Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/388

 372 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF culs, or 2,800,000 lbs. almost the whole of which is from the Indian islands. The whole quantity sent to Europe is 11,218,000 lbs. The peninsula of India is chiefly, though not entirely, supplied with the produce of Malabar, and so are the coun- tries on the Persian and Arabian Gulf. The coun- tries lying between Siam and China are supplied with their own produce, of which it would be in vain to conjecture the amount. The home con- sumption of the Indian islands is very trifling. Coffee^ although not a native product of the In- dian islands, — ^but recently known in their commer- cial history, — and still nearly confined to one island, is one of the most important articles of trade. As mentioned in the agricultural portion of the work, coffee was introduced into Java in the early part of the eighteenth century, to which, with the excep- tion of a suLill quantity of indifferent produce^ grown on the west coast of Sumatra, which occa- sionally finds its way into the market of Calcutta, it is still confined. The soils and countries in which the coffee and pepper plants thrive are ex- tremely different. The soil which suits coffee must be fertile and good. Pepper is more indis- criminate, and thrives in a much inferior soil. The lands suited for both are at present in such abund- ance, that they scarcely bear any rent ; but scarci- ty will naturally be first felt in coffee lands, and tliis circumstance will sooner render coffee high