406 



HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



pose that this latter — the cotton plant, was un- 

 known to the Egyptians ; and that if they pos- 

 sessed cotton cloth at all, it was imported from 

 India. The absence of all appearance of cotton 

 amid the profusion of linen cloths which enve- 

 lope their mummies, would also confirm the sup- 

 position, that, if not unknown, at least cotton 

 cloth was extremely rare among them. 



Pliny, however, in his work on Natural His- 

 tory, describes the cotton plant as a small shrub 

 growing in Upper Egj^pt, called by some xylon, 

 and by others gossypium, the seeds of which are 

 surrounded by a soft downy substance of a dazz- 

 ling whiteness, and which is manufactured into 

 a cloth much esteemed by the Egyptian priests. 

 This was five centuries after the time in which 

 Herodotus wrote, and during this period the 

 plant may have become more common. 



In the present day the cotton plant is culti- 

 vated to a considerable extent in the Levant. 

 From Pliny's account it would not appear that 

 cotton was much used at Rome, even in the first 

 century of the Christian era, nor for many cen- 

 turies afterwards was its use introduced into 

 Europe. But in the ninth century the Arabians, 

 who were then in possession of Egypt, appear to 

 have used cotton cloth for their ordinary gar- 

 ments ; for one of the first remarks of two Ara- 

 bian travellers, who went to China at that pe- 

 riod, was, that the Chinese, instead of wearing 

 cotton as they and their countrymen did, chiefly 

 used silk stuffs. 



It is probable, then, that the cotton plant first 

 came from Persia to Egypt, from thence it spread 

 into Asia Minor, and latterly to the islands of the 

 Archipelago. In the time of Tournefort, who 

 visited these islands, Milo was celebrated for its 

 cotton. The cotton now raised in small quan- 

 tity in the Cyclades possesses that dazzling 

 whiteness which Pliny describes as the property 

 of the Egyptian cotton. 



It is a question not now easily solved, whether 

 the cotton plant was originally a native of the 

 "West India islands and the continent of America. 

 It is said that a species of cotton is found grow- 

 ing wild in some parts of America, distinct from 

 that which the European settlers introduced 

 from the old world ; and it is also affirmed that 

 the Mexicans, when first discovered, wore cot- 

 ton garments stained with most vivid and bril- 

 liant colours, an art practised by the Aztecs, 

 but which is now entirely lost. There can be 

 no doubt, however, but that the colonists who 

 took possession of the southern states of North 

 America, disregarding the native productions of 

 the soil, introduced the cotton plant from Smyr- 

 na at an early period of their settlement, and 

 its culture has continued and greatly extended 

 ever since. In Georgia the most abundant crops 

 are annually produced of very superior cotton, 

 known for the length and fineness of its fibre. 



According to Humboldt, the cultivation of the 

 cotton plant in the United States has increased 

 in a prodigious ratio, and the production of cot- 

 ton continues to be an object with the Americans 

 of growing importance. " Sea Island " and 

 "Upland" cotton are the terms used in com- 

 merce to designate the cotton which comes from 

 Georgia. " These hierogly^ihics in the Liverpool 

 News," are fully explained in Captain Basil 

 Hall's entertaining narrative of his travels in 

 North America. 



Near the Georgian coast are several small 

 islands. It is on these insular spots that the 

 finest cotton is grown, and from these it takes 

 its name, which, however, is borrowed, in order 

 to class under the same head cotton raised at va- 

 rious places on the main coast, and also in the 

 swampy regions bordering on most of the great 

 rivers. That which grows farther from the sea, 

 and at a higher level, has acquired the name of 

 upland cotton, and is of inferior quality. 



The cotton tree is cultivated in most of the 

 West India islands ; and in South America this 

 branch of agricultiu-e has long been an object of 

 attention. Until a very recent period, cotton 

 formed one of the principal articles of exporta- 

 tion from Demerara; but its increased and 

 cheaper production in many other countries has, 

 notwithstanding the great and constantly in- 

 creasing demand, lowered its price so consider- 

 ably, that the Demerara planters have found it 

 more to their advantage gradually to convert 

 their cotton into sugar plantations. Much, how- 

 ever, is still grown in other parts of Guiana, and 

 is kno^vn in commerce as Demerara cotton. 



Among other nations, the Egyptians have, 

 within the last few years, enormously increased 

 the production of this article, and have become 

 formidable rivals to other cotton cultivators. A 

 very large quantity of an excellent quality is 

 annually exported thence, to the great prejudice 

 of the Smyrna and other markets. 



In 1825 more than a hundred thousand bags 

 of cotton were exported from Egypt to Great 

 Britain ; and although the supply has not con- 

 tinued so excessive as in that year of excitement 

 and speculation, yet the importation thence still 

 continues much beyond that from the whole 

 West India islands. In the same year, and in 

 1826 and 1827, the exports of Egyptian cotton 

 to France, entirely through the port of Marseil- 

 les, were immense. In 1828 and 1829 there was 

 a glut. The immense depai'tment of the laza- 

 retto of Marseilles, devoted to the reception of 

 this and other products from plague countries, 

 was then literally crammed with Egyptian cot- 

 ton. 



The cultivation of cotton is very extensively 

 pursued in China; and in the time of Alexander 

 the Great it was grown and spun in the Penj-ab. 

 This valuable indigenous production did not be- 



