128 
SURVEY OF THE INTERTROPICAL 
ISIS. 
June 
5—13. 
not the season for fruit, we only procured some 
shaddocks, a few bad oranges, and some indif- 
ferent limes. At the Chinese shops we procured 
rice, sugar-candy and coffee, but all these 
articles were dear, and of very inferior quality : 
this supply was, however, very acceptable to 
us; and, had we not afterwards discovered that 
every thing could have been procured at half the 
price, we should have been well satisfied with 
our bargains. 
A fleet of Malay proas were lying at anchor in 
the bay, and two small trading vessels were in 
the river, one of which was undergoing a repair 
that was very creditable to the shipwrights of 
this place. 
The only exports that the island produces are 
bees-wax, honey and sandal- wood ; these <are 
purchased and exported by the Chinese mer- 
chants, who are plentifully distributed over the 
town, and form the greater proportion of its popu- 
lation*. Its imports are very trifling, for the 
Batavian government annually supplies the es- 
tablishment of Coepang with all its wants. 
The port-charges of twenty dollars for every one 
hundred tons burden are so exorbitant, that 
* M. Arago, in his account of Captain de Freycinet s late voy- 
age round the world, estimates the inhabitants of Coepang at 
1500, of which 1000 are slaves, and 300 Chinese. 
