THE ORCHILLA WEED. 25 



F. Melo, (who speculates in orchilla weed,) 

 situated in the Plaza, which displays taste and 

 neatness both in the exterior and interior of its 

 arrangement : on the lower land, behind the 

 house, he has laid out with much labour an ex- 

 tensive garden, well irrigated, and in which 

 European and tropical vegetables, fruits, and 

 elegant flowering plants, were thriving in 

 luxuriance, and ' sufficiently proved that even 

 in that sterile spot, industry and perseverance 

 could surmount almost any difficulty. At the 

 house of this gentleman, I had an opportunity 

 of seeing some excellent specimens of the 

 orchilla weed ; this valuable production of the 

 vegetable kingdom is indige-nous to this and 

 other islands of the group, as well as to Madeira, 

 the Canaries, and the coast of Barbary; it is the 

 Roccella tinctoria of botanists,* and is held in 

 high estimation for the purplish dye it yields, 

 and I believe, excepting the cochineal, is the 

 only dye that possesses a mordant in itself. This 



** (In June, 1831.) " Canary orchilla fetches in the Lon- 

 don market from 270/. to 290/. per ton, while that which is 

 brought from Madeira fetches only 140/., and Barbary not 

 more than from 30/. to 45/. The total quantity imported in 

 1829, amounted to 1,813 cwt. or 90^ tons."—" Archil is 

 generally sold in the form of cakes, but sometimes in that of 

 moist pulp." — M'-CullocJis Diet, of Commerce. 



