514 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1817. 



annually exported from Ceylon 

 from 8,000 to 10,000 bales of 

 cinnamon, each weighing 86 lb 

 Dutch, or about o'if English. 

 This war, which was very unfor- 

 tunate foi- the King of Kandy, was 

 extremely expensive to the Dutch. 

 The chief advantage they obtained 

 was tlie entire possession of the 

 harbours and coasts round the 

 island. By the treaty of peace 

 agreed upon on this occasion it 

 was stipulated that the Dutch 

 were to be permitted to bark cin- 

 namon in the king's territory to 

 the westward of theBalany Kandy, 

 which is a range of mountains 

 that stretches nearly north and 

 south, and is about 11 English 

 miles west from Kandy. It was 

 also stipulated that the king was 

 to receive five pagodas per bale, 

 or about 5c/. per lb., for all that 

 .which his subjects barked and 

 prepared in his country to the 

 eastward of Balany Kandy. The 

 cinnamon collected by the Dutch 

 was estimated to cost them about 

 this price. The cinnamon fur- 

 nished, in consequence of this 

 treaty, by the subjects of the King 

 of Kandy, was of an inferior 

 quality, being mixed with thick, 

 coarse, and ill- prepared bark. 



The Dutch accepted only of 

 what they deemed of a good 

 quality, and paid for the quantity 

 they received. The Kandians con- 

 sidered this an unprofitable spe- 

 culation, and soon ceased to fur- 

 nish cinnamon of any <iuality. 

 Posterior to the war of 1766 

 Ceylon did not export annually 

 mo're than from 6,000 to 7,000 

 bales of cinnamon. This defalca- 

 tion has been ascribed to the dis- 

 couraging conduct of the King. 

 It was not to be expected that he 



shoidd have entered cordially into 

 a measure to which he had been 

 forced to yield a reluctant acqui- 

 escence. So unwilling was the 

 King of Kandy to extend the 

 limits for cutting cinnamon, that 

 he on one occasion refused 5,000 

 pagodas which were offered to 

 him by the Dutch for permission to 

 peel cinnamon for five months in 

 a district to the eastward of Ba- 

 lany. 



Stavorinus, who visited the Ma- 

 labar coast in the years 177^ and 

 1778, says that an annual quan- 

 tity of 1,000,000 lb. of cinnamon 

 is said to be exported from this 

 coast to the Gulf of Persia and to 

 the Red Sea. A small quantity is 

 likewise sent to Europe. This 

 quantity is incredible. 



Fra Paolino da San Bartolomeo 

 liad, from his long residence, pro- 

 fession, and studies, an infinitely 

 better opportunity of learning the 

 internal stjite of the country, as 

 well as the export trade, than 

 Stavorinus, who was only an oc- 

 casional visitor. He arrived in 

 India in 1776, where he resided 

 13 years. He tells us that the 

 English purchased cinnamon from 

 the king of Tranvancore, at the 

 rate of about 80 rupees a candy, 

 or about 500lb, avoiidupois, w hich 

 is nearly two fans per lb., and 

 that Malabar supplied at least 500 

 candies, amounting to 250,0001b. 

 He adds, that " the Dutch do not 

 wisli the cinnamon to thrive, and 

 extirpate the trees in Malabar 

 wherever they find them, in order 

 that their cinnamon which grows 

 on Ceylon may not become of less 

 value." The statements of the 

 learned Carmelite appear in ge- 

 neral to deserve belief, except re- 

 lating to the subject of religion, 



and 



