TRADE OF THE AUROU ISLES. 337 



80,000 dollars, and at least one-half of Iier cargo 

 consists of British goods. Taking the yearly average 

 of thirty proas, and the amount of her import 

 cargo at the lowest above stated, this will give 

 150,000 dollars, or £32,500 sterling, as the amount 

 of British goods imported annually into Dohbo. 

 This appears a large amount ; but it will be found, 

 upon examination, that it is rather under than 

 above the actual value. In fact, the greater portion 

 of our cotton manufactures sold at Singapore is 

 consumed in the less civilized parts of the Indian 

 Archipelago, where the natives prefer cheap goods 

 and gaudy patterns ; while the people of Java, 

 Celebes, &c. prefer their own or Indian manufac- 

 tures, which, although dearer, are far more durable 

 than ours. 



The value of a return cargo of a Bughis proa 

 at Singapore is about 200 per cent, on the out- 

 lay. Of the timber of the Arrou Islands there are 

 several varieties, highly spoken of by the Bughis 

 (who build and repair their proas there) for their 

 durability, and the ease with which they are worked. 

 Although of immense size, the trees are almost in- 

 variably sound ; and as they can be felled within a 

 few yards of the beach, it is not impossible that 

 at some future period timber may form a valuable 

 article of export. 



The western islands of this group are very 

 thinly inhabited. Wamma, though nearly forty 

 miles in circumference, contains only between 200 



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