320 



ORIENTAL COMMERCE. | Bengal to the Malay. 



reduced to powder, it is roasted in pits, and a quantity of pure tin is obtained 

 by this first process. 



Provisions and Refreshments. — Bullocks and buffaloes, wild hogs, 

 and deer are to be had; also common poultry, but not in abundance. 

 Rice and various vegetables, with several kinds of tropical fruits, are to be 

 procured. The water is good, and got with little difficulty. 



Coins and Weights. — All kinds of Indian coins pass current here ; 

 but the preference is given to Spanish dollars. They have not the small 

 cash in circulation, as at Acheen and other places. They have certain pieces 

 of tin, shaped like the under half of a cone, called poot, which are used on 

 the island as money, weighing about three pounds : these are also their 

 weights: — 



3 Punchors... equal to 1 Poot. 



+ Foots „ l Vis. 



10 Vis, , l Captn. lbs. oz. dr. 



8 Capins , ! flahar = 48o .5.5$ avoir. 



which is equal to (H Bengal factory maunds. The China pecut is in use 

 here, by which tin is generally sold; the price varying from 12 to 16 Spa- 

 nish dollars per pecul. 



ANDAMAN ISLANDS. — This group comprehends the Great and 

 Little Andaman, and the small islands in the vicinity ; they are situated on 

 theE. side of the Bay of Bengal, about three degrees from the Coast of Te- 

 nasserim. 



GREAT ANDAMAN is about 43 leagues long from N. to S., and 

 its breadth varies from G to 10 leagues. About 5 leagues from the N. ex- 

 treme of the island, on theE. side, is Port Cornwallis, inlat l.T 20 N. and 

 long. 92° 51' E., a very good bay and harbour, so named from Admiral 

 Cornwallis, who was anxious to make it a naval station. The dwellings of 

 the natives are the most wretched hovels imaginable ; three or four posts 

 stuck in the ground, and fastened together at the top in the form of a 

 cone, over which a kind of thatch is formed with the branches and leaves 

 of trees. The people are ferocious, crafty, and revengeful, and the least 

 civilized of any perhaps in the world. 



These islands are covered with wood, fit for building and many other 

 purposes ; the most common are the poon, dammer. ebony, soondry, and 

 bindy : many of them afford timbers and planks fit for the construction of 

 ships, and others might answer for masts. A tree grows here to an enor- 

 mous size, one having been found to measure 30 feet in circumference, pro- 

 ducing a very rich dye, which might be of use in manufacture. 



