CULTURE  AND  COMMERCE  IN  OPIUM  IN  ASIA  MINOR.  365 
it  in  gray  calico  bags,  which  they  seal  and  place  in  a  wicker 
basket  of  oblong  shape  ;  a  very  light  weed  is  strewed  between 
the  cakes,  to  prevent  them  from  sticking  together,  and  in  this 
condition  it  is  brought  down  to  Smyrna.  And  here  it  must  be 
mentioned  that,  while  Smyrna  is  the  market  proper  for  all  the 
Opium  grown  in  Asia  Minor,  nevertheless  a  very  small  quantity 
finds  its  way  to  the  Constantinople  market  direct.  The  Opium 
remains  in  the  baskets  undisturbed  till  sold,  and  it  is  only  on 
reaching  the  buyer's  warehouse,  that  the  seals  are  broken,  and 
that  the  cakes  are  for  the  first  time  exposed.  This  takes  place 
before  buyer,  seller,  and  public  examiner,  the  last  mentioned  of 
whom  then  goes  through  the  process  of  examining  it  piece  by 
piece,  and  should  either  buyer  or  seller  entertain  a  different 
opinion  than  his  respecting  any  of  the  pieces,  they  are  put  aside 
and  carefully  re-examined  at  the  end. 
There  are  three  qualities  of  Opium,  viz  :  the  *  Prime,  the 
Current,  and  the  Inferior  Opium,  or  Chikintee  ;  a  fourth  quali- 
ty might  be  said  to  exist,  if  we  take  to  account  the  adulterated 
cakes,  which  are  either  entirely  false,  or  a  mixture  of  Opium 
with  sand,  gums,  eggs,  etc.,  in  fact  any  thing  considered  least 
liable  to  detection.  The  prime  consists  either  in  the  extra  ex- 
amination of  the  baskets,  or  what  is  more  generally  the  case,  in 
the  Opium  grown  at  certain  districts.  The  current  is  the  mer- 
cantile, or  bulk  of  the  crop,  and  the  Chikintee  is  that  rejected 
from  both  the  prime  and  current  qualities.  Quality,  however, 
is  generally  understood  by  the  name  of  the  place  the  article  is 
grown  at,  and  admitting  that  some  places,  on  the  whole,  produce 
superior  Opium  to  others,  how  far  this  may  be  correct  in  the  case 
of  a  particular  purchase  is  too  obvious  to  require  any  comment. 
Besides,  .if  place  was  a  reliable  guide  as  to  quality,  we  come  to 
the  question,  how  is  that  of  one  place  to  be  distinguished  from 
that  of  another ;  of  this  we  have  a  good  illustration.  The 
sales  effected  at  the  end  of  the  season,  as  Opium  coming  from 
*  Known  in  this  market  under  the  name  of  Terly,  which  word  means 
"  of  this  place,"  viz  :  that  grown  round  about  Smyrna,  implying  thereby 
that  only  this,  and  the  whole  of  it,  is  prime  ;  so  far  from  this  being  cor- 
rect, there  are  in  the  vicinity  of  Smyrna  some  places  producing  very  bad 
Opium,  while  in  some  of  the  farthest  districts  the  quality  is  first  rate. 
