S tr M A T R A* 
of the weftern wor!d. But thefe are partial and unfatisfa^Siory proofs^ 
of tertilk)r. The great increafe from the feed, is, as I have foggefted, 
more probably owing to the mode of fowing, than to fuperior richnefs 
of the land, and would nor appear if the European method of fcattering 
it were followed. Although in Manna they have got into the pradtjce 
of titling the ground, and derive from thence a produce of thirty for 
one, in open plains, it muft be obferved, that this is flill new lam!,, 
though not juft then cleared for the purpofe, and the fame fpot is 
doubtlefs not worked a fecond time till it has hin fallow. Every perfon 
who has attempted to make, on Sumatra, a garden of any kind, muft' 
well know how ineffectual a labour it would prove, to attempt turning up 
with the fpade a piece of ground adopted at random. It becomes neceifary 
for this purpofe, to form an artificial- foil, of dung, aihes, rubbiih, and^ 
fuch other materials as can be procured. From fuch alone he can ex-* 
pe€t to raife the fmalieft fupply of vegetables for ehe table. I hare fcen- 
many extenfive plantations of coco-nut, penang, and coifee*trees, laid 
out at a con fider able expence, by different gentlemen, and not one do I 
recoiled: to have fucceeded ; owing to the barrcnoefs of the country. 
Thefe difappotntments have ' induced the Europeans almoft entirely to 
negle^ agriculture. The more indufttious Chinefc colonifls who work 
the ground with indefatigable pains, and dung high, are rather more 
fuccefsful ; yet have I heard one of the moft able cultivators among this 
people who, by the dint of labor ami perfcverancc, had raifed a de- 
lightful garden near Fort Marlborough', defigned for profit as well as 
pleafurc, declare, that his heart was almoft broke in H toggling againft 
nature; the foil being fo ungrateful, that inftead of obtaining a return- 
for his trouble and expcnce, the undertaking was likely to render him a. 
bankrupt ; and which he would inevitably have been but for affifknce. 
afforded him by the India Company. The natives, it is true, without 
much or any cultivation,, raife fome ufeful trees and plants, but they 
are in very fmall quantities, and immediately about their villages, wherot 
* Key Sooft : hh tafte in gardening was eiqulfitei and hJs affiduiiy unremitting. Some par- 
tjcular pilots, erpeciallj ihc tta^ he ufeJ to tell mc he conHdurcd as his children r Ills firft care 
In the morning, and [aft tit night was to tend and chcrifti them. 
T the . 
