682 



DEUGS, KA.EC0T1CS, ETC. 



vented the Indian Government, within less than ten years, from more 

 than doubling the cultivation of the poppy and the manufacture of 

 opium. The Directors tell us that the heavy transit duty charged 

 at Bombay is to discourage production, but they do not say whether 

 that discouragement applies, as one would imagine, to those 

 foreign districts which have to pay the transit duty for their pro- 

 duction. If so, the assertion is again at variance with facts, 

 because in a sul3sequent statement they say, " It is stated that 

 neither the price of opium, nor the extent of cultivation in Malwa, 

 has been affected by the great enhancement of the pass duty, which 

 has taken place since 1845." 



The following will show that the Company loses no opportunity 

 of applying the screw :— 



The subjugation of Scinde afforded opportunity for the levy of a higher rate. 

 Down to the period of that event, a large portion of the opium of Malwa had 

 heeu conveyed through Scinde to Kurrachee, and thence onward to the Portu- 

 guese pftrts of Diu and Demaun. That route is now closed, and it waa 

 reasonably expected that an advance might be made in the charge of passes 

 without the risk of loss to the revenue from a diminished demand for them. 

 The rate was accordingly increased in October, 1843, from 125 to 200 rupees 

 per chest. Upon the principle that it was desirable to fix the price at the highest 

 amount that cov:li be levied, without forcing the trade into other channels, a 

 further increase was made in 1845. when it was determined that the charge 

 should be 300 rupees per chest. TJnfler the like views it was, in 1847, raised to 

 400 rupees per chest. 



The company was perfectly correct, for though the quantity of 

 opium did not increase, the revenue did ; and whilst in 1840-41 

 16,773 chests yielded an incoii.rf of only 22,046,452 rupees — 

 16,500 chests brought in 1849-50 actually 72,094,835 rupees into 

 the coffers of the Grovernment of Bombay. But the people of 

 India earned not a pice by it, and those richest descriptions of 

 land, which it was so desirable to reserve for other produce than 

 the poppy, remained barren. 



The white variety of the poppy is that which is exclusively 

 brouglit under cultivation for the production of the drug in India 

 and i^iiy pt. For the successful culture of opium a mild climate, 

 plentiful irrigation, a rich soil, and diligent husbandry are indis- 

 pensable. One acre of well cultivated ground will yield from 70 lbs. 

 to 100 lbs. of " chick," or inspissated juice, the price of which 

 varies from 6s. to 12s. a pound, so that an acre will yield from 

 £20 to £60 worth of opium at one crop. Three pounds of chick 

 will produce one pound of opium, from a third to a fifth of the 

 weight being lost in evaporation. A chief cliemical feature, which 

 distinguishes Bengal opium from that of Turkey and Egypt, is the 

 large proportion which the narcotine in the former bears to the 

 morphia, and this proportion is constant in all seasons. It is a 

 matter of importance to ascertain whether the treatment which 

 the juice receives after its collection can influence in any way the 

 amount of alkaloids, or of the other principles in opium. In 

 Turkey it is the custom to beat up the juice with saliva, in Malwa 

 it is immersed as collected in linseed oil, whilst in Bengal it is 



