Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/371

 ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 355 among whom the price of corn is above seven times dearer than where it grew, * — is sent back by the same tedious voyage by which it came, — enters in- to competition with the manufactures of the coun- try, after paying heavy duties, — and finally drives them out of the markets by its cheapness and su- periority. This is one of the proudest and most unquestionable triumphs of the arts and sciences of a civilized people. The principal countries of the Archipelago in which cloth is manufactured for ex- portation are Java, Bali, and Celebes. More seems to depend on the quality of the raw material than the skill of the manufacturers. The cloths of Ce- lebes are the best, for they are fabricated from the fine cottons of Lamboc, Butung, and Mangarai. The cloths of Java, though cheaper in comparison, are coarser. Indigo, for reasons stated in the agricultural part of the work, has never constituted an important ar- ticle of the commerce of the Indian islands. The soil and climate are, indeed, peculiarly well suited to the growth of the plant, but the rude state of na- tive society, and the pernicious principles of Euro- pean government which have prevailed, have denied 7s. 5d, per quarter, and Hour at 52s. per quarter, the same quantities of each being supposed to go equal lengths as nu. triraent, on an estimate of the habits and constitution of the two races of men who respectively consume them.
 * Calculating rice at fifteen Spanish dollars per coyan, or