CH A PTER IV.
COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF ARTICLES OF
EXPORTATION.
Vegetable Products.—Rice— Minor Grains.— Sago.— Vegetable
Oils.— Cotton Wool.— Cotton Fabrics.—Indigo.—
Black P epper.— Coffee— Svgar.— Cloves-----Nutmeg and
Mace.— Misoy—Ginger, Turmeric, Cayu-puti Oil.—>
Areca.— Catechu Gambir Tobacco— Malay Camphor.
Benzoin or Frankincense.— Lignum Aloes, or Agila
Wood. Dragons Blood Damar or Rosin Sandal
Wood.— Sapan Wood.—Ebony.—Incorruptible Wood.—
Rattans.— Materials of Cordage.— Teak Timber— Animal
Products.— Horns and Hides— Ivory.— The Bird o f Paradise
and Argus Pheasant Feathers.—Birds' Nests.—-
Lac. Bees’ Wax.— Animal Flesh— Fisheries.— D ried
Fish.— Sharks’ Fins— Tripang.— Tortoise Shell.— Pearls.
— Pearl Oysters.— Cowrie Shells.— Ambergris.— Agaragar.—
Whale Fishery.— Mineral Products.. T im -
Gold. Iron.— Copper The Diamonds—Sulphur.— Salt.
U n d e r 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 themselves.
After the general account rendered of the
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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 articles
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 Sumatra,
and of the Malay Peninsula. Rice is generally
imported from these western countries into
those farther east, such as the Spice Islands. Java
is the principal place of production for the consumption
of tbe 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 for fertility of soil,
and near which there is no large town for the consumption
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 eastern
districts is generally superior to that of the
west. The worst rice is that of Indramayu, which
is usually discoloured. The subdivision of the
province of Cheribon called Gâbang yields rice