NATURAL HISTORY. 



61S 



and then his opinions and conduct 

 »eeni to be at variance with his 

 usual good sense. 



Mr. ^^'^ilcocke, the translator of 

 the voyages of Stavorinus, in his 

 note to the work, says, that in 

 1778, 600,000 lb. of cinnamon 

 were disposed of at the Europe 

 sale, at about lis. sterling per lb., 

 being part of the imports from 

 Ceylon. In an appendix to that 

 work, he gives a statement of the 

 quantities of cinnamon and cin- 

 namon oil sold at the Dutch East 

 India Company's sales fiom 1775 

 to 1779 :— 



Pounds of cinnamon in 1775, 

 400,000 — 1776, 400,000—1777, 

 400,000—1778, 350,000—1779, 

 300,000. 



Ounces of oil of cinnamon, in 

 1775, 240—1776, 160—1777, 

 160—1778, 160—1779, 160. 



Being an annual average of 

 870,000 lb., which, if sold at 11*. 

 per lb. the rate stated above for the 

 year 1778, amounts to 203,500i. 

 The encroachments of other na- 

 tions into the cinnamon trade 

 continued to give the Dutch great 

 alarm. These encroachments, 

 which were never regarded with 

 indifiFerence, had been making 

 gradual, but steady, advances. 

 A letter from the Dutch India 

 Directors, addressed to the Su- 

 preme Government, bearing date 

 Dec. 29, 1787, expressly states, 

 that " We have great need of a 

 considerable quantity of the best 

 cinnamon to put a stop to the con- 

 sumption of tiie Chinese, and the 

 cinnamon imported by other na- 

 tions ; and by that circumstance, 

 to occasion their not yielding a 

 profit any longer, prevent tlieir 

 importation ; and by these means 

 ours will retain that general esti- 



mation which alone can ensure its 

 high price, and consequently our 

 profit." Their fears were too 

 well grounded : the cinnamon 

 importations into Holland gra- 

 dually declined. 



The following is an account of 

 the cinnamon imported and sold 

 at the Dutch India Company's 

 sales from the years 1785 to 1791 

 inclusive, with the sale amount of 

 each year : — 



Yean. lb. £. 



1785 ,. .309,040 . , 199,470 



1786 .. 453,920 .. 280,605 

 1787.. 144,000.. 82,470 



1788 .. 485,600 . . 273,765 



1789 . . 463,400 . . 252,785 

 1790. . 375,920.. 205,045 

 1791 . . 183,765 ,. 100,235 



The average quantity imported 

 into Hoiland in eacli year of the 

 preceding period is 345,0921b. 

 and the average annual amount 

 199,195i. 8s. being about lis. 6d. 

 per lb. 



This statement evinces that the 

 exportation of cinnamon was on 

 the decline ; it still, however, re- 

 tained its price. The rivalship of 

 the China cinnamon trade, and 

 the difficulties and impediments 

 occasioned by the King of Kandy 

 to the collecting of cinnamon in 

 his territories, may be assigned as 

 the chief causes of the diminution 

 of the cinnamon commerce in 

 Ceylon. The Kandian Court, al- 

 tiiough unsuccessful in tlie resist- 

 ance it made against the Dutch, 

 remained unconquered, and en- 

 tertained a proud spirit of inde- 

 pendence, a constant enmity, and 

 deep resentment, against its in- 

 vaders, for the many attempts they 

 had made to humiliate and subdue 

 its power. The misfortunes of 

 2 L 2 both 



