the poor diftreffed Indian, foftens the 
acutenefs of poignant reflection, and de- 
kehts the imagination with an Utopia of 
bhis. No wonder, then, that thefe inoffen- 
five affociates of human {ociety fhould feek 
a foftener of their cares which nature had 
allotted them in the recefles of theircountry. 
’ In no quarter of the earth has Providence 
omitted to {catterits beneficence : fhe has 
every where provided an afylum for the 
afflicted, a folace to. the oppreffed, and 
the means of comforting and exhilarating 
human nature under the fevereft trials. 
The areka-nut is moft frequently met 
with in Siam, the Moluccas, Cambodia, 
and Cochin-China. It is more prolific 
along the eaftern coaft of the Bay of Ben- 
gal, and flourifhes in the neighbouring 
wiles of Sumatra, Pulo Penang, &c. 
The Eaft-India Company purchafe the 
ammonian, a meafure of twenty thoufend 
arekas, or about 260 |b. weight, for about 
2000 fettees, equal to 9s. 6d.-Englih, 
although individuals pay equivalent to 
three-pence a pound. ‘The betel is culti- 
vated in moft parts of India, and turns 
round props like the hop-plant. The 
leaf approaching the laurel, and the blo!- 
fom the pear, 1¢ makes a pretty appear- 
ance; and the leaf, with the areka and 
chunam, a lime produced from calcined 
fells, furnithes one of the greateft luxu- 
ries in the Eaft:—it is every where 
prefented as the firft offering of friend- 
thip, and confidered in every ftation as 
the emblem of the higheft re{pect. The 
foil beft adapted for the culture of the be- 
tel is a rich loam or heavy clay, and, like 
the manchineal of Barbadoes, it fkirts the 
coafis of the ocean. Jt may not perhaps 
be irrelevant at this place to take notice 
of acircumftance of the manchineal, net 
lefs fingular than the betel’s attaching itfelf 
to the areka, and their being fo com- 
bined as to correét the too potent 
qualities contained in them feparately, 
that might otherwife defeat the end for 
which they were defigned. In every 
place where the manchineal grows, it 
is accompanied by a protective plant, 
that affords a juice which ftops the pro- 
grefs of the poilon, and fecures the unfor- 
tunate perfon from becoming its victim. 
In like manner the rattlefnake-root is a 
"fate antidote againit the bite of that rep- 
tie. The value of the nut, when pur- 
chafed in this country, is from 3s. 6d. to 5s. 
a pound, which, when properly levigated 
pi oduces not mere than from three to four 
ounces. The marks to’ ditinguifh their 
guodnefs are being free from holes, or any 
appearance where grubs have inferted 
Arka Nut.—Female Clothing. 
[March 1; 
themfelves, pale colour, and, when broke; 
clear, and thickly marbled with red, 
purple, or dark veins.- They wall run in. 
number from feventy to eighty in the 
pound avoirdupoife. For a more detailed 
account I refer my readers to the Ency- 
clopedia, Raynal’s Indies, Fenning, Po- 
met, Grofe, &c. 
If my fuggeftion in recommending it as 
a commodity worthy of enlarged importa- 
tion be accepted in the opinion of any In- 
dia adventurer, I fhall feel fatishied im 
having been the promoier of an article, 
which, from my experience of its quali- 
ties, is entitled to every attention of the 
philofophical and commercia} branches of 
fociety ; and it will procure to me the great- 
eft pleafure fhould it prove beneficial in 
any other manner than that which I have 
ftated. Iam, Sir,°your’s, &c.5..%, 
Cuas. CRawFurRD HUTCHINSON. 
Seymour-fireet, Dec. 9, 1805. 
i LL 
To the Ediior of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
CONFESS that J am an -Id fellow, 
Ji but Tam not willing to allow that, 
what I am going to fay is dictated by that. 
circumftance. In faét it is the great re- 
gard I have always borne the feir-fex, and 
which is by no means extinguifhed, that 
prompts me on the prefent occafion. Sir, 
our ladies are at this time lamentably ex- 
pofed to two oppofite dangers—from cold 
and from heat—both owing to the mate. 
rials and fafhion of their drefs. It feems 
as if, along with the attempt to turn day 
into night, which has fucceeded but too 
well, adefign was adopted of changing 
the frigid zone into the torrid, which I ap- 
prehend is beyond the reach of haman in- 
genuity to effect. The materials of fe- 
male cloathing are now (thanks to the 
inventive talents of the Manchefter maou- 
faéturers) almoft entirely of cotton, and 
that of che fineft and flendereft fabric. 
Every lady now, in her full-drefs, or ra- 
ther undrefs, is an Oriental queen, ora 
princefs of the Fortunate Iflands, floating, 
like a bird of Paradife, in a cloud of airy 
plumage, {carcely palpable to the touch. 
Shrouded from head to foot in combuf 
tibles, fhe adds a length of.train reaching 
beyond any common eftimate of perional 
proximity ; and every fudden turn in the 
neighbourhood of a fire ora candle expofes 
her to as much hazard as the moth flutter- 
ing round the evening-taper. Seldom a 
week pailes withouc fome dreadful ftory of 
a female martyr to fathion, whofe fufferings 
exceed thofe of former martyrs to religion 
at 
