — Of fine.
— A^ronl, or personal insult, a punishment by laxv. — Out.'
lavory. — Modes of execution. — Lex talionis. - Pecuniary
compensation for crimes. — Allotment of punishment accord'
ing to rank. — Off^ences against property. — Theft. — Roh^
bery. — 'Offences against persons. — Abusive language. —
Right of avenging tvrongs in a great measure left in pri-
vate hands, and employment of hired champions to avenge
private quarrels. — Wounding. — Murder and m/inslaugh-
ter Injuries offered to the sex. — Seduction. — Adultery. —
Offerees against the sovereign. — Exercise of unlawful tmtho'
rity. — Giving false information. — Counterfoiting the royal
signet — Treason and rebellion — OJfences against the laws
oj nature. — Sorcery. — Marriages wtthin jjrohibited degrees.
Having rendered an account of the forms of go-
vernment among the Indian islanders, I shall con-
clude this book by a sketch of their laws, in the
course of wiuch 1 shall rather attempt to shew their
spirit and character than enter into any minute
76 LAWS,
details conceraing them. This may be done under
the four following heads : — viz. History and Ar-
rangement of the Laws, — Forms of Judicatory, —
Civil Laws, and Penal Laws.
As in other departments, so in that of the laws,
the Hindus, the Arabs, or both, have imparted a
share of their learning to the Indian islanders.
(The laws of all the civilized tribes consist, accord-
ingly, of a commixture of native customs and of
Hindu and Mahomedan jurisprudence. From the
remarkable opposition whicli exists in the state o
society among the Indian islanders, and that of the
Hindus and Arabs, we must be prepared to find that
the peculiar codes of the two latter people would
be but very partially adopted by the former, —
that laws framed for a populous country, in which
the odious institution of the castes was rigidly es-
tablished, or for the shepherds of the add and
sterile plains of Arabia, could not be transferred,
without modification, to the simple, rude, and
scanty population of the verdant and luxuriant
islands of the equator.
The reigning religion of the Archipelago, as has
been fully described in another department of this
work, is the Mahomedan, which necessarily implies
the inseparable existence of the Mahomedan law.
In a period of about two centuries and a half, which
elapsed from the end of the thirteenth to the be-
ginning of the sixteenth century, almost all the
J>r<urn t Kri^rared \y W-B Lixars from a ShOefi by Cap.' HeLi/ossc.
fda or SraJTurt of' Bali.
Edinburgh. FtihhjhM ly Con^UibU k C U20.
LAWS. 77
considerable nations of the Indian islands adopted
the Mahomedan religion, the work of conversion
commencing naturally from the west and proceed-
ing eastward. The degree in which they have
adopted the laws and doctrines of Mahomed have
been proportioned to the degree of civilization in
which the natives were found, and to the greater
or smaller intercourse which has since subsisted
between them and the Mahomedan nations of the
west.
The Mahomedan law i§ nominallij established
among the whole of the converted tribes, and in
'penal and ecclesiastical jurisprudence is followed
pretty closely. Tracts on Mahomedan law, fol-
lowing the doctrines of Shojihi, or his pupils, are
in circulation in every country of the Archipela-
go, accompanied occasionally with commentaries or
translations in the vernacular languages. To fur-
nish any detailed account of these vvoukl be foreign
to the nature of my undertaking, the object of
which is to delineate the peculiar features of a state
of society widely different from that for which the
Mahomedan code was framed, or its commentaries
composed. The state of society among all the tribes
of the Indian islanders differs so essentially from the
latter, that, notwithstanding the avowed supremacy
of Mahomedan law, it is hardly applied in any case,
without considerable latitude and modification. Lo-
cal usages and customs are covertly of authority,
78 LAWS.
and among several of the principal tribes, have been
committed to writing. I n the languages of the west-
ern tribes, these written collections are generally
denominated Undang^ a word, which, in the lead-
ing language, the Javanese, means a royal order or
edict, and points distinctly enough at their nature
and origin, being all compilations made by express
order oi some particular monarch. None of them,
of course, bear date earlier than the introduction
of Mahomedanism, and the greater number are in-
deed coeval with this event, or were compiled im-
mediately after it. It may be presumed, that these
collections are founded on the written laws which
were in existence with each particular tribe before
the conversion. Under the name of Kuntaray for
example, the 13alinese have still a collection of na-
tive laws, slightly modified by Hinduism, which
bears a strong afunity with the Malayan collec-
tions called Undang. In attempting to render
an account of the jurisprudence of the Indian
islanders, I shall freely quote these different col-
lections. All of them display a remarkable cha-
racter of rudeness and barbarism. Institutions so
imperfect, indeed, have never, in all probability,
been, among any other people, committed to writ-
ing. No attempt is made in them at arrangement
or classification, but the most incompatible mattery
are blended togetlicr, and the forms of judicatui'^,
criminal and civil jurisprudence, maxims of mo-
tAWS. 79
rality, and commercial regulations, are incongru-
ously mtermixed.
I proceed to render some account of the arr
rangements for tlie maintenance of order and tran-
quillity, and for the administration of justice. We
are fully prepared to understand what the charac-
ter of these miat be from what has been already
said on the subject of government. As in all rude
periods of society, the chief, lord, king, or sovereign,
under whatever name recognized, administers the
law. In the smaller communities, he does so in
person ; in the larger ones by delegate. The ad-
ministration of the laws is, in fact, but a subordi-
nate branch of executive government, conducted by
one and the same hands. In the law terms used
by the Javanese, accordingly, any injury offered to
the persons or property of the king's subjects are
termed injuries to him : Thus doso i^ojo-brono,
literally the crime against the king's property, is
theft ; doso rojo-iatUy meaning literally wounding
the king, is wounding or maiming in general ;
and doso rojo-pati, the crime of killing the king,
is murder. In the larger communities, to save
trouble, the usual expedient, in such cases, of law
assessors, has been had recourse to. The sove-
reign or his minister has his assessor, — the dele-
gates of the sovereign, in the administration of
the provinces, theirs, — and all the subdelegates of
these, in a third or fourth series, theirs also, the prin-
80 LAWS.
cipal always interfering whenever he has leisure w
inclination to do so. This general account I shall il-
lustrate by a particular statement of the mode of ad-
ministering justice among the Javanese. Akingdom,
in that island, is an aggregate of villages each of
which has within itself a distinct local jurisdiction,
which may be described as a sort of corporation hy
sufferance. This corporation consists of a diiej] a se-
condy a yjr/e^/, a register^ or writer, elders^ and the
tenants oi the land ; or, which is the same thing, the
tenants of the sovereign. Sometimes the principal
village-officers are elected by their fellow-villagers,
and at other times by a superior. In whatever way
nominated, it happens, that, from the equality of
their fortunes, or, in other words, from the po-
verty of all, a great degree of freedom and equa-
lity subsists between the members of these little
societies. Petty disputes are settled by the chief
and elders in public, or written evidence of mat-
ters of greater moment is taken down by them,
to be transmitted to higher authority. Arrange-
ments are made by the same authority for the pro-
tection of the joint property, and for that of the
goods of strangers or passengers, by the nomina-
tion of nightly watches and patroles. The village
associations are superintended by officers of va-
rious names, who are the delegates or lieutenants
of the governors of provinces. These have their
law assessors and courts, which take cognizance of
LAWS. 81
matters of higher moment than lie within the ju-
risdiction of tlie village-officers. They are re-
sponsible in their turn to the governors of pro-
vinces, who have their minister or assistant, their
law assessors, writers, and registers, &c. which, in
name and nature, are a literal copy of the su-
preme authority at the seat of government, now
to be more particularly described. The supreme
court of justice, at the seat of government, nomi-
nally consists of the Jour following persons, called,
from their importance, ** the nails which fix the
kingdom," Patoh Nagoro, — the sovereign, — his
minister, — the high-priest, and the judge of common
law. The sovereign never administers justice in per-
son, but interferes when he thinks proper, as well on
the general principle of his authority as an arbitrary
prince, as because he is the head of the church. Fa-
nolo AgomOt law and religion in the East being al-
ways inseparable. His minister is also too much oc-
cupied to devote much time to the administration of
justice, the consequence of which is, that it is left
nearly altogether to the Panguluy or high-priest,
and to the Jaksa, or native judge. The first is
presumed to be learned in the Mahomedan law,
and takes rank of the second, who is employed in
minor details of mere drudgery, and is presumed to
be familiar with those peculiar customs and usages
which are deviations from the Mahomedan law.
VOL. HI. F
9i LAWS.
The court is an open one, and, to give solemnity
to the proceedings, is held in the portico, Sdram-
hi, of the principal mosque. The Indian island-
ers are not by nature litigious ; and in their pover-
ty, it is not reasonable to expect that important
rights of property should often be contested among
them. Civil disputes are settled in the inferior
courts rather by a kind of arbitration than by judi-
cial process, so that the duties of the superior court,
now described, are chiefly confined to criminal
trials, principally capital offences.
In all important cases the evidence is formally
recorded in writing, and the whole procedure, as I
have frequently witnessed, is conducted with calm-
ness, deliberation, and decorum. The details are
slow and tedious, but the whole process sufficient-
ly expeditious.
Peculiarity of local situation and manners has
given rise to various distinctions in the distribu-
tion of judicial authority. Among the Hindu po-
pulation of Bali the Brahmins administer justice.
Among the Malay tribes the peculiarity of their
maritime situation and their commercial habits has
given rise to a peculiar distribution of judicial
authority, which is expressed, in the Institutes of
Malacca, as follows : — " The authority of the mi-
nister, Bcindahara, extends over men in office, —
lords, — sons of nobles of the first rank, and the
royal guards, Biduinday that of the minister of
LAWS. 83
police, Tumangungy over the affairs of the coun-
try generally, and over beggars, destitute persons
and orphans ; — ^that of the admiral, Laksimana,
over all maritime affairs, and all the concerns of
the dependent provinces of the state ; — and that of
the Intendant of the Port, Shahba?ida?\ over the
affairs of the port, over all merchants, and over all
strangers." The most remarkable of these is the
authority delegated to the admiral. He is declared
to be " the king" when at sea, and then to have
the power of life and death. It is singular that this
power is not confined to this superior naval officer
alone, but expressly belongs by law even to the
master of a trading-vessel. The following law,
from the Malacca collection, specifies all the officers
or persons to whom this dangerous power is en-
trusted : " The persons who have the power of
inflicting the punishment of death are the mini-
ster, Bandahara, in the absence of the king, or
within his own particular jurisdiction, (literally his
own river,) — the minister of police, Tumnngtmg,
when engaged in apprehending criminals, — the
admiral, Lalvsimamij when in the harbour, and he
is disobeyed, or when on the high-seas,' — and the
commander of a trading-vessel when he is at sea,
for he is then as the Icing. But the authority of
this latter extends only to the great crimes of
takinjr another man's wife or concubine, or me-
ditating to run a muck."
84 LAWS.
The judicial proceedings, as already mentioned,
are conducted with much solemnity, and the an-
cient laws punish want of attention to the forms
of the court. In the Javanese laws we have,
with this view, the following singular enactments,
so characteristic of the simple manners of the
people : " If a person refuse to pay attention to
the forms of court he shall be fined ten pieces of
money." — '* If a person address the judge out of
his turn he shall be fined two pieces of money." —
" If any one bring victuals or other gift to the
judge, when he has a suit in court, he shall lose
his cause.'*
The prosecutor, or plaintiff, states his own cause
to the judge, often in a strain of considerable elo-
quence, and he then produces his witnesses. The
accused makes his defence in a similar manner,
and, in his turn, brings forward his evidence. The
judge hears and decides forthwith, and the sen-
tence is carried into effect on the spot. Attorneys
or advocates are seldom or ever had recourse to.
The following is the description of the qualifi-
cations and duties of a Javanese judge, from a
work called Niti Praja : * *' A judge must, in all
cases, be impartial, to enable him to weigh all
causes which come before him with the same ex-
actness that merchandise is weighed in a scale, and
* Raffles's History of Java, Vol. I. p. 277.
LAWS. 85
nicely balance the equilibrium ; nothing adding or
taking from either side." — " He must be above
all bribery, either by words or money, and never
allow himself to be induced to commit an act of in-
justice ; for, were a judge to commit an act of this
kind, the consequence could not but be highly in-
jurious to the country." — *' He must not accept
presents of any kind from the parties whose cause
comes before him, not only because he cannot ex-
pect to derive advantage therefrom, but also be-
cause the public will hold discourse concerning
him highly injurious to his reputation." — " All
causes in dispute must be decided upon by him,
with the least possible delay, according to law, and
not kept long in suspense to the injury of the par-
ties concerned, lest he be considered like a holy
man, who, for the sake of money, sacrifices his
good name." — " A judge must inquire into every
circumstance relating to the causes brought before
him, and duly investigate the evidence ; after which
he must take the cause into consideration. He
must not in the least listen to what is false, and,
on all occasions, decide according to truth." Such
self-evident maxims, and crude instructions for
the conduct of a judge, could only, thus pom-
pously, be paraded in a very rude and early stage
of social union, and of the science of ethics. The
judge, in all these cases, being no more than the
law assessor, the law makes no scruple in punish.
86 LAWS.
ing him severely. In a treatise on Javanese law,
composed immediately after the conversion to Ma-
homedanism, and called the " Sun of the Uni-
verse," Surya AUlnit after an enumeration of the
duties of the judge, Jaksa, it is deliberately de-
clared, " If he is found ignorant of these things,
he shall have his tongue cut out ;" and, if the
next in order to the judge, Jajanaiig, shall, in act-
ing for the judge, prove deficient in a knowledge
of his duty, he too shall either have his tongue cut
out, lose both his ears, or have red-hot pincers ap-
plied to his lips.'* — " In the third place," it adds,
" any incorrect statement in writing shall be pu-
nished with the loss of both hands. Should nei-
ther of these sentences be carried into effect, the
judge ought, at all events, to be banished the coun-
try. This punishment, however, may be miti-
gated by the Raja, who, having compassion on the
judge, may recall him after one year's banish-
ment." *
Even the capacity or learning of the judge, or
law assessor, appears, on some occasions, to be
treated with very little ceremony. In one law of
the ancient Javanese, it is declared, that, if he be
^lenced in a discussion with one of the parties who
dispute a point with him, he shall be fined forty
thousand pichis.
' Raffles's Java, Vol. II. Appendix, p. 33.
LAWS. 87
The rules of evidence, as among all barbarous
people, are arbitrary and capricious. At present,
they are, among the Mahomedan nations of the
Archipelago, determined principally by the sacred
text of the Koran, and by its commentaries. By
the ancient laws of the Javanese, or, which is the
same thing, by the present laws of Bali, women,
slaves, stammerers, lame or maimed people, persons
afflicted with such loathsome disorders as leprosy,
or epilepsy, &c., were excluded from giving testi-
mony in a court of justice.
The collection of Malacca decides in the follow-
ing words, who are to be deemed competent, and
who incompetent witnesses. " Competent witnes-
ses are persons of virtue, just persons, pious per-
sons, and freemen. Incompetent witnesses are
persons of bad character, slaves, and women. The
lattor are admissible, however, in affairs of preg-
nancy, and in those which regard female complaints.
In affairs of marriage, they are by no means to be
admitted.'*
The rules of evidence among the people o^Pas-
summah are as follow : ** In order to be deemed
a competent and unexceptionable evidence, a per-
son must be of a different family, and dusun from
the person in whose behalf he gives evidence, of
good character, and a freeman ; but, if the dis-
pute be between two persons of the same dusuriy
persons of such dusun are allowed to be complete
88 LAWS.
evidence." This singular law is framed to pro-
vide against the feuds and animosities prevail-
ing between the inhabitants of different villages,
and affords a striking picture of the violence and
anarchy of the state of society among these peo-
ple.
Witnesses are not, as among us, examined on
oath ; for oaths are not administered but with
much solemnity. Among the different tribes,
there are various forms of administering an oath.
The military tribes of Celebes swear by their
drawn krises, with the Koran held over their heads,
as already described in the account of their man-
ners, in the first volume. The people of Sumatra
swear by their heir-looms. The Javanese swear
by the Koran in the mosque with great solemni-
ty, the ceremony occupying frequently more than
an hour, and consisting chiefly in the recitation
by the priest of pertinent and impressive passages
from the sacred volume. The form of words used
by the people of Sumatra is to the following effect :
** If what I now declare is truly and really so, may
I be freed and clear from my oath ; if what I assert
is wittingly false, may my oath be the cause of my
destruction." * The oath pronounced by the Ja-
vanese is very remarkable. " If,*' says the Java-
nese peasant, with perfect simplicity, " I speak
" History of Sumatra.
LAWS. 89
falsehood, may I meet with misfortune ; but if I
speak the truth, may I receive the blessing of the
prophet of God, of all the saints of Java, and of
my lord and king^ who now reigns,*' ratu. The
mosque is the most common place for administering
an oath, but some of the tribes consider the shrines
of saints, or the burying-ground of their ancestors,
as places of more solemnity.
Among all the tribes, it is the principal rather
than the witnesses that are sworn. *'In many cases,"
says Mr Marsden, * '• it is requisite they should
swear to what it is not possible, in the nature of
things, they should know to be true. A sues B
for a debt due from the father or grandfather of
B to the father or grandfather of A. The origi-
nal parties are dead, and no witness of the transac-
tion survives. How is the matter to be decided ?
It remains with B to make oath that his father or
grandfather never was indebted to those of A, or
that, if he was indebted, the debt had been paid.
This, among us, would be considered a very strange
method of deciding causes, but among these people
something of the kind is absolutely necessary. As
they have no sort of written accounts, nor any
thing like records or registers among them, it would
be utterly impossible for the plaintiff to establish
the debt by a positive proof in a multitude of cases ;
* ilistory of Sumatra, p, 239.
90 LAWS.
and, were the suit to be dismissed at once, as with
us, for want of such proof, numbers of innocent
persons would lose the debts really due to them,
through the knavery of the persons indebted, wlio
would scarce ever fail to deny a debt."
'The Javanese administer an oath on the same
principle, though not so often in civil as in crimi-
nal cases. A murder, for example, has been com-
mitted, and the relations prosecute J:he person sus-
pected to have committed it. If there be either no
evidence, or but inadequate evidence, the prisoner
will be directed by the court to swear to his own
innocence. When we are sufficiently aware of the
character of the inhabitants of these countries, the
practice will not appear so unreasonable as it seems
at first view. There are no people who have a more
sacred regard for the sanctity of an oath. In a
court of justice their character appears to great ad-
vantage. Truth and simplicity are the decided
characteristics of their testimony. — There is gene-
rally no legal punishment among them for perjury,
which is left to the vengeance of the invisible
powers. The laws of the Malays alone punish
this offence, and the code of Malacca describes the
kind of punishment in one case as follow : *' If a
person give false evidence before the Intendant of
the Port, his face shall be streaked with charcoal
and turmeric, and he shall be publicly exposed ; or
be fined to the amount of two tahils" Among
LAWS. 91
some of the tribes, collateral oaths are deemed ne-
cessary, and the testimony of an accused person
must be corroborated by that of others, somewhat
in the manner of the compurgators of the middle
ages of Europe. Among those people, however,
it is the relations of the deceased alone that are
sworn. Marsden gives the following interesting
account of the practice : "In administering an
oath, if the matter litigated respects the proper-
ty of the grandfather, all the collateral branches
of the family descended from him are understood
to be included in its operation ; if the father*s
effects only are concerned, or the transactions hap-
pened in his lifetime, his descendants are included ;
if the affair regards only the present parties, and
originated with them, they and their immediate de-
scendants only are comprehended in the conse-
quences of the oath ; and if any single one of these
descendants refuses to join in the oath, it vitiates
the whole ; that is, it has the same effect as if the
party himself refused to swear ; a case that not
unfrequently occurs. It may be observed, that the
spirit of this custom tends to the requiring a weight
of evidence, and an increase of the importance of
the oath, in proportion as the distance of time ren-
ders the fact to be established less capable of proof
in the ordinary way." *
■ History of Sumatra, p. 241.
9^ LAWS.
Obtaining evidence by torture, though practised
occasionally in the wantonness of tyranny, can
hardly be said to belong either to the character of
the Indian islanders, or the spirit of their institu-
tions.
The trial by combat or duel, and the appeal to
the judgment of God by various descriptions of
ordeal, are not unknown. The Malay laws direct
that the combat or ordeal shall be had recourse to
in the absence of evidence, in the following words :
" If one accuse and another deny, and there be no
witnesses on either side, the parties shall either fight
or submit to tlie ordeal of melted tin or boiling
oil. The latter consists in extracting with the
hand, at a single dip, from the boiling liquid, a slip
of paper with a verse of the Koran written upon
it. If the accusation be that of taking a man's
wife, and the accuser won in the ordeal, the ac-
cuser shall be put to death ; if the accused be
successful, then the accuser shall suffer death, or
jtay ajine of ten iahils."
Having rendered this account of the modes of
administering justice, I shall proceed to give a
sketch of the character of the Civil taxes of the In-
dian islanders. Where poverty excludes frequent
or large exchanges of property in moveables, and
where the proprietary right of the soil is usurped
by the sovereign, the compact of purchase and sale
are sufficiently simple. Goods are by custom sold
LAWS. 93
in the public market. The three following laws
of the Javanese are descriptive of their manners
touching this point : " If a man purchase a piece
of cloth without examination, and, carrying it home,
discovers, on washing it, that it is holed, he shall
proceed with it to the magistrate, who will endea-
vour to find out whether the defect in the cloth be
recent or of long standing. If the latter, the ven-
der shall make good the loss ; if the foniier, the
purchaser ; and, if the matter appear dubious, the
loss shall be shared between them." — *' If a per-
son, after having given something to another,
afterwards repent, and demand it back, alleging
that he had only given it in charge, and the de-
fendant bring witnesses to prove that the pro-
perty was actually given to him, he shall be en-
titled to keep it, and the plaintiff shall be fined,
besides, to the amount of 8000 pkhis. If, how-
ever, the defendant, in the last case, should
fail to prove that the property was actually given
to him, he shall be compelled to make restitu-
tion two-fold, and pay, besides, a fine of 12,000
pichis.'*
The laws of the Indian islanders provide for de-
posits principally in the case of travellers. When
a traveller arrives at a village, it is his duty to re-
port himself to the chief, and consign his goods to
his charge. If they are lost, the village is respon-
sible. Even the owner of a house is by law or cus-
94 LAWS.
torn responsible for tlie goods of a stranger sleeping
under his roof, if such goods have been duly con-
signed to his care. The laws of the Rejangs on
this subject are as follow : — " If a person pass-
ing the night in the house of another does not
commit his effects to the charge of the owner of
it, the latter is not accountable, if they are stolen
during the night. If he has given them in charge,
and the stranger's effects only are lost during the
night, the owner of the house becomes account-
able. If effects both of the owner and lodger
are stolen, each is to make oa|h to the other that
he is not concerned in the robbery, and the par-
ties put up with their loss, or retrieve it as they
can.'' *
The provisions for letting and luring are scanty
and ill-defined. They chiefly refer to cattle and
slaves, the principal descriptions of property that
can be let where free servants are hardly known,
and the property of the soil is vested in the sove-
reign. The following are a few of them, from the
laws of Malacca : — " If a person hire a slave from
another, and it be well understood on what business
he IS to be employed, and the slave be killed, the
master shall receive but three- fourths of his price ;
that is, he shall lose one-fourth of it." — "If a person
Marsilcii's riisiori/ of Sumalra, p. 221.
4
LAWS. 95
hire a slave for the express purpose of climbing trees,
the master being fully aware thereof, and the slave
fall and he killed, the master shall receive an equit-
able return for the price of his slave." — " If a man
hire from another a slave, and have said to the
master beforehand, ' he may possibly be killed/
and the master reply, * if he be killed, let him be
killed,' and it turn out that the slave is really
killed, the master shall receive but one-third of his
price ; that is, he shall forfeit two-thirds." — '* If
a person hire a buffalo, and place the animal in an
enclosure near a dwelling, and, in that situation,
it be killed by a tiger, he shall restore half his
price only, for he was not to blame ; but, if the
bufifalo have been placed in a pen at a distance from
a dwelling, then he shall pay his full price." — " If
a man hire a woman, and deflower her, he shall be
fined one tahil and one paha, but if with the wo-
man's consent, only five vias." — " If a man hire a
female slave, and violate her, he shall, if she have
been a virgin, pay to her master a fine of ten maSy
one piece of cloth, and one vest, Bqju ; but if the
woman have been a widow, the fine is only five maSj
and no cloth or vest. This is the law of the totim,
ndgri, the country, desdy and the river, SungaL
In the Javanese laws, I discover two enactments
respecting the letting of lands, sufficiently declara-
tory of the arbitrary violence which prevails on this
subject. They are as follow : " If a person sub-
9Q LAWS.
let rice grounds, and, receiving the rent in advance,
absconds, and the lord, gusti, have not been made
acquainted with the transaction, the person hiring
the lands shall forfeit the money advanced, and
shall not have the use of the lands.'* — " If a man
^ get rice lands from another to work, and neglect
them, and the said lands lie over unemployed, the
lo7'd shall have a right to the profit of such lands,
agreeably to their usual produce." *
Loam, as in other rude states of society, where
neither law nor morals encourage integrity in com-
mercial transactions, are usually made on pledges,
gade. These pledges are usually the jewels and
personal trinkets of the borrower or his family.
Interest paid for the use of money has been known
to the Indian islanders from very early times.
The following law, from the ancient code of Java,
at present in force in Bali, describes particularly
the mode of lending money : " Before you lend
money, whether gold, silver, or copper, perform
ablutions and purify yourself. Neither ought you
to lend on a wrong day, on a Thursday or a Sunday.
When you are prepared, write down the name of
the debtor, the place of his residence, and the
cause of lending your money. Let all this be done
in presence of the borrower ; let the amount of the
sum lent be written down, with the ^e<2?% the sea-
* Laws of Java and Eali.
LAWS. 97
sojij the moon, the day of the week of seven, and
the day of the week of five days, the time of the
day, and the xvuku. Let the rate of interest be
moreover stated, and let there be witnesses to the
writing. Such an instrument is called a Pawitan,
Let the interest of money, Bungali^ (literally the
flower of it,) be paid yearly, at the end of which,
if it have been demanded, and is refused, the bor-
rower shall be compelled to pay double the amount
of the capital."
Interest in kind for loans seems also acknow-
ledged by the same laws ; thus, " If a man owe a
debt in corn, and the time exceed five years, he
shall be compelled by the magistrate to make resti-
tution five-fold." The exorbitancy of the penalty
in these cases declares the unskilfulness of the le-
gislator, and the difficulty of recovering the debt.
By the laws of the Rejangs, the legal interest of
money was declared to be loO per cent, per an^
num. Commodore Beaulieu tells us, that, in his
time, the interest of money at Achin was arbitrari-
ly limited to 12 per cent., but that, at Bantam, it
was as high as 60. It was hardly less among
the other tribes, though it is generally difficult
to state any specific amount, the rate varying with
the risk of lending, and the declaration of the Ma-
homedan law, that all interest is usury, making it
difficult to avow it.
If a debtor is unable to pay his creditor, he is
VOL. HI. G
98 LAWS.
compelled to serve him until the debt be dis-
charged, and he is then nearly in the condition of a
slave. Every man has his fixed price ; and, if the
debt exceed this, he either loses his liberty alto^
gether, or his family are compelled to serve the
creditor along with him.
The following two laws of Malacca have refer-
ence to this practice : *' If a man be in debt to
such an amount as to exceed his estimated price in
the country, then it shall be lawful for his creditor
to punish him by stripes or abusive language — but
after the manner of a freeman, and not of a slave."
— " If a man deflower a virgin that is his debtor,
he shall be compelled either to marry her or forfeit
the amount of the debt."
This universal custom is more distinctly express-
ed in the laws of Sumatra, as collected by the offi-
cers of the British government : " When a debt,**
say these, " becomes due, and the debtor is unable
to pay his creditor, or has no effects to deposit, he
shall himself, or his wife, or his children, live with
the creditor as his bond slave or slaves, until re-
deemed by the payment of the debt."
With respect to inheritance^ the converted tribes,
in this matter, are chiefly guided by the complex
rules of Mahomedan jurisprudence. W^here there
is a right of private property in land, or at least
the usufruct of it, there is generally a community of
goods among the members of a family. It is held
LAWS. , 99
in the name of the father or elder male of the fami-
ly, and hence, by the customs of the greater num-
ber of the tribes, the father, or nearest of kin, is
answerable for the debts of all the members of a
i'amily. I can nowhere discover, in any of the col-
lections of native laws which have fallen into my
hands, that the right of devising property by will
had any existence among the tribes of the Indian
islands. — The law of inheritance, among the people
oi Fasiimmah, in Sumatra, is as follows : " If a
person dies having children, these inherit his ef-
fects in equal portions, and become answerable for
the debts of the deceased. If any of his brothers
survive, they may be permitted to share with their
nephews, but rather as matter of courtesy than
right, and only when the effects of the deceased
devolved to him from his father or grandfather. If
he was a man of ranl^ it is common for the son
who succeeds him in title to have a larger share.
This succession is not confined to the eldest born,
but depends much on private agreement in the fa-
mill/. If the deceased person leaves no kindred
behind him, the tribe to which he belonged shall in-
herit his effects, and be answerable for his debts." *
The ceremonies of marriage have been already
described, in a separate department ; and I have
only, in this place, to allude to the nature and
* Marsdcn's Sumatra.
100 . LAWS.
character of the marriage-contract, considered as an
institution of law. The marriage-contract, among
the whole of the tribes, is a purchase of the use of
the woman's person by the man, for a pecuniary or
other consideration. Besides the concubinage esta-
blished among persons of rank, in which the con-
cubine is a person of humble condition, the mere
handmaid of the more legitimate wife, there are
generally three kinds of marriage in use. The
Jirst^ and most common, consists in paying the fa-
ther or protector of the young woman a specific
sum, varying in amount according to the different
manners of the different tribes, and the different
condition in life of the parties. When the whole
of the sum agreed upon is paid, the woman, among
many of the tribes, becomes literally the property,
or, in other words, the slave, of the husband, who
may sell, or otherwise dispose of her, as if she were
actually a slave. Except, however, in the case of
a violent quarrel between the families of the parties,
a trifling instalment is always left unpaid ; and, as
long as this continues to be the case, and the bar-
gain is incomplete, the woman has a right to be
considered as an equal, and may demand a divorce.
The second description of marriage is also a pur-
chase. It consists in a person of inferior rank sa-
crificing his personal liberty to become the husband
of the daughter of a man of superior condition.
He is in this case adopted into the family of his
LAWS. 101
father-in-law, who may dispose of him as he pleases,
— even sell him as a slave.
The third kind of marriage is the most univer-
sal, and supposes, although a pecuniary considera-
tion be still paid, a greater degree of equality be-
tween man and wife. This is the kind of marriage
which commonly prevails among the Malays, the
Javanese, and civilized nations of Celebes.
Marriages may, in general, be dissolved without
much difficulty. If the husband sues for the di-
vorce, he forfeits all claim to the Patukon, or con-
sideration paid to his wife's relations for her per-
son. If the woman sues for the divorce, she re-
pays the purchase-money, and, by some laws, two-
fold. " If a woman," say the laws of Bali, *' feel a
dislike to her husband, she shall be made to re-
store the original purchase-money, tulcon^ two-fold,
and receive a divorce. This is called Mcidal San-
gama. Among the Javanese, divorces are obtain-
ed with great facility. They are, in point of law,
sufficiently easy everywhere, but the manners of
the people are an obstacle to their frequency ; and,
among the Malays, the people of Bali, Sumbawa,
and Celebes, they are rarely heard of. Where
the laws appear the most strict, there we shall dis-
cover the greatest dissolution of morals in this re-
spect ; for the laws of barbarians must be consider-
ed as no more than so many occasional expedients
for the correction of acknowledged evils. When
102 LAWS.
these evils have no existence, laws are not thought
of.
The rigour of the mnrriage-vow, as far as tlie sex
are concerned, is strongly declared in the following
law of the ancient Javanese and present Balians :
" If a man go on a sea voyage, his wife shall not
marry another for ten years ; if he go into the
country in quest of employment, she shall not
marry {qv four years ; if he go in quest of religious
education, she shall not marry for six years. If
he absent himself on any other account than these,
the wife may, according to the Manawa Sastra,
take another husband in four years ; but, accord-
ing to the Kuntara Sastra, in tJiree. In any of
these cases, the first husband, should he return,
cannot claim his wife, for the gods, Dezvata, hare
parted them,** This is the only passage, in an
ancient manuscript of these people, in which I find
distant journeys, or sea voyages, expressly referred
to. It must be confessed, however, that it bears
some marks of a Hindu origin.
The provision made for the wife, in the event of
separation, is, among the converted tribes, with
some modifications, usually guided by the precepts
of Mahomedan law. In Java, when a man wishes
for a divorce, he has but to signify his intention to
the priest, who " cuts the marriage cord" before
witnesses, which simple ceremony dissolves the
marriage. The man, as already mentioned, for-
LAWS. 103
feits the patuhon, or purchase-money, the woman
has restored to her whatever property she brought to
her husband, and the husband whatever he contri-
buted to the joint stock. Their common earnings
are then divided, the woman receiving one part,
and the husband two. If it appears to the judges
that the industry of the wife has chiefly contribut-
ed to the accumulation of the joint property, as
often happens, they will not scruple to award her
a larger share.
A betrothing always, among these people, pre-
cedes a marriage, and, being considered nearly as
binding as the marriage union itself, a violation
of it is punished by law. The following law of the
Malays refers to this custom : " If a man bid for
a woman betrothed to another, knowing her to be
so betrothed, and gives her a marriage pledge, the
magistrate shall summon the parents, and direct
them to restore the pledge, and he shall fine the
offending person, if rich, ten tahils, and if poor,
five tahils. If the person bidding for a betrothed
woman do it in ignorance, he shall be deemed to
have committed no offence, but the parents of the
girl, if privy to the transaction, shall be fined at
the pleasure of the magistrate."
The ancient laws of the Javanese (Sur?/o aldm)
were to a similar effect. " If," say these, ** a
man betrothes his daughter to one man, and after-
wards gives her in marriage to another, he shall be
104 LAWS.
fined to tlie amount of twelve thousand PichiSy for
the benefit of the injured person. If a man re-
ceive the troth of a woman, and has paid the Pa-
iuhoii, and she refuse to accept of him for her
husband, alleging that he is a person of bad cha-
racter, the man, on reference to the judge, shall
be entitled to a fine of twelve thousand Pichis^
twice told, and the woman be compelled besides to
restore the Patukon. If a woman be betrothed to
one man, and another interrupts the marriage, and
takes her to himself, he shall pay to the injured
person double the purchase-money, and be fined
besides in a sum of eight thousand Picliis."
This short sketch of the civil laws of the Indian
islanders will serve to convey some idea of their
spirit, and I shall now proceed to treat of a more
extensive subject, — their pe?ial code. This may be
satisfactorily done under the five following heads,
viz., the character and nature of their punishments,
— allotment of punishment, according to the rank
of the parties, — ofifenccs against property, — offences
against persons, — and offences against the state.
The punishments of the Indian islanders are ra-
ther charactei'ized by their arbitrary violence, than
by refinement in cruelty, as among the Hindus
and Chinese. They shew, however, a much less
regard for human life than the laws of these people,
especially of the latter. Death is the punishment
of a hundred trifling offences, and is awarded with
LAWS. ' 105
a wantonness which shocks the humanity of civiliz-
ed men. When a criminal is apprehended, the
first thing always done is to deprive him of his
kris. He is then secured by being bound with a
rattan, or filament of bamboo cane, which places
him " rather in a state of constraint than of pain."
** If," says Mr Marsden, " the offender be of a des-
perate character, they bind him, hands and feet,
and sling him on a pole." As the same accurate
observer remarks, '* pain is never wantonly or un-
necessarily inflicted." The punishments vary con-
siderably with the character and habits of the dif-
ferent tribes. Fines and death are by far the most
frequent, and corporal punishment the rarest.
Whippingy as a punislnnent for minor offences, is
directed by the Mahomedan law, but seldom car-
ried into effect. As I have mentioned in another
place, among some of the tribes, as the Malays and
inhabitants of Celebes, the very meanest of the
people are as impatient of a blow as any modern •
European gentleman. In the Malay code, a blow
or an afiVont is prescribed by law as the punish-
ment of what are considered as offences of much
aggravation. I shall quote a few curious examples
of this. " The persons," says one law, " who may
be put to death without the previous knowledge of
the king or nobles, are an adulterer, a person guil-
ty of treason, (^Maharaja lela,) a thief who cannot
otherwise be apprehended, and a person "vchoojfcrs
106 LAWS.
another a grievous affront^ such as a hloxc over
the face. U a freeman strike a slave, he shall
be fined five mas. If a slave strike a freeman,
the fine is half his price. If a freeman strike
a freeman, and he that is struck stabs the other
to death, he is held justified. If a slave give
a slave a blow, and the offended person return
a mortal stab, the mstaer of the offender sliall pay
a fine of half the price of the slave that is killed.
If a slave give abusive language to a freeman, he
shall be punished by a stroke on the mouth. If
a freeman give abusive language to the wife of a
slave, and the slave kill him, he shall be deemed to
have committed no crime thereby,^or no \£oman is
to be considered lightly. If any man strike ano-
ther a blow, it shall be lawful for such person, for
the period of three days, to put the offender to
death, but if after this, he shall pay a fine of one
kati and five tahils.**
The same character is exemplified in the fol-
lowing law : " If a man make an attempt to seduce
another man's wife, the chief shall cause the offend-
er to make an obeisance to the husband in open
court. If he refuse to make such obeisance, he
shall pay a fine of ten tahils, unless the judge, or
some other person of rank, should have compassion
upon him, and excuse him."
On the same principle, a kind of pillory is a fre-
quent punishment with the same people. The ob-
12
LAWS. 107
ject is, to render the criminal an object of contempt
and ridicule. For this purpose, his face is alter-
nately streaked with charcoal and turmeric, an
enormous red flower is placed as a burlesque orna-
ment behind his ear, and in this plight he is car-
ried through the town or village mounted on a
white buffalo, an animal in disrepute.
The cruel and unjust punishment of mutilation^
liberally inflicted for the crime of theft, wherever
the Mahomedan religion prevails, appears to have
been introduced with that religion, and not to be
congenial to the manners and customs of the peo-
ple. Imprisonment, as a punishment, does not
belong to the manners of the people, and, perhaps,
will be found to prevail only where it has been in-
troduced by Europeans. The practice of outlaw-
ing does not obtain any where, that I am aware
of, except among some of the tribes of Sumatra.
It is not a legal punishment awarded for any spe-
cies of offence, but a right exercised by every
tribe or family, with respect to its own members, na-
turally arising out of their legal responsibility for
the acts of all those members. The individual
thus outlawed (llisao) is considered to be without
the pale of society, and again reduced to the sa-
vage or wild state. *' If an outlaw,*' says the his-
torian of Sumatra, " commits murder, the friends
of the deceased may take personal revenge on him,
and are not liable to be called to an account for it ;
108 LAWS.
but if such be killed, otherwise than in satisfaction
for murder, althougli his family have no claim, the
prince of the country is entitled to a certain com-
pensation, all outlaws being nominally his property,
like other wild animals." *
Banishment was a punishment frequently inflict-
ed by the Javanese, and was known to the people
of Achin and Bali. These two last deported their
criminals to unfrequented islets ; the Javanese sent
them to forests and unhealthy places, which the
superstition of the people led them to consider in-
habited by hobgoblins or evil genii.
The punishment of death, as already stated, is
too wantonly inflicted. The modes in which exe-
cution is effected illustrate the character of the
people. Strangulation, by suspending the body
from the neck, as among us, or decapitation, as so
frequent with the greater nations of Asia, are
never practised. State criminals are sometimes
privately executed, as in Turkey, by the bowstring.
This is literally denominated stringing, Qaleni.')
The most familiar mode of violent death among
them is stabbing with the A'm, and this they transfer
to their leiral executions. In Java, and it is a cir-
cumstance full of meaning, the office of public- exe-
cutioner is not one of infamy or discredit, but ra-
ther of distinction. There are, by custom, two of
* History of Sumalirt, p. 24G.
6
LAWS. IQQi
them, each having his band of the ministers of pu-
nishment and death. The chiefs execute crimi-
nals of rank, and the inferior agents meaner cul-
prits. They are titled persons taking the rank of
inferior nobles. One has the title of Singlia Nd-
gara, the lion of the country, the other, by a vile
irony, Mdrta-lulut, or the merciful and affectionate.
Stabbing with the kris is an uncertain mode of
inflicting death, and conveys, at least to the Euro-
pean mind, the impression of savage ferocity. The
prisoner is secured to a post, and the executioner
plunges the weapon into his heart. Tiie expedi-
tion with which death follows depends, of course,
on the dexterity of this officer. Sometimes death
is almost instantaneous, but when the blow fails to
reach the immediate sources of life, the prisoner
will linger for hours. I remember that the re-
spectable chief of Samarang informed me that he
presided, a few years ago, at the execution of a
state-prisoner, the circumstances attending which
were dreadful and affecting. The Javanese chief,
Ingahai Tirto TFijoi/o, of the district of T'irsono,
was, during the administration of Marshal Daendels,
and in a period of some alarm, accused of uttering
seditious expressions. That arbitrary and feroci-
ous governor ordered him to be forthwith executed,
on the bare report, without form of trial or even
examination. The prisoner met his fate with sin-
gular fortitude, although the execution was attend-
110 LAWS.
ed by circumstances of the most tragical nature ;
for the executioner, unused to his office, and in a
state of agitation, inflicted an erring blow, under
which the unhappy sufferer lingered for four-and-
twenty hours.
In cases of enormous crimes the criminal, in
Java, as mentioned in another place, was condemn-
ed to be devoured by tigers, while his fate was
aggravated by the abominable mockery of being
made to fight beforehand, for the amusement of a
tyrant and his court, with his savage executioner.
The Malay laws, in some extreme cases, direct
execution by impalement, Suluk, but this abo-
minable cruelty, which the Dutch had the im-
prudence to borrow from them, is not in gene-
ral consonant to the genius of their character.
Among the more lawless and turbulent govern-
ments, as before noticed, the forfeiture of personal
liberty is a frequent punishment of offences, the
crime of an individual being often attended by the
slavery of his whole family. The increase of this
mode of punishment, it is to be apprehended, fol-
low^ed the encouragement given to the slave-trade
by the European governments.
Almost all punishments may be commuted for
fine or mulct, and these constitute themselves di-
rectly the most frequent of all punishments. The
substitution of pecuniaiy fines, as compensation,
marks the progress of society as in other situations.
LAWS. Ill
The lex talionis more or less obtains amonsf the
different tribes as they are more or less civilized.
The more ferocious tribes insist, in many situa-
tions, upon a literal compliance with the law of re-
taliation ; other tribes constantly accept a pecuni-
ary compensation. Among the Javanese, a civil-
ized tribe, we seldom hear of the law of retaliation.
Such, among them, was the power of a despotic
government, and the tameness of the people, that
the strict law could be carried into execution, and
compensation for murder is scarcely heard of. By
the laws of the Sumatrans there was hardly a
crime that might not be expiated by a pecuniary
compensation. The following extract from the
laws of the Rejangs is a curious example of the
length to which this principle has been pushed :
** For a wound occasioning the loss of an eye or
limb, or imminent danger of death, half the bmu
gun is to be paid.
" For a wound on the head, the pampas^ or
compensation, is twenty dolhirs.
" For other wounds, the pampas from twenty
dollars downwards.
" If a person is carried off and sold beyond the
hills, the offender, if convicted, must pay the ban-
gun. If the person has been recovered previous
to the trial, the ofi'ender pays half the hangun,
" If a man kills his brother, he pays to the
proattins the tippong Oumi, (purification money.)
112 LAWS.
*• If a wife kills her husband, she must suffer
death.
** If a wife by scmando wounds her husband, her
relations must pay what they would receive if he
wounded her.**
One of the most remarkable and instructive cha-
racteristics in the laws of the islanders, is the allot-
ment of punishment according to the rank of the
offender. The three great classes of society which
may be said generally to exist throughout the In-,
dian islands, in a legal poir.t of view, are the
nobles, freemen, {Mdrdika,') and slaves, (Hdmba.)
In tlieir laws the rijxhts of these classes are con-
stantly referred to. The authority of I'ank, it need
hardly be insisted, is constantly dwelt upon, and its
immunity from the severities of the law impudently
proclaimed. " The Bangun, or compensation for
the murder of a Pamharaby" (superior chief,) say
the laws of the Rcjangs, " is five hundred dollars ;
for that of a Proatlin, (inferior chief,) two hundred
and fifty dollars ; for that of a common person,
man or boy, eighty dollars ; for that of a common
person, woman or girl, one hundred and fifty dol-
lars ; for the legitimate child or wife of a Pam-
larab, two hundred and fifty dollars.*' A law of
the Balinese is to the i'ollowing effect: " If a man
lay violent hands on the wife of another, let the
custom of former princes be followed, and let such
LAWS. lis
a one be moderately fined as the price of his life. If
the woman be aperson of high rank, the mulct is two
laksaSy or 20,000 pichis ; if of middling rank, one
laksa, and these fines go to the king ; but, if the
woman be of rnean condition, the mulct shall be
only five talis, and it goes not to the prince, but the
injured husband. The Malay laws are to the same
effect. " If," says the code of Malacca, " the
commander of a vessel kidnap the slave of the Ba7i-
dahara, or other great man, he shall be compelled
to restore the slave, and pay a fine of ten iahils ;
if he kidnap the slave of any inferior person, he
shall only restore the slave, and pay a fine equivalent
to his price.'* — " If a husband should kill the
man that offers a price for the virtue of his wife, he
shall pay a fine of one tahil, for a mere attempt
to seduce is not an offence deserving death, excei^
in the case of a person of rank."
Distinction in the allotment of punishment is
solely founded upon civil I'ank, and nothing ex-
ists, or seems, indeed, at any time to have existed,
even where the Hindu religion prevails, like the
allotment of punishment according to the intoler-
able and odious distinction of the castes, unless we
except a few inconsiderable immunities to the Bra-
mins.
Some faint attempts at apportioning the punish-
ment to the means of the offender may now and
then be discerned . The Malay code of Malacca says,
VOL. III. H
114 LAWS.
** If a freeman strike a slave, his fine, if rich, shall
be ten maHy and if poor, five mas.''^ — " If a free-
man mutilate a slave, he shall be fined half the
price of the slave, and, if poor, ten w?a5." The
Javanese law tract called Suryo Aldm states, that,
" If a person of high rank screen a delinquent, he
shall be fined one hundred thousand j^^chis. If a
person of middling rank be guilty of the same of-
fence, he shall be fined eighty thousand ; and, if a
person of mean condition, forty thousand.'*
In rendering an account of the Penal Laws of the
Indian islanders, I shall consider the subject very
briefly under the heads of — Offences against Pro-
perty, — against Person, — against the State or So-
vereign, — and against Nature.
Of offences against property^ I shall only con-
sider theft and robbery naturally the most frequent
of all crimes among people where the protection
afforded by law or government is so inadequate.
The usual copiousness of the Javanese language is
exercised upon a subject so familiar, and all the
modifications of unlawful appropriation of property
are distinguished by specific tenns. The follow-
ing list of the names given to delinquents will
serve as examples : The Nayah steals by day, and
comes insidiously, and by artifice, on the object of
his depredation. The Bhirut snatches the ob-
ject he steals, and, running off, trusts to his speed
for his escape. The Begat is a gang-robber, who.se
LAWS. 115
depredations are committed in the day-time. The
Mating and Pandimg steal at night, by breaking
open houses, or more frequently by entering them
by a mine. The Kechii and Kampak are gang-
robbers who attack in the night-time. In award-
ing the punishment of theft, the native laws con-
sider the hour in which the theft is committed, —
the place from which the property is stolen, — the
person who steals it, — and the person from whom
it is stolen. The usual punishments are mutila-
tion, that is, the loss of the offending member, pil-
lory, fine, and death. If a thief be caught in the
act it is lawful to put him to death, and any body
whatever found at night within an inclosure is to
be considered a thief, and dealt with accordingly.
" If," says an ancient law of the Javanese, " any
person enter a village at an improper hour, and is
thrice challenged without making any reply, he
shall be considered a thief. A person skulking
behind a door or fence, and refusing to answer,
shall also be considered as a thief.**
The different conditions which either aggravate
or mitigate the crime of theft are considered in
the following laws of the Malay code : " If a
thief enter an inclosure^ and the owner kill him
on the spot, or, pursuing him, kill him between
two villages, he is, in either case, guilty of no
offence ; but if he meet him on the following
day, it shall not then be lawful for him to put him
116 LAWS.
to death of himself, but he shall give him over to
justice." — " If a gang of thieves attack a house,
and one person only ascends, this person alone
shall suffer mutilation : the rest shall be punish-
ed by personal infliction in the following manner :
The criminal shall be mounted on a white buf-
ftilo ; he shall have the liaya flower as an ear or-
nament, CSimting,) a dish cover, (Tiidimg saji,J
as an umbrella j his face shall be streaked with
charcoal and turmeric, and, in this plight, he shall
be led through the town. If the delinquent be
a slave, the master shall be compelled to restore
the property stolen, or its equivalent, and if he be
a freeman, he shall become the slave of the owner
of the property." — " If a person steal garden pro-
duce, such as sugar-cane, arrowroot, or fruits of
any sort, he shall suffer mutilation. If the theft
be at night, the owner of the garden may, without
incurring any penalty, put him to death." — *' If a
person steal an ox or buffalo from a pen, he shall be
made to restore the property taken, and to pay a
line of one tahil and one jxiJiaJ'^ — *' U a person
steal a goat from a house, he shall pay a fine of ten
mas, and restore the property." — *' If a man steal
ducks or fow^ls, he shall be made to restore them,
and pay a fine of five mas." — " By the law of God,"
(the Mahomedan law,) says the same collection, " if
a man steal a buffalo, a cow% or a goat, from an in-
closure,he shall either suffer death or mutilation, but
12
LAWS. 117
if he do not steal them from an inclosure, he shall
only be niade to restore them." This last rule,
which follows the others, is stated in deference to
the Mahomedan law, but evidently as if it were
not of practical application to tlie state of society,
and a violence offered to the known usages of the
country.
The following two laws of the ancient code of
Java, and present one of Bali, are in the same
spirit : " Those who steal hogs, dogs, fowls, or
other animals, be they what they may, that are
kept by the husbandman, shall pay a fine of five
talis to go to the judge, and they shall be made to
restore the property taken twice-told." — "If, how-
ever, the theft be committed at night, the criminal
shall be put to death by the prince w ho desires the
prosperity of his kingdom.*' — *' If a man cut down
trees belonging to another, ^without his consent, he
shall be fined four talis^ and be made to restore the
property taken two-fold. If the offence be commit-
ted at niglit, the criminal shall be sentenced to
death."
There is great uniformity in the fine imposed for
theft among the different tribes, which is almost al-
ways double the value of the property taken, with a
consideration for the judge. The laws of the Re-
jangs are as follow : " A person convicted of theft
pays double the value of the goods stolen, with a fine
of twenty dollars and a buffido, if they exceed the
m
LAWS.
value of five dollars ; if under the value of five dol-
lars the fine is five dollars and a goat ; the value of
the goods still doubled.*' — " All thefts under five
dollars, and all disputes for property, or offences
to that amount, may be compromised by the ProaU
iinSf whose dependents are concerned.'* By
the laws of the people of Pasummah, also, ** a
person convicted of stealing money, wearing-ap-
parel, household effects, arms, or the like, shall
pay the owner double the value of the goods stolen,
and be fined twenty-eight dollars. A person con-
victed of stealing slaves shall pay to the owner at
the rate of eighty dollars per head, which is esti-
mated to be double the value, and fined twenty-
eight dollars. A person convicted of stealing Betely
ifowls, or coconuts, shall pay the owner double the
value, and be fined seven dollars ; half of which
fine is to be received by the owner."
The laws of the Indian islanders, as they respect
accomplices, or suspected persons, are arbitrary, vio-
lent, and frequently absurd. " If," says the Kun-
iara, or code of the Balinese, " a person be found
guilty of harbouring a robber, it shall, in the first
instance, be lawful to put the robber to death, and
the person who sheltered him, the prince, who is
anxious for the prosperity of his country, shall order,
with his property and children, to be confiscated.*'
The Javanese law tract, called Suryo alaniy has
the following extraordinary enactments on this sub-
LAWS. 119
ject : " Should a person lose property of any kind,
without knowing how, and in searching for his
goods, any one should say, without being question-
ed, * I did not steal them,' such person shall be
obliged to restore the value of the missing goods.
If several people be assembled together, and one of
them happen to lose something, whoever is the first
to quit the party shall be considered the thief, and
be compelled to make restitution tivo-fold.'* — " If a
thief, who is pursued, runs into a man's premises
by a gap in the paling, the proprietor shall be held
responsible for one-third of the amount stolen." —
" Any person in whose possession the implements of
a thief's calling are found, shall be considered guilty
of any robbery committed at the time."
Offences against per sms may be considered un-
der the heads of abusive language, assault, injuries
offered to the seXy and murder. In the sketch
which I have given of the character of the people in
a preceding part of this work, I have expressly stat-
ed, that they were not addicted to the use of gross
or abusive language. The use of such language
is, indeed, so apt to be punished by instant recourse
to the dagger, that the law has little occasion to in-
terfere for its correction. Among some of the
tribes, abusive language cannot with impunity be
used even to a slave. Blows are still more intolera-
ble, and considered such grievous affronts, that, by
law, the person who receives them is considered
150 LAWS.
justified in puttinjij the offender to death. Exam-
ples of laws dictated in tliis spirit liave been already
quoted.
The quarrels of a people brave, always armed,
and punctiliously regardful of the point of honour,
more frequently end in wounds and death than in
personal abuse and blows. In the imperfect state
of law and government which exists, a large share
of the right of avenging wrongs is left in the
hands of private persons. The law even expressly
interdicts all interference when there appears a cha-
racter 0^ fairness in the quarrel. In illustration of
this curious principle, I shall quote a few passages.
** If," say the laws of Bali, " two persons bearing
each other an equal dislike, being equally fierce,
equally brave, and armed with equal weapons, fight,
and inflicting mutual wounds, one of them is kil-
led, the survivor shall not be punished by the ma-
gistrate. If a third party interfere, and, attempt-
ing to part the combatants, is killed or wound-
ed, the magistrate shall take no notice of the
affair."
The laws of the Malays are still more full on the
subject. " If," says the Malacca code, " two per-
sons fight, and exchange stabs ^ and a third person
interfere with kris, cleaver, or cudgel, should
such a one be stabbed, cut, bruised, or killed,
nothing shall be said on the subject." In a few
situations, considered by the law as extreme cases,
LAWS. 121
however, it is allowable to interfere. These
are stated in the following law : " It is lawful to
assist one putting to death an adulterer, for in this
case meddling; has been lonji' tolerated. It is law-
ful to assist a friend acting justly, or suffering in-
justice, when unable to make his complaint to the
king, or to a (^reat one, — and it is lawful to assist a
youth unable to represent his grievance, or to con-
tend with his adversary. In these cases, but in no
others, is it allowable to meddle in a quarrel, and
the person who meddles under any other pretext
shall be fined according to the extent of his inter-
ference, from five tahils and one paJia, to one tahil
and one 'paha.''^
Not only is a large share of the power of aven-
ging injuries left in prkate hands, but the princi-
ple is pushed further, and this power seems even to
have been allowed to be delegated to champions
liired for the occasion. It is impossible to read,
without disgust, the following laws in which this
principle appears to be fully recognized. They are
from the code of Malacca. " If a man hire a per-
son, without the knowledge of the magistrate, to
give another a slap over the face, he shall pay a
fine of five tahils. If a man be hired to beat ano-
ther, and the person who is beaten die of the blows
given, the employer of such person, if the deceased
be a slave, shall pay his whole price, or if a free-
man, ten tahils." — " If a man hire a person to kill
122
LAWS.
another, xi^itk ike hnoivledge of the magistrate^ and
the person so hired be killed in the attempt, the
person employing him shall give the proffered re-
Avard to the family of the deceased, and be at the
expence of the funeral charges."
In exacting retribution for assault, the law of
retaliation is not pushed to the same extremity
amons: the Indian islanders as amono; the Arabs and
Hindus. Life is required for life, but we do not
hear of the refinement of limb for limb, eye for eye,
or tooth for tooth. Like those nations, however, we
discover that punishment is allotted, not according
to the degree of malice, but to the accidental cir-
cumstances of the nature and situation of the wound.
" If," say the laws of Bali, on this subject, " a
wound be inflicted with a kris, a spear, an arrow
from a blow-pipe, Tidup^ or other sharp-pointed
weapon, and a tooth, a hand, or a leg, be injur-
ed to a inoderate degr^ee^ the offender shall pay a
fine of ten thousand pichis. If the wound be on
the neck, or the head, and conside7Yible, the fine
shall be two hundred thousand. These fines go to
the magistrate." The following law, from the Ja-
vanese tract called Suryo-alaniy is characteristic,
and more reasonable : " If a man receive from an-
other a wound, by which he is maimed or blemish-
ed, the fine shall be equal to that for taking his life."
The laws of the Rejangs on this head are to the
same effect as those now mentioned. The follow-
LAWS. 12S
ing are examples : ** For a wound occasioning the
loss of an eye, or limb, or imminent danger of
death, half the Bangun (compensation for mur-
der) is to be paid. For a wound on the head,
the compensation is twenty dollars. For other
wounds, twenty dollars and downwards." — ** In
wounds," says the collection of the laws of Fa-
summahy " a distinction is made in the parts of
the body. A wound in any part from the hip
upwards, is esteemed more considerable than in
the lower parts. If a person wounds another
with sword, kris kiijury or other weapon, and
the wound is considerable, so as to maim him, he
shall pay to the person wounded the half compen-
sation of murder, and to the chiefs half the line for
murder, with half of the hassa lurah. If the
wound is trifling, but fetches blood, he shall pay
the person wounded the Tepung of fourteen dol-
lars, and be fined as much more. If a person
wounds another with a stick or bamboo, &c. he
shall simply pay the Tepung of fourteen dollars."
In cases of murder, no distinction is made be-
tween wilful murder and chance-medley. It is the
loss which the tribe or family sustains that is con-
sidered, and the pecuniary compensation is cal-
culated to make up that loss. The term used by
the Rejangs of Sumatra Bangun^ or " awaking,"
expresses the meaning they attach to it. By the
same people, another charge is made against the
124 LAWS.
murderer, wlilcli has its origin in superstition.
This is called the Tejnmg-bumiy or purification of
the earth from tlie stain it has received. Amonff
other tribes, besides the compensation, the mur-
derer pays the funeral charges. It is remarkable
that there is not, in any language of the Indian
islands, words equivalent to ours lo murder, or
murderer ; no terms which express the horror
which we attach to these. In these tongues, to
murder is simply " to kill," and a murderer is no
more than " one that kills." Human life can be
of little value among a people whose languaeje is
incapable of making this great moral distinction.
It is among the military and high-spirited nations
of Celebes that the law of retaliation is urged to
the greatest length. Still, even there, every mem-
ber of the society has his price determined, from
the chief to the slave ; and when, after the neces-
sary forms, this price is paid, the parties rest satis-
fied. Within the society, the injury is consider-
ed to be done to the family of the deceased j but
if the murder have been committed by a stran-
ger, the quarrel is then no longer a private but
a public one, and the tribe of the murderer is an-
swerable, the death of any member of which, ge-
nerally, will be considered to satisfy the principle
of retributive justice, according to their wild notions
of it. In the year 1812, a subject of the Bugis
king of Boni, an inhabitant of the Bugis quarter of
LAWS. 125
the town of Macassar, committed a robbery upon a
stranger merchant, residing under our protection,
in the same town. The property taken was traced
and recovered. The Bugis, some time thereafter,
entered the shop of the merchant, and made what
must appear to our ideas a very odd demand, re-
muneration for the trouble he had had in commit-
ting the theft, as he had been, by the restitution,
deprived of the benefits of it. The merchant seiz-
ed a spear which was close at hand, and pursued
the Bugis, who, having no arms fit to contend with
him, ran off. The merchant pursued him ; and,
setting up the usual cry of " a muck," the Bugis
was, as is common in such cases, beset and killed.
The Bugis quarter was immediately in an uproar,
and life for life was demanded. The European au-
thority began deliberately to investigate the matter,
but in a manner too slow for the vindictive tempe-
rament of those who thought themselves aggrieved.
For a moment ail appeared quietness, in the midst
of which a lad not above thirteen or fourteen from
the Bugis quarter entered that of the Macassars, or
native subjects of the European authority, and de-
liberately stabbed to death the first individual he
met with. As soon as this retribution was executed,
both sides remained as contented as if ample and
complete justice had been administered, and no
more was heard from them of the transaction.
Among the same inhabitants of Celebes, the
12G LAWS.
compensation for murder must be quickly adjusted,
or the friends of the deceased will be held justified
in takinir reveng;:e with their own hands. The
house of the chief of the village, or the place of
worship, are considered places of refuge, and here
the murderer must seek an asylum until he has
paid the forfeit of his life. In illustration of the
laws now referred to, I shall quote, from those of
the different tribes, a few of the most striking :
" If," say the laws of the Macassars, " a free
man kill his equal, and take refuge with the chief
or priest of his village, the murder shall be com-
pensated by the following fines — for the murder of
a man twenty dollars; for the murder of a wo-
man thirty dollars." — " If a chief kill a free per-
son, retribution shall not be demanded ; but he
shall, notwithstanding, pay the price of blood,
which, for a man, is twenty dollars, and for a wo-
man thirty, and a mulct besides, of the same
amount." — " When a person commits murder, he
shall forthwith surrender himself to the chief of his
village, and pay the usual compensation. If he ne-
glect so to do, he may be killed by the friends of
the deceased wherever taken." The laws of the
Rejangs are as follow : " If a man kills his slave,
he pays half his price, as Bangun to the Pange-
rariy and the Tepung-bumi to the Proattins,**
— " If a man kills his wife by jujur marriage, he
pays her Bangun to her family, or to the Proaitins,
I.AVVS. 127
according as the marriage-knot is entire or other-
wise." — " If a man kills or wounds his wife by Se'
mando marriage, he pays the same as for a stran-
ger.'* — " If a man kills his brother, he pays to
the Proattins the Tepung-bumi.^*
The strange practice of running a muck has
been already explained in rendering an account
of the manners of the people. A custom so dan-
gerous and so frequent is of course often referred
to in the native laws. The person who runs a
muck may lawfully be killed by the first that meets
him. In Celebes, especially, where, perhaps, mucks
are, from the licentious sense of honour, entertain-
ed by all ranks, more frequent than any where else,
it is dangerous to be seen running in the streets of
a town or village, for, among the Indian island-
ers, none are ever seen to i^un unless those who run a
muck, murderers, thieves, and robbers. * *' If," says
the Malacca code, " a slave or debtor run a muck.
* " They are always in a sitting posture, either in their
boats or houses ; neither do they stir without it be out of ab-
Bolute necessity. They used to laugh at us for walking
about in their houses^ telling us that it looked as if we were
macl, or knew not what we did. If, say they, you have any
business at the other end of the roonij why do you not stay
there; if not, why do you go thither; why always stalking
backwards and forwards ?" — A Voyage to and from the
Island of Borneo, by Captain Daniel Beeckman, page 41.
128 LAWS.
they shall be immediately put to death. If, how-
ever, they happen to be seized alive, and then
put to death, the person so putting them to death
incurs a fine of one taliil and one jyaha. If the
slave or debtor be mortally wounded when taken,
and then put to death, the person so putting him
to death shall only pay the funeral charges.'*
The naval code of the Malays is peculiarly strict
on tlie subject of mucks, as we see from the follow-
ing specimens : " If a man quarrel with an-
other in the fore part of the vessel, and, di'awing
his kris, come aft as far as the place where the
sails are kept, towards the person he has quarrelled
with, it shall be lawful to put him to death : But,
if he can be apprehended, he shall be fined in-
stead." — " If a man quarrel with another, and fol-
low him to the door of the commander's cabin,
even though he may not have drawn his h^is, it
shall be lawful to put him to death ; but, if he can
be apprehended, he may be fined instead." — " If
the officer of a vessel quarrel with the command-
er, and approach him in the after part of the
vessel, he may be put to death ; but, if he ask for-
giveness it may be granted, on his paying a pecu-
niary fine, and furnishing a buffalo for the com-
mander's entertainment /"
Injuries offered to the sex are next to be consi-
dered. These are of two kinds : — those offered to
unmarried women, and those offered to married
LAWS. 129
ones. The first are considered rather as venial
offences, but the last as the most flagrant of crimes.
A man is allowed to runaway with a woman ; and,
upon making the usual payments, he is exonerated
from any culpability by doing so, and the marriage
is valid. If a man violate a female slave, he pays
a fine ; and if he violate a debtor, he must either
marry her or forfeit the debt. I shall quote a few
of the many laws on this subject. The Malacca
code says, *' If a man repeatedly ask for a young
woman in marriage, and the parents are displeased
thereat, and refuse their assent, but he secretly de-
flower the virgin, he shall be fined one tahil and
one paha^ for a man's daughter is not to be treated
lightly. Even if of no rank, still she shall not be
treated lightly."
" If a man," says the same collection, " borrow
a female slave, and have connection with her, he
shall, if she have been a virgin, pay to her master
a fine of ten mas, one piece of cloth, and one vest ;
but, if a widow, only five mas and no cloth or vest.
This is the law of the town, of the country, and of
the river."
By the laws of the Rejangs, it is declared that
" If a man carries off a woman under pretence of
marriage, he must lodge her imuiediately with
some respectable family. If he carries her else-
where for a single night, he incurs a fine of fifty
dollars, payable to her parents or relations." — "If,"
VOL. III. I
130 LAWS.
continue the same laws, *' a man carries off a wo-
man with her own consent, juid is willing either to
pay her price at once hjjitjur, or marry her by se-
mando^ as the father or relations please, they can-
not reclaim the woman, and the marriage takes
place.'*
" If a man carries off a virgin against her incli-
nation, he incurs a fine of twenty dollars and a
buffalo ; if a widow, ten dollars and a goat, and the
marriage does not take place. If he commit a
rape, and the parents do not chuse to give her to
him in marriage, he incurs a fine of fifty dollars."
In all this, it will be seen that there is hardly any
thing considered but the value of the girl's person
to her relations, as a mere vendible commodity.
Among all the tribes, adultery is considered as
among the most heinous offences, except among the
Javanese, whose manners, in this particular, more
resemble those of the nations between Hindustan
and China. The ancient Javanese, however, to judge
from their laws, appear to have been not less puncti-
lious than their neighbours. The crime of adultery
is viewed, we may remark, at once as an injury to
a man's honour and to his property. The husband
may put the adulterer and adulteress to death on
the spot, without incurring any penalty. The little
confidence which the islanders repose in the sex is
evinced in those laws, which punish freedoms, appa-
rently the most innocent, taken with them j nay the
LAWS. 131
mere circumstance of being seen accidentally in a
doubtful situation with a woman, is construed into
an offence for which the husband must receive satis-
faction. Among all the tribes, adultery is the
most frequent subject of legislative enactment. I
shall here quote a few of the laws on the subject :
" Ify'* says the code of Malacca, " a husband kill
the man that bids for the virtue of his wife, he shall
pay a fine of one taltil and one paha ; for a mere
attempt to seduce is not a crime deserving death,
except in the case of a man of rank,'* The laws
of the Balinese decide that " If a man be an eye-
witness to another's offering his wife any violence,
it shall be lawful for him to kill him on the spot ;"
and farther, *' If a husband discover his wife in the
embraces of another, it shall be lawful for him to
put both to death at once." The same laws de-
clare that *' If a man enter into conversation with
another's wife, though only on the subject of a
debt, he shall be fined one hundred thousand j9/c7^/5;
for it is forbidden to converse with a man's wife
alone ; it is particularly interdicted. It is even for-
bidden to a Panditay (a priest,) who would, by doing
so, injure his sacred character; for words are of pow-
erful effect ; and the wickedness of the human
heart difficultly repressed. This is the saying of
Sang Yiwang Agamay** (the deity of the faith or
book.) The enactments on this subject in the Ja-
vanese tract called Siiryo Alttm are so extrava-
132 LAWS.
gantly punctilious as to wear an air of some ridi-
cule. " If," says this performance, " a man speak
much to a woman on the highway, or at the
resting places on a journey, and her husband ex-
press dissatisfaction thereat, the offender shall pay
a line of seven pieces of money."
" If a man pick up on the highway, or in any
other place, a flower belonging to a woman, and
her husband expresses dissatisfaction, the person
who is in possession of the flower shall pay a fine
of six pieces of money."
" If a woman who may have retired to a thicket
is seen coming out of it at the same time with a
man whom necessity may have taken to the same
situation, and the husband of such woman express
dissatisfaction, the man shall be fined four pieces
of money."
" If a man, lodging in the house of another, give
the wife of his host his clothes to wash, and bor-
row, in the meantime, others from her, should the
husband be displeased thereat, the man shall be
fined four pieces of money."
" If a man tear a woman* s clothes, or lets down
her petticoat, he shall be fined two thousand four
hundred pichis.*'
** If a man lay violent hands on another man's
wife, with intention of violating her, he shall be
made to pay damages to her to the amount of three
LAWS. 133
thousand pichiSy and to the magistrate four thou-
sand."
" If a man seize upon a woman, and she cry
out, on which he lays hold of her by the hair of the
head, and she then stabs him to death with a kris,
her life shall not be endangered by so doing, but
she shall pay, as the price of blood, to the relations
of the deceased, eight thousand pichiSy with a mulct
of four thousand eight hundred besides to the ma-
gistrate."
The laws of the Rejangs are nearly to the same
eflPect, and as follow : " If a person lies with a
man's wife by force he is deserving of death ; but
may redeem his head by payment of the Bangun,
eighty dollars to be divided between the husband
and Pruattms.'* — " If a man surprises his wife in
the act of adultery, he may put both man and wife
to death upon the spot without being liable to any
Bcmgun. If he kills the man and spares his wife,
he must redeem her life by payment of fifty dollars
to the Proatti?is."
The next branch of the penal laws to be con-
sidered are offences against the state or sovereign.
Offences against the state consist of exercise of un-
due authority, — giving false information, — forging
the royal signet, or those of the officers of state, —
and rebellion. The despotic character of the so-
vereign authority has been already explained in
another chapter of this book. The prerogatives
iS'h LAWS.
of royalty will tolerate no encroachment. Wearing
forbidden arms or garments, or using, or causing
to be used, the language of adulation appropriated
to the sovereign, are always crimes of the greatest
magnitude, and often capital ones. " The Raja's
court,** says the Suryo Akm, " is like the sun,
whose refulgent rays spread in all directions, and
penetrate through every thing, — the displeasure of
the Raja, in his court, is like the heat of the sun,
which causes those who are exposed to it to faint
away.** * Exercise of undue authority is punish-
ed rather as a disrespect to the king*s person
than as an offence offered to the regular admi-
nistration of justice. We have this exemplified
in the following law of the Malays : *' If a person
put a malefactor to death without the knowledge
of the king it shall be deemed contumacy, for he
has not the fear of the king before his eyes, and
his punishment shall be a fine of ten tahils and one
jjaha.**
The offence of giving false intelligence, accord-
ing to the acceptation of the Indian islanders, is
not a great political offence, as we might imagine,
but a sort of personal indignity offered to the prince
himself directly, or indirectly to him in the person
of one of his officers. *' If a man,** say the laws
of Bali, *' shall say to a person of rank, there is in
* Ruffles, Vol. II. Appendix.
LAWS. 1 35
such and such a place valuables, as cattle, fruit, gold,
silver, gems, or handsome women, and it turn out
that the information is uncertain or false, such per-
son shall be fined in a sum of ten thousand pichisJ'
The law, however, appears occasionally to have
been directed against alarmists, of which we have
an example in tlie following one from the tract so
often quoted, Suryo Aldm : " If a person is
found guilty of circulating false reports, or of mag-
nifying any piece of intelligence, so as to create a
great alarm in the country, and put all the people
in a ferment, he shall be fined four hundred and
four thousand pichis."
Forging the royal signet, or using the royal name
for illegal ends, called, in the idiom of the Malay
language, seUing the king's 'word^ are capital of-
fences. Using the name of any of his officers
with improper views is also a high offence. The
punishment for this last is described in the fol-
lowing law of the Malays : " If a person use
the name of a great man with improper views, he
shall either be fined one tahilaiid one 2)aha, or re-
ceive a Jack before the people. If he resist he
shall be put to death, for great men sustain the
business of the king.'*
Treason and rebellion are, of course, the greatest
of crimes under a despotic government. They are
construed to be not only temporal offences, but even
sacrilciie. But there are no laws which describe
136 LAWS.
the punishment of treason. It is a crime which the
laws do not even contemplate. Sedition, treason,
and rebellion, are one thing. There are no shades
of distinction. When a man forgets his allegiance
there is no middle course to pursue ; he is at once
a rebel, and, like a wild beast, hunted down as a
common enemy. When taken, he is unceremonious-
ly put to death, for the semblance of judicial trial,
unsuitable to the spirit of their political institutions,
is, of course, out of the question. Insurrection, the
only mode of obtaining a redress of grievances in
the East, has been always very frequent among the
more considerable and richer tribes of the Archi-
pelago, as the Achinese, Javanese, &c. those who
had any thing to plunder, and any thing worth
struggling for. In Java, when an insurgent
C KravianJ is taken, his punishment, by imme-
morial usage, is to be tortured to death hi/ the
people, on a principle of retaliation, considering
him as the common enemy of the tribe, in the
manner in which prisoners of war are tortured by
the savages of North America. For this purpose,
the criminal is exposed in the great square in front
of the palace, and slowly tortured to death by the
mob. In the reign of Susunan Pakubiiwono,
a rebel, called Mas DonOy suffered this cruel death,
or, as the native writer expresses it, was " punc-
tured to death with needles for the amusement
of the people !" During the reign of the last
4
LAWS. 137
Susunan, another pretender was executed at Solo,
nearly in the same manner, having been pinched
to death by the populace !
Of offences aga'mst the laws of nature the laws
of the Indian islanders provide for none but the
imaginary one of sorcery or witchcraft.
One of the great advantages which the natives
of the Indian islands have derived from their con-
version to the Mahomedan religion, is a freedom
from the terrors of this supposed offence. Though
far from disbelieving in magic, we do not find the
minds of the converted natives haunted by the
terrors of the diabolical superstition entertained by
their ancestors, and by the tribes which still adhere
to Hinduism. Sorcery, among the latter, is con-
sidered one of the most atrocious crimes. " If,"
say the laws of the Balinese, ** a man falsely ac-
cuse another of sorcery, and speak publicly there-
of, the magistrate shall fine him forty thousand."
The following odious and sanguinary law of the
same people describes what they mean by incanta-
tion or sorcery, and directs what is to be the pu-
nishment : '* If a person write the name of an-
other on the winding-sheet of a corpse, or on a
dead man's bier, or makes images of another of
paste, or writing the name of a man on a slip of
paper, suspends it on a tree, buries it in the earth,
deposits it in haunted ground, or where two roads
cross each other, any of these shall be deemed sor-
13S LAWS.
eery. If a man write the name of another on a
human bone with blood and charcoal, this also shall
be deemed an incantation. Whoever is guilty of
any of these practices shall the judge order to be
put to death. If the matter be very clearly made
out, let the punishment of death be extended to
his father and his mother, to his children and to his
grandchildren ; let none of them live ; let none
connected with one so guilty remain on the face of
the land, and let their goods be in like manner
confiscated. Should the children or parents of the
sorcerer live in a remote part of the country, still
let them be sought out and put to death, and let
their goods, if concealed, be brought forth and con-
fiscated." According to the Suryo Aldrriy the of-
fence of witchcraft is much less severely judged,
but still considered a very serious crime. *' There
is," says this tract, " one thing which ought not
to be tolerated in a country, namely, sorcery ; par-
ticularly if practised in difficult times. The line
for this offence is forty thousand, and if any thing
be missing, it shall be laid to the charge of the per-
son practising the art. Should the governor of the
province be the person, he shall be dismissed from
his office, and his officers and relations shall be con-
sidered as implicated in his crime. Should a per-
son of the rank of Mantri be found guilty of prac-
tising incantations, his fine shall be one hundred
thousand."
6
LAWS. 139
For the abominable and unnatural vice said to
be so frequent among the Persians, the Hindus,
and especially the Chinese, calling theni selves the
most refined nations of Asia, the Indian islanders
have not even a name. Their manners, in this
particular, are perfectly pure and uncontaminated.
Of course, there are no laws against crimes which
have no existence.
Marriages between near relations are prohibited
by the laws of the Indian islanders. When they
do happen, the parties are fined if within the third
degree of consanguinity collaterally, and in the
ascending and descending line they are indefinite-
ly forbidden. A brother, however, marries the
widow of a brother, as among the Hindus ; and a
man, on the demise of his wife, may espouse her
sister ; but, among the Javanese at least, such
unions are not deemed respectable. These are
the only marriages which seem, to our prejudices,
to infringe upon the law of nature.
VOL. in.
BOOK IX.
COMMERCE.
CHAPTER I.
DOMESTIC AND INTERNAL COMMERCE OF THE
ARCHIPELAGO,
Character of the mercantile profession among the Indian
islanders. — Rate of profits, and interest oj" money. — Foreign
7-esident merchants, — Modes of commercial ifitercourse. —
International trade. — Nations conducting the carrying
trade. '■^Voyages of the Waju merchants. — Principles on
rvhichforeign trade is conducted by the natives.
I SHALL treat of the commerce of the Archipe-
lago in six short chapters, under the respective
heads of Domestic and Internal Commerce, — Com-
merce with Asiatic Nations, — Direct Commerce with
European Nations, — Commerce with the Asiatic Co-
lonies of European Nations, — Description of the
principal Articlesof Export, — and Description of the
principal Imports. The deep interest and import-
DOMESTIC AND INTERNAL, &C. 141
ance of this subject will make it unnecessary to
apologize for the length of the details into which
it is my intention to enter.
The ralue and extent of the commerce which
distant nations are capable of carrying on with
each other, is in the direct proportion of their
wealth and civilization. The tribes whose history
T am writing have, however, from early times, on
account of their favourable situation, their easy ap-
proach, the richness of some of their productions,
and the singularity of others conducted with the
great civilized nations of the globe, a commerce far
greater than this usual standard would, at first
view, lead us to expect. History affords ample
proof of this fact. Ignorant of geography and na-
vigation, the half civilized nations of Asia, notwith-
standing, made their way to the Indian islands, the
commodities of which were spread over Asia, and
through ahundred hordesof barbarians, finally reach-
ed the civilized nations of Europe long before the lat-
ter knew even the name or situation of the coun-
tries which produced them. In later times, the
productions of the Indian islands constituted the
most important articles of that oriental commerce
which lighted the embers of civilization in Italy
in the middle ages, and, finally, it was the search
for them that led to the discoveries of Gama and
142 DOMESTIC AND INTERNAL
Columbus, the two grandest events in the history
of our species.
All the great tribes of the Archipelago are in
that state of advancement in social improvement
in which the mercantile profession is a distinct em-
ployment. It is even one which, from the pecu-
liarity of their maritime situation, is honoured be-
yond the rank which usually belongs to it, in so
humble a state of social existence. To engage in
commerce is reckoned no dishonour to any one, but
the contrary, and it is, indeed, among the maritime
tribes especially, one of the most dignified occupa-
tions even of the sovereign himself, and of his prin-
cipal officers. The higher class of dealers, in point
of moral character, are remarkable for their fair-
ness, spirit, and integrity. In the management of
their concerns, though they are not systematically
skilful, they display, from habit and familiarity with
their business, much discernment and acuteness.
The use of money is understood by all the con-
siderable tribes. The metals are used by the civi-
lized ones, and the ruder have recourse, as in the
earlier stages of society elsewhere, to the staple and
current commodities of their respective countries,
as I have mentioned in another part of this work.
Bills of exchange, such as exist among the Hin-
dus, and which imply much commercial intercourse,
and considerable confidence, have never existed
among the scattered and hostile tribes of the In-
dian islands.
COMMERCE OF THE ARCHIPELAGO. 143
As in rude and unsettled states of society every-
where, mercantile profits are exorbitant, and the
rate of interest high in proportion to this profit,
and to the risk of lending. No attempt, that I am
aware of, has ever been made to determine, by law,
the rate of interest. In the rude period of society
which preceded the modern intercourse with stran-
gers, commerce had not assumed, among the In-
dian islanders, that regular and systematic charac-
ter which would lead to such a measure, and it is
probable that the interdiction of interest, from reli-
gious motives, has since hindered it from being
openly declared. Among the natives themselves,
trading on large capitals is a thing unknown.
Every merchant is a petty retailer, or shopkeeper.
The natural rate of interest may be ascertained from
a view of the character of the transactions of such
dealers. The Chinese of Java will occasionally
lend, on good security, at twelve per cent., but
double this amount is more frequent. The rate in
this case, however, is greatly reduced from the con-
fidence and security which any form of European
government, however imperfect, naturally confers.
Under the native governments, it is probable that
not less than fifty per cent, is paid by the borrower
in one form or another for a loan.
The women, especially in Java, are almost the
sole merchants and brokers, the men hardly ever
interfering, at least in matters of retail. Ihe
144 DOMESTIC AND INTERNAL
higher departments of mercantile adventure are al-
most solely in the hands of strangers, encouraged
for ages to settle in the country by the supineness
of the natives, and the natural wealth of the land.
These foreigners, whose character I have al-
ready drawn, are natives of Hindustan, Chinese,
Arabs, and Europeans. Of the Asiatic dealers,
the Chinese are the most useful, numerous, and
distinguished. They here occupy the same situa-
tion which the Jews did among the barbarians of the
middle ages of Europe, except that, perhaps, as they
are placed under circumstances more favourable, they
are more frequently engaged in the pursuit of fair
mercantile speculation, and seldomer in the invidi-
ous one of lending to spendthrifts at high interest.
The different foreign merchants residing in the
Archipelago take their rank in the extent of the
dealings they conduct, according to the civilization
of the nations to w^hich they belong. The high-
er branches are in the hands of the European mer-
chants, and the details of intercourse with the na-
tives of the country fall naturally into the more
supple management of the Arabs, the Telingas,
and Chinese, better fitted, from manners and cha-
racter, for a direct intercourse with them.
The natives of the Indian islands are far enough
from having amved at that period of civilization in
which skilful measures are pursued by the public
COMMERCE OF THE ARCHIPELAGO. 1 4-5
for facilitating intercourse, and for the distribution
and exchange of the surplus produce of the dif-
ferent portions of the same countiy. I know no
exception to this but the institution of public
markets, which had its origin in Java, and which
spread in some measure among the neighbouring
tribes, as we learn on the testimony of language.
Throughout the whole of Java, these are regularly
established j and, as mentioned in another place,
the ancient Javanese week was founded on this in-
stitution. The allotment of particular quarters of
a town for the permanent sale of commodities was
probably borrowed from the Mahomedans, for the
term Fasar, applied to these, appears to be nothing
more than a corruption of the Arabic word bazar.
The Indian islanders have neither relio-jous zeal
nor civilization enough to have any institutions pa-
rallel to the great fairs or Melas which periodical-
ly take place ir. Hindustan. The ordinary markets
of Java present scenes of great bustle and activity.
Under the shade of a few scattered trees, planted
for the purpose, or of temporary sheds, the dealers
expose their wares for sale on frames of bamboo.
The whole value of their goods seldom exceeds a
few dollars. A short list of the principal dealers in
these markets will convey some notion of the na-
ture of the traffic conducted. These are the corn-
dealer — the oil-merch.ant — the sugar-merchant —
the salt-merchant — the green-grocer — the dealer
VOL. III. K
146 DOMESTIC AND INTERNAL
in onions, garlic, and trasi — the dealer in coco-
nuts — the dealer in sugar-cane — tlie butcher — the
poulterer — the ambulatory cook, who has a port-
able kitchen — the liower-seller — the tobacconist —
the vender of gambir or terra Japoiiica — the ven-
der of betel — the vender of areca — the vender of
wax and frankincense — the draper — the vender of
cotton — the vender of cotton-thread — the vender
of indigo — the vender of lac, and other dye-stuffs
— the dyer — the vender of iron — die vender of
Icris scabbards — the vender of kris handles — the
vender of krises- — the vender of spears — the wood-
merchant — the vender of gunpowder — the vender
of brass and copper utensils — the horse-dealer.
We perceive, in this enumeration, a very minute
subdivision of employments, indicating very consi-
derable commercial improvement. The principal
artisans who present themselves in the market for
employment are, the blacksmith — the goldsmith —
the brazier — the dyer — and the painter of cotton
cloths. Except where Europeans have made some
impression in the way of colonization, roads,
bridges, or canals, are altogether unknown. The
roads are mere pathways, and the bridges but tem-
porary and inconvenient rafts. In a general view,
wheel-carriage for the transportation of merchan-
dise is unknown. Where water-carriage is not to
be had, goods are conveyed on men's shoulders, or
on oxen and horses ; costly goods and difficult roads
12
COMMERCE OF THE ARCHIPELAGO. 14-7
more particularly demanding the first, and more
bulky commodities, with easier routes, admitting of
the latter. On the great roads which lead from
the port of Samarang, in Java, to the capitals of the
native princes, through some of the most populous
and improved parts of the island, five thousand iti-»
nerant porters are constantly employed in the trans-
port of merchandise. Droves of pack-horses and
oxen are constantly to be seen on the same route.
A great deal of the commercial as well as other in-
tercourse of the Indian islanders is by water. The
frequent rivers of their country, and the pacific sea
which everywhere surrounds them, almost as safely
navigated as tliose rivers, afford wonderful facilities
to commerce.
Notwithstanding the apparent similarity of the
climate of the different islands, there is a prodigi-
ous variety of production. The more improved
tribes, and those inhabiting the most fertile soils,
supply the less improved with food and clothing,
and receive, in exchange, the peculiar productions
of those countries, generally in a crude form, or
nearly as they come from the hand of nature. The
first description of merchandise may be enumerated
as follow : Rice — a variety of pulses — vegetable
oils — cotton wool — manufactured cotton — tobac-
co — salt — sugar — and indigo. The second de-;.
scription consists of gold — tin — ivory — catechu —
Benjamin — dry-fish, &c. The necessities or luxu-
148 DOMESTIC AND INTERNAL
ries of strangers give a powerful impulse to the in-
ternal commerce of the Archipelago ; and from
this source springs the tratHc which is driven in
collecting the Ibllowing list of commodities :
Edible birds'-nests — tripang^ or bech de mer —
black-pepper — cloves, mace, and nutmegs — cam-
phor — sharks* Hns, — and tortoise-shell, &c. &c. Be-
sides the coasting and internal trade, conducted in
the different productions just enumerated, by
strangers or foreign settlers, the most powerful and
civilized tribes have always themselves conducted a
considerable carrying trade. These considerable
tribes are the Javanese, the Malays, and Bugis,
the great tribes of the three finest islands, Java,
Sumatra, and Celebes.
The annals of the Spice Islands mention, that,
as early as the year 133^2, the Javanese were in the
habit of frequenting Ternati, then the paramount
island of the group, for cloves, and they are again
mentioned as forming settlements there, along with
the Malays, about the period of the conversion of
their inhabitants to the Mahomedan religion. One
or other of the three great tribes above-mentioned,
in all probability, indeed, conducted the spice trade
from the earliest periods. It was the demands of the
western world which stimulated this commerce, and
the adventure of those tribes may be considered as
\\\Q first link in that long commercial chain which
brought the spices of the Moluccas through many
COMMERCE OF THE ARCHIPELAOO. 149
nations of barbarians to the gates of Rome, the in-
habitants of which were ignorant of the countries
which produced them, and of the means by which
they obtained them. The spices obtained by these
adventurers at the eastern extremity of the Archi-
pelago were carried to the emporia of the west, to
Malacca, Achin, and some of the ports of Java,
where they were purchased, in the earHer ages of
the commerce, by the. Hindus, and in later times
by these, jointly with the Arabs.
The war pursued by European nations against
the commerce and industry of the native inhabit-
ants, suppressed the traffic of the Javanese and
Malays, who, from their situation, fell more imme-
diately within their power. The people of Cele-
bes are now the most considerable and enterpris-
ing of the navigators of the Indian islands, and
among them the ^Bugis of TVqjii are the most dis-
tinguished. Some account of their adventures,
therefore, will prove interesting. The original
country of these people is the banks of the great
fresh water lake Tapara-karaja, in the south-west^
em limb of Celebes, and towards the northern part
of that limb. Europeans are wholly unacquainted
with the nature of this country ; but from the ana-
logy of other situations, we may safely infer, that a
territory which has given rise to so much compara-
tive civilization, and so much mercantile enter-
prise, is a land of considerable fertility. There is
150 DOMESTIC AND INTERNAL
no country of the Archipelago possessed of any ad-
vantages for trade, in which the Bugis of Waju are
not found settled, and, in some situations, they
have even colonized as a body, and founded inde-
pendent states. The lake above-mentioned com-
municates by rivers navigable for the largest native
craft, both with the Bay of Boni to the east, and
with the sea to the west. The voyage from the
shores of the lake is commenced in the beginning of
the easterly monsoon. The adventurers carry on a
trading voyage as they proceed westward, until at
Rhio, Malacca, Penang, and Achin, they reach the
limits of the Archipelago, and are prepared to re-
turn with the change of season. The commodi-
ties which they export from their native country, or
collect, in the course of their outward voyage, for
the supply of the most distant islands, are the ex-
cellent and durable cotton cloths of their native
country, gold-dust, nutmegs, Spanish dollars, birds'-
nests, camphor, Benjamin, or frankincense, and
tortoise-shell. They bring back from the extremi-
ties of the Archipelago, either for the supply of the
intermediate tribes, or that of their own country-
men, opium, European broad cloth, European and
Indian cotton goods, unwrought iron, and tobacco.
This voyage is necessarily the most considerable
and important of the adventures of the Waju mer-
chants, but many subordinate ones are undertaken,
in which the chief object is to collect materials for
COMMERCE OF THE ARCHIPELAGO. 151
the markets of China, as birds'-nests, ornamental
feathers, tortoise-shell, and Tripang, or sea slug.
The most singular and interesting of these voyages
is the adventure made to the southern coast of New
Holland, for the fishery of the last mentioned ar*
tide. Upwards of forty vessels, of from twenty to
fifty tons, quit Macassar annually for the coast of
New Holland, besides numbers that go elsewhere in
search of the same object. A vessel of twenty tonsj
manned by twenty-five hands, is considered to be
successful, if she have obtained seven thousand
pounds weight of Tripang. It is the capital of the
Chinese resident merchants, which sets these adven-
tures on foot, as they advance to the undertakers
from two to four hundred Spanish dollars, accord-
ing to the extent of their equipment, securing to
themselves the rtfusal of the cargo. These sketches
will suffice to convey some notion of the character
and extent of this department of native commerce.
Having considered the nature of the traffic con-
ducted by the Indian islanders, both domestic and
international, I shall take a view of the regulations
under which the commerce with strangers is con-
ducted, and the provision made for its arrangement.
By all the nations from Japan to Bengal, foreign
trade is rather tolerated than encouraged. If a
stranger is permitted to trade, it is considered
eminently as a favour conferred upon him, rather
than as a benefit to the society with whom he main-
152 DOMESTIC AND INTERNAL
tains an intercourse. The tribes of the Indian
islands entertain sojiie of those feelings in common
with the rest. The first thing to be done by a
stranger merchant coming among them, is to con-
ciliate the good will of the prince, and obtain his
peraiission to trade, which must be done by an of-
fer of gifts. The imposition of regular duties on
trade is seldom thought of. The short-sighted
judgment of the native prince sees an apparently
obvious benefit to be derived from buying cheap
and selling dear, and he either makes a monopoly
of the traffic, or parts with the privilege of trading
to some favourite, or for some valuable considera-
tion. A Malay prince is, therefore, as already
mentioned, in general the first and often the only
merchant in his country. * Where a busy traffic
with the more enlightened nations of Asia was es-
tablished, and especially where Arabs and their de-
* Beaulieu, speaking of Acliin, describes tliis character of
the commerce with strangers perfectly well : " But tlie great-
est damp on the tnido of that place," says he, " is that the
king engrosses it all into his own hands ; for what conmiodi-
ties he buys, he must have them under a market-price, and
what he sells rises fifty per cent, above it ;" and again he says
of the king, " He knew very well that his buying pepper at
the same time would stifle my market, and if any one had
sold me pepper he would certainly have punished him, under
pretext of preferring my custom to his." — Harris's Colledion,
Vol.1.
COilMEIlCE OF THE ARCHIPELAGO. 153
scendants obtained the sovereignty, a policy in a
good measure more enlarged and liberal has been
occasionally pursued, and considerable freedom of
commerce permitted. The consequences have al-
ways, as might be reckoned upon, been most bene-
ficial. Commerce has flourished, and such states
have always risen to comparative opulence and
grandeur, of which Malacca, Bantam, Achin, Pa-
lembang, Pontianak, and Macassar, are examples.
In these states commerce was of such consequence,
that the management of it became a separate de-
partment of the administration, and the officer pre-
siding over it under the Persian name of Shah-
handdry borrowed, perhaps, intermediatelyfrom the
Telinga, was the highest and the most important
functionary of the state.
CHAPTER II.
COMMERCE WITH ASIATIC NATIONS.
Intercourse ivith China Its history and early character. —
Character qf foreign commerce ivith the Chinese, and regu-
lations tinder which it is tolerated. — Navigation and skip-
ping of the Chinese. — Nature of the import cargoes. —
Amount of shipping employed. — Trade between the Indian
islanders and the Hindu- Chinese nations. — Trade of the
Archipelago tvith the country of the Hindus. — Probable
history ofthefrst intercourse between them. — Present state
of the trade. — hnporls andexpoi'ts — Trade between the In-
dian islands and Arabia Its history and character — Ara-
bian navigation. — Exports and imports.
A COMMERCIAL iiitercourse has, from very remote
times, subsisted between the Archipelagc and all
the great maritime nations of Asia. I shall, in the
present chapter, furnish a sketch of the histoiy and
circumstances of this connection, beginning with
that of the Chinese, and successively rendering an
account of — that with the Hindu-Chinese nations,
— the nations of Hindustan, — and the Arabs and
Persian, — as, in other parts of the world, we find
that it is the more opulent and civilized that have
always visited the country of those that are less so.
COMMEHCK WITH ASIATIC NATIONS. 155
All the strangers, therefore, who, in any age, have
held a commercial connection with the Indian island-
ers, have invariably visited them j while the spirit
of adventure, or the ambition of wealth and fame,
has never carried the inhabitants of the Archipelago
beyond the waters which wash their native islands.
The most extensive, intimate, and probably the
most ancient, of the foreign commercial relations of
the Indian islands, is that with China. A de-
mand for the most peculiar of the products of the
Indian islands may be said to be now interwoven
with the unchangeable habits, manners, and even
religious ceremonies, of the singular population of
that empire. From this fact alone, which is of
more value than the imperfect records of either the
Chinese or the Indian islanders, we may safely in-
fer, that a commercial intercourse has subsisted for
many ages between them. We must guard our-
selves, however, against imagining that, in early
times, it was a busy or an active intercourse. There
is unquestionable proof, indeed, of the contrary. At
present, since the road has been shewn to them
by Europeans, and parts of the country, rendered
by their protection a safe residence, the Chinese
have displayed a strong tendency to settle and colo-
nize. Before this period, they had certainly shewn
nowhere a disposition to settle, as is sufficiently
demonstrated by a total absence, not only of such
colonization, but by that of any vestige of the Ian-
156 COMMERCE WITH
guage, habits, or manuers of such a colony. For-
mosa, as I have noticed in another place, an island
within twenty leagues of the coast of the most com-
mercial province of the empire, was, by the confes-
sion of the Chinese, only discovered by them, and
that too by accident, as late as the year 1430, and was
not occupied until 231 years thereafter, when the
genius of European manners and institutions had
rendered it a comfortable and safe abode. In the
same way the Philippines, neglected by them in all
previous periods of their own history, were coveted
when the Spaniards had established some degree of
tranquillity within them, and rendered them a safe
asylum for this timid and unenterprising race. The
Chinese population of Java was established under
the very same circumstances. Few or none had
the courage to settle under the turbulent govern-
ment of the natives, but the Dutch had been
scarcely established when there was an inundation
of Chinese sett!- rs, and, in little more than a cen-
tury, their masters considered it necessary to mas-
sacre them by thousands to lessen their redundan-
cy. The political institutions of the Chinese are
remarkable among those of Asiatic people, for the
uncommon share of tranquillity they are found, by
experience, capable df maintaining, and for the secu-
rity they thus afford to life and property. This,
in a fertile country, and favourable situation, has
been quite adequate to produce an immense popu-
ASIATIC NATIONS. 157
lation, and the pressure of population against the
means of subsistence has, by necessity, begot a pa-
tient and systematic industry unknown to other
Asiatic nations. This industry, however, we find,
is constantly directed to objects of mere necessity,
or of the gratification of the senses, and never as-
sumes a character of intellectual enterprise. There
is nothing, indeed, in the character of the Chinese
that would lead us to believe them capable of bold
and perilous adventure, and I must, for this rea-
son, and others to be now mentioned, utterly dis-
credit their distant voyages beyond the Indian
islands, to Malabar, or the Persian Gulf. The on-
ly authentic record of a distant voyage made by
them, is that in which the celebrated Venetian
Marco Polo was engaged. The circumstances of
it, which are very remarkable, deserve a particular
examination, as they throw much light on the sub-
ject of our inquiry. The Tartar sovereign of
Persia sent ambassadors to his relation Kuhldl, the
Tartar emperor of China, for a wife. A young
lady of the royal family was conceded to him, and
she and her retinue attempted to proceed to Per-
sia by land, but, from the wars among the princes
of Tartary, found this impracticable. The Polo
family were now at the Chinese court, and Marco
had just returned from a voyage among the Indian
islands, which the Persian ambassadors hearing of,
proposed to return to their native country by sea,
458 COMiMKRCE WITH
with the prospect of having the Europeans as their
pilots. I shall state the circumstance in the lan-
guage of the editor of the travels : ** About the
time of their (the ambassadors) reappearance, Mar-
co Polo happened to arrive from a voyage he had
made, with a few vessels under his orders, to some
ports of the East Indies, * and reported to the
grand Khan the intelligence he brought respecting
the countries he had visited, with the circumstan-
ces of his own navigation, which he said was per-
formed in these seas with the utmost safety. This
latter observation having reached the ears of the
three ambassadors, who were extremely anxious
to return to their own country, from whence
they had now been absent three years, presently
sought a conference with our Venetians, whom
they found equally desirous of revisiting their
home ; and it was settled between them that the
former, accompanied by their young queen, should
obtain an audience of the grand KhaUy and repre-
sent to him with what convenience and security
they might effect their return by sea, to the domi-
nions of their master ; whilst the voyage would be
attended with less expence than the journey by
land, and be performed in a shorter time, accordr
ing to the experience of Marco Polo, who had late-
• To some of the Indian islands, in the opinion of Mr
Marsden.
ASIATIC NATIONS. 159
ly sailed in those parts. Should his majesty in-
cline to give his consent to their adopting that
mode of conveyance, they were then to urge him
to suffer the three Europeans, as being persons well
skilled in the practice of navigation, to accompany
them until they should reach the territory of king
Arghun.'* * The emperor gave his consent to the
sea- voyage ; and, in 1291, the embassy, with the
Europeans accompanying it, sailed from the Peiho
in a fleet of fourteen junkSy provisioned for two
years. They took three months to reach Su-
matra, a voyage that a Chinese jmik would now
make in probably one-fourth of the time, and no
less than eighteen months more to reach Ormuz,
or whatever other part of the Persian territory
they first made. The following commentary on
these circumstances naturally occurs. When Marco
Polo told the Chinese court of the facility of
navigating the Indian seas, from his own expe-
rience, it was received as news. It is highly im-
probable, therefore, that the voyage could have
been familiar to the Chinese : on this occasion, it
looks as if it had been undertaken for the first
time, and only on the prospect of having the Eu-
ropeans as pilots. An imperial fleet, which we must
naturally suppose equipped in the best manner,
took two years to reach the port of its destination ;
* ]Maisden's excellent translation of Marco Polo, p. 28-
IGO COMMERCE WITH
it would naturally take two years to come back. A
commercial voyage, the returns of which could not
be made in less than four years, could hardly be con-
ducted by any people, and especially by a people
who borrow money at an exorbitant interest. It
cannot well be argued that the trade might have
been conducted, and yet the Tartar sovereign and
his court be ignorant of it, for the family ofJe?igez
Khan had at this time been in complete possession
of China and its coasts for a number of years.
Kuhlai personally was remarkable for his desire to
render himself acquainted with foreign countries ;
and, before the period in question, had sent an un-
successful expedition of four thousand vessels, and
S'iOjOOO men, against Japan. * Had the Chinese
been in the habit of frequenting the coasts of Hin-
dustan, surely the Portuguese, long anxious to gain
admittance to China, must have met with them ;
and from their wealth, which they would not have
wanted a pretext to plunder, compared to that of
the traders of India, could not have failed to have
mentioned so remarkable a circumstance. Their
not having done so on any occasion, nearly amounts
to a direct proof that, when tliey arrived in India,
no direct in,tercourse existed between China and
Hindustan.
I am strongly tempted even to suspect that the
Arabs, who traded direct from their own country
* Kempfer's Hislory C)f Japan.
6
ASIATIC NATIONS. iCl
to the Fndian islands and China, as early as the
ninth century at least, were the first to instruct the
Chinese perhaps even in the route to the Indian
islands, as the Europeans in later times shewed
them the way to, or at least the advantages of, For-
mosa and the Philippines. It is not improbable that
the fleet in which Marco Polo sailed had Arabian
pilots, even from its first setting out, and highly
probable that such were obtained for the more dis-
tant part of the voyage, that is, from Sumatra to the
Persian Gulf, where the traveller himself says Arabs
were settled, and carrying on a commerce with their
native country.* Etymology comes in some degree
to our assistance on this point. It is not by a
Chinese name but an Arabian, or at least a Per-
sian one, Chin, that the maritime part of the Chi-
nese empire is known to the Indian islanders. It
is a legitimate conclusion from this, — that whether
the people of the west made the Indian islands
* Mr Marsden supposes the existence, in the fleet, of
these pilots, without drawing the same inference from it that
I have done. " It should be observed," says he, " that the Per-
lak of the Malays is pronounced Ferlak by the Arabs, who
liave not the sound of P in their language; and, amongst
the pilots of the fleet, it is probable there were many of that
nation who were accustomed to trade to China from the
Gulf of Persia and Muskat." — Marsden's Marco Polo, p.
601.
VOL. III. I.
IG'S COMMERCE WITH
first known to the Chinese or not, it looks as if they
made the Chinese known to the Indian islanders,
which, in a practical view, amounts to the same
thing. It is pretended that the Chinese were ac-
quainted with the mariner*s compass, and it is
hence argued that they must have been great na-
vigators, and made distant voyages. It might as
well be insisted upon, that, because they were ac-
quainted with an imperfect kind of printing, they
must necessarily have made the same use of this
noble invention that the European nations have
done. If they were acquainted with the compass,
and turned their knowledge of the polarity of the
magnetic needle to any useful purpose, the Arabs
who lived among them, converted many of them to
their religion, and for centuries carried on a busy
trade with them, could not, by any possibility, be
ignorant of so great a discovery. These Arabs,
after between at least six and seven hundred years
intercourse with the Chinese, were still, as is well
known, unacquainted with the compass when Vasco
di Gama doubled the Cape of Good Hope, yet
immediately after borrowed it from the Europeans.
It is probable that the Chinese, as well as the
Arabs, made a coasting voyage to the Indian
islands ; and that the shorter and safe voyage
which they now pursue they have both been in-
structed in by Europeans. This circumstance is
strongly corroborated by a well-knovm fact, which
ASIATIC NATIONS.
163
is strikingly illustrative of the" character of the
people, and of which those acquainted with the
trade of the junks are well aware, that almost every-
one of them has a pilot, a native Portuguese, or
other individual of the European race and educa-
tion, who has the entire direction of the navigation.
I remember having once seen, in 1814, a large
junk arrive from the port of Amoy, at Samarang, in
Java, in the short period of thirteen days, under
the conduct of an American pilot, accidentally ob-
tained. Marco Polo's fleet took three months to
perform a voyage of nearly the same length ; and,
in short, actually performed a coasting voyage,
having touched, as far as can be ascertained, at
Hainan, Kamhojay Champa, Kondur, Bintan,
and Sumatra, proving, past all doubt, that he did
not sail by the compass. He even adds himself a
remark that proves it could not have been the prac-
tice in his time. Intending to convey some no-
tion of those countries of the Indian islands most
frequented by the Chinese junks, he supposes the
whole to be one island ; and, as the Arabs do at
this day, gave the name o^Java the most renowned,
and the only one which had probably reached him,
to this country, of which he says, '* That the Grand
Khan has not brought the island under subjection to
him, must be attributed to the length of the voyage,
and the dangers of the navigation.** From the port
of Canton to the centre of the Archipelago, this
164 COMMERCE WITH
voyage, described as so distant and so dangerous, is
now performed by a Chinese junk, navigating by
the compass, in fifteen days.
It may be further remarked, that the circum-
stances of the voyage made by the fleet which the
Emperor Kuhlai sent for the conquest of Borneo or
Java, prove the very same thing. It sailed from
one of the very ports of Fo-ldcn from which the
junks sail at this day, and took sixty-eight days to
reach its destination, making, like Marco Polo and
his fleet, a coasting voyage of it, sailing along the
shores of Tonquin and Cochin China. *
In the native annals of the Indian islanders, the
first distinct mention made of the Chinese is a no-
tice that they came to trade in cloves at Ternaiiy
one of the spice islands, in the reign of Marhum^
king of that island, whose reign commenced in
14(J5. The wife of the last monarch of the Budd-
hist religion in Java is, in the annals of that island,
expressly stated to have been a Chinese. Tliat mo-
narch lost his kingdom and his life in 1478, so that
these two transactions accord very nearly in date.
From the Javanese annals of the same period, we
glean that there was some intercourse between Java
and Champa and Kamboja, in the route from China
by the coasting voyage. It is remarkable that
the Arabs are expressly mentioned as having
♦ HUioire des Huns, Liv. \Q, p. 186.
ASIATIC NATIONS. l65
been concerned in the transaction in which this
last intercourse is alluded to. Independent, in-
deed, of European or Arabian testimony, we have
the express authority of native records for the fact
of an intercourse existing with the Arabs in Ter-
naii, near a century and a half, and with the Ja-
vanese for a still longer period, before any notice
whatever is taken of the Chinese.
By the Chinese accounts, their intercourse with
the Indian islands is stated to have been very early.
The P. Amirot and De Guignes the elder,
mention, on the authority of Chinese annals, a
country of the Indian islands which they term ivowa-
oua. Tliis is supposed by commentators to have
been Borneo or Java ; but it is more consonant to
the ignorance and imperfection of the intercourse
of the Chinese to imagine that it applies generalljj
to all the countries of the Archipelago rather tlian
to any 07ie in particular. Han T'oko, a most acute
and intelligent Chinese of Surabaia, in Java, well
versed in the literature of China, and fiuniliar with
the Malay language and the customs of Java, sup-
plied me with some account of the country alluded
to by Amiot and De Guignes, from a Chinese
work printed at Pekin in the reign of Kanhi.
The following is an abstract of the narrative it
gives. The country, it states, was formerly called
Cha-po, but now Jao-wa. This country became
first known to the Chinese in the reign of an Em-
160 COMMEKCE WITH
peror called Lao-Gil-ijoyigt of the dynasty called
Songi whom I presume to be Kao-tsou-vou-ti, the
first prince of the dynasty Song, whose reign, ac-
cording to Du Halde, commenced in the year of
Christ 420, and who was a prince possessed of
great qualities. At two other and distant periods,
the kings of Chapo^ or Koua-oua^ or Jao-wdy are
described as sending missions of homage, as all mis-
sions from foreign princes are construed by the
ignorance and vanity of the Chinese to be, to
China. In the reign of the first Tartar sovereign
of China, the celebrated Kuhlai, and in the thir-
teenth year of his reign, an attempt is stated to
have been made against Jao-U'a^ which failed, ow-
ing to the great numbers of the people of the
country. The thirteenth year of the reign of
Kublai corresponds with the year 1292. The
Chinese accounts, as we come down, become more
circumstantial, and seem to be more identified with
the particular histoiy of the island of Java. In the
fifth year of the reign of Ching Tsiij better known
by the name of Yong-Lo, of the dynasty of Meng,
the king of the western portion of the island is
described as having conquered the king of the east-
ern portion. The former is called, in the Chinese
work, To-iva-pan, This fact, if it really refer to
Java, as has been supposed, seems to coincide with
an important fact in the history of that island, the
foundation of Mojopahiiy by a refugee from the
ASIATIC NATIONS. I67
western kingdom of Tajnjaran. It would corre-
spond with the year 1324 of Javanese time. In
the sixteenth year of the same reign, the king of
JaO'Wa is described as sending a mission to China,
with a gift of a white parrot or cockatoo ! I men-
tion this last circumstance only because the name of
the king, which is remarkable, if the intei'preta-
tion be any thing more than fanciful, bears a close
resemblance, indeed almost an identity, with the
name or titles of ancient Javanese sovereio-ns.
o
It is Yafig-xvi-se-sa,* which means *' the mighty
• The articulation or pronunciation of the Chinese is so
imperfect, and so utterly unlike that of all the rest of man-
kindj that it is only by mere accident that they ever pro-
nounce a foreign word rightly. Independent, therefore, of
their ignorance, their selfishness, their want of feeling and
imagination, and their gross and exclusive devotion to objects
of mere sensual gratification, their descriptions of foreign
countries and manners must be altogether unintelligible to
strangers. I shall quote, as examples of their perversion of
foreign names, a few of the names of places as they were
written down for me by a Creole Chinese of Java. The
Chinese born and brought up in the Archipelago, it ought
to be noticed, have none of the imperfections in pronuncia-
tion of their progenitors. Tagal they make Tak-kat — Cheri-
bon — Cha-li-bun Brabas, Golo-bat — Kandal, Gan-tra —
Japara, Ji-pla-la — Garsik, Kat-lik-sik — Blambaiigan, Gwa-
lam-bang — Sumanip, Syang-kin-lap — Borneo, correctly
Burnai, Bun-lai — Palembang — Ku- kang — Banda — Bal-laa
— Samarang, Sam-pa-lan — Ternati, Kan-na-ti — Macassar,
Bangkasat. It sometimes, however, happens that the name
consists of such sounds as are familiar to the organs of
l68 COMMERCE WITH
or powerful.'* The description of the people
and their manners is done in many respects with
graphic accuracy, and accords faithfully with the
character of the Indian islanders. The men, for
example, always wear a short weapon of exqui-
site workmanship (the kris) — tliey never inflict
corporal punishment — the punishment of death is
very frequent — execution is performed by stabbing
— the people are of a resentful disposition — in
their marriage ceremonies, the man goes to the
woman's house, not the woman to the man's — in
the disposal of the dead, some are thrown into the
water, some burnt, and some buried. The account
given of the exports of the country, though some
of the articles appear whimsical, are exactly those
of the Indian islands, as gold, pearls, rhinoceros'
horns, elephants' teeth, tortoise-shell, betel-nut,
black pepper, suppan and agila wood, paroquets,
green pigeons, doves of various hues, &c. The
only two articles not easily accounted for are silver
and cotton, unless these were brought to the em-
poria frequented by the Chinese, through the
Hindus, and Arabs coming to the same places,
and exchanging them for spices, &c.
the Chinese, and then it is of course pronounced accurate-
ly or nearly so ; thus Ambun, or Amboyna, is An-buii, —
Bali is Ba-li — Ma-la- ka. Mo- la-ka — Bantam, properly Bantan,
Ban-tan. If a place have two names, they will gladly adopt
the easiest, though the least known ; thus, for Batavia, or
Jacatra, they say Ka- la-pa, and for Pasuruhan, Gam-bo2iy.
6
ASIATIC NATIONS. 1 69
I have entered the more fully into this disquisi-
tion, because it concerns a point of history of much
interest, and tends to make us better acquainted
with the real commercial character of all the par-
ties concerned in it.
The Chinese pretend to despise foreign trade ;
they are, indeed, a jealous and unsocial people, and
are far from having arrived at that point of civili-
zation when men are prompted, by their passion for
gain, to get rid of some share of their antipathy to
strangers, and to perceive the benefits of a foreign
intercourse. Their extensive empire extends over
so many climes, containing necessarily such va-
rious productions, easily distributed throughout by
an extensive internal navigation, that they stand ap-
parently in little need of foreign commerce. Other
causes contribute. The sea- coast of China is small
in proportion to the area of the country, and to the
population ; it is dangerous to navigate ; the Chi-
nese are timid and unskilful navigators, and, final-
ly, they have no rich neighbours that are willing
or anxious for a free intercourse with them.
The government of China expresses, therefore,
an avowed hostility to foreign commerce, and to-
lerates it rather than protects it. The trade of all
others that they are least jealous of, is that of the
Indian islands. It brings them productions on
which they put a real value, and the weakness of
those with whom it is carried on disarms them of
170 COM MERC li WITH
all political jealousy. AVhatever be the foreign
trade conducted by the subjects of China, the in-
variable practice of the government is to place it
in the hands of a few individuals, who become an-
swerable that it shall be conducted under all the
restrictions and conditions required by law. One or
all of these security merchants, as they have been
called, must be amenable for every ship that arrives
at, or sails from China, both in as far as regards
the regulations of trade as the conduct of the crew.
These persons pay a premium to the government
for the privilege they enjoy, and reimburse them-
selves by laying the trade open, and exacting from
the adventurers a certain per centage on the in-
vestments. At the port of Amoy, or Em-ui, in
the province of Fo-kien, the principal seat of this
commerce, the security merchants are three in
number, and exact from the adventurers a duty
of six per cent, on exports, and five on imports.
It is evident that the principles on which this trade
are conducted are as completely different from
those of our joint stock company monopolies as can
well be imagined, though they have absurdly enough
been compared. The Chinese security merchants do
not trade on a joint stock among themselves, and
they leave the trade nearly free to competition.
There is no subject of legislation on which, in
semi-barbarous times, so many gross errors, the re-
sult of impertinent interference and over-govern-
ASIATIC NATIONS. l?!
ing, are committed as in that of foreign commerce.
China affords examples of this as well as modern Eu-
rope, and it is singular enough to remark, how much
alike are the errors committed by the legislators of
both. For the conduct of foreign commerce, each
has its monopoly, and in China we discover all
the errors and absurdities of the mercantile sys-
tem of political economy, the ridicule of the pre-
sent generation, though tlie boast of our predeces-
sors. The Chinese, indeed, carry the principle of
the mercantile system to an extreme, which would
have excited the admiration or envy of the European
politicians of the early part of the last century. As
our politicians did, they believe that money is
wealth ; they are peculiarly prepossessed in favour
of that foreign trade, which appears to bring in the
largest share of it ; and they prohibit its exporta-
tion. They prohibit also the exportation of all
articles of a durable nature, many articles of great
value in use, and some to which the absurd nation-
ality of the people attach a factitious value. The
following may be enumerated in their list of ex-
clusion : The precious metals, wrought and un-
wrought ; the useful metals, wrought and un-
wrought, especially in the form of domestic uten-
sils, corn of all kinds, raw silk, and Chinese books.
The importation, on the contrary, of the raw mia-
terials of food in any forai, and of drugs, with the
exception of those that are intoxicating, are either
172 COMMERCE WITH
legal or popular. Notwithstanding these restric-
tions, it is by no means to be supposed that the
prohibited articles are not traded in. By force of
corruption, all-powerful in China, the articles deem-
ed by law contraband are freely imported and ex-
ported, and a thorough understanding to evade the
law exists between the magistrate and the mer-
chant. The only bad effect, therefore, of this clan-
destine system is, that the bribery which is indis-
pensable, enhances the price of the goods, and, on
that account, restricts the consumption.
Almost all the foreign trade of China is con-
ducted from the two maritime provinces of Quan-
tong and Fo-kien. It is from the latter that the
greater portion of the Chinese trade with the In-
dian islands is carried on. The most numerous,
the largest, and the richest jimks, sail from this
province, which, although one of the smallest of
the empire, is remarkable for the enterprise of its
inhabitants, the excellence of its sea-ports, as well as
the production of almost all the black tea which is
exported to foreign countries. The principal port of
exportation is Hiamen, which we name Amoy, or,
more correctly, Em-ui, from tlie name of the island,
which forms its capacious and excellent haibour.
The character of the commerce conducted be-
tween the Indian islands and China will not
be intelligible without some description of the
shipping and navigation in which it is conducted.
ASIATIC NATIONS. 173
The state of the arts of ship-building and navi-
gation among nations afford us at once an easy and
certain criterion to judge of their comparative civi-
lization and barbarism. This applies as well to the
nations of Asia among themselves, as to those of
Europe among each other. The vessels and ships
of the Chinese are, notwithstanding their imperfec-
tion, greatly superior in construction, size, and
utility, to those of all other Asiatic people, who
have not had the assistance of Europeans, or their
example. The common Chinese name for these
vessels, which perform foreign voyages, is Tcheou.
The Portuguese call them Soma, the Indian island-
ers U'angkang, and we name them Junks, a cor-
ruption of the word Jung, meaning a large vessel,
in contradistinction to boats or canoes, in several
of the languages of the western portion of the Ar-
cliipelago. Almost all the junks employed in the
commerce between the Indian islands and China are
built at Bangkok, on the great river of Siam, and
the capital of that kingdom. This is chosen for its
convenience, and the extraordinary cheapness and
abundance of fine timber, especially teak, which it
affords. The parts of the vessel under water are
constructed of ordinary timber, but the upper works
of ieak. Iron bolts are used in fixing the frame
and planking. The seams are very neatly caulked,
with an oakum made from the bamboo, and the
bottom is payed with the sort of rosin which the
17^ COMIMERCE WITH
Malays call Darnar^ and with quicklime. The
bow is flat, like the stern, but much smaller, hav-
ing no keel, or cut-water. The stern has an im-
mense channel, or chamber, in which the rudder
receives protection from the sea. The masts are
from two to four in number, and very dispropor-
tionate in size, the principal, or main-mast, being
greatly larger than any of the rest. They consist
but of a single spar each. The sails are but a single
square sail on each mast, made of mats of split bam-
boo, and extended by yards of that cane. They
have but one deck, and the w^hole hold is divided
into little cabins, or compartments, to lodge the
goods, and afford accommodation to each separate
adventurer. Pumps are either unknown, or not
made use of. The cables are made of twisted
rattans ; the anchors of iron-wood, having their
flukes occasionally tipped with iron. The stand-
ing and running rigging are either of rattan,
or coir the fibre of the coco-nut. The whole
appearance of a Chinese junk is remarkably
grotesque and singular. The deck presents the
figure of a crescent. The extremities of the ves-
sel are disproportionately high and unwieldy, con-
veying an idea that any sudden gust of wind would
not fail to upset her. At each side of the bow
there is a large white spot or circle to imitate eyes !
These vessels, except before the wind, are bad sail-
ers, and very unmanageable. They require a nu-
ASIATIC NATIONS. 17^
merous crew to navigate them. An European
merchantman is well navigated with hands in the
proportion of four to each hundred tons, but these
require near forty, or in the proportion of ten
to one. Of one of the largest size, it often takes
fifty men to manage the helm alone. The size of
the junks usually depends on the nature of the
ports to which they are accustomed to sail. As
these are shallow^ or deep, they are small or large,
from two hundied to the enormous and unwieldy
size of twelve hundred tons. Some of those trad-
ing between Batavia and Amoy are of this last size.
Imperfect as the construction of the Chinese ves-
sels is, it appears, at present, impossible to con-
template improvement, for to alter what has exist-
ed from time immemorial, is contrary to the man-
ners, or, which is the same thing, to the laws of
China, and an infringement of the laws, however
venial to appearance, is treason in that country.
An attempt to improve the form of the Chinese
junk is said to have been made, some years ago, on
the model of European vessels, but met with such
severe reprehension, that it was found discreet to
desist from it.
The officers of a Chinese junk consist of the com-
mander, whose business it is to look after the crew,
— of a pilot who attends to the navigation, — and of
quarter-masters who attend to the steerage. Or-
der and subordination are well preserved, but this
176 commkucl; with
arises rather from the sober and orderly character of
tlie people, and the principle on which the crew are
paid, each person having an interest in the voyage,
with a quantity of tonna<^e proportionate to his ser-
vices, than from any skilful and oi'ganized system
of discipline.
The Chinese are utterly ignorant of navigation,
as a science, and even of the useful practical parts
of it. They keep no reckoning, and take no ob-
servation of the heavenly bodies to ascertain their
situation, tlie ideas of the latitude and lon":ituc]e
of places being wholly unknown to them. The
mariner's compass used by the Ciiinese is divided
into twenty-four parts, probably the ancient sub-
divisions of the circumference of the horizon among
them, before they became acquainted with the
polarity of the magnetic needle, or at least before
they applied it to any useful purpose. According
to Du Halde, these compasses are all made at
Nangazaki, in Japan. If this be true, or was
true in the time of those on whose authority he
compiled his work, the Chinese may have acquired
the use of tlie mariner's compass through the Ja-
pantise, in whose country the customs, learning,
and religion, of Europe had at one time made a
deeper impression than they ever did in any other
part of Asia. From whomever acquired, the Chi-
nese compass is a very imperfect instrument, being
clumsily fabricated, and the needle of the largest
ASIATIC NATIONS. 177
not exceeding three inches in length. * The use
made of it by the Chinese mariner is as awkward
as the instrument is rude. The direction of the
port he is steering for from the one he leaves being
once ascertained, the vessel's head, making no al-
lowances for the winds, currents, or circumstances
of the navigation, is constantly kept towards it. This
is, however, less preposterous than it seems at first
sight, when we recollect that voyages are never
undertaken but with the favourable monsoon, nor,
indeed, but for the monsoons, could so distant an
intercourse ever have taken place between nations
so unskilful and so barbarous. The voyage from the
port of Amoy to Batavia, under the most favour-
able circumstances, takes from twenty to twenty-
five days ; and, of course, one voyage ayear only
can be performed. With all the unskilfulness of
their management, I do not imagine, however,
that many of the Chinese junks are shipwrecked.
This is owing to the facility and security afforded
by the monsoons, which are so well known to the
Chinese pilots, that they avoid the tempestuous and
dangerous periods of them. I remember but one
example of a junk being lost, during between five
and six years that I resided in Java, and of this one
all the crew and some of the cargo was saved. A well-
constructed and well-navigated English or Anglo-
• Barron', Staunton, and Du Halde.
VOL. III. U
178 COMMERCE WITH
American vessel will easily perform three voyages
for one voyage of a Chinese junk ; that is, she will
make three voyages between Batavia and China
within the twelvemonth, and this too with much
more security to herself and cargo. She will
do it with one-tenth part of the crew, and of
some particular goods, she will, in the same ton-
nage, stow an incomparably larger quantity. *
There is, in fact, the same wide difference between
the cost of the work done by them, that there is be-
tween that effected by manual labour, and by the
most skilful and perfect piece of machinery. Not-
withstanding all this, the trade carried on by the
junks has some advantages over that conducted by
Europeans. The Chinese have an intimate know-
ledge of the markets, and a skill in assorting and lay-
ing in their cargoes, which no European, in the ex-
isting state of things, can acquire ; and they display
a rigid economy, and give an attention to details
which, in these climates, are foreign to the habits of
an European. They have, over and above, peculiar
advantages in the ports of their own country, some
of them such as afford the most favourable mate-
rials of a commerce with the Indian islands, the Eu-
ropean merchant being altogether excluded from.
The cargo of a Chinese junk is not the proper-
ty of an individual, nor of two or three, as an ad-
* In cotton, for example, as two to one.
ASIATIC NATIONg. 179
venture of the same nature would be among us,
but consists of a great many small adventures, the
proprietor of each of which accompanies his own,
and has it in his separate compartment of the ves-
sel, at his own exclusive disposal and control. The
principal adventures are usually the joint property
of a family, some members of which reside in the
islands, and others in China. Of the extent of
the risk and profit we may judge from the rate at
which money is borrowed at Batavia for one of
these adventures. This is usually forty per cent.
The neat profit cannot be less than double this
amount. On such bulky articles as tea and porce-
lain, the advance of price in the ports of the In-
dian islands is about from 150 to 200 per cent.j upon
wrought silks and cottons about 100. These, how-
ever, it must be recollected, are not wholesale but
retail prices, for as soon as the junks arrive at
the ports of their destination in the Indian islands,
shops are immediately opened, and the goods re-
tailed by the owners.
The duties levied at the native ports on the
junks are arbitrary and uncertain, varying, of
course, at each port. Instead of levying an ad va-
lorem duty upon the cargo, as would be done
among us, a tax is imposed on the junk for the
liberty of trading. This mode of payment is par-
ticularly agreeable to the Chinese, and, indeed, to
all other Asiatic traders, who, naturally enough.
180 COMMERCE "VTITH
abhor the arbitrary interference of the officers of
government with their property, and are glad to
purchase an immunity from it at any price. In
the native ports this price, indeed, is not extrava-
gant, for it is, on calculation, seldom found to ex-
ceed two or three per cent. At the European
ports, as usual, there is more exaction. The com-
merce of the Chinese is tolerated, because the go-
vernments are bribed to a little toleration from the
supply which their needy treasuries receive from
the trade of the junks. The practice, at Batavia,
was to sell the privilege of trading to China in a
junk of a certain size, from year to year, excluding
all competition, and allowing, therefore, the paten-
tee or contractor to impose what price he pleased
on his goods.
The junks are distinguished into those o? green
heads or prows, and those of red prows ; the first
being distinguished by the Chinese laws with some
privileges, and usually bearing by far the most va-
luable cargoes. The goods exchanged in the in-
tercourse between China and the Indian islands
are generally such as constitute the trade between
a rich and a poor country, between a country
densely peopled — and one thinly inhabited, but dis-
tinguished alike by the richness and singularity of
its natural products. A large portion of the in-
vestments from China, howeyer, it is to be remark-
ed, are intended for the supply of the emigrants or
ASIATIC NATIONS. 181
colonists of that nation in the Archipelago, and
these, on the other hand, contribute greatly to col-
lect or to create the return cargoes. The articles
of importation from China may be enumerated in
the order of their importance, as follow : Black tea,
coarse porcelain, wrought iron, principally in the
form of culinary vessels, (kwali^J cotton cloths,
raw silk, wrought silk, brass-ware, paper, books
paint, shoes, fans, umbrellas, and toys. The ar
tides of the return cargo are far more numerous
and may be said indeed to embrace, without excep
tion, every article of the produce of the Archipe
lago. The most prominent are the following
Black pepper, cloves, mace, and nutmegs, long
pepper, clove bark, ebony, sandal, sapan, and Agila
wood, benzoin, camphor, ivory, tin, rattans, Kaxvuly
or tinder of the Gomiiie palm, betel-nut, bees-wax,
Gambir^ and cotton wool, agar-a-ga7\ or sea weed,
i?-ipa?ig, or sea-slug, edible birds'-nests, jerk-beef, or
denckiig, sharks' fins, fish maws, rhinoceros horns
and hides, ox and buffalo hides and horns, tor-
toise-shell, gold-dust, silver coins, European wool-
lens and cottons, &c. All these articles will be
described at such length in a succeeding chapter,
that it will be unnecessary, at present, to make any
remarks upon them. The principal seats of this
commerce in the Indian islands are Manilla and
Batavia. The following statement contains the
best account I have been able to collect of the
182 COMMERCE WITH
amount and distribution of this trade. Beginning
with the western countries, there used to trade
with Malacca, one junk from Em-ui of near 1000
tons burthen, which the unsettled state of Eu-
ropean politics, affecting even those distant re-
gions, with the competition of our colonial trade
from India, have been the cause of discontinuing.
In former times, a great many junks used to
frequent Achin. This trade is now entirely at
an end. Three junks, two from Em-ui of about
800 tons each, and one from the port of Chang-
Urn of 500, annually trade to Lingen and the other
Malay islands, at the eastern entrance of the Straits
of Malacca. One junk from Em-ui, of 800 tons,
trades with Tringanuy and another of 800 tons
with Kalanten, both of them Malay states on the
western shore of the Gulf of Siam. The kingdom
of Siam, from the similarity of its products, from
its vicinity to the countries of the Indian Archipe-
lago, and from the productions of some of the lat-
ter, which are tributary to it, passing through it to
China, is looked upon by the Chinese as a portion
of the group. The Chinese trade of Siam is chiefly
carried on from the capital of the kingdom jBa^z^AoA',
but with several Chinese ports of the provinces
of Fo-kien and Quantang, as Em-ui, Chang-lim,
Tyan-chiriy Limpo, Syang-hai, and Canton. There
are employed in it ten junks of green prows of 600
tons each, and ten of red prows, some of which do
ASIATIC NATIONS. 183
not exceed 120, while others are as large as those of
green prows. A considerable number of still
smaller craft are also employed, and the king of
Siam sends annually two junks on his own account,
manned and navigated by Chinese, which are duty
free in the ports of China, making probably the
whole amount of the tonnage in this branch of the
trade not less than 10,000 tons. The imports in-
to Siam are the same as into the countries of the
Indian Archipelago ; and the exports, Y>'ith few
exceptions, such as the articles of rice, salt fish,
and stick lac, the same also. The duties on the
Chinese junks at Siam are extremely moderate.
The king requires the refusal of such articles of
their import investment as he may fancy, but their
delivery is never compulsory ; and I have it from
some of those engaged in conducting the trade,
that they have no room to complain of extortion or
oppression. — The great number of Chinese settled
in Borneo occasions much intercourse between
China and that island. Three junks, of 500 tons
burthen, sail to Borneo Proper ; to Sambas there
sail two from Chang-lim of 500 tons a-piece ; to
Pontianak, three of the same size, and to Mampa-
wa two, also of 500 ; and to Banjarmassin, one of
about 600, making in all about 5600 tons. The
whole number to Java is seven junks, three from
Em-ui of from 1000 to 1200 tons, and four from
Chang-lim of about 500 tons each, making in all
184 COMMERCE WITH
6S00, Six of these sail to the port of Batavia,
and one to that of Samarang. The commerce be-
tween the Suluk islands and China is conducted
by two rich junks, which sail from Em-ui, and
average 800 tons a-piece. The only portion of the
island of Celebes carrying on a direct trade with
China is Macassar, to which there sail annually
from Em-ui two small junks, of 5U0 tons each, or
one large one of 1000. A small junk of 500
tons usually sails to Amboyna. Between Manilla
and China the usual number of junks is four or
five, of from 400 to 500 tons, making in all about
2000 tons. From this statement, it will appear
that there is engaged in this commerce near
30,000 tons of sliippin.g, nine thousand tons more
than that usually engaged in the direct intercourse
between Great Britain and China ! Taking the
value of the import cargo of each junk of oOO tons
at 20,300 Spanish dollars, and the exports at the
same, an estimate formed on an actual valuation,
the annual value of the goods exchanged will be
two millions four hundred and thirty-six thousand
Spanish dollars, or L.5'i8,100.
The intercourse between the Indian islands and
the Hindu-Chinese nations is very limited, — a cir-
cumstance which arises from causes not difficult to
explain. The spirit of foreign mercantile adven-
ture does not belong to nations so little civilized
as the inhabitants of either country. Until there
ASIATIC NATIONS. 185
is long domestic tranquillity, a dense population,
the good land of the country exhausted, and the
population begins to press against the means of
subsistence, foreign voyages, which imply both
mercantile speculation and colonization, are not
thought of in such states of society. The two par-
ties at present in question are, in relation to the im-
perfect state of navigation among them, separated by
too distant, and to them dangerous, a voyage to make
it practicable to carry on a commerce in the bulkyne-
cessaries of life ; and neither the one nor the other
is rich or civilized enough to have an effective de-
mand for the luxuries or superfluities of the other.
Those Malay states of the peninsula which lie con-
tiguous to the Siamese empire carry on a direct inter-
course with it. It is in the shipping of the Malays,
in this case the most civilized and enterprising, as
far, at least, as navigation is concerned, that the traf-
fic is conducted. The Malays carry to Sia,m their
pepper and tin, and receive food in exchange, the
cheap and excellent rice of that country.
The Chinese, who carry on so large a portion of
the internal carrying trade of the Archipelago,
conduct, also, all that is valuable of that of the
Archipelago with the Hindu-Chinese nations.
The peaceable, unambitious, and supple character
of the Chinese, and the conviction, on the part of
the native governments, of their exclusive devotion
.to commercial pursuits, disarm all jealousy, and
186 COMMERCE WITH
make them welcome guests everywhere. This
very naturally and very justly gives them an equit-
able monopoly of the carrying trade, from which
the ambition of Europeans, and the impolitic re-
straints of their own commercial policy, have ex-
cluded them. Of late years, the Ciiinese have
brought the produce of Siam in considerable quan-
tity into the different trading ports on the Straits
of Malacca, from whence they have found their way
to Europe. Many have even settled in the ter-
ritory of Siam, where they manufacture sugar from
the cane, which they bring to the above ports in
large quantities, and at very moderate prices. In
our times, the Chinese pointed out to the king of that
country the benefits of extending an intercourse to
Java ; and two small junks, of 120 tons each, have
been, since 1815, sent to Batavia, navigated by
Chinese, but with the capital of the king, and os-
tensibly for his benefit. It was from the crew of
one of these, among whom were two or three Sia-
mese, that I obtained the information I have given
in the preceding pages, respecting the commerce
between Siam and China, as well as the principal
part of what is now stated.
The next department of the commerce of the
Indian islands wdth Asiatic nations is that with the
country of the Hijidus, In the account which I
have rendered of the languages, religion, and an-
cient history of the Indian islanders, I have endea-
1
ASIATIC NATIONS. 187
voured to point out the nature and extent of the
intercourse which subsisted in ancient times be-
tween them and the Hindus. The history of com-
merce affords us one important fact to enable us to
approximate towards ascertaining the era wlien this
intercourse began. Among the materials of the an-
cient commerce of the Indies, those which alone are
peculiar to the Indian islands are the produce of the
clove and nutmeg tree, and perhaps gold. Pepper
it has in common with Malabar ; frankincense in
common with Arabia. Cinnamon is not a produc-
tion of the Archipelago, and tin has not been a
staple above a century. In the earlier periods of
the commerce of the east, the clove and nutmeg,
which, in later times, were the most esteemed and
sought after of all the productions of the East, are
never mentioned. Cinnamon was known in the
very earliest times, and even black pepper, fine
cottons, and silk, were long known in the markets
of the western world before we hear of the clove
and nutmeg. * The Periplus of the Erythrean
Sea, supposed to be written in the tenth year of
the reign of Nero, or about the year 63 of the
Christian era, although it gives a minute catalogue
of the articles of the commerce of the east, found
in the markets of Egypt, Arabia, and the coasts of
• In attempting to ofiFer some illustration of this period of
ancient commerce, I have principally dtpended for my facts
on a judicious and faithful guide, the learned Dr Vincent.
188 COMMERCE WITH
India, makes no mention whatever of those two
spices. The legitimate inference to be drawn from
this is, tliat, down to the period in question, no in-
tercourse existed between the land of the Hindus
and the country of spices ; for I conclude that, had
such intercourse existed, commodities so uniform-
ly in request in every age of their history, among
strangers of every climate and region, must have
been imported by the Hindus, — found in their mar-
kets, and — circulated among the civilized nations of
the west. Little more than a century after the age
of the Periplus, or from I7G to 180, in the reign
of Marcus Aurelius, when associated with his son
Commodus, the clove is mentioned for the first
time as an article of importation from the East, in
the famous Roman law of the Digest, in which
every article imported at the custom-house of Alex-
andria is particularly specified. From this time
downwards, the clove and nutmeg are always men-
tioned as the most prized of the commodities of
India. At that time, therefore, or towards the
termination of the second century of our era, it is
to be concluded, that an intercourse between the
Hindus and the country of spices must inevitably
have existed. It is plain, therefore, that that in-
tercourse must have commenced, in the century
which was just elapsing.
It is to be supposed, that the Hindus had an in-
tercourse with the western portion of the Archipela-
ASIATIC NATIONS. 189
go for some little time before they became acquaint-
ed, either directly or indirectly, with the spices, and
the more distant countries which produced them.
The Portuguese themselves, with their superior
skill, enterprise, and activity, a thorough know-
ledge of the value of the produce of the Moluccas,
and an ardent desire to possess them, were some
time at Malacca, and thirteen years in India, be-
fore they reached the land of spices. A much
longer time must be given to the indolence and
ignorance of the Hindu navigators; some time, al-
so, to acquire a knowledge of unknown commodi-
ties ; and some time, too, for the ultimate consum-
er to acquire a taste for them ; for I have presum-
ed already, in treating of" the agriculture of those
spices, and on the authority of language, that it
was not the great tribes of the western portion of
the Archipelago who taught the Hindus the prac-
tice of using spices, but the Hindus those tribes.
The first mention of the Golden Chersonesus
is by the author of the Periphis of the Eri/lhrean
Sea. He says there were, in the ports of Coro-
mandel, large ships which traded with that country.
Some commentators have conjectured that it must
have been the Peninsula of Malacca that is here
meant, but, as not one of the peculiar and exclu-
sive products of the Archipelago are mentioned
among the imports from thence, it appears impro-
bable that this author could have meant any portion
^90 COMMERCE WITH
of the Archipelago at all, and almost certain that
he could not have meant the Malayan Peninsula.
The first direct mention made of any portion of
the Archipelago is by the geographer Ptolemy,
about the middle of the second century. Two
names are distinctly mentioned in his map, which
are unequivocally native, viz., MalayUy and Jaba,
Java, or Jaioa, which are all synonimous. The
word Malayu has appended to it the term koloUy
and Jawa diuy or dib. Malayu and Jaisoay it is al-
ready sufficiently known, are the names of the two
great countries, or rather the two great tribes of the
west. I shall presume to make a few observa-
tions on each, endeavouring to illustrate the sub-
ject by an application of the more accurate know-
ledge of those countries, and their inhabitants,
which has been acquired of late years. I think
that the great geographer, or rather those from
whom he had his information, must have had the
notices in question directly from Hindus, and
these again from the people of Java particular-
ly. The word kolon is without any alteration
Javanese, and means ** the west,'* and the com-
pound word Malayu-kolon, exactly in the or-
der in which it stands, Malays of the west. The
Javanese must, therefore, the inference is, in all
probability, have furnished the information in ques-
tion, and the term west has probably reference to
the geographical position of some one tribe of Ma-
ASIATIC NATIONS. 191
lays in relation to others ; for, to this day, the ori-
ginal Malays are divided into several distinct tribes,
according to their geographical situation. The peo-
ple of Java, when interrogated, would, at all events,
have called any Malays " people of the west," and,
indeed, do so now. There is an unanswerable objec-
tion against supposing Malayu-kolon to be on the
Malayan peninsula, or, supposing this last to be the
Golden Chersonesus, or Khruse, at all, which will
occur at once to every one familiar with the well-
known history of the Malays. It is this ; in the age
of Ptolemy, and for many ages after it, the Malayan
peninsula was uninhabited^ or inhabited only by a
few negro savages, resembling the cannibals of An-
daman, wretched beings with whom there could have
been no intercourse, or at least no commerce. The
Malays did not emigrate from Sumatra, their parent
country, and settle in the Malayan peninsula, until
the comparatively modern period of the year 1 160, a
thousand years after the time of Ptolemy, while Ma-
lacca was not founded until 1252, and every other
Malay state on the Peninsula is of still more recent
foundation. The term dib^ or diu, appended to Ja-
va, and meaning countiy, or island, is pure Sanskrit,
and happens not to be a word of that language
ever used, that I am aware of, in any of the dia-
lects of the Archipelago. It is fair, from this, to
argue, that those who used the term in describing
Java to the merchants of the west, were not na-
192 COMMERCE WITH
tives of Java, or of any portion of the Archipelago,
but Hindus, or natives of India ; and, which is the
same thing, that Ptolemy's information was not ob-
tained through the direct intercourse of Europeans
with the country. If any names at all reached Eu-
ropeans correctly, we cannot be surprised that these
should be the names of the two principal tribes
or countries. This is especially applicable to Java,
the richest and most distinguished country of
the Archipelago, and the principal seat of Hin-
duism. We have seen, that it is the only name men-
tioned in Chinese works ; and among the Arabs,
such is its reputation, that they designate the whole
Archipelago and all its inhabitants by it. Whether
he obtained his information from Chinese or Arabs,
Java was the most important name also which reach-
ed the ears of Marco Polo. He was six months in
Sumatra, without ever hearing any name for it, and,
at last, following the example of other strangers,
he calls it the Lesser Java, imagining it ought to be
of smaller size than an ulaiid which was so much
more celebrated.
The Golden Chersonesus of the ancients, it
would, I imagine, be unreasonable to fix upon any
particular country, when we reflect upon the igno-
rance which prevailed respecting all. * What
• Linschoten, a man of intelligence, and an experienced
pilot, writing expressly with the view of giving us all the in-
12
ASIATIC NATIONS. 103
Ptolemy has done, it seems to be no more than a
rude attempt to give form and position to the
countries which lie on the maritime coast between
India, and China the country from which silk came.
Among a mercantile people, it would naturally
enough take its name from its most distinguished
production, and, when the clove, nutmeg, and even
pepper, were unknown, this production would un-
formation in his power respecting Java, is at a loss, in the year
1 583, seventy- two years after the Portuguese had been na-
vigating the seas of the Archipelago, to say whether it was
an island or a continent, is it not unreasonable to expect any
precise information from the ancients respecting those coun-
tries, and even absurd to enter into any serious discussion
concerning their knowledge (their ignorance, as Mr Gib-
bon calls it) of them ? " This Hand," says the writer in
question, " beginneth under seven degrees on the south
side, and runneth east and by south 150 miles long, (Ger-
man miles,) but touching the breadth, it is not founds be-
cause, as yet, it is not discovered, nor by the inhabitants them-
selve well known. Some think it to be firm land, and parcell of
the countrie called Terra Incognita, which being so, should
reach from the Cape de Bona Speran^a, but, as yet, it is not
certainly known, and, therefore, it is accounted for an island."
Wolfe's Translation, p. 34. We see from this description, as
well as from the chart of Java, given by Linschoten, that
where their business took them, the Portuguese were suffi-
ciently well-informed, but knew nothing beyond it. With less
means, and less skill, in less curious ages, what right have
we to expect more curiosity and enterprise in a few strag-
gling Hindu or Arabian merchants, or even in Greek mer-
chants of Alexandria ?
VOL. III. N
194 COMMERCE WITH
doubtedly be gold. The two great islands of Su-
matra and Borneo are more remarkable for abun-
dance of gold, not only than any countries in their
vicinity, but, indeed, than any countries in Asia.
There is not a tribe of savages in these islands that
does not traffic in it, and it would naturally be the
first commodity asked for and produced, in an in-
tercourse with strangers. From all that has been
now stated, the following inferences and conclu-
sions may safely be drawn. In the age of the Pe-
riplus of the Erythrean Sea, or about the year GSj
the clove and nutmeg, or the most distinguishing
productions of the oriental Archipelago, were not
imported into India, and, therefore, no intercourse
existed at this time between the Hindus and the
Indian islanders. From the year I76 to the year
180, or during the joint administration of Marcus
and Commodus, the clove was imported into Egypt,
and, therefore, into India. At this time, therefore,
an intercourse certainly did take place. It took
place even earlier, for the geographer Ptolemy, who
wrote fifty years earlier, cites Malay and Javanese
names of places correctly on Hindu authority. All
this leads to this final conclusion, that the first in-
tercourse between the Indian islands and the coun-
try of the Hindus, began between the years 63
and 180, probably about the beginning of the
second century of our era. It is singular and in-
teresting to observe how well this accords with the
ASIATIC NATIONS. 195
traditional accounts which the Hindus themselves
give us of the dispersion of the worshippers of
Buddha, on their persecution by the Brahmins, in
the first and second centuries of the Christian era.
It would be curious to trace all the consequences of
this emigration, or dispersion. It spread the wor-
ship of Buddha over the Indian islands, contributed
to civilize their inhabitants, taught them the use
of two of their own commodities heretofore un-
known to them, and spread the use of these novel
luxuries over the whole world, to all succeeding
generations. The consequences of this religious
quarrel of the Hindus might, indeed, be pursued
much farther, for, without doubt, we must, in a
great measure, ascribe to it the desire, in the Eu-
ropean races, of possessing the commerce in spices,
the discovery of the maritime route to India, that
of the New World itself, and much of that civili-
zation which pre-eminently distinguishes the mo-
dern European from every other race of men in
any age or climate.
From the early period of the connection of the
Hindus with the Archipelago, down to the middle
of the sixth century, the only direct notice we ha^ve
of this commerce is that given by Cosmas, whose
work is dated in 547, but who never was in India, •
and whose information respecting oriental geo-
* Vincent's Periplus of the Erythrean Sea.
IPG COMMERCE WITH
graphy is given only incidentally. AVe may be
sure, however, that during all this time the inter-
course subsisted, and was probably the only chan-
nel by which the peculiar products of the Indian
islands were transmitted to the western nations.
Even in later times, though not without compe-
titors, the Hindus, or their converted descendants,
conducted the same traffic, and, to this day, conduct
it under the modifications which the competition of
the Arabs, and both the violence and competition
of Europeans, have brought about. The trade has
always been chiefly conducted from the ports of
Coromandel, and by the nation called Kalingay or
Telinga, of which the word Chuliah, so often in
the mouths of Europeans in the Archipelago, seems
another corruption. A small traffic, much inferior
to the other, is conducted from the ports of Mala«
bar. Until the genius and enterprise of the Euro-
pean character led the way, no direct intercourse
appears to have existed with the unwarlike and un-
enterprising inhabitants of the rich provinces lying
on the Ganges. The shipping in which the trade
is carried on by the people of the Peninsula, are
vessels from one hundred to two hundred tons bur-
den, with one or two masts. Whatever was the
ancient construction of these vessels, they are at
present built and equipped in rude imitation of the
European model. They are navigated by natives
of India, generally Mahomedans, with now and
ASIATIC NATIONS. 197
then a few Hindus. Neither this branch of fo-
reign commerce, nor any other, is ever conducted
by the navigators of the Indian islands. It had
been an erroneous notion formed respecting the
Hindu character, from a limited knowledge of the
Hindu tribes or nations, and perhaps mostly from
an experience of the people of Bengal, that they
were interdicted by their religion from performing
sea voyages. This error is now corrected from
our knowledge that Hindus occasionally form a
portion of the crews of the ships from Telinga, and
that Hindu passengers come yearly in them, who
sojourn for a time in the Archipelago. At Ma-
lacca, indeed, as mentioned in another part of this
work, these Hindus have even colonized. The
Telingas, though less robust, active, and indus-
trious, than the Chinese, are more expert and skil-
ful navigators. They have learned from the Arabs,
who had their knowledge of the Greeks, to take
the sun's altitude with the forestafF, and they use
the more perfect compass of the Europeans instead
of the rude imitation of it followed by the Chinese.
Still the monsoons are necessary to their voyages,
as well as to those of all other oriental navigators.
The Indian traders quit their ports in the south-
west monsoon, which blows from April to October,
and return with the north-east monsoon, which
prevails in the opposite half of the year. The
length of the voyage depends upon the extent ta
19y COMMERCE WITH
which the traders penetrate into the islands of the
Archipelago, but to the nearest points, often does
not exceed nine or ten days. It is usually per-
formed with as much safety as expedition, notwith-
standing the real unskilfulness of the voyagers, a
fact which may teach us to moderate any prepos-
sessions we might entertain regarding the difficul-
ties which the early Hindus might have encounter-
ed in candying their religion to the Indian islands,
or in bringing the spices of the latter back to their
own country. The monsoons have always made
up, in some measure, to the orientals, for the want
of that science, ingenuity, invention, and intre-
pidity, which have been in every age, more or less,
the birth-right of Europeans.
The trade of the Indians is chiefly confined to
the more western ports of the Archipelago, and
they are prevented from going to the eastern ports
by the competition of the Chinese, and by the Eu-
ropean monopoly of the spice trade, a trade which
probably, in other circumstances of it, often se-
duced them as far as the Moluccas. The commo-
dities which they import are, besides, some of them
such as are not required in the central and eastern
islands. The import investments consist, besides
minor articles, of salt, tobacco, blue cotton cloths,
and cotton chintzes. The exports are some of the
most distinguished products of the Archipelago,
most of them, in all likelihood, the very same of
ASIATIC NATIONS. 199
which the cargoes consisted seventeen centuries
back, as betel-nut, damar, bees-wax, ivory, lignum-
aloes, Indian frankincense, cloves, nutmegs and
mace, black pepper, and tin. From the Malay
states on the south-west coast of the Peninsula next
to Siara, and tributary to it, a considerable number
of elephants have been usually sent, which are of a
race highly esteemed, and thought not to be infe-
rior to the boasted breed of Siam itself. As the
benefits of the influence of the capital and enter-
prise of Europeans begin to be felt in the carrying
and general trade of India, it is probable that much
of this particular traffic will decline, or be alto-
gether superseded, for it may be said, in a great
degree, to have long owed its existence, or con-
tinuance, to the privilege which the unlawful ex-
clusion of Europeans confers upon it. Whether
it be superseded, or otherwise, however, it ought
not to be forgotten, is not the proper care of the
legislator, whose duty lies solely in seeing justice
done to all parties, and taking care that the natu-
ral and wholesome influence of competition be not
obstructed by the impertinence of restriction, or
pretended regulation.
The Arabs formed, in the early times of orien-
tal commerce, the thh^d link of that chain of com-
mercial voyages by which the ordinary commodi-
ties of the Indian islands were transmitted to the
farthest nations of the west, the Jourih link of that
200 COMMERCE WITH
by which the spices were transmitted, and the Jijth
by which the silk of China reached the same peo-
ple. It is probable, that the Jishermen of the
coasts of Arabia, from the moment they emerged
from the savage state, and acquired the strength
and intelligence which civilization confers, became
petty traders, and, with the assistance of the mon-
soons, soon sailed to the rich and civilized coun-
tries on each side of them, Egypt and Hindustan,
as merchants and as pirates. * To say that the
Arabians, or any other people living in the latitudes
of the monsoons, discovered these monsoons, t is
but a solecism, and no better, perhaps, than gravely
asserting that the people of temperate regions had
discovered tJieir own summer and winter. The
dullest savages could not fail to observe the perpe-
tual succession of a dry and a wet season, of an
east and a west wind. The steady uniformity of
these winds would inspire them with confidence,
and the navigator would be tempted to make a dis-
tant voyage in one season, reckoning, with confi-
dence, upon the facility and certainty of getting
* " Sabea, Hadramant, and Oman, were the residence of
navigators, in all age?, from the time that history begins to
speak of them ; and there is every reason to imagine that they
were equally so before the historians acquired a knowledge
of tb.em, as they have since continued down to the present
age." Vincent's Periplus, Vol. I. p. 61.
f Vincent's Periplus, p. 62.
ASIATIC NATIONS. 201
back in time with the opposite season and wind.
Hitherto we have seen that the commercial inter-
course was conducted by one tribe only, by the
most enterprising and civilized. In the present
case, as the Hindus and maritime Arabs were per-
haps nearly in the same state of civilization, in as
far at least as navigation was concerned, we dis-
cover the trade conducted equally by both, and
find the ships of Hindustan in the ports of Sabea
or Arabia, as well as those of Arabia in the ports
of India. As the Arabs, however, had always dis-
played a higher energy of character, it is not im-
probable that they conducted the largest share of
this trade. In tracing the route of the Indian com-
merce to the west, a singular fact occurs to us, that
two civilized nations of antiquity, lying in that
route, the Persians and the Egyptians, took no
share in it, until each mixed with a race of stran-
gers of a higher cast of genius than themselves,
and partook of their manners and character. This,
it is to be presumed, arose out of the peculiarity
of their situation, at once destitute of extensive
sea coasts, and possessing fertile territories, with
the peculiarity of civil polity which arose from those
causes, and in which a dislike of maritime enter-
prise became naturally a prominent feature. Persia,
out of the direct way, received none of the bene-
fits of the Indian commerce, but Egypt, a tho-
roughfare, participated in the profits, without par-
taking of the dangers, of the navigation.
202 COMMERCE WITH
From the earliest accounts we possess, down
to the period when the Arabs acquired, witli a
new religion, a new character, no material change
appears to have taken place in their mode of
conducting the Indian trade, for the invasion of
their monopoly of that traffic by the Greeks of E-
gypt, under the Roman government, seems not to
have wrought any material change. I think it by
no means probable that the Arabs ever reached
the country of spices, or any portion, indeed, of the
Indian Archipelago, before their conversion to the
Mahomedan religion. A semibarbarous people,
not roused to activity and enterprise by that de-
velopement of character which nothing is capable
of generating but a revolution in religious opi-
nions, is timid in disposition, and stationary in so-
ciety. Besides this, whenever an Asiatic people
trade extensively in any country, they soon settle
or colonize in it ; because, unlike the restless and
romantic Europeans, delighting in enterprise and
novelty, they never quit a better country for
a worse, — because, in a new country, their rank
in society is always improved, — and because their
manners, never very remote, soon assimilate with
those of the natives. Thus, the Mahomedan
Arabs settled on the west coast of India, in the
Indian Archipelago, in China, even in Siam ; and
the Hindus and Chinese have each settled in the
Archipelago. We have no proof tliat the Pagan
ASIATIC NATIONS. 203
Arabs did so. In the Indian islands we have no
relics of the manners, religion, or language of
Pagan Arabia. Whatever is there that is Arabian
is connected with the present religion. The words
of their language which exist in the dialects of the
converted tribes are almost all mythological, and in
those of the unconverted tribes there is not a syl-
lable at all. Connected with this subject, we
may remark it as a curious and interesting fact,
that every important change in the mode of con-
ducting the commerce of India has been the re-
sult of, or has followed, a religious revolution or
convulsion. The trade of the Hindus extended
in no direction but towards Arabia, until a reli-
gious schism propelled their enterprise to the hi-
therto unknown countries which yielded spices.
The Arabian navigators went no farther east than
the coast of Malabar, until they acquired enthu-
siasm and energy from the religion of Mahomed,
when they crossed the Bay of Bengal, colonized in
the Indian islands, and pushed their commerce and
their settlements to China. Even the last great
revolution in the commerce of the East, effected
by the European race, is distinctly connected with
the great changes in religious as well as other
opinions which characterized the commencement of
the sixteenth century. In barbarous periods of
society, indeed, it is through religious revolution,
or change alone, that we can expect to find auy
204 C02dMKRCE WITH
melioration produced in society. Political reforma-
tion, resulting from the mere exercise of rea-
son, indeed, belongs only to the intelligence
and refinement of an exalted state of social exist-
ence, — only perhaps to the European race and to
modern Europe. In the extent and importance of
the change and improvement effected in the mode
of conducting the oriental commerce by each race,
we have a test by which their comparative genius
and character may be fairly estimated. The In-
dian islanders never ventured out of the Archipe-
lago with their productions. The Hindus disco-
vered the Indian Archipelago, and brought spices
and the silk of China to their own markets. The
Arabs did a great deal more. Dispensing with
the three voyages necessary, in a ruder state of na-
vigation, to obtain the commodities of the more
distant Indian islands, and the fou7' necessary to
obtain those of China, they brought both by one
simple efiPort to their own ports. What the superior
genius of Europeans effected it is almost super-
fluous to insist upon. The six voyages of the
rudest period of the Indian commerce they reduced
to one, in duration and expence hardly exceeding
any individual voyage of the barbarians. Of the
nations thus alluded to, as we recede from the
East, each has a greater difficulty to conquer, but
genius and energy of character increase in a still
greater proportion. From this, and many other
ASIATIC NATIONS. 205
examples, we may learn that nothing can be more
true than the converse of the proposition so fre-
quently maintained, that civilization emanated from
the East. Excluding the nations of the Chinese
stamp of civilization, who have little in common
with the rest of mankind, civilization and genius
decrease as we go eastward. Whatever is enno-
bling, or bears the marks of genius and enterprise
in the civilization of the Asiatic nations, may fairly
be traced to the European race.*
The trade of Arabia with the East has generally
been conducted from the ports on the lied Sea,
and those on the ocean near it. Mocha, Jeddah,
and Aden. During the reign of the Arsacida)
in Persia, it would appear that the Persians for a
moment took some share in the commerce of the
east from the Persian Gulf. The Arabians, im-
* " In what way, therefore/' says Smith, " has the policy
of Europe contributed either to the first establishment or to
the present grandeur of the colonies of America ? In one
way, and in one way only, it has contributed a good deal.
Magna vinan Mater! It bred and formed the men who
were capable of achieving such great actions, and of laying
the foundation of so great an empire; and there is no other
quarter of the world of which the policy is capable of form-
ing, or has ever actually and in fact formed, such men. The
colonies owe to the policy of Europe the education and
great views of their active and enterprising founders ; and
some of the greatest and most important of them, so far as
concerns their internal government, owe to it scarce any
thing e\sQ."— Wealth of Nations, Vol. II p. 136.
$06 COMMERCE WITH
pelled by the spirit infused into them by a new
religion, and by the little portion which they had
imbibed of the knowledge of the Greeks, appear,
on the conquest of Egypt and Persia, to have
taken a "-reater and more active share in the com-
merce of India, and to have carried it on from both
Gulfs. Two centuries after this, we have the first
tolerably authentic account that the Arabs had
reached the Indian islands. In the year 850, at
least, they traded between Oman on the Persian
Gulf, and China, and were even settled in consi-
derable numbers in the latter country. They must,
of course, have passed through the Indian islands,
and traded with them still earlier. The notices
which the Arabian traveller and his commentator
give of theirtrade are indeed most vague and puerile,
and readily excite a suspicion that the intercourse
which could supply no better could neither have
been very extensive, nor conducted by persons of
much intelligence. * It was not until four centu-
* The commentator confuses together the islands of
the Indian and Japanese Archipelagos. By the island Cala,
it is evident he means the principal emporium at this time of
the commerce with the west, possibly the port of Batavia
under the Chinese name of Ca-la-pa. " In this same king-
dom," says he, " is the island Cala, which is the mid passage
between China and the country of the Arabs. This island,
they say, is fourscore leagues in circumference ; and hither
they bring all sorts of merchandise, wood aloes of several
sorts, camphire, sandal wood, ivory, the wood called cala-
4 .
ASIATIC NATIONS. 207
ries thereafter that we have reason to believe that
the Arabs carried on a busy direct intercourse with
the Indian islands, and settled there in numbers.
Then we discover them converting the natives of
the country to their religion, and trace the exten-
sion of their commerce along with it, from the year
1204, when the Achinese, 1 278 when the Malays
of Malacca, 1478 when the Javanese, and 1495
when the people of the spice islands, were convert-
ed. I have little doubt but the increased trade of
the Arabs with the Indian islands, in the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries, arose out of the conse-
quences of the crusades, — which made the nations
of the east and west better acquainted with each
other, — enlarged the ideas of both, — gave the west-
ern nations an increased taste for the productions
of the east, — and, consequently, occasioned an in-
creased demand for them in the markets of Arabia.
We discover by their consequences three distinct
eras of the intercourse of the Arabs with the In-
dian islands, each of which may naturally be traced
to have sprung from their domestic prosperity.
The first was in the ninth century, which is coeval
with the government of the celebrated Caliphs of
bit, ebony, red-wood, all sorts of spice, and many other
things too tedious to be enumerated. At present, the com-
merce is carried on between this island and that of Oman. "
Harris's Collection, Vol. 1. p. 543.
208 COMMERCE WITH
Bafjdat. The intercourse with the Indian islands
in this period was with the Persian Gulf. On the
decline of the dynasty of the Caliphs of Bagdat,
we hear no more of the Arabian intercourse with
the Indian islands, nor can we trace it by its con-
sequences for three centuries and a half. Then
began, in the end of the twelfth, and continued
during the first half of the thirteenth, that inter-
course which was stimulated by the prosperity of
the Saracens, and by the events of the crusades.
This naturally ceased Avhen the empire of the Sara-
cens or Arabs was overrun by the Tartars, under
Chungez Khan and his successors, towards the mid-
dle of the twelfth century. After an interval of two
centuries more, the intercourse of the Arabs again
assumed an active character, and the tribes of the
central, and some of those of the eastern portion of
the Archipelago, were converted. This is coeval
with the greatness and prosperity of the Soldans of
Egypt, and of the Turks. This, in its turn, was
interrupted by the well-known event of the dis-
covery of the maritime route to India, and the es-
tablishment of the Portuguese power.
The discovery of the new route to India, with
the settlement and supremacy of Europeans in the
Archipelago, have long reduced the commerce of
the Arabs with the latter to a trifle. At present,
the direct trade is chiefly confined to a few ports
of the western portion of the Archipelago, as
12
ASIATIC NATIONS. 209
Achin, Palembang, Pontianak, and some of the
Malay states of the pemnsula. A trade is conduct-
ed, however, by the resident Arabs, more extensive
and considerable from port to port. The Arab
shipping are the best constructed, best navigated,
and best equipped, of those of any Asiatic nation.
They are entirely on the European model, many
of them navigated by an European pilot, and some
constructed by Europeans. Arabia, a poor coun-
try, has no commodities to exchange with the In-
dian islands but the genius and enterprise of its
people. The Arabian shipping coming to the
Archipelago usually make a trading voyage on
the coast of Malabar, * from whence they bring
cloths to truck with the islanders. A few dried
fruits are occasionally brought, and the rest of the
investment is bullion. The returns are cloves and
nutmegs, black-pepper, Indian frankincense, betel-
nut, rice, but, above all, in later times, sugar, the
production of the united industry of the Chinese
and Europeans. In a free intercourse between
these countries, this will, in future, constitute the
most valuable article of exchange. With the re-
turning ships, a great many pilgrims usually em-
bark, natives of the Indian islands of all ranks and
* It was from the inhabitants of that coast, in all probabi-
lity, that they first acquired a knowledge of the navigation
to the Indian islands, and thence that to China.
VOL. in.
210 COMMERCE WITH, &C.
ages. The voyage, with the visits to Mecca and
Medina, are seldom performed in less than four or
five years, and are usually attended with great
trouble and expence. Could the clever and prudent
founder of Mahomedanism have ever contemplated
the spread of his religion beyond the confines of
Arabia, he would not have been so indiscreet as to
have made a visit to Mecca an imperative precept
of it. He had certainly never heard the name of
a single island out of the hundreds which compose
the country of the distant nations who now put
themselves to such peril and inconvenience in obe-
dience to his wanton mandate.
CHAPTER III.
COMMERCE WITH EUROPEAN NATIONS.
Ancient intercourse. — Trade of the Portuguese, and Principles
on "which conducted. — Trade of the Dutch and English. —
Origin of their monopolies. — Principles on which the mono-
poly companies acted in their intercourse toith the natives. —
Examples of their misconduct in their intercourse with the
natives Era of establishing the close monopoly. — Benefi-
cial effects of free trade exemplified in that of the Ameri-
cans. — Profits and extent of the monopoly trade. — Sug-
gestions for the future conduct of the trade tvith the Indian
Islands,
1 HE productionsoftlie Archipelago whicli the Arabs
conveyed to the ports of the Red Sea were first
distributed among the nations inhabiting the coasts
of the Mediterranean, the only civilized inhabit-
ants of ancient Europe, by the Tyrians. In an
after age, the Greeks of Egypt, in accordance with
the superior enterprise of the European race,
brought these commodities to the Red Sea, and al-
so spread them among the European nations. In still
later ages, they made their way by the double chan-
nel of the Arabian and Persian Gulfs, and by the
212 COMMERCE WITH
necessary land journeys connected with them, and
were now disseminated through Europe by the Vene-
tians and Genoese, aided by the free and commercial
republics of the Low Countries, who conveyed them
into the remotest corners of the European world.
Down to the close of the fifteenth century, the
consumers of Europe were ignorant of the name
and situation of the countries which produced the
commodities on which they set so high a value. *
The great discovery of Vasco Di Gama, in 1498,
changed the commercial history of the world,
which had remained nearly stationary for three
thousand years ; and fourteen years thereafter the
Portuguese obtained the first cargo of spices on
the spot where they grew.
The search for the spiceries of the East, as is
well known, and as has been already*mentioned in
the course of this work, gave rise to the two great-
est events in the history of our species, the discove-
♦ " Navigation, perfected as it is at the present, now
opens all the maritime regions of the world to the knowledge
of mankind ; but, in the early ages, personal intercourse was
impracticable, the communication by sea was unexplored,
and travelling by land was precluded by insecurity. The
native commodities of orie climate passed into another by in-
termediate agents, who were interested in little beyond
the profits of the transit ; and nations in a diflPerent hemi-
gphere were known respectively, not by their history b^t their
^rodace."— Vincent's Periplus, Vol. I. p. 1.
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 213
rj' of a new world and that of the maritime route to
India, which last, in effect, laid open another new
world, richer and more interesting than America.
The delusion respecting the value of spices bears
some resemblance to that which has prevailed re-
specting gold. Elegant and costly aromatics, for
which men expressed so universal a taste, that, at
a time when no other luxuries were in request,
they were purchased at any price, — which necessa-
rily gave rise to a degree of industry and wealth in
those engaged in the distribution of them, and from
which the sovereigns through whose territories they
passed derived a revenue, — great at least for such
rude times, were, by a natural prejudice, consider-
ed intrinsically valuable in themselves. That this
erroneous opinion should be entertained in the fif-
teenth and sixteenth centuries is sufficiently natu-
ral, but that such a chimera should continue to
haunt the imaginations of the politicians of the
present age, and be acted upon by one of the most
polished nations of Europe, in the country which
gave birth to the science of political economy, is
strange enough ; and had we not many otlier ex-
amples of the unwillingness of men to redress
most flagrant abuses of a similar character, might
be thought unaccountable.
The Portuguese, the Dutch, and the English,
are the three European nations whose conduct has
chiefly influenced the commercial destinies of the
214 COMMERCE WITH
nations of the Indian Archipelago ; and a sketch
of the policy which they have pursued will be ne-
cessary towards a proper understanding of the sub-
ject of this chapter. As the Portuguese entered
upon the field of Indian commerce a whole centu-
ry earlier than the European nations who followed
them, they necessarily began in a much ruder and
less improved age than these, at a time when there
was less disposable capital m the country, and when
commercial transactions were necessarily less exten-
sive. It was, besides, rather the spirit of the sove-
reign than the genius of the society over which he
presided, at no time commercial, that led to the
Portuguese discoveries, and to their commerce with
the Indies. These circumstances ought to be con-
sidered in forming our judgment of the early In-
dian trade of Portugal. It was, we may readily be-
lieve, rather the revenue of the state or sovereign
than the disposable capital of the nation, which
was employed in setting the Indian trade in mo-
tion. Neither the merchants of Portugal, nor
indeed of any other part of Europe, except,
perhaps, those of the commercial republics of
Italy and the Low Countries, had, at the time,
a navy capable of conducting a trade to India j
so that, in short, if the sovereign had not un-
dertaken it, the trade, it may be said, could not
have existed at all. From these circumstances,
the despotic nature of the Portuguese government,
4
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 215
and the necessity of combining in one a military
and commercial navy, the trade, of necessity, was
wholly conducted by the king. The ships were
usually of great size, often of fifteen or sixteen
hundred tons burthen, having crews, including the
soldiers, of five and six hundred men. The whole
crew, from the commander to the lowest sailor,
had regular pay ; and, besides his pay, an allow-
ance of tonnage, according to his rank. The goods
belonging to the crew were, besides, free of du-
ties ; and the exclusive monopoly of the king ex-
tended only to the principal articles, as cinnamon,
black-pepper, and the precious spices. This regu-
lation must have occasioned a considerable compe-
tition in the market. In India, conquest and re-
ligious conversion were the primary objects of the
Portuguese, and commerce but a secondary one.
Colonization was unrestricted, and no obstacle
opposed to it but the climate and the hostility of
the natives. The trade in India was perfectly
unshackled, and the Portuguese entering into it
with avidity, did not feel the want of a distant
commerce to Europe, for which their funds were
less adequate.
The Portuguese never attempted, like their
successors, to limit or regulate the growth of any
of the favourite articles of commerce. It happen-
ed, therefore, from the degree of freedom which
prevailed, that their commercial establishments.
2lG COMMERCE WITH
notwithstanding the vices and violence of their ad-
ministration, prospered exceedingly. Malacca, fam-
ed as a commercial emporium under its native so-
vereigns, lost none of its reputation under the Por-
tuguese. An active and unlimited intercourse ex-
isted between the Indian islands and China, and be-
tween them and Japan, of a beneficial nature un-
known to their successors. Their reign in the Ar-
chipelago, which barely lasted a century, has now
been virtually suppressed for two ; yet more mo-
numents of their arts, their religion, and their
language, exist in the country than of those who
succeeded them, whose authority has been twice
as long established, and who are at this moment in
the actual exercise of it.
The benefits of the Portuguese government and
commerce, merely the result of the unfettered influ-
ence of European manners and institutions, and by
no means arising cut of any scheme of policy ori-
ginating in the wisdom of the government, was
confined to the Indies. Europe gained no advan-
tage from the discovery of the maritime route to
the Indies. By their wars in the Moluccas the
production of spices was diminished, the ancient
carriers of the trade were plundered, and the Per-
sian Gulf and Red Sea, the avenues by which the
commodities of India reached Europe, were either
seized or blockaded by them. The consequence
of all this w^as, that the commodities of India were
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 217
sold dearer than before the discovery of the new
route. The industry of Europe received no new
impulse, for no new market was created for her
commodities.
Europe had advanced a whole century in civiliza-
tion when the Dutch and English embarked in the
commerce of the Indies. Commerce and navig-a-
tion had, at this time, made considerable advances
among both, but particularly among the first. It
was with the wealth of individuals, therefore,
and not with the revenue of the state, as with
the Portuguese, that they engaged in it. Grant-
ing monopolies to particular branches of dis-
tant commerce, with the view of promoting them,
was the favourite policy of the age, perhaps, in-
deed, the natural result of such rude times, when
there existed little disposable capital, and when
men must have been induced to enter upon such
remote adventures as the commerce of the Indies,
rather from a spirit of gambling than with views
of fair trade. This opinion of the nature of the
early adventures to India is sufficiently certified by
the list of the subscribers to some of the early
voyages. In the first English voyage the whole
subscribers were 237, of whom 212 were for sums
under L.SOO. In the second joint- stock company
of the English, the whole subscribers amounted to
954, of whom 338 only were merchants. The
rest were mere gamblers, entering upon a lottery.
21 S COMMERCE WITH
as sufficiently appears by tlieir titles and designa-
tions. They consisted of " dukes and earls,
knights, judges, the king's council, privy-counsel-
lors, countesses, and ladies, doctors of divinity and
physic, widows, and virgins !" When the nations
of the north of Europe began to adventure in the
India trade, no military navy existed to protect their
distant adventurers from the hostility of European
and native enemies, and of necessity tlieir fleets
must have combined military and commercial ob-
jects. In India factories were to be established,
and forts constructed, for the security of trade.
This the legitimate government of the state want-
ed ability or inclination to do ; and the only re-
medy was, to invest the companies with a portion
of sovereign authority. This explains the true
origin of the monopolies granted of the India
trade. The two most commercial nations of Eu-
rope set the example, and were humbly imitated
by the rest. How institutions, having their origin
in the barbarism of the early part of the seven-
teenth century, have been prolonged to more en-
lightened ages, it is not difficult to explain. The
public, excluded from an intercourse with India,
were necessarily denied the means of obtaining
the requisite knowledge respecting its trade and
resources. The only knowledge that reached them
was contained in the perverted facts brought for-
ward by the monopolists themselves in defence
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 219
of the abuses which were the very source of
their power and privileges. The possession of
political power and patronage made them cling
to these at all hazards, and many honourable
men have pertinaciously defended a system of
malversation, which they believed to be right,
because it was their interest to think it so. Their
possession of patronage naturally connected the
monopoly companies with the respective govern-
ments where they existed ; and thus, but for the
convulsions which have agitated the European
world for the last forty years, the great political
changes favourable to freedom, which have been
the result of the diffusion of useful knowledge,
and the force of public opinion, the abuses which
for three centuries have excluded the two most
wealthy and populous quarters of the globe from
all useful connection with each other, might have
long continued, or been perpetuated.
When the Dutch and English first appeared in
the East Indies, they appeared in the simple cha-
racter of traders, committing occasional acts of pi-
racy, but, upon the whole, maintaining a tolerably
fair reputation with the natives, who contrasted
their peaceful demeanour, and still more peaceful
professions, with the violence and persecution of
the Portuguese and Spaniards. In a very few
years, and as soon as they had superseded their
European rivals, they lost this reputation, and
2^0 COMMERCE WITH
entered upon the system of coercion and vir-
tual spoliation, which continued ever after to
mark their progress. Appearing as armed trad-
ers, they did not fail to use the power which
they had in their hands to possess themselves, on
their own terms, of the produce or property of the
native states with which they traded. The com-
mercial factories which they held within the terri-
tories of the native states, they converted into
forts to overawe the native governments. The
treaties which they entered into with these go-
vernments had for their object to exclude all ri-
valry or competition, to obtain the staple pro-
ducts of industry at their own prices, and to
possess the exclusive monopoly of the native mar-
ket for their own imagined advantage. Most
of these treaties were either violently or sur-
reptitiously obtained ; but every attempt on the
part of the natives to evade the flagrant injus-
tice, as well as absurdity, which an adherence to
them implied, was construed by the traders of Eu-
rope exercising sovereign authority as a perfidious
violation of their rights, and, accordingly, punished
to the utmost of their power. This gave rise to
the long train of anarchy and war which I have
sketched in the historical part of this work. In
the struggle which ensued, the independence of
most of the natives of the Archipelago was sub-
verted, and their commerce and industry subjected
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 221
to the will of the monopolists. It was necessary,
on the success of these political measures, to have
recourse to new methods to obtain the productions
which had brought the traders of Europe to India.
'JTlie country, depopulated and exhausted by wars,
and the incentives to industry and production be-
ing removed, w^ould no longer spontaneously af-
ford them. The resource was to convert the po-
pulation of each particular country into predial
slaves, and to compel them, by arbitrary edicts, to
cultivate the most favoured products of their soil,
and to deliver these exclusively to the monopolists,
at such prices as the latter might be pleased to
grant. It was on this principle, equally iniquitous
and unprofitable, that the English have obtained
their supplies of pepper, and the Dutch their pep-
per, their coffee, their cloves, and nutmegs. In
proportion as each of these articles, from their na-
ture, could be subjected to the severity of the mo-
nopoly regulations, they became injurious to the
growers and useless to the monopolists.
This system of fraud and rapacity naturally
brought upon the European monopoly compa-
nies the aversion and distrust of the native pow-
ers, which were aggravated by the odious pic-
ture of rancorous hatred, originating in the mean
and contemptible spirit of commercial jealousy,
which they displayed towards each other. The
English traduced the Dutch, — the Dutch the
222 COMMERCE WITH
English ; and botli vilified the Spaniards and Por-
tuguese, while they committed acts of piracy and
plunder upon the Asiatic traders, who had the
temerity to venture upon a competition with them.
All the nations of the Archipelago, or those Asiatic
nations having an intercourse with it, whose go-
vernments had vigour enough to resist their en-
croachments, either expelled them from their coun-
try, and refused to hold any intercourse with per-
sons so little worthy of confidence, or placed that
intercourse under the severest limitations. It will
be a matter of curiosity, as well as instruction, to
quote a few examples of the conduct pursued by
the monopoly companies towards the native powers,
and of the measures taken by the latter in con-
sequence. Within fifteen years of their first ap-
pearance in the seas of the Archipelago, the Eng-
lish had established factories at Patani in the Pen-
insula, at Achin, Ticao, and Jambi in Sumatra,
at Bantam and Jacatra in Java, at Succadana and
Banjarmassin in Borneo, in the Banda isles, at Ma-
cassar in Celebes, in Siam, and in Japan. At all
these, by their own recorded acknowledgment, the
company was carrying on a gainful trade, of which
they furnish us with the particulars. In after pe-
riods they fomied establishments at Queda, Ligore,
and Jehore, in the Peninsula, at Passumman, Sil-
lebar, and Bencoolen, in Sumatra, at Japara in
Java, at Balambangan in Borneo, at Camboja, at
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 223
Cochin-Chlna, at Pulo Condore, at Formosa, and in
China at Chusan, Amoy, and Macao. From a few
of these they were expelled by the rivalry of the
Dutch, but from the greater number directly by
the natives, and solely on account of their misde-
meanour and arrogance, and the utter incompatibi-
lity of their claims with the rights and independ-
ence of those natives, who had hospitably received
them. One of the most flagrant examples of their
misconduct was displayed at Banjarmassin, in Bor-
neo, in the year I7O6. Their settlement at Pulo
Condore had just been cut off by their own native
soldiers, at the instigation of the king of Cochin-
China, naturally impatient of their neighbour-
hood, when they formed one at Banjarmassin.
Captain Hamilton gives the following account of
the causes and circumstances of their being driven
out of the latter : " Their factory was not half fi-
nished before they began to domineer over the na-
tives, who past in their boats up and down the ri-
ver, which so provoked the king, that he swore
revenge, and accordingly gathered an army, and
shipped it on large prawSy to execute his rage on
the factory and shipping that lay in the river. The
company had two ships, and there were two others ^
that belonged to private merchants, and I was
pretty deeply concerned in one of them. The
factory receiving advice of the king's design, and
tlie preparations he had made, left their factory
2®4 COMMERCE WITH
and went on board their shipping, thinking them-
selves more secure on board than ashore. Wlien
all things were in a readiness, the army came in the
night with above 100 praws, and no less than 3000
desperate fellows. Some landed and burnt the
factory and fortifications, while others attacked the
ships, which were prepared to receive them.*' He
continues by observing, that " the two great ships,
though in danger, beat off the enemy with small
loss, but the little ships were burnt, with most of
their men ;" and, farther, " but the English were
forced to be gone from their settlement. The
king thought his revenge had gone far enough in
driving them from their settlement, and, finding
the loss of the English trade affected his revenue,
he let all English who traded to Jehore, and other
circumjacent countries, know that he would still
continue a. free trade with the English on the old
footing, but would never suffer them, nor any
other nation, to build forts in his country.'* * The
sequel of this transaction, with its consequences,
are given on a still more authentic authority than
Hamilton's. The company, with the view of re-
storing their commerce and factory, sent, in the
year 1714, Captain Daniel Beeckman, one of their
own commanders, a gentleman of great integrity,
discretion, and abihty. The reception he met with
* New Account of the East Indies, Vol. II. p. I45.
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 225
points out at once the odium in which the Company
was held, the jealousy of the people of Borneo of
all political interference, and their desire for a free
trade, especially with the inhabitants of this coun-
try. The re-establishment of the factory was found
utterly impracticable ; but the two ships under the
orders of Captain Beeckman succeeded in obtaining
complete cargoes by the stratagem of the parties
Jeigni?ig themseh-es to Oe private traders unconnect-
ed 'with tlieCompany. The success in this respect ap-
pears to have been principally owing to the extraor-
dinary address of Captain Beeckman, and his most
conciliatory conduct towards the natives. " After,"
says he, " we had cast anchor, we espied a small
praiso or boat under the shore ; we sent, in a very
civil manner, to the persons that were in it,
and entreated them to come on board. We lay
then with our English colours flying, at which
they were much surprised, knowing how se-
verely they had used our countrymen when last
among them. However, partly through fear, and
partly through our kind invitation, they came on
board. They were very poor-looked creatures,
that had been at Tomhorneo, and had been return-
ing to Tatas. We expressed all the civility ima-
ginable towards them, gave them some small pre-
sents, and desired they would acquaint their king
or grandees in the countiy, that there were two
VOL. III. p
226
COMMERCE WITH
English ships come to buy pepper of them ; that
we were not come to quarrel, but to trade peace-
ably, and would pay them very honestly, and com-
ply with all reasonable demands, according to what
should be hereafter agreed on. They inquired
whether we were Company's ships, to which we
did not readily answer them ; but before we did,
they proceeded and said, That if we were, they,
as friends, would advise us to depart the port forth-
with, because their Sultan and Oran-Cays, or great
men, would by no means have any dealings with
us. The next day came on board of us a boat,
with one Cay liadeiiy TacJca, and Cay Chitra
Uclay^ being messengers from the king. We re-
ceived them as civilly as possible. The first thing
they inquired was, v,hether we were Company's
ships, or separate traders ; that if the former, we
need not wait for an answer, and that it would be
our best ways to be gone ; desiring earnestly, that
what answer we should return them might be sin-
cere, for that whatever we said to them should be
told the Sultan. Finding no other method to intro-
duce ourselves, we were forced to assure them that
xve were jjrivate traders^ and came thither on our
own account to buy pepper. This we did, believing
we might in time have a better opportunity of mak-
ing our honourable masters known, and of excus-
ing the heavy crimes laid on their former servants,
whose ill conduct had been the cause of the fac-
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 2^7
tory's being destroyed. They asked us why we
came thither rather than to any other place, since
our countrymen had so grossly abused them.'* *
The king of Banjarraassin, in one of his conferences
with Captain Beeckman, gave him a narrative of
the conduct on the part of the Company which
led to the destruction of their establishment, which
the honest narrator gives in plain and unequivocal
language. As it aiFords an epitome of the con-
duct which we must always expect in the same
situation when men's interests and duties are at
complete variance with each other, I shall not
scruple to copy it. " He also inquired whether
we were Company ships, or separate traders ; and
being answered the latter, he began to lay heavy
complaints on our countrymen, telling us how
that, at their first arrival, they came like us, and
contracted with him in the same manner, obliging
themselves to build no forts, nor make soldiers ;
but that, under pretext of building a warehouse,
they mounted guns and insulted him, and his sub-
jects, in a most base manner j that he bore it pa-
tiently for a great while, till several of his subjects
were beaten, wounded, and some killed by them,
as they passed by in their boats, on their lawful oc-
casions ; that they forced from them such duties
and customs as belonged only to him, and acted
very contrary to reason or honesty in all their pro-
* ^^.Wn^ ^o Borneo, p. 47, et seq.
^8 COMMERCE WITH
ceedings. " All this," says he, " I bore with great
patience." Then he told us with very great con-
cern, how they fired several of their great shot at the
queen-mother, which frightened her so, that ever
since she continued distracted, and that they would
have taken her prisoner, for what reason he could
not imagine. " This," says he, " I had not patience
to bear." He likewise told us of one Captain Cock-
bum, and some others, whose names I have for-
gotten, who were taken prisoners, and put to
death, and the manner of their suffering. " But,"
continues he, " this is not at present our affair."*
* Voyage to Borneo, p. 74. — Captain Beeckman'sown ob-
servations on this subject, and the candid account he renders
of the judicious measures he pursued, are so apposite, that
I cannot refrain from quoting them, and venturing to o£Fer
his example as a model of the policy which ought, in all pa-
rallel cases, to be followed with the natives of this country.
*' During our stay here," (at Banjarmassin) says he, "jive had
^reat plenty of fish, fowl, potatoes, yams, cucumbers, deer,
goats' flesh, &c. brought to our door every morning early, in
small boats, by women, of whom we bought what we wanted,
and that at a very reasonable rate. This was they owned the
greatest opportunity they ever knew of getting so much
money in so short a time ; for, when the English factory was
there before, there was always such enmity and inveterate
hatred between them, that the natives declared they never
carried to them the tenth part of what they did us, being
willing to have as little to do with them as possible. It is
most certain they had a great hatred against all that belong-
ed to that factory, and even the whole English nation^ for
their sake, which made us meet with more difficulty than
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 2g9
There is no place in which the different Euro-*
pean companies were so anxious to make mono-
polies, and where they were so well resisted, as at
Achin, long the principal commercial state of the
Archipelago, but the trade of which was at last
ruined by the naval superiority of the Dutch, and
the destruction of the commerce of every place
that was wont to trade with it, on the final per^
Jecting ' of the monopoly system. Commodore
Beaulieu, one of the most sensible and intelligent
persons that ever visited the Archipelago, gives us
an account of the animosity of the European na-
tions against each other, and their machinations
against the natives, which it is impossible to read
without disgust. The French had no sooner made
ordinary. It was an imprudent thing of those gentlemen to
have given them occasion of having so barbarous a notion of
the principles and behaviour of all their countrymen. It \»
true we took all the pains imaginable, by an honest, civil,
complaisant way of behaviour and dealfng, to remove this
great prejudice out of their minds, though I must own we
foiuid it a pretty hard task, they being so prepossessed with
an opinion of our baseness and barbarity. I believe, indeed,
that the great confidence we put in them did contribute not
a little to make them have a greater value for us than for
other strangers. They are certainly the most peaceable
people in the world to one another, quarrelling seldom or
never among themselves, and avoiding above all things any
occasion of giving an aftront, because, when once it is given,
it is never to be forgot." — Beeckman's Voyage to Borneo,
p. 101.
2S0 COMMERCE WITH
their appearance than they were attacked by the
Dutch. Beaulieu was informed, *' That the Dutch
had represented to the governor and inhabitants of
that place, (Tikao in Sumatra,) that the French
were robbers, and meant only to observe the land-
ing place in order to sack them ; that they would
not assist our two commissaries any manner of way,
whether in health or sickness, nor give the least
relief to any of our men, bating some few sailors
that they stood in need of ; and that the English
had served our men to the utmost of their power."
He added, " That the governor was very sensible
of the malice of the Dutch, who meant only to en-
gross the Indies to themselves, and had but lately
abused the king of Jacatray and usurped his terri-
tories ; for which reason the king of Achin thought
fit to discharge them from Ticow." *
The same writer aflPords, in the following anec-
dote, a striking picture of the rancorous enmity
and illiberality of the different European nations
in India towards each other at this period. " On
the 1st of February,** says he, " I went ashore
again, and, by the way, met some Portuguese,
whom the king of Achin had laid in irons, and
who told me that the Dutch and English had a
design to poison me. I told them I did not be-
lieve the English would do me any harm j how-
ever, I would be on my guard. They replied,
* Beaulieu's Voyage in Harris, Vol. I. p. 728.
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 231
that, if I went to dine with the English captain
tliat day, I would never return ; and very affec-
tionately begged me to avoid it, because they had
no hopes of being delivered from their captivity
but through my means. But, after all, pursuant
to my promise, I went and dined with the English
captain, Mr Roberts, who treated me very kindly
and handsomely, and gave me nothing to eat or
drink but what he and the rest of the company
took part of." * In an audience which the French
commander had with the Achinese monarch, in
which he informed him of his opinion of the Dutch
and English, and what he had done to defeat their
avarice, " This done,'' says the voyager, " the
king informed me by the Shahandar, that I was
both welcome and safe in his territories ; that, as
to the business of trade, the Dutch and English
used heretofore to have pepper in his country at
an easy rate, but now that they had shewn such
flaming ingratitude, in making war upon the king
of Bantam, who had formerly vouchsafed them a
kind reception, he had thereupon caused all the
pepper plants to be cut down for fear hereafter
they should prove the occasion of trouble ; that, by
this means, the price of pepper was raised to 64
reals the baliar ; and that, even at that price, he
did not much care to let them have it, knowing
* Beaulieu in Harris's Collection, Vol. I. p. 730.
232 COMMERCE WITH
them to be an ill sort of people, that would rob
and pillage, and do any thing, in order to engross
the trade of the Indies to themselves." *
But, three and twenty years after, the Dutch,
with the assistance of the Achinese, conquered
Malacca, they sent a powerful fleet against their
ally, " to bring her to reason,^* by which they
meant to subject her to the servitude of their com-
mercial restrictions. In I675, they renewed their
attempts upon her independence, and blockaded
her ports, t The English, in 1684, on their ex-
pulsion from Bantam by the influence of the Dutch,
tried their fortune in the same way, and sent a
mission from Madras, the modest object of which
was to request permission to erect a fortification,
or, in other words, to raise an independent autho-
rity within the kingdom. " The purport of the
embassy," says Mr Marsden, " was to obtain li-
berty to erect a fortification in her territory, which
she (the queen) peremptorily refused, being con-
trary to the established rules of the kingdom ; add-
* Harris, Vol. I. p. 731.
-j- " About the year 1675, the Dutch made war on her,
(the queen of Achin,) because she would not permit them
to settle a factory at Achin, or rather to make her their
vassal. They shut up the port of Achin by their shipping,
and straitened the to.vn for want of provisions and other
necessaries,"' &c. Hamilton's Neto Account of the East In-
dies, Vol. H. p. 100.
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 233
ing, that, if the governor of Madras would fill her
palace with gold, she could not permit him to
build with brick either fort or house. To have a
factory of timber and plank was the utmost indul-
gence that could be allowed ; and on that footing,
the return of the English, who had not traded
there for many years, should be welcomed with
great friendship." * The queen of Achin appears
to have been not only a better politician, but bet-
ter skilled in the true interests of commerce, than
the East India Company and their governor. All
European merchants, w^ho laid claim to no political
authority, were welcome in her country. Dam-
pier, who was there, expressly tells us, " the
English merchants are welcome here, and I have
heard that they do not pay so much custom as
other nations. The J^utchfree-inen may trade hi-
ther, but the Company's servants are denied that
privilege." t
As the Dutch had most power, they pursued
the phantom of commercial monopoly in regard to
the native states to the greatest length, and be-
came, of course, the most signal victims of the de-
lusion. There was hardly a state in the Archipe-
lago, or its neighbourhood, that escaped their ex-
periments. The artifices pursued by them to
* Historij of Sumatra, p. 14-9.
t Danipicr's Voyngcs^ Vol. II. p. 135.
234i COMMERCE WITH
secure the monopoly of trade at places too inconsi-
derable to be settled as conquests is well described
by Dampier from his own personal observation.
** For where/* says he, *' there is any trade to be
had, yet not sufficient to maintain a factory, or
where there may not be a convenient place to
build a fort, so as to secure the whole trade to
themselves, they send their guard-ships, which, ly-
ing at the mouth of the rivers, deter strangers from
coming thither, and keep the petty princes in awe of
them. They commonly make a shew as if they did
this out of kindness to these people, yet most of
them know otherwise, but dare not openly resent it.
This probably causes so many petty robberies
and piracies as are committed by the Malayans on
this coast. The Malayans, who inhabit both
sides of the straits of Malacca, are in general a
bold people ; and yet I do not find any of them
addicted to robbery, but only the pilfering poorer
sort, and even these severely punished among the
trading Malayans, who have trade and property.
But being thus provoked by the Dutch, and hin-
dered of a free trade by their guard-ships, it is pro-
bable they, therefore, commit piracies themselves,
or connive at> or encourage those who do ; so that
the pirates who lurk on this coast seem to do it as
much to revenge themselves on the Dutch for
restraining their trade, as to gain this way what
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 235
they cannot obtain in the way of traffic." * Conduct
of the nature here related brought the European
character into the greatest discredit with all the
natives of the Archipelago, and the piratical cha-
racter which we have attempted to fix upon them,
might be most truly retaliated upon us. The pet-
ty establishments supported by the Dutch to main-
tain their compulsory regulations, lived, in the
midst of a hostile population, in a state of the ut-
most terror, alarm, and degradation, never count-
ing themselves for a moment secure but in their
forts or ships, f
• Vol. 11. p. 164.
f Dampier gives a very ludicrous picture of the condition
of the Dutch garrison of Pulo Dmding, lying off the coast
of the Malay state of Perah, and one of the establishments
in question. He is describing an entertainment given to
his commander and lady, by the Dutch governor. " But
to return to the governor, he, to retaliate the captain's and
Mr Kichards's kindness, sent a boat a- fishing, to get some
better entertainment for his guests than the fort yielded at
present. About four or five o'clock the boat returned with
a good dish of fish. These were immediately dressed for
supper, and the boat was sent out again to get more for Mr
llichards and his lady to carry aboard with them. In the
mean time the food was brought into the dining-room, and
placed on the table. The dishes and plates were of silver,
and there was a silver punch-bowl full of liquor. The go-
vernor, his guests, and some of his officers, were seated, but
just as they began to fall to, one of the soldiers cried out.
256 COMMERCE WITH
The English, driven first from Jacatra, and then
from Bantam, and refused the liberty of building
Malayans, and spoiled the entertainment ; for immediately
the governor, without speaking one word, leaped out of one
of the windows, to get as soon as he could to the fort. His
officers followed, and all the servants that attended were
soon in motion. Every one of them took the nearest way,
some out of the windows, others out of the doors, leaving
the three guests by themselves, who soon followed with all
the haste they could make, without knowing the meaning of
this sudden consternation of the governor and his people.
But by that time the captain, and Mr Richards and his
.wife, were got to the fort; the governor, who was arrived
before, stood at the door to receive them. As soon as they
were entered, the door was shut, all the soldiers and servants
being within already ; nor was any man suffered to fetch
away the victuals, or any of the plate : but they fired seve-
ral guns to give notice to the Malayans that they were ready
for them ; but none of them came on. For this uproar was
occasioned by a Malayan canoe full of armed men that lay
skulking under the island, close by the shore ; and when the
Dutch boat went out the second time to fish, the Malayans
set on them suddenly and unexpected, with their cressets
and lances, and killing one or two, the rest leaped overboard)
and got away, for they were close by the shore; and they
having no arms, were not able to have made any resistance.
It was about a mile from the fort, and being landed, every
one of them made what haste he could to the fort, and the
first that arrived was he who cried in that manner, and
frighted the governor from supper. Our boat was at this
time ashore for water, and was filling it in a small brook by
the banquetting-house. I know not whether our boat's
crew took notice of the alarm, but tlie Dutch called to
EUROPEAN NATIONS. ' 237
forts in Achin, were invited to Bencoolen and
other adjacent parts by the natives, with the view
of averting, what these apprehended a still great-
er evil, the domination of the Dutch. It by no
means appears that the East India Company's con-
duct was such as to justify the confidence thus
placed in them. The illustrious voyager Dampier
was in the humble station of gunner of Bencoolen,
in the year I69O, but five years after the first forma-
tion of the settlement, and says of it, " The fort
was but sorrily governed when I was there ; nor
was there that care taken to keep up a fair corre-
them, and bid them make haste aboard, which they did ; and
this made us keep good watcli all night, having all our guns
loaded and primed for service. But it rained so hard all the
night, that I did not much fear being attacked by any Ma-
layan ; being informed by one of our seamen, whom we took
in at Malacca, that the Malayans seldom or never make any
attack when it rains. It is what I had before observed of
other Indians, both East and West ; and though then they
might make their attacks with the greatest advantage on
men armed with hand-guns, yet I never knew it practised,
at which I have wondered ; for it is then we most fear them,
and they might then be most successful, because their arras,
which are usually lances and cressets, which these Malayans
had, could not be damaged by the rain, as our guns would
be. But they cannot endure to be in the rain; and it was
in the evening, before the rain fell, that they assaulted the
Dutch boat. — Dampier's Voya^^cs, Vol. 11. p- 175 — 7-
€38 COMMERCE WITH
spondence with the natives in tlie neighbourhood, as
I think ought to be in all trading places especially.
When I came thither, there were two neighbouring
rajas in the stocks, for no other reason but be-
cause they had not brought down to the fort such
a quantity of pepper as the governor had sent for.
Yet these rajas rule in the country, and have a
considerable number of subjects, who were so ex-
asperated at these insolences, that, at I have since
been informed, they came down and assaulted the
fort, under the conduct of one of these rajas." * t
* Dampler, Vol. II. p. 183.
■f Captain Hamilton's account is certainly not more fa-
vourable. " In the year 1693, there was a great mortality
in the colony, the governor and his council all died in a short
time after one another ; and one Mr Sowdon being the eld-
est factor, had his residence at Prayman, or Priaman, a sub-
ordinate factory to Bencolon, being called to the govern-
ment of the colony, but not very fit for that charge, because
of his intemperate drinking, it fortuned in his short reign,
that four princes differed, and rather than run into acts of
hostility, referred their differences to the arbitriment of the
English governor, and came to the fort with their plea. Mr
Sowdon soon determined their differences in favour of the
two that complained ; and because the others seemed dissa-
tisfied with his determination, ordered both their heads to
be struck off, which ended their disputes effectually, and
made them afterwards to make up differences among them-
selves, without troubling the English with their contentions
and impertinent quarrels, but Governor Sowdon was sent
for to Fort St George, and another sent in his place less
sanguine." — Nciv Account of the East Indies, Vol. II. p. 114
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 289
In 1719 the misconduct of the Company's ser-
vants had completely estranged the natives of Ben-
coolen from them, and their pusillanimity induced
them to abandon their post, to which the natives,
in terror of the Dutch power, once more invited
them to return.
It must not be supposed that the delusion of
expecting profit to the trading companies, by
restricting the commerce of the natives, and de-
stroying the incentives to industry, the sure me-
thods of ruining all commerce, belonged only
to the earliest and rudest periods of the Eu-
ropean connection with the Indian Islands. The
principle at least has actuated the conduct of
the Companies and their servants, without in-
terruption, down to the latest times. In 1749,
for example, the Dutch formed a settlement at
Banjarmassin, and soon ruined it, so that for pro-
duce and population, it is no longer to be recog-
nized for the place it was a century back. The
flourishing Malayan settlements of Pontianak had
been formed but a few years, when it attracted the
cupidity of the Dutch, who established a factory,
a fortress, and all their concomitants there, in
1778. From thence they destroyed the rival,
flourishing, and independent states of Mampawa
and Succadana. Pontianak itself, as usual and in-
evitable in such cases, fell to insignificance, until
the removal of the Dutch, when free trade once
240 COMMERCE WITH
more restored it in our times. The Suloos are the
only nation of the Archipelago considerahle for
their numbers and civilization, who have, in all ages
of the European history of these islands, maintain-
ed their independence, for they have with equal spi-
rit and success resisted the encroachments of the
Spaniards, the Dutch, and the English. The
latter, in the year 177^, succeeded for a moment
in cajoling them, and formed an establishment at
Balambangan, on the north coast of Borneo, an
island belonging to them. Two years afterwards
the Suloos, on an experience of the effects of this
establishment, attacked the Company, and expelled
them from their territories. In 1803 the settle-
ment was renewed, but soon voluntarily abandon-
ed. These examples, taken from a great many,
are quite sufficient to prove the utter inutility in a
commercial point of view, and the certain mischief
in every other, of all establishments formed on the
ruinous and illiberal principles hitherto acted upon
by the European nations. When the failure of every
new attempt, one after another, afforded fresh
proof of the absurdity and injustice of the princi-
ples on which they were formed, the wonder is
how, in a long period of two hundred years, they
should still continue to be persevered in.
When the countries in which these monopolies
were established either became impoverished by
the loss of trade which they occasioned, or tlie ex-
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 24J
pence of the establishments necessary to enforce a
policy hostile to the feelings and interests of the
natives of the country, became so great that it
could no longer be borne, the practice of the com-
panies was to withdraw their settlements, and ei-
ther to proclaim that the natives were so treacher-
ous that there was no dealing with them, * or that
some fortuitous circumstance (with which, of course,
they had nothing to do) had rendered the trade
no longer worth conducting.
Of the numerous establishments formed by the
Dutch, not one remained to them at the close
of that period, but those of the territory of which
they had actual military possession, and every one
even of these considered as mercantile concerns
are shewn, by their accounts, to have been losing
concerns to them. To the English there remain-
ed at the close of the same period, out of their nu-
merous settlements, but the wretched establish-
ment at Bencoolen, by which they were yearly
sinking large sums of money, and which they threat-
ened over and over again to abandon. I do not in-
• Every man of sense who has visited the Indian islands,
and dealt temperately and honestly with the natives, comes
off with a favourable impression of their character, while
they are slandered by the supei*ficial and captious who had
hoped to impose on their simplicity, and therefore experien-
ced their resentment.
VOL. in. Q
242 COMMERCE WITH
elude Prince of Wales Island, because it was not
established on the monopoly principles. It was
formed chiefly by two private merchants, * and may
be looked upon as the first European settlement
ever made in the Indian Archipehigo on principles
of ti-ue wisdom and liberality. Its rapid prosperity,
as lonsr as the views of its first founders were not
encroached upon, is remarkably contrasted with
the unfailing miscarriage of the visionary views of
the monopolists.
If we look for a moment to the conduct of the
monopoly companies in their intercourse with the
great nations who are the neighbours of the In-
dian islanders, we shall find that their conduct was
governed by the same principles. The result with
these populous and powerful nations has indeed been
very different, for every where with them the Euro-
peans have either been expelled or placed under the
severest restrictions, and the native states have pre-
served their independence. Beginning from the
west, the English, soon after their first appearance
in India, settled a factory at Siam, and carried on
with that country a beneficial intercourse. They
soon, however, in their usual way, declared it ex-
pensive and unprofitable, and withdrew it. They
again re-established it j and, in 1686, on some idle
pretext, removed it, and declared war against the
* James Scott and Francis Light.
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 243
king of Siam. The English traders were at this
time in great favour in the country, and even ad-
mitted to situations of honour and trust under the
Siamese government. The East India Company
could not hrook their success, and ordered them
out of the country. * The French, so remarkable
in Europe for their conciliatory manners towards
* Hamilton gives the followinsj account of this transaction :
" In former times a good number of English free mer-
chants were settled at Merjee, and drove a good trade, liv-
ing under a mild and indulgent government ; but the old
East India Company, envying their happiness, by an arbi-
trary command, ordered them to leave their industry, and
repair to Fort St George, to serve them, and threatened
the king of Siam with a sea war, if he did not deliver those
English up, or force them out of his country, and, in anno
1687, sent one Captain Weldon, in a small ship called the
Curtany, to Merjee with that message. He behaved himself
very insolently to the government, and killed some Siamers
without any just cause. One night when Weldon was ashore,
the Siamers, thinking to do themselves justice on him, got a
company together, designing to seize or kill the aggressor ;
but Weldon, having notice of their design, made his escape
on board his ship, and the Siamers missing him, though very
narrowly, vented their rage and revenge on all the English
they could find. The poor victims, being only guarded by
their innocence, did not so much as arm themselves to with-
stand the fury of the enraged mob, so that seventy-six were
massacred, and hardly twenty escaped on board of the Cur-
tany ; so there was the tragical consequence of one man's
insolence.
244i COMMERCE WITH
Strangers, have been most signally unfortunate in
their intercourse with the people of Asia. In 1689
they intrigued with the celebrated Constantine
Faulcon * to subvert the independence of the em-
" Before that fatal time, the English were so beloved and
favoured at the court of Siam, that they had places of trust
conferred upon them, both in the civil and military branches
of the government. Mr Samuel White was made shawban-
daar, or custom-master, at Merjee and Tanacerin, and Cap-
tain Williams was admiral of the king's navy ; but the trouble-
some Company, and a great revolution that happened in the
state of Siam, made some repair to Fort St George, others
to Bengal, and some to Atcheen." Hamilton's Neio Ac-
count of the East Indies, Vol. II. p. 63, 64.
* Kampfer gives the following interesting account of Faul-
con, which I transcribe, as it is from the hand of a master :
" Faulcon was a Grecian by birth, a man of great understand-
ing, of an agreeable aspect, and an eloquent tongue, notwith-
standing he was brought up to no learning, and had passed his
younger years mostly at sea among different nations, particu-
larly the English, whose languages he had. Being in the ser-
vice of the latter in the quality of cockswain, he came to Siam
and obtained an employment at court. His natural parts,
ready apprehension, and good success in affairs entrusted with
him, which were first of small consequence, but, by degrees,
of more moment, raised him, in the space of nine years, to
the highest credit and authority. For he was put at the head
of the finances of the kingdom, and had also the direction
of the king's household ; almost all public affairs of the most
important concern were determined by his advice, and wlio-
ever had any thing to solicit was obliged to apply to him."
Hist, of Japan, Vol. I. p. 19.
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 245
pire of Siam, failed, and were for ever expelled
the kingdom. This example of the misconduct of
Europeans in their intercourse with the people of
Asia, and which was caused by the unprincipled
ambition of Louis the XIV., is the only notable
one of which the monopoly companies were not
directly or indirectly the cause.
In the countries lying between Siam and China,
viz. Champa, Camboja, Cochinchina, and Ton-
quin, there existed at one time an intercourse
with European nations, which promised to be of
a most beneficial nature. These countries are,
without doubt, the most highly gifted of all the
continent of Asia, whether we consider the ferti-
lity of their soil, the variety and utility of their
vegetable and mineral productions, the number
and excellence of their harbours, their fine navi-
gable rivers, and the extent of their internal navi-
gation, with the conveniency of their geographical
position for an intercourse with other nations, yet
they are, in point of useful intercourse, as little
known to the great commercial nations of Europe
9,t the present moment, as if they were situated in
another planet. Down to the close of the seven-
teenth century, the Dutch, French, and English,
miiintained a busy intercourse with them, which
was discontinued from the usual causes. There
existed no means of getting the productions of the
country from its intelligent and industrious inlia-
246 COMMERCE WITH
bitants under their natural prices, or of selling fo-
reiirn wares to them for more than they were worth,
and without such aids the costly traffic of joint-
stock companies could not be conducted.
There is no country of Asia in which the un-
principled ambition and avarice of the traders of
Europe have brought them into such utter dis-
grace as Japan, next to China, and in some re-
spects before it, the most civilized country of Asia
— that in which Europeans were received at one
time with the least reserve, and that in which the
institutions and civilization of Europe had made at
one time the greatest progress. By their intem-
perate zeal the Portuguese had indeed brought
persecution and discredit upon themselves and
their religion. But this state of things had in a
great degree subsided for near half a century, and
it was not until the Dutch East India Company
had established themselves in Japan, that the
Christian religion and free intercourse with Eu-
ropeans were for ever interdicted through their
intrigues, and even their active assistance. The
mean compliances of the Dutch were of no use to
them. From year to year their privileges were
abridged, and their persons treated with new con-
tumelies. At first the Japanese could not do
without European commodities, but the inter-
course gradually contracted, they learnt in time to
dispense with them, and lastly almost to despise
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 247
them, a single ship load a year being in the end
enough to satisfy a whole empire.
To conclude with China, it must be recollected
that, although the religious intemperance of the
missionaries had a large share in the exclusion of
Europeans from a free intercourse with that empire,
still that the trade of Europeans with this the great-
est and most civilized country of Asia continued
unrestricted for two centuries, and that it was not
until the monopoly practices were matured that the
intercourse of Europeans was placed under the
present restrictions. Both the Dutch and Eng-
lish began their intercourse with the Chinese
by committing actual hostilities against them.
Notwithstanding this, in the early history of
our intercourse with that country, we were
freely admitted to several of its ports, to Chu-
san, to Tywan, to Amoy, Macao, and Canton,
and it was not until the early part of the last
century, on an experience of our troublesome am-
bition, that our commerce w^as confined to one
port, and laid under severe restraints. A singu-
lar result of these restraints cannot escape us.
In some countries, our East India Companies
have succeeded in establishing their principles ;
from others they have been utterly excluded.
Success in the one, and discomfiture in the other,
have been equally fatal to their commerce. China,
the only country that has had at once tlie courage to
q4S commerce with
receive them, and the wisdom to restrain them,
is the only one with which they have been able to
maintain any thing like a successful traffic. This,
indeed, is one, but not the sole or principal cause
of the success of the Chinese trade in the hands
even of monopoly companies. The great cause
is the unlooked for universality of taste in the Eu-
ropean world for tea, — for a gentle and delightful
narcotic which no country but China can afford,
aiid which, from these qualities, has gained ground,
and still continues to gain ground, in spite of all
the arts by which its price is enhanced to the con>-
sumer. There is no other production of the East
that possesses the same commercial qualities. It
continues to gain ground, notwithstanding its ex-
orbitant cost, and such is the passion for it, that
the consumer gladly pays a tax for the use of it,
to support that monopoly which is against him-
self. The peqietual fear which the monopoly
companies are in of losing so valuable an immuni-
ty, is the cause of a nicety of conduct on their part
in their intercourse with the Chinese, which we
shall in vain look for in their commercial relations
with the other nations of Asia.
During the first century of the monopoly of the
English, their privileges were frequently invaded,
and this circumstance, as appears by comparing the
results, was highly advantageous to the Indian com-
merce. In that disturbed period of English history.
EUROPEAN NATIONS. <2i9
chartered rights were but imperfectly regarded j the
East India Company had as yet acquired little poli-
tical weight in the state ; it was not, therefore, in a
condition to influence the legislature, and to hood^
wink the nation; and as its privilege was too palpably
at variance with natural right, no opportunity of in-
vading it was lost sight of. It was the fate of the
Indian commerce, that the establishment of civil
liberty, and of the regular authority of the laws, so
beneficial to every other branch of industry, should
prove injurious to it alone. Before the revolution,
all the charters granted to the company were
granted by the king only, without tlie sanction of
his parliament ; and, on the advice of eminent law-
yers, were very generally and properly disregarded.
At the close of the seventeenth century, an active
commerce was conducted by the persons designated
by the monopolists under the cant term of interlO'
perSy in every part of India, notwithstanding the vio-
lence and open hostility of the East India Company,
When we read the accounts of the state of India
at this period, advert to the prosperity of many of
the native states, the confidence which subsisted
between the European traders and the natives,
and the practical knowledge which we had of the
people from the Red Sea to China, we are com-
pelled to admit, that, for 1^0 years, we have been
not only in a stationary, but a retrograde state.
250 COMMERCE WITH
and that we owe this to the sacrifices we have made
to erroneous principles.
The first effectual measure taken to suppress
free trade was in 1686, in the most arbitrary mo-
ment of the reign of James the Second, when, for
the first time, a ship of war was dispatched to India,
bearing a royal proclamation, directing the free
traders to place themselves under the control of
the company, and abandon their pursuits. After
the access of a Dutch prince to our throne, many
sacrifices were made to the supposed interests of
the Dutch. During the reign of William, how-
ever, so little were the people of England of opi-
nion that the trade of India belonged of exclusive
right to any body of men, that numerous free
traders were still permitted to go out by licence,
and even a second East India Company was
formed. From the union of this new company
with the old one in 1702, under Queen Anne, is
to be dated the ruin of free trade, — the triumph
of monoply principles, and, of course, the cessation,
as far as Great Britain was concerned, of all useful
intercourse with India, — a blank of 112 years.
From the statements now given, we are left to
the alternative of admitting, that the India trade,
like every other trade, can only be conducted by
separate and individual enterprise. This princi-
ple is indeed more peculiarly appHcable to the
Indian trade than to any other, if it were not
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 251
imperative in all. A trade conducted by a joint-
stock company, with civilized and powerful
nations, is only liable to the objection which
arises from the slovenly and expensive manage-
ment which is inseparable from its nature, but
one conducted by such a body, with half civilized,
timid, and strange nations, is liable to a more seri-
ous one. The individual adventurer is compelled
by necessity to accommodate his conduct to the
habits and institutions of the people with whom he
trades. If the trade be worth conducting on their
terms, he perseveres in it. Armed with no power,
and appearing among them for purposes purely
commercial, he excites no jealousy, and in the end
his intercourse being discovered to be both safe,
profitable, and agreeable, it is not only tolerated,
but courted. Particular acts of violence or aggres-
sion may occasionally be committed by individual
traders in the earlier periods of such an intercourse ;
but acts of aggression are neither in the nature, nor
compatible with the interests of the peaceful pur-
suits of commerce, and the misconduct of an indi-
vidual would soon be explained and compensated
for, without danger of implicating the national
character, by the prudence and discretion of the
greater number. It is almost needless to insist
that the trading companies must, from their very
nature, act on different principles. They are
armed with political and arbitrary power, appear.
252 COMMERCE WITH.
in short, at once in the character of traders and
sovereigns, and attempt, of course, under those cir-
cumstances, to impose their own terms upon the
nations with whom they hold intercourse, instead
of submitting to the authority of the laws of the
country. They identify their own conduct, and
the success of the particular schemes on which they
are bent, with the honour and interests of the nation
to which they belong, while the native states na-
turally conclude, that the misconduct of these par-
ticular bodies is that of the whole nation. It
would be strange, indeed, reasoning a priori, if
one had not a thousand examples to bring in proof,
if a combination so unnatural did not excite the
distrust of the nations, and end in the expulsion
of the monopolists, or the restriction of their trade,
wherever they have not been able to maintain
themselves by the power of the sword. Of the utter
failure of the monopoly projects we have too many
examples. Of the success of free trade we have
one great one in the Ipdian commerce of the
Americans. The first appearance of an Anglo-
American trader in the ports of India in the year
1784( is the true era of the commencement of fair
and legitimate commerce between India and the
civilized nations of the west. The period of near?
ly three centuries which preceded that event may
truly be described as a period of delusion, in which
the nations of Europe, to their own loss and dis-
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 253
honour, were pursuing a mischievous phantom.
During all the time of the American trade, it has
never connected itself with any political concern of
the natives, never embroiled itself in their quar-
rels ; nor has any American ship ever been cut off'
by the rudest tribe they have dealt with. In the
very vicinage of our powerful establishments, they
are now pushing their enterprises in situations that
we have neglected for more than a century, and,
by their conciliatory conduct, retrieving that cha-
racter which their progenitors had lost. Their trade,
in all this time, has been progressively flourishing,
and, without entering into the question of its in-
trinsic superiority over the trade of the former mas-
ters of the Indian commerce, is, in point of mere
quantity, incomparably more extensive.
If it should be objected, that a period of thirty-six
years does not afford us sufficient time to judge of the
moderation of the Americans, and of the success of
their mode of carrying on the Indian trade, its im-
measurable advantage over the monopoly system
may, at all events, be proved, when it is remem-
bered that the Dutch and English had been little
more than half this time engaged in the same
trade, when they had already quarrelled with and
insulted every maritime power in the Indies, in-
vaded, conquered, and plundered those who had
received them hospitably, quarrelled with and mas-
sacred one another j and, by all these means, sub-
Q51t COMMERCE WITH
jected their trade to expences which no legitimate
profit could cover, and which they were only at
first enabled to carry on from the inadequate prices
they paid the natives for what they bought, with
the enormous profits they exacted from their coun-
trymen ; and, lastly, by the ingenious intricacy
and confusion of the accounts with which they have
contrived to perplex their respective publics.
Having rendered this account of the nature and
character of the commercial relations which sub-
sisted between the European rations and the peo-
ple of India, I shall take a view of the nature of
their commercial connection with their own coun-
trymen. Europe, in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, w^as not the great commercial and manu-
facturing community which it now is, — capable of
supplying Asia with cheap commodities, suited to
the taste of the latter. No raw produce of Asia —
no productions of that quarter of the globe, become
now necessaries of life — were in demand with the
European consumer ; nor, were there an effective
demand for them, could the rude state of naviga-
tion, shackled by monopoly restrictions, afford to
import them. The exports were trifling ; and the
imports consisted solely in articles of luxury, chief-
ly spiceries, with a few manufactured silk and cot-
ton stuffs. This was a commerce, which, from its
very nature, could never be very extensive, or be-
come a national object. There existed no limit
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 255
to the demands of the merchant but the capacity
or inclmation of the consumer to purchase ; and,
in the course of the trade, every experiment was
certainly tried upon his docility.
In the first period of the trade of Europeans to
India, their profits were necessarily very large, and
may generally be described as amounting to the
whole difference between the expence of bringing
goods to Europe by land and sea, since, as will af-
terwards be shewn, the principal commodities fell
veiy little in price. In the first two voyages of
the English, notwithstanding the inexperience,
errors, and unskilfulness of the undertakers, they
divided a profit of 95 per cent. In the third voy-
age they divided a profit of 234 per cent. ; in the
fifth voyage 21 1 per cent. ; in the sixth voyage up-
wards of 121 per cent. ; in the seventh voyage 218
per cent. ; in the eighth voyage 211 per cent. ; in
the ninth voyage l60 per cent. ; in the tenth voy-
age 148 per cent. ; in the eleventh voyage 320 per
cent. ; and in the twelfth 133-18 per cent.
The Dutch, as they started earlier, and naviga-
ted their ships more skilfully, made probably still
more profitable voyages. Even after they took the
fatal step of trading on a joint stock, they are de-
scribed for a moment as making a profit of 130 per
cent. Although the profits now described were
enormous, even for these rude times, they bore no
proportion to the difference between the prices
25 G COMMERCE WITH
paid for the commodities in India, and that charg-
ed to the consumer. We are enabled to form an
adequate opinion of the prodigious expensiveness of
the conveyance of the productions of India at that
time, by shewing the balance between the first cost
of these productions, and the selling prices in Eu-
rope. In the third English voyage, for example, a
cargo of cloves, purchased at Amboyna for L.29i8,
15s., sold in England forL. 36,287, or at an advance
of 1 130 per cent. The whole profits of the voyage,
notwithstanding, amounted to no more than 234?
per cent. ; so that, if the other articles of which the
cargoes consisted were equally profitable, the charges
must have amounted to the enormous sum of 896 per
cent, on the homeward investment. Twenty years
after the first establishment of the trade, pepper
and cloves are described by the monopolists them-
selves as still selling at 700 per cent., mace at 800,
and nutmegs at 650,— advances, however, which, as
will be afterwards proved, are much underrated.
Notwithstanding this, the highest profit ever real-
ized did not exceed 320 per cent., and the profit of
the whole twelve voyages averaged but 138 per cent.
The profits were soon reduced from a variety of
causes, — as the trading on joint stocks, and the
enhancement of charges necessarily consequent to
so injudicious a system, — the fall of prices which
was necessarily produced from the large importa-
tions from India, in spite of all the arts used to
10
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 257
keep them up, — the advance of prices in India, —
first, from the competition of the different nations
engaged in the trade, and, lastly, from difficulties
thrown in the way of growing them by the mono-
poly bodies themselves, — from the hostilities com-
mitted by the different companies on each other,—
and, finally, by their expensive wars with the na-
tive powers.
It is remarkable enough, that the early and only
successful trade, both of the Dutch and English, was
virtually a free trade. The Dutch trade, during the
first six years of it, was completely free, and it was
then the greatest profits were made. The English
trade, although under the name of a Company, was
really so too, each voyage having, for the first twelve
years, been conducted and managed as a separate
concern. It was then only that the India Company
divided the large profits I have already stated.
During the first 20 years that the Dutch traded on
a joint stock, their average profits were reduced to
22^ per cent, per annum ; in the next 20 it fell
to 12^ ; in the third it was 19 ; in the fourth 19^ ;
in the fifth 18 ; in the sixth 22 ; in the seventh
28 ; in the eighth 19 ; in the ninth 18 ; and for
the last 25 years, or from 1771 to 1796, but 12]
per cent. Tlie average profits, during the whole
period of the trade, give but 1 9 per cent. It is
evident, therefore, that the rates of profit, all aldng,
must have been far below the regular and natural
VOL. III. K
258 COMMERCE WITH
profits of stock ill the country ; and It must there-
fore be admitted, that the trade was a losing one,
or that the national capital was diverted from its le-
gitimate employment to the detriment of the society.
From the year 17^3, a regular account has been pre-
served of the prices of the Dutch East India Com-
pany's stock, which affords a better test of the state
of the trade than the arbitrary dividends made by
the directors. In the first period of ten years, the
stocks were at 656 ; in the second they fell to 570 ;
in the third to 470 ; in the fourth to 443 ; in the
fifth to 437 ; in the sixth to 338 ; in the next
thirteen years they fell to 300 and to 170 ; and for
the last two years to 50, although 12^ per cent,
preposterously continued still to be the dividend.
The results of the English joint-stock trade were
still more disastrous, although, as their accounts
were kept with less accuracy, and their concerns
more mixed up with political matters, their errors
are more difficult of detection. The profits of the
first four voyages, on joint-stock account, averaged
no more than 87 i per cent, in four years, although
one ship's cargo sold at an advance of 700 per
cent., so that it is evident there was a national loss
incurred in the very outset. The second joint'
stock company appears to have conducted a losing
trade, for, after fourteen years, they were able on-
ly, with difficulty, to reimburse the original pro-
prietors, and their balances were made over to the
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 259
third joint-stock company, at a valuation of no
more than ISg per cent. The third joint-stock
company in eleven years divided a profit of 35 per
cent, in all, and it is but too evident that this was a
losing concern. It would be but idleness to prose-
cute further the results of a system of delusion by
which the Company have equally deceived them-
selves and the public, as I think few will be hardy
enough now to assert that a real profit was ever af-
terwards realized at all.
It is singular enough to compare the real cha-
racter and extent of the Indian commerce, con-
ducted by our ancestors, with the magnificent state-
ments of it with which our fancy has been amused.
The splendid commerce of the Portuguese, which
is described as enriching that people, and the loss
of which is said to have ruined the Venetians,
amounted to less than seven ships a-year during
its whole duration. From its commencement in
1497 to 1640, 143 years, the whole of the ships
sent out to India amounted to no more than 980.
The results of the trade of the Dutch East In-
dia Company, considered by the monopolists to be
that which was conducted with most skill, and
that which proved most beneficial to the state, is
not less mortifying. From 1614 to 1730, the
prosperous period of the Company's affairs, the
whole number of ships which arrived in Holland
was but 1621, giving an average for eaoli year
260 COMMERCE WITH
of but 14, which is by no means equal in number
or tonnage to the present free trade of the Ameri-
cans with the very colonies of the Dutch them-
selves.
The English trade hardly exhibits more flatter-
ing results. In the first twenty-one years, the
successful period of the trade, the average number
of ships which it employed yearly was little more
than four. Of these, 12j per cent, were captured
by the Dutch, and such was the unskilfulness of
the navigators, that lOi per cent, were lost. From
the year 1680 we possess actual statements of the
t»nnage employed by our East India Company.
In the first period of twenty years, or from the
year 1680 to ths close of the century, when the
Company had been one hundred years engaged in
the trade, the whole yearly tonnage employed was,
on an average, but 4590 tons. In the next twen-
ty years it had fallen ofiP, and was 4232 only ; in
the third period it was 6796 ; in the fourth it was
8861 ; in the fifth period it was 13,350 ; and in
the period which closed the last century it was
26,300. We should fall into an egregious error
if we were to ascribe the increase of shipping thus
exhibited to any legitimate and beneficial increase
in the commerce of the Company. It arose alto-
gether from circumstances forced or fortuitous.
The chief cause has been the accidental and un-
looked-for circumstance of tea having become, in
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 26 1
rapid progression, an article of great consumptioa
in this country ; and it would, I imagine, be as
unfair to ascribe the prosperity of the East India
Company's commerce to this circumstance, as to
take the extent of the monopoly of salt in Old
France, or the king's monopoly of tobacco in
Spain and the Americas, or their own monopoly
of salt in Bengal, as just criteria of the pro^
sperity of those countries. In the first period
there was not a ton of tea consumed in all Ens:-
land. In the second the tonnage occupied by it
would not exceed 160 tons. In the third period
it would rise to near a thousand. In the fourth pe-
riod it would amount to above ^000 ; in the
fifth period to about 5()00 ; and in the sixth pe-
riod to 15,149. This last being deducted from the
increase at the close of the last century, would leave
the amount only 11,151 tons, or give an increase,
in one hundred and twenty years, of only 7561
tons, after the Company had acquired an immensity
of territorial possessions, with a population of sixty
millions of inhabitants, from having hardly a foot of
land. If we take this last circumstance especially into
consideration, and make the necessary allowance,
at the same time, for the prodigious increase of
Europe during this period in wealth and populous-
ness, no doubt can exist that the comparative ex-
tent of the Indian trade is greatly less than it was.
What freedom of commerce is capable of effect-
262 COMMERCE WITH
ing is sufficiently shewn in the example of the
great commerce conducted by the Americans, and
if farther illustration be requisite, our own free
trade affords it. Shackled as it is, there has been
yearly employed in it, since its commencement, a-
bout sixty-one thousand tons of shipping. The
whole trade of our East India Company, before it
was interfered with by the former, was about forty
thousand tons. The free trade is, therefore, half
as extensive again as this. There ought to be de-
ducted from the Company's trade, however, twenty
thousand tons employed in the trade to China,
and then the result will be, that the free trade,
in less than four years, has grown to three times
the extent of what the East India Company's at-
tained in two hundred and twenty years.
Having rendered this ample account of the er-
rors of our former policy, it is incumbent on me to
offer a few suggestions respecting that which ought
in future to guide us in our intercourse with the
people of the Indian islands. Their condition in
social improvement has been pointed out, — the com-
modiousness of their commercial position has been
shewn, — and the rich variety of their native produc-
tions described. The commerce of these islands is
not only of importance in itself, but as the high-
way to the greatest nations of Asia passes inevit-
ably through them, and as they are connected with
these by the strongest of all ties among nations,
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 263
their mutual wants, their usefulness to each other,
and the fiicility of intercourse between them, Eu-
ropean nations will be, most likely, through their
means, to maintain an useful intercourse with
the former, from a direct and free connection with
whom they are at present excluded by insurmount-
able barriers. The silent and unrestrained effects
of the capital and enterprise of the European na-
tions will probably, in time, if pennitted free
scope, bring about this beneficial arrangement
without much care on the part of a legislator,
but it will not be out of place to offer such sug-
gestions as may facilitate the way to it. With
the poor, scattered, and semibarbarous nations of
the Archipelago, naturally too unobservant of the
principles of international law, it cannot be ex-
pected that the distant and inexperienced trader
of Europe should be able to conduct directly a com-
merce either very extensive, secure, or agreeable.
It will be necessary, both to his convenience and
security, as well as to those of the native trader,
that the intercourse between them should be con-
ducted by an intermediate class in whom both can
repose confidence. A colonial establishment be-
comes the only means of effecting this object. In-
numerable islands of the vast Archipelago are still
unappropriated, and to colonize them is, therefore,
not only consistent with natural justice, but, in the
existing state of the European world, might almost
Q64> commeuce with
be urged as a moral duty. In selecting fit situa-
tions for such colonies there is ample room for
choice, many of the islands containing commodious
harbours, and fertile lands, while they are situated
in the direct route of the intercourse between the
most civilized tribes of the Archipelago itself, as
well as in the tracts of the navigation between the
great nations of the east and west. The most ci-
vilized and commercial tribes of the Archipelago
are situated towards the western part of it, and
the principal avenues, as well as great thorough-
fares, are also in this quarter. Perhaps the most
happy situation for an European colony in this di-
rection is the island of Banca, which has fine har-
bours and an extensive territory, occupied only by
a few straggling mountaineers, of peaceable and
inoffensive character. The strait which divides it
from Sumatra is the safest and best route for the
trade of all the western world, with the principal
parts of the Archipelago itself, and with every
country lying to the north or east of it from Siam
to Japan, all of which are only conveniently acces-
sible through it. In the navigation from the coun-
tries on the shores of the Bay of Bengal through
the Straits of Malacca to the same countries it is
scarcely out of the way. In a word, taking all its
advantages into consideration, it may safely be pre-
dicted, that the European colony of a commercial
people, formed under favourable auspices, in Banca,
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 265
would be attended with a more rapid prosperity
than ever was known before in the whole history
of colonization.
Situations of minor advantage may be pointed
out in various places of this portion of the Archi-
pelago. Penaug is one of these ; and another
much superior to it is the island of Sincapoor, cor-
rectly written Singahpura, * lately selected, with
much judgment, by Sir Stamford Raffles, and situ-
ated at the eastern entrance of the great Straits of
Malacca, the second in point of importance of the
grand avenues to the Archipelago. The natural
advantages of this neighbourhood are such that they
could not escape the natives of the country them-
selves in the course of ages. It was here that the
first Malayan colony from Sumatra was formed ;
and it was here, again, that the same people fixed
themselves after they were driven, by the usurpa-
tion of the Portuguese, from Malacca. An in-
spection of the map will suggest many other favour-
able positions for similar establishments in the
centre and eastern extremity of the Archipelago ;
but, to specify any in particular, would require a
knowledge of local circumstances too minute and
technical for my experience or knowledge. In
general, it may be said, that they ought to be
• A Sanskrit compound Word, mcaiunj^ " the city of tliu
lion ;" or " the warlike city."
QG6 commerce with
situated in such places as the Straits of Ma-
cassar, the northern coast of Borneo, and the
Country of spices. The Dutch ah-eady possess
establishments in the latter, and it is only neces-
saiy to declare a free trade, establish a tolerably li-
beral administration, and relieve the neighbouring
islands from the fetters which shackle their indus-
try, to insure their immediate advancement to
prosperity. The European establishments in Java,
with the distinguished fertility of that island above
all the other countries of the Archipelago, will
always insure to it a pre-eminence, and render it
the favourite and principal resort of the distant
trader of Europe.
The situation of the countries of the Indian
Archipelago is naturally so favourable to the set-
tlement of foreigners of all descriptions, that hard-
ly an establishment was ever formed by them that
did not flourish in a remarkable degree as long as
any share of prudence or good government was
maintained in it. The indigenous civilization of
the country, indeed, has not been formed on the
sea-coasts, or through the medium of commerce,
but wherever the improved agricultural nations of
the interior have been moved to emigrate, and
form commercial establishments on the coasts, these
have been sure to be attended with success. We
may quote for this the examples of ancient Malac-
ca, a colony of the Malays of the interior of Suma-
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 267
tra, Palembang, a colony of the Javanese of the in-
terior of Java^ with Baiijarmassin, a colony of the
same people.
The effects of the influence of Asiatic strangers,
more civilized than the natives, is exemplified
wherever the Arabs, the most enterprising of all
Asiatic people, have attained political influence.
The remarkable prosperity of Bantam, Achin,
Macassar, and Pontianak, occur to us as signal
examples. To insure a large share of success in
such cases, it seems that no more was necessary than
the bare establishment of such a degree of regular
government, however arbitrary in itself, as would
insure a moderate share of security to person and
property.
If such prosperity accompanied the rude institu-
tions of Asiatic nations, what a degree of it might
not be looked for under the auspices of those of
Europe ? From the nature of the policy pursued
by the European nations, we are deprived, in-
deed, of any flattering examples of it j but the
partial success which has attended several Eu-
ropean establishments, amidst all the vices of
their administration, will be sufficient for our
purpose. Malacca, where the Portuguese traded
freely, and colonized without restriction, was pro-
bably, during their dominion, though surrounded
by enemies and the almost perpetual scene of warfare
and anarchy, the most flourishing city which ever
existed in the Archipelago, liatavia, the only set-
^68 COMMERCE WITH
dement of the Dutch where there was a semblance
of free trade, became, by means of it, a great
and flourishing city, while every other establish-
ment belonging to Holland was ruined by being
deprived of it. Manilla affords another example,
so that we may see that the worst governments of
Europe are superior to the best governments of Asia,
when they only forbear from interrupting the na-
tural effects of European institutions, and the usual
course of commerce and colonization, by vain at-
tempts at regulation. Perhaps the proudest ex-
ample of the success of European establishments,
formed in the Archipelago, is that of the little
settlement of Penang, or Prince of Wales Island,
already quoted. This is a small spot of barren
soil, having a good harbour, but too far to the
west, or, in other words, too remote from the most
populous and productive parts of the Archipelago,
and entirely out of the way of the easiest and safest
avenue, the Straits of Sunda. It was found with-
out people, yet such was its rapid prosperity, that
in twenty years it contained as many thousand
inhabitants, and if, in the latter period of its his-
tory, it had not been managed injudiciously, and
the principles on which it was founded abandoned,
its success might have gone on in the same ratio
for many years.
With respect to the administration of such a
colony, as now projected, a few general hints only
can be given. There ought to exist the most un-
10
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 2G9
bounded freedom of commerce and settlement to
persons of all nations and religions. It need hard-
ly be insisted, that the latter implies a right of pri-
vate property in the soil, so unjustly and absurdly
withheld from our countrymen in India, for with-
out it the settlers would be no better than disreputa-
ble vagrants, having no attachment to the land, nor
to the government that afforded them protection.
To establish, in all respects, a free government on a
representative system, will be found, perhaps, im-
practicable with the motley population, * of which
such a colony would consist. To a representative
body, however, the right of imposing taxes must
be left, and, if the representatives are chosen alike
from all the classes of inhabitants — if the elective
franchise be confined to those who, by long resi-
dence, have acquired the right of naturalization,
and to persons of considerable estate, no danger
from turbulence or anarchy can be apprehended.
A pure and impartial administration of a code of
laws suited to the state of such a colony, and adapt-
ed to the peculiar character of its varied population,
will form the most important branch of its admi-
nistration.
With respect to the duty of the chief magistrate.
* At Pcnang, it is reckoned that tlicre are twenty- two lan-
guages spoken, and at Batavia tliere are many more.
270 COMMERCE WITH
I need hardly insist upon a political maxim so
well understood, as that the less he meddles in
the internal details of the affairs of the colony, and
the more those details are committed to the intel-
ligence and interests of those who are chiefly con-
cerned, the better chance there will be of their be-
ing well conducted. His principal and most im-
portant occupation will consist in maintaining the
foreign relations of the colony. No control
ought to be attempted over the independent
governments of the neighbourhood, but a friend-
ly and equal correspondence maintained with
them. Above all things, the imposition of treaties
requiring exclusive privileges, or exemption from
duties, ought to be avoided. It is evident, that
th6 greater the revenue that a native sovereign
derives from his intercourse with strangers, the
stronger will be his motives to protect their com-
merce, and encourage their resort to his country.
An European merchant, trading more cheaply
than an Asiatic one, ought not to grudge paying
the same duties. Besides, to the bigoted nations
of Asia, innovations of all kinds are odious, and of
themselves quite enough to excite distrust. The
most suspicious of all innovations are those which
trench, or seem to trench, on the personal interests
or prerogatives of the sovereign.
In such a magistrate, a thorough knowledge of
the customs, usages, and institutions of the sur-
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 271
rounding natives, with a knowledge of the language
principally used in their intercourse, would be in-
dispensable. The reputation of these acquirements,
with a character for justice and integrity, are sure
to attach the natives of the Indian islands to a sur-
prising degree. Persons of high rank in possession
of these qualities acquire over the native mind an
unbounded sway, and there is hardly any limit, in-
deed, to the confidence they repose in them.
A moderate impost upon external commerce,
which that commerce, well protected, should cer-
tainly afford, with the sale of public lands, and an
excise on objects of vicious luxury, would afford a
sufficient revenue to defray the expences of go-
vernment, and the charge of public works.
I shall conclude this sketch with a short enu-
meration of some of the benefits which would be
derived from such establishments. They would na-
turally become great emporia. The native trader
would find them the best and safest market to
repair to, and the scattered productions of the
Archipelago would be accumulated and stored
at them in quantity for the convenience of the
distant and inexperienced trader of Europe. The
European voyager would find them also the best
market for his goods ; and the sacrifice of a large
nominal profit would be compensated by the ex-
pedition with which his business would be dis-
patched, and by his immunity from those risks.
272 COMMERCE WITH
dangers, and delays, into which his inexperience
must necessarily commit him in a direct inter-
course witli the natives. It is sufficiently evident,
in short, that, in this manner, a more agreeable, ex-
tensive, and beneficial intercourse to all the parties
concerned would be conducted, than in any other.
More important and dignified objects, though per-
haps more remote ones, would be gained by the pre-
sence of such colonies in the midst of a native and
docile population. By means of them the arts, in-
stitutions, morals, and integrity of Europe, might
in time be communicated to the natives of these
distant regions, while they might contribute still
earlier to give occupation to the population of
those parts of the European world which are ac-
knowledged to require new objects of employment.
In the unappropriated lands of the Indian Islands,
there is abundant room for the colonization of the
European race ; and unlike the desert Promontory
of Africa, or the superior, but isolated and distant
Continent of Australasia, they would find abund-
ant objects to engage their industry. The exam-
ple of the vigorous race of genuine European
blood, bred in the hot plains of South America,
under the very line, would seem satisfactorily to
prove, that the long entertained notion that the
European race undergoes, from the mere eflPect of
climate, a physical degetieracy when transported to
the native countries of the black or copper-colour-
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 278
ed races, is no better than a prejudice. The dif-
ferent races of men appear to preserve their dis-
tinctions wholly independent of climate. In hot
countries, the first settlers feel, indeed, the incon-
veniences of heat, but the constitution of their de-
scendants immediately adapts itself to the climate
which they are born to inhabit. Were it other-
wise, the extensive table lands and mountain tracts
of the great islands, elevated at 5000 and 6000 feet
above the level of the sea, would afford a tempera-
ture cold enouo-h even for an inhabitant of north-
o
ern Europe. *
After this sketch of what appears the most ma-
terial and expedient method of extending the in-
* "In climates very warm, and at the same time very dry,
the human species enjoys a longevity perhaps greater than
what we observe in the temperate zones. This is especially
the case whenever the temperature and climate are neces-
sarily variable. The Europeans, who transport themselves
at an age somewhat advanced into the equinoctial part of
the Spanish colonies, attain there, for the most part, to a
great and happy old age. At Vera Cruz, in the midst of
the epidemical black vomitings, the natives, and strangers
seasoned for several years to the climate, enjoy the most
perfect health." — Political Essajj on Nerv Spain, Vol. I. — In
another of his works, Baron Humboldt tells us that there
are in the hot plains of America, near the equator, men of
the genuine European race, who are as athletic as the pea-
santry of Spain, and perform all sorts of field labour in the
sun without inconvenience.
VOL. III. S
274 COMxVIERCE WITH
tercourse between European nations, the inhabit-
ants of the Indian Islands, and the nations iu
their neighbourhood, I shall furnish a general
picture of the character of the commercial ex-
changes which must take place between them in
an unrestricted intercourse. The Indian Islands
present to us an immense country, more easy of
access to the merchant und navigator than any
other portion of the globe, owing to the tranquil-
lity of the seas which surround them, that, like so
many canals, or great navigable rivers, throw the com-
munication open, and render it easy from one extre-
mity to another. This great advantage peculiarly
distinguishes them from the continuous territory of
the Continent of Africa, from a great part of that
of Asia, and from some of that of America. At
the same time, as many of the islands are of vast
extent, the whole region is exempt from that cha-
racter of sterility to which islands of small size
within the tropics are naturally liable from the ab-
sence of considerable rivers, indispensable to ferti-
lity in those climates, All the great islands con-
tain navigable rivers, and many of them extensive
inlets and bays, or fine harbours. In a commer-
cial point of view, the immediate neighbourhood
of the Indian Islands to the greatest nations of Asia
is one of their most prominent characteristics. With
respect to fertility of soil, they are eminent. Their
mineral and animal productions are various, rich,
12
EUROPEAN XATIONS. 275
and extensive. They afford in luxuriance the ve-
getable productions common to other tropical cli-
mates, and some which are peculiarly their own,
and whicli refuse to grow in cheapness or perfec-
tion any where else. It is, at the same time, to
be remarked of these last, and it is a singular coin-
cidence, that they have been, and still are, in more
universal request among men, in every rank of
social improvement above that of mere savages,
than the productions of any other portion of the
globe. *
Of this vast region of the earth it is but a small
portion that is yet inhabited. By far the greater
portion of the land, perhaps even of the good land,
is still unoccupied, uncultivated, and unappropri-
ated. There is, in fact, still room for an immense
population. Among the various inhabitants of
which it consists, there is a wide difference in
point of industry. A few are roaming about their
forests, as useless, as unproductive, and perhaps
* It is to the productions of these islands that Dr Robert-
son chiefly alludes, when he observes, " Some of these are
deemed necessary, not only to the comfort, but to the pre-
servation of life, and others contribute to its elegance and
pleasure. They are so various as to suit the taste of man-
kind in every climate, and in different stages of improve-
ment ; and are in high request among the rude nations of
Africa, as well as the more luxurious inhabitants of Asia."
Disquiiition concerning Ancient India, p. liT-
276
COMMERCE WITH
more mischievous, than the beasts of prey that
wander along with them ; but by far the greater
number have made a respectable progress in social
order, tamed the useful animals, applied them-
selves successfully to agriculture, to fisheries, to
navigation, and even to mining. The produc-
tions of industry have been, besides, increased
by the labour and by the example of the crowd
of foreigners who settle or sojourn among them.
In such a social state, and in such a relation of the
population to the land, manufacturing industry, in
the sense in which it is applied in modern Europe,
meaning the capacity in which a people possessed
of a numerous population, a great capital, and high
improvement in machinery, is placed to afford its
less civilized neighbours manufactured produce in
exchange for the rough produce of their soil, is, of
course, out of the question. The Indian Islanders,
blessed with an abundance of fertile soil, which
cannot be exhausted for ages, will be for an inde-
finite time in a condition to supply the more civi-
lized world with its cheap and various produce,
and necessarily in a condition to pay for the ma-
nufactured necessaries or luxuries of the latter.
The value and extent of the intercourse between
them will increase, it is almost superfluous to in-
sist, in the proportion in which freedom and good
government will enable them to exchange their re-
spective productions, at the smallest cost, and in
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 277
the greatest abundance, — a maxim too trite and
obvious to be here dwelt upon, had it not, in all
periods of our intercourse with these countries,
been either notoriously neglected, or rather had it
not been acted in direct opposition to.
Such is the commercial character of the country,
and the people with whom the European mer-
chant has to deal. The character of the particu-
lar commodities to be exchanged between Europe
and the Indian Islands will be afterwards fully de-
scribed in the chapters on the Export and Import
Productions, and any remarks upon them at present
will be superfluous; but some general observations
on the economy and equipment of the European
voyage may be of utility, and with these I shall
close this chapter.
The most convenient size for a ship trading
direct between India and Europe is from 400
to 450 tons burden. Ships of these dimensions
are as safe sea-boats as much smaller ones, more
cheaply navigated in proportion to the freight they
will carry, and do not draw too much water, to
load and discharge with facility at the principal
ports of India. They are far safer than merchant-
men of greater burden, which are liable to the
serious objection, besides, of being excluded from
many of the rivers of India, or at least of deli-
vering and taking in cargoes with cheapness and
facility, which is the same thing. From the begin-
578 COMMERCE WITH
ning of the free trade, to the end of 1819, there
have sailed from the port of Liverpool 120 ships
for various ports of India, the average burdens
of which have been no more than 430 tons. The
averasie tonnao;e of the American traders to China,
DO
where large ships have been supposed particularly-
necessary, is under 400 tons. A ship sailing from
England to any port of India is well manned with
a crew at the mte of seven men to 103 tons. The
American traders have seldom so many as six.
They at-e as secure eitlier for the purpose of navi-
gation or defence with such a complement, as if a
large portion of their tonnage were crowded by a
parade of military preparation, which it is not in
the nature of things they should be able to use
with effect against an Eui'opean enemy, and which
are superfluous against' a native 6ne. When the
India trade has assumed a more regular form, and
our seamen have acquired the necessary experience
of the navigation, it is likely that the Batavia
voyage out and home will not exceed 300 days, the
Bombay voyage 3^0, and the Bengal and China
voyages each 36.5 days, or a year. Notwithstand-
ing the many delays occasioned by want of cargoes,
and some by the voyages performed in India from
port to port, the average of 96 voyages, performed
from Liverpool, has not exceeded for Batavia 308
days, for Bombay 379 days, and for Calcutta 410
days. Such is the safety with which these voyages
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 279
have been performed, that, out of 97 ships, one
only has been lost. As to touching at interme-
diate ports, the expedition with which the voyages
are at present performed, and the skill with which
the health of the crews is managed, renders this
unnecessary. In the outward bound voyage, there
is indeed no port in the direct tract. In the re-
turning voyage St Helena is so, and the Cape of
Good Hope has been considered so. It is, how-
ever, very absurd to consider the latter as a half-
way station or house, as it has been called. Therc
is no going into Table-bay, or any other of the
dangerous road-steads of the Cape, (harbour it has
none,) without infringing greatly upon the expedi-
tion of the voyage, and adding to its risks. No
American or free trader ever goes near it, unless oc-
casionally to supply that necessitous colony with the
necessaries of life. St Helena is in the direct
route home, and it may be occasionally found con-
venient to touch at it for a little fresh water.
The cheapness with which the Indian voyages
have been performed, has verified the boldest spe-
culations in favour of free trade. It is now consider-
ed that the freight of the most distant Indian voy-
age will never exceed L. 10 a ton of 50 cubic feet.
They have indeed been of late a great deal lower,
but that sum, it is considered, will afford the ship-
owner always a reasonable profit. We may there-
fore reckon L. 10 a ton the legitimate freight from
280 COMMERCE WITH
this country to Bengal, and also to China, which
is a voyage that does not take more time ; about
L. 9 to Bombay, and probably about L. 8 to Bata-
via, or any other port to the western extremity of
the Indian Archipelago. The voyage to the more
eastern portions of it, should a free trade be open-
ed with them, will probably be as expensive as that
to Bengal or to China.
It will be instructive to compare these results of
the free trade with the system on which the East
India Companies have conducted their commerce.
In the earlier and more successful periods of their
trade, they employed ships of small size like other
merchants, but in the progress of the monopoly
system, they increased the size of their shipping,
and thus added to their expence and risk. The
ordinary sizes of our East Indiamen are 800 and
1200 tons, a class of shipping which cannot,
in the nature of things, be built proportionably
as strong as smaller vessels, and to which the
greater number of the Indian rivers are inaccessi-
ble, from the depth of water they draw.
Wlienever exclusive privileges are conferred up-
on a trade, and the wholesome correctives of indi-
vidual interest and intelligence are removed from
its direction, the abuse of constructing such huge
and unmanageable vessels seems almost inevitably
to creep in, perhaps from pure ostentation, a pas-
sion to which the private merchant can aiFord to
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 281
make no sacrifices. The Portuguese went the
length of building ships of I6OO tons, the enor-
mous caracks of which so many suffered ship-
wreck. The Dutch went nearly as far, and the
result was the same. It is probably to the same
principle we are to ascribe the enormous, awkward,
and barbarous junks of the Chinese Hongs or se-
curity merchants, and w^hich are of a kind un-
known to the private merchants even of that coun-
try. * It has been stated that the trade to China
is conducted with peculiar advantage in ships of
1200 tons burden, from the smailness of the du-
ties which such ships pay, compared to vessels of
less size ; but this argument will be found, on ex-
amination, as unsubstantial as many others which
have been vaguely advanced in favour of the same
principles. The duties paid in China on ships of
any description are extremely trifling, and cannot
weigh for a moment against more material consi-
derations. The duties on a vessel of 1200 tons,
under the designation of port-charges, (Mjushaxcy
or present, &;c. amount to about 27s. a ton, and on
• Captain Sari's picturi^ of a royal junk at Japan conveys
a very just notion of this class of shipping. " There lay in
a docke a juncke of eiglit hundred or a thousand tunnes of
burthen, sheathed all. with yron, with a guard appointed to
keep her from firing and treachery. She was built in a very
homely fashion, much like that which describcth Noali's
Arkc into us." — Purckas, Dook III, Vol. I.
COMMERCE WITH
a vessel of 400 tons to about 50s. 6cl. The difference
on '23s. 6d. is just within a shilling of the difference
between the port-charges of London and Liver-
pool, in favour of the latter. This, on the export
or import cargo of a vessel of 400 tons, worth pro-
bably in all not less than L. 80,000, will amount
to a fraction of about three-fifths per cent. The
Americans, who can afford to build the cheapest
blocks in the world, and who have, from the nature
of their country, the greatest command of large
timber, have never thousrht of buildino; for their
China trade vessels of I'^^OO tons burthen ; and,
as has been already stated, carry on their success-
ful commerce, after an experience of ei6 years, in
ships of less than one third these dimensions.
A free trader is well manned, as stated already,
with seven men to a ton ; the East India Com-
pany's ships require between twelve and thirteen ;
and allowing for the difference of wages, are navi-
gated for much more than double the charge. The
East India Company's ships take at least 420 days
to make a voyage to Bombay, and 480 to Bengal or
to China. * An American trader to China usual-
* The China sliips, in fact, make no more than one voy-
age in iivo T/cara, for they must he useless in the Thames
while they are not in the actual performance of their voy-
age. An American ship will make two voyages in the same
time.
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 283
ly completes her voyage in about 350 days, or 130
days less than one of the Company's ships.
The consequence of these accumulated causes of
expence are enormous freights. The East India
Company's regular ships have been seldom freight-
ed, during peace, for many years, under L. 25 per
ton, or 75 per cent, higher than the market rate of
freights ; and at the present moment are actually at
about that rate, and cannot be sailed under it. In
time of war, the Company's freights have very com-
monly been as high as L. 40. It is remarkable, that,
while in the progress of improvement, the charge
of the produce of every species of manufacturing
industry has fallen, the expences of the East India
Company's shipping have increased, as if we were
relapsing into barbarism. A hundred and eighty
years ago, when the interest of money in England
was as high as 8 per cent, and they were harassed
by the hostility of the Dutch, their own shipping
cost them but L. 31 per ton. A private merchant
offered them in 1640, tonnage at the rate of L. 25,
and this vessel, it is singular enough, made the
quickest voyage that had hitherto been known, ef-
fecting a direct passage and back again in eleven
months.
An intercourse, conducted as that of the East In-
dia Company is, it is but too plain, must be conduct-
ed, not to the benefit, but to the cost of a nation.
This will appear still more clearly by slicwing what
284< COMMERCE WITH
the difference of freif^ht between the legitimate rates
and those of the India Company occasions in the
price of some of the staple articles of commerce.
The difference between the Company's freight to
Bengal, or to China, which is the same thing, of
L. 25, and the fair rate of the market of L. 10, is
L. 15, which, on a ton of sugar, costing at an ave-
rage L. 37, lis. 3d., occasions an advance in its
cost of 31 percent. Supposing the Company's
rate of freights to Bombay to be L. 22, 10s., and
the rate of free trade L. 9, the difference on a ton
of cotton, or 1550 lb. costing L. 52, 10s., will oc-
casion an advance of 22 per cent. Preserving the
same proportions, the freight of the Company to
Batavia will be L. 20, that of the free trader L. 8.
The difference will enhance the price of a ton of
pepper, or 1792 1b. costing L.27, 10s., by 84,
per cent. The free trader, therefore, can afford
to sell sugar 31 1 per cent., cotton 22 per cent.,
and pepper Si per cent, cheaper than the India
Company. There is, in fact, not a merchant in
Britain that would not be happy to risk his capital
in an Indian voyage, for the chance of profits equal
to the simple difference between the legitimate
freisrht and the exorbitant one of our Indian mono-
poly. That difference, moreover, is uselessly dis-
sipated, — is so much of the national capital wasted
to no purpose.
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 285
The India voyage, as the greater part of it is per-
formed within the tropics, — as it has the advantage
of the trade winds, monsoons, and open seas, is, for
its extent, with the exception of that across the Great
Pacific Ocean, the safest in the world. Insurances
are now made in the free trade for the whole voy-
age out and home, at the rate of ^!j per cent,
which is an incontestible proof of it. Notwith-
standing this, and that the East India Company's
officers are perhaps the best practical navigators in
the world, from the impossibility of combining
military and commercial pui-poses, as attempted in
our Indiamen, there have been more losses by
shipwreck with them, than perhaps with any other
class of merchantmen whatever. In the years 1808
and 1809, there were totally lost 9000 tons of their
shipping, of which between 5000 and 6000 foun-
dered off the Cape of Good Hope, when their
whole crews perished. None of these ships were
lost in the Typhoons of the China Seas. No Ame-
rican merchantmen were lost at the same time
under the same circumstances as our Indiamen,
although navigating the same seas, and in greater
numbers. The Dutch, as their ships were less
skilfully navigated than ours, and as, in point of
construction and equipment, they were still more
faulty, suffered still more severely. In the year
1723, at the very height of their power, they lost
fourteen great vessels by shipwreck.
286 COMMERCE WITH
As a nursery of seamen for a military navy, the
East India trade will be found to stand high.
jFrom the great lengtli of the voyage, and tlie con-
sequent certainty of employment, seamen's wages
are necessarily lower in it than in any other ; and
there is an opportunity, therefore, of making a bet-
ter selection. The same length of voyage necessa-
rily creates a degree of skill in the common seamen,
and of knowledge and intelligence in the officers
and commanders, which are not to be expected in
the more narrow experience of shorter adventures.
This has certainly not hitherto been the result of
the trade of our monopoly companies, to the degree
it ought. To say that they employ two hands
where one would have done the business, will cer-
tainly not be admitted by any one acquainted with
the obvious principles of economical science, to be
a means of farthering the national prosperity and
the public resources. What would be pronounced
of the judgment or public spirit of a manufacturer,
who, in these days, should argue the superiority
of his machinery over that of his neighbours,
because it required a hundred men to work it in-
stead of fifty ? He would soon be brought to his
sober senses by the competition of his countrymen,
unless he could prevail upon the legislature to re-
ward his patriotisQi by a patent, which would en-
able him to make a profitable trade of it, by charg-
ing a double price for his commodities. The argu-
EUROPEAN NATIONS. 287
ment of the monopoly companies is a precisely pa-
rallel case to this. There can exist no effectual
means of creating resources for a commercial navy
without a dissipation of the funds which support
public industry, but such as have a tendency to
extend the employment of capital in its natural
channels. But the free employment of capital is
sure to effect tliis ; and, if we wanted proofs of so
inevitable a i esult, we have it already, as far as con-
cerns our present subject, on comparing the number
of seamen employed by the East India Company
and by the free trade. The 20,000 tons of shipping
of the former would give employment only to 2550
men ; but the 6l ,000 of the latter to 4270. This
must be considered as conclusive.
A stranger, examining our policy in regard to
our commercial intercourse with the East, would
be extremely apt, at first view, and without being
aware of the almost insuperable obstacles which
the growth of great abuses influencing our prac-
tice and opinions, and even overawing the legisla-
ture itself, have created, to pronounce, that our
great object was to embarrass it, — to confer a mo-
nopoly of it upon our poorer rivals, less capable
than ourselves of conducting it, — and, in short, to
proscribe it as a commerce detrimental to the na-
tional interests, and rather to be tolerated as an un-
avoidable nuisance than fostered as a national be-
288 COMMERCE WITH
nefit. We do not, indeed, avow these to be our ex-
press motives, but the effects are virtually the very
same as if we did. While other nations are enact-
ing laws for the direct encouragement of an Indian
trade, the tendency of all ours that relate to it is
to restrict it, and every step towards its enlarge-
ment seems conceded by the legislature with as
much reluctance as if its patriotism was en-
gaged in stemming the invasion of some great
moral or physical evil making incursions upon
the state. W^e are, notwithstanding this, the na-
tion fittest of all others for engaging in the trade,
and this is the moment of all others when a free
intercourse with India is most necessary to us.
The people naturally and necessarily fittest to
undertake the most distant and difficult of all
commercial enterprises, the Indian commerce, is
that nation, which, by the superiority of its ma-
ritime skill, and the extent of its capital, can con-
duct them most cheaply, can afford to give the best
prices to the people of India for their commodities,
and sell them at the lowest price to the people of
Europe. None of the maritime states of the Conti-
nent of Europe are at present in a condition to en-
o-a^e in the commerce of the Indies, and it is, in-
deed, making a doubtful exception in favour of Hol-
land, probably never were in a condition to carry
on any thing better than a small traffic in luxuries.
EUROPEAN NATIONJS. Q$Q
That they are not at present, at least, ripe for the
Indian trade, is sufficiently evinced from the exam-
ple of Holland. Although possessed of the finest co-
lonics in India, and although her national shipping
be encouraged by large protecting duties on foreign
vessels, still the free traders of Britain, and the Ame-
ricans, conduct almost the whole intercourse between
the mother country and these colonies. In the
China trade, although the teas imported into Hol-
land by Americans pay double duties, still scarce-
ly a ton of Dutch shipping is engaged in the Chinese
trade ; and Holland, as well, indeed, as almost all
continental Europe, is supplied with tea, the great-
est article of the commerce of India, by the Ameri-
cans. I think it highly probable, indeed, that the
Americans themselves, with their inadequate ca-
pital, would scarcely have adventured, or, at least,
adventured to any extent, in the India trade, had
not the exclusion from it of the free capital of this
country acted as a powerful bounty to induce them.
They are now, however, in fair possession of by far
the most valuable part of it, and as they are the
only people that stand any chance with us, it will
be matter of instruction to institute a short com-
parison into our respective capacities of conducting
it in a state of free trade on both sides, and in a
fair and amicable competition. The block of an
American ship is cheaper than that of an English
vessel, at the first cost ; but this is compensated by
VOL. HI. T
290 COMMERCE WITH
the superior durability of an English vessel. The
American ship is a faster sailer, and will make a
more expeditious voyage ; but this is perhaps more
than compensated by the greater cargo which an
English vessel will cari*y ; for the first will take
no more cargo than she is actually rated at, or
what is expressed by her carpenter's measurement,
but the latter about one-third more. An Ameri-
can merchantman, from being more easily navi-
gated, will require no more than six hands to 100
tons ; whereas an English merchantman will re-
quire an additional hand, or seven. An American
ship is more cheaply provisioned, because the ne-
cessaries of life are cheaper in America than in
England, and because an American is, perhaps,
somewhat more abstemious than an Englishman.
This is again compensated by the lower rates of
wages paid to English seamen. An American
able seaman receives 45s. a month ; an English sea-
man 3.5s. or 22 per cent. less. In all these parti-
culars, the advantages are pretty nearly balanced ;
in all other matters, the advantage is on the side
of Britain. An American ship-owner cannot af-
ford to freight his ship under L. 12 a ton to Ben-
gal or China ; an English ship makes a saving
freight at L. 2 less. The British merchant trades
on a capital borrowed at five per cent. ; the Ame-
rican must pay six. It hence follows, that, if ten
per cent, be a good moderate profit to the first, to
EUROPEAN NATIONS. ^91
insure the same rate to the last he must have
12 per cent. The English merchant can, there-
fore, afford to sell his goods two per cent, cheaper
than the American merchant. The American
merchantman sails to India in ballast, because none
of the commodities of America are suited to the
India market, and, therefore, the whole weight of
freight falls on the homeward investment ; but the
English merchantman carries out British manufac-
tures, probably to the extent of one fourth of her
tonnage, and the capitalist has in this manner the
advantage of a double voyage. The advantages to
be derived from combining intermediate or inter-
colonial voyages with the direct voyage are strong-
ly in favour of the British trader. The ports of
the east coast of America are equally open to him
as to the citizens of the United States, and so are
the native ports of India, while in the latter he
has the advantage of knowledge and experience.
These almost assure to him the colonial trade in
the staples of pepper, betel-nut, and tin. The bene-
fits of a trade from one port of British India to
another, or from these to a native port, are privi-
leges which exclusively belong to the English
trader. From this cause alone he can trade colo-
nially in the two great staples of cotton and opium.
In supplying the markets of continental Europe
with Indian produce, the British trader has the
convenience of his proximity. The distance be-
292 COMiMERCE WITH, &C.
tween the United States and India, and between
Europe and the latter, are nearly the same ; but
the American trader, although he may bring the
commodities of India direct to Europe, must cross
the Atlantic instead of the Channel or the North
Sea, to refit and prepare for a new voyage. From
these united causes, it seems almost certain, that,
had the enterprise and capital of this country fair
scope like that of other nations, the Continent of
Europe would not, in a few years, receive an ounce
of Indian produce through America.
CHAPTER IV.
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
Colonial intercourse heliveen Indian Inlands and China.— ^
Betiveen Indian Islands and Japan. — Bekveen Indian
Islands and West Coast of America. — Between Indian
Islands and Western Nations of Asia.
In this short chapter I shall furnish a very rapid
sketch of the colonial intercourse with China, —
of the Japan trade, which is purely a colonial one,—
of the intercourse between the Indian Islands and
the west coast of America, the celebrated galleon
trade, a traffic of the same character, — and of that
part of the country trade, as it is called, which has
been commonly designated the Eastern or Malay
trade. In the first period of the commerce of the
monopoly companies with India, they conducted the
trade from port to port as well as the direct trade.
Their ships very generally touched, in the first
place, at Surat, or some other port of Western In-
dia, where they laid in investments of cotton goods,
suited to the markets of the Archipelago. This,
indeed, constituted the most valuable branch of
294 INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
trade in their outward-bound voyage. By the ac-
counts given at this time of the capacity of differ-
ent parts of the Indian Islands to purchase invest-
ments of Indian commodities, compared to the
present, we must be prepared to admit the morti-
fying concUision, that the wealth and commerce ot
those states has greatly declined since they were
subjected to the control of Europeans. Two hun-
dred years ago, our East India Company, when
they had to compete in the same commodities with
the Portuguese, the Dutch, and a crowd of Ara-
bian, Persian, and Indian merchants, declare, that
Bantam could take ol? yearly cotton goods to the
extent of 60,000 rials. The "dhole imports of
Bantam certainly do not at present amount to so
much. They describe themselves as selling, under
the same circumstances, 40,000 rials' worth at
Macassar, now a port ruined by the monopoly ; and
in the little cluster of the Banda Isles, at present
containing a population of about 2000 inhabitants,
mostly slaves, they could dispose of 50,000 rials'
worth. The circumstances which contributed to
ruin the industry of these places have been gene-
rally described in the preceding parts of this work.
The monopoly companies, from want of know-
ledge, and finding the impossibility of exercising
the same control over the colonial trade which their
influence at home with their respective legislatures
enabled them to exert over the direct trade, were
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. 295
soon necessitated to abandon it to their own ser-
vants, and to the few Europeans who resided in
India, by sufferance, under their authority. Hence
the origin of what is termed " the country trade.*'
The first branch of it, as far as my subject is con-
cerned, is the intercourse with China. The most
valuable branch of the trade of the Portug-uese was
their colonial trade in India, and much of it was
conducted by means of tlie commodities of the In-
dian Islands. These greatly contributed especially
to the lucrative trade which they carried on between
China and Japan. The Dutch, from the illiberal
character of the government which they establish-
ed in the Archipelago, and from the peculiar ill
fortune which attended most of their efforts to open
a direct intercourse with China, never established a
colonial intercourse of any value and extent with
that great empire. Neither have the establish-
ments of the English been founded on such prin-
ciples, or carried to such an extent, as to give rise
to an intercourse of sucli a beneficial or useful cha-
racter as the peculiar suitableness of the two coun-
tries for a commercial connection ought to have
generated. Although the principal portion of
the intercourse between the Dutch colonies and
the Archipelago was always conducted by Chi-
nese junks, still some traffic was also driven be-
tween Batavia and Canton in colonial Dutch ves-
sels ; and in this manner was brought much of the
'290 INTEKCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
tea intended ultiuiatuly for the consumption of
Europe. Tiie principal productions of the Arclii-
pelago, which are now sent to China, are of great
value compared to their bulk j and the same
observation holds respecting those articles of the
return cargoes for which there has been hither-
to an effectual demand. When, under good go-
vernment, the rude productions of the Archi-
pelago are cheaply grown and cheaply convey-
ed, its corn, raw cotton, and Imnber, will be add-
ed to its present list of exportation, and, consti-
tuting the staple articles, will give occasion to a
great trade, similar to that which exists between
Europe and America. From the vitious principles
of all the European governments established in the
Archipelago, so frequently dwelt upon, no capital
has ever been created applicable to such a trade.
Of the effect of these principles, we require no
more decided proof than in the fact that raw cot-
ton, which, in every tropical country having a good
soil, has invariably become a staple of exportation,
has never done so in the Indian islands, though
possessed of a soil of eminent fertility; and al-
though having, in China, a nearer and more con-
venient market than can be paralleled in the case of
any other tropical country. The more liberal go-
vernments established by the British, in their con-
tinental possessions, have long ago given rise to a
capital there which is beneficially employed in the
cotton trade to China, though these be so much more
12
JNTEnCOLONIAL COIMMERCE. 297
remote. This trade, much more extensive than
that between China and Great Britain itself,
constitutes by far the most valuable branch of the
foreign trade of China. The shipping in which it
is carried on frequently touch at the ports of the
Archipelago ; and, in this manner, some of the
productions of the latter are conveyed to China.
The extensive trade of the Portug^uese from Ben-
gal, which is, in fact, conducted with British capi-
tal, protected by our laws, conveys, also, a consider-
able share. The East India Company's ships going
to China direct, being nearly empty, are still more
available ; and a considerable part of the produc-
tions of the islands, or, as they are technically de-
nominated, " Straits produce,'* find their way to
China in the private investments of the officers.
The most considerable colonial trade carried on
between the Indian islands and China at present is
that from the Philippines. A number of colonial
vessels, under Portuguese colours, constantly trade
between Manilla and Macao, which is, in some re-
spects, a Portuguese establishment. These supply
the China market with the usual articles of the
produce of the islands, and bring back supplies for
the Philippines, and commodities for the more
distant trade of South America.
A sketch of the intercourse of Europeans with
Japan is, unfortunately, more a matter of curiosi-
ty than utility. Marco Polo mentions Japan under
298 INTERCOLONTIAL COMMERCE.
the name of Zipangii ; but it was not until the
year 1.5i3, forty-five years after their arrival in
India, that the Portuguese, from the accident of one
of their ships trading to China being shipwrecked on
its coasts, discovered it. * During forty-three years,
they made incredible progress in propagating the
r'hristian relio-ion, and carried on a most beneficial
commerce with it. In the year 158G commenced
the first persecution of Christianity. In the year
1590, above 20,570 Christians are described as
having suffered martyrdom. After some cessation
the persecution was renewed in the year 1597«
After this it seems to have ceased for forty years,
until kindled in the year 1637, by the base and
unmanly machinations of the Dutch, who took
advantage of an . intercepted correspondence be-
tween the Christians of Japan and their friends
in Portugal to exclude their rivals from the
empire. *' It was then," says Kempfer, *' that
the empire of Japan was shut for ever both to
* " The empire of Japan/' says Kempfer, " was then not
3'et shut up, nor the princes or petty kings thereof kept to
so strict an obedience and submission to their emperor as
they now are. The Japanese were at liberty to travel with-
in their own country and abroad whenever they pleased, w
were called by their business or commerce. Foreign na-
tions could then frequent the empire in vvhat manner they
pleased, and put into what harbours they thought most ex-
pedient." — Ilifto}-!/ of Japaii, Yo], I. p. 310.
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. 299
foreigners and natives. Thenceforward no foreign
nation should have leave to come into the country,
and none of the emperor's subjects to go abroad."
Three circumstances may be stated as the causes
v^diich led to this, the most singular and sur-
jirising resolution that ever a people came to, and
which the Japanese have pertinaciously abided by
for 18^ years. The first of these was an import-
ant change which, in the year 1585, after the Por-
tuguese had been 42 years residing in the empire,
took place in the form and character of the go-
vernment itself. Before then the empire of Japan
consisted of a confederation of princes, each of whom
ruled within his own dominions, acknowledging
the supremacy of the Dairi, or spiritual monarch,
who executed his slender share in the govern-
ment principally through the agency of the mi-
litary chief of his army. This last office happen-
ed to fall into the hands of a peasant, who had
liaised himself by extraordinary talents to so emi-
nent a station in a period of anarchy and turbu-
lence. This was the celebrated Taikosama. He
wrested the whole secular authority from the Dairi,
and, subverting the authority of the inferior princes,
made himself absolute monarch of the whole em-
pire. It was in the prosecution of this last object
that the Christians came in his way. Many of the
inferior chiefs had embraced the religion of the
Christians, — the priests of that worship were umbi-
300 INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
tious, and tlie dissemination of their doctrines ap-
peared to Taikosama to raise an independent and
dangerous authority within the state, hostile to the
views he entertained of establishing a despotic au-
thority.
The second of the circumstances alluded to, as
giving occasion to the singular policy of locking up
the empire, and exterminating Christianity, was
the pride, ostentation, and intemperate zeal of the
Catliolic priesthood, and the rapacity of the Por-
tuguese and Spaniards of all ranks. The third cir-
cumstance which contributed to that event, and which
sealed the whole, was the artifices of the Dutch
to subvert the power of the Portuguese, in hopes
to establish their own. In the year 1638, the last
remains of the Christians of Japan, amounting to
40,000 in number, driven to despair by the per-
secutions they had endured, rose in arms, and
threw themselves into an old fortified place near
Simabara. Here they were besieged, and the
Dutch basely lent their aid by land and water for
their destruction. The place, after a tedious siege,
was taken, and 37,000 Christians put to death in
one day. This is a brief abstract of the history of
the Portuguese connection with Japan. During
this connection of near a century, they certainly
carried on a great commerce with it. This was
conducted chiefly between Macao in China, and
Firando and Nangasaki in Japan, and consist-
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. 801
ed in exchangirig the woollens, wines, and cu-
riosities of Europe, the cottons of Cororaandel, the
spices and drugs of the Archipelago, with the raw
and wrought silks and other commodities of China,
for the gold and silver of Japan, its lacquered
ware, and its other curious manufactures. Kempfer
states, that their annual export in gold amounted,
according to the Dutch mode of reckoning, to
SUO tons, which would make the enormous sum of
two millions and a half Sterling. In the year
16S6, after their religion was proscribed, they ex-
ported, he tells us, in silver 2350 chests, amounting
to'2,35O,00U tahils, which make L. 783,S3Si Ster-
ling. In the follovving year they imported goods,
and exported bullion to the value of ^,lV^,3d5
tahils, or L. 71 "^j 121 5 Sterling; and in the year
1638, the same in which the Christians were mas-
sacred, and Christianity finally exterminated, their
imports and exports still amounted to 1,259,023
tahils, or L. 419,674'. Caron makes the amount of
the Portuguese trade, one year v/ith another, nine
hundred thousand pounds Sterling, or a million
and a half of ducats.
The ungenerous conduct of the Dutch towards
their rivals was signallypunished in the sequel. The
sacrifice of their religion and honour to their ava-
rice brought themselves and the whole European
race into the utmost discredit with the Japanese,
while it effected the utter ruin of their com-
302 INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
merce. * That commerce was reduced, from one
step to another, until it became what it now is, a
mere pittance, unworthy of any consideration, ex-
cept as it affords a mortifyin<r lesson of the inevita-
ble consequences of what the unjust and illiberal
character of our commercial policy with the Eastern
nations is capable of bringing about.
The active persecution against the Christians, it
* Kerapfer, with honest indignation, observes, " By this
submissive readiness to assist the emperor in the execution
of his designs, with regard to the final destruction of Chris-
tianity in his dominions, 'tis true, indeed, that we stood our
ground so far as to maintain ourselves in the country, and
to be permitted to carry on our trade, although the court
had then some thoughts of a total exclusion of all foreigners
whatever. But many generous and noble persons, at court
and in the empire, judged quite otherwise of our conduct,
and not too favourably for the credit we had thereby endea-
voured to gain. It seemed to them inconsistent with reason,
that the Dutch should ever be expected to be sincerely faith-
ful to a foreign monarch, and one, too, whom they looked
upon as a heathen prince, whilst they observed so much for-
wardness to assist him in the destruction of a people with
whom they otherwise agreed in the most essential parts of
their faith, as the Japanese had been informed by the Por-
tuguese and Manilhese fathers, and to sacrifice to their own
worldly interests those who follow Christ the very same way,
and enter the kingdom of heaven through the same gate, ex-
pressions which I have often heard the natives make use of,
when the conversation happened to turn on this subject." —
Vol. I. p. 324
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. 30S
will be obseiTed, had subsided between forty and
fifty years, when the flame was rekindled by the
artifices of the Dutch. But, for this circum-
stance, it seems not improbable, that Christianity
would, in Japan, as it. had done under the Ro-
man Emperors, have risen superior to the perse-
cutions it had undergone, and finally triumph-
ed. It is impossible but the revolt of forty thou-
sand of its subjects, instigated thereto by a foreign
worship, should not, in a country long the victim
of civil wars, have irritated and provoked a proud
government to the utmost degree, and brought a
political odium on all the followers of that worship.*
The hostile spirit which actuated the government
was evinced two years after the expulsion of the
Portuguese, by the conduct pursued by the em-
peror towards certain ambassadors sent to him by
the Portuguese government of Macao. In viola-
tion of the law of nations, which the Japanese
had never before infringed in their intercourse
with Europeans, he caused these ambassadors and
* " Many reasons," says Kempfer, " contributed to make
us suspected and hated at court, and occasioned, at last, the
fatal change we underwent at this time ; but the profession
■we made of the Christian reli;:;ion was one of the chief, the
whole court being exasperated against it to the highest de-
gree as a public nuisance, and the only cause of the ruin and
destruction of so many thousands of the emperor's subjects."
JJisi. of Japan, Vol. I. p. 356.
3{)4f INTERCOLONIAL COMJIEItCE.
their whole suit to be put to death, with the
exception of a few mean persons, whose lives
were saved to cai-ry back the accounts to Macao,
and whom he charged with a message to the go-
vernor of that place, couched in terms of barbaric
pride and defiance. * The effects of this spirit
were soon felt even by the Dutch themselves.
Notwithstanding that the edicts against the Chris-
tian religion were in force many years before their
arrival in Japan, they were received hospitably,
and without reserve, and traded freely and profit-
ably for a period of thirty years. Hardly were the
Portuguese expelled, when the Dutch were placed
under restrictions. The very year in which they
assisted in the destruction of the Christians they
were themselves ordered to demolish their factory
in Firando, because it was built of stone ! Three
years had scarce elapsed when, in lG41, they were
ordered to quit Firando, and were shut up in the
* " Notice of their arrival and imprisonment having been
immediately sent to court, the emperor, contrary to the livv
of nations, sentenced them all to be beheaded, excepting
twelve men of the lowest rank, who were to be sent back to
Macao, to bring their countrymen the news of this unhappy
success, along with a most proud and threatening message
from the emperor, containing in substance, that, should the
king of Portugal himself, nay, the very Ciod of the Chris-
tians, presume to enter his dominions, he would serve iheni
in the very same manner." — Hiatorij of Japnit, Vol. I. p. 320.
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. 305
prison of Deslma at Nangasaki, where they have
since continued. The Dutch, in this imprison-
ment, were still able to sell as great and purchase
as large a quantity of goods as they thought pro-
per, and there yet existed no restriction in regard
to the nature either of the import or export car-
gos^ It was in 1672, after an interval of about
thirty years more, that the trade was virtually ruin-
ed ; since which, properly speaking, it has never
been a national object. The governor of Nanga-
saki, the state jailor of the Dutch factory, now took
it upon himself to fix a maximum upon their whole
import cargos, and to sell them without their know-
ledge, leaving with them only the alternative of
re-exporting them. The Dutch governor-gene-
ral, Von ImhofF, in his Memoir on the Trade of
Japan, considers that this new insult offered to
the Dutch had its origin in the contempt which
the Japanese felt for them, in consequence of the
disgraceful manner in which they had lost, a few
years before, the neighbouring island of Formosa,
certainly the most valuable tropical colony, from its
natural capabilities, which an European people ever
possessed, and the vicinity of which, in a military
point of view, could always, in the hands of a spirit-
ed people, overawe the two great empires on each
side of it. After the trade had gone on for twelve or
thirteen years on this footing, a remonstrance on
the part of the Dutch effected a change in it, but a
VOL. III. u
306 INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
change which reduced it to a more unfiivourable
condition than ever. In l685, the quantity of
goods which they w^ere allowed to import was re-
stricted to 300,000 tahils, or L. 10.), 000 Sterling.
In the year 1685, the exportation of copper was li-
mited to 25,000 piculs. In the year 1710, the
number of ships, before unlimited, and which usu-
ally amounted to six or seven, was limited to four.
In lyi'J'j the exportation of copper was limited to
15,000 piculs, and finally, in 17^3, the trade was
reduced to its present miserable extent, the ship-
ping being limited to one vessel, and the exporta-
tion of copper to 7500 piculs.
The Dutch are literally imprisoned, or at
least placed under a rigorous surveillance, which,
for the degradation of the details, has no parallel.
The ships no sooner arrive than their rudders are
unshipped, their guns dismantled, their arms and
ammunition removed, a military guard put on
board, and row-boats appointed to watch them.
Their cargos are landed by, and placed in charge
of, the officers of the Japanese government, and
the Dutch have neither control over, nor access
to them, except through solicitation* The island
of Desima, to which they are confined, is an arti-
ficial structure of stone, raised upon the rocks of
the harbour, measuring in its greatest length 'il36
paces, by a breadth of 82. It communicates with
the town of Nangasaki, by a bridge and gate, and
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. - 307
is palisadoed all round, as well as surrounded by a
guard. From this imprisonment the Dutch are
allowed to peep twice or thrice a-year, rather to be
exhibited to the great as a curiosity than out of
indulgence. A corps of constables and interpre-
ters are appointed to watch over their minutest ac-
tions, and the most degrading servilities are exact-
ed from the highest among them, by the meanest.
oflScers of the Japanese government. *
* The Dutch have not now even the excuse which they
had in the time of Kajmpfer, when he tells us, •' So great was
the covetousness of the Dutch, and so great the alluring
power of the Japanese gold, that rather than quit the pro-
spect of a trade, indeed most advantageous, they willingly
underwent an almost habitual imprisonment, for such, in fact,
is our stay at Desima, and chose to suffer many hardships in
a foreign and heathen country, to be remiss in performing
divine service on Sundays, and solemn festivals ; to leave off
praying and singing psalms in public, entirely to avoid the
sign of the cross, the calling upon Christ in the presence of
the natives, and all the outward marks of Christianity ; and
lastly, patiently and submissively to bear the abusive and in-
jurious behaviour of these proud infidels towards us, than
which nothing can be offered more shocking to a generous
and noble mind.'' — Vol. I. p. 325.
The following is a specimen of the conduct expected from
the Dutch towards the officers of the Japanese government.
The Banjos alluded to are a sort of constables or superior
police-officers : " The Opperhoofd, or director of the Dutch
factory, Myn Heer van DoefF, was also brought along with
the banjos ; but it wi;s upwards of an hour before he was
308 INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
Besides the Portuguese and Spaniards, with the
Dutch, the English are the only European people
permitted tp cqpoe pn board. He had scarcely entered the
cabin with his suite, consisting of his secretary, the two capr
tains of the Dutch ships that were here, and a Baron Pabst,
when they were all obliged to remain during several minutes
in an inclined posture, which they were called upon to do,
by a most insolent order from the interpreter : ' Myn Heer
Opperhoqfd, compliment voor de Opper Banjos .'' This sub-
missive, and at the same time degrading attention, was not
answered even by a nod. The compliments, as they are
called, of the Dutch, are something between the bows of the
Europeans and Japanese, which last consist in throwing your-
self flat on the ground, touching the earth with your head,
and crouching backwards and forwards, according as you may
be spoken to by your superior. The Dutch would find great
difficulty in casting themselves on the ground, owin^ to their
clothes, and the pliability of the body required in these
prostrations cannot be expected in people who are not
brought up to it; but in order to imitate the Japanese cus-
toms as much as possible, the Dutchman must incline his
body until it forms nearly the figure of a right angle ; and
what is much more difficult, he must remain in this position
with his arms extended until he receives permission to stand
again in his natural posture, which is not until a lapse of
some minutes. There must likewise be a difference in the
compliments which the Dutch pay in Jeddo from those which
we saw here ; for we were told that, previous to going there,
all persons belonging to the embassies receive instructions
in bowing. The Japanese never ventured to propose this
submission to us : upon their second visit, indeed, one of the
interpreters, just after I hwid been addresbcd by the banjos,
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. 809
who ever traded to Japan. An edict in favour of
their trade was obtained from the emperor by
Captain Saris, chiefly through the influence
of Adams, an Englishman, residing in the coun-
try. The edict was highly favourable to a free
intercourse, and, indeed, not only conceded many
favourable conditions, but some that ought never
in modesty or good policy to have been asked for,
as for example, a total exemption from import and
export duties, and an exemption from the control
of the laws of the empire. *
Jn 1619, five years after its establishment, the
English factory was removed by order of the go-
vernment to Nangasaki ; and, in l6l^3, the fac-
tory, under the usual pretexts, was withdrawn.
The English, at that time, having, in fact, no ma-
nufactures of their own fit for a foreign market,
and no intercourse with China from whence they
miixht obtain commodities fit for the market of
Japan, were in no condition to compete with the
Spaniards, Portuguese, and Dutch. Fifty years
applied his hand gently to my back ; but when this occa-
sioned me to look earnestly at him, he withdrew, nor did
they ever renew the attempt." — Krusensterns Voyage round
the World, Vol. I. p. 261, 262.
* " And that all offences committed by them shall be pu-
nished by the Cape merchant, according to his discretion, and
our laws to take no hold of their persons or goods ! !" — Pur-
chas*s Pilgrims.
310 INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
after the East India Company had voluntarily
abandoned the trade to Japan, they made an at-
tempt to re-establish it in the reign of Charles
II., and while at war with the Dutch. On the
representation of the latter we were, on this occa-
sion, excluded, on the ixasoiiahle pretext that the
king of England had espoused a princess of Portu-
gal ! As this attempt was made tlie very year after
the Dutch trade was placed under limitations, any
thing short of discomfiture could hardly be looked
for. Attempts equally unsuccessful were made in
1G81, 1683, and 1689, the Japanese pertinacious-
ly persevering in their resolution to exclude us
from the empire in common with all other foreign-
ers. These failures, after the tide of popularity
had begun to run against the European character,
are hardly to be regretted. Any partial success on
the part of a body of men exhibiting a military and
political power, along with commercial transactions,
among a people so jealous and so proud as the Ja-
panese, could not be lasting, and the national
character, presented even under the most disad-
vantageous form, could never have brooked the
contumelies necessary to be borne for establishing
such a connection as that of the Dutch. In the
year 1813, we made, under the Dutch flag, ano-
ther attempt to open an intercourse with Japan,
totally unsuccessful. We found, on this occasion,
that time had softened the prejudices of the na-
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. oil
tives towards our religion, but that, as they were
not ignorant that we were more powerful and dan-
gerous than our ancestors, they were fully more jeal-
ous of us, politically, than they had been of them.
Attempts, in every form, have been made of
late by Europeans, but in vain, to open a connec-
tion with Japan. Private American merchants
tried it in 1801 and 1802. Private merchants
from British India made an attempt in 1803 ; and
the same year the Russians sent their embassy, the
result of which is well known to us, from the can-
did and sensible account of Krusenstern. We
may certainly calculate, therefore, that every at-
tempt to establish an intercourse between Euro-
pean nations and the Japanese empire, by fair ne-
gotiation, must at present be fruitless. The resi-
dence of the Dutch at Nangasaki, on the present
principle, must be looked upon as throwing a great
obstacle in the way of it. Without proving any
benefit to that nation in particular, but the con-
trary, the nature of the relation subsisting be-
tween them and the Japanese is of a character
which tends to make the latter view the whole Eu-
ropean race with contempt and ridicule. It may
be safely recommended to them as a measure of
wisdom, as well as liberality, to withdraw, in the
mean time, from all commercial concerns — to re-
move themselves from their ignominious imprison-
ment at Nangasaki — to confine themselves to send-
312 INTKRCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
ing, as they are at present permitted to do, an
embassy every three years to the Emperor of Ja-
pan, with proper presents to himself and his offi-
cers, which will compensate for the loss of such
articles of European supply as they have been in
the habit of receiving — and to rejecting all com-
mercial intercourse not founded on a perfect free-
dom of trade. No one nation can expect to con-
duct with another an equal and beneficial com-
merce to the exclusion of the rest of the world.
A trade of this description would be liable to
abuses on both sides, for the competition of na-
tions may be reckoned almost as necessaiy to the
wholesome conduct of a trade as that of indivi-
duals. By a generous policy of the nature now
recommended, the Dutch nation would consult its
own dignity, and considering the neighbourhood of
their settlements to Japan, the expence of a mis-
sion would be but inconsiderable. This line of
conduct would give some chance to the re-establish-
ment of an useful intercourse with Europeans, and
a better one to a free intercourse with China, by
which an indirect but beneficial commerce in Euro-
pean commodities might be carried on.
The only people besides the Dutch who are ad-
mitted to Japan are the Chinese; and as their
commerce, as will presently be seen, is not un-
connected with my present subject, I shall fur-
nish a short sketch of it. The Chinese, after
INTfiRCOLONIAL COMMERCE. 313
the tacit permission given to them on the last
Tartarian conquest, to carry on foreign trade,
entered with avidity into that with Japan, so
conveniently situated for an intercourse with their
country. At first, they were permitted to trade in-
discriminately with every part of the empire, and to
what extent they thought proper ; but in process
of time, like the Eui'opean nations, they were con-
fined to the port of Nangasaki. Even after this
event, they came over to Japan in great numbers ;
and Kaempfer describes no less than two hundred
junks, with fifty men each, coming annually to Ja-
pan. It is remarkable enough that it was the mis-
conduct of the European nations, and not their own,
that chiefly brought about the restrictions to which
their trade was subjected. The emperor of Japan
heard that the monarch of China protected the
Christians ; and some books on Christianity hav-
ing found their way to Japan among the goods of
the Chinese, the jealousy of the government was
roused, and limits immediately put to their trade.
In 1688, they were placed, like the Dutch, under
the surveillance of the police of Nangasaki, and
imprisoned as they were. In the year 1685, the
same year in which the Dutch trade was limited to
300,000 tahils, the Chinese was also limited, and
the sum fixed upon was double the amount of that
of the Dutch trade. This measure, founded on a
principle of dealing with impartiality towards all
314 INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
foreign nations, the Chinese suffered from in every
future limitation to which the Dutch trade was
subjected. At the time this limitation was put to
the Chinese trade, they were still allowed to send
seventy junks a year to Japan. The trade was
not confined to that country alone, but the Chi-
nese settled in other parts were allowed to parti-
cipate. On this principle, a trade was conducted
between Japan and Tonquin, Cochinchina, Cam-
boja, Siam, and Java.
In the year I7OO, when the Dutch trade was li-
mited to four ships, that of the Chinese was limit-
ed to twenty junks j and when the Dutch trade
was reduced to one large ship, or two small ones,
that of the Chinese was reduced to its present
amount, of ten junks, and 15,000 piculs of cop-
per, — their trade being always reckoned at double
the amount of that of the Dutch. The Chinese
junks are of about 400 tons burden, and the trade
is conducted on the part of China from the port of
Ning-po, in the province of Che-ki-ang, not above
four days' voyage from Nangasaki, and so conve-
niently situated that it may be performed by a
good vessel at any season. Even the Chinese
make two voyages a year. The productions im-
ported into Japan from China are raw and wrought
silks, the spices, camphor, and frankincense of the
Archipelago j zinc ore, damar, drugs, particularly
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. 315
ginseiig root ; ivory, sugar, fine tea, tin, lead, and
philosophical and theological books. * By this
channel a small quantity of British woollens find
their way to the distant market of Japan. The
exports are copper, camphor, lacquered ware, and
the bech de mevy or holoihuria.
As an object of curiosity I shall exhibit a brief
* " As to these books, it happened, as I have taken no-
tice above, that some relating to the Christian religion,
which were composed and printed by the Jesuits in China,
slipt in among the rest. When this was first found out by
the Japanese, they obliged the proprietor of the books to
testify, in the most solemn manner, that he was not a Chris-
tian himself, and that he did not bring over any of these
books designedly, and knowing what they were ; then, to
make him more circumspect for the future, they sent him
back with his junk and whole cargo, without permitting him
to dispose of any one part of it. Upon this, it was ordered for
the future, that all books imported by the Chinese whatever
should be first examined, and one of each kind read and
censured, before they should have leave to sell them. This
office of censors, with a competent yearly allowance, hath
been given to two learned men of this town, one whereof is
Father Prior of the Monastery, SiutoJais, who is to read and
censure all the ecclesiastic books ; the other is a SJestos phi-
losopher and physician to the Duiri, as he styles himself, who
is to read and censure all the philosophical, -historical, and
other books. This latter gentleman resides at Tattajnmma,
and wears long hair, which he ties together behind his head,
as the custom is among the philosophers, physicians and
surgeons of the country." — Hlstori/ of Japan, Vol. I, p. 37y.
5l6 INTEnCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
sketch of the commercial capabilities of Japan,
which will enable the reader to understand some
additional causes, which have contributed to the
restricted intercourse which now subsists between
that nation and foreigners. Japan is the only
great and civilized empire of Asia, situated in the
temperate zone. It lies between the latitudes of
thirty and forty degrees, the happiest climate of
our globe. In winter there is a considerable fall of
snow, and the summers are hot, but the climate is,
upon the whole, remarkable for salubrity. The
land is rather sterile than fertile, but, by the in-
dustry of a numerous people, highly cultivated.
It is rich in mines of the most precious and of the
most useful of the metals, gold and silver, iron and
copper. These, and a few manufactures in which
the Japanese excel all mankind, they could af-
ford to exchange for the productions of tropical
countries which do not grow in their own, and for
the manufactures of commercial Europe, which must
necessarily be suited to the natural wants of a people
inhabiting similar climates with ourselves. From
the east coast of America, Japan is probably not
distant above a month or five weeks* sail. It is
but four or five days' sail from some of the richest
provinces of China j from Manilla not probably
above six or seven days' voyage, and from Batavia,
at the most, not above twenty. From these last it
could receive every species of colonial produce, and
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. 317
intermediately they would also supply it with the
manufactures of distant Europe.
The character of the Japanese is most singular.
They possess, with the physiognomy of the Chinese,
some of their political and religious institutions ; with
their arts, their industry, and docility, a portion of
the spirit, courage, and curiosity of the inhabitants
of the temperate regions of Europe, and no small
share of the revengeful temper and ferocity which
belong to all men in barbarous states of society. *
* The following authentic and well known story shews
the devotedness of which the Japanese are capable when
their honour and revenge are concerned : " As an instance
of what I have mentioned," says Kaerapfer, "let it suffice, at
present, to mention one single exploit of seven young men,
natives of the province of Saizuma, an action the more sur-
prising as it was committed in a foreign country, in presence
of the Dutch, no longer ago than 1630. The case was this :
A small Japanese vessel had been a trading to the island of
Formosa, then, as yet, in possession of the Dutch. Japan
was not at that time shut up, but its inhabitants at liberty to
trade to what country they pleased, and the island Formosa
hath been since taken by the Chinese, in whose possession
it now remains. Peter Nuits, a Dutchman, who was then
governor of Formosa, treated the Japanese who came on
board this vessel with some harshness and severity, perhaps
by way of reprisals. The Japanese took it as an affront and
injury done, not so much to themselves as to their prince,
to whom, when they got home, they made grievous com-
plaints, insomuch that he grew very passionate and angry,
the rather as he saw himself, as it were, under an impossibi-
318 INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
When their laws permitted them to quit their own
country, the Japanese were the most adventurous
of the nations of the east. They settled in every
part of the Indian Archipelago, and in many of
the neighbouring countries, and such was their re-
lity of revenging so heinous an affront offered him by
Nanbani, that is, southern people, (a contemptible name
which they give to foreigners, and particularly the Dutch,)
whereupon his guards addressed him in the following man-
ner : " We will no longer, Sir," said they, " guard your
person if 3'ou will not give us leave to revenge your honour
and reputation. Nothing but the offender's blood shall wash
off this spot. Command, and we will cut off that wicked
head, or bring him alive into j^our presence to be punished
by you as you shall desire and he deserves. Seven of us
will be enough. Neither the danger of the voyage, nor the
strength of his castle, nor the number of his guards, shall
preserve him from our wrath. They are Nanbaiii, we of
divine extraction." {Nifon-jfin, that is, Japanese, or, in the
literal sense, inhabitants of the subcelestial world.) They
would not desist from their demand till leave was granted
them. The attempt indeed was bold, but carried on with
no less prudence than courage and success. After a happy
voyage they came safely to Formosa, and, being admitted to
an audience of the governor, they all drew their swords,
seized upon his person, and carried him off prisoner to their
vessel in the middle of the day, amidst all his guards and
domestics, none of which durst offer to stir in his defence, or
to rescue him from his bold conductors, who, with their
swords drawn, threatened to stab him the moment the least
opposition should be made." — IHsi. qfJapmi, Vol. II. p. 57.
Appendix.
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. 319
putation for bravery and docility, that, they were
the principal Asiatic soldiers employed by the Eu-
ropean nations.
The specific commodities which Japan is either
capable of affording, or actually does afford, for ex-
portation, are gold, silver, copper, tutenague, iron,
camphor, ambergris, tea, rice, soy, wrought silks,
lacquered-ware, and earthenware. The imports
are raw and wrought silks, cotton goods, woollens,
glass-w,are, hardware, quicksilver, antimony, ore of
^inc or calamine, cinnabar, amber, coral, and pearls,
dressed and undressed hides, sandal and sapan wood,
Malayan camphor, ivory, alum, cloves, mace, pep-
per, raw sugar, coffee, and tea. I shall offer a
few remarks upon the most important of these.
Japan, rather a sterile than a fertile country, as al-
ready observed, is more remarkable for its mineral
than vegetable wealth. When Europeans became
first acquainted with that empire, there appears to
have been a great accumulation of the precious
metals within it. The mines were probably very
fertile, and from this circumstance, — the low price
of labour in Japan — the industry and skill of its in-
habitants — and there being no outlet for gold and
silver, these metals were at a much lower value
than in other countries. They constituted, of
course, the principal article of exportation. It has
been already stated, on the authority of Kannpfer,
320 INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
that the Portuguese annually exported gold, in the
most flourishing period of their trade, to the extent
of two millions and a half sterling. This enormous
amount, far greater than the mines of the New
World afforded at the same period, is probably much
exaggerated. The sums exported in later years
may, however, be relied on. In 163G, they export-
ed 2350 chests of silver, amounting to L.783,SS33-
sterling; in 1637, L. 714,1213- sterling; and in
1638, L. 419|6743- sterling. These large sums,
although they may be considered as evidences of
the abundance of the precious metals in Japan,
cannot perhaps be justly considered as averages
of the annual exports of the Portuguese, who were
at the moment in a state of alarm from the perse-
cution against their religion, and, therefore, mak-
ing efforts to remove their property. While the
Portuguese were exporting these sums, and the
Chinese were driving a great commerce also, the
Dutch are described as exporting no less than
60 tons of gold a-year, or about half a million
Sterling. After the expulsion of the Portuguese,
the Dutch exports increased, and in 1641, they
are described as remitting in gold 80 tons, or
L. 700,000 sterling. The export of the precious
metals from Japan, or the increased difficulty of
working the mines, or the prohibition of working
them, rendered, in process of time, their price to
12
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. 321
near the standard of other countries. * Gold ap-
pears always, to have been more plentiful than
silver, because, perhaps, the mines of it require
less skill in working. The Portuguese exported
large quantities of silver; but the Dutch, who,
in 164^1, exported L. 700,000 Sterling worth of
* " The emperor claims the supreme jurisdiction of all
the gold mines, and, indeed, all other mines in the empire,
none of which may be opened and worked without his ex-
press leave and consent. Of the produce of all the mines
which are worked he claims two-thirds, and one-third is
left to the lord of the province in which the mine lies ; the
latter, however, as they reside upon the spot, know how to
improve their third parts so as to share pretty equally with
the emperor. The richest gold ore, and which yields the
finest gold, is dug up in Sado, one of the northern provinces
in the great island Nipoii. Some of the veins there were
formerly so rich, that one catti of the ore yielded one, and
sometimes two tahils of gold, (5 and 10 per cent.) But of
late, as I was informed, the veins there, and in most other
mines, not only were scarcer, but yield not near the quan-
tity of gold they formerly di«l, which we were told was the
occasion, amongst other reasons, of the late strict orders
relating to the trade and commerce with us and the Chinese."
— History of Japan, Vol. I. p. 107. Ksempfer's account of
the exactions of the emperor and provincial chief contains
internal evidence of exaggeration ; but it is probable they
are founded on those exactions being exorbitant ; and this,
more likely than the exhaustion of the mineral veins, will
account for the rise in the price of gold and silver in Ja-
pan.
VOL. III. X
32^ INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
gold, exported only 14 chests of silver, amounting
to L. 4666j Sterling. They sold the gold on the
continent of India, at an advance of 28 per cent.,
but gained only 1? per cent, on the silver. After
this we hear no more of the exportation of silver,
but, on the contrary, the Dutch at present find a
profit in the permission given to them to import a
quantity of their national coin. In the year 1700,
the Japanese government made an important alter-
ation in the standard of their coin, having debased
their Cobang or Cupang from a fineness of between
twenty and twenty-one carats, to between thirteen
and fourteen carats, w'hiist they compelled the
Dutch to receive it, thus reduced in value 37 per
cent., at the old rates.
Besides the precious metals, Japan produces
copper, iron, and the alloyed metal tutenague.
Copper is the most important and abundant of all
these ; and, according to Kajmpfer, is as cheap as
iron. The price paid for it by the Dutch, in all
periods of their connection, has been about 12i\)%
tahils, or 18nj*o Spanish dollars per picul, equal to
L.3, 9s. 2d. per cwt. This is considerably less than
half the price of British sheet copper, which is of in-
ferior intrinsic value in all foreign markets. The
Dutch, at one period, exported from 700 to 1200
tons a-year, a large portion of which was disposed
of on the continent of India, at a clear gain of
from 90 to 95 per cent* We hear nothing of cop-
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. 323
per, as an article of commerce, until the removal of
the Dutch to the prison of Desima, when they
obtained leave to trade in it ; and for a long time
the quantity exported was unlimited. From the
history of the commerce in copper, we may
learn, that it has become, like gold and silver,
scarcer in late times, and that it is given to the
Dutch at a price far below its intrinsic value.
This appears by the constant reductions made by
the Japanese government in the extent of the sup-
ply ; and the acknowledgment of the Dutch
themselves, that the copper was given to them as
a favour, and must have been a tax on the traders
who supplied it. * ImhofF accordingly acknowledges
that the price which ought to be paid for copper
was 20 tahils the picul, or L. 5, 12s. per cwt. in-
stead of L. 3, 9s. 2d. There is, it must be con-
fessed, something very perplexing in the accounts
we receive of the fluctuation in the price both of
the precious and useful metals in Japan. IroUy
• " Nothing is more natural, therefore," says the Baron
Imhoff, " than that our exportation of copper should have be-
come a burden to that class of people, and that their com-
plaints contributed to the restrictions to which we are now
subject. There is no doubt that, could the Japanese keep
up the communication without allowing us a single chest of
copper, they would willingly grant us GOOO tahils (L. 2000)
as a gratification, over and above the stipulated price for our
cargo."
3!34 INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
which Imhoff assures us was purchased in Japan at
two Spanish dollars the picul, and exported to Bata-
via, where it was sold at an advance of I'll 5 per cent,
is represented by Ksempfer, whose testimony is more
to be relied on, as being fully dearer than copper.
He affords unquestionable proof of this, indeed,
when he lets us into the knowledge of this decisive
fact, that by the Japanese copper is constantly used
in many such domestic utensils as are made of iron
in other countries, and for bolts, nails, and other pur-
poses in naval architecture. Their culinary utensils
are, however, made of iron. Saris also states the
price of iron at a very high rate, and as above that
of copper. It is probable from this statement, that
were a free trade again established with that em-
pire, iron, instead of being exported, would be-
come one of the greatest and most valuable com-
modities for importation from Europe. The iron
of Japan, we may believe, is of the finest quality,
since, with their imperfect skill, the Japanese are
capable of fabricating from it cimeters equal in
temper to the renowned blades of Damascus.
Camphor seems not to have become a great ar-
ticle of exportation, until that of copper was limit-
ed. Europe and China are at present principally
supplied with the camphor of Japan. The Ja-
panese, whose country produces such abundance of
this commodity, have the same taste and pay the
same exorbitant prices for that of the Indian islands
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. 325
as the Chinese. Thirty-three tahils, or L. 1 1 the
catti of 1 \ lb. were paid for it in Ksempfer's time,
which is much above the price paid at present for
the best sort in China. *
The tea of Japan is inferior to that of China,
yet the Dutch at one time exported it in consi-
derable quantity. They appear to have paid a high
price for it, and it is probable that, considering the
sterility of the soil of Japan, compared to that of
China, this production cannot be reared there so
cheap or so good as in the latter country. This
appears plain enough from the circumstance of tea
being an article of importation from China, and
from the acknowledgment of the Dutch, that the
tea of Japan is neither so good, nor will keep so
well as that of China. The use of tea is as general
in Japan as in China ; the people of the latter drink
only black tea, those of the former only green.
The rice of Japan is of the very finest quality,
and small quantities are exported as objects of
curiosity, but in a country with an inferior soil,
a crowded population, and no unoccupied land, it
must be high priced, and can never be largely ex-
ported. It is much more probable, that in a free
trade, it would become a great article of importa-
tion from the Archipelago and Siam.
* The passion for the edible swallows' nests does not, it i^
remarkable, extend to the Japanese.
326 INTEUCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
As a manufacturing people, the Japanese are in-
ferior to their neighbours, the Chinese, although
in some particular wares they excel all people.
Their lacquered work is of inimitable beauty and
perfection, and some of their wrought silks, par-
ticularly their crapes, the most exquisite fabrics
that can be conceived. Their porcelain is inferior
to that of China, but though coarse, substantial and
durable. That the manufactures of Japan should
be more costly than those of China may perhaps
be, in a great measure, ascribed to the high price
of the raw materials in a country not fertile, and
which can receive no supply from abroad.
To describe all the foreign commodities which
the Japanese, a rich, luxurious, and numerous
people, inhabiting the same climate with ourselves,
and having the same essential wants, would require,
would perhaps embrace all that a manufacturing
and commercial people could supply, from their
own industry or that of their colonies. The sugar-
cane is not cultivated in Japan, and sugar consti-
tutes one of the most considerable articles of the
cargos of the Dutch and Chinese. The Dutch
sold their coarse sugar at near 20 Spanish dollars
the picul of 125 Dutch lbs. probably about ten
times the price paid for it. The higher ranks are
principally clothed in silks ; the lower orders in
cotton. The dress which covers the under part of
the body of both ranks is usually made of a kind of
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. 3^
linen, manufactured from the fibrous bark of a spe-
cies of urtica. * The principal dress of both sexes
and of all ranks consists of a robe or gown, open
in front, and secured by a girdle. For warmth the
number of these is multiplied from three or four,
to a dozen or more, and they are frequently quilt-
ed, with the same view, with silk or cotton wad-
ding. The sheep is unknown to the Japanese,
nor do they understand the art of manufacturing
cloth from any species of hair or wool. Notwith-
standing this, the woollen manufactures of Europe
are in great repute among them. By Captain
Saris* account, t Flemish broad cloth was purchas-
ed with avidity, at an advance of 550 per cent.
All the manufactures in which the Japanese are
clothed can be manufactured by their neighbours
cheaper than by themselves, and these can also fur-
nish tliem with the raw material cheaper than they
can grow or produce it. They receive from China
both raw and wrought silk, and when the Euro-
pean nations had free access to them, they import-
ed large quantities of the cotton fabrics of India.
In Caron's description of Japan, X there is a
* Tliunl>crg's Travels, Vol. III. p. 267. This author's
work, upon all material subjects, is little better than a com-
pilation from Ka;mpfer, by an inferior man.
-j- Purchas, Vol. I. Book HI. p. 394.
+ Caron, according to Knempfer, was a person, who, by
his abilities, raised himself from the mean condition of a
328 INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
statement of a Chinese investment for the Japanese
market, consisting chiefly of raw and wrought
silks, with a few calicoes, amounting to one mil-
lion and fifty thousand Spanish dollars, on which
the author pledges himself to his employers, the
Dutch East India Company, that he will make a
clear profit of eight hundred thousand Spanish
dollars. * The avidity witli which European goods
were purchased in our early intercourse with Ja-
pan IS shewn by the quantities taken off, not-
withstanding: the hio;h cost of the rude manufac-
tures of Europe at the time, and the enormous
profits charged upon them. The advance on broad
cloths has already been stated at 550 per cent. ;
quicksilver, according to Captain Saris, was sold at
L.ll Sterling per cwt. ; iron at ^9>\i^^ Spanish
dollars per picul, or L.^, 4s. per cwt. ; steel and
ship's cook, to be chief of tlie factory of Nanga^aki, and
who did some mischief in the latter office.
* The author of this proposal was one Leonard Camps.
The following, from an old English version, are the terms in
which he pledges himself: " This aforesaid China Carga-
soon being sent yearlie to Japan, I engage myself to my
masters, so long as God gives me health, to serve them for
nothing, unless I return them in four or five months' time, in
good silver, one million eight hundred and fifty thousand
royals of eight ; if that be not enough, let them send more,
and the gain will be the greater." — Description of Japan
p. 107.
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. 329
lead, each at 46/ifo Spanish dollars per picul, of
L.8, 15s. 4d. per cwt., and block tin at L.ll
per cwt.
In the time of Kaempfer, the Dutch appear to
have exacted enonnous profits for their goods.
China raw silk they sold at 651 i taliils the picul,
or 33s. 3d. the pound, which is little less than 300
per cent, advance on the present prices in China.
Bengal and Tonquin silks were sold at similar
rates. Cloves were sold at lis. 2d. the pound.
The clear gain made at this time on the ex-
port and import cargos is reckoned by Kaemp-
fer for each at 60 per cent, gross profit, or 40
to 45 per cent, neat profit, which, on the whole
transaction, made from L.80,000 to L. 90,000
Sterling.
After this statement, there can be no denying
that a free trade and a fair competition, such as
would enable the Japanese to obtain foreign com-
modities at a reasonable rate, and insure to them a
proper price for their own, with abstaining from all
interference in the affairs of the government, were
alone necessary to have perpetuated the most valu-
able branch of commerce which the east ever offered
to European enterprise. After the early miscon-
duct of the Portuguese and Dutch, the European
nations would have had many obstacles, indeed, to
contcndwith, but none that free commerce would not
have surmounted. The regulations of the Dutch not
SSO INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
only precluded all access to other nations, but rigid-
ly interdicted the free trade of" their own merchants.
"While they declaimed against the measures of re-
taliation pursued by the Japanese, they forgot the
gross injustice of their own policy. Every offer of
fair trade on the part of the former was disdain-
fully rejected by them. Whenever the commodi-
ties of the country were offered to them at the
market rates, they complained of this as a breach
of engagement. By Imhoff's account, abundance
of copper might be had at the rate of Is. a pound,
probably near the market price ; but the Dutch
refused to have it unless they could get it at little
more than 7d., or 5d. less than it was worth.
The Japanese, of course, reduced their supply first
from an unlimited quantity to 25,000 piculs, and
ultimately to the pittance of 7-500 piculs. Tuten-
ague, brass, and camphor, were all successively ten-
dered to them by the Japanese at the market
prices, which were much below the prices of the
same commodities in China, but they were always
rejected. At the same time, as will appear by the
statements already given, they put the most exor-
bitant charge upon all they sold to the Japanese.
Black pepper, which the Japanese obtained when
the English and Chinese traded freely with them,
at Gd.a pound, the Dutch sold to them at Is. J ,'d.,
and cloves at a far more exorbitant rate. AVhcn
orders were given, on the pait of the Japanese, for
INTERCOLONIAL C0MMERC12. 331
new wares, they were either not brought at all, or
brought of a bad quality ; and this had been so
often practised, that ImhofF acknowledges that the
Japanese had been so often deceived, that it would
be extremely difficult to make them believe that the
Dutch were capable of fulfilling their engagements,
even supposing them to do so at any particular time
with perfect integrity. The Japanese were, at the
same time, privy to the numerous frauds and malver-
sations of the agents of the monopoly on the spot, and
had detected them practising the lowest and most dis-
creditable artifices, to evade the laws of the country
under the protection of which they were living. *
* The Japanese government made a formal complaint to the
Dutch government at Batavia of the impositions practised at
the factory at Nangasaki. The following from Thunberg is a
specimen of the conduct of the Dutch officers at Nangasaki.
" We now perceived," says he^ " a boat coming from shore to
meet us. The captain, therefore, dressed himself in a blue
silk coat, trimmed with silver lace, made very large and
wide, and stuffed and furnished in front with a large cushion.
This coat has for many years past been used for the purpose
of smuggling prohibited wares into the country, as the chief
and the captain of the ship were the only persons who were
exempted from being searched. The captain generally
made three trips in this coat every day from the ship to the
factory, and was frequently so loaded with goods that, when
he went ashore, he was obliged to be supported by two sail-
ors, one under each arm. By these means tijc captain de-
rived a considerable profit annually from the other officers.
332 INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
It was impossible that the Japanese could be patient
under a system, the effect of which was virtually to
plunder them of their property. At the same time,
they seem evidently to have been unwilling to lose
the Dutch altogether, because they wished, as a
matter of policy, and probably as a matter of curio-
sity, to be informed, through their means, of what
was passing in the world, to which, notwithstand-
ing their pride and their selfishness, they are not,
and cannot be, indifferent. They reduced the
Dutch trade, therefore, to as low a state as they
thought compatible with this object.
What probability is there of a free intercourse
being restored between Japan and the rest of the
civilized world ? This is a question which affords
whose wares he carried in and out, together with his own,
for ready money, which might amount to several thousand
rix dollars." — Thunberg's Voyages, Vol. III. p. 13. This
disgraceful practice was at length prohibited, not by the
Dutch but by the Japanese government. " For many years,"
adds Thunberg, " the captain was not only equipped with
the wide surtout above described, but also wore large and
capacious breeches, in which he carried contraband wares
ashore. These, however, were suspected, and consequently
laid aside ; and the coat, the last resource, was now, to the
owner's great regret, to be taken off. It was droll enough
to see the astonishment which the sudden reduction in the
size of our bulky captain excited in the major part of the
ignorant Japanese, who before had always imagined that all
our captains were actually as fat and lusty as they appeared
to be." — p. 17«
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. 333
matter of curious speculation. On the only pro-
bable means of restoring it by negotiation I have
already offered some conjectures. A great revo-
lution in the government of Japan, by which the
empire would be broken down into a number of
petty states, as it was before the usurpation of
Taikosamay would certainly effect it. The infe-
rior princes who, in such a case, had thrown off
their allegiance, would find it for their advantage
to court an intercourse with Europeans, if for no
other reason than to supply them with the muni-
tions of war. This would give rise to a connec-
tion, that, if conducted with moderation, which
the competition among nations would insure, would
prevent the empire from being restored in its pre-
sent form, — hinder, in short, the re-establishment
of that system of excluding strangers, which has
chiefly contributed to uphold the Javanese govern-
ment for 235 years, a duration longer than history
records of any other Eastern monarchy.
The probability of an intercourse being restored
by means of conquest is, perhaps, however greater.
There is no Asiatic power that can effect the con-
quest of Japan, for several reasons. The Japanese are
more numerous and united than any people of Asia
except the Chinese, and in arts and arms they are
at least equal to the best, and nmch superior to the
greater number. Besides all this, their insular situa-
tion opposes an insuperable barrier to tlieir conquest
33'^ INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
by any Asiatic people, whose want of maritime skill,
judging from the experience of all history, will
never enable them to equip a fleet equal to trans-
port an army adequate to so great an enterprise.
The Tartars, the only people of Asia who ever
made extensive distant conquests, made an unsuc-
cessful attempt on Japan in the year 1284, flushed
with their success in the conquest of China, and
with all the resources of that country at their com-
mand, while the ports from which they sailed w^ere
not above five or six days' voyage distant. The Eu-
ropean race is the only one which can now effect
distant conquests, and the very circumstance, the
maritime voyage, which opposes an insuperable ob-
stacle to the conquests of an Asiatic people, gives
facility to theirs. Since the Japanese have shut
up their empire, that race has been gathering round
them. The Russians are, since then, colonized at
Kamschatka, within a month's voyage. The Bri-
tish empire has been established in Hindustan, not
above six weeks' sail from them. A colony of the
English has been founded in Australasia, destined
to be a mighty empire, and not a month distant
from Japan. Two great empires are established,
or establishing, by the European race in the New
World, the western shore of which cannot be above
a month's voyage from Japan by the surest and easi-
est navigation in the world. The danger is perhaps
least from the quarter where, at first view, it appears
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. 335
most imminent, from the Russians. Their establish-
ment at Kamschatka is formed in a situation far re-
moved from the effective power of the empire, and in
a country by nature so sterile and inhospitable, that
the European race can never become in it populous
or powerful, nor can it ever therefore furnish the
means of fitting out a great armament adequate to
the conquest of Japan. The most imminent danger
to the independence of Japan is from the western
shore of America, either from the Anglo-Americans
when they shall have spread to that coast, and when
their settlements shall have become populous and
powerful in that quarter, or, in a less distant time,
perhaps, from the Spanish Americans of Chili, Peru
or Mexico. These may yet avenge the wrongs,
real or imaginary, which the Japanese did to their
ancestors and to their religion. A powerful and
ambitious people of Northern or Southern America
would easily fit out a fleet on the Columbia at A-
capulco, Lima, or Valparaiso, which, in a month's
time, would invade Japan, unaware of what is
passing in the rest of the world, and wholly unpre-
pared to resist it. A¥hen the time comes that the
Spanish Americans navigate the seas of India in
numbers, they will probably not be without pretext.
If one of their vessels, for example, should hap-
pen to be shipwrecked on the coast of Japan, it
is probable that, in obedience to the standing or-
ders of the empire, which are inviolate, the crew
836 INTERCOLONIAL COMMERClI.
would be put to death, and this violation of the
law of" nations would at once be equivalent to a
declaration of war. The conquest of Japan, not-
withstanding the superior courage and spirit of its
inhabitants, would perhaps be easier than that of
China, which has yielded to every conqueror that
has tried it. The coasts of China, where China
would be invaded, are situated within the tropics,
and Europeans would suffer from the climate. Ja-
pan is a healthy mountainous country, in the tem-
perate zone, and the climate would be perfectly
congenial to them. China is a great continuous
territory, difficult, of course, to penetrate. It has
been for ages accustomed to obey the rule of one
master with an undivided authority, and a portion
of it could not be conquered unless a conquest
were made of the whole. Japan consists of many
separate islands easily accessible. The government
of the provinces is in the hands of hereditary prin-
ces, who might readily be detached from their allegi-
ance to their chief. A single island might be con-
quered or detached without the whole empire, and
readily preserved by the superiority of an Euro-
pean navy. An illustrious traveller * is of opinion,
• " Should a canal of communication, "says Humboldt, " be
opened between the two oceans, the productions of Nootka
Sound and of China will be brought more than 2000 leagues
nearer to Europe and the United States. Then only can
6
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. SS7
that the neck of land which divides the two Ame-
ricas, has been hitherto the bulwark of the inde-
pendence of China and Japan. This opinion, I
conclude, must relate to a direct attack from
Europe, and is certainly not well founded. No
European nation has ever yet been in a condi-
tion to fit out a fleet and armament of such ma^ni-
tude and efficiency of equipment, as, after a voyage,
at the very shortest, of between three and four
months, could accomplish so mighty and distant
an enterprise as the conquest of Japan. A canal
across the isthmus would facilitate the conquest of
Japan, if attempted from America, by giving the
western shore of that continent the advantages of
the superior resources of the eastern shore ; but it
would not facilitate the conquest if attempted from
Europe, for it could not be navigated by the great
ships necessary to transport troops across the At-
lantic, and ultimately over the Pacific. This fleet
must be constructed or collected on, the western
coast of America, and that coast must be the ren-
dezvous from which the expedition sails. Ame-
rica may be looked upon as a stepping-stone to the
any great changes be effected in the political state of East-
ern Asia, for this neck of land, the barrier against the waves
of the Atlantic Ocean, has been for many ages the bulwark
of the independence of China and Japan." — Political Essai/
on Neiv Spain.
VOL. III. T
33S INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
European race to reach Eastern Asia, and vvlthout
it, that portion of the world might be considered
safe, [at least in this direction, from European in-
vasion. It is the nursery of the race of men that
is to conquer and civilize Asia.
A few words arc necessary on the subject of the
intej^cow^se between the Fliirqjplnes and America,
although I have nothing new to communicate.
The Indian commerce of Spain, if Spain can be
said to have any Indian commerce, is like that of
other nations of Europe, conducted by an exclusive
company, in which the king is a stock-holder ; but
the trade between Manilla and i^capulco is con-
ducted distinct from this, and still in the manner
in which it has been carried on for many ages, by
a single annual ship or galleon of 1200 or 1500
tons. This is also a monopoly, the cargos to
Acapulco being by law limited to half a million
of Spanish dollars, or L. 112,500, and amounting
by connivance to no more than a million and a
half, or two millions, L. 337,500, or L. 450,000
Sterling. The Ecclesiastical Corporations of Ma-
nilla have a large share in the investments, either
adventuring themselves directly, or lending their
capital to the merchants on bottomry. The gal-
leon sails from Manilla in the middle of June, or
beginning of August, when the westerly monsoon
is at its height. The voyage formerly lasted from
five to six montlis, but at present does not, even in
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. 339
SO heavy a ship, and in the imperfect state of navi-
gation among the Spaniards, exceed between three
and four months. After losing the monsoon, the
object of the navigator is to get into the latitudes
of the variable or westerly winds, or, as Humboldt
calls them, in opposition to the trade winds, the at-
mospherical counter cuiTents. These, according
to the present mode of navigation, are sought,
not in the southern but the northern hemisphere,
for which purpose, the galleon ascends as high as
the latitude of 28. 55 degrees, and then steers in
a south-east direction for Acapulco. The passage
of the galleon back to the Philippines is perfonn-
ed in one half the time she takes to make the voy-
age to America, although she touches at the Ma-
rian islands, and sometimes at the Sandwich
islands, to water. Taking advantage of the north-
west winds which blow on the northern coast of
Mexico, she steers in a southerly direction, until
she attains the parallel of Manilla, when she makes
full sail to the west. * Although the whole navi-
* " When she arrives in the parallel of Manilla, she makes
full sail to the west, having always a tranquil sea, and re-
freshing breezes from the point between the east and east-
north-east. Nothing interrupts the serenity of the heavens
in these regions, except sometimes a slight squall, which
is felt when the vessel arrives at the zenith." — Humboldt's
New Spain, Vol, IV. chap. 12.
d4iQ INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
gation lasts but five months, the galleon makes but
one voyage a-year. In a free trade, two could certain-
ly be made without difficulty. Besides the principal
galleon to Mexico, a smaller vessel occasionally
sails to Lima, by the same route, and with the te-
dious and distant voyage along the coast of America.
Humboldt justly observes on this navigation, that
" When Peru, liberated from the yoke of the
monopoly of the Philippine Company, shall be al-
lowed to trade without restriction to the East In-
dies, in returning from Canton to Lima, the pre-
ference will most likely be given to a track which
goes to the south of New Holland, through seas
where they are sure of favourable winds." * For
the principal articles of exportation from the Phi-
lippines, Manilla is but a place of transit. The
cargos of the galleon consist of the manufactures
of China and Hindustan, with the produce of the
Spice Islands, and western parts of the Archipe-
lago ; raw and wrought silk and cotton goods,
cloves nutmegs, and pepper. The return cargo is
chiefly silver, amounting to from one million to
one million three hundred thousand Spanish dol-
lars ; or from L. 2^5,000 to L. 292,500 Ster-
ling; some cochineal, cocoa, Spanish wines, oil,
wool, and bar-iron. All this occupies but a small
* Political Essay on New Spain, Vol. IV. chap. 12.
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. 341
portion of the tonnage of the galleon, which makes
her return voyage nearly in ballast. When a free
and busy intercourse is established between India
and the west coast of America, the furs, the corn,
and the timber, of the northern parts of the for-
mer, will be exchanged for the sugar, tea, coffee,
pepper, and other spices of the Indies, and the sil-
ver and copper of Mexico, Peru, and Chili, for
the same commodities.
The trade of the Indian islands with the con-
tinent of India remains to be treated of. The
principal portion of it called the Eastern trade is
conducted from Bengal. The Malay traders, as
they are called, are generally vessels from two to
three hundred tons burden. The principal ex-
ports from Bengal consist of opium and cotton
goods ; and the principal returns of gold, pepper,
and tin. In consequence of the import of British
cottons by our free traders, and of Turkey opium
by them and by the Americans, this trade has
greatly declined. Before the use of Turkey opi-
um was introduced, the average exportations for
the Indian islands used to amount to about nine
hundred chests a-year, amounting to about 1000
cwt. of the drug. The average quantity of pepper
imported into Bengal from the Indian islands annu-
ally, on an average of eleven years, amounted to
25,428 cwt., and the average quantity of tin, du-
ring the same time, to about tiOUO cwt. The total
342 INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE.
exports of the Indian islands to Bengal have been
valued at the yearly amount of L. 429,4-0, and
the imports at L. 530,880. The trade between
Madras and the Indian islands is much smaller.
The exports from the Indian islands to Madras
have been valued at L. ^80,000, and the imports
at L. 205,000. The chintzes and cotton goods of
Madras were at one time imported in large quan-
tities into the Indian islands, but were in time
supplanted by the cheaper manufactures of Bengal,
as the latter have been by those of Britain. The
value of the exports from the Indian islands to
Bombay have been reckoned at L. 131,000, and
the imports, consisting of a few Surat cloths and
other trifles, at about L. 45,600. Since this esti-
mate was formed, the exports have greatly increased,
and large quantities of coffee, sugar, and even pepper,
are now sent thither from Batavia. According to
the statement just given, the total exports from the
Indian islands to the Continent of India, in the
country trade, will be L. 840,000 Sterling, and
the imports L. 781,400.
It is probable that the country trade of India, in
all its branches, will decline, when the capital and
enterprise of Great Britain are allowed to come
into fair competition with it. It has owed its rise,
in a great measure, to the unjust exclusion of that
capital and enterprise, through our absurd system
of regulation. The country gains no military
INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. 343
strength by the country trade, for the pusillanhnity
of the Indian lascars renders them utterly unfit
for any mih'tary purpose. On this score, there-
fore, it deserves no exchisive privilege. The
expence at which it is conducted is so enormous,
that it is obvious how easily it would give way to
a trade conducted with more skill and economy.
Such is the waste of labour in the construction of
an Indian ship, that, notwithstanding the low price
of the principal materials, she cannot be construct-
ed near so cheap as a British vessel. The interest
of the block costs ten per cent, instead of five per
cent. For every hand that a British ship requires
to navigate her, an Indian ship requires three, yet
an Indian seaman's wages are within 20 per cent, as
high as a British seaman's. In a word, even allow-
ing for the low price of provisions in Bengal, and
the abstemious habits of the iascar, a British
ship, as far as wages and provisions alone are con-
cerned, will be navigated, at a moderate calcula-
tion, about 45 per cent, cheaper than an Indian
ship.
CHAPTER IV.
COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF ARTICLES OF
EXPORTATION.
Vegetable Products Rice. — Minor Grains. — Sago. — Vege-
table Oils. — Cotton Wool. — Cotton Fabrics. — Indigo.r-^
Black Pepper. — Coffee — Sugar. — Cloves. — Nutmeg and
Mace. — Misoy — Ginger, Turmeric, Cayu-puti Oil. —
Areca. — Catechu Gambir Tobacco. — Malay Camphor.
— Benzoin or FranJcincense. — Lignum Aloes, or Agila
Wood. — Drarrons Blood. — Damar or Rosin. — Sandal
o
Wood. — Sapan Wood. — Ebony. — Incorruptible Wood —
Rattans, — Materials of Cordage. — Teak Timber — Animal
Products. — Horns and Hides — Ivory. — The Bird of Pa-
radise and Argus Pheasant Feathers. — Birds Nests. — -
^ac. — Bees' Wax. — Animal Flesh. — Fisheries. — Dried
Fish. — Sharks' Fiiis — Tripang. — Tortoise Shell — Pearls.
—Pearl Oysters. Cowrie Shells. Ambergris. — Agar-
aaar. — Whale Fishery. Mineral Products.. Tin — ■
Geld, — Iron . — Copper.—^ The Diamond. — Sulph ur. — Sa It .
U NDER the common arrangement of — vegetable,
— animal, — and mineral products, I shall proceed to
give an account of the exports of the Indian islands,
including not only such articles as are sent abroad,
but such as are exchanged in the course of the
commercial intercourse of the natives among them-
selves. After the general account rendered of the
COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION, &C. 345
state of society in the Indian islands, it is hardly
necessary to mention, that almost the whole of the
articles which they export are nearly in a crude
form, and have scarcely undergone any degree of
manufacture. Among the most important are ar-
ticles of food, the principal of which is rice. The
most fertile, populous, and industrious countries of
the Archipelago export rice to their neighbours.
The most remarkable of these are Java, Bali, some
parts of Celebes, with the most fertile spots of Su-
matra, and of the Malay Peninsula. Rice is gene-
rally imported from tijese western countries into
those farther east, such as the Spice Islands. Java
is the principal place of production for the con-
sumption of the other islands, and the only island
of the Archipelago that sends rice abroad. The
principal staples of exportation in that island are
places remarkable at the same time forfertilityof soil,
and near which there is no large town for the con-
sumption of the surplus produce of the country, or
where there exists water carriage, by which the
grain of the interior may be cheaply conveyed to
the coasts. The best places to take in large cargos
are Indramayu, Cheribon, Tagal, Pacalongan, Ja-
para, Gressic, and Surabaia. The rice of the east-
ern districts is generally superior to that of the
west. The worst rice is that of Indi-amayu, which
is usually discoloured. The subdivision of the
province of Cheribon called Gubang yields rice
3i6 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
of fine white grain, equal to that of Carolina.
The rice of Gressic preserves best. All Indian
rice is classed in commercial language into the
three descriptions of table rice — white rice —
and carjro rice. From the limited demand for the
first, it is only to be had in Java in small quantity.
For the same reason the second is not procurable in
large quantity, unless bespoken some time before-
hand ; but the third may be had at the shortest
notice in any quantity required. The resident
European, or otlier wholesale merchants, contract
with the native farmers or cultivators for rice of
the ordinary kind, often as low as IC >Spanish dol-
lars per coyan, of 30 piculs of 136 lbs., or 4080 lbs.
avoirdupois, equal to 23|^d. per cwt. making them
advances. The stranger who exports it pays for
it, according to the state of supply and demand,
from 25 to 35 Spanish dollars, or an average of
Ss. 8jd. per cwt. Table rice may be obtained for
exportation at from 40 to 45 Spanish dollars a
coyan, and ordinary white rice at from 35 to 40.
Java rice is inferior in estimation to that of
Bengal or Carolina in the markets of Europe.
When a cwt. of Carolina rice sells for IBs., Ben-
gal sells for lis. 3d., and Java for 9s. 9d. The
prime cost of Carolina rice to the exporter may
be estimated at 4iVri Spanish dollars per cwt., and
that of Bengal in the market of Calcutta at 1 Spa-
nish dollar and 30 cents, or 4s. iOd. per cent., sq
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 347
that, allowing 4-6 per cent, for the intrinsic infe-
riority of Java to the first, and 13^ per cent, to the
last, it is still cheaper than the latter by 16| per
cent. I know no where that rice is so cheap
as in Java, except in Siam, and here it is exported as
low as 10 Spanish dollars per coyan, or for one third
the price even of Java rice. A great deal of the
rice of this country is therefore exported to
China by the junks. The low estimation of Java
rice is not attributable to any real inferiority in
the grain, but to the mode of preparing it for the
market. In husking it, it is for the want of pro-
per machinery much broken, and from carelessness
in drying, subject to decay from the attack of in-
sects or worms. When in the progress of im-
provement, more intelligent methods are pursued
in preparing the grain for tlie market, it will equal
the grain of any other country. Machinery must
be employed for husking the grain, and some de-
gree of kiln-drying will be necessary to insure its
preservation in a long voyage.
Independent of the quantities exported from Java
to the other countries of the Archipelago, there
were exported to Europe in Dutch, American, and
English vessels, in 1818, no less than QJ^S^lj
tons, or 540,4*287 cwts., and to the Isle of France
and Cape of Good Hope 1821f tons, or 36,428*
cwts. The quantity exported in native shipping
from year to year is certainly not less than this, so
348 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
that the whole export cannot fall short of 29,142
tons. It may be roundly estimated, that this ex-
jjortation may be about one-twentieth of the whole
growth of the island. Java rice is also occasionally
exported to China. Rice shipped at Batavia at one
Spanish dollar perpicul, or 84 cents per cwt., may,
reckoning freights at L.8 per ton, be sold in Eng-
land at 15s. 21d. per cwt., allowing 30 percent, for
interest of capital, profits of stock, deficiency of
freight, and incidental charges. Rice shipped in
Java, at the same rate, will bring an advance of 150
to 200 per cent, in the market of Canton. In a
free trade between Europe and China, vessels dis-
charging their investments in the islands might,
with advantage, therefore, fill up with rice, as, under
such circumstances, freight to China could not ex-
ceed L.l, 10s. per ton, or L.2 at the highest.
Minor grains, or other secondary articles of food
exported, are maize or Turkey corn, pulses and
sago. The first are only articles of internal traf-
fic from island to island ; or from a fertile and in-
dustrious province or island to such as are less
so. Tiirlicy corn is never separated from the ear,
still less converted into flour for the convenience
of transportation.
Sago is an article of exportation to Europe, — to
India, principally Bengal, — and to China. It is
in its granulated form alone that it is ever sent
abroad. The best sago is the produce of Siak, on
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 349
the north coast of Sumatra. This is of a light
brown colour, the grains large, and not easily bro-
ken. The sago of Borneo is the next in value.
It is whiter, but more friable. The produce of
the Mokiccas, though greatest in quantity, is of
the smallest estimation. The cost of granulated
sago, from the hands of the grower or producer, is
about twice the price of rice in Java, or a dollar a
picul. In the market of Malacca, the sago of Siak
may be had at from two to three dollars per picul.
The sago of Borneo has been sold to the European
merchant, in Java, as low as If dollar a picul.
The foreign exporter will be able to ship the for-
mer at from 3^ to 4fh dollars per picul. It may
here be worth mentioning, that, within the last few
years, the Chinese of Malacca have invented a pro-
cess by which they refine sago so as to give it a
fine pearly lustre. Not above four or five hundred
piculs of this are manufactured. It is thought that it
may be obtained at about 6 dollars per picul when
the supply is more equal to the demand. A small
quantity of it exposed for sale in the London mar-
ket, in 1818, sold for about thrice the price of" or-
dinary sago."
Vegetable oils are produced and consumed in
large quantities in the Indian islands, and might
constitute, in time, a considerable article of expor-
tation both to Europe and China. The oil of the
ground pistachio and coco- nut are the most valu-
350 COMMERCIAL DKSCRIPTION OF
able as edible oils, and as a burning oil that of the
Talma Christi. The ground pistachio being the
produce of considerable agricultural improvement,
the oil is exported chiefly from Java and the other
agricultural countries ; but the coco-nut grow-
ing almost spontaneously, and depending for per-
fection rather upon its vicinity to the sea than the
fertility of the soil in which it grows, the oil of it
is obtained in most abundance in the maritime
countries, and is even an article of importation in-
to Java, where the market price is usually about six
Spanish dollars the picul.
The ra'ii) cotton of the Indian islands has hither-
to been almost entirely consumed on the spot.
The most improved islands export cotton to their
neighbours, as Java^ Bali^ Lomboc, Mmigarai,
or Flores, Butung, &c. It may be remarked, that
the production of cotton in considerable quantity,
or, at least, in quantity for exportation, is confined
to the islands which constitute the great chain
which forms the southern barrier of the Archipela-
go, beginning with Java, and ending with Timur-
Lauty that portion of the Indian islands, in short, the
geological formation of which is secondary rock.
The price of Java cotton in the seed, the man-
ner in which it is always produced for sale in the
native market, may be estimated at from two to
three dollars per picul. AVhen freed from the
seed, an operation which deprives the inferior
12
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 351
kinds of 75 per cent, of their weight, and the best
of about 66 per cent, it costs from 10 to 11 dol-
lars a picul, or SQs. 8d. per cwt. The ordinary-
cotton of Java is considered in the market of
Canton as equal in vakie to the second kind of
Bombay cotton, and to the cotton of Tinnivelly.
Samples of it exhibited in the London market were
considered to have a woolly and w'eak staple, but
brought l^|d. per pound, when Surat sold at l6:^d.
and Bengal at ISd. It is believed by those who
are acquainted with the subject, that it would
be in higher estimation in the markets of the
Chinese province of Fokien, if carried thither by
the junks, than any where else. Cotton is a
production which cannot be conveyed to a dis-
tant market with any advantage, until the skill,
intelligence, and economy of Europeans be ap-
plied to its husbandry, preparation for the mar-
ket, and transportation. It is cheapened and
perfected, in short, by the application of skill and
machinery, beyond any other produce of the soil.
Thus, by a judicious selection of the best descrip-
tions of cotton, the European cultivator enhances
the value of his produce 81i per cent., as in the dif-
ference between Surat and Georgia bowed cot-
tons.. By the use of good machmery instead of hand
labour, the wool is cheaply freed from the seed,
and by compression of powerful machinery, an ar-
ticle, naturally so bulky and expensive in transpor-
^52 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
tation, is made of cheap conveyance. The present
low prices of cotton wool, and high prices of coffee
and sugar, articles which may be brought into the
market with less skill and less expenditure of capi-
tal, are unfavourable to the rise of the cotton trade.
It may be safely predicted, that in a more settled
state of the markets oftJie world, a share of the ca-
pital and skill of the inhabitants of Java may be ad-
vantageously applied to it. With what advantage
this may be done, we can estimate from the
comparative costs of raising cottons for foreign ex-
portation in Java, Bengal, Bombay, and Georgia.
A picul of Java cotton may be shipped at 12, or-
dinary Bengal cotton costs ISfj, Bombay I7 dol-
lars, and the average of American cotton, for a pe-
riod of years, and of all qualities, 26 Spanish
dollars. China, from its vicinity, will always
afford the best market for the cottons of the
Indian islands. They may be sent thither for half
the freights from Bengal, and probably for one-
third of the freights from Bombay. The junks may
be employed in conveying it even to a market
nearly altogether new, that of the province of
Fokien, where the cottons of the continent of In-
dia will not interfere with it. At present they
convey small quantities thither in the seedy a proof
of the demand in China for the commodity, as it
is reduced by being freed from the seed to one-
fourth of its weight with it, and farther re»
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 35S
duced to one-third of the volume to which hard
compression can reduce it by the application of
machinery. It follows that the freight paid for it in
the seed is twelve times greater than the necessary
freight ! Exported to China by the junks at twelve
Spanish dollars per picul, if properly screwed, and
paying L. !2 per ton for freight, it might be sold
with a gross profit of near 30 per cent, at twelve
tahils. Bombay cotton of the second quality, or
Tinnivelly cotton, may be quoted in the market of
Canton usually at that price, but in that of JFokien
cotton is much higher, not to say that this parti-
cular kind of it is in higher esteem.
Before any extensive intercourse took place be-
tween continental India, and previous to the late
wonderful improvement in the manufacture of the
cotton fabrics of Europe, and the enlargement of
intercourse between European nations and the
Indian islands, the cotton cloths of the latter
formed a considerable article of exportation from
island to island, the more improved and agri-
cultural tribes, that is to say, those that could,
from superiority of soil and industry, grow cot-
ton cheapest and most abundantly, furnishing their
neighbours. Such stuifs are all the manufacture
of the leisure hours of the women of the coun-
try. From the imperfection of the machinery em-
ployed, and, therefore, the great quantity of la-
bour expended upon them, they arc comparatively
VOL. III. z
354 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
high priced. From the quantity of material they
contain, however, and the care with which the
thread is spun, they are heavy and durable fabrics.
The superiority in cheapness of the fabrics of a re-
fined and improved manufacture over such rude
efforts of art, is always in the direct proportion of
the quantity of skill which can be expended upon
the smallest quantity of material. While the de-
gree of art expended bears but a small proportion
to the raw material, that is, when the fabric is
coarse and heavy, the cotton fabrics of the islands
are nearly as cheap as those of Great Britain. The
former become dear in proportion as they become
fine, and at last will bear no comparison at all, A
picul of clean cotton wool costs in Java about 11
Spanish dollars ; a picul of thread 24 Spanish dol-
lars ; a picul of blue thread 35 Spanish dollars ; the
same quantity of good ordinary coloured cloth, 50
Spanish dollars. The spinning costs therefore 118
per cent., the dyeing 46, and the weaving 108. In
Bengal spinning is performed with so much more
savina: of labour, that it costs little more than one
half of what it does in Java. In Britain, thread of
the fine quality, number 100, is spun at the ex-
pence of not more than 30 per cent, on the
cost of the raw material, or for 8d. per pound !
The raw material in Britain is,' at least, 125 per
cent, more costly than in Java. It is transported
over half the globe, — manufactured by a people
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 355
among whom the price of corn is above seven times
dearer than where it grew, * — is sent back by the
same tedious voyage by which it came, — enters in-
to competition with the manufactures of the coun-
try, after paying heavy duties, — and finally drives
them out of the markets by its cheapness and su-
periority. This is one of the proudest and most
unquestionable triumphs of the arts and sciences of
a civilized people. The principal countries of the
Archipelago in which cloth is manufactured for ex-
portation are Java, Bali, and Celebes. More seems
to depend on the quality of the raw material than
the skill of the manufacturers. The cloths of Ce-
lebes are the best, for they are fabricated from the
fine cottons of Lamboc, Butung, and Mangarai.
The cloths of Java, though cheaper in comparison,
are coarser.
Indigo, for reasons stated in the agricultural part
of the work, has never constituted an important ar-
ticle of the commerce of the Indian islands. The
soil and climate are, indeed, peculiarly well suited
to the growth of the plant, but the rude state of na-
tive society, and the pernicious principles of Euro-
pean government which have prevailed, have denied
* Calculating rice at fifteen Spanish dollars per coyan, or
7s. 5d, per quarter, and Hour at 52s. per quarter, the same
quantities of each being supposed to go equal lengths as nu.
triraent, on an estimate of the habits and constitution of the
two races of men who respectively consume them.
356 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
the existence of that skill and capital, without which
this delicate product cannot be manufactured.
The coarse drug manufactured by the natives
for domestic use is, from a few situations in Java,
exported in its liquid form in large jars, for the
use of some of the neighbouring tribes, who are
themselves incapable even of this rude degree of
manufacture. The Dutch, pursuing the usual
principles of their system of monopoly, laid several
of the provinces of Java under contribution for in-
digo, fixing the prices much below the natural
value ; but a complete failure attended the attempt.
Indigo, a much more precarious crop than any
of those made by them the subject of agricultural
monopoly, and requiring much more skill and ca-
pital ill preparing it for a foreign market, of course
sunk at once under the fatal touch of so rude
a system. Before the British possession of Java,
partial attempts had been made by European ad-
venturers to manufacture a drug suited to the Eu-
ropean market, and, as far as the quality of it was
concerned, with signal success. In 1813, the
quantity manufactured for the European market,
or by the European process, did not exceed 20 pi-
culs, or 2720 lbs. avoirdupois. Two English
factories have been since established, which already
manufacture SOO piculs, or 40,800 lbs. avoirdu-
pois. By a new process pursued in the manufac-
ture, and referred to in the agricultural part of
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 857
this work, it is stated that much time is saved, and
a drug of unifonn quality always obtained. This
consists simply in drawing off the fluid from the
steeping vats when the first fermentation has taken
place, without waiting for a second, which only
injures the quality of the Jceciila, without adding to
their quantity. Specimens of this uniform drug are
considered by English dyers as equal to good
Bengal indigo. It is considered that it is manu-
factured for about one rupee, or 2s. 3d. a-pound,
and might be exported nearly at this price.
Of fruits, tamarinds alone constitute an ar-
ticle of foreign exportation. Java is the princi-
pal exporting country. The best, which are
of a very dark colour, nearly indeed black, and
with a very large proportion of pulp to the seed,
are the produce of the depending island of Madura.
Those exported from one country of the Archipe-
lago to another are merely dried in the sun. Such
as are sent to Europe are cured with salt, and
packed in tubs, weighing from two and a half to
three piculs. The price paid by the resident mer-
chant to the natives is as low as one and a half
Spanish dollar the picul. They cost the mer-
chant exporter about three dollars.
Black pepper constitutes a great and valuable
article of the exportations of the Indian islands ;
which, indeed, afford by far the largest portion of
what is consumed throughout the world. In the
35S COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
first intercourse of the Dutch and English with
India, it constituted the most considerable and
valuable article of their commerce. The produc-
tion of pepper, as already remarked in the com-
mercial department of this work, is confined to the
western countries of the Archipelago, and among
these to the islands in the centre and to the north-
em quarter, including the peninsula. It is obtain-
ed in the ports on both sides of the coast of the
latter, but particularly the north-eastern coast. The
principal staples are Pata?ii, Tri?iga?ni, and Kalari'
ten. In the straits^ a large quantity is produced
in the island of Linge?i, and above all, in Penang,
where the capital of Europeans, and the skill and
industry of the Chinese, have been successfully ap-
plied to its culture. The western extremity of
Sumatra, and the norlh-iL'est coast of that island,
are the most remarkable situations in it for the
production of pepper, and here we have Achin,
Tikao, Bencoolen, Padang, and the country of the
Lampungs. The production of the eastern extre-
mity of Sumatra or Palembang is considerable, but
held of inferior quality. In the fertile island of
Java, the quantity of pepper grown is inconsider-
able, nor is it remarkable for the goodness of its
quality. The south, the west, and the north
coasts of the great island of Borneo, produce a
great quantity of pepper. Banjarmassin is the most
productive place on the south coast, and the state
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 359
of Borneo proper on the north coast. The best pep-
per certainly does not grow in the richest soils, for
the pepper of Java and Palembang are the worst of
the Archipelago, and that of Penang and the west
coast of Sumatra the best. Care in culture and
curing improves the quality, as with other articles,
and for this reason chiefly it is that the pepper of
Penang is more in esteem than that of any other
portion of the Archipelago.)
The consumption of pepper is not confined to
any one country in particular ; the whole world is
the market for it, with the singular exception of
the countries in which it grows, for as with the
clove and nutmeg, the Indian islanders hardly
ever use pepper for culinary purposes, and the
consumption for occasional purposes is extremely
trifling.
The natural price of pepper in the Indian islands,
or the cost of the labour of growing it, cannot, I
think, be fairly estimated at above four Spanish
dollars per picul, or li^d. per pound. To the ex-
porter the price has of late years been pretty stea-
dily about nine Spanish dollars, when purchasing
it in large quantities at the emporia and from the
European residents. This difference of price covers
the freight, the detention, the risk of imposition,
and other accidents which would result from deal-
ing, in the small way, directly with the native trader.
More capital and more competition, with tranquil-
360 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
lity, confidence, and free trade, will, it may be pre-
dicted, reduce, in time, the export price to about
six Spanish dollars the picul. A cargo, laid in at
nine Spanish dollars per picul, sells in England at
the rate of 17iu'u per picul, or an advance of 92 per
cent., and pays the exorbitant and unprecedented
impost of 2s. 6d. per pound, or 328 per cent. In
China, the same investment sells at an advance of
about 90 per cent., and in Bengal at 108^ per
cent., including 10 per cent, duties. The people
of England pay for the pepper they consume 332
per cent, more than the Chinese ; 294<2 per cent,
more than the people of Bengal ; and 296 per
cent, more than the Americans, who pay only a
duty of eight cents of a dollar in the pound.
The character of the European intercourse with
India, in the different periods of the trade, is illus-
trated in a most interesting manner, by directing
our attention to the history of the pepper trade, of
which I shall therefore give a short review. This
may be divided into five periods, viz. that early one
in which the commodities of the East were con-
veyed by the numerous channels which I have de-
scribed in another chapter — that in which the Por-
tuguese principally supplied the market — the short
period, during which there was an equal competi-
tion in the market between the nations of Europe
—the period of the close monopoly — and, lastly,
the period of the present free trade. Pepper was
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION, 30 i
sold in the markets of ancient Rome at the rate of
3s. 5jd. per pound avoirdupois, * which, for con-
venience of comparison, I shall give, on this and
similar occasions, in Indian weights, making Spa*
nish dollars 102— per picul. At what price this
pepper was purchased in Malabar, from whence it
must have come, cannot be stated, but, from the
analogy of modern times, we may probably not err
far by saying at 6~ Spanish dollars per picul.
The advance then would be nearly 1 600 per cent.
When the Greeks of Egypt facilitated and cheap-
ened the carriage, by a skill and enterprise exceed-
ing that of the Asiatic traders, and still more,
when the cheaper and more abundant produce of
the Indian islands found its way to Europe, it is
probable that this price was greatly reduced.
Munn states the price of pepper in India at
^iVo Spanish dollars per picul. When it had reach-
ed Aleppo, it was enhanced by 860 per cent., or
cost 59i^V '^P^^is^ dollars, and, in the English
market, it cost 3 s. 6d. per lb. or 103 /,f,, Spanish
dollars per picul, or 7^ per cent, on the price at
Aleppo, and 1580 per cent, on the first cost,
nearly the price it cost to the Romans in the time
of Pliny.
In the time of the Portuguese, or about the
* Arbuthnot's Tables, page 160. JMr Gibbon says it was
sold at 10s. per pound.
36^ COMMEllCIAL DESCUIPTION OF
year 1583, Linschoten informs us that pepper
was to be had in the markets of Sunda Calapa, the
modern Batavia, at from 4 Spanish dollars and
94 cents, to 5 93, and 6 91 cents, or an average
of 5 dollars 93 cents per picul. Taking this as
the rate in the markets of the Archipelago in the
Portuguese times, we find the same pepper selling
in the markets on the Caspian at 41 Spanish dol-
lars and three cents, or an advance of 591 per
cent, on the prime cost. This price must have been
enhanced by the hostility of the Portuguese to-
wards the Arabian and Turkish merchants ; and
Edwards, agent to the Russian "Company, who
gives the statement, says, " by the malice of the
Turkish merchants.'* * Pepper was sold in Eng-
land, towards the close of the Portuguese supre-
macy in India, in 1592, at 4s. per pound, or
1 18^0^5 Spanish dollars per picul, 14>f per cent,
beyond the price it bore before the discovery of the
route by the Cape of Good Hope, so that thus far
Europe was a loser rather than a gainer by that
discovery.
In the short time that the Dutch had a tempo-
rary monopoly of the pepper trade, by their naval
superiority over the Portuguese, and in conse-
quence of the French and English not having yet
interfered with them, they raised the prices in Eu-
* Hakluyt, Vol. II. page 391.
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 363
rope to 8s. a-pound, or 100 per cent, more than
the Portuguese price, and 128y per cent, above the
ancient prices. If they purchased at the prices
which the Portuguese did, or at an average of
^imj Spanish dollars per picul, they must have sold
at the enormous rate of 3895 per cent, advance.
Tliis unfair monopoly price accounts at once for
the enormous profits, which, in spite of their ig-
norance, their wars, and their losses, they divided
in the early period of their trade.
The competition of the French, Dutch, and Eng-
lish, in the beginning of the seventeenth century,
necessarily raised the price of pepper in India. Com-
modore Beaulieu tells us, that, in 16^0, he purchas-
ed his pepper, including duties, at 8 Spanish dollars,
and 89 cents, on the west coast of Sumatra. When
no European competition existed, the price, the
same voyager informs us, was, at Pulo Langkawi, 4*
Spanish dollars and 27 cents the picul. Notwith-
standing the higherprice paid at this period for pep-
per, the wholesome effects of competition reduced
it in England, according to Munn, from the Portu-
guese price of 4s. to Is. 8d. per pound. Shortly
after this, pepper again fell in India to its na-
tural price, the growth appearing to have increased,
and to have been commensurate with the de-
mand. In the beginning of the eighteenth century.
Captain Hamilton states, that the price he paid for
pepper at Palembang was three Spanish dollars the
364f COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
picul, but the pepper of Palembang was in itself
not of superior quality, and required garbling, so
that we may state it at about four dollars the picul.
Small quantities of pepper were to be had still low-
er, and the same author mentions, thai he purchas-
ed some at Jehor even as low as 2 Spanish dollars
and 6.5 cents. Beeckman, in lyi^-j laid in a cargo
at Banjarmassin at the rate of 4 Spanish dollars and
50 cents, but thinks it ought to have been got
much cheaper. After this time, the rigid mono-
poly of our own East India Company being fully
established, as well as that of the Dutch, and the
free European traders who had resorted to the Ar-
chipelago being excluded, the quantity of pepper
grown was diminished, and the price rose from
its natural rate to 12 to 14, and even 16 Spanish
dollars per picul. From the year 1785 to 1791
inclusive, a period of peace, the average price of
pepper in Holland was above 15d. per pound, and
in England, from Is. to Is. 8d.
Since the establishment of some degree of free
trade, the culture of pepper in the Indian islands
has revived, — the cultivator obtaining an equitable
price for it, and the merchant purchasing it at a fair
one. In England, the price has, in consequence
of this favourable turn in the trade, fallen below
what it was ever known before, and at least to 100
per cent, lower than the last monopoly price, to one-
10
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 365
sixth of the ancient prices, to near one-seventh of
the Portuguese prices, and to near one-third of Mr
Munn's boasted prices, the ground of his estimate
of the advantages which the East India Company
conferred on the state.
In the beginning of the seventeenth century,
(l6l5,) Sir Dudley Digges states the consumption
of England in pepper at 450,000 lbs., and Munn
(1621) that of all Europe at G,000,000 of lbs.
At present it has increased prodigiously, and per-
haps the consumption of England is not less than
1,113,584 lbs., nor that of ail Europe than
15,890,000 lbs., the whole having increased since
Mr Munn*s time, or in about two centuries to
nearly two and two-thirds more than it then was.
From these details some interesting and import-
ant deductions may be made. The first remark
that occurs is, that, as far as pepper, the principal
article of exportation from India in the early inter-
course of modern Europe with India is concerned,
neither Europe nor India gained any advantage by
the discovery of the new route by the Cape of Good
Hope. The first obtained no better market for its
produce, nor did the latter obtain a cheaper com-
modity. In the ancient intercourse, pepper cost
Ss. 6d. per pound, — under tljp^ Portuguese it cost
4s. But the mere difference between land and
sea carriao-e cannot be estimated at less than 70^
per cent. Supposing ijepper, by either route.
36G COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
to have been laid in in India at the rate of six Spa-
nish dollars the picul, and freight to have ac-
tually cost the Portuguese, in the early and im-
perfect state of their navigation, as high as L. 50
Sterling per ton, or above si:v times the present
prices, they ought still, had there been a free trade,
to have sold at 7d. per pound. To the difference
between land and sea carriage must be added, the
superior risk of three sea voyages, — the expences
of frequent shipment and trans-shipment, the many
arbitrary imposts, in the form of import, transit,
and export duties, levied by barbarous states, *
with the risk of plunder and depredation in passing
through the territories of barbarous hordes, t
Another important remark occurs, that, during
the short period in which the Dutch had a mono-
poly of the pepper trade, the price rose 100 per cent,
above what it was in the time even of the Portu-
guese, and 114S per cent, beyond what it had been
before the discovery of the route by the Cape of
Good Hope. This shews at once the condition to
• The duties levied by the Soldans of Egypt alone are
said to have amounted to one-third of the price of the goods
at Alexandria.
\ "What goods," says the author of the Wealth of Na-
tions, " could bear the expence of land carriage between
London and Calcutta ? Or, if there were any so precious as
to be able to support the expence, with what safety could
they be transported through the territories of so naany bar-
barous nations ?" — Book I- Chap- III-
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 367
which the pepper trade would have been reduced,
could any one nation have been able to make a mo-
nopoly of it as the Dutch did of the clove and
nutmeo; trade. That this has not been done as
with these two productions, we are not indebted to
the wisdom or forbearance of the European policy
of the times, but to the impracticableness of effect-
ing so great a mischief. Pepper has a wide geo-
graphical distribution, and the inhabitants of the
countries in which it grows are compared to the
feeble inhabitants of the Spice Islands, so powerful
and spirited as to have afforded effectual resistance
to a system which was a virtual spoliation of their
property.
The third remark which I have to make is on
the state of the trade when an active competition
existed in it between the Portuguese, French,
Dutch, and English. Mr Munn triumphantly
proclaims the advantages which England derives
from the new trade of the East India Company, of
which he was a member, and says that the country
obtained spices nearly one-third cheaper than by
the old route. It is evident, from what has just
been stated of the conduct of the Dutch, that this
fall was not owing to the conduct natural to a com-
mercial monopoly, but to the effects of the busy
competition which subsisted at the time between
the European nations, during which the trade
was followed by many of the beneficial conse-
368 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
quenccs of freedom, for the grower at the time
was obtaining a higher price than ever he obtained
before, and the consumer a much cheaper commo-
dity. The question is not whether it was cheaper
than by the old route, but whether it was cheaper
in tlie proportion it ought to have been cheaper.
It was sold in England at this time at from Is. 8d.
to 2s., whicli is nearly as high as it was sold at the
same time in the markets on the Caspian, there-
fore it was sold at a monopoly price still. Suppos-
ing it purchased in the markets of India at eight
dollars, allowing L. 16 per ton, or twice the pre-
sent price, for freight, and 100 per cent, for profit,
it was actually sold for from 108 to 150 per cent,
above its natural market price ! If pepper was
laid in at five Spanish dollars, it ought to have
sold for 6d. per pound instead of 9^d. as the
above rate of enhancement supposes.
In the last period of the trade, or that of the
enlargement of British commerce, the price has
sunk to less than one half of the average it had
borne in the most favourable periods of the close
monopoly, a price beyond which, in times of tran-
quillity, it is not probable it will ever rise again,
but indeed fall much below. This fact speaks
for itself, and requires no comment.
The last remark to be offered regards the rela-
tive consumption of pepper now and at former
times, ^\^len the price was 1 s. 8d. per pound, the
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 3C)9
consumption of all Europe was ^.000,000 lbs. It
has continued to increase since that time with the
increase of wealth and of consumers ; and, in the
period before the suppression of the monopoly,
when the prices had fallen to one half what they
were when Mr Munn's estimate was made, it
had increased to 11,218,000 lbs. The price has
since fallen to less than lid. per pound, or about
one-third of Mr Munn's price ; and, unless pep-
per be different from all other commodities, we
may reckon upon a corresponding increase of con-
sumption. A practical illustration of this estab-
lished maxim in political economy is afforded by
the progressive increase of consumption, in pro-
portion to the fall of prices within the last few
years in England alone. In 1814, when the price
was lid. the consumption was only 785,89^ lbs. ;
in 1816, when it was 8J^d. it was 914,840; and
in 1818, when the price sunk to yd. the consump-
tion became ], 113,584, or 147 per cent, more
than in Mr Munn's time. If it is reasonable to
suppose the consumption of other parts of Europe
has been in this ratio, the whole consumption at pre-
sent ought to be about sixteen millions of pounds, or
as 8 is to S of the consumption two centuries back.
In point of quality, the pepper of the Indian
islands is usually reckoned inferior to that of Mala-
bar, but there exists no material difference between
them, as between some other colonial productions,
VOL. III. A a
3J0 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
such as cotton, coft'^'c, cloves, &c. • In the market of
Bengal, where they meet on equal tenns, the pro-
duce of Malabar usually fetches about 2 per cent,
more than that of the Indian islands. In the mar-
kets of Europe there is a difference of ^d. a pound
in favour of Malabar pepper, but in China no dif-
ference whatever is made.
In point of cheapness, the Malabar pepper will
bear no comparison with that of the Indian islands.
When Malabar pepper is sold in the markets of
Bombay, at the rate of 16 Spanish dollars per pi-
cul, that of the Archipelago is sold in Batavia at
9 Spanish dollars the picul, or 45 per cent, cheap-
er. The same rate of difference seems always to
have existed. Buchanan tells us, that 120 rupees
a candy, or 11 Spanish dollars and 11 cents a pi-
cul, are a price too small to enable the cultivators
of Canara to grow pepper. The Indian islanders
can afford to grow it, as already shewn, for 4 Spa-
nish dollars, or for little more than one third of
the Malabar prices. * When free European trad-
ers received the pepper of the Indian islands at
4 and 5 Spanish dollars the picul, they paid in Ma-
labar 7tV(J dollars. The Dutch and English com-
* Hamilton, giving an account oPJelior, says, *' About
SOO tons are the common export of pepper, and we have it
for almost one half o( the price we pay for Malabar pepper."
New Account of the East Indies, Vol. II. p. 156.
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION'. S7I
panies, in the beginning of last century, paid in
Malabar at the rate of 7i^fnj Spanish dollars the pi-
cul, while they obtained it in the Archipelago at
3 and 3} Spanish dollars.
Some loose attempt may be made at estimating
the consumption of different countries in pepper.
The whole produce of Malabar * is considered to
amount to 6000 candies, 28,8UOpiculs,orS,840,000
lbs. avoirdupois ; considerably less than the little
island of Penang produced at one period. The
quantity of pepper imported into China by Eu-
ropean traders is annually 20,560 piculs, or
f^,74<l, 333 lbs. It may be presumed that the junks
take as much more, or, in all, 5,4^82,666. The
Dutch send to Japan 30,000 lbs. annually. The
quantity, on an average of eleven years, imported in-
to Bengal, was 35,000 Bazar maunds, or 21,000 pi-
• " Black pepper is the grand article of European com-
merce with Malabar. Before the invasion of Hyder, the
country now called the province of Malabar produced an-
nually about 15,000 candies of 640 lbs. The quantity con-
tinued gradually diminishing until ITSS-it, when Colonel
Macleod's army came into the province, since which the de«
crease has been more rapid, and continues every year to
augment." — Buchanan* s Journey, Sec. \o\. TI. p, 530. Dr
Buchanan ascribes the diminution entirely to disturbances
and misgovernment, but I imagine it is more to be attributed
to the high cost of growing, and the consequent inability of
competing with the produce of the Indian islands.
372 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
culs, or 2,800,000 lbs. almost the whole of which
is from the Indian islands. The whole quantity
sent to Europe is 11,218,000 lbs. The peninsula
of India is chiefly, though not entirely, supplied
with the produce of Malabar, and so are the coun-
tries on the Persian and Arabian Gulf. The coun-
tries lying between Siam and China are supplied
with their own produce, of which it would be in
vain to conjecture the amount. The home con-
sumption of the Indian islands is very trifling.
Coffee^ although not a native product of the In-
dian islands, — ^but recently known in their commer-
cial history, — and still nearly confined to one island,
is one of the most important articles of trade. As
mentioned in the agricultural portion of the work,
coffee was introduced into Java in the early part of
the eighteenth century, to which, with the excep-
tion of a suLill quantity of indifferent produce^
grown on the west coast of Sumatra, which occa-
sionally finds its way into the market of Calcutta,
it is still confined. The soils and countries in
which the coffee and pepper plants thrive are ex-
tremely different. The soil which suits coffee
must be fertile and good. Pepper is more indis-
criminate, and thrives in a much inferior soil. The
lands suited for both are at present in such abund-
ance, that they scarcely bear any rent ; but scarci-
ty will naturally be first felt in coffee lands, and
tliis circumstance will sooner render coffee high
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 373
priced than pepper. At present the labour of
raising these two commodities is nearly the same,
and, therefore, their price is nearly alike. They
occupy the same area of ground, are equally proli-
fic, bear in the same time, and live nearly the same
time. Coffee may, I imagine, be raised in Java,
with an ample profit to the farmer, at 4 Spanish
dollars the picul.
Holland is the principal market of Java coffee,
and here it is distinguished into pale, yellow, and
brown, varieties which depend on the age of the
commodity, and not on the modes of culture, or
on any permanent difference in the plants which
yield them. The pale coffee is the newest and
lowest priced. The brown is the oldest and most
esteemed. Coffee stored in Java loses the first
year eight per cent., the second about five, and
the third about two, after which it continues
stationary, and assumes a brown colour. This
is the brown coffee of commerce. There is a loss
of 15 per cent, of weight, and at least two years
and a half of the interest of money, and profits
of stock upon this commodity. It is probable,
therefore, that the brown coffee will disappear from
the markets. The Dutch acquired a taste for it
during the time in which the coffee used to be te-
diously and improvidently stored, when the mono-
poly was in full force. Coffee is an article of co-
lonial produce, the value of the different varieties
S74« COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
of which is in a good measure determined by the
taste or caprice of" the consumer. In the Dutch
market, pale or new Java coiFee bears the same
price as the coffees of St Domingo and Cuba, and is
15 per cent, worse than ordinary West India cof-
fees, yelloxi) coffee is 41? per cent, better than Bour-
bon or even Mocha, and bro''d!;n coffee is 'i5 per
cent, better even than the last. In the London
market, the average of Java coffees is 20 per
cent, better than Jamaica. Java brown coffee in
the London market is nearly on a par, but rather
superior to Mocha. In the markets of Ben-
gal and Bombay, Mocha coffee ranks very high,
and is no less in the latter than 82 per cent, su-
perior to Java. This relation, however, is only
to inferior Java coffee, triage y as it is called in com-
mercial language, such only having been sent to
Bombay. The whole produce of Java in coffee is
120,000 piculs for the western parts or country of
the Sundas, and about 70,000 for the eastern dis-
tricts, or in all, the picul being 136 pounds avoir-
dupois, 25,810,000 pounds, which is equal to two-
sevenths of the whole produce of the British West
Indies, about the nineteenth part of the consumption
of Europe, which is reckoned at 54,260 tons, or
486,158,960 pounds avoirdupois. The quantity
of land in Java fit to grow coffee .is immense, and
any scarcity of it cannot be anticipated for many
years. Such is its abiuidance, that it can hardly be
12
ARTICLES OF EXrORTATION. SJ5
said to pay any rent, or to have any price, where-
as in the West Indies, Edwards estimates the price
of lands fit for growing coffee at L.2= per acre. Un-
der tliese circumstances, and the cheap rate of labour,
the quantity which might be grown appears ahnost
interminable. It is only necessary for this, that
the culture should h^^completely free and unshack-
led, and that no injudicious impost should be levied
upon it. The existing administration of the co-
lony has made some liberal advances towards such
a system, but half enough has not yet been effected,
for it may safely be asserted, that a government
that understands the ever-inseparable interests of
itself and its subjects, has no more to do with the
culture or trade in coffee, than in that of bread
corn. Under the present management, it is aS'
sorted by competent judges, that in five years
from the time in which the high prices began
to affect the free culture, or 1817, the quantity
of coffee which Java will be capable of yield-
ing will not be less than 70,000,000 of pounds,
which will equal the production of St Domingo in
the year 1790, when its cultivation was carried to
the highest pitch under the French.
From the rates at which coffee has been of late
years sold in Java, it is impossible to form any opi-
nion of its natural price. The supply of coffee
grown in all the countries which produce it has
j)ot, in fact, been equal to the demand of the
37© COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
European market, and until supply and demand
be equalized, it will be impossible to ascertain it.
Any quantity of coffee might be had in Java in
1812, at 2 Spanish dollars a picul. It rose in
1814, and the following years, to 10, to 15, to^O,
to 30, and in the keenness of competition, once
reached 37 dollars. If pepper, which so exactly
resembles it in the labour necessary to produce it,
can be imported into Java, and sold there for 9
dollars j coffee, the produce of the country, not
chargeable with freight, ought not, even in the pre-
sent circumstances of the trade, to exceed eight.
In a free and fair state of trade and production,
coffee, like pepper, will be grown at 4 Spanish
dollars, and 6 Spanish dollars per picul may
be considered a fair exportation price, which
should cover the risk of the merchant in making
advances to the native cultivator, pay him inci-
dental charges, and afford him a good profit. Ex-
ported at 9 Spanish dollars the picul, coffee,
paying freight at the rate of L.8 per ton, and
allowhig 50 per cent, for profit, insurance, and
incidental charges, might be sold in Europe at
about 55s. per cwt., which is nearly the present
price of pepper.
The cost of growing West India coffee has
been estimated by Edwards at 57fs. per cwt., or
ISimj Spanish dollars per picul, 285^ per cent,
higher than the actual cost of growing Java coffee.
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 377
157 per cent, higher than I have supposed it prac-
ticable for the European resident merchant to ex-
port it, and 7H per cent, beyond the price as esti-
mated by the parallel produce of pepper. We
have the price of Mocha coffee from Neibour, who
states it, in 1763, as high as 16 j Spanish dollars
the picul. • In a state of fair trade, and with equal
duties in the markets of Europe, it is evident enough
from this, that the produce of the West India islands,
or Arabia, would stand no chance of competition
with that of Java. The market price of Java
coffee is at present regulated, and will continue
to be regulated, until the quantity greatly increases,
by the prices of the general market. The differ-
ence between the cost of growing and bringing to
market the coffee of Java, and the dearer produce
of other countries, is a premium paid to the cul-
tivator of the former, until his own produce shall
begin to regulate the general market.
Sugar is a production for which, like coffee, the
Indian islands are indebted to the enterprise and
knowledge of Europeans. Java, and Luconia, or
Lusong, are the principal places of production. The
Chinese residing in Siam have of late years manu-
factured, indeed, a considerable quantity of excel-
lent quality, which finds its way into the Archipe-
lago, and eventually to Europe. All the sugar
* Description de I'Arabic, Tom. II. p. 52.
378 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
manuflictured in the Indian islands is of the de-
scription called clayed. The sugar in manufactu-
ring is formed in pots, the lower part of which be-
ing the worst clayed, and the upper the best, this
circumstance determines the commodity into two
qualities in the market. The manufacture is en-
tirely in the hands of the Chinese. To these the
Euroj^ean resident merchants make advances, and
the produce is delivered at the end of the manu-
facturing season. I have already attempted to es-
timate the cost of growing sugar in Java, and stat-
ed it at ^j-j^ Spanish dollars the picul of 136 lbs.
The European merchants at present contract with
the planters at the following rates : — For the best
*ivhite sugars from five to six and a half dollars the
picul of 136 lbs. avoirdupois ; and for the brown
from four to four and a half dollars, or an average
for both of five Spanish dollars. It is usually sold
to the exporter for about eight dollars the white,
and six or seven the brown. These high prices,
and a free culture and trade in the commodity,
have been, within the last few years, the cause of
an immense increase in the culture of the sugar
cane. This has been most remarkable in the rich
districts of the eastern part of the island. In
1813, the quantity of sugar produced in the cen-
tral districts did not exceed 10,000 piculs, or
12,14(2'^ cwts. In 1818, it had increased six-fold,
or was 60,000 piculs, or y-^S^y} cwts. The quan-
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 379
tity produced in the "doestern districts is 120,000
piculs, or 145,7144 cvvts., and in the eastern extre-
mity of the island about 20,000 piculs, or 24,285|-
cwts., making, in all, 200,000 piculs, or 242,857|-
cwts., or 27,200,000 lbs.
The quality of Java sugar will be best ascer-
tained from comparing it with other sugars in the
market in which it is best known. When a pound
of Java sugar, mijced brown and white, sells in the
market of Rotterdam for 10^ groots.
Bengal sells for
9 groots.
British West India
91
Surinam
9i
Brazil
10
Havannah
14
Manilla
10
It may be obsei*ved, in respect to the quality of
these sugars, that those of Manilla, Java, and Bra-
zil, are nearly equal.
Edwards has estimated the price of growing su-
gar in Jamaica at 18s. Qd. per cwt., making 22s,
9 Id. per picul. By the estimate I have furnished,
this is 125 per cent, dearer than Java sugar.
Under a system of colonial policy and government
perfectly liberal and free, I should calculate upon
good clayed sugar being exported from Java at the
380 COMMERCIAL DHSCRirTION OF
low rate of from three to four Spanish dollars per
picul. *
The better part of the molasses obtained in the
manufacture of the sugar of Java is, in the present
abundance of it, nearly wasted, especially in the
eastern districts, where no arrack is manufactured.
Any quantity may be purchased on the spot where
the sugar is manufactured at the rate of half a dol-
lar per picul ; and the finest might, were there a
market for it, be delivered to the exporter at 4s.
per cwt.
The Arrack, or spirits manufactured from rice,
molasses, and palm wine, is made in large quanti-
ties, chiefly for domestic consumption. In former
times, it was exported in considerable quantity,
particularly to Europe and Madras. The arrack
of commerce is of three kinds, which are mere va-
rieties in the strength of the spirit. The leaguer of
the highest proof, including duties, is usually sold
at from 60 to 75 Spanish dollars, according to the
demand, which is 45 cents of a Spanish dollar per
gallon, and one of the second at from 45 to 55
♦ Hamilton, in 1710, purchased sugar at Japara, the
principal place of manufacture at present also, lower than I
have here stated it. "I bought," says he, '' good white su-
gar in cakes here for two Dutch dollars per picul, being
140 lbs. English suttle weight.''
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATIOX. 381
Spanish dollars, or S3 cents per gallon. It is cal-
culated that the best may be afforded, including
duties, for seven Spanish dollars per picul, which is
37 cents, or 20d. per gallon, and the ordinary at
28 cents, or 15d.
The first of the peculiar and most valued of the
exports of the Indian islands is the clove, of the
agriculture of which I have already furnished an
ample account. The clove requires very little care
or preservation as an article of commerce. It is
simply packed in bags weighing 224 lbs. each, and
in this state suffers no deterioration from keeping.
For two centuries it has now been an article of
rigid monopoly in culture and commerce, and du-
ring that period sold to the consumer at a price
exorbitantly beyond its natural value. As the
commerce in it is at present conducted, it is too in-
considerable to deserve much serious attention.
It deserves, however, to be inquired, what circum-
staiices have contributed to reduce the trade in an
article of elegant and innocent luxury, for which
nations of every rank of civilization have an univer-
sal taste, to it present insignificant amount, and to
point out the means by which the commerce in it
may be enlarged, and the natural rights of the
grower and consumer restored. We possess abun-
dant facts to enable us to do this, and we have
only to apply to them the acknowledged j)rin-
ciple, that a free competition alone can insure to
382 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
the grower the whole value of his produce, and to
the consumer the cheapest commodity. It will be
no difficult matter to prove, that the diminished
consumption of cloves, which has been absurdly
and inconsiderately ascribed to a caprice of fashion,
has, in fact, been principally owing to an enhance-
ment of their cost, — that the clove is naturally a
cheap and abundant production, and that a free
trade in it will be inevitably attended by a great
increase of consumption. I shall do this by
furnishing a calculation of the natural price of
cloves, and corroborate it by a review of the prices
of the commodity in the different periods of the
trade. The natural price of the clove may be best
understood by a comparative statement of the la-
bour of growing it, with that of articles of the
same countries, the cost of which has been ascer-
tained by free culture, — pepper and coffee are
those articles with which it is most natural to in-
stitute a comparison. In the existing relation' of
land to capital, the lands required for all three af-
ford no renty on account of their abundance. This
is more peculiarly applicable to the clove, perhaps,
than to the others. An acre of pepper vines will
yield II6I lbs. of clean pepper ; an acre of cloves
only 375 lbs. If the expence of growing cloves,
therefore, were in proportion to the produce of a
given area of land, they ought to be nearly three
times the price of pepper. This, however, is by
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 3S3
no means the case. The principal labour is in the
first culture of the ground, and the planting of
the trees. In the culture of clove trees, there is
in J5 years only the labour of preparing one acre
of land, and of planting, rearing, and reaping
75 trees, which will in that time give a produce of
S4',750 lbs. In that of pepper, there will be in
the same time the labour of the preparation of 31
acres of land, and the rearing of 5805 vines and
props. The produce will be 74^)014 lbs.
The relative expence of growing these two pro-
ducts, according to the system o£ Jbrced culture,
will aflPord another means of determining their re-
lative prices. In Amboyna, 50 clove trees are as-
signed to the care of one man ; in Bencoolen 500
pepper vines. The produce of the labourer in
the first case is 2181 lbs., and that of the second
^03 ;T lbs. This would seem to imply that the na-
tural price of the clove, the cost of rearing it, is
really smaller than that of pepper.
We have a further means of judging of their re-
lative cost by the prices given respectively for them
by the monopolists. The real price paid to the
cultivator for cloves is 3id. per lb. avoirdupois, or
nearly eight Spanish dollars per picul of 133] lbs.
In Bencoolen there is paid for pepper in all about
4tutt per picul.
We may again compare the prices determined by
these data with the natural market rate of the com-
384 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
modity before violence or impolicy interfered with it.
The companions of Magellan, in 1521, purchased
cloves at the Moluccas at the following rates by bar-
ter : For ten yards of good scarlet broad cloth they
received a bahar of cloves weighing 594^ lbs, avoir-
dupois ; and for fifteen yards of middling cloth
the same quantity. If we take the value of the
finest broad cloth at 24s. per yard, * we shall
have the price of the cloves at nearly 12 Spanish
dollars per picul. In 1599, the Dutch, in their
first voyage, obtained their cloves in the Moluccas
at the rate of lOj^ Spanish dollars, which proba-
bly included some charges and duties, for, in the
following year, regular contracts were entered in-
to as low as ^f^ Spanish dollars. The price paid
for pepper at this time in the markets of the west-
ern part of the Archipelago was -6 Spanish dollars.
From all these data, we may fairly conclude that the
natural price of growing cloves cannot, at all
events, be more than 50 per cent, higher than that
of growing pepper, — that that price may be about
6 Spanish dollars, and would, in a free state of the
market, be to the exporter not more than 8 Spa-
nish dollars.
The clove trade is naturally divided into the three
following periods, — when it was conducted by the
natives through many steps, and reached the distant
Wealth of Nation Sf Baok I. chap. ii.
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 385
nations of Europe by precarious voyages and distant
land journeys, — when it reached them partly through
that channel and partly through the Portuguese by
the new route, — when the nations of Europe com-
peted for the commodity in the markets of the Mo-
luccas and of Europe, — and, lastly, when the supre-
macy of the Dutch was fully established and exclud-
ed all competition. In the first period, if we imagine
the Arabs, Malays, and Chinese, to have purchas-
ed cloves in the Moluccas at their natural market
rate, or 8 Spanish dollars, we may then trace them
on their way to Europe. At Siinda Calapa, or
the modern Batavia, one of the emporia at which
the traders of the west obtained cloves, Linschoten
informs us, that the commodity was to be obtain-
ed at from 12^ Spanish dollars to 15^, or at an
average of nearly 14 Spanish dollars, which would
afford a reasonable profit between the Moluccas
and Java in the rude state of commerce and navi-
gation which prevailed. When the cloves, pur-
chased at the emporia of the west, had reached as
far as the Caspian, and thus made two sea voyages
with a tedious, expensive, and dangerous land
journey, they cost no more than 91j\j77 Spanish
dollars, or were enhanced 551 per cent. * Munn
informs us, that the price of cloves, when they had
got as far as Aleppo, was 140 /^J^^ Spanish dollars.
* Edwards in Hakluyt's Collection, Vol. II. p. 291.
VOL. III. B b
S86 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
and that the ancient selling price in England, after
the voyage from Aleppo to Venice, from Venice
to Bruges or Antwerp, and thence to England,
was 237ioo Spanish dollars, nearly thirty times the
prime cost, seventeen times the price at the emporium
of Sunda Calapa, 160 per cent, on the price at the
markets of the Caspian, and 68 per cent, beyond
the Aleppo prices. This is, in a few words, a pic-
ture of the distant commerce of all other barba-
rous times.
During the second period of the trade in cloves,
or that of the dominion of the Portuguese, very
little change appears to have been effected in the
price of cloves, for Europe was supplied partly
through the Portuguese, and partly with the pro-
duce which came over-land, a proof that the Por-
tuguese could not have brought a great deal, or
materially interfered with the commerce of the
Arabs. The Dutch had hardly established their
connection with the Moluccas when they were
followed by the English, and both had to com-
pete with the Portuguese, the Chinese, and na-
tive traders, that is, the Malays, Javanese, and
Macassars. The price of cloves, of course, rose,
and in l6l9, Rumphius * informs us, that the
Dutch Governor-General Coen was compelled
to allow by contract 13^^ Spanish dollars the
picul for them, but that this did not satisfy
* Manuscript History of Amboyna.
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 387
the natives, who were in the habit of receiv-
ing from the English often as much as 18j~j
Spanish dollars the picul. Munn says, the Eng-
lish paid as high as 22^, but Munn was mak-
ing out a case for the East India Company,
and probably this is an exaggeration."^ The
same competition, as we have already seen, rais-
ed pepper to 8A^-. The cloves purchased in the
Indies at these prices, we are informed by Munn,
were sold in England at the rate of 177TT)n Spanish
dollars, or 850 per cent, advance on the highest of ,
these prices. I come now to the last period of the
history of the clove trade, that of the close mono-
poly of the Dutch. This may be said to date
from the expulsion of the English, in 1623, and
therefore has continued near two centuries. An at-
tempt to impose the monopoly of cloves, in trade
and culture, occasioned constant wars and insur-
* " The Governor, Van Spult, again sent an expedition
of war-boats against Loehoe and Cambello, to compel the
inhabitants of these districts to cut down their clove trees,
as they refused to leave off trading with foreigners, and, as
there was no means of preventing them, for, when they knew
of any strangers arriving, they would conceal their ships in
by places and carry their cloves to them. The English es-
pecially hurt the market exceedingly, giving for a bahar of
cloves from 80 to lOO rix dollars, a price which the natives
desired from us also." — Rumphius's Manuscript History of
Amboyna, Chap. viii.
388 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
rections in the Moluccas down to the year 1681,
when the Dutch at length established the monopo-
ly to their heart's desire. That they might regu-
late and control production and price just as they
thought proper, the clove trees were extirpated
every where but in Amboyna, the seat of their
power ; and the surrounding princes were bribed
by annual stipends to league with them for the de-
struction of their subjects' property and birthright.
This plan was begun about the year 1551. * The
contracts are still in force, and an annual fleet vi-
* " Admiral Vlaming," says Ruraphius, " having now re-
turned frora Banda, and observing, as before stated, that
the Company was overstocked with cloves, he longed for
an opportunity of rooting up a portion of the clove trees.
The existing disaffection seemed to him to afford that op-
portunity, by means of which the whole produce might
be secured to the Company, and the faithless inhabitants
be prevented from smuggling. With this view, he request-
ed the king of Ternate to come to Amboyna, that he
might accompany him to Batavia, to take measures with
the Governor- General and Council for settling the affairs
of the Moluccas. He also proposed to the king that he
should cause to be extirpated ail the clove trees in his
country, as they were the cause of all the disaffection
which existed, and that he should yearly receive, in con-
sideration of this service, a good sum in money." In ano-
ther place he says that, on one occasion, at a single ga-
thering, Amboyna alone produced, for the first crop, a rich
harvest of two thousand bahars, 1,188,000 lbs. avoirdupois,
but that Jbrtune favoured the admiral, for the troops sent to
ravage the country succeeded in destroying a great many
sago and cocoa-nut trees, with 3000 clove trees !
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 389
sits the surrounding islands, to suppress the growth
of cloves, which, in their native country, spring
up, with a luxuriance which these measures of Sa-
tanic rigour, and of sacrilege towards bountiful
Nature, can scarce repress.
By the plan on which the clove trade is now
conducted, a plan carried into effect through so
much iniquity and bloodshed, the country of spices
is rendered a petty fanu, of which the natural
owners are reduced to the worst condition of pre-
dial slavery, and the great monopoHzer and op-
pressor is that government whose duty it should
have been to insure freedom and afford protection.
Human ingenuity could hardly devise a plan more
destructive of industry, more hostile to the growth
of public wealth, or injurious to morals, than this
system, framed in a barbarous age ; and it reflects
disgrace upon the character of a civilized people to
persevere in it.
It is curious to remark how the monopolizers, in
carrying the details of this system into effect, at
once impose upon the natives and deceive them-
selves. The nominal price paid to the natives is
actually above the natural price of the commodity,
but they are cheated in the details. The cultiva-
tor brings his produce to the public stores, where
it is subjected at once to a deduction of one-fifth,
for payment of the salaries of the civil and military
officers. The price of the remainder is fixed at
390 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
the rate of 9/00 Spanish dollars the picul, but before
payment is made, another deduction of one-fifth
is made, one half of which is for the benefit of the
chiefs or r^ajas, and the other for the native elders,
who are overseers of the forced culture. The real
price, therefore, paid to the grower, is, Spanish
dollars 8 per picul, or 3 Id. per pound avoirdupois,
instead of Spanish dollars 1 1 iln per picul, or 43d.
per pound, which is pretended to be given.
When cloves have been sold on the spot, the
price usually exacted has been about 64 Spanish
dollars the picul, or eight times the price paid to
the cultivator ! The average price in Holland,
previous to the war of the French Revolution, may
be taken at 6s. per pound, or IT^-iio Spanish dol-
lars per picul, 2122 per cent, advance on the real
cost of the commodity in the place of its growth.
When brought direct to England, they have cost,
on an average, Ss. 8d. the pound, making lOSiun
per picul, an advance on the natural export price
of 1258 per cent. !
With respect to the quantity of cloves grown
and consumed in different periods of the trade,
from the nature of the subject, our information
cannot be expected to be any thing more than
an approximation. Argensola informs us that
\\iejive Moluccas alone, exclusive of Gilolo, Am-
boyna, &c. produced yearly, in the time of the
Portuguese and Spanidi supremacy, 4000 bahars,
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. SQl
or 2,376,000 lb. avoirdupois. He adds a most iiir
structive and important fact, that, when the trade
was free, the quantity produced was increased to
one-half more, or 6OOO bahars, making 3,564,000
lbs. In the year 1631, the quantity yielded by
Amboyna was greatly reduced by the depredations
of the Dutch, and what was delivered to them was
only 1300 bahars, or lbs. avoirdupois 772,497. A
great deal more, however, was actually produced,
for the natives were naturally disinclined to supply
the Dutch, and sold what they could to other
strangers. The whole produce at present does
not, it is believed, average above 700,000 lbs.
The average consumed yearly in Europe, in the
period before the Spice Islands fell into the hands
of the English, was about 553,000 lbs. During
the last British possession of the Moluccas, the
average consumption of Europe, on an estimate of
five years, from 1814 to 1818, was 365,000 lbs.
Of this Great Britain consumed annually 78,000
lbs., of which 7^,000 lbs. were the produce of
Cayenne. The duty on Molucca cloves during
this time in England was no less than 5s. 72d. the
lb., more than twenty fold the price of the com-
modity where it grows, and making, with the price,
the real cost to the consumer thirty«four times that
price !
The facts brought forward in these statements
are amply sufficient to point out the true causes of
392 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
the decline of tlie clove trade. Production and
consumption naturally declined, because, by the
arts of the monopoly, the price was so exorbitantly
enhanced, that the consumer could not afford to
buy. The production of the five Moluccas, which,
in the best times, was 3,5G4,000 lbs. fell, in
the early period of the Dutch administration, to
2,3 IG, 600 lbs. The consumption of Europe,
which, in 1621, was 450,000 lbs., was, on an ave-
rage, from 1786 to 1791, only 553,000 lbs., and
from 1814 to 1818 only 365,000 lbs. It is not
enough to say that the price fell numerically. It
ought to have fallen in the proportion of other ar-
ticles likely to be substituted for cloves, or likely to
supplant them. It ought to have fallen in the
proportion of black and long pepper, pimento, gin-
ger, &c. the consumption of all of which has, in the
same time, greatly increased. If cloves and pep-
per were, the one 8s. per pound, and the other
3s. 6d. previous to the discovery of the new route
to India, and pepper fell afterwards from competi-
tion to Is. 8d. ; cloves ought to have fallen to 3s,
9 -Id., instead of which they were 6s. If the clove
trade had partaken of the freedom of which the
pepper trade has of late years received, when the
price of it has fallen to 7d. per pound, cloves ought
legitimately to have fallen to Is. 4d. per pound.
It is not true that the actual consumption of cloves
has diminished in England, but in reference to
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. SQS
increased wealth and population, it is strictly so.
In 1615, it was computed that the consumption of
England was fifty thousand pounds, and it is in-
creased, in the present state of wealth and luxury,
but by 56 per cent., whereas the increase in pep-
per is 147 per cent. It would be strange if the
case were otherwise, when we advert that, for years
back, the actual cost to the consumer, including
duty, has been 16 per cent, greater than before
the discovery of the route by the Cape of Good
Hope, and 55 per cent, more than in the com-
mencement of our intercourse with the Indies !
Besides the cloves of the Moluccas, the Isle of
Bourbon, and Cayenne, produce cloves originally
brought from the Moluccas, the only part of the
world to which the clove is indigenous. The
cloves of Bourbon, in the market of Bombay, are
0,5 parts less valuable than those of the Moluccas,
in China 33? per cent., and, in the London market,
10 per cent. If the clove suffered deterioration,
as Rumphius and other good authorities assure us,
by being merely translated from the genuine Mo-
luccas to Amboyna in their immediate neighbour-
hood, it is not to be expected they should bear a
change of several degrees of latitude. The exist-
ence of the culture in Bourbon or Cayenne rests
entirely on the frail foundation of the existence of
the Dutch monopoly in the Indies. The differ-
ence between the natural price of the clove in the
S94f COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
Moluccas over the market price of those of Cay-
enne and Bourbon, is, in fact, a bounty paid to the
cultivators of those countries for growing cloves,
and cannot be estimated at less than 800 per cent.,
or 72 Spanish dollars per picul. Setting aside,
therefore, a difference of about 25 per cent, of in-
feriority in their intrinsic values, which they have
to struggle against, it is evident that not only free
culture and trade, but any moderate relaxation of
the monopoly in the Moluccas would instantly de-
stroy the clove trade of Cayenne and Bourbon.
Down to the year 1815, Bourbon cloves were im-
ported into England under the cover of a protect-
ing duty, but when the duties were equalized, the
Bourbon cloves were wholly driven out of the
market. Cayenne cloves, until last year, were im-
ported under the same advantages, and will, now
that that protection is withdrawn, inevitably share
the same fate.
Having rendered a very detailed account of the
clove trade, it will not be considered necessary to
furnish such ample accounts of the trade in nut-
megs, which does not essentially differ from it.
The production of nutmegs by the perverse arts of
the monopoly is confined, as mentioned in treating
of their agriculture, to the small cluster of the
Banda Isles, and the quantities produced for com-
mercial purposes elsewhere are very limited. The
produce of the nutmeg tree, as it is presented in
6
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 395
commerce, is less simple, or of a more complex
character than that of its sister tree ; and as this
circumstance is intimately connected with its com-
mercial history, and with any inquiry into its re-
lative price with other commodities, some analysis
of it will be necessary. The dried produce of a
nutmeg tree consists of nutmeg, mace, and shell.
In 15 parts of the whole produce there are 2
parts of mace, 5 of shell, and 8 of nutmegs ; or
in 100, 13^ of mace, o-Si of shell, and 531 of nut-
megs. The proportion which the shell bears to
the nutmeg, which it envelopes, is as 5 is to 8,
which is 38 J per cent, of shell, and 61 j of nut-
megs. The proportion which the mace bears to
the nutmeg is as 1 is to 4. In the ancient
commerce, and down to the establishment of the
Dutch monopoly, nutmegs were always sold and
transported in the shell, and the natives, when the
commerce is left to their management, continue
this practice. AVhen, therefore, we hear that in
the early period of modern European intercourse, a
picul of nutmegs cost only 6ioo Spanish dollars,
we must understand it of nutmegs in the shell,
and the clean nutmeg would be, independent of
the labour of freeing the nuts from the shell,
9 Jro Spanish dollars. It seems to have been one
of the recourses of the Dutch monopoly, with the
view of securing the more effectually an entire mo-
nopoly of the nutmeg trade, to free the nuts from
596 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
the shell, and otherwise subject them to such pro-
cesses as would destroy the powers of germination.
These processes, as mentioned ah'eady, consist of a
slow kiln-drying and smoking for three months, and
immersion in a mixture of quick-lime and salt-water,
with drying, which require near two months longer.
This factitious system of curing the nutmegs is
attended with the greatest waste and inconveni-
ence. According to the old and natural process
of curing the nuts in their shell, and which re-
quires but a short and hasty kiln-drying, the fruit
is effectually secured from the depredation of in-
sects ; no tropical product is more hardy, and it is
fit for stowage in bulk, without any package or
protection, but its hard and impenetrable shell.
On the other hand, the moment the fruit is extri-
cated from the shell, it becomes one of the most
perishable of productions. A peculiar insect, call-
ed by Europeans the nutmeg fly, attacks it, and the
immersion in caustic lime but imperfectly pro-
tects it against its depredations. * Owing to the
* '» The history of the nutmeg insect^" says Mr Hopkins,
in the manuscript report formerly quoted, " if fully known,
would be curious, and might probably afford the means of
guarding the fruit against its depredations. '] his much is
known with certainty, that so long as a nutmeg, after being
well dried, is kept in its shell, it is secure against the insect,
though length of time may occasion it to lose its flavour, or
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 397
loss of the shell, the natural and only effectual
protection of the nutmeg, great numbers are lost.
"When, m the year 1810, the British conquered
the Spice Islands, there were found in store the
enormous quantity of 37,184 lbs. of nutmegs,
mouldered into dust and quite useless. The quan-
tity of broken, bad, and rotten nutmegs, can-
not be estimated at an average, according to the
present management, at less than IO5 per cent, of
the fruit as it comes from the tree, so that the
true proportions, in the view of productiveness, will
be as follows in 100 parts :
moulder into dust. If the nutmeg, after the shell has
been taken off, be left for some time unlimed, the following
appearances will present themselves, — a small hole at the side
or base of the nut, never, I believe, at the apex, out of which
a hard cased black fly may be seen to spring, or there will
be a quantity of minute dust, which, upon examination, will
be found to consist of very diminutive insects engendered in
the nut, and already successful in destroying its interior
substance. Many nutmegs apparently sound, and when mi-
nutely inspected, exhibiting no trace of a hole on the sur-
face, will, on cutting them open, be found to contain a small
white maggot. All the different stages of the progress of
the animal may be traced, and will render it evident that the
fly did not enter the ripe fruit. It follows, therefore, that
the egg must have been deposited in the flower, and that
the animal grows with the growth of the nut, requiring the
removal of the shell, and the action of the external air to
bring it to perfection."
398 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
Shell - - - 381 parts.
Broken and rotten nuts lOy
Good nuts - - 51
100
An arg-ument in favour of freelnoj the nutmeo-s
from the sliell, which at first view appears plausi-
ble, is the saving of freight or carriage, by dimi-
nishing the bulk and weight by SSi per cent.
But this argument is easily answered. The pack-
ages or tare of the nutmegs, according to the pre-
sent management, are 25 per cent, of the whole
amount, so that the apparent saving in this re-
spect is but 131 per cent., against which is to
be balanced the expence of the packages, which are
brought to the Moluccas from Java, as they must be
made of teak, the only wood of the islands found to
answer, — at least four months loss of time, with the
labour of curing the nuts, the cost of the materials
employed, and the effects of the depredation of
the insect. There can be no doubt that the cost
of bringing the nutmeg to market, therefore, is
very greatly enhanced by the injudicious practice
of freeing them from the shell, and this is satis-
factorily proved by a comparison of the relative
prices of the clove, the mace, and the nutmeg, in
the early state of the commerce, before the present
mode of treating the nutmeg was adopted, with the
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 399
existing prices. In the first periods of our com-
merce, the average price of tlie nutmeg to the
clove was as 100 is to 290, or 63'^ per cent cheaper.
At present the case is reversed, and the relative
prices areas 100 is to 47, or 113 per cent, dearer.
This factitious and unnatural price, however, is
far from being, as will be presently seen, altoge-
ther attributable to the blunder made in curing the
nutmegs, but is in a great measure also owing to
a rigour of monopoly, and a restricted production
in culture and trade in the nutmegs grown by the
hands of a few slaves, which could not be carried to
so pernicious an extent with the clove, cultivated
by the numerous and comparatively free popula-
tion of Amboyna. The intelligence, which is en-
gendered by free commerce, would render such
observations as these superfluous ; but it belongs
to the imbecility which is the inseparable character
of commercial monopoly, to require a perpetual tu-
toring and direction even towards accomplishing its
own narrow objects.
The mace requires no such preparation as the
nutmeg, simple exsiccation in the sun rendering it
at once fit for the market.
The natural price of rearing nutmegs, and bring-
ing them to market, in a state of free trade and cul-
ture, may be ascertained without much difficulty.
A picul of long nutmegs in the shell, the natural
expence of growing which is exactly the same as
400 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
that of the round nutmeg, may be had in the mar-
kets of the eastern parts of the Arcliipelago for
four Spanish dollars, or 1 5s. l^,d. per cvvt. ; and
further to the west, as at Bali, at five Spanish dol-
lars, or 18s. lOjd. per cvvt. Freed from the shell,
this is, for the first, 5,^,/,- Spanish dollars the picul,
or 20s. ll'fd. per cvvt. ; and for the second, 6^^^
Spanish dollars per picul, or UGs. 2jd. per cvvt.
There is a striking accordance between these prices
and those paid when the trade was free, if we ad-
vert that the former is enhanced by the charges
incident to the risk of smuggling, and receive a
bounty from the exorbitant cost of the monopoly
product. In the first Dutch voyage, when the
Hollanders competed with the Portuguese, the
Chinese, and the native traders of the western por-
tion of the Archipelago, they paid no more for
their nutmegs than l-—-, Spanish dollar per picul,
or 4s. 6d. per cwt., which makes the cost of the
clean nutmegs 1^ Spanish dollar per picul, or
7s. 3^d. per cwt. At Sunda Calapa, the modern
Batavia, where nutmegs were brought by the Ja-
vanese for the convenience of the Arabs, the Hin-
dus, and Mahomedans of Western India, Lin-
schoten tells us, that the cost of nutmegs in the
shell was no more, at an average, than 2^^- Spa-
nish dollars per picul, or l^d. per lb., or 10s. 10|d.
per cvvt., which reduces the clean nutmeg, exclu-
sive of the petty charge of husking them, to no
4
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 4.01
more than 4)~ Spanish dollars per picul, l|d. per
lb., or 17s. 6d. per cwt. As an argument in fa-
vour of the monopoly, it has been sometimes as-
serted, although not much insisted upon, that its
care and vigilance are necessary towards supplying
the consumer with good spices. That there is as
little meaning as possible in such an assertion may
readily enough be shewn. There was the greatest
comparative consumption of spices when the mono-
polists had nothing at all to do with them ; and,
as far as nutmegs are concerned, those nutmegs
must surely have been well enough cured which
could withstand, in a rude period of navigation,
many careless sea voyages, long land journeys, and
all the alternations of heat and cold to which
they were necessarily subjected. Were nutmegs,
as at present preserved, submitted to the same trials,
but a small portion of them indeed would reach
the distant market of Europe.
In treating of the clove, I have endeavoured to
ascertain its natural price, and fixed it at about
six Spanish dollars per picul, or 2,}d. per pound ;
or, stored for export, eight Spanish dollars per pi-
cul, or 3^d. per pound. The natural price of the
nutmeg is much lower ; and from the data already
adduced we may conclude, that, in a state of free
trade, it ought not to exceed four Spanish dollars
per picul ; or, ready for exportation, six Spanish
dollars per picul, or 2^d. per pound. The true
VOL. 111. c c
402 COMMEUCIALDESCIUPTION OF
price in Europe ought not to exceed Gd. a pound,
but it has very generally been twelve times as
much, and in England, including duties, seventeen
times as much. The consumer pays this price, we
need not scruple to say, for no other purpose than
that a political juggle may be played, by which the
party who plays it imposes upon itself, without
gaining any earthly advantage, while the grower is
cheated out of his property and out of his liberty.
The same quantity of labour producing four
times as much of nutmegs as mace, the natural price
of the mace ought to be four times the price of the
nutmegs. The market price, of course, occasion-
ally varied from this, but, in general, we find an
approximation to it. In the first Dutch voyage,
nutmegs appear to have been at a wonderfully low
rate, and to have cost no more than one- sixth part
of the price of mace. Linschoten's prices at Sunda
Calapa in 1583, I imagine, are more to be relied
on, and here the mace is described as costing very
nearly three times as much as nutmegs ; but in this
estimate we are to reckon in the nutmeg the cost
of transporting, 381 per cent, of useless shells,
which may be considered as the tare of the article.
At the markets on the Caspian, the relative prices
approximated still more from the same cause ; and
here we find the mace valued at no more than 80
per cent, above the price of the nutmeg.
In order thoroughly to comprehend the nature
12
ARTICLE* OF EXPORTATION. 403
and history of this branch of the spice trade, a re-
view of the prices of the nutmeg and mace in Eu-
rope, in different periods of the trade, will be ne-
cessary. The ancient price of nutmegs in England,
before the discovery of the route by the Cape of
Good Hope, was 133^ Spanish dollars per picul,
or 4s. 6d. per pound, and of mace 266f Spanish
dollars per picul, or 9s. per pound. The price of
nutmegs in England two centuries ago was 7^ rod
Spanish dollars per picul, or 2s. 6d. per pound, and
of mace 177r[^ Spanish dollars per picul, or 6s. per
pound. The prices in Holland, when the Dutch
were in full possession of the monopoly, was for
nutmegs S05 Spanish dollars per picul, or 10s. 3|d.
per pound, and for mace 903 Spanish dollars per
picul, or L. 1, 10s. 5fd. per pound. It is no won-
der that such enormous charges should diminish
the consumption. During the years 1803, 1804,
and 1805, nutmegs sold in England for 309 Spa-
nish dollars per picul, or 10s. 5\d. per pound. At
present the price, exclusive of duties, is 5s. per
pound for nutmegs, and 8s. per pound for mace, or
including duties, 7s. 6d. for the one, and lis. 6d.
for the other.
The alleged consumption of Europe in the dif-
ferent periods of the trade is next to be consider-
ed. In the year 1615, the consumption of Eng-
land in nutmegs was reckoned at 100,000 lbs., and
of mace 15,000 lbs. Two centuries ago, Mr
404 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
Munn estimates the consuraption of all Christen-
dom in the first at 400,000 lbs., and in the second
at 150,000 lbs. During the middle of last cen-
tury, the consumption of Europe had fallen in nut-
megs to 250,000 lbs. On the first occasion that
the monopoly fell into the hands of the English,
the consumption of England, on an average, was
39,071 lbs. in nutmegs, and 5400 lbs. in mace.
In all Europe it fell in nutmegs to 85,960 lbs. and
in mace to ^4,234 lbs. During our last possession
of the spices, the consumption of England in nut-
megs was 56,960 lbs., and of all Europe 214,720
lbs., and in mace, of England, 3620 lbs., and of
all Europe 250,040 lbs. The facts now adduced
are quite sufficient to enable us to decide, as far as
the produce of the nutmeg tree is concerned, how
it has come about that the consumption of spices
is smaller in Europe at present than in the middle
ages, while the commodity is less costly. The ar-
guments used to explain this apparently anomalous
fact in regard to the clove are necessarily still more
applicable to the more costly mace and nutmeg.
It is not, however, strictly true, even abstractly,
that the charge of these two spices has actually be-
come less since the discovery of the new route.
The truth is, that men have acted, with regard to
them, as with regard to other commodities. The
monopoly price has had its limit. People have ceased
to consume the finer spices, and had recourse to sub«
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 405
stitutes. Black pepper and ginger have taken their
place ; but above all, perhaps, the pimento and Chili
commodities, unknown to Europe before the dis-
coveiy of America, and of the route by the Cape
of Good Hope. Had the finer spices, articles for
which we know there is an ingenerate taste in.
almost every race of men, not been rendered, by
the foolish arts of the monopoly, inaccessible, the
coarser and less agreeable spiceries never would
have been had recourse to, no more than men
would, unless compelled by necessity, consume
Port wine in preference to claret, or malt liquor and
spirits in preference to the former. The cases are
exactly parallel. The finer spices are now by necessi-
ty confined to the rich few ; and, as articles of com-
merce, or subjects of revenue, are, of course, of very
little consequence. If any additional proof of this
being the true explanation were required, it is af-
forded in this striking and remarkable fact, that the
greatest diminution of consumption has been in the
most costly s])ices. The diminution in the con-
sumption of cloves has only been 19 per cent. ; in
nutmegs it has been 465, and in mace 83} per
cent. In 1621, the consumption of mace to nut-
meg was as 372 is to 100 ; in 1790, as 33? is to
100 ; in 1803, as 28} is to 100 ; and, from 1814
to 1818 inclusive, as Hit' is to 100.
It may not be without its utility to offer, in
this place, a few speculations on the best means of
406 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
restoring the spice trade to its natural state. To
render this inteUigible, it will be necessary to pre-
mise a very short sketch of the culture and trade
in nutmegs, as conducted under the monopoly re-
gulations, and of the attempts made to extend the
culture beyond the limits of the native country of
the nutmeg tree. The clove tree is cultivated by
the aboriginal inhabitants of Amboyna, but the
nutmeg by the hands of slaves, imported into the
Banda isles for this express purpose by the Dutch.
The inhabitants of the little cluster of the Banda
islands made the earliest and most spirited resist-
ance to the establishment of the monopoly, but
being few in number, and their country open to
the military operations of the European power,
they were completely subjugated ; and, in the year
1620, it was the hard fate of the few who survived
the struggle to be expatriated. To keep up the
cultivation of the nutmeg plantations, the Dutch
made a sort of sale of them to invalided European
soldiers, and other adventurers of their own nation,
whose descendants, an indolent, ignorant, idle, and
dissipated class of men, are the present possessors.
Under these persons are placed the slaves, about
2000 in number, who till the soil and cure the spices,
natives of some of the surrounding islands. The
number of children to a marriage among them is
no more than /ao, whereas, among the free popu-
lation of Amboyna, it is three ; and the annual
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 407
deaths are owe in twenty-two, equal to that of the
most unhealthy towns of Europe ; so that the stock
must be kept up by annual importations. The
conditions of the landed tenures of the proprietors,
or park-keepers, as they are with more propriety
termed, were, that they should deliver their pro-
duce to the government, and to government only,
at certain fixed rates, and that the government
should supply them with slaves and necessaries at
stipulated prices, while these nominal proprietors
were liable to be dispossessed by the local authorities
of the government on the most trifling pretext, as for
neglect or disrespect, offences of which the accuser
was to be the sole judge ! The prices paid to the
cultivator for spices have varied from time to time.
The first prices established were — for nutmegs, OM.
per pound avoirdupois, or Spanish dollars —^ per
picul ; and for^mace, 04 d. per pound ; or Spanish
dollars 2 per picul. These wonderfully low prices
were soon found inadequate, and the government
were by necessity compelled, from time to time, to
raise them. The actual prices paid at present, on
the average of nutmegs of all qualities, is 3,^d. per
pound, or Spanish dollars 9nnj P^'' picul j and of
mace 9|d. per pound, or Spanish dollars 24 per
picul. We have here another decided testimony
in proof of the pernicious effects of the monopoly.
The price now voluntarily paid is far greater than
the Dutch were compelled to pay when, in their
408 COMMERCIAL DESCRirXION OF
first intercourse, they traded on terms of equality
and justice, the nutmegs being near five times as
dear, and the mace more than double. This is the
nature of the retribution, considered in a mere mer-
cenary view, which has fallen upon them for the
double crime of exterminating the native inhabit-
ants, and introducing the labour of slaves.
The entire monopoly of the spice trade is ensured,
both as far as regards the production of the nutmeg
as well as the clove tree, by confining the first, as
already stated, to the Banda isles, and the latter to
Amboyna — by paying little stipends to the petty
princes of the other native countries of spices for
the extermination of the plants, — by sending an
annual fleet round the different islands, to see that
the terms are literally complied with, —and by de-
claring the penalty of what they are pleased to call
the illicit trade in spices to be banishment to a
noble, and death to an inferior person ! Such is
the system of mismanagement by which, once the
greatest branch of the commerce of the East, has
been reduced to a pittance that would by no means
afford employment to the capital of many private
merchants of London, Glasgow, or Liverpool.
Our nation was thirteen years in possession of
the Spice Islands, and twice restored them, with-
out alteration in the principle on which they were
governed, to those who had reduced them to their
present state of degradation and insignificance.
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 409
The possession of the Spice Islands, in 1796,
put it in the power of the Englisli to obtain what
they had long anxiously desired, spice plants, for
the purpose of propagation in their own settle-
ments, and the nutmeg has been tried in Penang,
Bencoolen, and some of the West India islands.
In the latter it has altogether failed, or has failed,
at least, to all useful purposes. Within the Archi-
pelago, the culture, as far as the quality is con-
cerned, has been attended with somewhat more
success than that of the clove, and very good nut-
mesrs are now raised both at Penang' and Ben-
coolen, but the cost of bringing them to market is
so high, that the restoration of a free culture, in
the native country of the nutmeg, would instantly
destroy this unstable and factitious branch of in-
dustry. The planters of Bencoolen assert that
they cannot grow nutmegs under ^s. 6d. per
pound, or J'^d'o Spanish dollars per picul, which,
to be sure, is 44^ per cent, cheaper than the mo-
nopoly prices at which nutmegs have been sold in
the Spice Islands, but is, at the same time, 2000
per cent, dearer than the estimated natural cost.
The bounty, therefore, paid to the planters of Ben-
coolen, for growing their nutmegs, is the enor-
mous difference now stated. It would be need-
less to add more. It would, I imagine, be as vain
an attempt to grow the grapes of Champagne or
Burgundy in Normandy or England, as to grow
410 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTTON OF
the clove and nutmeg trees, in perfection, in any
land out of the limits of their natural soil. After
these preliminary remarks, we shall be prepared to
oflPer some observations on the measures which
ought to be taken to restore to the people of the
Moluccas their just rights, and bring the spice
trade back to its natural and wholesome condition.
We may begin by admitting, that the existing plan-
tations, both of clove and nutmeg trees, however
unjustly obtained, are the property of the state.
This, of course, applies only to the trees in actual
existence. The land, where land is so abundant
in proportion to capital and population, is of no
value. The existing plantations should therefore
be let for a period of years, by the competition
of a public sale, to the highest bidder. This would
determine, in the most equitable manner, the rent
of the plantations. The rights of the proprietors
of the nutmeg parks would be secured, by assign-
ing to them the highest rate of compensation
which an estimate of their existing profits could af-
ford. The slaves should, it is hardly necessary to
insist, be immediately and completely emancipated.
Both the culture and trade in spices should, with
these measures, be declared completely free, not
only in the islands to which the spices are at pre-
sent confined, but wherever, without exception, the
inhabitants of the country might find it for their
advantage to direct their industry either to grow-
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 411
ing them or trading in them. It may be asked,
in what manner the ruling authority would be com-
pensated for the sacrifice of so many privileges ?
It would be compensated by the increase of in-
dustry which freedom would produce. Foreign-
ers from Western India, from China, and from
Europe, would flock to the flivoured land of spices
as traders and as settlers, and where wealth ex-
isted, the government of these islands, of whatever
nation, would not want, what no government has
ever wanted, the means of appropriating a share of
that wealth for the exigencies of the state. The
duties upon trade would necessarily constitute the
most important branch of revenue. From the su-
perior protection and security which European in-
stitutions are sure to confer beyond native ones,
the lands would acquire a value, and the rate of
the unappropriated ones would, of course, become
a respectable source of revenue. This would in-
sure at least as large a revenue as the existing sys-
tem, which, it is now well known, was not only no
source of commercial profit, but, for many years,
was inadequate to defray the bare expences of the
local establishments necessary to enforce it. The
advocates of monopoly have objected to any at-
tempt to ameliorate the condition of the inhabit-
ants of the Moluccas, by restoring to them their
natural rights, that they would be incapable of ex-
ercising any rational freedom of conduct in their
412 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
own affairs, and •would not consider their emanci-
pation as a boon, but an injury. This futile and
selfish reasoning hardly deserves serious attention.
If this were true, it would convey the most un-
measured censure on a system which could so won-
derfully debase their character, for the same men
fought and bled for a century together for those
very rights which they would now be represented
as rejecting. But, in truth, the inhabitants of the
Moluccas are at this day most anxious for a free
trade, as the pains and penalties of the monopoly
regulations sufficiently declare. In spite of the
confiscation of property, and the penalties of ba-
nishment and death, there are annually smuggled
from the Banda Islands no less than 60,000 lbs. of
nutmegs, and 15,000 lbs. of mace.
I shall be held excused for the length at which
I have treated of the spice trade, although more
than commensurate with its present importance,
when the peculiarly severe lot of the natives of
the Moluccas, from the earliest intercourse of Eu-
ropeans with them down to the present times, is
considered. Under the influence of principles the
most unjust, fallacious, and unprofitable, they have
for two centuries been subjected to, a scourge upon
industry, of which, for severity, there is no other
example in any age or climate. The delusion
which led to this system still continues to influence
the policy of the European nations ; and it is re-
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 4lS
markable, that, notwithstanding the establishment
throughout other parts of the Dutch Indies, of a
system of administration in principle the most
free and enlightened ever acted upon in the East,
the Spice Islands, by a singular fatality, were ex-
pressly excluded from its benefits.
The whole produce of the Banda Islands in nut-
megs at present is 600,000 lbs., or 4500 piculs ;
and of mace 150,000 lbs., 1125 piculs. Europe,
China, Bengal, and America, are the principal
markets. The civilized tribes of the Archipelago
consume nothing but the long nutmeg, which
they receive in the shell, and many of these also
are exported to Western Asia and Hindustan.
If the consumption should increase, as it in-
evitably vnW in a free trade and free cultivation,
spices will become a more extensive article of con-
sumption than they ever were before ; and in a
very few years we should see the spice trade be-
come in reality an important branch of commerce.
Besides black pepper and the precious spiceries
there are several of inferior value which are objects
of foreign commerce. These in the order of their
importance are, long pepper, cubeb pepper, clove
bark, misoy bark, ginger, turmeric, and cayti-puti
oil. These are too inconsiderable as objects of
commerce to be dwelt upon at any length. Long
pepper may be purchased in Java at 30 per cent,
below the price of black pepper, and the cubebs at
414 COMMKRCIAL DESCRIPTION Of
the same rate. The turmeric of Java is of high
estimation in the markets of Europe, ranking next
to that of China, and being much superior to that
of Bengal. The principal value of the clove bark,
as an article of exportation, is for its oil, which
differs little from that of the clove itself. Cayu-
puti oil, the essential oil of a species of myrtle,
growing in the country of spices, has become of
late years a favourite medicine as an external ap-
plication. It has been sold on the spot for the
high price of five Spanish dollars the quart ; but
this is not the natural cost of the commodity, and
is caused only by the difficult intercourse of the
* trading world with the countries which produce it.
Betel-niity or areca^ gambir, and tobacco, are ar-
ticles of extensive traffic. All the countries of the
Archipelago respectively produce enough of areca
for their own domestic consumption, but it is only
the western countries, and especially the w'est
coast of Sumatra, where Pedir is the most remark-
able place, that the areca is in such abundance
as to be an article of foreign exportation. The
areca of commerce is of two kinds ; that which is
dried carefully without being split, and that which
is split and more hastily dried. The first is the
most valuable, and its common price at Pedir,
which produces for exportation about 40,000 pi-
culs annually, is from f to 1 J of a Spanish dollar
per picul. At this price it is purchased by the
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 41^
European traders of Peiiang, who dispose of it from
their warehouses at an advance of from 100 to
200 per cent. It is principally carried to China
and Bengal, bringing, in the market of Canton, an
average price of 3^^ Spanish dollars per picul ;
and in that of Calcutta 4 -^ Spanish dollars, an
advance on the prime cost in the one of 50 per
cent., and in the other of 'JO per cent. An
article so cheap, and so little perishable, might,
perhaps, be imported into Europe, and used with
advantage in the dyeing of our cotton goods,
a purpose to which it is converted in Coroman-
del and Malabar. The betel-nut of the Indian is-
lands is grown cheaper than that of Malabar by no
less than 66§ per cent., or is no more than one-
third of its price.
Garnhir, or Terra Japonka, as mentioned in
the account given of its agriculture, is the produc-
tion of the western portions of the Archipelago,
from whence it is a great article of exportation to
the eastern, and especially to Java. It is also sent
to China. The price of the commodity to the
traders, who export it from the places of its growth,
is from three to four Spanish dollars per picul. It
usually sells in Java at six, and when the market is
understocked, often as high as eight Spanish dollars.
Such fluctuations of price we must reckon to meet
with in countries between which the communication
is still uncertain, because unskilfully conducted.
416 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTIQN OF
Tobacco has been already fully described in the
agricultural department of the work, and in this
place ir will only be necessary to offer a few re-
marks on the trade in it. Small quantities of to-
bacco are every where grown for domestic con-
sumption, but a rich soil and considerable agri-
cultural skill being necessary to produce it in
quantity and perfection, it is an article of foreign
exportation only in a few situations. These situa-
tions are Lusong, Majindanao, but especially Java,
This latter country, besides its o wn internal sup-
ply, exports an immense quantity to Borneo, Su-
matra, the Malayan Peninsula, Celebes, and the
Spice Islands. The whole quantity exported is
5,000,000 lbs. The tobacco of Java, as it appears
in commerce, is, as mentioned in another place,
divided into three kinds, collected from the
same plants, — the upper, middle, and under leaves,
constituting respectively tobacco of the Jirstt se-
cond, and third qualities, the prices of which
on the spot may be reckoned in order at 5d.,
3d., and Ifd. per lb. It would be difficult to
institute any comparison between these prices,
and those of the tobaccos of other countries, from
the nature of the preparation which the Java
tobacco undergoes, which is finely shred, well
dried, and freed from the mid-rib, a state in which
other tobaccos do not appear in the markets. It is
to be observed, that, in the present state of agri-
10
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 417
cultural industry, when dressings are never applied
to inferior lands to fit them for growing tobacco,
the growth of the plant is necessarily restricted to
a few favoured spots, which consequently pay an
enormous rent to the landlord, by which the price
of tobacco is necessarily enhanced. At the same
time, the state of commercial intercourse, the pe-
culiar preparation of the drug, and the long esta-
blished prejudice of the consumer in its favour,
contribute to give the Javanese commodity a mono-
poly of the market, and to exclude the compe-
tition of foreign produce. This naturally accounts
for its high price, compared to the raw produce
of the same soil.
Java tobacco, as it appears in commerce, is pre-
pared by the Chinese, who pack it very neatly in
little parcels of a few ounces in Chinese paper, which
is stamped with their seals. A certain number
are contained in a basket, which are sold by kodis,
corges, or scores, one of which weighs 1100 lbs. a-
voirdupois. The cost at the market of Samarang, after
payment of inland duties, and charged with the
heavy cost of transport on men's shoulders, over
sixty or seventy miles of difficult road, may be
reckoned, for the lowest sort, 40 Spanish dollars, or
18s. 4d. percwt. ; for the second sort, 80 Spanish
dollars, or 86s. Sd. ; and for the first, 120 Spanish
dollars, or 55s. per cwt.
Of drugs and ^erfumeSj a considerable number
VOL. III. D d
418 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
are objects either of domestic and foreign commerce,
or both. The principal are camphor, benzoin,
lignum aloes, dragon's-blood, sassafras, sapan wood,
and morinda. The camphor of Sumatra and Bor-
neo is divided in commerce into three sortSy ac-
cording to quality, the relative values of which
to each other may be estimated in the proportions
of 25, 14, and 4. The price of this article depends
upon the factitious value which the Chinese attach
to it, and to its limited production in nature. A
pound avoirdupois of the best kind usually sells in
China at the exorbitant price of about 18^^^^- Spa-
nish dollars, or L. 4, 4s. 4^d., while the camphor of
Japan, which does not apparently differ from it,
and is equally esteemed every where else, sells for
the 78th part of this amount, or costs no more
than Is. Id. per pound. The best camphor is
purchased at Barus, in Sumatra, always the empo-
rium of the commodity, and which strangers usu-
ally affix to its name, at about 8 Spanish dollars
per cattiy or 27s. per pound, which, it is remark-
able enough, is nearly the price assigned to it by
Beaulieu in the first French voyage to the Archi-
pelago two centuries back.
Benzoin^ or frankincense, called in commercial
language Benjamin, is a more general article of
commerce than camphor, though its production
be confined to the same islands. Benzoin is divid-
ed in commerce, like camphor, into three .sor/5, ac-
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 419
cording to quality, the comparative value of which
may be stated in figures as follow, 105, 45, 18.
Benzoin is valued in proportion to its whiteness,
semi-transparency, and freedom from adventitious
matters. According to its purity, the first sort
may be bought at the emporia to which it is brought
at from 50 to 100 dollars per picul, the second
from ^5 to 45, and the worst from 8 to ^20 dol-
lars. According to Linschoten, benzoin, in his
time, cost, in the market of Sunda Calapa, or
Jacatra, from 19y^, to ^5j^ Spanish dollars the
picul. By Neibuhr's account, the worst benzoin
of the Indian islands is more esteemed by the Arabs
than their own best oUbaniim^ or frankincense.
In the London market, the best benzoin is fourteen
times more valuable than oUbanum, and even the
worst 2j times more valuable. Benzoin usually
sells in England at 10s; per lb. The quantity ge-
nerally imported into England, in the time of the
monopoly, was 312 cvvts. The principal use of
this commodity is as incense, and it is equally in
request in the ceremonies of the Romish, the Ma-
homedan, the Hindu, and Chinese worships. It
is also used as a luxury by the great in fumigations
in their houses, and the Javanese chiefs are fond
of smoking it with tobacco. Its general use among
nations in such various states of civilization, and
the steady demand for it in all ages, declare that
it is one of those commodities the taste for which
4^0 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
is inherent in our nature, and not the result of a
particular caprice with any individual people, as in
the case of Malay camphor with the Chinese.
Lignum aloes, a half rotten and unctuous wood,
which, in burning, emits a fragrant odour, is a per-
fume or incense much in request in all the coun-
tries of the East, and forms an article of trade in
the Indian Islands, where it makes its appearance
in commerce without its being absolutely certain
that it is a production of the country.
Dragon' S'blood is the produce of a large spe-
cies of rattan growing on the north and north-
east coast of Sumatra, with some parts of Bor-
neo, and chiefly manufactured at Jambi, Palem-
bang, and Banjannassin. Considerable quantities
of it are sent to Europe, to China, to India, and
to Arabia. The price at Banjarmassin in Bor-
neo, where large quantities are manufactured,
is, according to quality, from 50 to 70 Spanish
dollars per picul, or an average of L. 11, 6s. 9^d.
per cwt. In th e London market we find it quot-
ed at L. S4 per cwt., or about 200 per cent. ad.
vance on that cost.
DamaTy the species of rosin which has been al-
ready described in the agricultural branch of this
work, is a very large article of commerce, foreign
as well as domestic. Under this native name, it
is well known in the markets of Bengal and China,
where this abundant and spontaneous production
0'
ARTICLES OF KXPORTATION. 421.
is much used in paying the bottoms of ships and
vessels. In Borneo it is obtained in larger quan-
tities on the coasts, being floated down the rivers
as a drift during the periodical floods to the sea,
and afterwards cast ashore by the winds and cur-
rents. By a previous arrangement, almost any
quantity may be procured by the trader at the low
rate of half a dollar a picul. It can be imported
and sold in the market of Calcutta as low as two
rupees four anas per maund, or 8s. Id. per cwt.
cheaper than Stockholm pitch in the London mar-
ket. According to Dalrymple, the island of Pa-
lawan yields gum copal, which the natives call
Tiiyii. Fifty piculs of it may be had annually.
The sandal-wood of the Indian Islands is con-
sidered inferior to that of Malabar ; yet no dis-
tinction is made between them in the market^of
China. The highest perfumed wood is that near-
est the root of the tree ; and, for this reason, the
largest billets are the highest priced. The sandal-
wood of Timur, and the other easterly islands, from
whence, for the convenience of the markets, it is
imported into Java, costs there, according to its
quality, from 8 to 13 Spanish dollars per picul.
This, making no allowance, however, for inferiority
of quality, is 45 per cent, cheaper than the Mala-
bar sandal-wood. * In China, the great market
* Bnrhai (ins Mywrc, Vol.11, j). 537.
422 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
for this commodity, the wood is sorted into three
classes, which bear the following relative values
expressed in figures, 24<, 22, and I'J. The quan-
tity of sandal -wood imported into China from Ma-
labar annually is about 30(X) piculs, 357 1 2 cwts.
There are no means of ascertaining the importa-
tions from the Indian Islands ; but the produce of
the island of Timur alone is not under 8000 pi-
culs, or 9524 cwts.
Sapan-U'oodi as mentioned in the agricultural
department of the work, grows abundantly in se-
veral of the Indian Islands, and is exported to Eu-
rope and China. It is generally obtained at the
cheap rate of 3s. 4d., or one Spanish dollar the pi-
cul, and used as dunnage.
Within the last twelvemonth, the sassafras tree
has been discovered in great quantities in the
island of Banca, and cut down for commercial pur-
poses. The charge of hewing the wood, and pre-
paring it for market, has been estimated at about
two Spanish dollars the picul, or 7s. 5\ per cwt.
The ebony of the Indian Islands is much infe-
rior to that of the Mauritius, being generally of
a paler colour, and of less hardness. It is found
in considerable quantities, and is an article of ex-
portation to China.
A species of wood, called hliang by the Malays,
is abundant in Borneo, and forms a considerable
article of exportation to China. This is a heavy
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 423
hard wood, chiefly valued for being almost incor-
ruptible. It resists every alternation of heat, cold,
and moisture, and nothing proves injurious to it
but the depredation of the water-worm, or Teredo
navalis.
Rattans form one of the greatest articles of ex-
portation from the Indian Islands, and are sent to
Bengal, to Europe, and above all to China, where
an immense quantity is consumed as cordage. The
rattan is the spontaneous product of all the forests
of the Archipelago, but exists in greatest perfec-
tion in those of tiie Islands of Borneo, Sumatra,
and of the Malayan Peninsula. The finest are
produced in the country of the Bataks of Suma-
tra. The wood-cutter, who is inclined to deal in
this article, proceeds into the forest, without any
other instrument than his pai^ang or cleaver, and
cuts as much as he is able to carry away. The
mode of performing the operation is this : He
makes a notch in the tree, at the root of which the
rattan is growing, and cutting the latter, strips off
a small portion of the outer bark, and inserts the
part that is peeled into the notch. The rattan
being now pulled through, as long as it continues
of an equal size, is by this operation neatly and
readily freed from its epidermis. When the
wood-cutter has obtained by this means from three
hundred to ibur hundred rattans, being as many
as an individual can conveniently carry in their
424 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
moist and undried state, he sits down and ties them
up in bundles of one hundred, each rattan being
doubled before being thus tied up. After drying,
they are fit for the market without further prepara-
tion. From this account of the small labour expend-
ed in brinofinn; them to market, thev can be sold at
a very cheap rate. The Chinese junks obtain them
in Borneo, at the low rate of five Spanish dollars
per hundred bundles, or five cents for each hun-
dred rattans, or thirty-seven for a penny. The
natives always vend them by tale, but the resident
European merchants and the Chinese by weight,
counting by the picul. According to their quali-
ty, and the relative state of supply and demand,
the European resident merchants dispose of them
at from 1;; to 21 dollars the picul. In China the
price is usually about 3l dollars per picul, or 7^
per cent, above the average prime cost. In Ben-
gal they are sold by tale, each bundle of a hundred
rattans bringing about 20|d.
Of materials of cordage, the only ones deserving
of notice as articles of commerce are the gomiiti :
the material resembling black horse-hair, qbtained
from the Ai^en palm, as described in the book on
Agriculture ; and uMte rope, or Manilla rope or
cordage, manufactured, as stated already, from the
epidermis of a species of musa or banana. The
fibres of tlie first singular substance are stronger,
more durable, but less pliant than those of the coir
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 42,5
or coco-nut husk, and therefore more fit for cables
and standing-rigging, but less fit for running-rig-
ging. The native shipping of all kinds are entire-
ly equipped with tlie cordage of the gomuti ; and
the largest European shipping in the Indies find
the advantage of using cables of it. It undergoes
no preparation but that of spinning and twistingj no
material similar to our tar or pitch, indispensable
to the preservation of hempen cordage, being ne-
cessary with a substance, that, in a remarkable de-
gree, possesses the quality of resisting alternations
of heat and moisture. The best gomuti is the
produce of the islands farthest east, as Amboyna
and the other Spice Islands. That of Java has a
coarse ligneous fibre ; the produce of Madura is
better. Gomuti is generally sold in twisted shreds
or yarns, often as low as a Spanish dollar a picul,
and seldom above two, which last price is no more
than one-sixth part of the price of Russia hemp in
the London market. Were European ingenuity
applied to the improvement of this material, there
can be little doubt but it might be rendered more
extensively useful.
One of the most valuable productions of the In-
dian Islands is teak iinibe?\ As mentioned in an-
other place, it grows only abundantly in Java, from
whence it may be exported in large quantities,
such is the extent of the forests of it which exist
in that island. Besides compass and crooked tim-
426 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
ber, it is reckoned that these forests, without any
injury to them, may annually afford 50,000 beams
for ship-building and exportation, and supply the
demand for small timber, for house-building, and
native shipping craft besides. The price paid for
teak timber by the Dutch government in former
times was at the low rate of about 4s. 7id. per load.
This was, however, a forced price, the timber be-
ing delivered as an assessment. Any additional
quantity was paid at 50 per cent, advance upon
this. The government sold the timber thus cheap-
ly obtained at a monopoly price, taking advantage
of the necessities only of the public, and necessa-
rily excluding all fair and regular traffic. The
trade was, during the British time, opened to pri-
vate speculation, and large quantities of it were
sent to the market of Bengal, where it competed
successfully with that of Pegu. The established
prices, as fixed by the government, whose property
the forests are, were then as follow : Straight squared
timber was sold at an average of L. 5 per load. A
mast piece, 6l feet long, by 17 inches diameter, was
sold for L. 7j i4<s. 4jd. per load ; and one of 100 feet,
by 32 inches diameter, for L. i'i, i^s. 5d. Planks,
or rather what is called in the language of our In-
dian ship-builders s/imbin, being planks hewn out
of the solid beam by the adze, were sold at the rate
of L.5, 14s. per load, and pipe-staves at L. 2, 2s. 9d.
per hundred. The existing administration of the
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 427
island has again restricted the trade, and the tim-
ber is now sold 200 per cent, dearer than when
the island was in the British occupation.
Under the British administration, some ships
wholly built of teak were constructed by British
ship-builders. In the year 18 17, it was estimated
that the hull of a ship, well fastened and sheathed
with copper, could be easily constructed at the rate
of L. 12 per ton. Besides teak, inferior, but still
valuable woods abound, fit for house and ship-
building. The large trading praos of the Ma-
cassars and Bugis, called padewakan, the best na-
tive vessels of the Archipelago, are constructed of
a timber called katu7ideng, a hard durable wood
found abundantly in the mountains of Celebes.
Many vegetable productions might be mention-
ed which, in the event of colonization, European
ingenuity and capital might manufacture into a
form to fit them for a distant market. The bound-
less forests of these countries suggest, for example,
the probability that industry might be well reward-
ed in the manufacture of pot and pearl ashes,
which require comparatively but a moderate share
of skill and capital. Should European coloniza-
tion take place in the Indian Islands, and an useful
freedom of commerce be established, it might be
suggested that China, from its vicinity, the density
of its population, and the high price of the produce
of the soil, which is the consequence of this state of
428 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
thinf^s, would afford to the lumber of the Indian
Islands the same advantageous market which Eu-
rope has afforded to that of America.
The animal products of the Archipelago, which
afford materials of commercial export, though less
valuable than the vegetable, are important and in-
teresting. Land animals afford hides, horns, ivory,
feathers, birds' nests, stick and shell lac, bees* wax,
jerk-beef, and animal sinews. The fisheries supply
dry fish, fish maws and roes, sharks' fins, tripang or
sea-slu^, tortoise-shell, pearls, mother-of-pearl, and
cowries, with ambergris. I shall give a very rapid
sketch of these, confining myself generally to what
relates to their commercial character.
From the great size of all the buffaloes, and of
the greater number of the oxen of the Indian
Islands, tlieir hides and horns are peculiarly va-
luable. The immense horns of the Java buffalo
have been long sent to Europe as an article of
trade, and the hides both of the ox and buffalo are
sent to China always in the hair, and not tanned.
Bali and Lombok are the countries which have af-
forded the greater number of ox hides, and the
cost may be judged of from the price of the whole
animal, which seldom exceeds ten or twelve sliil-
lings. * In Java, where there is the greatest abun-
* Bccckman, speaking of Bali, says, " The country af-
fords plenty of oxen, the largest and best I ever saw out of
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 4^9
dance of cattle, the number of hides available for
exportation is diminished by the singular practice
among the inhabitants of that island of using the
fresh hide as an article of food, — nay, even esteem-
ing it a dainty beyond any other part of the ani-
mal. A steady demand for hides as an article of
commerce would probably put an end to this taste.
In Java, from the low price of salt, it may be sug-
gested, that pickling the hides, a practice never
yet resorted to in that part of the world, might an-
swer. Hides and horns, from their bulky nature,
will probably be always a fitter article for the neigh-
bouring market of China than for the more distant
one of Europe.
The Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, the only
countries of the Archipelago where the elephant is
found, are also, of course, the only countries that
aflPord much ivory. From these two countries, and
more especially from the neighbouring country of
Siam, ivory forms a considerable article of exporta-
tion, principally, of course, to China, where the
manufacture of this beautiful commodity is better
understood than any where else.
The birds of the Indian Islands, like t'hose of
other warm countries, are more remarkable for the
gay and brilliant tints of their plumage than for
England." — Voyage to Borneo, p. 168. — From my own ex-
perience I can speak to the same eftcct.
480 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
its softness and abundance. They afford, therefore,
no down for commerce, but ornamental feathers of
singular beauty. The principal are the featiiers of
several species of the jay tribe, called Birds of Pa-
radise, and those of the Argus pheasant, respec-
tively found, the first in the countries of the east-
ern, and the last of the western, extremity of the
Archipelago ; the one being found only in New
Guinea and the adjacent islands, and the other no
where but in Sumatra and the Malayan Peninsula.
The bird of paradise is an article of commerce to
China and Europe. To prepare it for the market,
the bird is embowelled, smoked, and deprived of
the legs. The bird is abundant ; and the Papuas,
of whose country it is an inhabitant, are dexterous
in shooting or taking them. It is, in consequence,
cheap in its native country, and would be abun-
dant every where, if the want of confidence which
exists between the seller and the buyer, with the
restrictions on the intercourse between the rest of
the world and the emporia to which they are
brought, did not unnaturally enhance their cost.
The usual price at Banda is about 4s. ^hd. a bird.
The' nest of a species of swallow peculiar to the
Indian Islands, Hirundo esculentOy is well known
to constitute an important article of their com-
merce, owing to the very whimsical luxury of the
Chinese. The natural history of this bird is far
from being as yet acGurately understood, and it
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 431
would be useless to dwell upon conjectures respect-
ing the nature of the substance which composes
the nest. In shape the nest is like that of an or-
dinary swallow's nest, and in external appearance as
well as consistence, somewhat resembles a fibrous ill-
concocted isinglass. The nests of all the swal-
low tribe in these countries are more or less form-
ed of this singular substance. The common house
martin, as I have a thousand times seen, constructs
its nest partly of this substance, and partly of the
ordinary materials of birds' nests, hair, straws, fea-
thers, &c. These, however, are of no value. The
esculent nest is always the produce of the swallow
that builds in the caves of rocks, at a distance
from the habitation of man. The caves where
these nests are found are frequently, but not al-
ways, on the sea-side. In Java, very productive
caves are found in the interior of the country, and
at least fifty miles from the sea. It seems proba-
ble that they are most abundant on the sea-side
only, because caverns are there most frequent, and
least liable to disturbance. This seems to prove
that sea foam, or other marine production, has no
share in the formation of the nest ; and the most
probable hypothesis is, that the nest is a material
elaborated from the food of the bird, a conjecture
which would be proved if, on a skilful dissection, it
were discovered, that the bird has any peculiar or-
gans destined to perform such a process. The natives
43^ comml:rcial description of
of the Indian Islands make no distinction between the
variety of swallow which affords the esculent nest
and ariy other, nor do I believe that naturalists
have remarked any.
As an article of commerce, the quality of the
nest is determined by several circumstances, as the
nature and situation of the cave, its extent, but,
above all, the time at which the nest is taken. The
best nests are those obtained in deep damp caves,
and such as are taken before the birds have laid
their eggs. The coarsest are those obtained after
the young have been fledged. The finest nests
are the whitest, that is, those taken before the nest
has been rendered impure by the food and feces
of the young birds. The best are white, and the
inferior dark-coloured, streaked with blood, or in-
termixed with feathers. It may be remarked, how-
ever, that some of the natives describe the purer
nests as the dwelling of the cock-bird, and always
so designate them in commerce. Birds' nests are
collected twice a-year, and, if regularly collected,
and no unusual injury be offered to the caverns,
will produce very equally, the quantity being very
little if at all improved by the caves being left
altogether unmolested for a year or two. Some
of the caverns are extremely difficult of access,
and the nests can only be collected by persons
accustomed from their youth to the office. The
most remarkable and productive caves in Java,
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 433
of which I superintended a moiety of the collec-
tion for several years, are those of Karang-holang,
in the province of Baglen, on the south coast of
the island. Here the caves are only to be ap-
proached by a perpendicular descent of many hun-
dred feet, by ladders of bamboo and rattan, over
a sea rolling violently against the rocks. When the
mouth of the cavern is attained, the perilous office
of taking the nests must often be performed with
torch- light, by penetrating into recesses of the
rock, when the slightest trip would be instantly
fatal to the adventurers, who see nothing below
them but the turbulent surf making its way into
the chasms of the rock.
The only preparation which the birds' nests un-
dergo is that of simple drying, without direct ex-
posure to the sun, after which they are packed in
small boxes, usually of half a picul. They are as-
sorted for the Chinese market into three kinds, ac-
cording to their qualities, distinguished into /irst,
or best, second^ and third qualities. Caverns that
are regularly managed will afford in 100 parts
53^ parts of those of the first quality, S5 parts of
those of the second, 11/- parts of those of the
third.
The common prices for birds* nests at Canton
are, for the first sort, 3500 Spanish dollars the
picul, or L. 5, 18s. l^d. per pound j for the se-
cond, 2800 Spanish dollars per picul ; and, for
VOL. IIL E E
4-34- COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
the third, no more than I6OO Spanish dollars. In
the Chinese markets a still nicer classification of the
edible nests is often made than in the islands. The
\vhoIe are frequently divided into three great
classes, under the commercial appellations of PaS'
Icaty Chi'Jcatj and Tung-tungy each of which, ac-
cording to quality, is subdivided into three infe-
rior orders, and we have, consequently, prices va-
rying from 1200 Spanish dollars per picul to 4200.
These last, therefore, are more valuable than their
weight in silver ! From these prices it is suffi-
ciently evident, that the birds' nests are no more
than an article of expensive luxury. They are
consumed only by the great, and the best part is
sent to the capital for the consumption of the
court. The sensual Chinese use them, under the
imagination that they are powerfully sthiiulating
and tonic, but, it is probable, that their most valua-
ble quality is their being perfectly haimless. The
people of Japan, who so much resemble the Chi-
nese in many of their habits, have no taste for the
edible nests, and how the latter first acquired a
taste for this foreign commodity is only less singu-
lar than their persevering in it. Among the
western nations there is nothing parallel to it,
unless we except the whimsical estimation in which
the Romans held some articles of luxury, remark-
able for their scarcity rather than for any qualities
ascribed to them.
4
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 435
Of the quantity of birds' nests exported from
the Indian Islands, although we cannot state the
exact amount, we have data for hazarding some
probable conjectures respecting it. From Java
there are exported about 200 piculs, or 27,000 lbs.
the greater part of which is of the first quahty.
The greatest quantity is from the Siduh Ar-
chipelago, and consists of 530 piculs. From
Macassar there are sent about 30 piculs of the
fine kind. These data will enable us to offer some
conjectures respecting the whole quantity, for the
edible swallow's nest being universally and almost
equally diffused from Junk, Ceylon, to New Guinea,
and the whole produce going to one market, and
only by one conveyance, the junks, it is probable,
that the average quantity taken by each vessel is
not less than the sum taken from the ports just
mentioned. Taking the quantity sent from Bata-
via as the estimate, we know that this is conveyed
by 5300 tons of shipping, and, therefore, the whole
quantity will be 1818 piculs, or 242,400 lbs., as
the whole quantity of Chinese shipping is 30,000
tons. In the Archipelago, at the prices already
quoted, this property is worth 1,263,510 Spanish
dollars, or L. 284,290. The value of this im-
mense property to the country which produces it,
rests upon the capricious wants of a single people.
From its nature it necessarily follows that it is
claimed as the exclusive property of the sovereign,
436 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
and every where forms a valuable branch of his in-
come, or of the revenue of the state. This value,
however, is of course not equal, and depends upon
the situation and the circumstances connected with
the caverns in which the nests are found. Beingr
often in remote and sequestered situations, in a
country so lawless, a property so valuable and ex-
posed is subject to the perpetual depredation of
freebooters, and it not unfrequently happens that
an attack upon them is the principal object of the
warfare committed by one petty state against an-
other. In such situations, the expence of afford- .
ing them protection is so heavy that they are ne-
cessarily of little value. In situations where the
caverns are difficult of access to strangers, and
where there reigns enough of order and tranquillity
to secure them from internal depredation, and to
admit of the nests being obtained without other
expence than the simple labour of collecting them,
the value of the property is very great. The ca-
verns of Karaiig-bolang, in Java, are of this de-
scription. These annually afford 6810 lbs. of nests,
which are worth, at the Batavia prices of 3200,
2500, and 1200 Spanish dollars the picul, for the
respective kinds, nearly 139,000 Spanish dollars,
and the whole expence of collecting, curing, and
packing, amounts to no more than 11 per cent,
on this amount. The price of birds* nests is, of
course, a monopoly price, the quantity produced
6
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 437
being by nature limited and incapable of being aug-
mented. The value of the labour expended in
bringing birds' nests to market is but a trifling
portion of their price, which consists of the high-
est price which the luxurious Chinese will afford
to pay for them, and which is a tax paid by that
nation to the inhabitants of the Indian islands. *
There is perhaps no production upon which human
industry is exerted of which the cost of production
bears so small a portion to the market price.
The lac insect exists in most of the forests of
the Indian islands, but especially in those of Su-
matra and the Malayan Peninsula. Its produce
is, however, inferior to that of Bengal, and
especially of Pegu, which countries chiefly supply
the large consumption of the market of China,
while the lac of the Indian islands is principally
confined to home consumption.
• " When a commodity is at a monopoly price, it is at
the very highest price at which the consumers are willing to
purchase it. Commodities are only at a monopoly price
when, by no possible means, their quantity can be augment-
ed ; and when, therefore, the competition is wholl}' on one
side — amongst the buyers. The monopoly price of one pe-
riod may be much lower or higher than the monopoly price
of another, because the competition among the purchasers
must depend on iheir wealth, their tastes, and caprices." —
Principles of Political Economyy by David Ricardo, Esq.
B. XV.
438 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
Bees* wax constitutes a very valuable and con-
siderable article of commerce. Bees have no
where been domesticated in the Indian Islands,
nor, indeed, I believe, in any part of Asia. The
wandering habits to which they are encouraged at
all seasons, by the perpetual succession of flowers,
would probably render it difficult. * From the
same cause, and it being consequently unnecessary
to lay up a store of provision, their honey is small
in quantity, while, from the quality of vegetation,
it is naturally of much inferior flavour to that of
higher latitudes. I have seen the honey of Ara-
bia brought, as a luxury, to the Indian Islands.
The bees of these islands, however, afford an
abundant supply of wax, which is largely exported
to Bengal and China. The greatest supply is ob-
tained in the islands furthest to the east, and, above
all, in Timur and Flores. The quantity exported
annually from the Portuguese settlements in Ti-
mur is 20,000 piculs, which is sold by the natives
at the low rate of five Spanish dollars the picul, or
18s. lOjd. per cwt. When the Bugis vessels
bring it to the west, it is, according to its purity,
sold from 2(5 to 36 Spanish dollars the picul. In
* This objection may not be equally applicable to situations
of considerable elevation. The bee appears to be domesticat-
ed in the island of Cuba, although I am ignorant under what
circumstances.
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 439
Bengal we find the same produce quoted at 45
rupees per maund, or an advance of 36^ per
cent.
Animal flesh, among the Indian islanders, is
never, as with us, pickled, but, for presei'vation, is
dried in the sun, with the assistance of a very small
proportion of salt. Under the native name of den-
de?ig, the muscle of the ox, the buffalo, the deer,
and wild hog, are thus prepared, and the three first
form an article of considerable domestic consump-
tion, while all are exported by the junks to China.
The best dendeng may be had at the rate of six
Spanish dollars the picul, 2^,d. per pound.
Thejisheries of the Indian Islands afford a most
valuable branch of their industry. Both sea and
river fish abound, but the first are the most abun-
dant and valuable. The waters which surround
these islands are so tranquil, and the numerous
banks which exist afford the living animals which
inhabit them such abundance of food, that no part
of the world abounds more in fine fish. The seas
of the western parts of the Archipelago, particu-
larly the Straits of Malacca, and the shores of the
Gulf of Siam, are the most remarkable for their
abundance of edible fish. * Towards the eastern
j)arts of the Archipelago, where the coasts are
• " Their seas," (the Straits of Malacca^) says Hamilton,
♦' produce the finest fish that ever I saw or tasted." — New
Account of the East Indies, Vol. II. p. 156.
440 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
bolder and the seas deeper, the fish are scarcer and
less abundant. The edible fish are numerous,
among which the pomfret, the calcap, and the sole,
are the most delicate. A great variety of fish are
dried in the sun, and form a considerable article of
commerce, fish being in this state, — for little or none
is consumed fresh, — an article of as universal con-
sumption among the Indian islanders as flesh is in
cold countries. The preparation which fish undergo
consists simply in drying them in the sun, for pick-
ling is hardly ever had recourse to. Of one species,
a kind of shad, which frequents the great river of
Siak in Sumatra, the dried roe, of enormous size,
constitutes an article of commerce. The common
price of ordinary salt or dried fish may be stated
at two Spanish dollars per picul, or 7s. 6|d per
cwt.
Ordinary dried fish forms no portion of the fo-
reign exports of the Indian islands, but three sin-
gular modifications of it do, fish-ma'wSj shark*s
JinSy and tripang^ or sea slug, all of which are sent
to China in large quantity. The first is a favour-
ite article of the strange luxury of the inhabitants
of that country, often bringing as high as 7^ Spa-
nish dollars per picul, or L. 14, 3s. 6d. per cwt. in
the market of Canton. Shark* sjins are exported
to China from every maritime country of India,
from the Arabian Gulf to the Indian islands.
They are articles of luxury rather than of neces-
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 441
sary food among a sensual people, who seek them
under the imagination that they are powerful to-
nics. A picul of shark's fins usually sells in China
as high as 32 Spanish dollars, or at L. 6, Is. per
cwt. which high price makes it evident, that they
are no more than articles of luxury for the use of
the rich. In the market of Macassar the ordinary
price is about 15 Spanish dollars per picul, or
L. 2, l6s. Sjd per cwt. Tripang swala^ or sea-
slug, (holothurion,) is a much more important
article of commerce than the two just mentioned,
and constitutes, in quantity and value, the most
considerable article of the exports of the Indian
islands to China, unless, perhaps, we except pep-
per. There are fisheries of tripang in every coun-
try of the Archipelago, from Sumatra to New
Guinea. The fish being found chiefly on coral reefs,
and never on flat muddy shores, the most consider-
able fisheries are consequently to the eastward
from Celebes to New Guinea and Australasia,
where the formation of the land is most favourable.
The most productive are the fisheries among the
Aroe islands and those in the Gulf of the Car-
pentaria, and generally on all the north-west coast
of New Holland, called, by the Bugis fishermen,
MarejCy and by the Chinese, Lam-hai.
The tripang is an unseemly looking substance,
of a dirty brown colour, hard, rigid, scarcely pos-
sessing any power of locomotion, nor appearance
4l^2 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
of animation. Some of the fish is occasionally as
much as two feet in length, and from seven to
eight inches in circumference. The length of a
span, and the girth of from two to three inches,
however, is the ordinary size. The quality or va-
lue of the fish, however, does by no means depend
upon its size, but upon properties in them, neither
obvious to, nor discernible by, those who have not
had a long and intimate experience of the trade. The
Chinese merchants are almost the only persons who
possess this skill, even the native fishermen them-
selves being often ignorant on the subject, and al-
ways leaving the cargo to be assorted by the Chi-
nese on their return to port. The commercial
classification made by the Chinese is curious and
particular. In the market of Macassar the great-
est staple of this fishery, not less than thirty varie-
ties are distinguished, varying in price from five
Spanish dollars per picul to fourteen times that
price, each being particularized by well known
names. To satisfy curiosity I shall give a few of
them, with their ordinary prices.
Tacheritang costs
68 Spanish dollars.
Batu-basar
54
Batu-tangah
22
Batu-kachil
14>
Itam-basar
30
Itam-tangah
15
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 443
Itam-kachil
-
8 Spanish dollars.
Tundang
.
24
Kunyit
-
9
Donga
-
7
Japon
-
12
Mosi
-
9
Kawasa
-
5
Pacliang-goreng
5
Gama
-
12i
Taikongkong
-
13^
Mareje (New
Holland)
19
Kayii-jawa
-
26
Bankuli
.
20
It is evident, from this account, that the tripang
trade is one in which no stranger can embark with
any safety, and it is consequently almost entirely
in the hands of the Chinese. The actual fishery is
managed, however, exclusively by the natives.
The fish is caught by them on ledges of coral rock,
usually at the depth of from three to five fathoms.
The larger kinds, when in shallow water, are oc-
casionally speared, but the most common mode of
taking them is by diving for them in the manner
practised for pearl oysters, and taking them up
with the hands. The quantity of tripang sent an-
nually to China from Macassar is about 7OOO pi-
culs, or 8333 cwt. The price in the market of
China varies from eight Spanish dollars per
444 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
picul, to 20, to 50, to 7«5, to 110, and to as high
as 115, according to quality.
Tortoise-shell is a valuable article of the com-
merce of the Archipelago. The tortoise is found
in all the seas of the Archipelago, but in greatest
abundance in those in which the sea- slug abounds,
particularly the east coast of Celebes, the coasts
of the Spice Islands, and those of New Guinea.
Towards the western parts of the Archipelago,
the animal is smaller, the shell thinner, and of
course much less valuable. Those engaged in
fishing the tripang combine with it that of the
tortoise, and about 200 piculs, Q.GyQ>QQ'i lbs. of
shell are annually brought to Macassar by them
for exportation to China, where the price is from
300 to 350 Spanish dollars the picul, 701 per
cent, less than the prices in the London market.
This very tortoise-shell is again re-exported to
Europe, affording a pointed example of the bene-
ficial consequences of the free trade of the Chinese,
and the flagrant injustice and impolicy of the re-
strictions upon the intercourse of Europeans with
those countries. The valuable productions which
are obtained on the very coasts of the islands which
the latter occupy, are here seen to be forced into a
foreign market, where they must be collected before
they can find their way to their final destination.
PearlSy and the mother 'Of -pearl oyster, are pro-
ductions of the seas of the Indian islands. The
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 4'1<5
first, as an object of trade, are found no where
but in the Suluk islands, and the last principally
there also. Pearls are found in the narrow chan-
nels or passages which exist among the nume-
rous and dansrerous shoals of the islands of this
group. The pearl is known in every language
of the Archipelago by one and the same name,
and this name, ' Miitya^ or Mutyara^ is San-
skrit, from which it may be inferred that the use
of pearls as an ornament, and by consequence the
art of fishing for them, were taught by the Hin-
dus. The quantity annually exported to China
is reckoned worth, on the spot, 25,000 Spanish
dollars ; and the quantity of mother-of-pearl shell
obtained and exported to the same country is about
5000picu]s, worth in China, at the rate of 14 Spa-
nish dollars the picul, 70,000 dollars, or L. 15,7^0.
Considering the turbulent and piratical habits of
the natives of the Suluk group, it is certain that
a greater share of skill and industry than can at
present be applied to these fisheries, would great-
ly enhance the value and amount of their produce.
The same seas are the only parts of the Archi-
pelago in which the coivrie shells, used as small
currency in Hindustan, are found ; and the Bugis
Praos bring them as articles of traffic to the
more westerly parts of the Archipelago. These
also, as well as almost all parts of the Archipelago,
afford the gigantic cockle^ some of which occasion-
446 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
ally measure three feet wide. The substance of
the shell is several inches thick, perfectly white,
and takes a fine polish. They are sent to China
as articles of trade.
Ambergris is found in several parts of the seas
of the Archipelago, and constitutes an article of
the return cargos to China. As the commodity
has no name but the Arabian one Anhar, we may
plausibly conjecture that the Arabs first instructed
the natives in the use of it as a perfume.
The last marine production I shall mention is
Agar-agar^ a kind of Fucus, which is soluble in
water, and in which it forms a gelatinous matter.
The Chinese use it in this form with sugar, as a
sweetmeat, and apply it in the arts as an excellent
paste. It is probable it might be used in the same
manner by us, and might prove a cheap and useful
substitute for the expensive gums we now import.
It forms a portion of the cargos of all the junks.
The price on the spot where it is collected is very
low, seldom exceeding one and a half or two Spa-
nish dollars a picul, or from 5s. 8d. to 7s. Old. per
cwt.
It need hardly be insisted upon that, in the
event of the European race colonizing in the
countries of the Archipelago, and their entei'prise
being permitted to take its natural range, the rich
variety of marine production which I have now
enumerated would, with the interminable demands
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 44^7
of the market of China in their immediate vici-
nage, afford abundant occupation for their indus-
try and skill. In speaking of the fisheries of
the Indian Islands, one great subject has not
yet been alluded to — the "dohale -fishery. In the seas
which surround the Spice Islands, and particular-
ly towards Timur, and that portion of the Pacific
Ocean which lies between the Archipelago and
New Holland, the Cachelot or Spermaceti whale
abounds. While the Spice Islands were in our
possession, our whalers were in the habit of re-
freshing at Amboyna, which they found a con-
venient station for this purpose alone, though per-
mitted to carry on no species of trade with it.
Ten or twelve of them annually put in for refresh-
ments at the port of Dili in Timur. It is evident,
that any nation in possession of the Spice Islands,
that has the wisdom to destroy the absurd mono-
poly of spices, and restore the industry of those
countries to their natural state, may see them
necessarily become a convenient station of the
whale-fishery. If industry and capital were suf-
fered to take their natural course, the spice trade
and whale-fishery would be naturally combined,
each mutually aiding the other. The striking
contrast in the present case, between the Jree and
fettered trade, is sufficient to bring ridicule and
confusion on the supporters of regulated and mo-
nopoly commerce. The spermaceti whale-fishery
448 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
employs 32,100 tons of shipping, and 3210 sea-
men; — the vaunted spice trade 700 tons, and 80
seamen ; the tonnage is thus 46 times greater, the
hands employed 40 times greater. The value of
the fishery is L. 1070,000, that of the spices, at
three times their natural price, only L. 120,000,
or little more than a ninth part of the value
of the fishery. This amount for the fishery is
obtained by the labour of 3210 men, among the
boldest, most active, and hardy, that human insti-
tutions are capable of breeding. The spices are ob-
tained through the enslaving of a population of
46,000, or with the labour of 11,500 persons,
taking the labouring population at about a fourth
of that number,* who, with perhaps a million more,
are by means of it robbed of the most ordinary
rights of human nature, and kept in slavery and
barbarism to insure an unworthy and contemptible
object. It will appear from this, and allowing that
spices bring a monopoly price equal to three times
their natural value, that the labourof one Englishman
is equal to that of 96 natives of the Spice Islands,
with the aid of the productive powers of the soil to
boot. The value of the ordinary labour of a civi-
lized European over an Asiatic, wherever there is
an opportunity of making a fair comparison, is no
* This is the actual population of Amboyna and the Banda
Isles.
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 449
more, however, than as 3^ is to 1 . Some of this
he owes to the natural and inherent superiority of
his physical form, but more to education and to
moral habit.
The ludian Archipelago, so remarkable for the
rich variety of its vegetable and animal productions,
is hardly less distinguished for its mineral 'wealth.
In tin, it is by far the most productive country on
the globe ; and in gold, it is probably not inferior
to America. Ores of silver, lead, and zinc, on the
other hand, have not yet been discovered at all ; and
iron is scarce, no ores of it sufficiently rich being
at all found in some of the islands, and these the
most distinguished for their vegetable wealth
and civilization. Rich ores of copper are known
to exist in several situations, but this metal is
net generally diffused. The truth, however, is,
that, with respect to the metallic wealth of
those countries, very little is known, for the
industry and civilization necessary to elicit it
neither exist now nor have ever existed. The
singular wealth of the tin and gold mines has in
a measure obtruded these metals upon notice ; but
it is only through the enterprise of strangers, and
in very recent times, that their produce has become
a respectable object of commerce. The command-
ing genius of the European race, though fettered
by so many pernicious restraints, has, since its
authority was established in these regions, had in-
VOL. III. F f
450 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
fluence enough to establish such a share of confi-
dence and security as to stimulate enterprise where
the natural wealth of the land made a very little
sufficient. Under the commanding protection of
that genius, the industry and the labour of the more
industrious nations of Asia frequenting the Archi-
pelago, particularly the Chinese, has been put in
motion ; and it is chiefly through them that the
gold and tin mines of the Archipelago, before
little known, or of little value, have been rendered
productive.
The mineral products which particularly deserve
notice, in a commercial point of view, and of which
I propose giving an account in succession, are the
following : tin — gold — copper — iron — salt — sul-
phur, and the diamond.
Tin is called, in every language of the Archipe-
lago, by the name Timali, a word, it is presumed,
of the Malay language. In geographical distribu-
tion, tin is confined to the island of Banca, the
Malayan Peninsula, and the islets on its coasts,
with Junkceylon. Tin, wherever found, it has
been remarked, has a limited geographical distribu-
tion ; but where it does exist, it is always in great
abundance. The tin of the Indian islands has,
however, a much wider range of distribution than
that of any other country, being found in consider-
able quantity from the 98' to the IO7'' of East lon-
gitude, and from the 8' North, to '6" South lati-
tude.
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 451
Tin exists either in greatest abundance, or is ob-
tained with least hxbour and difficulty, in the island
of Banca, which affords at present by far the great-
er quantity of the tin of commerce of the Archipe-
lago. The discovery of the mines of Banca is com-
paratively a recent event. It took place in the
beginning of last century, in the reign of Sultan
Badur TJMin, king of Palembang, and sovereign
of the island. *
This event in the history of tin may be fairly
compared to the discovery of the American mines,
in that of the precious metals. The working of
the former mines in the Archipelago was in a
great measure discontinued ; and, but for the ef-
fects of the monopoly, tlie influence might have
extended to Europe. In about thirty years from
the discovery, the tin produced from the mines of
* Captain Hamilton, who was in India at the time, gives
the following account of the discovery : " In I710, a son
of the king of Pullamban {Palembang) was king, and a fiic
accidentally happening in a village, when the lire was ex-
tinguished they chanced to find much melted metal under
the rubbish, which proved to be tin. The king ordered his
people to dig a little into the ground, and they found plenty
of ore, which he now reaps a good advantage by. The
Dutch sent from Batavia for leave to settle a factory there,
but could not obtain that favour, the king declaring that his
countr}' should be Wee for all nations to trade in." — New
Account of the East Indies, \6\. II. p. 120.
45'2 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
Bancavvasno less than 05,000 piculs, or S870ton5?,
being nearly the same as that of the mines of
Cornwall at present. Previous to the discovery of
the mines of Banca, the principal portion of the tin
of the Arcliipelago was obtained on the west coast
of the Malayan Peninsula. *
The geological formation of the island of Banca
is chieRy prima }'!/ rock. The principal mountains are
of granite ; and those of inferior elevation of red
iron-stone. In the low tracts between these, the tin
ore is found, and hitherto always in alluvial depo-
sites, seldom further than £'5 feet from the surface.
The strata in which it is found are always in a ho-
rizontal direction ; and the following is an example
of their nature and composition :
Vegetable mould, - - 1} feet.
Black clay, - - 8
Grey clay intermixed with sand, - 4
Black clay, - - 6
Coarse sand, of semi-transparent co-
lour, bedded in pure white clay, G
^25h
* " The country," says Hamilton, speaking of Perali,
" produces more tin than any in India ;" and again he adds,
" there are several places along the coast of Malaya that
produce gre;<X quantities of tin ; but Salangore and Parce-
lore are the most noted." — Nexv Account of ihe East Indies,
p. 73, 74.
ARTICLES OF EXPOIITATIOX. 45.1
These incumbent materials vary a little in differ-
ent situations, but not materially. Immediately
under the last stratum occurs the bed or stream of
tin ore, disseminated in coarse fragments of granite,
and other primitive rocks, and of various degrees
of depth. The disappearance of the bed of ore is
constantly indicated by a stratum of pure white
friable clay. *
The tin ore of Banca is common tin ore, or tbu
sto7ie, an oxide of tin, and its most common colour
is reddish-brown. From this account of the geog-
nostic situation of tin we shall be prepared to un-
derstand the nature of the processes pursued for
converting it into metal. The process of mining
is wonderfully simple, easy, and cheap. A tin
mme is nothing else than a large oblong pit, made
by excavating the ground in a perpendicular di-
rection, to a depth of from 15 to ^5 feet, to re-
move the superincumbent strata of sand and clay
and get at the ore. The first opening is seldom
above 100 feet in length, and if the ore is discovered
to lie below the usual depth, the situation in the
present abundance of mineral will be neglected for a
more favourable one. The mines are divided into
lai'ge and smally called respectively in the language
of the country kolong and Iculit. It is in the first
* Callc.l_,by the Chinese miners Kon^sek.
454* COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
only that tlie process of mining is carried to any
degree of refinement, and that machinery is em-
ployed. The Chinese alone are engaged in work-
ing these, and the average number of hands em-
ployed in each mining operation is from ^5 to 30.
The whole of the labourers work on terms of equa-
lity ; the older and more experienced directing,
and the younger and more active performing the
operative part, while all share equally in the pro-
fits. Fortunately it has been found impracticable
to make the Chinese labour on any other terms.
The whole process for obtaining the metal consists
of 7niningt Xicishhig, iind Jhshig : of each of these
I shall supply a very brief sketch in their natural
order. The situation for opening a new mine is
determined by some indications of the existence of
the mineral, well known to the experienced Chi-
nese, and by the usual test of boring. The ground
being first cleared of the huge primeval forest
which covers all Banca, the miners begin metho-
dically to remove the alluvial strata to get at the
ore. In large mines of a superficies of 100 feet by
80, this operation, conducted by ^5 or 30 work-
men, will occupy about from three to four months.
The earth it removed by little baskets, a pair of
which are suspended, according to the usual cus-
tom of the east, from a beam or lever across the
shoulders of the workmen. The rough trunk of a
forest tree felled on the spot, and having steps cut
ARTICLES O^ EXPORTATION. 455
into it, constitutes the ladder by which the descent
and ascent into the mine is effected. The smaller
mines, besides being generally more superficial, are
commonly situated upon acclivities, and thus an
accumulation of water seldom incommodes the
mining, but the larger ones are more frequent-
ly in vallies, and soon filled with water, which
it is necessary to remove. This is effected by a
common and cheap hydraulic Chinese machine.
Sometimes a canal is made to pass close to the
mine for the purpose of facilitating the labour of
removing the upper strata of sand and clay, which
are thrown into it as extracted, and thus carried off
by the stream. This is, of course, practicable on-
ly in situations where the fluid has a considerable
impetus. The stratum of tin is pursued by a suc-
cession of pits, following the first opening or
shaft.
The washing of the mineral is performed in a
manner remarkably cheap and easy. The abun-
dance of mountain streams, which characterize the
physical aspect of Banca, in common with all the
other considerable islands of this tropical region,
are the sources of this facility. When there is
much room for selection it becomes a material ob-
ject to choose a mine in the neighbourhood of such
mountain stream which is either itself, or a canal
from it, directed to the neighbourhood of the mine,
where an aqueduct is regularly formed, the sides
456 COMMERCIAL DESCKIPTION OF
of wlilch are carefully lined with the bark of the
larfj^e forest-trees of the neii^hbourhood. Into this
trench the ore previously accumulated on its bank
is gradually thrown in, while a rapid stream of
water is made to pass through it, the labourer
ao^itatinjj the materials with a hoe. The earth and
sand are carried off by the water. The ore and
large stones by their gravity subside, when the lat-
ter are separated from the former by manual la-
bour, with the occasional use of sieves.
The purified ore thus obtained is removed to
sheds erected for the purpose, and which contain
the furnaces and apparatus for smelting. The
process of smelting is usually performed once a-
year, or, in a very productive season, twice. The
furnace is ten feet long, four wide, and composed
of clay. The bellows, or ventilator, is a piece of
timber, about twenty-five inches in diameter, hav-
ing; a bore of seventeen or eigrhteen inches admit-
ting a piston. It is made of a single tree, and its
fabrication requires considerable skill. This en-
gine, plied by three stout workmen, keeps up a
constant blast on the furnace. A quantity of ignit-
ed charcoal is first thrown into the furnace, which
continues, as long as the process of smelting goes
forward, to be fed alternutely with ore and coals.
In due time, and wjien the furnace is heated, the
metal begins to flow, in a full stream, from an
aperture for the purpose in the bottom of the floor,
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 4^7
and is received into a basin, from which, in time,
it is removed, by a ladle, into moulds made of
moist sand, formed near the furnace. The size of
these moulds gives slabs or ingots of metal weigh-
ing 50 katis, or 6i')'t lbs. This operation serves
the double purpose of smelting and roasting the
ore. It is always conducted in the night time, to
avoid the heats of the day, which would be inconve-
nient in that climate to the labourers. In the
course of one night 5280 lbs. of ore are smelted,
which, at an average, afford 44i or 45 ingots of me-
tal, or 3062 lbs., so that, at this rate, 100 parts of
ore yield 58 parts of metal. A more improved,
but perhaps more expensive, mode of smelting
would, it is thought, give a greater produce.
The outlay of capital, according to this mode
of extracting tin, is extremely trifling. Besides
the water-wheel, ventilator, and shed, including
the furnaces, it consists of the charges for pick-
axes, spades, hoes, shovels, and a few cheap wheel-
barrows, after a Chinese construction. The very
"vvoods, cut down on the site of the mines, afford
the necessary charcoal for smelting. The whole of
the processes described are conducted by the Chi-
nese. The miners are scattered over the island
according to the direction of the mines. Besides
the immediate labourers in the mines, many others
are connected with them, being engaged either in
raising food and necessaries, or in fabricating the
4-58 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
tools and other materials required in the processes of
milling, washing, and smelting. Among these are
blacksmiths, carpenters, charcoal burners, garden-
ers, &c. In the present state of population, the corn
consumed by the workmen is more cheaply import-
ed than grown. The simplicity of the various pro-
cesses of mining industry is such, that little pre-
vious training is necessary. The only exception to
this is the business of the smelter, which is always
a separate trade. The miners are almost all na-
tives of China, and, notwithstanding the difference
of climate, and the severity of their occupations,
enjoy good health.
besides the tin obtained by the Chinese, by the
intelligent processes now described, an inconsider-
able quantity is obtained by the natives, by very
rude processes. The masters of the island, the
Malays, or, at least, the people of Palembang, imi-
tate the Chinese at an humble distance, and extract
the ore by means similar to those practised by the
latter in the small mines. The aboriginal natives
follow still ruder processes. They mine in the
form of a narrow cylindrical shaft, capable of ad-
mitting one person only, and, if the bed of ore
be found productive, follow it at the risk of their
lives under the alluvial strata, which often fall
in upon them. They have no water-wheel, no
aqueduct. To avoid the accumulation of water,
they must always mine on the acclivities of cle-
ARTICLES OF EXPOHTATION. 4<59
vated tracts, and, for washing the mineral, it must
be conveyed, as it is extracted, to the nearest rivu-
let. In smelting they use small furnaces, and, in-
stead of the large and effectual ventilator of the
Chinese, the common Malay bellows, described in
the first volume of this work, is employed by them.
The metal is even transported to the market, with
inferior skill, and to facilitate its conveyance, is
cast into much smaller slabs than those of the
Chinese, by which distinction it is known in the
markets. The different conditions of the three
races of men, in point of industry and civilization,
is distinctly pourtrayed in their respective manner
of pursuing the process of mining. Were the Eu-
ropean race to engage in the same occupation on fair
terms, that is, supposing them legitimately coloniz-
ed, we should find a new and higher grade added
to the scale, if, indeed, their superior vigour and
intelligence did not soon banish all competition.
The economical management pursued in regard
to the mines by the sultans of Palembang deserves
a particular description. The real source of the
large revenue which the sultan of Palembang de-
rives from the mines of Banca is the rent of these
mines, what they yield beyond the value of the
produce of the poorer mines of other countries.
The sultan is at once the sovereign and the owner,
or lord of the soil, and nominally the mining ad-
venturer. Comparing the economy of the mines
460 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
of Banca with those of Cornwall, he receives — the
tax or quit-rent paid to the duke or sovereign, — the
rent paid to tlie lords of the soil, — and partakes,
nominally at least, in the profits of those who are
more immediately the adventurers. Considered as
a branch of the public revenue of the native so-
vereign, the mines of Banca were divided intoj^'rc'
departments, the administration of which was con-
signed to as many native officers, usually residing at
the court of Palembang. These persons had, accord-
ing to the practice of the native governments, the
whole powers of administration delegated to them,
and conducted the civil and military government of
their respective districts, as well as, what they consi-
dered the more paramount, affairs of the mines.
They delegated the charge of the mines to agents
distinguished by the Chinese name of Kongsi.
These kept the accounts of the mines, and at fixed
staples had stores of provisions, tools, &c., made ad-
vances to the adventurers, and received the tin at
fixed rates. The adventurers may be described as
bein^ at once labourers and adventitrerSy who work
in common upon terms of perfect equality. The
price which they received was an invariable, fixed,
one of about six Spanish dollars per picul, or
L. 1, 2s. 8d. per cwt., 57 per cent, less than the
cost of Cornish tin. This, however small, nomi-
nally must have been a fully adequate compensation
for their labour, since it induced them to quit their
12
ARTICLES OF EXPOIlTATIOy. 46l
country, and to subject themselves to the inconve-
nience of living in a new uncleared country, and,
of course, not in a very favourable climate. The
actual price paid, however, must have been greatly
lower than this nominal one, for the Kongsis^ or
native agents, were in the practice of supplying
them with necessaries at exorbitant prices, as an
example of which it may be stated, that rice was
delivered to them at the rate of 5 Spanish dollars
per picul, six times its price in Java, and certainly
not less than 150 per cent, above its natural price
on the spot. The whole price paid by the British
administration when it took possession of Banca,
including management, transportation, &;c. was
only 8 Spanish dollars the picul of 133; lbs. avoir-
dupois, or L. 1, 10s. 3d. per cwt. Such are the
extraordinary facilities, or the small quantity of la-
bour expended in producing the metal, and bring-
ing it to market. The difference between the
price actually paid for the production of the
tin, and the selling price, consists of the jwofits
of stock, and the rent of the mines, but perhaps
chiefly, or, indeed, in all likelihood exclusive-
ly of the latter, as it is not to be imagined that
profit is likely to accrue from the wasteful and im-
provident management of a trading sovereign. This
price on the spot has generally been about 12 dol-
lars, so that the average proportion of the rents of
mines in Banca may be reckoned about one-half o^
their produce.
4G9 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
The quantity of tin which the mines of Banca
are capable of affording is immense, as the supply
of ore is nearly indefinite, and the facility of working
great. About the year 1750, or forty years after
their first discovery, they yielded, it has been cal-
culated, much above 1:^0,000 slabs, or G6,000 pi-
culs, 5870 tons. From internal anarchy, — mal-
administration, — the exhaustion of some rich mines
conveniently situated, — the monopoly of the Euro-
pean government, — the restrictions upon commerce
occasioned by the state of war among the European
nations, — and in some respect, perhaps, from the
forced competition of the tin of Cornwall brought
to China, the quantity produced of late years has
greatly diminished. About the year I78O, the
produce had fallen to 30,000 piculs, or to less than
half its maximum, and from 1799, until the Bri-
tish conquest, seldom exceeded one-third of this
last amount, or 10,000 piculs. Of the causes
which have led to the diminished production of tin
in late years, the only one that deserves a particu-
lar examination is that which ascribes it to the
exhausted state of the mineral strata. To this
cause, however, I am inclined to ascribe a very
limited effect indeed. It is necessarily with mines
as with new lands, in countries where both are abun-
dant and fertile. No economy is observed with
regard to either. The more fertile beds of mi-
nerals, those which afford the greatest quantity
10
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 463
of metal witli the least labour, will be first wrought,
and a great number of mines will be worked in a
slovenly manner, rather than a few with skill and
economy. This is the case in the management of
the Chinese. A stratum of mineral no sooner dips
a few feet beyond the usual level than the mine is
abandoned for a new one. A scanty supply of water
for washing the mineral will lead to a similar
measure. When an adequate price was given for
the additional labour, however, the Chinese had no
scruple to go on with the work. Premiums with
this view were occasionally given by the sultans
of Palembang. By giving an additional price to
the workmen, the British administration extend-
ed the quantity of tin, in IS 17, from 10,800,
which they found it in 1813, to 35,000 piculs, or
2083j tons, equal to half the produce of Cornwall.
All that can be reasonably said, therefore, on this
subject is, that the cost of producing tin has, by the
exhaustion of some of the most conveniently situ-
ated mines, been, perhaps, a little enhanced. Were
a judicious and liberal system of economy pursu-
ed regarding the mines, increasing capital, with
the improved skill and machinery which would
attend it, would, for a long time, more than
counterbalance any natural impediments to min-
ing, arising from the difficulty of obtaining the
ore. It is but a small portion of an island, con-
taining an area of 3400 geographical miles, that
has yet been examined. The mines at present
464 COMMERCIAL DESCIUPTIO.V OF
are cliiefly confined to the northern and western
parts of it, whereas the south-eastern has hardly been
touched. From one extremity to the other, the
alluvial lands are ascertained to abound in beds of
tin ; and from the analogy of other countries, it is
beyond any doubt that the mountains abound in
veins of it. To the difficult and expensive pro-
cesses required for the mining of these last it is
at present superfluous to look, for the alluvial
lands contain the cheap and abundant supply of
many ages.
I shall, with the view of pointing out the great
value of the mines of Banca, draw a short compa-
rison between them and those of Cornwall. The
whole produce of the mines of Banca, when they
were wrought to the greatest advantage, was near-
ly the same in numerical amount with the highest
produce of those of Cornwall, Even at present
their amount is equal to one half of it. But the
whole produce of Banca is grain tin, a pure metal,
superior in intrinsic value to block tin 2-^^ per
cent. Cornish tin is obtained, with vast labour, by
mining through obdurate granite, often to the pro-
digious depth of many hundred fathoms ; Banca
tin, by digging through a few soft strata of sand
and clay, and seldom to more than three or four
fathoms. To clear the Cornish mines from water,
the most expensive and complex machinery is re-
quisite ; to clear those of Banca, a simple wooden
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 4>G5
wheel,' costing a few shillings ! To separate the
Cornish ore from its matrix, it must be ground in
a stamping-mill, as well as subjected to the process
of washing. The Banca tin is at once separated
from its matrix, and fitted without farther care
for smelting, by the simple process of passing
a stream of running water over it in an aqueduct
simply lined with the bark of trees. The necessary
result of all this is, that the cost of producing a cwt.
of Banca tin is but 2Ss. 8d., whereas that of Corn-
wall tin is not less than Gis. yd. ; and that, while
a Cornish mine seldom yields a rent of more than
a tenth or twelfth of the produce, often not more
than a twenty-fourth, and usually not above a fif-
teenth, the Banca mines yield no less than one-
half. This is the most exact and unquestionable
test of the superior fertility of the one over the
other. The skill and ingenuity of Europeans, —
their capital, — and their machinery, make some
amends for the inferior fertility of the Cornish
mines, but such as are far enough from counter-
balancing the immense wealth of those of Banca.
Were the Cornish workmen, with their ingenuity,
their capital, and machinery, to be employed on
such mines as those of Banca, no other mines in
the world would, in a short time, be worth workino- ;
and, on the other hand, were the Banca miners,
with their tools and simple- machinery, to attempt
such mines as those of Cornwall, there can be no
VOL. III. G o;
466 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
question but they would be as inaccessible to them,
for all useful purposes, as if buried a league in the
crust of the earth.
The tin of Banca and the other Indian Islands
finds its way into almost eveiy part of the world ; but
China and the Continent of India are its principal
markets. The average annual importation into
Bengal is COOO cwt. By European ships there are
miported into Canton 6068 piculs, or 7^^"^ cwt.
The Dutch, in the days of their commercial admi-
nistration, sent to China annually 11,690 piculs,
or 16,700 cwt. The quantity sent to the different
ports of China by the Chinese junks it is impossi-
ble to conjecture, but it is very considerable. The
most recent prices in the different countries in
which the tin of Banca finds a market may be
quoted as follows : In China, 83s. 2d. per cwt. ;
in Bengal, including duties, 97s. ; in New York,
where it comes into competition with Spanish tin,
100s. 9id. ; and in Amsterdam, 82s. 8|d. All
these prices, allowing for the intrinsic superiority
of the metal, are cheaper than Cornish tin in the
London market.
I shall conclude this account of tin by throwing
out some hints towards a better system of admini-
stration for the mines of Banca than has yet been
pursued. The lands and the mines are the proper-
ty of the sovereign ; and whether that sovereign has
been native or European, the tin has been made a
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 467
subject of exclusive trade, for the assumed benefit
of the state. This system is too palpably vitious
to deserve particular exposure. The sultans of
Palembang paid six Spanish dollars a picul for tin,
and sold it for 12 Spanish dollars. The profit
upon, say 60,000 piculs, was, therefore, Spanish
dollars 360,000, or L.8 1,000. Under the British
administration, 10 dollars a picul were paid, in-
cluding all charges ; and the tin, after being trans-
ported to Batavia, was sold at 15 Spanish dollars.
If from this we deduct one dollar for expence of
transportation to that place, and incidental charges
attending it, and take the average produce at
30,000 piculs, the profit was but 120,000 Spanish
dollars, or L.27»000, against which was to be de-
ducted the interest of money advanced to tlie mi-
ners, the whole civil, naval, and military expences
of the island, with its share of the expence of the
general government of all the European establish-
ments, of which it is a part. As a mere fiscal ar-
rangement, therefore, it is evident that the com-
mercial monopoly will not bear a moment*s exami-
nation.
It is not the rent of the mine, the value paid
for the productive power of the earth in mineral,
that, either in Cornwall or in Banca, put the min-
ing adventures in motion. In Cornwall, the ca-
pital of private adventurers is the fund on which
the mining adventures are conducted j and the
468 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
lord or proprietor absolutely does nothing but sit
down at his ease, and receive his rent. * Of the
mines of Banca, in their present state of fertility, I
have attempted to estimate the rent at one-half of
their gross produce. This rent is the proper sub"
ject of taxation, and were the amount permanent
and equal, or could be precisely ascertained, might,
without infringement of private rights, or detri-
ment to public industry, be all assumed as the
public revenue of the state. No perpetual arrange-
ment, however, could be made with respect to
mines, as proposed with respect to lands ; for the
productive powers of the soil are permanent, arid
the rent of a given portion of land increases rather
than diminishes in the progress of society, whereas
the produce of mines is liable to diminish, or to be
altogether exhausted. A periodical, and not a per-
manent organization, therefore, would be the most
* " The dues," says INIr Taylor, " are delivered to the lord
or to his agent on the mine, free of all cxpence, or are com-
muted for a proportionate part of the money arising from the
sale of the whole. Hence it will be seen that the land-own-
er risks nothing but a little injury to the surface of his
fields. It seems reasonable that the land-owners should con-
tribute something in favour of that exertion which so often
leads to their great advantage. As it now stands, the land-
owner often derives a great revenue from a mine, which is
swallowing up the money of the adventurers." — Transactions
of the Geological Society of London, Vol. II. p. 312, 313.
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 469
suitable. I conceive tliat the granting of a lease
of from ten to twenty years, according to the
nature of the mines, with their disposal by the
competition of a public sale, would be the surest
and most equitable means of determining and se-
curing the amount of the revenue of the state, and
of reconciling public and private interests. Sub-
ordinate regulations will readily occur, and need
not be detailed. Mining adventure, by the plan
proposed, would have ample scope ; and the aboli-
tion of the exclusive trade would soon give the ex-
citement to individual enterprise, which insures
prosperity and wealth. From the abundance of
the lands of" Banca, and the injurious system pur-
sued, of supplying the miners at exorbitant rates
with food and necessaries from abroad, they are at
present excluding those which contain tin ores, of
little or no value. When the activity of mining
industry is set at liberty by being freed from the
shackles which now fetter it, the lands will acquire
value from the demands of the mines ; and, as in
other situations of much less promise, we shall see
agricultural industry thrive, and towns and villages
rise in the midst of the mining districts. The
lands should be gradually sold for a quit rent, on
the principles laid down in another part of this
work, to facilitate the progress of so desirable an
eveilt. When it is considered tliat, 7^ years ago,
under an luilavourable system, and when there was
470 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
a less demand for tin in the arts than at pre-
sent, Banca produced 65,000 piculs of tin, it
will not be too high a rate to expect from the
system of freedom recommended, that the island
should produce 100,000 piculs. Supposing that,
of this gross amount, the rent is but two-fifths,
the picul being valued at 12 Spanish dollars,
then we should have a net revenue of 480,000
Spanish dollars, or L. 108,000, free from any ex-
pensive fiscal establishment, indeed without any at
all, in this particular department, while the trade
would be open to the wholesome influence of indi-
vidual enterprise in every department. *
Next to tin, gold is the most valuable of the
mineral products of the Archipelago. In a geo-
graphical view, it is very generally, perhaps uni-
versally, diffused throughout the Archipelago ; but
the countries in which it most abounds are those
of which the geological constitution is primitive.
It is most abundant in those islands which consti-
tute the western and northern barriers of the Ar-
chipelago, and exists but in small quantities, rare-
* For the information I have supplied in the text respect-
ing the economy of the mines of Banca, I am altogether in-
debted to an able memoir on the subject furnished to me
by my friend Dr Horsfield, who will soon lay before the
public the result of researches conducted for many years into
every branch of the natural history of the Archipelago.
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 471
ly worth mining for, in the great volcanic range
extending from Java to Timur-Laut. Of parti-
cular islands, Borneo affords by far the most abun-
dant supply. Next to it comes Sumatra, and in suc-
cession the peninsula J Celebes, and Lusong, an enu-
meration which would seem to indicate that even
the size and extent of the countries in which it is
found have some relation to its distribution. In
this estimate of the geographical distribution of
gold, it ought not to be forgot that we may possi-
bly be misled by too limited an experience, and
that the countries in which the industry of man
has been, perhaps by accident, directed to its ex-
traction, may possibly be mistaken for those in
which nature has produced it in greatest abundance.
In one great island especially, the magnificent one
of New Guinea, it is known to exist, and there
is room to imagine, in great abundance.
The gold ol the Indian Islands, in regard to
geognostic situation, is found, as in other parts of
the world, in veins and mineral beds, as well as in
alluvial deposites. In the first situation it exists
in granite, gneiss, mica-slate, and clay-slate ; and
in the second, in ferruginous clay and sand. The
ore is what modern mineralogists term gold-yellow
gold, * and always contains a considerable quanti-
* Professor Jameson's able and laborious " System of
Mincraloj^y."
472 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
ty of silver, and generally, although not always,
some copper. The gold of Banjar-laut, for exam-
ple, usually contains in 100 parts — gold 90 parts,
silver 4 parts, and copper H parts. The gold of
Larak, in the same island, affords in 100 parts —
gold 86 parts, silver 6 parts, and copper 8 parts.
The gold of Pontianak in 100 parts contains 83
parts of gold, l6 of silv„r, and about 1 of copper.
A small part of the gold of commerce of the
Indian Islands is obtained by mining processes
from veins and mineral beds ; some from washing
the sand and mud of brooks and rivers ; but by far
the greatest portion by washing deposites of gold
in alluvial lands. The first mode is chiefly follow-
ed by the more civilized native tribes ; the second
principally by the savages ; and the third chiefly
by the Chinese. Mining, conducted in veins and
mineral beds, is pursued, as far as I know, in the
island of Sumatra only. The principal mines are
in the interior of the island, in the country of the
Bataks and Menangkabao Malays. The mines are
but petty excavations. The perpendicular shaft
usually goes no deeper than five or six fathoms,
when the operations are pursued laterally, the
sides of the mine being supported by beams of
wood. Iron crows, shovels, and mallets, are the
only tools made use of. The practice of blasting
the rock is not known, neither is the simple w^ter-
wheel of the Chinese, the mine being kept clear
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 'VJS
by no other means than by buckets and manual
labour. The ore is separated from its matrix,
usually quartz, by pounding and washing. Mr
Marsden tells us, that it is estimated that there
are no less than 1^00 of these i>etty mines in the
territory of Menangkabao alone. The fertility of
these mineral beds is sufficiently prored by the cir-
cumstance of their being wrought at all by such
rude and imperfect means.
The practice of mining for gold from alluvial
deposites is pursued by both natives and Chinese ;
but systematically, skilfully, and effectually, as to
production, only by the latter. The economy of
the Chinese mining operations, on account of their
extent and importance to commerce, deserve a
particular description. The seat of them is Borneo,
and of that island principally the territory on its
west coast, situated towards the mountains, and ly-
ing between the rivers of Pontianak and Sambas.
The country is usually denominated Montradak,
from the name of the principal town or vilhige,
which is situated about two days* journey, or ra-
ther voyage, as it is an inland navigation, from the
coast. The whole tract is alluvial, and channelled
by the beds of numerous rivers, some of them of
great size. My information respecting the econo-
my of the mines is principally from personal com-
munication with Chinese who were for years en-
gaged in them. The whole Chinejse population of
474 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
this part of the countiy amounts to 36,000, of
whom 4000 only are women. Part of the latter
only are of the mixed Chinese and native race,
and the greater number natives of the place, pur-
chased or kidnapped. Six thousand of the whole
of this population only are directly engaged in
the working of the mines, the rest being occupied
in trade or agriculture, or in branches of industry
subservient to the working of the mines. This
Chinese population is nearly independent of any
native authority, governing itself through its chiefs,
and the tribute paid to the raja of Sambas, in whose
territories the mines are situated, is very trifling,
amounting to no more than l60 bungkals, making
399^ Spanish dollars ; or, in Sterling money,
L. 898, 4s. Like the tin mines of Banca, the
economy and circumstances of which they very
closely resemble in many particulars, the gold mines
oi Montr adak are divided into large and small. Of
the first there are thirteen at present wrought,
and of the second fifty-seven. The principal dif-
ference in these consists, not in the amount of
the fertility of the ore, but rather in the greater or
smaller capital vvhich is employed in working them ;
and, of consequence, in the principle and extent to
which the mining operations are conducted. The
great mines are wrought by companies of persons of
property and capital, who employ monthly labourers.
The smaller mines, on the other hand, are worked
AUTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 475
by the mere labourers who at once conduct the ope-
rative parts, and share the proceeds on terms of per-
fect equahty. The large mines employ from 100 to
^00 men, including labourers and overseers, the
smaller from 10 to 50. The economy of the
large mines is chiefly worthy of notice. The mode
of paying the labourers is by monthly wages, with
a supply of food. An inexperienced labourer re-
ceives for the first four months two Spanish dollars
a month, for the second four months four dollars,
and for the remainder of the year five. Ever after-
wards he receives six, and if he has capacity and
integrity to make an overseer eight dollars ; from
the mode of making payment, as will be after-
wards shewn, there is a real advance of 80 per
cent, on these wages. In defiance of the climate
the miners labour severely. They work about
12 hours a day, beginning their operations by
break of day, or, if there be moonlight, earlier, not
ceasing until half past six at night, and taking
very little time to their meals.
The mine is a longitudinal excavation following
the course of the mineral stratum, and its breadth
and depth necessarily depend upon the circum-
stances of that stratum. The situation of the ore is,
however, commonly very superficial, not usually above
five or six feet from the soil. Forty feet is a common
breadth for the stratum containing it, and of course
for the mine, and 10 feet for its depth, making
4-76 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
15 or 10 feet a common depth for the whole mhie.
The processes pursued for extracting the ore, — for
clearing the mine of water, — and for washing the
mineral earth, so much resemble the same opera-
tions followed with the tin ore, that they need
not be detailed. The access to the mine is by
the trunk of a forest tree, into which steps are cut.
The ore is extracted and brought up by manual
labour with spades and baskets. Tlie largest mines
are cleared of water by the Chinese wheel, and the
mineral is washed in an aqueduct lined with the
bark of trees, and supphed by a neighbouring
brook with a stream of running water. In the
large mines it is the practice to suspend the pro-
cess of extracting the mineral, and to wash the
auriferous earth at the end of every thirty-five
days. A mine wrought by 200 labourers will af-
ford in that time, as the largest produce, about
320 bungkals, or 555^ ounces troy, and as the low-
est, about 140 bungkals, or 243 ounces troy. The
following detailed statement will point out more
fully the expences and profits of the mining busi-
ness, as it is conducted by the Chinese.
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 477
Statemext of the Expences and Profits of a Gold Mine,
worked by 200 Labourers.
20 Overseers for 35 days, at 8 Dollars.
dollars per month, - 186.67 or L.4'2
180 Miners, for 35 days, at C dol-
lars per month, - 1260.00 283 10
30 Per cent, on wages of 200
men, - - 434.00 97 13
70 Piculs ordinary rice, at I dol-
lar per picul, - 70.00 15 15
17^ Piculs salt fish, at 2 dollars
per picul, - - 35.00 7 17 6
4 Piculs salt, at 14 dollar per
picul, - - 5.00 12 6
2 Piculs edible oil, at 15 dol-
lars per picul, - 30.00 6 15
Interest of dead stock, and re-
pairs of tools and machines, 35.00 7 17 6
Interest upon capital of 2020.67
dollars, at 25 per cent, for 35
days, - - 49.11 11 1
Total charges, 2104.78 L.473 11 6
Produce, 2000 bungkals of Mon-
trada gold dust, worth 4848.00 1090 16
Gross profit for 35 days, 2743.22 617 4 6
Annual profit, 28607.89 L.6436 15 6
478 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
The gold of the Indian Islands, whether obtain-
ed from veins or mineral deposites, always appears
in the commercial transactions of the country in
the form of coarse sand or dust, that of the alluvial
deposites being, from attrition, always smooth, and is
of intrinsic value, usually in proportion to the size
and coarseness of the grains. In commercial lan-
guage, gold-dust is designated by the name of the
country which produces it, and that of the same
country is without any extraordinary variation,
pretty constantly of the same touch or fineness.
Independent of the quantity of copper or silver al-
ways in chemical mixture with the ore, it inva-
riably contains a considerable mixture of earth,
iron, and other adventitious matters. The most
productive mines, it may be remarked, afford gold
of the lowest test, and that which contains the
largest portion of mechanical admixture. The fol-
lowing table presents at one useful view an analy-
sis of some of the most common descriptions which
appear in the markets.
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION.
479
o
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Ombak,
Sanga,
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Banjar.
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5?
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n
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fO — -0 Cn C^ 00 0»
if
CO iXi'OCOOOCO'O 0^
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480 COMMEnCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
The natives of tlie country are extremely inex-
pert in judging of the quality of gold. They know
no means of separating the metals which alloy the
ore, being wholly unacquainted with the chemical
menstrua, and other means, which Europeans em-
ploy for that pui-pose. They are even unaware of
the presence of foreign metals at all, and imagine
that gold, more or less alloyed, is but tlie same
metal, differing intrinsically, as it is, in a state of
less or higher maturity. »Some of the native deal-
ers in gold have, however, acquired the practice of
assaying the metal, by the touch-stone, from the
natives of Telinga. The scale of these last people,
instead of being divided, as among us, into twenty-
four parts, contains only ten degrees. The resi-
dent Telingas themselves are the most expert as-
sayers of gold. Native merchants have, indeed,
been in the habit of employing the Hindus of the
little colony of this people, residing at Malacca, to
assay their gold for them, which was done for a
trifling per centage. The packages were sealed
with their signet, and often passed current for the
quantity and value they were said to contain, with-
out examination. From the unskilfulness of the
natives in assaying gold, and their consequent fear
of imposition, they seldom or ever cast gold into
bars, and we do not therefore meet it in this form
in the markets of the Archipelago. It maybe
strongly recommended to any of the European go-
12
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 481
vernments, when they have acquired the confidence
of the natives, to institute a mint or assay-office,
for the purpose of melting gold into ingots, to
bear a stamp, declaring the assay of the metal.
This is peculiarly called for in a country which
contains some of the most productive gold mines in
the world; and I know no measure of mere regu-
lation which would tend so eminently to the bene-
fit and facility of commercial intercourse. The
stamp, expressing the quality of the metal, ought
to be impressed in one or two native characters, as
well as in the Chinese and in the European cha-
racter. The coining of gold as money is a mea-
sure which cannot be recommended in a country
where it is more exclusively an article of com-
merce than in any other, and where, consequent-
ly, its price must fluctuate more. Silver, be-
sides, is in more estimation as money, always re-
gulating the price of gold, except where govern-
ments arbitrarily interpose to reverse this order. If
gold coin expressed only its intrinsic value, it would
be immediately exported on every trilling rise in
its price, and if it expressed more, it would be of
no value beyond the limits of the authority under
which it was coined, and would banish silver- from
circulation. No other result would attend this
measure than subjecting the state to the expence
of supporting a coinage, an expence at present in-
curred for them by foreigners.
With respect to the absolute amount of the gold
VOL. HI. H h
482 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
afforded by the mines of the Indian Archipelago,
it is impossible, from the nature of the subject, to
state any thing better than probable conjecture.
In attempting to furnish materials to form such an
estimate, some striking facts will be adduced which
will enable us to estimate it at a very high amount.
Mr Marsden has estimated the whole export of
the south-west coast of Sumatra at 14,100oz. j and
conjectures that that of the north-east may be equal
to it. Hamilton, a century ago, estimates the
whole gold of Achin at 1000 lbs. This makes the
whole export of gold dust of that island 40,800 oz.,
which, at 21 carats, and five per cent, for extraneous
substances, makes the quantity of pure gold 33,915
oz. The great export, however, is from Borneo. *
The annual produce of the great mines of Mon-
tradak, in the territory of Sambas, reckoning the
produce of each labourer of 6000 at 18y^ oz., is
88,362 oz. of pure gold. The whole imports of
gold at the port of Calcutta, from the different
countries of the Indian Archipelago, on the average
of nine years, was 16,244 oz. of pure gold, but in
particular years it exceeded 26',000 oz. The fol-
lowing table will shew the real state of the imports
at that place.
* It has been estimated that in Borneo, in or near the coun-
tiies producing gold, there are 200,000 Chinese, and tli;it, on
an average, each remits to China 172 grains in gold, which
vould make the whole sent to China, considering all the gold
as equal in \aluc to that of Montradak, 71,666^ oz.
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION.
483
?g
H^ 1— I 1—4 l-U I— t 1—4 k— * 1— ' H-'
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(D p^
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n
ft)
— H-H-— h-oooo
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481 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
To the statement given of the exports of vSu-
matra and Pontianak, and of the produce of the
mines of Montradak, many items are wanting to en-
able us to form an estimate of the total produce
of the Archipelago. The whole of the natives of
the Indian Islands consume, as ornaments, a much
larger quantity of gold than could be reckoned
upon from the standard of their relative wealth and
civilization. This arises, in some measure, — from
the want of silver mines, and the greater relative va-
lue of that metal, — from the demand of the pre-
cious metals being not for plate or utensils, but for
personal ornaments, for which the beauty of gold
makes it more suitable, — and from the necessary
cheapness of gold in the countries which produce
it. This is, of course, a point to be considered in
attempting to form an estimate of the whole
amount. Of the production of the Malay Penin-
sula, the Suliik Archipelago, the east coast of
Borneo, and the Island of Celebes, with the
whole of the Philippines, we have no means of
forming an estimate, but if the whole produce of
these, with the domestic consumption, amount to
but one-fourth of that of which I have attempted to
forai an estimate, and this is, perhaps, a moderate
conjecture, then the whole produce of the mines
of the Archipelago will be 154,865 oz., worth
2,925,2!28 Spanish dollars, or L. 658,170 Sterling,
or more than one-fifth of the produce of the mines of
America, nearly nine times the produce of the mines
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 485
of Northern Asia, nearly one-third the produce of
the mines of Africa, and nearly four times the pro-
duce of those of all Europe. These interesting
results appear in the clearest and most satisfactory
manner in the form of a table.
486
COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
TABLE,
Exhibiting the Estimated Annual Amount of the Gold of the
Indian Archipelago, compared ivith that of other Countries.
Pure Gold.
Value at L.4, 5s. an oz.
Exports from the east and
Ounces.
Dollars.
L.
west coasts of Suma-
tra, - - oz. 25,080
Produce of Achin, 10,450
Total estimated produce of
Sumatra,
35,530
671,125
151,003
Estimr*ed produce of the
mines of Montradak in
Borneo, - . -
88,362
1,669,058
375,538
Produce of all other parts
of the Archipelago, esti-
mated at one-fiftli of the
whole, - - -
Total annual produce of
30,973
585,045
131,635
the Archipelago,
154,865
2,925,228
658,176
Produce of Brazil,
oz. 236,250
America, - 320,095
556,34.5
10,508,739
2,364,466
Total produce of America,
Produce of Northern Asia,
17,325
327,250
73,631
41,738
470,588
788,385
8,888,888
177,387
2,000,000
Total annual produce of
the whole world.
1,240,861
23,438,490
5,273,660
From the preceding Table it appears, that the produce
of the Archipelago is nearly one-eighth of that of the tvhole
world.
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATIOX. 487
The chance of an increased produce from the
mines of the Archipelago will depend upon the
share of tranquillity which the country enjoys, and
the degree of freedom secured to its commerce.
Nothing further is requisite, for the ore, from all
accounts, exists in inexhaustible abundance. This
is most particularly applicable to Borneo ; the im-
mense alluvial tracts round the whole circumfer-
ence of which every where contain rich deposites
of this metal, from whence it necessarily follows^
that the primitive mountains of the interior must
contain veins of it. From the abundance of
the ore, and the usual fascination of all mining
projects, especially those in quest of the precious
metals, the search for gold will be the first object
to engage the attention of any enterprising and in-
dustrious people settled in that country, of what-
ever race. Amidst a great deal of anarchy and
disorder, mining has of late years been prosecut-
ed by the Chinese with surprising spirit. It
is not above eight or ten years since consider-
able capital and the use of machinery have been ap-
plied to it, and in that time there has been a
vast increase of produce.
Bengal and China are at present the principal
markets for the gold of the Indian Islands. The
absolute price, it need hardly be noticed, depends
on the state of supply and demand. Its relative
price with silver on the spot is ascertained with
488 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
considerable accuracy. When the Chinese assume
gold dust as money, they estimate the Bungkal, or
two Spanish dollars weight, viz. 833 grains troy, as
worth sixteen Spanish dollars. The gold of Sam-
bas, which contains, in 100 parts, nine of dross,
and l6.32parts of alloy, is, at this rate, to silver as
9j is to 1, instead of being, as in Europe, as 15 is
to 1. In the open market on the spot, the results
of several trials give the relative values from 12
to 1, to 13 to 1. One striking circumstance con-
nected with the gold mines of the Archipelago
will not fail at once to strike the reader, viz. that
ores of silver are not found along with them as in
other parts of the world distinguished for mines of
the precious metals. Silver cannot be said not to
exist undoubtedly, for it has been already pointed
out as always existing in combination with gold ;
and it is even highly probable that ores of this me-
tal will, in the progress of discovery, be found in
the primitive rocks of the great islands, especially
of Sumatra ; but, with a view to production, its
non-existence may strictly enough be predicated.
It follows from this remarkable circumstance, that,
if the produce of the gold mines of the Archipela-
go augment in the proportion they have done of
late years, without any proportionate increase in
the production of silver, the additional quantity of
the former metal poured into circulation must soon
depreciate its value, and destroy the present rela-
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 489
tion between the two metals. This, to be sure,
will be effectually counteracted if the conjec-
ture of Mr Holms should ever be verified, that
the Cordilleras of the Andes, if properly investi-
gated, will one day afford silver in such quantity
and cheapness as to make it as abundant as iron or
copper.
Iron and copper are, besides tin and gold, the
only metals found in the Indian Archipelago.
Iron exists but in very small quantity, but, from
its native name, without any foreign synonym, we
may conjecture that its use was early known to the
natives, and was not acquired from strangers. Iron
ore, of sufficient fertility to be wrought, is found
in several parts of the Malayan Peninsula, in some
parts of the south coast of Borneo, in Banco, and
in Billiton. The mines of the last, which is a
rocky sterile island, are the most productive of the
Archipelago. The mineralogical character, or
geognostic situation, of the ores of iron which ex-
ist in the Archipelago, I am unable to point out.
The iron manufactured at Billiton is said to be of
an excellent quality, and nails are manufactured
from it on the spot, which are articles of export
to some of the neighbouring countries, as Fon-
tianak in Borneo.
From what mysterious law of nature does it pro-
ceed, that gold abounds and iron is scarce in all
the regions of the equator, and that the reverse is
490 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
true of temperate regions ? Whatever be the
cause, the fact has in all likelihood had its share
in hindering or retarding the progress of civiliza-
tion in the one as well as in promoting it in the
other.
Copper ores are known to exist in Sumatra, — in
Tiraur, — and have, of late years, been discovered,
and wrought in the territory of Sambas in Bor-
neo. A copper mine has long been known to be
wrought in Limun in Sumatra. Copper is found
in its native state more frequently than any other
of the useful metals, and hence it has been judi-
ciously conjectured, that it was used at a more ear-
ly age for economical purposes than any other.
In the Indian Islands this may probably be
true of the tribes in whose country copper exists,
as in Sumatra and Timur, from whence lumps of
native copper have been brought, but it can hardly
apply to some of the more civilized tribes, in whose
country copper is not found at all, as Java. In one
or two of the languages, those of the people, I think,
in whose country copper is found, the metal is de-
signated by a native name, but the general, almost
the universal, one, tambaga, is Sanskrit, from
which I infer, that the fusing of copper from an
ore is probably an art in which the natives were
instructed by the Hindus. Almost all the casts of
Hindu images, and other relics of Hinduism found
in Java, are a mixture of copper and iron j but I
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 491
am not aware that, among the numerous relics of
this description, there has ever been found any
tools or warlike weapons, such as would indicate
that copper had been used for economical pur-
poses.*
Except Brazil and Hindustan, the Indian Is-
lands are the only portions of the world which af-
ford the diamond. Though in the immediate vi-
cinity of Siam and the Burman empire, the only
parts of the world in which are found the ge-
nuine oriental ruby and sapphire, they yield neither
of these, nor, so far as we are acquainted, any gems
whatever, indeed, but the diamond. Borneo is the
only island of the Archipelago in which the diamond
is found, and here it is confined to the south and the
west coast, principally to the territories of the
princes of Banjarmassin and Pontianak. The prin-
cipal mines are at a place called Landak, from
which the diamonds of Borneo, to distinguish them
* An analysis of some of the metallic relics found in Java,
such as casts of Hindu images, the zodaical cups, and some an-
cient coins, including those struck after the conversion to
Mahomedanisra, discovers them to be alloys of copper and iron,
and to contain neither tin nor zinc. One coin, impressed with
the usual Javanese characters, is pure lead. Tiiese results, so
little to be looked fur, vrould seem to imply that tin was un-
known or litlle used by the anciently islanders ; and the coin of
lead, a metal which is not known to 6X181,^001(1 appear to point
out that the islanders, perhaps, received their supply of the
useful metals from strangers.
49'2 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
from those of Hindustan, are usually designated.
It is the same country that is most remarkable
for the production of gold in which the diamond is
found. The working of the diamond mines is suf-
ficiently simple. A perpendicular shaft is first
sunk, and the stratum containing the diamond is
pursued in a lateral direction, the superincumbent
earth being supported by piles or posts of timber,
and at imminent risk to the miners, from the fre-
quent falling in of the incumbent soil. The
geological situation of the diamond in these mines
is as follows : — The first stratum, from one to
two fathoms in depth, consists of soil and yellow-
coloured clay ; the 5ecowc? of sand and small stones
or pebbles ; the third of disintegrated sandstone ;
and the fourth of stones of a very hard nature,
differino; in their character from those of the two
last, and most probably quartz.
The diamond mines are wrought only by the
Dayaks or Aboriginal savages of Borneo, and, from
their uncivilized state, we may believe, with little
skill or industry. Diamonds are in no repute
among the Chinese, else, through the industry of
that people, we should, without doubt, have long
ago found the produce of the mines of Borneo,
which are described as fertile, greatly multiplied.
The Bugis resident merchants are the great deal-
ers in diamonds. They usually purchase them
from the miners at the rate of from five to ten
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 493
Spanish dollars for a rough diamond of one carat,
or from 2-2s. 6d. to 45s.
The diamond is in great repute among all the
natives of the Indian Islands, and, indeed, is the
only precious stone in much esteem, or much worn
by them. It is probable that the art of cutting
them is a native art, and not a borrowed one.
The rough and polished gem are known by two
distinct names, piidi and i?itan, both native
terms, and the last, or the name of the cut dia-
mond, universally the same in every one of the
languages, while the first is confined to that of the
country w'hich produces them. No other precious
stone, when used by them, is ever polished, and they
have a specific term to describe the polishing or cut-
ting of the diamond, which is an original word of the
Polynesian languages. If ever the principal tribes,
the Javanese, Malays, and people of Celebes, un-
derstood the art of cutting the diamond, they have
now lost it, but diamond- cutters are still found in
Banjarmassin, near the seat of the mines, where, in-
deed, it is most reasonable to expect to find them.
The cut which is approved of by the Indian island-
ers is a kind of table cut. The hriUiant cut is
not esteemed, and the rose cut still less, so that it
is probable that the table cut only is a native one.
One of the largest diamonds in the world is now
in Borneo, in the possession of the petty prince of
Mattan, and was obtained in the mines of Lan-
dak about a century ago. It is still in its rough
494 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
state, and weighs 367 carats, which, according to
tlie rule of comparing rough and polished dia-
monds, is but one-half of that amount, if cut, or
183i carats, which make it eleven and a half carats
smaller than the Emperor of Russia's diamond, and
46i carats larger than the Pitt diamond. Its real
value is L. 209,378, which is L. 34,825^ less than
that of the Russian diamond, and L. 119,773, 10s.
more than that of the Pitt diamond. It has been
stated to have lately fallen into the hands of the
ambitious chief of Pontianak.
Sulphur has not, that I am aware of, been dis-
covered in any abundance in beds or veins in any
part of the Indian Islands, though it is certain
enough that it does exist in such situations; but in
a country strewed with volcanoes, over a range of
thousands of geographical miles, there is, of ne-
cessity, an immense store of volcanic sulphur fit
for the purposes of commerce. There is no vol-
canic mountain in Java, for example, that does not
afford sulphur, but the best and most abundant
supply is obtained from the great mountain of
BcniyiVii'angi at tlie eastern extremity of the island.
Here and| in similar situations sulphur is obtain-
ed without difficulty, and in such a state of purity as
to require no preparation for the market; but the
tost of production is naturally enhanced by the
nature of the places in which it is found, — moun-
tains of great elevation generally covered with
deep forests, and usually at a great distance from
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 495
the sea-ports, — circumstances which render tlie
transportation difficult.
The only other mineral production which, in a
commercial view, desen'es notice, is salt. All the
salt used by the Indian islanders for culinary pur-
poses is obtained from the evaporation of sea wa-
ter or that of salt springs, but principally of the
former. The abundance of salt springs which ex-
ist, particularly in Java, is sufficient proof that
there exist beds of mineral salt. The processes
by which salt is obtained from brine have been
already described in the notices 1 have given re-
specting the useful arts of the islanders, and need not
be here repeated. Java is the country of the Archi-
pelago that affi}rds the principal supply of culinary
salt, and the combination of local circumstances,
which gives to that island a sort of natural mono-
poly, have been already detailed. Along the im-
mense line of its flat north coast there are many
situations in which, from their natural advantages,
salt is manufactured with wonderfully little labour,
and, consequently, at a very low price. About
2 Spanish dollars the Coyang of 4080 lbs. avoir-
dupois, or — per cwt. may be considered as about
an average of the real cost of production. The
capital expended is nothing, or next to nothing.
The sun performs the whole process of evapora-
tion, — the implements are but a few wooden rakes,
spades, and baskets, and the only xcorhs necessary
are the petty dikes of a foot high, constructed of the
4y6 COMiMEIlClAL DESCRIPTION OF
clay or mud obtained oa the spot. It follows, from
all tliis, thatlands on which salt can be manufactured,
like those afford ing vegetable productions of use to
man, or like mines, will yield a rent strictly so
called. Salt is, in this case, the produce of the
earth, and rent is the portion of its produce paid
for the original and indestructible powers of the
soil to produce this commodity. The rent of the
salt lands of Java is, generally speaking, the differ-
ence which arises from the superior productive
powers of these lands over all other means to pro-
duce salt, which, in the natural state of things, is
likely to come in competition with the salt of Java.
In the Indian Archipelago the salt of Java comes
into competition with that of Coromandel, Siam,
and with other native salt, and a great proportion
of Borneo, Sumatra, and all the more easterly
islands, is supplied with it. The country traders
can afibrd to give for it in the island about four-
fold the cost of manufacture, or about ~^^ Spanish
dollars per cwt. The difference between this and
the cost of production is j^'77 Spanish dollars, and
as, from what has been said of the process of ma-
nufacture, a very trifling portion of this is to be
accounted the profit of stock, we have a means of
conjecturing the proportion of the whole produce
which ought to be reckoned as rent. This may
be roundly estimated at ^^.^ Spanish dollars per cwt.
Where no private right can be invaded, because
no private right to the soil is claimed, it is evi-
6
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 497
dent that the whole of this is an available source
of revenue to the state, and if assumed on ju-
dicious principles, will prove no obstruction to
industry. To understand what these principles
should be, it will be necessary to furnish a sketch
of the management of this branch of revenue as
hitherto conducted. The whole annual consump-
tion of Java and Madura is estimated at 32,000
tons, or b'40,000 cwt., which, for a population of
five millions, is at the rate of 143 lbs. for each in-
dividual. The practice of the Dutch was to sell,
for a period of years, the ea:clusive privilege of
vending and manufacturing salt to a few great far-
mers, who subset the farms to their agents, and
thus the whole consumption was placed at the dis-
posal of a few great monopolists. On the coast
the monopoly price was generally about 1400 per
cent, above the natural price, and, in the more
remote j)arts of the interior, charged with the
numerous profits of many petty dealers, as well as
with the necessary ones of transportation, often at
the exorbitant rate of COOO per cent. The only
change effected by the British government was to
take the management of the monopoly directly into
its own hands, on the highly oppressive principle pur-
sued in Bengal, and to fix a maximum for the price of
manufacture, higher, however, than the price allow-
ed before to the labourer by the farmers. Including
the charge of transport to the depots, this maxi-
VOL, III. - I i
1-98 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF
mum was only iuj per cwt. By a more enlighten-
ed system, the rent of the salt lands would be dis-
posed of by the government, at lease, for a series
of years at a fixed money rent. The farms should
be sold separately, and at great detail to prevent
monopoly, and this measure, with the competition
of a public sale, would insure the just amount of
the rents. This object once attained, the com-
merce ought, like every other, to be left perfectly
free, when the competition of the manufacturers and
dealers would insure the lowest prices to the public.
If the price, under the monopoly management, was,
on the spot, 1400 per cent, above the natural price,
reckoning very moderately, we may assume 50 per
cent, on the natural price as the cost of the com-
modity with freedom and competition, so that the
consumer would thus obtain his salt for one-tenth
ofthe former prices, or at the rate of one-third of a
Spanish dollar per cwt., instead of 1 Spanish dollar.
The result would be no less favourable to the public
revenue, always a secondary object. Tlie consump-
tion of salt, like that of every other article consumed
by man, Mith perhaps the exception of a few insigni-
ficant articles, the demand for which rests upon the
caprice ofthe higher orders in refined states of socie-
ty, invariably rises as the cost falls, and falls as it rises.
A very trifling alteration of price is often sufficient
to effect a most material change in this respect.
When the Gabelle was established in France, a re-
ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 499
duction of 50 per cent, in the price of salt raised
the annual average consumption of each individual
from 14* lbs. to 18 lbs. The reduction in price,
calculated in the foregoing statement, is 90 per
cent., and it will be a moderate rate of increase if we
calculate that this decrease of cost will raise the con-
sumption to the average of 20 lbs. for each indivi-
dual, instead 14? lbs. The whole internal con-
sumption will then be near 900,000 cwt. or 45,000
tons. If we take the exports at only one-half this
amount, or 450,000 cwt., then the whole production
of the rent of the salt lands, at y^ Spanish dollars
per cent., as already estimated, will be 162,000 Spa-
nish dollars, a revenue which would be collected at
little or no expence. The gross amount of the re-
venue derived from salt under the Dutch was only
127,292 Spanish dollars, and under the British ad-
ministration, including every charge of management,
salaries, construction of warehouses, &c. only 1 62,(346
Spanish dollars. The great importance which na-
turally belongs, in a practical view, to subjects of
this nature, involving the happiness and comfort
of a numerous people, will be an apology for the
apparent prolixness with which I have treated this
and similar questions. *
• For many of the particulars contained in this chapter I
acknowledge myself iiidtbtud to tiie valuable comraunici^r
tions of my friend, Mr George Lurpent of London.
CHAPTER V.
DESCRIPTION OF ARTICLES OF IMrORTATION.
Cotton Fabrics JVooUens. — Hats. — fihoes. — Iron, turought
and unwr ought. — Copper. — Fire- Arms and Ammunition. —
Glass-tvare. — Porcelain. — Raw and Wrought Silks. — Opiv
um.-^Tea.
A DESCRIPTION of the merchandise imjiorted in-
to the Indian Islands will occupy much less room
than I have found it necessary to bestow upon
that exported. The first are generally too well
known to call for full details, and in regard to
them, it will be chiefly requisite to dwell upon those
circumstances and modifications which suit them
to the tastes and manners of the consumer. I
may begin by observing, that, in a commercial in-
tercourse with the Indian islanders, the merchant
has, in his efforts to adapt his goods to the market,
no inveterate and unsocial prejudices to struggle
against. The desire of the islanders for articles of
foreign luxury, utility, or comfort, has no bounds
but their means to purchase, and the trader who
acquires a knowledge of the little local tastes and
DESCRIPTION OF ARTICLES, &C. 501
fancies of his customers, will be sure of carrying on
a beneficial and agreeable intercourse with them.
Among the important articles of importation in-
to the islands, cotton Jhbrics, — from the long usage
of the people, — their suitableness to the climate, —
the dearness and imperfection of their own stuffs, —
and the capacity of modern manufacturing Europe to
afford a cheap and abundant supply, hold the first
place. The taste for foreign cotton fabrics among
the islanders is of a date long prior to the in-
tercourse of Europeans with them, and is probably
coeval with their first connection with the country
of the Hindus, from which, as far as regarded their
foreign consumption, they were, until the last few
years, almost exclusively supplied. In the earlier
periods of commerce, they appear to have been
supplied from Malabar and Coromandel j and in
later times, vvitli cheaper fabrics from Bengal. The
quantity of Indian cottons described by our own
East India Company two centuries back, as con-
sumed in the Archipelago, omitting several import-
ant stations of trade, is no less than 200,000
Spanish dollars, or L. 45,000 worth. The im-
portance of the trade in European cotton goods bears
date from the capture of Java in 1811, and more
particularly from the enlargement of the trade in
1814. Its progress in the few years which have
elapsed since then has been remarkably rapid.
Before the year 1811, the whole consumption of
502 DESCRIPTION OF
European cotton goods did not exceed 5000 pieces
of chintz, the only description consumed. These
were purchased by the Bugis traders at Penang for
exportation to the central and eastern parts of the
Archipelago, and at double the present prices. In
1814, 1000 pieces of chintz overstocked the mar-
ket of Samarang in Java, one of the most consider-
able marts of the Archipelago. Prices have fallen
since that period at least 25 per cent., and the
consumption has increased in a much greater ra-
tio than even this reduction would imply. In
1818 there were sold in the same market for
the consumption of the place itself, and for dis-
tribution in the interior, 15,000 pieces, worth
150,000 Spanish dollars, or L. 33,750. This re-
markable increase will appear still more surprising
when it is known that the retail price, the actual
cost to the consumer on this description of goods,
is still from 150 to 200 per cent, above the first
cost. When the price falls to 100 per cent.,
which will still afford a good profit to the judi-
cious importer, a great increase of consumption will
inevitably follow. This result is to be expected, not
so much from the competition of the importers, as
from the increase of capital, skill, and experience,
in the local dealers employed in distributing this
description of merchandise among the consumers,
which can only happen from the increased confi-
dence and security which good government will con«
fer. The consequence of the influx of British goods
ARTICLES OF IMPORTATION. 503
has already been the entire superseding of all the
finer Indian cloths formerly consumed. The only
Indian cotton goods now imported are a few coarse
cloths, blue and white, called bciftas and gurrahs
in the commercial language of our Indian traders,
goods in which the labour of manufacture bears but
a small proportion to the raw material.
The principal descriptions of cotton goods in
demand are chintzes or printed cottons, — white
cottons, — cambrics, — handkerchiefs, — and velvets.
Chintzes, consumed principally by the native popu-
lation, constitute, of course, the most considerable
article. The selection of these requires some ex-
perience ; for in the taste displayed by the natives,
both in colour and pattern, but particularly in the
first, there is something which, to a stranger, ap-
pears fanciful and curious, if it were not universal,
and, on this account, national. They have a de-
cided aversion to black, and no chintz in which it
is a prominent colour will sell, let its texture be
ever so fine. The favourite colours are red arid
green, and next to these yellow and brown. In
short, the colours should be as bright as possible,
and the pattern should occupy as much as possible
of the ground, but still be very distinct, and not
crowded or confused. They ought never to be
large, and the favourite figures are running Jlouo-
ers. The quality most suitable to the market of
the islands in general is what costs at Manchester
504 DESCRIPTION OF
from Is. to Is. 6d. per yard in the present states
of the British market. Coarse fabrics are not in
demand, but after a certain fineness is attained, the
colours and patterns are of more consequence than
the texture, clotlis of approved patterns, often selling
fifty per cent, higher than those that happen not
to suit the native taste. A small proportion of
very fine chintzes only will now and then find a
market. Furniture chintzes meet a limited mar-
ket. The same selection of bright colours and
character of pattern is necessary for them.
The chintzes which I have described are used
by the natives for vests or coats with the men, and
with the women for gownSy( bqju and kabaya.J For
the under part of dress, the covering of the loins
and lower parts of the body, (sarung,) none of
our established manufactures are exactly suitable ;
but the natives purchase our white calicoes and
cotton cambrics, and jyaint them of their favourite
colours and patterns. This is a branch of the
trade quite new, but likely to be carried to a con-
siderable extent. Manchester madapolams and
Glasgow cottons, put up in imitation of Irish
slurtingy especially the latter, are articles very suit-
able to the Java market. They are used chiefly
by the Chinese, whose favourite and national co-
lour white is, and have of late years entirely super-
seded the Indian and Chinese fabrics formerly con-
sumed by them.
ARTICLES OP IMPORTATION. 505
The bandana handkerchiefs, manufactured at
Glasgow, have long superseded the genuine ones,
and are now consumed in large quantities both by
the natives and Chinese. Some improvement
might be suggested by which they would be still
more suitable to the taste of the native consumer.
Tlie white spots, for example, might be changed
for green or yellow flowers, and handsome colour-
ed borders would particularly suit the fancy of the
wearer.
Cotton velvets are in considerable demand
among the richer natives ; not one of whom that
can afford such a luxury is without a suit of this
material. The favourite colours in this fabric
are dark-green, mulberry, and blue, with flowered
patterns*
A few finer cotton fabrics are in demand among
the European part of the population.
Woollens are an article of considerable and in-
creasing demand among the Indian islanders.
There cannot be a greater error than to imagine
that this description of fabric is unsuitable to the
climate and habits of the people. Woollens are,
perhaps, upon the whole, more suitable to climates
under and near the equator than to those in the
neighbourhood of the tropics. Half the year in
the latter is, indeed, a mild winter, in which wool-
len clothing is an object ofcomforty but the other
half is a sultry summer in which it is inlolerable.
506 DESCRIPTION OF
In countries upon the equator, on the other hand,
it is an object of comfort throughout the year, —
from the frequency of rains, — on account of the land
and sea breezes, — and of the prevalence of elevated
tracts of land. During the summer of countries
near the tropics, European habits give way to the
climate, and cotton garments are the constant wear
of the colonists, but at the equator the principal por-
tion of dress with them is always woollen cloth. To
the feelings of the natives, who are naturally less op-
pressed with the heats than Europeans, woollens
are objects of still more comfort ; and the consump-
tion of them is commensurate with their means of
obtaining them.
The demand for European broad-cloths among
the inhabitants of the Indian Islands is at least of as
early date as our first direct intercourse with them,
and was probably much earlier, it not being unlikely
that small quantities were imported by the Arabs,
received by the latter overland from the Venetians.
I am led to this conjecture, from the circumstance
of broad-cloth being known to the natives, not by
an European, but an Arabian name. In our earli-
est intercourse with them, broad-cloths were in
great demand. The companions of Magellan bar-
tered them readily, even with the natives of the
Moluccas, who received them in exchange for their
cloves. * With so strong a predilection in their
* Tiie following interesting account is given by Figafetta
ARTICLES OF IMPORTATION. 507
favour, had the skill of the private dealer been suf-
fered to exert itself, we should Ions; ao-o have seen
of the disposal of the investment of the first ship that sailed
round the world; " Le mardi, 12 Novembre, le roi fit con-
struire un hangard pour nos marchandises, lequel fut acheve
en un jour. Nous y portames tout ce que nous avions des-
tine a faire des echanges, et employanies trois de nos gens
pour la garder. Voici comment on fixa la valeur des mar-
chandises que nous comptions donner en echange des clous
de girofle. Pour dix brasses de drap rouge de bonne qualite,
on devoit nous donner un bahar de clous de girofle. Le
bahar est de qaatre quintaux et six livres, et chaque quintal
pese cent livres. Pour quinze brasses de drap de qualite
mo3'enne, un bahar de clous de girofle ; pour quinze haches,
un bahar ; puor trente-cinq tasses de verre, un bahar. Nous
6changeumes ensuite de cette maniere toutes nos tasses de
verre avec le roi. Pour dix-sept cathils de cinabre, un ba-
har ; et la raeme quantite pour autant de vif-argent : pour
vingt-six brasses de toile, un bahar; et d'une toile plus fine,
on n'en donnoit que vingt-cinq brasses : pour cent cinquante
couteaux, un bahar ; pour cinquan'e paires de ciseaux, ou
pour quarante bonnets, un bahar ; pour dix brasses de drap
de Guzzerate, un bahar ; pour trois de leurs timballes, un
bahar ; pour un quintal de cuivrc, un bahar. Nous aurions
tire un I'ort bon parti des miroirs ; mais la plus grande partie
s'etoient casses en route ; et le roi s'uppropria prcsque tons
ceux qui etoient restes entiers. Une partie de nos marchan-
dises venoit des jonques dont j'ai dcja parle. Par ce moycn
nous avons certainement fait un trafic bien avantageux : ce-
pendant nous n'en avons pas tire tout le benefice que nous
aurions pu, a cause que nous voulions nous hiiter autant
qu'il etoit possible de retourner en Espagne." — Pigafetla, p.
173,174.
50S DESCRIPTION OF
European woollens form a o;reat article of trade be-
tween these islands and the European nations.
Until the relaxation of the British monopoly, they
continued to be supplied with heavy and high-
priced fabrics, neither suited to the climate nor to
the means of the people, and, of course, the con-
sumption was trifling and unimportant. It is only
since 1811- that the importations have become so
considerable as to deserve attention in a national
point of view. At present the importations into
Java, from whence woollens are disseminated
throughout the rest of the Archipelago, are very
great, and continue rapidly to increase from year
to year.
The fabrics which are most suitable are the
light cheap cloths of Yorkshire, such as cost at
Leeds from 5s. to 6s. 6d. per yard. The favourite
colours are scarlet, green, "•■' brown, and blue. The
liner and higher priced fabrics of the west of Eng-
land find only a limited market among the Euro-
pean colonists, and a few of the natives of the high-
est rank. The market beginning now to be to-
lerably well supplied, or the supply being equal
to the demand, the consumer becomes more fas-
* The taste of the islanders for these favourite colours did
not escape our early navigators. In Drake's voyage, in Pur-
chas, it is said of the Javanese, that " they are wonderfully
delighted in coloured cloths, as red and green." — Purchas's
Pilgrims, Vol. I. Book II. p. 57.
ARTICLES OF IMPORTATION. 509
tidious, and considerable economy and skill are
requisite on the part of the merchant in laying in
his investment, which, however, if well selected,
will still bring an advance on the prime cost of
100 per cent. To insure this object, the goods
ought to be laid in at the place of manufacture,
and under the personal direction of the specula-
tor.
Sundry minor articles of wearing apparel are im-
ported into the Indian Islands, principally for the
consumption of the colonists. Hats are the most
considerable and most promising of these, as their
consumption is not confined merely to the Euro-
pean colonists, the Cliinese, very generally, and
the Javanese, although I believe none of the other
native tribes, in a more limited degree, wearing
them. Fine beavers in small numbers are requir-
ed by the Europeans, but the taste of the natives
would require a light cheap article, which on the
spot would not cost them above 10s. No attempt
has yet been made to suit this state of the market.
A few short and long cotton stockings find a mar-
ket. They are chiefly consumed by the European
colonists, but a few by the Chinese, and even by
the Javanese, who, of all the inhabitants of tropi-
cal Asia, seem willing to get over their prejudice in
favour of bnr'e legs.
Of all articles of European importation, manUf
factures of leather find the narrowest market.
510 DESCRIPTION OF
From the cheapness of the raw material, the small
portion of skill and labour employed upon it, com-
pared to that employed on some other materials ;
and the enhancement of its price in Europe from
excessive taxation in the only country that has skill
to export it, the natives of Asia, who acquire our
art, compete with us more successfully in this de-
partment than in any other. A pair of handsome
shoes, after the newest London fashion, is made
in Java for 18d. and a pair of boots for 5s. These
articles are not indeed durable, nor water-proof, but
they are a light comfortable wear, and very gene-
ally supersede the use of the parallel articles of
European manufacture, a few of which only are
worn by the colonists of highest rank. The na-
tives, instructed by the British during their stay in
Java, now manufacture good carriage harness on
the same easy terms. They have been much less
successful in the more complex and difficult art of
manufacturing saddles, and English saddlery is
therefore an article in considerable demand amonjr
the European population.
Of all articles of import into the Indian Is-
lands, iron fonns the most valuable. These coun-
tries have hardly any iron of their ovm, and for this
commodity, so indispensable to their comfort, and,
indeed, existence, as civilized communities, the
islanders are indebted to strangers. Among the
causes which have contributed to retard their pro-
ARTICLES OF IMPORTATION. 511
gress in improvement, the scarcity of iron deserves
a prominent place. Previous to the enlargement of
the Indian trade of Great Britain, in 1814, Swe-
dish iron was seldom under ] 3 Spanish dollars per
picul, or 49s. ^d. per cwt., and often rose to 20
Spanish dollai's the picul, or Jos. 7d. per cwt.
Iron is imported into the Archipelago wrought
and tmxvroiight, and in the form of steel. The
quantity of wrought iron, however, is very incon-
siderable. The descriptions of imwrought iron
brought to the market are Swedish and British,
the first always bringing 18 per cent, higher than
the second. In the earlier period of our free trade
with the islands, the principal demand was for
Swedish iron, but of late, the native workmen hav-
ing got into the method of forging British iron,
three-fourths of the wliole quantity now consumed
is of this last description. Bar-iron, from two
to three and a half inches broad, and not more
than half an inch thick, is the form best suited to
the market. The whole quantity of iron sold in
Java, for its own consumption, and for distribution
to the countries in :ts neighbourhood, to which it
is conveyed by native vessels, is about 23,000 pi-
culs, near 28,000 cwt., or 1400 tons, worth, at
an average, about 100,000 Spanish dollars, or
L. 22,500. Swedish steel in small bars, of not
more than half an inch square, to five-eighths of an
inch, will generally find a ready market. Bars of
.'/12 DESCRIPTION OF
larger dimensions, from the imperfect processes of
the native artisans in manufacturing the raw ma-
terial, arc not in request.
In wrought iron, a small quantity of fine cutlery
and some coarse cutlery is in demand, with locks,
hinges, kc. and in Java, carriage springs and car-
riage mountings. Cleavers ('parang J and hoes,
CpachidyJ if suitably manufactured, would also
answer ; but the most material articles of this
nature are nails of various sizes, small anchors,
weighing from six to twelve cwt., which the native
vessels have begun of late years to use, and which are
in most urgent demand with them during the short
boisterous period that ushers in the westerly mon-
soon ; and iron pans, called by the natives IcvoaU,
These last are the only articles of iron brought from
any other part of the world than Europe. They
have been, from time immemorial, imported from
China. They are invariably used as sugar-boilers,
4nd by the Chinese, and occasionally by the natives,
as culinary vessels. Our acquaintance with the
wants of the market in this respect has not been
long or intimate enovigli to enable us to substitute
for such commodities our better and cheaper ma-
nufactures.
There is a considerable importation of wrought
and unwrought copper. The first is entirely from
Europe, and the latter chiefly from Japan. Ja-
pan copper brings a price in the markets of the
10
ARTICLES OF IMPORTATION. 513
Archipelago, higher than British sheet copper by
15 per cent., and higher by<t5 per cent, than Bri-
tish slab copper, or that of Chili. Copper is used
by the European part of the population chiefly in
sheathing their shipping, and by the natives in the
manufacture of gongs and other musical instru-
ments of percussion, as well as in the fabrication
of brass culinary vessels, which arc veiy universally
used by them.
Plated ware, in a variety of forms, begins to be
in considerable demand. The principal articles
are candlesticks and table-ware.
Fire-arms and ammunition have always been in
great request by the Indian islanders, whose ma-
nufacture of both is extremely rude and imper-
fect. It has been a principle with the European
governments to inhibit the sale to the natives of
all descriptions of warlike stores, a policy extremely
questionable. The free sale of warlike stores to
barbarians places them but the more at the mercy
of the civilized people who furnish thenj with their
supplies of these commodities. They are, in short,
rendered much less formidable adversaries, when,
by quitting their native modes of warfare, they at-
tempt an unequal struggle with civilized man with
his own weapons. We ought surely not to over-
look also the effects which the possession of fire-
arms produces in civilizing them. It is one of
the most certain means of inducing them to fore-
VOL. III. K k
514 DESCRIPTION OF
go the rooted habits of savage Hfe, — of imitating ci-
vilized men, — and of cstabhshing the authority of
social order. Were the principle of supplying them
without restriction acted upon, the Indian Islands
would afford a great market for the warlike stores of
the civilized and manufacturing nations of Europe.
Small brass cannon, gunpowder, and muskets, are
all in demand. The Arab and Chinese traders
purchase cannon and blunderbusses for the protec-
tion of their vessels from the attacks of pirates. Our
common jwvvder in barrels is purchased with avi-
dity, and an old musket will generally sell for from
10 to 12 Spanish dollars, or from 45s. to 54s.
Among the colonists of Java there is a demand for
neat fowling-pieces, such as are manufactured at
BiiTningham, and the taste for them is extending
to the native chiefs, who have also a taste, like the
Turks and Persians, for handsome pistols.
There is no article of our manufactures con-
sumed in the Indian Islands upon which the fall
of prices has produced so remarkable an effect in
extending consumption as glass-ware. A few
years ago, a trifling quantity was consumed by the
European colonists, and even those living among
the natives could hardly have suspected that they
would have become already considerable consumers
of this description of manufacture. The Chinese
of Java, the Javanese, and even many of the inha-
bitants of the more distant islands to the eastward.
ARTICLES OF IMPORTATION. 515
now use a variety of our glass and crystal manu-
factures. The most suitable kinds are vase-shaped
lamps, candle shades, small neat lustres, glass-ware
for the table, common looking-glasses, formerly
brought of a bad kind from China ; convex, con-
cave, and ordinary mirrors, shewy, but not expen-
sive.
Like our glass-ware, our em^thenware also has,
within the last two or three years past, come
into request. The Indian Islanders and Chinese
colonists had always required and received a supply
of coarse porcelain from China. Common table
sets of blue and white earthenware already sell in
considerable quantities, and finer kinds, of every
variety of pattern, are in more limited demand.
Independent of the superior cheapness and better
quality of our earthenware, we possess one great
advantage over the Chinese importer. The out-
ward bound freight, as at least one-fourth of the
tonnage is not occupied, is a mere trifle ; whereas
the freight of this bulky commodity from China
is considerable, even at present, from the nature of
the investments, and would be much greater if teas
were imported as the principal cargos, as would
certainly be the case in a natural and unrestricted
state of the trade.
There is a market for many minor articles, which
it will be unnecessary to describe, such as a variety
of medicinal drugs, as cinchona^ calomel, &c. with
516 DESCRIPTION OF
a considerable quantity of British stationary ware.
At present, the greatest quantity of the paper con-
sumed in the Indian Islands is Chinese ; but, as
the vast superiority of that of British manufacture
is well known among the natives, it would soon
supplant the imperfect manufacture of China, if it
could be imported on terms of equality. *
Raw and wrought silks have been articles of
demand in the markets of the Archipelago in every
age of their foreign trade. China, and not Eu-
rope, has supplied the consumption of the islanders
* It may amuse the reader to see the sketch of an invest-
ment of European goods, proposed by a most judicious trader,
upwards of a century ago. The writer is giving instructions
for carrying on the trade at the port of Banjarmassin in Borneo.
" As to an investment outward," says he, " a small matter
for a private trader may turn out to account; viz. iron bars,
small steel bars, small looking-glasses, hangers with buckhorn
handles, sheet lead, beautiful callimancoes, knives without
forks, proper mixture of cutlery ware ; the smallest sort of
spike nails, twenty-penny nails, small grapplings of about forty
pounds weight, iand small guns, from one to two hundred
■weight, without carriages ; red leather hoofs, spectacles, pro-
per sortment of clock-work, small arms, brass mounting bell-
mouth-iron blunderbusses, ordinary horse pistols, gunpowder,
a few scarlet worsted stockings " &c. — Beeckman's Voyage to
Borneoy p. 151. — This will appear no trifling list, if we ad-
vert to the limited market of Banjarmassin, and to the imper-
fection and costliness of the European manufactures of the
age;
ARTICLES OF IMPORTATION. 517
in these commodities, and is Hkely long to continue
to supply them. After the picture which has been
given of the state of manufacturing industry among
the islanders, it may readily be believed, that, did
the same freedom prevail in our silk manufacture
and trade which exists in those of cotton, silk goods
might be disposed of in the Indian Islands to a great
extent. The establishment of a colonial trade, on
the principles described in the fourth chapter of this
book, would be the means of bringing the raw silks
of China and Tonquin to the emporia of the Archi-
pelago, for the consumption of Europe. The raw
silk of Tonquin, one of the most productive coun-
tries in the world in this commodity, it is remark-
able enough, is at present as unknown to the mar-
kets of Europe as the gold or silver of Japan, al-
though in the early periods of our intercourse it
was a considerable article of commerce, being sent
to Europe, as well as constituting one of the chief
articles of import by European nations into Japan,
The raw silk brought at present into the Indian
Islands, from China, is of inferior quality. From
it the native women manufacture heavy rich stuffs,
principally tissues, which, it is remarkable enough,
were at one period imported into Europe, such,
at that early time, was the rude state of our manu-
factures. The wrought silks imported are satins,
of various colours, with a few velvets and bro-
cades.
518 DESCRIPTION OF
The use of silk was introduced, as mentioned in
another place, not by the Chinese, but by the
Hindus, as is testified on philological evidence.
This fact seeras to prove, that the intercourse with
the country of the Hindus was of earlier date than
that with China. No attempt has ever been made
in these islands to cultivate the mulberry, or pro-
pagate the silk-worm, although the manufacture of
raw silk seems a branch of industry peculiarly well
suited to the character of the natives, and to the
fertility of the soil.
Ojnum, in all ages of the European intercourse
with the Indian Islands, has been a considerable
article of importation, and is at present a very
great one. From its Arabian name, although I
am not aware of any direct authority in favour of
the supposition, I think it highly probable that the
Arabs taught the use of it, and imported it before
Europeans had any direct intercourse with India.
Until the last few years, the whole consumption of
the Archipelago was supplied by Bengal. There
has been a great revolution in this branch of trade,
in common with almost every other, in consequence
of the trade of the Americans, and the enlarge-
ment of the British trade, and a considerable quan-
tity of the consumption of the islands comes now
from Turkey and Mahva. The natural cost of
a chest of Bengal opium, which usually weighs
about 140 lbs. avoirdupois, is calculated to be about
ARTICLES OF IMPORTATION. 519
11^ sicca rupees, or L. 14 Sterling. In culture it
is a monopoly of the government, who limits the
quantity grown to about 4500 chests, which are
disposed of by public auction to the highest bid-
der, at two annual sales at Calcutta, in the months
of December and February, with the view of suit-
ing the markets of China and of the Archipelago,
where almost the whole is consumed. The price
has risen of late years, from sicca rupees 738, which
it bore about the year 1801, to rupees 1124
in 1803, rupees 1437 in 1804, rupees 1589 in
1810, rupees 1639 in 1811, rupees 1813 in 1814,
and ultimately, in 1817, to rupees 2300, its
highest price. This price, equal to above twenty
times the natural cost of the commodity, shews
that the quantity produced and brought to market
was unequal to the demand, and that, acting as
a bounty on the opium of other countries, it has
been the cause of a great importation of Turkey
and Malwa opium, as already mentioned. Ben-
gal opium, as an article of trade, is usually
sold in the Indian Islands at an advance of 35
per cent, on the Calcutta prices. Throughout the
islands, it is made with more justice than under
the government of the country of which it is the
produce, a subject of heavy duty. The native
princes usually monopolize the sale, and the Euro-
pean government of Java farms the privilege of
vending the drug in a medicated or prepared form*
520 DESCRIPTION OF
"WTien the supplies were regular, tlie cost to the
consumer was about 3500 Spanish dollars per
chest, or L. 787, 10s. Sterling, an advance upon
the market price of 133 j per cent, upon the mono-
poly price of Bengal of 1685 per cent., and upon
the first cost of 3025 per cent. Under this form
of levying an excise on opium, the duties, if judi-
ciously managed, would realize to the government,
exclusive of charges of collection, about a million
of Spanish dollars a-year, or L. 225,000 Sterling.
The quantity exported from Bengal to the In-
dian Islands, one year with another, when the
whole supply was from that country, was about
900 chests, of which Java alone consumed 550
chests. The quantity consumed depends, how-
ever, as in every other commodity, upon the price.
The effects of this principle were illustrated in a
most striking manner in all the sales in Java, of
which I had personally a remarkable example in
those under my own authority, within the terri-
tories of the sultan. When the retail price was
about 5000 Spanish dollars per chest, as it was on
the British first taking possession of the island, the
whole consumption was only 30 chests a year. When
the price fell to about 4000 dollars, the sales rose to
\ about 50 chests, and when the price finally sunk
to 3500, the consumption advanced to near 100
chests. When the price was moderate, many
had recourse to the drug who never used it before.
ARTICLES OF IMPORTATION. 521
When it was extravagantly liigh, many who had
before used it moderately, desisted altogether, and
those whose habits were more confinned, had re-
course as substitutes to native narcotic drugs?, less
agreeable and more pernicious.
The history of the introduction of Turkey
opium is of some interest in a commercial view.
Like all new articles, there was at first a strong
prejudice against it. The Chinese, who are the
farmers of the opium excise, as well as of every
other branch of revenue that is farmed, could
hardly be induced to take a few chests at one-third
of the Bengal prices ; this was in 1815. In the
contracts they made with the merchants, they
shortly afterwards consented to take one-fourth
part of the supply in Turkey opium. In I8I7
they expressly stipulated for Turkey opium, to
the amount of one-half of the supply they required,
although the price rose to double its first amount,
while that of Bengal opium continued station-
ary. In 1818 they demanded that three-
fourths of the whole supply should be Turkey
opium, and the price approximated still more to
that of the Bengal drug, which suffered a great re-
duction of price. As by the importations of the
Americans in Turkey opium into China, a similar
revolution is there going forward in that country, it
is probable, that the legitimate influence of compe-
tition will put an end to the illegal and unfair mo-
522 DESCRIPTION OF
nopoly made of the drug by our Indian govern-
ment. Bengal opium, which had for many years
been sold in China at from 1200 to 1500 dollars
per chest, fell in 1818 to 800, and last year the
sales in Calcutta, which for several years had ex-
ceeded 2000 rupees, fell 30 per cent., or to IGOO
rupees. *
Tea, which the natives of the Indian Islands,
after the Chinese, call tt, has, of course, been in-
troduced into the Archipelago from the earliest
connection with China, and the present impor-
tations are very considerable, Chinese of all ranks
consuming it, as well as every native whose means
can reach it. The principal commercial in-
tercourse between China and the Indian Islands
is with Fokien, the province which produces
all the black tea that is exported to other coun-
tries, and of course the commodity comes to them
in the most direct and cheapest form which the
existing regulations of commerce and state of navi-
gation can admit. The Chinese and Indian islanders
consume no tea but blacky and the principal con-
sumption is in the inferior sorts of this description,
* For the greater number of the practical details contain-
ed in this chapter, I am indebted to my acute and intelligent
friend Mr Deans of Java, a gentleman, who, in the course of
a long experience, has acquired an intimate knowledge of
the commercial affairs of the Archipelago.
4
ARTICLES OF IMPORTATION. 523
as Bohea and Hangke. A picul of bohea tea is rec-
koned to cost on board the jnnks at Araoy about Sj^-
Spanish dollars per picul, orSkl. per pound, which
is probably not less than 50 per cent, cheaper than
the same commodity at Canton. The retail price
in Java, as the trade is now taxed, is annually at
an advance of i^OO to iiOO per cent, on the Amoy
prices.
In the earlier periods of the European tea-trade,
the whole of the teas consumed in Europe were
obtained through the medium of the Indian Islands.
The taste for tea does not appear to have reached
Europe during the Portuguese supremacy in the
Indies, notwithstanding their direct and intimate
connection with the inhabitants of China. The
Dutch, who seem to have learnt the use of it from
the Chinese they met with at Bantam, were the
jfirst to introduce it into our part of the world.
The English, now the principal consumers of tea,
acquired it from the same quarter about the mid-
dle of the seventeenth century, and our first im-
portations, like those of the Dutch, were from
Java. This continued until 1686, when we were
expelled from that island by the Dutch, on which
we procured our teas from Surat and Madras, to
which, however, they were brought by private
traders from Bantam, and other ports frequented
by the junks of China. This state of things
continued until the first years of the eighteenth
century, when we traded for the first time di-
524 DESCRIPTION OF
rect with several ports of China. The Dutch con-
tinued to find it for their interest to import the
principal parts of their teas by this channel, ex-
cept during the short interval from 16 V2 to
1662, when they possessed the valuable and con-
venient colony of Formosa. Tliis channel is pro-
bably still the most natural and easy by which a
large portion of the European intercourse with
China may be conducted, as long as the singular
policy of that people in regard to strangers is per-
severed in. This subject is of such moment, that I
shall be excused for taking a more comprehensive
view of it than seems, at first sight, to belong to
the nature of this work. Europe, at present, con-
sumes yearly about 27,000,000 lbs. of tea ; and
Europe and America, or the whole European race,
^2,000,000 lbs. When we speak of the consump-
tion of Europe, Britain is the country chiefly con.
cerned, because it consumes 22,000,000 lbs. of all
the teas imported into Europe, and ~th parts of all
that is consumed by the European race. The im-
mense quantity of tea now mentioned, owing to the
jealousy of the Chinese government, must all be
brought from a single port, if we trade direct with
the country, while all our commodities, bulky as well
as otherwise, must be imported into that country
through the same confined channel. It necessarily
happens from this, that such Chinese goods as are not
produced at or near the port of exportation, are wan-
tonly enhanced in price by distant carriage j and that.
ARTICLES OF IMPORTATION, 525
of the commodities imported by us for their use, the
bulky can be consumed only by the limited market
of the spot where they are imported, while a few
of the less bulky, and the least important alone, can
obtain a more extended one. Of the exports, teas
are the only article which is of very great importance.
There are, as is well enough known, two descriptions
of tea, black and green., permanent varieties of the
same plant, divided into subvarieties. The cul-
ture and qualities of the tea-plant are most satis-
factorily illustrated by comparing them with those
of the grape. The districts in China which grow
green tea are distinct, and even distant from those
which grow black, and both are far enough from
Canton, the only port of exportation. To grow
the different varieties of tea, in perfection, de-
mands a peculiar soil and climate, and the cul-
ture, in general, requires the care and attention
of a skilful husbandry. China is the only
country in the world where fine tea, fit for
exportation, is produced. Even in Japan tea is
grown in a very careless manner, as a secondary
object of cul(;ure, being planted only round the
edges of corn-fields, and not as a distinct object of
husbandry, and it is so ill cured that it will not
keep in a long voyage. The teas of Tonquin and
Cochin-China are still coarser, and fit only for the
use of a people long accustomed to them, and who
know no butter. Even in China the situations fit
for growing teas, as is the case in Europe with the
dil(j DESCRIPTION OF
grape, are very limited. The black teas for ex-
portation are all produced in the north-west part of
the province of Fokien, and the green in that of
Kiangnau, in the neighbourhood, and to the west
of the city of Whe-chu-fu. Both Fokien and
Kiangnan are maritime provinces, and two of the
richest of the empire. Fokien is, in a manner,
isolated from the rest of the empire by a chain of
mountains, which surrounds it in every way on the
land side. It is among the vallies of the portion
of these mountains, called Bu-ye, * that the black
teas are grown. A very small portion of them
only is brought to Canton by sea, and the rest is
transported by porters over the mountains, and ge-
nerally without the advantage of internal naviga-
tion. The distance, in a straight line to Canton,
from the black tea districts, cannot be less than
320 miles, and, by the usual calculation for the
winding of the roads, not less than S60. Wher-
ever land-carriage must be resorted to in China,
it is attended with peculiar disadvantage, from
the total absence of wheel carriages, good roads,
and beasts of burthen. The green tea districts
in Kiangnan cannot be less than 700 miles from
Canton in a straight line, or 800 miles follow-
ing the direction of the road, although, perhaps,
from the advantage of internal navigation, the cost
* Of which the worJ Bohea is a coriupUon. We apply the
term erroueouj'ly to the wuibt detcriptiou ol black which we
import.
ARTICLES OF IMPORTATION. 572
of transport is not proportionally enhanced, so
much as in the case of the black teas. *
The natural and obvious channels by which the
teas of r^hina would be exported to foreign coun.
tries are wholly different from that to which the
Chinese force it. Black teas, instead of being con-
veyed by a land journey of about 360 miles, to
Canton, are readily conveyed to the maritime city
of Fou-chu-fu by an easy voyage on the river
Min, of four days, in the most favourable season,
and by a voyage of twice that length in the
least favourable. The green teas are still more
easily transported to the coast on the Yan-che-
kiang, one of the greatest and finest rivers in
China, which runs through the province of Kiang-
nan, and brings the teas from the spot on which
they are produced, direct to the coast. The marts
to which they are brought are exactly those places,
especially those in Fokien, where the natives are
the most remarkable for their mai-itime enter-
prise, and from which, in fact, by far the largest
portion of the native foreign trade of China is
conducted. Including the province of Che-kiang,
which produces the greatest quantity of the raw
and manufactured silk of China, the provinces of
Fokien and Kiang-nan are the great marts for dis-
tribution to the more northern provinces, of the
• I am indt-btt-d for many of the facts here adduced to a little
printed tract by Mr Biill ol our factory at i\]acao.
;528 DESCRIPTION OF
foreign goods, jiarticularly the European, con-
sumed iu China, and which do not find a market
in the two provinces' of Quantang and Kiangsi,
the limited neighbourhood of Canton, the present
port of importation. It need hardly be insisted, that
the natural course of a free trade, were it permit-
ted, would bring the skilful and intrepid na-
vigators of Europe at once to the true emporia
of the tea trade. The irrevocable edicts of the
Chinese government, by confining our trade to a
single port, forbid, as is but too well known, this
freedom of intercourse. The cost of conducting it
by a more circuitous and expensive channel is the tax
we pay for our restless ambition, an ambition which
has compelled a numerous and industrious people,
who once admitted us freely into all their ports,
to place us under limitations. It remains for us
only to submit to what we cannot change, — to
make the best of our situation, — and not aggravate
it by superadding shackles of our own making.
If a free trade were established between the ports
of China not now frequented by Europeans, and
the colonial establishments of Europeans in the
Indian Islands, as well as between the latter and
Europe, we should be, in some measure, compen-
sated for our exclusion from a free and direct inter-
course with the ports of China. The Chinese
merchants of Canton are of opinion that there is a
difference in the charge of bringing black teas by
land and sea carriage of from one-third to one-half.
ARTICLES OF IMPORTATION'. 620
It may, therefore, be asked, how it comes about
that, while there exists an extensive coasting trade
between the provinces of Fokien and Quantong,
teas are not invariably conveyed by sea ? This is
accounted for. The great capitalists of Amoy and
Fu-chu-fu are not directly interested in the tea
trade to Canton. It is not their capital, but that
of the merchants of the distant port of Canton
which sets it in motion ; and the latter, who make
their contracts with the cultivators of the moun-
tains, w'ill not employ the former as intermediate
agents in a country where all agents are notorious
for dishonesty. Besides this, tea is a cheap and
bulky commodity, and the shipping which convey
it must come back half empty for want of return
cargos. The voyage to the Indian Islands is of a
very different character ; a full return cargo being
always to be obtained, purchased at first hand, and
always bringing a great profit to the adventurers.
What is remarkable is, that it hardly exceeds it in
length, and is perhaps even safer. The voyage
along the coast from Fu-chu-fu takes fifteen days ;
that to Batavia is often performed in this time,
and seldom exceeds it beyond five or six days. It
must be safer, in as much as a voyage performed in
the open seas is safer than one performed along a
dangerous coast, and in as far as one, the greater part
of which is performed in the tranquil waters of the
Archipelago, must be safer than one, the whole of
which is performed in the tempestuous seas of China.
VOL. III. L 1
530 DESCRIPTION OF
The advantage of bringing teas direct from the
natural marts of the teas in China will be render-
ed obvious, by exhibiting a short sketch of the
voyage of a Chinese junk to the Archipelago, and
contrasting it with that of an European ship of the
same burden from Canton.
The voyage of a Chinese junk of 400 tons bur-
den is as follows :
Investment of black tea at 11^ c. for each ton,
makes 504,000 lbs. laid in at S^d. per lb., is L. 7.350
Freight at L.4 per ton, being double the amount
estimated for an European ship, - - 1,600
Insurance 10 per cent.y or five times the amount
of insurance on an European ship, - - 735
Profit at 40 per cent, or quadruple that estimat-
ed on an European voyage, . . _ 2,940
Total, - L.12,625
The tea imported into the Indian Islands will, at this rate,
cost no more than 6d. per lb.
An investment of tea brought by an European
ship of the same burden from Canton will be as fol-
lows :
Investment of black tea at ll| c. for each
ton, makes 504,000 lbs. laid in at 7d. per
lb., is - - - - L.14,700
Freight at L.2 per ton, ... §00
Insurance at 2 per cent., ... 294
Port charges and duties at 4500 Spanish dol-
lars, or - ... 1,012 10
Factory charges 500 Spanish dollars, - 112 10
Profit at 10 per cent., - - - 1,470
Total, L. 18,389
ARTICLES OF IMPORTATION. 531
The tea imported into the Indian Islands by this convey-
ance will cost 8|d, pev lb., and will of course be dearer than
the teas brought by the junk by 2|d. per lb., or nearly by
46 per cent.
The advantage which the European consumer
would receive by the tea trade being conducted in
this channel, may be shewn by tracing the progress
of the commodity in the course of a free trade. If
black tea could be laid in at one of the emporiums
of the Archipelago at 6d. per pound, it would be
no exaggeration to state the cost of the best hyson
at only Is. 7d. a pound. The sketch of the voyage
will then be as follows :
For a ship -t)f 1-00 tons burden.
Hyson, 8Sf tons, or TpjG^i^ lbs. at Is. 7d.
per lb., is - - - - L.6,305 3 8^
Black tea, 311^ tons, or 357,155| lbs., at
.Gd.perlb., - - - - 8,928 17 9
Freight at L.S per ton, - - - 3,200
Insurance at 4 per cent., - - - 612
Export duties and port charges, say 5 per
cent,, 761 14 1
Profit, 20 per cent., , . - - 3,046 16 3|
Total, L.22,854 11 10
By this calculation, hyson tea might be imported into
England at 2s. 2id. per Ib.j and black tea at 9^d.
53^2 DESCRIPTION OF ARTICLES, &C.
These prices, exclusive of duties, are, for black
tea 25 per cent, cheaper than teas imported in the
free trade of the Dutch, and no less than 6.5 per
cent, cheaper than the same commodity imported
through our own monopoly.
-^%
APPENDIX.
Na I.
ACCOUNT OF THE MATERIALS OF THE MAP.
IHE Map of the Indian Islands has been compiled
from the following materials : — The coasts of Pegu,
Siara, the Malay Peninsula, Camboja, Cochin-China,
the island of Hainan, the Andaman Islands, the Nico-
bar Islands, Sumatra, Banca, Billiton, with the west
coast of Borneo, are taken from a chart by Captain
Horsburgh. The Paracels, and Coast of China, to the
east of the island of Hainan, are taken frnm the Sur-
veys of Lieutenant Ross. The Philippines are from a
Spanish chart, published by Arrowsmith. The island
of Palawan is also from Arrowsmith, with all the points
coiTectedby Lieutenant Ross. The Sooloo Islands are
from Dalrymple. The north, south, and east coast of
Borneo, the coast of Celebes, &c. are taken from the best
charts of Dalrymple, Arrowsmith, Espinoza, and from
numerous Dutch and Spanish charts, adjusted in lati-
tude and longitude by observations extracted from
Horsburgh's East India Directory. The Bashee Islands
are taken from a chart by Horsburgh. Java is from the
beautiful map of Sir S. Raffles ; and the interior of
Sumatra from Mr Marsden. The Islands of Bali
and Lombok arc from a manuscript of Captain Hai'ris
of the Bengal Artillery, compiled from native information,
and their positions adjusted from Horsburgh. Timor,
and the south coast of New Guinea, are from Flinders.
534
APPENDIX.
The west coast of New Guinea is from Lieutenant
M'Clur; and the north and east coasts of the same
island are from Arrowsmith, adjusted by Horsburgh.
Australasia is taken from Flinders, and from a MS.
survey in the possession of Mr Walker. The particu-
lar plan of Banca is taken from a Survey by Mr Robin-
son, published by Horsburgh, with the interior from Dr
Horsficld. Amboyna is from a chart by Dalrymple.
The following Table of Latitudes and Longitudes
of some of the principal positions in the Archipelago,
with the superficial area of the principal countries, will
prove useful.
Geog.
Malay Peninsula
Lat.
Long.
sq. miles.
48,000
Salang, Oi JuuKco-ylon Island (S. end)
7S 4G" N
98° 20'
Prince of \\'ales Island (tort)
5 244 X
100 21 A
Romania Point (the S.E. point)
1 22 N.1104 lU
Sumatra
130,000
Achin (town)
5 3G N.
95 2fi
Flat Point (S.W. end)
G S.
104 40
Tanjong Tora, or Hog Point (S.E. end)
5 r.4 8.
105 4.-^
Bangka Island (Monopin Hill)
20 s.
105 14
3,400
Billiton (S.E. end)
3 22 S.
108 20
1,600
Borneo
212,500
Sambas River (entrance)
1 I3i> S.
109 3
Tanjong Sanibar
2 r,ii s.
1 10 8
Pulo Laut (N.E. end)
3 23 S.
IIG 41
Konneroongan Point
1 5 fS.
UK) 10
Tanjong Sampanmangio
7 1 N.
lOG 47
Java
50,000
Java Head
C 4G S.
105 9
Cape Sedano
7 49 S.
114 28
Madura Island (N.E. point)
<; 53 s.
114 2
Bali (Peak)
« 24 S.
115 24
1,70(1
Lonibok (Peak)
8 214 S.
IIG 2G
1,900
Sambawa (^.W. end)
9 2 S.
116 45
3,G0C
S. E. end
8 51 S.
119 8
Floris (S.W. end)
8 55 S.
119 57
6,300
Timor (Kiipang)
10 9 S.
123 3G
9,000
E. end
8 21 S.
127 15
Celebes
65,000
Macassar town
5 9 S.
119 .%
Cape Donda
48 N.
119 57
APPENDIX.
535
L,COii.
Kima Village
Lat
Long.
sq. miles.
]p 22'
N
125*? 1.9'
Butung Point (S. point)
5 42
S.
l-.'3 44
1,40(
Uooro (X.W. end)
3 (J
s.
125 57
2,800
Cajeli Bay, Fort Defence, N.E. of Booro
3 24
s.
127 4
Ceram, S.W. point
3 31
s.
127 5G
4,30(
S.E. point
3 45
s.
131
Amboyna, Fort Victoria
3 41)
s.
12;j 15
37(
Batchian, S.F. extremity
4«
s.
128 3
G0(
Ternate Volcano Mountain
48
N.
127 13i
Tidore Olountain)
40
N.
127 22i
Gilolo, S. point
50
s.
128 25
4,500
N. point
2 23
N.
127 50
Morty N. Cape
2 44
N.
128 25
90(1
Aroo S. extremity
7 G
S.
135 20
3,40(1
Timor Laut S. extremity
8 15
s.
132 15
1,()00
New Guinea N. W. point
1 27
s.
130 45
213,300
Cape of Good Hope N. point
20
s.
132 31
Cape Valsche
8 23
s.
137 50
S.E. point
8 45
s.
148 25
Sooloo, I. W. end
5 52
N.
120 51
250
E. end
5 67
N.
121 27
Basilan I. W. end
G 34
N.
121 46
300
E. end
6 33
N.
122 22
Mindanao S. point
a 30
X.
1:25 15
25,000
W. point
7
N.
121 50
N. point.
9 49
N.
125 22
Negros S. point
9 4
N.
122 53
2,750
N. point
10 58
N.
123 13
Zebu S. point
9 2G
N.
123 3
1,550
N.E. point
10 58
N.
123 55
Bohol W. end
9 53
N.
123 37
90(1
S.E. end
9 48
N.
.24 22
Leyte S. point
9 50
N.
124 59
2,800
X.^V. point
11 33
N.
124 15
Panay S. point
10 25
N.
121 59
3,300
N.W. point
11 43
N.
121 49
N.E. point
11 33
N.
123 9
Samar S. point
11 2
N.
125 43
3,800
N.W. point
12 33
124 15
N.E. point
12 33
125 13
Mindoro S. point
12 10
121 14
2,700
N.W. point (point de Calavite)
13 2(;
120 18
N. point (point del Escarseo)
13 31
121
Catandreanes S. point
13 13
i 24 4
45(i
N.W. point.
14 4
124 4
Luzon S.E. point (point Calaan)
12 31
124 5
30,GOO
.S.W^. point (point Santiago)
13 45
120 38
INlamla
14 3G
120 58
N.W. point (C. Bogeador)
18 27
120 34
N.E. point (point Majague)
18 ;'.«
122 15
Palawan S.W. point
8 23
!I7 12
3,80(
N. point.
8 28
119 40
1
dS6 APPENDIX.
No. II.
."sittTcH Oy THE ORTHOtiEAPHY MADE USE OF TO EX-
PKESS OHIENTAL WORDS.
The following short explanation of the orthography
used in the course of the work will be sufficient to
make it intelligible.
Of \v'ords which have become familiar to the Euro-
pean reader by long use, I have taken care not to dis-
turb the popular orthography. But on occasions of
philological discussion, or wherever a more critical at-
tention was required, I have attended to a more pre-
cise and systematic one. The sounds of the Polyne-
sian languages are few and simple, such as can be arti-
culated by the European organs, and expressed by the
Roman characters, witliuui much difficulty. The vowels
ai'e as follows: a is our a in call, e our e in melodram ; i is
the Italian ?, or our ce ; o is our o m sober ; zi is our
00, or our u mj'ull. The a with a circumflex, thus, a,
is our short tc in sum. The diphthongs are but two in
number, which are the combinations expressed by ai
and ao, according to the description just given of these
vowels. The consonants require very little description ;
they are h, d, f, g, h, j, k, I, m, n, p, r, s, f, w, y,
and z. In common with most of other oriental lan-
guages, the Polynesian dialects have four distinct charac-
ters, for which the Bx)man alphabet has no correspond-
ing symbols. These express our ch in church, our nasal
iig in sing ; the sound which, in a rapid enunciation, is
nearly expressed by the consonants ny ; and lastly, the
aspirate. These are respectively expressed, in this work,
by ch, ??o", ny, and h.
12
INDEX.
Address — that of the Indian islanders awkward, i. 98 — their pe-
culiar forms of, ib.
Agar-agar — description and value as an article of commerce, iii.
UG
Agriculture — See Husbandry
Alphabet — See Language
Ambergris — an article of commerce, iii. 446
Amusements — See Games
Antiquities — of Java synonymous with its ancient religion, i. 194
— ancient temples, 195 — images and statues, 207 — inscriptions,
211
Archipelago— general outline of its geographical, i. 1 — physical, 7
— and moral features, 12
Architecture — different species of, i. 156— durable materials not ap-
plied to modern, 157 — dwellings of the agricultural and maritime
tribes, 159 — materials for building, IGI — ilescription of a Pan-
dapa, 162 — of a Javanese palace, 163 — of a village and town, 167
—of household furniture, 173 — durable materials not applied to
works of public utility, 174^ — nature of ancient tanks, 175 — Ma-
homedan buildings dedicated to religion, 175 — ignorance of the
Javanese in, 176 — ancient temples, ii. 195 — statues and images,
207
Areca and betel, preparation of universally used by the Indian
islanders, i. 101 — when introduced, ib. — its constituent parts
and effects, 102
Areca-palm — its culture, i. 394 — an article of extensive commerce,
iii. 414 — its price and quality, ib.
Arithnutic — Indian islanders ignorant of it as a science, i. 253 —
employ foreigners as accountants, ib. — their manner of counting,
ib. — origin of their numbers, ib. — their numerical scales, 255 —
limits of these, 259 — numerals of the Javanese ceremonial dia-
lect, how formed, 26 1 — origin of their ordinal and fractional
numbers, 262— Hindu digits long known to thens, ib. — Java-
5;J8 INDEX.
nese digits, how formed, 263 — specimen of Polynesian numerals,
264.
Arrack — inanufacture of, i. 47S. — its value as an article of com-
merce, iii. 380
Arrow-root — its culture, i. 371.
Artichokes — introduced into the Archipelago by Europeans, i. 376
Arts of the Indian islanders — description of those of architecture, i.
156 — weaving, 176 — painting and dyeing cloth, 178 — working
metals, 18^2 — carpentry, 192 — fishing, 195 — preparing fish, 197
— manufacturing salt, 199 — saltpetre, 200 — and gunpowder. 201
— general remarks on thesi useful arts, 202 — description of their
dress, 206 — art of war, 220 — arithmetic, 2.JSS — measures, 273 —
money, 280 — calendar, 285 — navigation, 307 — ^geography, 317 —
medicine, 327 — music, 332 — husbandry, 341
Bagu — its culture, i. 443
Bamboo — applied in the construction of houses, i. 159— its culture,
446
Banana — the principal fruit consumed by the Indian islanders, i.
4.10 — its varieties — culture and products, 412
Bees'-wax — a considerable article of commerce, iii. 438 — quantity
and price exported, ib.
Benzoin — description of the tree yielding, i. 517 — price and quality
as an article of commerce, iii. 418
Betel-box — a uuiverstil ornaincnt of theliulian islanders, i. 214
Betel-pepper — its extensive culture, i. 402. — See also Areca and
Betel
Birds' nests, edible, — description of them, iii. 430 — an article of
commerce, 432 — quantity and price, 433 — quantity exported and
value, 435
Births — ceremony at, i. 93 — practice of bestowing names at, ib.
Bitangor — its culture, i. 453
Bliang — a species of wood exported, iii. 422
Boats — ^description of those of the Indian islanders, i. 193
Bodily endowments, respecting — the Indian islanders athletic but
not active, i. 38 — defective in personal cleanliness, 39 — temperate
in diet, 40 — not constitutionally indolent, 42 — gifted with forti-
tude, 43
Bow and arrow — exercised in a sitting posture by the chiefs, i. 117
— universally used by savage tribes, 222 — poisoned arrov/s ustd
by some tribes, ib. — natives not dexterous in the management
of the, 223
Bread-fruit — common in the Indian islands, i. 413 — its culture,
414
Brown tribes of the Archipelago — their superiority to the negro, i.
18 — geographical distribution, ib. — stature, 19 — shape, ib. — fea-
tures, ib. — complexion, 20 — hair, ib. — comparison of, with otlicr
races of men, 22 — standardof beauty among, 23 — conjectures re-
specting their origin, 27
INDEX. 539
Bucklers — anciently used by the Indian islanders, i. 226 — still used
by the natives of Celebes, ib.
Buffalo — superstition of the Indian islanders exemplified in the cir-
culation of the skull of one, i. 58 — combat between the tiger and
buffalo an amusement of the Javanese, 115
Bulls — combat between two, a favourite amusement of the ]Madu-
resc, i. 117
Burying-grounds of the Indian islanders — their situation and ap-
pearance, i. 95 — pious attachment of the natives to them, 97 — •
worship of ancestors in, ib.
Cabbages — introduced by Europeans, i. 276
Calabash — its culture, i. iSi
Calendar — at what period of civilization formed, i. 285 — Javanese
the only people of the Archipelago who had a national, 286 —
their divisions of the day, 287 — week, 289 — and year, 292 — in-
troduction of the Hindu calendar and era, SOU — era of Salivaua
Still current in Bali, ib. — this era, how modified by the Javanese,
301 — lunar time of the Arabs, by what tribes adopted, 302 — cy-
cles and periods of the Javanese and Balinese, ib. — superstitious
opinions and ceremonies respecting eclipses, 304 — calendar of the
Bugis of Celebes, 305
Calico-printing — the Indian islanders ignorant of, i. 180
Camphor — description of the tree yfchlin^ it, i. 515 — an article of
connnerce, iii. 418 — pike and quality, ib.
Caout-chouc — culture of plants yielding, i. 456
Cannon — See Fire-arms
Capsicum — culture, i. 377
Canoes — those of the Indian islanders described, i. 193
Cardamom — its culture, i. 514
Carpentry — skill of the Indian islanders in, i, 193
Carrots — introduced by Europeans, i. 376
Cassia-tree — partially found in the Indian islands, i. 514
Casts — followers of Siwa in Bali divided into four, ii. 237
Cavalry — no part of the military force of the Indian islanders, i.
229 — the great and their retainers mounted, ib.
Cayuputi tree — its culture, i. 512
Chace — pursued lor amusement by the civilized tribes, i. 117 — for
subsistence by the negroes, 118 — animals which afford this di-
version, and the manner of pursuing them, ib.
Champadak — its culture, 423
Champaka — its culture, i. 437
Chess — most probably a Persian game, i. 112 — only partially prac-
tised in the Archipelago, ib.
Childbearing — See Parturition
Christianity — See Religion
Chuck-farthing — the game of, introduced by the Chinese, i. Ill
Cinnamon-tree — not a native of the Indian islands, i. 511.
Circumcision — where pcrformetl, i. 94
540 INDEX.
ClMsiflcation — Indian islanders divided into six classes, 29 — account
of the royal family, ib. — the nobility, 31 — priesthood, 35 — free-
men, 38 — debtors, 39 — slaves, ib.
Cloth — introduction of cotton, i. 177 — ^previously formed of the
filaments of plants, ib. — manufacture of, confined to women,
178 — description and character of cotton, ib. — mode of dyeing
and painting, ISO — introduction of silk, 181
Clove — its description, -lOS — distribution, 495 — name, 497 — ^his-
tory, ib. — culture, 498 — fecundity, 301 — .m article of importa-
tion, 381 — prices in different periods of the trade, compared with
those of pepper, 3S2 — history of the clove trade, 384
Clove-bark tree — its culture and uses, i. oOl
Club — a universal weapon of savages, i. 222
Cock-fighting — a favourite amusement of the Indian islanders, i. 112
Coco-nut — its extensive culture, i. 379 — an article of exportation,
iii. 349
Coffee — its history, i. 486 — culture, 487 — fecundity, 491 — an arti-
cle of exportation, iii. 372 — cost, quality, and produce, 373
Coins — See ]\Ioney
Colonists in the Archipelago — character and manners of the Hindu,
i. 133 — Chinese, 134 — Arab, 138 — Dutch, 139 — Spanish, 149
Commerce — its division, iii. 140 — character of the mercantile pro-
fession among the Indian islanders, 141 — rate of profits and in-
terest, 143 — ^foreign resident merchants, 144 — commercial inter-
course, ib. — international trade, 147 — nations condiicting the
carrying trade, 14S — voyages of the Waju merchants, 149 — prin-
ciples on which foreign trade is conducted, 151 — history of the
intercourse with the Chinese, 151^ — Hindus, 186 — Arabs, 199 —
Portuguese, 212 — Dutch and English, 217 — colonial ir»tercourse
with China, 293 — Japan, 297 — America, 338 — India, 341 — de-
scription of articles of exportation, 344 — of importation
Compass — navigation of tlie Indian islanders sometimes assisted by
it, i. 310 — conjectures respecting its origin, ib.
Constitutions — the Indian islanders have robust, i. 30
Copper — very scarce in the Archipelago, i. 182 — the natives taught
the use of it by the Hindus, ib. — seldom used in its pure state,
191 — where found, iii. 490
Cosmetics — used for improving the complexion, i. 218
Cotton — its importance, i. 438 — history and culture, ib. — almost
entirely consumed on the spot, iii. 350 — its price and quality,
351 — comparison between cotton wool and cloths of different
countries, 352 — cotton cloths imported, 502 — quantity and prices,
ib. — description of the imports, 503
Cowrie-shells — their use as currency, iii. 445
Crickets — the Javanese amused by combats between, i. 114i
Cubeb pepper — its medicinal properties, i. 465
Cucumber — extensively cultivated, i. 377 and 434
Currency, paper — introduced by the European governments, i. 284.
— See also Money
INDEX. 541
Custarcl-apple — its culture, i. 431
Cutaneous disorders — very common among the Indian islanders, i.
34 — ascribed by them to the consumption of fish, ib.
Damar — culture of tree bearing, i. 4-55 — an article of commerce, iii*
420 — price, 421
Dancing — a favourite amusement of the Indian islanders, i. 121 —
character of the dances, ib. — different descriptions of dancing,
122
Datxua— effects of this plant, i. 466
Dendeng — preparation of animal flesh, iii. 439 — price, ib.
Diamonds — Indian islanders ignorant of the art of cutting, i. 204
— worn by them, 212 — where found, iii. 497 — price of the rough
and cut diamond, 492 — largest diamond in the world, 493 — va-
lue of several large diamonds compared, 494
Dice — the Indian islanders acquired the knowledge of from the
Portuguese, i. 112
Diseases — the Indian islanders free from inflammatory, i. 31 — sub-
ject to remittent and intermittent fevers, 32 — to the small-pox,
33 — to the venereal disease, ib. — to cutaneous dii^orders, 34 — in-
testinal worms fatal to children, 35 — parturition and child-bear-
ing easy, expeditious, and safe, 36
Domestic relations of the Indian islanders, with respect to — mar-
riage, an universal ordinance, i. 73 — women not secluded, ib. — the
sexes on terms of equality, ib. — polygamy and concubinage tole-
rated, 76 — female chastity general except in Java, 7 8 — the men
not jealous of the women, 79 — tenderness and affection be-
tween parents and children, 82 — fraternal affection warm and ac-
tive, 83
Dragon's-blood — price as an article of commerce, iii. 420
Drama — Javanese the inventors of the Polynesian, i. 127 — different
descriptions of dramatic exhibitions, ib. — subjects of the .Javanese
drama, 129 — Indian islanders passionately fond of dramatic exhi-
bitions, 132 — civilization would be favoured by an improved
drama, ib.
Dress — original dress of the Indian islanders, i. 207 — use of cotton
dresses taught them by the Hindus, 208 — enumeration of the
useful portions of, ib. — the ornamental, 212 — the fantastic, 215
Drunkenness — the vice of, rare in the Archipelago, i. 41 — the na-
tives not restrained from, by rehgious motives, 108
Dukuh — its culture, i. 472
Durian — its culture, i. 417
Dyeing and painting cloth — mode of, i. 180
Earthenware — imported into the Indian islands, iii. 515
Ebony — varieties of it found in the Archipelago, i. 454 — an article
of exportation, iii. 422
Eclipses — superstitious ceremonies and opinions respecting, i. 304
542 INDEX.
Epilepsy — rarer in the Inrlian Islands tlmn in Europe, i. 34
Europe — supplied with the productions, long bcfuru the discovery,
of the Archipelago, i. 1.
Fevers — species and cause of, among the Indian islanders, i. 32
Fire-amis — time of their introduction not knov.'n, i. 227 — cannon
of the natives made of brass, ib. — small arms imported by Euro-
peans, ib. — natives unskilful in the use of them, 228 — prices of
those imported, iii. 513
Firelock — See Fire-arms
Fishing — tlie Indian islanders very expert in this art, i. 195 — its
imjiortance and extent, and how practised, ib. — niodc of pre-
paring and using fish, 197 — what kinds exported, and prices,
iii. iW
Fish-maws — price as an article of commerce, iii. 440
Flowers — Indian islanders ornament their dress with, i. 212 — cul-
ture of the cliampaka malor or malati, and tanjung, 437 — kam-
bojo.i, 438 — sulasi, ib. — European flowers, ib.
Frankincense — See Benzoin
Fruits — banana the principal fruit consumed in the Indian islands,
i. 41 — bread-fruit, common, 412 — general remarks on the culture
of fruits, 415 — culture of the mangustin, 417 — durian, 419 —
jack-fruit, 422 — champadak, 423 — mango, ib. — orange and le-
mon, 425 — pine applo, 1Q7 — -jninbi]. 428 — guava, 429 — papinja,
430 — custard apple, 431 — arekah, lingseh, and riambia, 432 —
rambutan, ib. — pomegranate, 433 — tamarind, ib. calabash,
gourds, melons, cucumbers, 43 1 — European fruits, 43G
Funerals — ceremonies before and after, i. 25
Furniture of the Indian islanders described, i. 1 72
Gambir-plant — its culture, i. 405 — exportation, iii. 415 — price, ib.
Games and amusements — the Indian islanders passionately fond of,
i. 109 — ^games of hazard, ill — chess only partially introduced,
112 — combats between cocks, 113 — quails, 114 — and crickets, ib.
puerile sports of the Javanese, ib. — combat of the tiger and buf-
falo, 115 — of the wild boar with rams and goats, IIG — between
two bulls, 117 — games of exercise seldom practised, ib. — tourna-
ments awkwardly exhibited, ib. — the chace pursued for amuse-
ment by the civilized tribes, 118 — dancing both an amusement
and solemnity, 121 — different descriptions of it, 122 — dramatic
amusements of the Javanese, 126 — two kinds of interlude, 129-r-
civilization would be promoted by an improved drama, 132
Ganja — its culture, i. 442
Geography — Indian islanders ignorant of this science, i. 317 — hard-
ly know any foreign country but by name, ib. — imperfectly
know their own, 318 — ^have no general term to designate the Ar-
chipelago, ib. — ignorant of the insular form of the principal
islands, 319 — use the term island in a circumscribed sense, ib. —
principle ou which they give names to countries, 320 — Hindus
INDEX. 543
and Arabs ignorant of the geography and topography of the Ar-
chipelago, 324'
Gilding — Indian islanders ignorant of thisart^ i. 192
Ginger, extensively cultivated, i. 515
Glassware — article of importation, iii. 514
Glugo, its culture, i. 443
Goats — ludicrous combats between them and wild hogs practised
in Java, i. 1 1 6
Gold, in its native state, abounds in the Archipelago, i. 183 — know-
ledge of working it, a native art,ib. — its application to trinkets and
filagree work, ib. — ornaments worn by the Indian islanders, 212 —
measures, 274 — where found, iii. 470 — quality, 471 — mining oper-
ations, 472 — expences and profits of a gold mine, 477 — analysis
of gold dust, 478 — skill of the natives in assaying, 480 — quan-
tity extracted, 481 — table exhibiting the quantity imported into
Calcutta, 483 — total produce of the Archipelago compared with
that of the whole world, 484 — general remarks on the gold
trade, 487
Gomuti-palin — its culture, i. 397 — its principal products, 398 —
cordage obtained from an article of commerce, iii. 424
Government— forms of it various among the Inilian islanders, iii. 3
— despotism increases with civilization, 4 — rudest form of, 5 —
formation of villages, 6 — shepherd state of society unknown, 8—
elective and federal forms of, 9 — absolute forms of, 15 — illustra-
tions of the Iiibior)' of, from an examination of language, 21 —
oscillation between federal and absolute forms of, 23
Gourd — its culture, i. 434
Gout, unheard of among the Indian islanders, i. 34
Guava — its culture, i. 429
Gunpowder — high priced and unskilfully manufactured in the Ar-
chipelago, i. 201 — one of the most highly prized of European
imports, 202 — the art of making it, not native, ib.
Hair — description of that of the brown iribes, i. 20— of the negro
tribes, 24 — mode of wearing and ornamenting it, 212
Hazard, games of — favourites of the Indian islanders, i. 1 1 1 — the
most common, ib.
Hinduism — See Religion
History of the Archipelago — it divisions, ii. 284 — paucity of great
events and remarkable characters, 286 — remarkable native charac-
ters, 287 — character of Asiatic settlers, 288 — remarkable Euro-
pean characters, 289 — causes inimical to the display of talent
among the Dutch colonists, 291 — general remarks on the inter-
course of Europeans with the Indian islanders, 391 — chronologi-
cal table of the principal events of, 481
of Java — recentness and character of Javanese historical com-
positions, ii. 293 — their chronologies mostly fabrications, 297--
ancient inscriptions, 298 — Hindu states, 299 — introduction of
Mahomedanism, 304— Javanese liistory of its propagation, 308—;
54>4> INDEX.
true history, S13 — comiils ion occasion by its introduction, 320 —
rise of the dynasty of Mataram, 321 — principal historical events
till the coininencement of the Dutcli power in Java, 323 — retro-
spect of Portuguese history as connected with Javanese, 337 —
of Dutch history, and reflections on the policy pursued by Eu-
ropeans, 340 — principal historical events till the present time,
343
History of the Malays — original seat of their name and nation, ii.
371 — iheir emigration to the Peninsula, 372 — native history of
this transaction, 373 — remarks on it, 374 — origin of the terms
by which the Malays are distinguished, 375 — their language and
name diffused through the Archipelago ])y the first colony, 376
— why the Peninsula is termed the " land of the IMalays,"
377
———of the people of Celebes— their records mor6 limited and
imperfect than those of Java, ii. 397 — limit of probable history
among their principal tribe the Bugis, 380 — general remarks on
their early history, ib. — their country never united as one em-
pire, 381 — their religion Hmduism previous to the conversion to
Maliomedanism, 382 — when the I\lacassars began to keep histo-
rical records, ib. — their progress in the useful arts very recent,
383 — history of the conversion to jMahomedanism, 384 — princi-
pal events till the ascendancy of the state of Boni and the Dutch,
385 — various rebellions, 390
— of the Portuguese culuiii»(=- their first appearance in the
Archipelago, ii. 396 — establishment in Malacca, ib. — and in the
Moluccas, 406
-of the Dutch colonists — causes which led to their aaventures
to India, ii. 411 — their first appearance in the Archipelago, 412
— policy in relation to the Indian islanders, ib. — principal events
during their administration in Java, 414 — in the western coun-
tries, 431 — and in the Spice Islands, 435
-of the Spanish colonists — their influence confined to the
Philippines, ii. 446> — policy in relation to the natives, 447 — first
intercourse with the Philippines, 449 — neglect of them for the
Moluccas, 451 — first attempt to conquer the Philippines, ib. —
establishment in them, 452 — wars and quarrc Is with the Chinese,
455 — Japanese, 465 — neighbouring states, 468 — 'and Europeans,
472
Hogs, wild — fought against rams and goats in Java, i. 116
Horizon — how divided by the Indian islanders, i. 311
Husbandry of the Archipelago — its richness and variety, i. 341 —
description of the seasons, 342 — soil, 344 — tillage, 346 — cattle,
347 — implements, 348 — irrigation, 350 — dressings, 354 — syste-
matic rotation of crops unknown, 355 — ^general reflection on, ib.
— husbandry of rice, 358 — maize, 366 — pulses, 369 — yamorig-,
name, 371 — sweet potatoe or batatas, 372 — Kantang or Javanese
potatoe, 373 — arrowroot, 374 — wheat, ib. — common potatoe, 375
— garden stuflfs,376 — cucumbers, 377 — onions, ib. — capsicum, ib.
INDEX. 545
— coconutj 379 — ground pistachio, 379 — ricinus or Palma Chris-
ti, 382 — sago, 383 — areca palm, 394 — sagwire or gomuti, 397 —
betel pepper, 402 — ^gambir, 40.5 — tobacco, 406 — banana, 410 —
bread fruit, 413 — general remarks on the husbandry of fruits,
414 — husbandry of the mangus tin, 417 — diu-ian, 419 — -jack-fruit,
422 — champiidak,423 — mango, ib. — orange and lemon, 425 — ^jiine
apple, 427 — -jambu, 428 — guava, 429 — papaya, 430 — custard-ai>-
ple, 431 — langseh, rambeh, and dukuli, 432 — rambutan, ib. —
pomegranate, 433 — tamarind, ib. — calabash, gourds, melons, cu-
cumbers, 434 — European fruits, 436 — flowers, 437 — cotton, 439
— rami, a species ofurtica, 442 — ^ganja or hemp, ib. — bagu and
waru, 443 — glugo, ib. — lontar, or tar palm, ib. — gjibang, 444 —
rattan, 445 — bamboo, 446 — nibung, 447 — nipah, 448 — teak, 449
— lingoa, 452 — bitangor, niarbao, pinaga, and suren, 453 — fancy
woods, ib. — damar or rosin, 454 — caout-chouc, 456 — tallow tree,
ib. — soap tree, 457 — indigo, ib. — kasumba or safflower, 46 1 —
tumtieric, 462 — sappan-wood, ib. — mangkudu, 463 — logwood, ib.
— medicinal plants, 464 — cubeb pepper, 465 — datura, 466 — ka-
niadu leaf, ib. — upas or poison tree, 467 — sugar-cane, 473 — black
pepper, 479 — coffee, 486 — cocoa, 492 — clove, 493 — nutmeg, 503
— massoy, 511 — clove-bark, ib. — cayu-puti, 513 — cassia, 514 —
cardamom, ib. — ginger, 515 — camphor, ib. — benzoin, 517 — ^lig-
num aloes, 518 — sandal- wood, 519
Jack-fruit — its culture, i. 4;^
Jambu — its culture, i. 428
Images, ancient, found in Java, ii. 207
Indigo — history and culture of plants yielding, i. 457 — an article of
exportation, iii. 355 — its cost, 356
Infantry — the principal land force of the Indian islanders, i. 229
Inscriptions — ancient description of them, ii. 211
Intellectual faculties — the Indian islanders are of slow compre-
hension and narrow judgment, i. 44 — have weak memories and
childish imaginations, 46 — are credulous and superstitious, 47
— are good imitators, ib. — have delicate ears for musical sounds,
ib. — their faculties weak from want of exercise, ib.
Iron — artof working itnative, i. 186 — very scarcein the Archipelago,
188 — consequences of its scarcity, ib. — chiefly employed in the
manufacture of warlike weapons, 189 — where found, iii. 489 —
important article of importation, 510 — ^history of the iron trade,
511
Justice, administered by the Brahmins of Bali, ii. 239
Kamadu-leaf — its eflects, i. 496
Karaboja — its culture, i. 438
Karairi — a nut, how used by the Javanese as an amusement,
114
Kamuning — its cultiu-e and uses, i. 454
VOL. III. M m
5i() INDEX.
Karaton — cLscriplion of the structure callctlj i. 163
Kasuinba — its culture, i. 4G1
Kris — J. warlike weapon worn by the Indian islanders, i. 213 — its
value and beauty a test of rank and wealth, ib. — one of their fa-
vourite weapons, 223 — ti tter for assassination than war, 22 1. — reason
of its universal adoption, ib. — used in action with the spear, 225
— example of the dexterous use of kris, ib.
Lac insect — found in the Indian Islands, iii. 437 — lac confined to
home consumption, ib.
Langseh — its culture, i. 432
Language, Balinese — by whom spoken, ii, 69 — its character, 70
.Javanese — the most improved and copious of those of
the Archipelago, ii. 3 — its alphabet, ib. — grammatical form, 5—
copiousness, 7 — redundancy, 8 — ordinary and ceremonial dialects,
9 — analogy of sound to sense, 13 — its want of figurative expres-
sions, ib. — derivation, 15
Madurese — by whom spoken, ii. 68 — its character, 69
Malayan — its alphabet, ii. 40 — grammatical form,
41 — known by what term, ib. — its general character, 42
— ceremonial dialect scanty, 43 — derivation and composition,
ih. — origin, 57 — diffusion, ib. — currency as a lingua franca,
ib. — general uniformity, 57 — where spoken in greatest purity,
ib.
-Sunda — ^by whom spoken, 66 — its alphabet, 67 — gramma-
tical form, ib. — ceremonial dialect, 68
-of Celebes and the eastern countries — universally different
from those of the western, ii. 59 — alphabet of Celebes, 60 — two
great languages, the Bugis and Macassar, spoken in Celebes, ib.
— character of both, ib. — influence of the Bugis language on those
of the eastern countries, 63 — composition and derivation of these,
ib.
-of the Indian Islanders — their resemblance in sound, ii.
72 — in grammatical form, 73 — in idiom and genius, ib. — their
written characters various, 74 — these cannot be traced to the
Hindus, 76 — component parts of improved languages, 78 — radi-
cal portion of each language distinct, 79 — languages numerous
in each country in the direct ratio of their barbarity, ib. — an ab-
original language with each tribe, 80 — a great Polynesian lan-
guage existed, 8 1 — words of this language most numerous in cvd-
tivated dialects, 82 — nature of this class of words, ib. — conjectures
respecting the people of whom the Polynesian was the language,
84 — arguments in favour of .lava being their country, 96 — in-
fluence of the Polynesian long prior to the Sanskrit, 94 — influ-
ence of cognate languages on each other, 95 — Sanskrit words
admitted into all the improved languages, 106 — Kawi, a recondite
language, how formed, 110 — Sanskrit disseminated through the
language of Java, 111 — introduction of Arabic, 114' — Telinga,
117 — Persian, llS-r-Chinese, ib. — -and European languages,
119.
INDEX. 547
Laws of the Indian Islanders — their origin, iii. 75 — account of
writings on, 77 — modes of administering justice, 79 — rules of
evidence, 87 — laws of purchase and sale, 92 — deposits, 93 — letting
and hiring, 94 — ^loans, 96 — inheritance, 98 — marriage-contracts,
99 — description of punishments, 104 — modes of execution, 108
^lex ialionis, 110 — pecuniary composition for crimes. 111 — ^al-
lotment of punishment according to rank, 11'2 — offences against
property, 114 — against persons, 119 — against the state and so-
vereign, 133 — against the laws of nature, 137
Lead — its use confined to the manufacture of musket-bullets, i.
192 — natives taught the use of it by Europeans, ib.
Lemon — its culture, i. 425
Lignum-aloes — history of the tree yielding, i. 519 — an article of
commerce, iii. 420
Lingoa — its culture and uses, i. 452
Literature of the Javanese — divided into ancient and modern, ii.
16 — their lyrical compositions, 22 — romances founded on Hindu
legends, 24 — on native story, 26 — histories of modern transac-
tions, 27 — prose compositions, 31 — works founded on Arabic ori-
ginals, 34 — education, 35 — books and manuscripts, 36 — ^general
character of their compositions, 37
■ of the ]\Ialays — character of their literature, ii. 47 — their
metrical composition, 48 — ^jirose composition, 50 — romances, 5(i
-of the nations of Celebes — character of their literature, ii.
61 — specimen of their love songs, R'^
Logwood — its culture and uses, i. 463
Lontar — its culture, i. 443
Mahomedanism — See Religion
i\Iaize — indigenous to the Indian Islands, i. 366 — ^its culture, 367
— fecundity, 369 — an article of exportation, iii. 348
Malor or Malati — its culture, i. 437
Mango — its culture, i. 423
Mangkudu — its culture, i. 463
Mangustin — its culture, i. 417
IMarbao — its culture, i. 453
Marriage — an universal ordinance in the Archipelago, i. 73 — time of
its taking place, 86 — mode of courtship before, 87 — three de-
scriptions of, ib. — ceremonies of the Javanese at, 88 — ceremo-
nials, detail of, 91
Massoy — its culture and uses, i. 510
Meals — Indian islanders observe little delicacy at, i. 100 — their
posture and manner of eating at, ib. — ablutions before and after,
ib.
Measures of the Indian islanders — native, estimated by bulk and
not weight, i. 271 — their measures of capacity, 273 — weight, ib.
— length, 275 — and surface, 277
Medicine — character of the practitioners of, i. 328 — nature of their
prescriptions, ib. — advantages of their practice in fevers, 330 —
548 INDEX.
tlieir total ignorance of the treatment of surgical disortlers, 331 —
plants afford in<^, 4(jl.
Melon — its culture, i. 43 1
iVIetals — the Indian islanders longacquaintcd with the use of the na-
tive metals, sol'U iron, and tin, i. 182 — taught the use of silver
and copper by the Hindus, ib. — their art of working gold, 183
— silver, 184 — and iron, 18G — description of tools, ib. — scarcity
of iron in the Archipelago, and its consequences, 188 — iron chief-
ly used for military weapons, 189 — manufacture of the subordi-
nate metals, I'Jl — tin and brass used as money, 280
]\Iilitary — weapons of the Indian islanders, i. 222 — forces, 229 —
discipline, 235 — subsistence, 237 — warfare, 239 — treatment of
the dead, wounded, and prisoners, 242 — use of the right of con-
quest, 247
^lirrors — Indian islanders ignorant of the manufacture of, i. 192
Molasses — price of in the Indian Islands, iii. 380
]Money — articles used as, by the rude tribes, i. 280 — origin and de-
scription of tin and brass coins, ib. — no silver coins anciently used,
281 — origin and description of gold coins, 282 — introduction of
European coins, 283 — and paper currency, 284
Monsoons — navigation of the Indian islanders favoured by them,
i. 309 — origin of the term, 3 1 6
Moral qualities — See Virtues, Weaknesses, Vices, and Domestic,
Social, and PoUtical Relations
Music — state of, i. 332 — description of musical instruments, 333 —
of bauds or gamalans, 338 — character of Javanese music, 339
Narcotics — See Areca and Betel, Tobacco, and Opium
Navigation — rude skill of the Indian islanders in, i. 307 — usually
a coasting one, 308 — favoured by the monsoons assumes a
bolder character, 309 — assistance sometimes derived from obser-
vations of the heavenly bodies, and from the compass, 310 — con-
jectures respecting the origin of the compass, ib. — division of
the horizon by the Malays, 311 — Javanese, 315 — ^and minor
tribes, 316 — origin of the term monsoon, ib.
Navy — military, 230
Negro tribes of the Archipelago — their inferiority to the brown, i.
18 — geographical distribution, ib. — account of a negro, by Major
IMacinnes, 23 — by Sir Everard Home, 24 — their resemblance, but
inferiority, to the African negroes, ib. — their puny statures and
feeble frames constitutional, 2o — Sonnerat's account of the ne-
groes of New Guinea, 26 — conjectures respecting their origin,
27
Nibung — its culture and uses, i. 447
Nipah — its culture and uses, i. 448
Numbers — See Arithmetic
Nutmeg — its description, o03 — distribution, 505 — history and
name, 506 — culture, 507 — fecundity, 510 — an article of exporta-
tion, iii. 394 — proportion of its different parts, 395 — disadvan-
4
INDEX. 549
tages of separating the nutmeg from the shell, 395 — natural
price of nutmeg and mace, 399 — history of the nutmeg trade,
402
Onion, indigenous to the Indian Islands, i. 377
Opium — the Indian islanders passionately fond of, i. 105 — its re-
cent introduction, ib. — its use limited only by the price, ib. —
the poppy, from which it is derived, not a native of the Archipe-
lago, 106 — its pernicious effects, ib. — manner of using and pre-
paring it, ib. — history of the opium trade, iii. 518 — prices and
quantity imported, 519 — introduction of Turkey opium, 521
Orange — ^its culture, i. 425
Painting — Indian islanders ignorant of this art, i. 327
Palma Christi — its culture, i. 382 — oil of, an article of exporta-
tion, iii. 350
Pandapa — description of a Javanese, i. 162
Papaya — its culture, i. 430
Paralytic disorders, rarer in the Archipelago than in Europe, i. 34
Parturition and child-bearing, among the Indian islanders, very
expeditious and safe, i. 36
Patek, a disease of the Javanese, analogous to the venereal, i. 34—
its introduction ascribed to the Chinese, ib.
Pearls — quantity exported and value, iii. 445
Peas — intrndured by Europeans, i. S7C
Pepper, black — its history, i. 479 — culture, 481 — fecundity, 485 —
an article of exportation, iii. 357 — where produced, 358 — price,
359 — history of the pepper trade, 360 — quality and quantity
consumed, 369
Pistachio, ground — its culture, i. 381 — its oil an article of exporta-
tion, iii. 349
Pinaga — its culture, i. 53
Pine-apple — its culture, i. 427
Plated- ware, imported into the Indian Islands, iii. 513
Political relations — the Indian islanders attached to their society
or tribe, i. 84 — jealous of the independence of their country, ib.
— attached to their place of birth, ib.
Polynesian numerals — vocabulary of them, i. 264
Pomegranate — its culture, i. 433
Potatoe — cultivation of the yam, i. 371 — sweet potatoe, 372 — Ja-
vanese, 373 — and American, 375
Pulses— culture of two varieties chiefly objects of attention, i. 36 !>
—articles of exportation, 348
Quail-fighting — the .Tavanese fond of this amusement, i. 114
Quicksilver^— not employed by the Indian islanders, i. 19^
Ram bu tan — its culture, i. 432
Rami — its culture, i. 442
550 INDEX.
Rams — lutlicrous but bloodless combat between them and wild
hogs practised in Java, i. IIG
Rattan — its culture, i. il5 — an article of exportation, iii. 423 — ^price,
.424.
Religion of the Indian islanders, ancient — synonymous with their
antiquities, ii. 194 — remains of ancient temples, 195 — mode in
which they are constructed, 199 — mytholof^ical character of the
sculptures and decorations, 202 — remains of statues and images,
207 — ancient inscriptions on stone, 211 — ancient manuscript,
216 — conjectures respecting the ancient Hinduism of the Indian
islanders, 218 — first Hinduism of Java, an example of genuine
Buddhism, 220 — a barbarous form of Hinduism prevailed in later
times, 222 — introduction of Hinduism, 225 — superstitions which
prevailed previous to that event, 230 — character of Hinduism, as
modified by these superstitions, 231 — ^modern Hinduism nearly
confined to Bali, 236 — Balinese chiefly of the sect of Siwa, 237 —
Siwais, as in Hindustan, divided into four casts, ib. — Brahmins
and higher classes genuine Hindus, but the lower still practise their
local superstitions, 238 — Brahmins entrusted with the admini-
stration of justice, 239 — Hindu ceremonies generally neglected
by the Balinese, 240 — sacrifices of widows on the piles of their
husbands, 241 — immolations of slaves and domestics with de-
ceased princes, ib.^-examples of these customs, 244 — bodies of
the dead burned, 255 — two great religious festivals, ib. — Indian
era and calendar Qflnpted by the Balinese, 256 — list of their re-
ligious books, ib. — religion of Siwa, when introduced, 257 — ex-
istence of Hinduism in Bali after the conversion of the other ci-
vilized tribes accounted for, ib. — orthodox Mahomedanism pre-
vails in the Archipelago, 259 — Malays the best IVIabomedans,
260 — state of this religion in Java, 261 — ^Javanese religious fes-
tivals, ib. — duties and offices of .Javanese priests, 26G — inatten-
tion of the Indian islanders both to the positive and negative
precepts of the Koran exemplified, ib. — Catholic and Protestant
Christians found in the Archipelago, 273 — zeal of the early Eu-
ropean adventurers to make proselytes, 274 — their want of suc-
cess, to what attributed, ib. — superiority of the Christians over
the Mahomedan and Pagan tribes, 277 — Christianity coAsidered
as an instrument of civilization, 278 — effects of insulated mis-
sionaiies useless or mischievousj 280 — obstacles to the propaga-
tion of Christianity, 281
Revenue, public, of the Indian islanders — sources of, iii. 45 — ori-
gin of the land-tax, ib. — its amount, among the different tribes,
48 — condition of the cultivator, 51 — division of the crop between
the cultivator and sovereign, 65 — payment of salaries, 69 — gene-
ral reflections, 60 — poll-tax, 68 — taxes on consumption, 70 —
transit duties, 71 — system of farming the revenue, universal,
72
Rambia — its culture, i. 432
Rice — the principal food of the Indian islanders, i. 358 — indige-
nous to the Archipelago, ib. — il^ culture a native art, ib. — varie-
INDEX. 551
ties of ricej 359-*-culture of these, 360 — fecundity, 365 — an ar-
ticle of exportation, iii, 345 — where procured, ib. — price and
quantity, 346
Ricinus — See Palma Christi.
Sacrifice of widows on the funeral piles of their husbands, ii. 241
— of slaves and domestics with deceased princes, ib. — examples
of these sacrifices, 244
Sago-palm — the principal food of the people of the eastern portion
of the Archipelago, i. 383 — its cultivation, 384 — its native coun-
try, 385 — harvest, 388 — preparation for storing, 3S9 — its fecun-
dity, 393 — an article of exportation, iii. 348 — where procured,
and price, ib.
Safflower — its culture, i. 461
SagAvire — See Gomuti
Salt — manufactured chiefly in Java, i. 199 — process by which it is
obtained, ib. — cost of production, iii. 495 — ^history of the salt
trade, 496
Saltpetre — mode of obtaining it in the Archipelago, i. 200— cost
of it dearer there than in Hindustan, 201
Sandal- wood — ^liistory of the tree yielding, i. 519 — price as an ar-
ticle of commerce, iii. 421
Sappan-wood — its culture, i. 46^— price at which exported, iii.
422
Sassafras— rjast nf prepflring it fnr tho marle-pt,, iii. -tSS
Scrofula — a rare disorder in the Archipelago, i. 34
Sculpture — Indian islanders ignorant of this art, i. 327
Seas of the Archipelago, i. 5
Separaga — a kind of foot-ball played by the Indian islanders, i.
117
Settlers — See Colonists
Sharks'-fins — price as an article of commerce, iii. 440
Ship-building — skill of the Indian islanders in, i. 193
Silks — manufacture of, 181 — imports of, iii. 517
Silver — ores of it in the Archipelago only suspected, i. 182 — the
use of it taught the natives by the Hindus, ib. — images and
coins formed of it by the ancient Javanese, 185
Sling — an universal weapon of rude tribes, i. 222
Small-pox — the most fatal disorder among the Indian islanders, i.
33 — time of its introduction unknown, ib. — mortality in Yugya-
karta in Java by, ib.
Soap-tree — its culture, i. 467
Social relations of the Indian islanders, respecting — friendship not
known, h4 — attachment between chiefs and retainers, ib.
Sono — its culture and uses, i. 454
Spear — one of the favourite weapons of the Indian islanders, i. 223
— varieties of this weapon, ib. — in action used alternately with
the kris, 225
552 INDEX.
Statues — See Images
Stone — a very rare disorder in the Indian Islands, i. 34.
Sugar— its culture, i. 473 — history, 475— manufacture of, 476— an
article of exportation, iii. 377 — cost, quality, and quantity, 378
— prices of tlifferent sugars compared, 379
Suksi — its culture, i. 438
Sulphur— abundant in the Indian Islands, i. 201 — might become
an article of commerce, iii. 494
Sureu — its culture, i. 453
Sword — origin of its use in Java, i. 226
Talagatari — a game of ha2ard practised by the Javanese, i. 112
Tallow-tree — its culture,!. 456
Tamarind — its culture, i. 433 — an article of exportation, iii. 357 —
price, ib.
Tanjung — its culture, i. 437
Tea— history of the tea trade, iii. 522
Teak — its geographical and physical distribution, i. 449 — paraDel
between it and the oak, 451 — its value as an article of commerce,
iii. 425
Teeth — practice of blackening and filing them universal in the
Archipelago, i. 215
Temples — remains of, in .Java, ii. 195
Tiger — combat between this animal and the buffalo, an amusement
of the Javauerc, i. IIS how fought hpforp the Javanese sove-
reigns, 121
Timaka — its culture and uses, i. 454
Time — See Calendar
Tin — indigenous to the Archipelago, i. 182 — stldoni ui^cd by the
natives in its pure state, 191 — where found, iii. 150 — history of
mining, 452 — parallel between the mines of Banca and Corn-
wall, 464 — ^price, and quantity exported, 466 — general reflections
on the tin trade, ib.
Tobacco — the practice of smoking, when introduced into the
Archipelago, i. 103 — the only agreeable narcotic which thrives
in every climate, 104 — present mode of using, 105 — its culture,
406 — quantity exported, iii. 416 — price, ib.
Topography of the Archipelago, i. 3
Tortoise-shell — value as an article of commerce, iii. 444
Tournaments — awkwardly exhibited in the Archipelago, i. 117
Town — description of one in the Archipelago, i. 168 — those of the
maritime tribes described, 1 7 1
Tripang — description and nature, as an article of commerce, iii.
441
Turmeric — its culture, i. 462
Turnips—introduced by the English, i .376
Umbrella — ^its quality or colour a mark of rank in the Archipelago,
i.2U
INDEX. 553
Upas, or poison- tree — description of it, i. 467 — history of its perni-
cious effects, ib.
Venereal disease — frequent in every part of the Indian Islands,
i. 33 — Javanese account of its origin, ib. — its name in Java,
34 — its introduction ought to be ascribed to the Europeans,
ib.
Vices of the Indian islanders — the most prominent are, revenge, i.
65 — mucks, 66 — assassinations, 70 — ^piracy and treachery, 71 —
thefts and robberies, 72
Village — description of a Javanese, i. 167 — of an alpine village,
171 — Indian islanders, for mutual protection, associate in villages,
222
Virtues — the Indian 'islanders are distinguished by a regard for
truth, i. 50 — ^have no capacity for intrigue, ib. — are capable of
attachment and gratitude, ib. — arc reserved but courteous, 51
— are neither litigious nor rapacious, ib. — nor naturally cruel,
ib. — are good humoured and cheerful, 52 — seldom use abusive
language, ib. — are naturally hospitable, 53 — and poUte, 54 — are
free from bigotry, 55
Vocabulary, Polynesian — difficulty of forming such a vocabulary,
ii. 120 — errors in former ones, 121 — sources whence those in
this work were derived, 123 — vocabulary of the Polynesian
languages, 125 — specimen of the great Polynesian, 192 — of nu-
merals, i. 264
War — mode of conducting it among all savages nearly the same, i.
220 — civilized tribes of the Archipelago an armed population,
221 — their military weapons, 222 — mode of levying troops, 229 —
discipline, 235 — subsistence, 237 — carrying on war, 239 — treat-
ment of the dead, wounded, and prisoners, 242 — use of the right
of conquest, 247
Warn — its culture, i. 443
Water-cresses — introduced by the English, i. 376
Weaknesses of the Indian islanders — summary of, i. 55 — examples
of, 56 — in the laws against sorcery, ib. — in the circulation of the
skull of a buffalo, 58 — in their insurrections, 60 — in their attach-
ment to relics, 62 — and in their fondness for external shew and
pomp, 64
Weaving — See Cloths
Weights — See ]\Icasures
Whale-fishery — its commercial importance, iii. 447
Wheat — cultivated sparingly, i. 375
Widows — sacrifice of, on the funeral piles of their husbands, ii.
241
Wood, working of — rude skill of the Indian islanders in this art, i.
192 — their boats and shipping the most considerable exhibition
of it, 193
VOL. III. N n
554} INDEX.
Woollens — their suitableness to the climate of the Indian Islands,
iii. 505 — liistory of the woollen trade, 50G
Worms, intestinal — often fatal to children, i. 35 — cause of this
disorder, ib.
Yam — ^its culture, i. 371
Yugyafearta — state of mortality there, i, 33
Printed by George Ramsay & Co.
Edinburgh, 1820.
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