378 Voyage of the Novara. 



from time immemorial been used by the Chinese in water- 

 colour paintings, but its use in industrial processes only dates 

 from about 20 years back. The very price charged for the 

 small quantities hitherto brought from China, is by no means 

 natural, but seems to have been artificially forced up by specu- 

 lation, apparently in consequence of an unusual demand. 

 In Foo-Chow the price of one Catti, about If lbs., is 20 Taels^ 

 or about £6 IO5. Were the production of this dye stuif really 

 so expensive, we may be sure it would not be made use of by 

 the Chinese for their ordinary stuffs, nor could these be sold as 

 cheap as they are. We have found our opinion confirmed 

 by competent observers in various parts of China, that this 

 valuable product is susceptible of being acclimatized in 

 Europe, and of being cultivated with profit, especially in those 

 places where, together with favourable conditions of tempera- 

 ture and soil, the wages of labour are not too high. 



Like the English authorities and Government officials, our 

 German fellow-countrymen, resident in Hong-kong, did not 

 fail to exercise their hospitality for the benefit of the associates 

 of the Expedition, and we cannot sufficiently express our obli- 

 gations to the Austrian Consul, Mr. G. Wiener, and the Prussian 

 vice-consul, Mr. Gustav Oberbeck, for their delicate attention. 

 The latter presented the Expedition with a number of arti- 

 cles interesting as illustrating the advances of civilization, 

 which he had obtained during the siege of Canton, in Dec. 

 1857, and of which the greater part have since been deposited 

 at the Imperial Cabinet of Antiquities at Vienna. 



