Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/527

 ARTICLES OF IMPORTATION. 511 gress in improvement, the scarcity of iron deserves a prominent place. Previous to the enlargement of the Indian trade of Great Britain, in 1814, Swe- dish iron was seldom under ] 3 Spanish dollars per picul, or 49s. ^d. per cwt., and often rose to 20 Spanish dollai's the picul, or Jos. 7d. per cwt. Iron is imported into the Archipelago wrought and tmxvroiight, and in the form of steel. The quantity of wrought iron, however, is very incon- siderable. The descriptions of imwrought iron brought to the market are Swedish and British, the first always bringing 18 per cent, higher than the second. In the earlier period of our free trade with the islands, the principal demand was for Swedish iron, but of late, the native workmen hav- ing got into the method of forging British iron, three-fourths of the wliole quantity now consumed is of this last description. Bar-iron, from two to three and a half inches broad, and not more than half an inch thick, is the form best suited to the market. The whole quantity of iron sold in Java, for its own consumption, and for distribution to the countries in :ts neighbourhood, to which it is conveyed by native vessels, is about 23,000 pi- culs, near 28,000 cwt., or 1400 tons, worth, at an average, about 100,000 Spanish dollars, or L. 22,500. Swedish steel in small bars, of not more than half an inch square, to five-eighths of an inch, will generally find a ready market. Bars of