SUMATRA. . <?7 
extent of Tea coafl:. Tbe']^|)cV pikritatibns aii^'fi'iSdingr tbgeAW/tEVG 
in great mcafu re exhaufted the lold woods, -in" the dcceflfttile'rart^ of the 
counrVy, and the mhabitanrs are therein deprived of ni' foarce of fertility 
which, ^nature formerly fuppUed. They muft either fl:aTTe> remove their 
platitations, or cultivate the earth, ' The firft is cohtrary to the inheircnt 
principle which teaches man to prefcrve life by every pofllble means : 
Their attachment to their mtak folumy or rather their veneration for the 
fcpulchres of their anfceftor*, 15 fo ftrong, that to remove, would coft 
them a llruggle equal almoft to the i^angs of death : Neceffin' therefore, 
the parent of art, obliges fhem to eultivate the earth. The produce of Rate of pro~ 
the grounds thus tilled, is reckoned at thirty for one: from the lad- 
dangs in common, it is about fixty to eighty. The fliwoors are gene- 
rally fuppofed to yield an increafe of an hundred for ohe, and infome of 
the northern parts (at Soofco) an hundred add twenty. Thefe returns are 
very extraordinary, compared with the produce of our fields in Europe, 
which, I believe, fe!dom exceeds fifteen, and is often under ten. What 
is this difproportion owing to? Perhaps to the difference of grain, as 
rice may be in it's nature extremely prolific : perhaps to the more ge- 
nial influence of a warmer climate : perhaps the earth, by an exceflive 
cultivation, lofes by degrees her fecundity. An attention to the obfer- 
vations and reports of travellers, would feem to give cauntenance to this 
fuppofition. Peru, which may be called new land, is faid to yield four 
or five hundred for one. Babylon, anciently, two to three hundred. 
Lybia an hundred and fifty, Egypt an hundred. Yet of the two lat- 
ter, modern naturaliils inform us, the one produces, at this da}^ but 
ten to twelve, and the other from four to ten, for one. The Peruvian 
account 1 fufpedt of exaggeration,, or that it is the refult of fome par^ 
ticular and partial experiment, as it is well known what, a furprizing. 
crop may be procured from a fmall quantity of prain, Town feparately^ 
and carefully weeded. The other accounts afe probably juft, but. the 
falling ojET in thefe countries, as well as the difference between the Eu- 
io|Tean and eaUern produce, 1 attribute, mor£ than to any other, c^ufe^ 
to the different flylc of cultivation. With us the faving of l^bor and 
^jromj^ting of expedition, ace cfee c^iief o|3je£t5, and in 9rc},er to cfFe£t 
thefe 
