Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/394

 378 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF manuflictured in the Indian islands is of the de- scription called clayed. The sugar in manufactu- ring is formed in pots, the lower part of which be- ing the worst clayed, and the upper the best, this circumstance determines the commodity into two qualities in the market. The manufacture is en- tirely in the hands of the Chinese. To these the Euroj^ean resident merchants make advances, and the produce is delivered at the end of the manu- facturing season. I have already attempted to es- timate the cost of growing sugar in Java, and stat- ed it at ^j-j^ Spanish dollars the picul of 136 lbs. The European merchants at present contract with the planters at the following rates : — For the best picul of 136 lbs. avoirdupois ; and for the brown from four to four and a half dollars, or an average for both of five Spanish dollars. It is usually sold to the exporter for about eight dollars the white, and six or seven the brown. These high prices, and a free culture and trade in the commodity, have been, within the last few years, the cause of an immense increase in the culture of the sugar cane. This has been most remarkable in the rich districts of the eastern part of the island. In 1813, the quantity of sugar produced in the cen- tral districts did not exceed 10,000 piculs, or 12,14(2'^ cwts. In 1818, it had increased six-fold, or was 60,000 piculs, or y-^S^y} cwts. The quan-
 * ivhite sugars from five to six and a half dollars the