1841.] Its Antiquity as an Article of Commerce. 143 



to it. I knew moreover that for time out of mind the people of the Pro- 

 vince of Arracan and of Burmah in general, had used it for all sorts of 

 work ; that moreover Roxburgh alludes to it, and that in fact it was an 

 article well known in India. What was my surprise at rinding from 

 Dr. Royle that so ignorant were, and still are, the authorities at the 

 London Custom House of the nature of this substance, that they positively 

 deny that it is a raw material, and will consequently only admit it as a 

 ' Manufactured article', which entails the payment of a duty that the oil 

 itself would never sell for. In his recently published work on the 

 productive resources of India, Dr. Royle has pointedly alluded to this 

 lamentable ignorance on the part of the London Custom House authorities 

 of some of the products of India. 



To return to remarks on the station. The bazar is clean and well ar- 

 ranged. Beside the various roads young timber trees have been planted. 

 These are not in the most flourishing condition. It may surprise some 

 to be told that after so recently denuding the soil of the jungle, that trees 

 should again be planted, but arborescent avenues would be a great 

 ornament, serve to keep down temperature, and not to promote sickness. 

 Many of those now planted are dead and it will be many years before any 

 will assume a commanding appearance. 



The people are decidedly superior in physical conformation to the 

 Bengallees. They are an athletic and intelligent race. Their agricul- 

 tural and mechanical appliances show it, and in their dealings with the 

 Europeans they evince an independence of character that surprises a 

 person accustomed to the manners of the obsequious Asiatic. 



The harbour abounds with fish, and I was particularly struck at the ease 

 and facility with which a daily supply was obtained for breakfast. 

 Half an hour before the usual time for eating the meal the word was passed 

 for ' Mutchee mar.' At which command the boatmen took the net and 

 proceeding to the beech threw in the lines, and in ten minutes three or 

 four fine mullet were presented to the cook. 



Besides these mullet, the pomfret are noted for their high flavour, and 

 the oysters are of an excellent kind. At certain seasons, at the close of 

 the rainy months, innumerable boats go off to Combermere Bay, an ex- 

 tensive but somewhat shallow roadsted, contiguous to Kyok Phyoo har- 

 bour, and here fish for the polynemous, the sounds of which they cure in 

 large quantities, and sell to the China junks which annually pay a visit to 

 the coast for the purpose of trading for these and other articles. It is the 

 opinion of a gentleman, who has had opportunities of making abundant en- 

 quiries, that the fishing for isinglass might be conducted to a great extent. 



