Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/373

 ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 857 this work, it is stated that much time is saved, and a drug of unifonn quality always obtained. This consists simply in drawing off the fluid from the steeping vats when the first fermentation has taken place, without waiting for a second, which only injures the quality of the Jceciila, without adding to their quantity. Specimens of this uniform drug are considered by English dyers as equal to good Bengal indigo. It is considered that it is manu- factured for about one rupee, or 2s. 3d. a-pound, and might be exported nearly at this price. Of fruits, tamarinds alone constitute an ar- ticle of foreign exportation. Java is the princi- pal exporting country. The best, which are of a very dark colour, nearly indeed black, and with a very large proportion of pulp to the seed, are the produce of the depending island of Madura. Those exported from one country of the Archipe- lago to another are merely dried in the sun. Such as are sent to Europe are cured with salt, and packed in tubs, weighing from two and a half to three piculs. The price paid by the resident mer- chant to the natives is as low as one and a half Spanish dollar the picul. They cost the mer- chant exporter about three dollars. Black pepper constitutes a great and valuable article of the exportations of the Indian islands ; which, indeed, afford by far the largest portion of what is consumed throughout the world. In the