Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/435

 ARTICLES OF EXPORTATION. 419 cording to quality, the comparative value of which may be stated in figures as follow, 105, 45, 18. Benzoin is valued in proportion to its whiteness, semi-transparency, and freedom from adventitious matters. According to its purity, the first sort may be bought at the emporia to which it is brought at from 50 to 100 dollars per picul, the second from ^5 to 45, and the worst from 8 to ^20 dol- lars. According to Linschoten, benzoin, in his time, cost, in the market of Sunda Calapa, or Jacatra, from 19y^, to ^5j^ Spanish dollars the picul. By Neibuhr's account, the worst benzoin of the Indian islands is more esteemed by the Arabs than their own best oUbaniim^ or frankincense. In the London market, the best benzoin is fourteen times more valuable than oUbanum, and even the worst 2j times more valuable. Benzoin usually sells in England at 10s; per lb. The quantity ge- nerally imported into England, in the time of the monopoly, was 312 cvvts. The principal use of this commodity is as incense, and it is equally in request in the ceremonies of the Romish, the Ma- homedan, the Hindu, and Chinese worships. It is also used as a luxury by the great in fumigations in their houses, and the Javanese chiefs are fond of smoking it with tobacco. Its general use among nations in such various states of civilization, and the steady demand for it in all ages, declare that it is one of those commodities the taste for which