Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/460

 444 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF picul, to 20, to 50, to 7«5, to 110, and to as high as 115, according to quality. Tortoise-shell is a valuable article of the com- merce of the Archipelago. The tortoise is found in all the seas of the Archipelago, but in greatest abundance in those in which the sea- slug abounds, particularly the east coast of Celebes, the coasts of the Spice Islands, and those of New Guinea. Towards the western parts of the Archipelago, the animal is smaller, the shell thinner, and of course much less valuable. Those engaged in fishing the tripang combine with it that of the tortoise, and about 200 piculs, Q.GyQ>QQ'i lbs. of shell are annually brought to Macassar by them for exportation to China, where the price is from 300 to 350 Spanish dollars the picul, 701 per cent, less than the prices in the London market. This very tortoise-shell is again re-exported to Europe, affording a pointed example of the bene- ficial consequences of the free trade of the Chinese, and the flagrant injustice and impolicy of the re- strictions upon the intercourse of Europeans with those countries. The valuable productions which are obtained on the very coasts of the islands which the latter occupy, are here seen to be forced into a foreign market, where they must be collected before they can find their way to their final destination. PearlSy and the mother 'Of -pearl oyster, are pro- ductions of the seas of the Indian islands. The