384 PAPER-MAKING IN INDIA. 
It is objected that pulp from unwoven fibres does not draw 
through the present machinery so well as that made from rags. 
A modification of machinery would remedy this. But it is pro- 
bable that if the half-stuff were made from the clean bark 
without first separating the fibres, these might probably be so 
entangled as to answer some of the effects of the weaving. 
As rags have to be collected, cut, cleaned, and bleached, the 
Author cannot but think that the primitive method of using the 
bark of suitable plants and trees will afford both a cheap and 
an effectual substitute. Besides which the supply of rags must 
come short of the increasing demands of the world for paper. 
Bengal and the east coast of the Bay of Bengal, as well as 
the Malabar or west coast of India, are the places where the 
growth of suitable materials, from the warmth and moisture of 
the climate, is most abundant, and the conveyance by sea is 
at the same time most easy. In Arracan the price of Bast, 
even made into rope, is one rupee per maund. (v. p. 238.) 
As the greatest natural riches would be of little value unless , 
they could be made available at reasonable rates, the Author 
consulted Mr. Henley, who is practically well acquainted with 
the usages of the people and the rates at which their services 
may be obtained. He has favoured the Author with letters 
on the subject, and has also published a paper in the ‘ Journal 
of ‘the Society of Arts’ for 1854, p. 486. He there observes : 
“Jt is to India we must look for extensive and cheap supplies, 
for it is there alone we find the necessary conditions of very low- 
priced and intelligent labour, with an abundance of elementary 
suitable materials; and that as articles of small price are par- 
ticularly sensitive of charges, such as of freight, &c., it is only 
by large operations that an average of low charges can be 
accomplished.” 
Suitable materials being abundant, he proposes that it should 
be reduced to the state of half-stuff by the aid of the Dhenkee, 
already mentioned at p. 86, as an instrument to be found in 
almost every house in Bengal, being used for husking rice, the 
preparation of tobacco, of drugs, dye-stuffs, and brick-dust. 
The charges to London, including freight, insurance, ex- 
change, dock, and in fact all commercial charges, he estimates 
at £7 per ton weight. It is necessary to specify the ton weight, 
as the ton for freight would be only 16 cwt. The cost of 
