64 THE SULU ISLANDS. [chap. hi. 



bundles being now placed in the centre. When the leaves are 

 considered fit, they are carried to another shed, where, after being- 

 sorted and pressed, they are made into bales ready for shipment. 

 The stalks left after the first cutting grow again, and yield a second 

 and a third crop, which, though inferior in weight, show no 

 deterioration in quality. 



The industry thus recently established in Sulu Island has, 

 apparently, every prospect of success. By the manager of the 

 Deli Maatschappij the soil was pronounced superior to the best 

 ■ Siimatran ground. The natives, though sworn enemies of the 

 Spaniards, are tolerably friendly with the Germans and English, 

 and it is to be hoped that, when foreign capital is employed and 

 Spanish influence has become greater, the conversion of the jMrang 

 into the ploughshare may be not far distant, and that Sulu, from 

 a land of bloodshed and rapine, may in time become as peaceful 

 and agricultural as the Philippines. 



