DYES ±yJ) COLOEIXG STUrTS 



common white fustic from Jamaica and the Spanisli Main fetches 

 only £5 10s. to £8 10s. the ton, that of Cuba realizes from £8 to 

 £9 10s. the ton. 



Sappa^t Wood {Gcesalpinia Sappaii) is an article of considerable 

 commerce in the East. It is the bukkum wood of Scinde, and is 

 procured in Mergui, Bengal, the Tenasserim Provinces, Malabar 

 and Ceylon, In 1842 as much 78,000 cwts. were shipped 

 fi'om Ceylon, but the export from thence has decreased. This 

 island, however, sliips dyewoods annually to the amount of £2,000. 

 A large quantity is exported from Siam and the Philippine Islands : 

 as much as 200,000 piculs annually from the former, and 23,000 

 piculs from Manila. 3,524 piculs were shipped from Singapore 

 in 1851, and 4,074 piculs in 1852. The picul is about one cwt. 

 and a quarter. Sappan wood yields a yeV lor, like that of 



Brazil wood (C. hrasiliensis) but it does e . \ of dye matter 



so much in quantity or so good in quality. 



It forms a large export from Ceylon : the shipments from 

 thence were, in 1842, 77,694 cwt.; in 1843, 1,692; in 1844, 2,592 ; 

 in 1845, 2,854. I have no detailed returns at hand, but in 

 1837, 23,695 piculs of sappan wood, and 2,266 piculs of roots of 

 ditto were shipped, and in the first six months of 1843, 22,326 

 piculs were exported from Manila; a large portion of this comes 

 to Europe, but some goes to China, the TTnited States, Singapore, 

 &c. 15,500 piculs were shipped from Manila in 1844, 5,250 

 ditto in 1845] and 1,210 tons in 1850. About 3,000 pic-ols of 

 sappan wood and the same quantity of other dye-stuffs are an= 

 naally imported into Shanghae. The price of straight sappan wood 

 at Shanghae in July, last year, was thii-ty dollars per picul. 



In Calcutta, in June last year, 4,000 piculs of the root of 

 Manila sappan wood sold freely at about 7s. 6d. per factory 

 maund, Siam ditto 6s. 



75 tons were imported into Liverpool in 1849 ; and 120 tons in 

 1850. from Calcutta. The imports of sappan wood into the United 

 Eingdom, in 1850, amounted to 3,670 tons, worth £8 to £12 the 

 ton, and this continued the price in January 1853. 



Camwood, red sanders wood, barwood, and other dye woods, are 

 found in great quantities in many parts of Africa. The dyes of 

 Africa are found to resist both acids and light, properties which 

 no other dyes seem to possess in the same degree. About thirty 

 miles east of Bassia Cove, in the republic of Liberia, is the com- 

 mencement of a region of unknown extent, where scarcely any tree 

 is seen except the camwood. This boundless forest of wealth, as 

 yet untouched, is easily accessible from that settlement; roads can be 

 opened to it with little expense, and the neighbouring kings would 

 probably give their co-operation to a measure so vastly beneficial 

 to themselves. It is impossible to ascertain the exact amoimt of 

 export of these commodities to Europe and the United States, but 

 it is very great, and employs a large amount of vessels. One 

 Liverpool house imported 600 tons in a single year, worth £9,000, 



