COMM£ItCJ4J:. XilANSAGTIONS, 



389 



wllich object he Iiad brought dnllais, oftium, 

 iron, lead, ami steel. Most of tlie heanled pfeii- 

 tlcmeu were traders in tlic Areka-iiiit ; I>ut n 

 tallj thin, elderly, aiid shrewd old man, was tlie 



Foaroii and the rajah, for thie latter, like most 

 rajalis, had but little to say on tlu' affair, and 

 from being young, had merely to approve of 

 whaiever m» itaiia* 'Riis agent, whom we de- 

 slgnit^ Mkisief ^ iks Board ^ Tm^C' 

 proved tofm imele to the ])resent rs^aJi^ t& 

 CiTCnmstanee aeconnted for his liaving so much 

 to do with the government Litiairs. After some 

 common-place conversatioa, the commercial 

 biisi]i639 iaia?oduced ; sam|>tes) m msmn^ 

 of dm q^mlity 6f to nuts were sht*wn ; mSi aja 

 arrang'enient was entered into between the par- 

 ties for the delivery f>f three thousand [u'culs in 

 ten days, at tlie rate of one and a-half dollars the 



p^ul, ^teel^ fea4 ^ M&mi being given 



many writiW'B cotiSi^tenhg it the fruit of ttie «* Kper feetel,* 

 or Betel vine, the leaves of wliicli are used with the Arcka- 

 DUt a$ a masticatory ; but as the whole mixed together, and 

 6aten by the natives, constitutes what is called ** chewli^ 

 the betel" by Europeans, the nut probably derived its 

 commercial a|»peUstti0JJ from that source. The confusion 

 eJcistlng betwC^ the h.tt3^ palm, producing the nuts, and 

 the Betel vincj by most writers, Ims i^t}i^ pi^lQiliiscrt cTriij 

 expkimt&ry note. 



