l and situation alters considerably the value of the bark. Those trees
which grow in a high rocky soil have red shoots, and the bark is superior
to that which is produced in a moist clay, where the shoots are green. I
have been assured by a person of extensive knowledge that the cassia
produced on Sumatra is from the same tree which yields the true cinnamon,
and that the apparent difference arises from the less judicious manner of
quilling it. Perhaps the younger and more tender branches should be
preferred; perhaps the age of the tree or the season of the year ought to
be more nicely attended to; and lastly I have known it to be suggested
that the mucilaginous slime which adheres to the inside of the fresh
peeled rind does, when not carefully wiped off, injure the flavour of the
cassia and render it inferior to that of the cinnamon. I am informed that
it has been purchased by Dutch merchants at our India sales, where it
sometimes sold to much loss, and afterwards by them shipped for Spain as
cinnamon, being packed in boxes which had come from Ceylon with that
article. The price it bears in the island is about ten or twelve dollars
the pecul.

RATTANS.

Rattans or rotan (Calamus rotang) furnish annually many large cargoes,
chiefly from the eastern side of the island, where the Dutch buy them to
send to Europe; and the country traders for the western parts of India.
Walking-canes, or tongkat, of various kinds, are also produced near the
rivers which open to the straits of Malacca.

COTTON.

In almost every part of the country two species of cotton are cultivated,
namely, the annual sort named kapas (Gossypium herbaceum), and the shrub
cotton named kapas besar (Gossypium herboreum). The cotton produced from
both appears to be of very good quality, and might, with encouragement,
be procured in any quantities; but the natives raise no more than is
necessary for their own domestic manufactures. The silk cotton or kapok
(bombax) is also to be met with in every village. This is, to appearance,
one of the most beautiful raw materials the hand of nature has presented.
Its fineness, gloss, and delicate softness render it, to the sight and
touch, much superior to the labour of the silkworm; but owing to the
shortness and brittleness of the staple it is esteemed unfit for the reel
and loom, and is only applied to the unworthy purpose of stuffing pillows
and mattresses. Possibly it has not undergone a fair trial in the hands
of