source it was derived. * The practice of smoking
it was introduced in Java about the year 1601,
according to the Javanese annals, only forty years
after its first .introduction into the southern countries
of Europe, and but fifteen years after its introduction
into England. Most probably it was
introduced by the Dutch, who came to Java but
five years before. Had the Portuguese taught the
natives the use of it, the era of its introduction
would have been earlier, from whence we may infer,
that the use of it, at an early period, was not
common among that people themselves, t
The fascination by which all mankind are led to
the consumption of this plant, is no doubt owing
to its agreeable narcotic qualities ; but these qualities,
however alluring, would never have led to
the general use of it, “ from China to Peru,” had
it not been the only agreeable narcotic which may
be said to grow, and to grow with little care or
trouble, in every climate, the circumstance alone
which could render it cheap enough to be consumed
by all mankind. Could the tea plant have been
* The term by which the plant is known to the Javanese,
in the factitious language of ceremony, is somewhat whimsical.
It is soto. which also means a game-cock. This points at the
estimation in which both the plant and animal are held.
t Neither Pigafetta. Drake, nor Cavendish, make mention
of the use of tobacco among the Indian islanders.
so cultivated, we should certainly have found the
use of it not less universal.
The practice of smoking tobacco, first tried, has
been generally discontinued, and the Indian islanders
now use it in a peculiar manner. The tobacco
is finely shred, and a portion of it, in this form, is
pretty constantly held between the lips and teeth,
and, when the person wishes to speak, thrust between
the latter and the gums, adding, in either
case, greatly, in the opinion of a stranger, to the
disgusting effects of the betel and areca preparation.
The Indian islanders are well known to be passionately
addicted to the habitual use o f opium, and
yet the general use of this drug is but of comparatively
recent introduction. They may have been
taught the use of it by the Arabs ; but the extensive
and pernicious consumption which now distinguishes
the manners of the Indian islanders, is
to be ascribed to the commerce of the Europeans,
and to the debauching influence of Chinese manners
and example. Such is the universal taste for
this drug, that it is limited only by the price. It is
consumed, of course, in greatest quantity where it is
cheapest, and a very inconsiderable rise or fall in
price will augment or diminish the consumption in
a surprising degree, even in countries where the
people have been long accustomed to the habitual
use of it. It is, however, a luxury, and a luxury