NATURAL HISTORY. 



525 



sequence of the degree of servi- 

 tude under which the chalias ar*> 

 held, and the universal preposses- 

 sion in favour of the Ceylon cin- 

 namon, are peculiai' and powerful 

 advantages, which, if judiciously 

 improved, may greatly contribute 

 to repress the China cinnamon 

 trade, and to make it a profitable 

 enterprise for the possessors of 

 Ceylon. 



Captain Melborn mentions a 

 circumstance which readers it al- 

 most unaccountable why the Ma- 

 labar cinnamon is not a more 

 powerful rival to the China trade 

 in this article. He tells us that 

 the Canton price current of casia 

 in 1809 and IS 10 was 20 Spanish 

 dollars yer pecul, or about 9f/. per 

 lb. ; and that casia is exjjorted 

 from Mangalore at from eight to 

 nine pagodas per candy, or about 

 2rf. per lb. 



In addition to the China cinna- 

 mon trade, we may now expect to 

 have to combat with the Dutch in 

 the commerce of this article. Tiiis 

 people are intimately acquainted 

 with the spice trade, and parti- 

 cularly with that of cinnamon. 

 The enterprising and persevering 

 character of the Dutch is prover- 

 bially known ; imd the possessors 

 of Java have powerful means in 

 their hands ; so that we have no 

 mean antagonist to oppose. Ba- 

 tavia may become the depot of the 

 cinnamon ])rodu(ed in Sumatra, 

 the extensive island of Borneo, the 

 Philippine and Sooloo islands ; 

 and should these islands not atlbrd 

 a sufficient quantity to supply all 

 demands, ciimamon can be fur- 

 nished to a very great extent from 

 Ton(iuin and Cochin China. The 

 English at on* time cut consider- 



able quantities of cinnamon in 

 Sumatra, and had chalias, whom 

 they enticed from Ceylon, to pre- 

 pare the bark. The quality of the 

 cinnamon prepared by these peo- 

 ple is stated to be equal to the 

 finest in Ceylon. The Dutch, even 

 when they had possession of the 

 coasts of Ceylon, purchased the 

 cinnamon produced in Sumatra, 

 which they exported to foreign 

 countries as Ceylon cinnamon. 



To rival the excellence of the 

 cultivated cinnamon of Ceylon, the 

 Dutch will, in all . probability, 

 adopt measures for cultivating it 

 in the island of Java, or in some 

 of its immediate dependencies. A 

 productive cultivation mubt be a 

 work of time ; and a period of 20 

 years will elapse bffore their ex- 

 ertions in cviltivating cinnamon 

 can greatly interfere with our 

 present monopoly of that of the 

 finest quality, for which w^e are 

 chiefly indebted to the unwearied 

 and judicious exertions of the 

 Dutch. 



It is very evident that our inte- 

 rest strongly points out that we 

 should exert the powerful means 

 which circumstances have placed 

 in our power to cultivate, collect, 

 and export, a greatly increased 

 quantity of cinnamon, with the 

 view of supplying the markets of 

 both Europe and America ; so as 

 to render the trade less imme- 

 diately profitable to (uir rivals, 

 and less encouraging for them to 

 attenqit eventually to monopoliye 

 the commerce of this very import- 

 ant article. 



This plan is evidently more lau- 

 dable, and promises to be as suc- 

 cesaful as measures of restraint. 

 The conduct of the Dutch in their 



attempts 



