59 
f 
This tract of country had also been the 
means of diminishing the value of our 
Opium, and Arrack Farms, by which the 
Revenue sustained a great loss ; considera¬ 
ble quantities of Opium, for smoaking, 
being prepared there, which, with Arrack 
made on the spot, were smuggled over. 
There w r as also another very important 
consideration, which shewed the necessity 
i 
of acquiring some territory on the Conti¬ 
nent ; our supplies of Rice had hitherto 
been imported from Queddah, it was 
therefore*!! the poiver of the King, at any 
time, to prevent the Exportation, which, 
if only delayed a few weeks, would reduce 
the Settlement to the utmost distress: any 
internal commotion, in the country, a 
scarcity, or the caprice of a Malay, w ould 
prove equally fatal to us. By acquiring 
a tract of Land on the Continent, ive 
should be put in complete possession of 
the Harbour, and thereby forever preclude 
