50 



such valuable fibres as I exhibited, and was capable 

 of importing them in sufficient quantities, and at re- 

 munerative prices, it was impossible that the trade 

 should not have established itself long ago. It ap- 

 peared hopeless to disabuse men of this belief, 

 although I did my utmost to strengthen my views by 

 arguments based on past experience.* 



18. After the expenditure of much labor, time, 

 pe h rietces r 'con- and money, I ultimately persuaded one 

 step gamed. firm in the wholesale trade to give the 

 fibres a fair trial. They were careful to protect them- 

 selves from any serious loss, though their terms were, 

 I must acknowledge, extremely liberal, and all that 

 could be expected at this stage of the undertaking. 

 Indeed, had they not come forward as pioneers my 

 efforts must have fallen through, unless Government 

 had felt inclined to once more test the pulse of the 

 market through the medium of the brokers, t 



19. The conditions on which the firm I allude to 

 The Author's ex- agreed to introduce the fibres were (1) 



periences con- x ' 



that Government should supply them with 

 a sample consignment of 15 tons gratis, the freight on 



* Thirty-four years ago no doubt the same objection would have been 

 raised to the cultivation of cinchona and tea in India, yet both are now es- 

 tablished crops, growing abundantly. For the former we are indebted to the 

 energy of Mr. Clements Markham, and for the latter to the enterprise of 

 the late East India Company, for although during its rule it reaped no 

 immediate benefit from the liberal experiments it made at a great sacrifice, 

 yet in subsequent years the exports of tea amounted to one and a-half 

 million pounds, valued at 153,000, and although one single province, 

 Assam, now rivals China, the trade may still be regarded as in its in- 

 fancy. In the Western Dooars the cultivation of tea has been but little 

 developed, though that district is spoken of as peculiarly adapted to the 

 growth of this plant. 



f I have already said that I do not consider this a satisfactory or fair 

 way of testing the market. Moreover, the costs attending such sales 

 generally swallow up the whole of the profits. 



