able as edible oils, and as a burning oil: that of the
Palma 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 growing
almost spontaneously, and depending for perfection
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 into
Java, where the market price is usually about six
Spanish dollars the picul.
The raw cotton of the Indian islands has hitherto
been almost entirely consumed on the spot.
The most improved islands export cotton to their
neighbours, as Jam, Bali, Lomboc, Mangarai,
or Flores, Butung, &c. It maybe 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 Archipelago,
beginning with Java, and ending with Timur-
Laut, that portion of the Indian islands, in short, the
geological formation of which is secondary rock, r
The price of Java cotton in the seed, the manner
in which it is always produced for sale in the
native market, may be estimated at from two to
three dollars per picul. When freed from the
seed, an operation which deprives the inferior
Icinds of 75 per cent, of their weight, and the best
of about 66 per cent, it costs from 10 to 11 dollars
a picul, or 39s. 8d. per cwt. The ordinary
cotton of Java is considered in the market of
Canton as equal in value 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 weak staple, but
brought 12|d. per pound, when Surat soldat l6|d.
and Bengal at 13d. 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 distant
market with any advantage, until the skill,
intelligence, and economy of Europeans be applied
to its husbandry, preparation for the market,
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 descriptions
of cotton, the European cultivator enhances
the value of his produce 81,} per cent., as in the difference
between Surat and Georgia bowed cottons.
By the use of good machinery instead of hand
labour, the wool is cheaply freed from the seed,
and by compression of powerful machinery, an article,
naturally so bulky and expensive in transpor