Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/452

 436 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF and every where forms a valuable branch of his in- come, or of the revenue of the state. This value, however, is of course not equal, and depends upon the situation and the circumstances connected with the caverns in which the nests are found. Beingr often in remote and sequestered situations, in a country so lawless, a property so valuable and ex- posed is subject to the perpetual depredation of freebooters, and it not unfrequently happens that an attack upon them is the principal object of the warfare committed by one petty state against an- other. In such situations, the expence of afford-. ing them protection is so heavy that they are ne- cessarily of little value. In situations where the caverns are difficult of access to strangers, and where there reigns enough of order and tranquillity to secure them from internal depredation, and to admit of the nests being obtained without other expence than the simple labour of collecting them, the value of the property is very great. The ca- verns of Karaiig-bolang, in Java, are of this de- scription. These annually afford 6810 lbs. of nests, which are worth, at the Batavia prices of 3200, 2500, and 1200 Spanish dollars the picul, for the respective kinds, nearly 139,000 Spanish dollars, and the whole expence of collecting, curing, and packing, amounts to no more than 11 per cent, on this amount. The price of birds* nests is, of course, a monopoly price, the quantity produced 6