Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/160

 144 DOMESTIC AND INTERNAL higher departments of mercantile adventure are al- most solely in the hands of strangers, encouraged for ages to settle in the country by the supineness of the natives, and the natural wealth of the land. These foreigners, whose character I have al- ready drawn, are natives of Hindustan, Chinese, Arabs, and Europeans. Of the Asiatic dealers, the Chinese are the most useful, numerous, and distinguished. They here occupy the same situa- tion which the Jews did among the barbarians of the middle ages of Europe, except that, perhaps, as they are placed under circumstances more favourable, they are more frequently engaged in the pursuit of fair mercantile speculation, and seldomer in the invidi- ous one of lending to spendthrifts at high interest. The different foreign merchants residing in the Archipelago take their rank in the extent of the dealings they conduct, according to the civilization of the nations to w^hich they belong. The high- er branches are in the hands of the European mer- chants, and the details of intercourse with the na- tives of the country fall naturally into the more supple management of the Arabs, the Telingas, and Chinese, better fitted, from manners and cha- racter, for a direct intercourse with them. The natives of the Indian islands are far enough from having amved at that period of civilization in which skilful measures are pursued by the public