52£ 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1817. 



many liundied acres of new 

 ground were planted.. Less de- 

 pendance was now placi^d on the 

 supply from the Kandian territory, 

 which was always uncertain, and 

 subject to many impediments. 

 His successor has, with unabated 

 zeal, prosecuted the same policy : 

 he has been particulai'ly attentive 

 to improve the situation of the 



caste of people employed in its 

 cultivation and preparation. 



The following is an account of 

 the quantities of cinnamon be- 

 longing to the East India Com- 

 pany sold at their sales in the years 

 1803 to 1810 inclusive, with the 

 sale amount thereof ; likewise the 

 quantities retained for home con. 

 sumption : — 



Year. 



1803 

 1804 

 1605 

 1806 

 1807 

 1808 

 180L> 

 1810 



Quantity sold. 



. 287,267 lb. 



. 357,683 . 



. 200,962 . 



. 261,196 . 



. 366,746 . 



. 334,631 . 



. 433,624 . 



. 303,954 . 



being, on an average of eight 

 years, 318,258 1b.; and the sale 

 amount 95,825/. per annum, or 

 about 6s. per lb. The small quan- 

 tity retained for home consumption 

 is not included in this calculation. 

 This statement, when compared 

 with the account of the cinnamon 

 imported and sold at the Dutch 

 East India Company's sales in the 

 years 1785 to 1791 inclusive, 

 proves that the annual quantity of 

 cinnamon imported from Ceylon 

 was considerably reduced, and that 

 the price was diminished to nearly 

 one-half the siuu for which it was 

 sold by the Dutch. The large im- 

 portations of cinnamon which 

 have, under the denomination of 

 casia, for some time past been ex- 

 ported from Canton into Great 

 IJritain, America, as well as the 

 British settlements in India, arc 

 the chief apparent causes of the 

 diminislied demand for Cevlon 



Amount. 



63,504/. 



78,659 



52,565 



61,216 



116,501 



114,974 



153,626 



125,558 



Retained for 

 Home Consumption. 



, . 8,762 lb. 



. 9,830 



. 6,672 



. 10,389 



• 7,947 



. 13,116 



. 10,267 



. 11,564 



cinnamon, as well as of it« reduced 

 price. 



I have not been able to discover 

 a good reason for supposing that 

 this traffic is of long standing. 

 The Dutch about the year 1787 

 began to apprehend a formidable 

 rivalship in the monopoly of the 

 cinnamon trade from the Chinese. 

 As the exportation of cinnamon 

 from Canton has increased, the 

 demand from that produced on 

 Ceylon has been on the decay, and 

 tlie price reduced. The cinnamon 

 exported from Canton, although 

 in general of an inferior quahty, 

 can be purchased at a compara- 

 tively low rate, and may be sold, 

 even with a large profit, far under 

 the Ceylon cinnamon. 



The following are the quantities 

 of casia imported and sold at the 

 con)pany's sales from 1S04 to 1808 

 inclusive, with the sale amount 

 and average price : — 



1804 



