*\n\n, on ttie hktkt. vi.vr. 



The expense of cultivation and cleaning the cotton 

 —about 1,100 drs. i,fter the first cost— will l>e 

 nearly 2,000 drs. >e. rly. 



SIUIU, OR THE BETEL VINE, 



The Malays are great consumers of betel. . Cus- 

 tom frequently changes beauty t o d Tonnity and 

 tails it lovely— *o it is with the Malay. The best 

 looking persop of this ctym — for there are numerous 

 li:u).U».ne individuals of bbtu sexes in it, notwith- 

 standing the generally received and sceptical opinion 

 to the eo i Iran — very speedily mars hi> ^u >d links, 

 in an European eye, by an iimn m1 & at a USO <>t" thq 

 h tel mixture. It is, li cvmt, a \.n JiannVss in InU 

 genee and perhaps serves to check the intemperate 

 h^. of more demoralizing luxuries. The u.su of the 

 leaf, by itself, would n u excite d->- usiiuir inipressiorts 

 and would be salutary as an aromatic, but ihe hetero- 

 genous compound of the leaf, areca. shclt-linic, t mac- 

 co, and gambirl! — Well, let it pass, no moral injury 

 is sustained from its use by any iudix ulual, or (he 

 community. The old men earn about with them a 

 sort of metal tube, haviiiL- a ramrad-l > >kin# pestle 

 with which they busy themselves in p >;nulin^ the 

 mixture. The youn$ make daily nut-era-kcrs of their 

 jaws, and although the mixture, prrhaps, rather tends 

 to preserve the teeLh, still the exercise on the nut 

 must be a little too violent for them, and the Malays 

 say ii injures tfie si^ht. The Chinese are not much 

 a (dieted tq the use of betel. 



IJcfel-leaf is a commodity which jftfl hoar exporta- 

 tion to a considerable distance, It canM >t be preserv- 

 ed, in a sound state,' beyond eight days ; but by being 

 prepared over a fire and rimed into balls, in w hich 

 state it is called chenm, it will keep a jrear, only the 

 quality is much deteriorated. The b£tel nat* raised 

 in Penaog ami in Province Weliesley exceeds the con* 



