Chapter XXVII: Appendix (1)

_State of Commerce in the year 1833, at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Condensed and brought into Form from Various Documents._

There _arrived_ 1704 national vessels, and _departed_ 1629; and _arrived_ 696 foreign vessels, and _departed_ 617.

The _exports_ consisted of the following articles, viz.:--

Valuation.
Coffee, 577,764 bags and barrels 10,494,576 000
Sugar, 15,000 boxes, 11,204 barrels,
and 7,217 bags 1,459,513 500
Hides, 187,530 754,048 880
Horns, 380,242 48,922 340
Rice, 14,248 bags 80,276 000
Rum, 3,492 pipes 192,928 000
Tobacco, 15,919 rolls 158,584 500
Ipecacuanha, 458 barrels and bundles 59,880 000
Tapioca, 937 barrels and bags 3,002 000
Cotton, 196 bales 1,488 000
Timber, 1,633 dozens 40,860 000
Tanned half hides, 5,210 20,987 000
Gold, diamonds, &c. 2,400,000 000
--------------
Valued at 15,715,060 820
--------------
Mil Reis. Rs.
The _imports_ were valued at 16,560,372 752
The _revenue_ amounted to the sum of 4,847,952 550

There were imported 184,000 barrels of flour, including 13,000 barrels on hand, on the first of January; and there were exported 48,500; and there were on hand, the first of January, 1834, 35,000, which gave 100,500 barrels consumed--164,185 barrels were imported from the United States, and 6,815 barrels from Europe and elsewhere.

The number of foreign vessels despatched during the year, were 565, measuring 149,746 tons, of which,

208 were English, measuring 53,985 tons.
167 „ American „ 50,410 „
7 „ Austrian „ 1,771 „
5 „ Belgian „ 1,149 „
16 „ Danish „ 4,688 „
26 „ French „ 7,252 „
6 „ Spanish „ 1,059 „
3 „ Dutch „ 1,225 „
13 „ Hamburgh „ 3,919 „
6 „ Montevideo „ 1,054 „
4 „ Neapolitan „ 815 „
40 „ Portuguese „ 7,327 „
26 „ Sardinian „ 5,661 „
21 „ Swedish „ 5,496 „
2 „ Tuscan „ 382 „
2 „ Russian „ 1,366 „
3 „ Bremen „ 904 „
1 „ Roman „ 158 „
9 „ Argentine „ 1,116 „

There were shipped, by American vessels to the United States, 236,708 bags of coffee, and to Europe, 67,043 bags; making 303,751 bags, &c., which is upward of one half of the whole quantity exported.

Production of coffee throughout the world, in 1833:--

Pounds.

Brazil 92,432,240
Java 40,000,000
Rest of India and Arabia 30,000,000
Cuba 50,000,000
Porto Rico 15,000,000
St. Domingo 40,000,000
British West Indies 20,000,000
French „ 15,000,000
Dutch „ 10,000,000
Spanish „ 10,000,000
-----------
Total pounds 322,432,240

Consumption of coffee in 1833, copied from an Antwerp newspaper:--

Pounds.
Low Countries 90,000,000
Germany and the Baltic 70,000,000
Spain, Portugal, and the Mediterranean 65,000,000
England and Ireland 25,000,000
France 24,000,000
United States 80,000,000
-----------
354,000,000
-----------

Pounds.
In 1830, Brazil produced 391,785 bags 62,685,600
„ 1831, „ „ 430,672 „ 68,907,530
„ 1832, „ „ 513,296 „ 82,127,360
„ 1833, „ „ 577,764 „ 92,432,240

Being an increase of nearly fifty per cent., from 1830 to 1833.

Coffee consumed in the world:--

Tons.
The consumption in Great Britain, is about 10,000
„ „ France „ 20,000
„ „ Netherlands „ 40,000
„ „ Spain and Portugal „ 10,000
„ „ Germany and the Baltic „ 32,000
„ „ United States „ 15,000
-------
127,000

This quantity is produced as follows:--

British West India Islands 13,390
Java 20,000
Cuba 15,000
St. Domingo 16,000
Dutch West India Colonies 5,000
French ditto and Bourbon 8,000
Brazil and S. Main 32,000
-------
109,390

Population of Brazil in 1819, continued:--

Whites 843,000
Indians 259,400
Free casts 426,000
Ditto blacks 150,500
Black slaves 1,728,000
---------
3,406,900
---------

Produce: 100,000 cases sugar, of 15 qtt., of 128 pounds each.
150,000 bales of cotton, 12,500,000 pounds.
Between 12 and 13 millions pounds of coffee.

[A]

_Of the Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Malayan Peninsula, and particularly of the Negroes called Semang._

This subject has afforded matter of curious and interesting speculation, to several writers of modern date. Marsden, Leydon, Raffles and Crawfurd have alternately bestowed a slight attention upon it; but it is one which requires more minute investigation, and would amply repay the labours of the philosopher.

Of the _interior parts_ of the Malayan peninsula, which is the Suvarna or Gold island, one of the three sacred isles of the Hindoos [a] and the _grand depot_ for souls after death, [b] there is little known even at the present day, and the researches which have hitherto been made, regarding the Aboriginals of this portion of the East, have as yet been exceedingly defective, and unattended with any satisfactory result. “In our present state of knowledge,” as a late author observes, “I fear we must pronounce that the origin of the nations which inhabit the Indian islands seems buried in unfathomable obscurity, and hardly appears less mysterious than that of indigenous plants and animals of the country they inhabit.” [c] Mr. Marsden, in the introduction to his Malayan grammar, has quoted the opinion of Sir S. Raffles, (then Mr. Raffles, secretary to the governor of Prince of Wales island,) who published a paper on the Malay nation, in the twelfth volume of the Asiatic Researches, relative to the Aborigines of the peninsula. “The Malays,” observes this author, “seem to have occupied a country previously unappropriated, for, if we except an inconsiderable race of Caffrees who are occasionally found near the mountains, and a few tribes of the Orang-Benua, there does not exist a vestige of a nation anterior to the Malays in the whole peninsula. As the population of the peninsula has excited much interest, my attention has been particularly directed to the various tribes stated to be scattered over the country. Those on the hills are usually called Semang and are woolly headed; those on the plains, Orang-Benua, or people belonging to the country; the word Benua being applied by the Malays to any extensive country, as Benua China, Benua Kling, but it appears to be only a sort of Malay plural to the Arabic word Ben or Beni, signifying a tribe.” [d] This hypothesis, however, is satisfactorily confuted by Marsden, who asserts that Benua is a genuine Malay word signifying country, region, land, and that a slight variation of the word, as Whennua or Fennua is found in the Bisagan dialects of the Philippines, and the languages of the South Sea islands, bearing a precisely similar signification. In my inquiries among the Malays, I have not been able, however, to discover that the term Orang-Benua (which is literally Aborigines or people of the land) is ever applied to any particular race of the Malayan peninsula, the supposed Aboriginal tribes being styled Sakei or Orang-Bukit, Orang-Laut or Semang. According to the Malayan legends, indeed, there is a race of wild people said to be found in the interior of Buman, the boundary between the states of Perak and Salengore, designated Tuah-Benua [e] by the Salagorians, and known at Quedah by the name of Mawas. They are represented as bearing a strong resemblance to the Mawa or long-armed gibbon, and instead of having a bone in the lower part of the arm, they have a piece of sharp iron which serves the double purpose of an arm and a cleaver for cutting wood. There is another savage race, according to the Malays, called Bilian, who are covered with hair, and have nails of extraordinary length. Their principal occupation is said to be tending the tigers, which are their peculiar flock, as the buffaloes are of the Malays. In rainy nights, they are represented by the Malays as sometimes coming to their residence and demanding fire, which those who are acquainted with their savage disposition, hand them upon the point of a sumpit or arrow tube, or at the extremity of a sword; as were the person to present it with his hand, he would inevitably be seized and devoured by the savage monster, a fate, which the credulous Malay firmly believes, has befallen many. It is admirable how the Mahometans of the present day even, assign to these regions inhabitants so aptly coinciding with the mythological superstitions of the Hindoos. Fitter subjects could not indeed be attributed to the sovereign of darkness, whose abode is said to be in the peninsula of Malacca, than the Mawas and Bilian races above described; whose appearance is quite consistent with what some intelligent Christians even, consider as the imps of the infernal regions, and it is still more remarkable that the supposed residence of the Mawa species is, according to the Malays, in the very neighbourhood of the city of the Hindoos, yama-pari, or the _grand depot_ for _souls_ after death. Another circumstance deserving of notice is, that the Menang-Kebans of Sumatra, supposed to be the primitive Malays, “deduce their origin from two brothers named Perapati See Batang and Kei Tumunggungan, who are described as being among the forty companions of Noah in the ark, and whose landing at Palembang, or at a small islet near it named Lauha Pura, (probably the small island of Lucepara) is attended with the circumstance of the dry land being first discovered by the resting upon it of a bird (Perapati is literally a pigeon) that flew from _the vessel_. From thence they proceeded to the mountain named Sigantang-Gantang, and afterward to Priangan in the neighbourhood of the great volcano, which at this day is spoken of as the capital of Menang-Kaban.” [f] There is a mountain called Gunon-Gantang in the Perak country, the supposed Yama-puri, and what is still more extraordinary, the king of Perak, in opposing the claims of the Siamese to a Boonga-Mas or Golden Flower, in a letter to a friend, says, “I am he who holds the royal sword and the dragon Betel Stand, and the shell fish which came out of the sea, which came from the hill of Segantang.” I do not profess myself to be sufficiently conversant with the subject, to reason farther on this singular coincidence, but it appears to me that many curious inferences might be drawn from it, and I shall leave the matter for the investigation of a more scientific pen.

[a] Sir S. Raffles remarks: “Farther investigation may, perhaps, establish Java and Sumatra, or rather the Malayan ports, (in which general term, we may include all the islands containing the Malayan ports,) as not only the Taprobane or Taprovana of the ancients, but also the sacred isles of the Hindoos.” See History of Java, vol. i., page 5.

[b] “As Ptolemy places Ma-Lancapuri in the same longitude with the Pauranies, he must have used the same data, which he had, probably, received from the Hindoos, whom he conversed with at Alexandria. Ma-Lanca being, according to the Pauranies, in the centre of the peninsula, it must be of course in about four degrees of latitude north, and there it is placed by Abul Fayil, and in 4°. 20′, by Ptolemy. Ma-Lanca is called, in the Pauranies, Yamala and Malaya, which last denomination it still retains. It is styled also Chanchan-apuda, or with the Golden Skirts. It may be translated the country of the Golden Feet, a title assumed by the emperor of Ava, and other kings of that part of the world: and the Malayan _breeze_ is as famous in the East, as the _Sabaean_ in the west, and its capital was also called Saba or Zaba. In the beginning of the Brahmanda-purans, it is declared, that the stronghold of Yama Tri-_cuta_, that is to say, the peninsula of Malacca, is one hundred yo-janas long, and thirty broad, which is sufficiently accurate. Ptolemy mentions, there is a place, called Malaioncolou, probably, from the Sanscrit, Malaya-Culum, which implies a place on the borders or shores of Malaya; the same is called Maletur by Marco Polo; Malayatir and Malaya-Culom, are synonymous.[A] It is singular, that the city of Canca-Nagera, or Ma-Lancapuri, is placed by Ptolemy in the exact latitude of the river Dinding, in the Perak territory, (which is known as the _Temala_, or Land of Tin, of the same author,) and which is, no doubt, the same city alluded to in the Sejara Malaya, or Malayan Annals, written in the year of the Hajeirat, 1021, or a little more than two centuries ago. It is therein mentioned, that Rajah Suran Padshah, (said to be a descendant of Alexander the Great,) formed the design of subjugating China, and for this purpose his men-at-arms, and the rajahs dependant on him, assembled from every quarter, with their hosts, to the number of one thousand and two lacs. With this prodigious host, he advanced against China, and in his course, forests were converted into open plains--the earth shook, and the thickets moved--the lofty grounds became level, and the rocks flew off in shivers, and the large rivers dried up. Two months he marched on without delay, and the darkest night was illuminated by the light of their armour, like the lustre of the full moon; and the noise of the thunder could not be heard for the loud noise of champions and warriors, mixed with the cries of the horses and elephants. Every country which Rajah Suran approached, he subdued and reduced under his subjection, till at last he approached the country of Gangga Nagara, the rajah of which was named Ganggi Shah Juana, which city is situated on a hill of very steep approach in front, but of easy access in the rear.[B] Its fort was situated on the banks of the river Dinding, in the vicinity of Perak.” It is also worthy of notice, that there are two rivers under this mountain, which bear the name of Sangah Kechil and Sangah Besar, or the small and great Laugah. It will also be observed, by a reference to any of the charts of the straits of Malacca, that there is an island, called Callum, or Collong, which forms the straits of the same name, and which are about a day’s sail from the Dindings. There is a river of the same name on the main, from which much tin is exported, and which is, perhaps, the Malaion-Colon of Ptolemy, and Malaya-Culum of the Sanscrit, notwithstanding the powerful arguments against such a supposition. It must not be omitted to notice besides, that there is another river to the southward of Colong, called Langar, which bears such a striking affinity to Lanca. An intelligent author (Mr. Crawford) asserts, that ‘The word Kolon is, without any alteration, Javanese, and means the west, and the compound word, Malayu-Kolon, exactly in the order in which it stands, means, ‘Malays of the west;’ and there is an unanswerable objection against supposing Malayu-Kolon to be on the Malayan peninsula, or supposing this to be the Golden Chersonesus or Khruse, at all, which will occur at once to every one familiar with the well-known history of the Malays. It is this--in the age of Ptolemy, and for many ages after it, the Malayan peninsula was uninhabited, or inhabited only by a few negro savages, resembling the cannibals of Andaman, wretched beings, with whom there could have been no intercourse, or at least no commerce. Malays did not emigrate from Sumatra, their parent-country, and settle in the Malayan peninsula, until the comparatively modern period of 1160, a thousand years after the time of Ptolemy, while Malacca was not founded until 1252, and every other Malay state, on the peninsula, is of a still more recent foundation.’--History of the Archipelago, vol. iii. p. 190, 191.

[A] Major Milford’s Essay on Asiatic Researches, vol. x., pp. 144, 145, 146, 147.

[B] Forrest alludes to a remarkable mountain in this quarter: “Gunang Jantong, hanging hill, is remarkable, near Laroot river.”

[c] Crawford’s Archipelago, vol. i. p. 36.

[d] We are informed by Marsden, that the Sumatrans are firmly persuaded that various particular persons are what they term “betuah,” (sacred, invulnerable, not liable to accident.) The belief which prevails in that island, however, among the Malays, of the transmigration of souls, does not extend to the Malays of the peninsula, who have spirits and imaginary beings of their own, among which we may safely reckon the Mawas and Bilian. Mr. Marsden says of the Sumatrans: “They have an imperfect notion of a metempsychosis, but not in any degree systematic, nor considered as an article of religious faith. Popular stories prevail among them, of such a particular man being changed into a tiger, or other beast. They seem to think, indeed, that tigers, in general, are actuated with the spirits of departed men, and no consideration will prevail on a countryman to catch or to wound one, but in self-defence, or immediately after the act of destroying a friend or relation. They speak of them with a degree of awe, and hesitate about calling them by their common name, (ariman or machang,) terming them respectfully sewa, the wild animals, or even nenck, (ancestors,) as really believing them such, or by way of soothing them, as our ignorant country-folks call the fairies ‘the good people.’”

[e] In the history of Sumatra, there is a description of two races of wild people on that island, called Orang Kubu and Orang Gugu; the latter of whom seems to correspond with the description of the Bilian of the peninsula. “In the course of my inquiries among the natives,” observes Mr. Marsden, “concerning the Aborigines of the island, I have been informed of two different species of people, dispersed in the woods, and avoiding all communication with other inhabitants. These they call Orang Kubu and Orang Gugu. The former are said to be pretty numerous, especially in that part of the country which lies between Palembang and Jambi. Some have, at times, been caught, and kept as slaves, in Labun; and a man of that place is now married to a tolerably Kubu girl, who was carried off by a party that discovered their huts. They have a language quite peculiar to themselves, and they eat promiscuously whatever the woods afford, as deer, elephants, wild hogs, snakes, or monkeys. The Gugu are much scarcer than these, differing in little, but the use of speech, from the Orang Utau of Borneo, their bodies being covered with long hair. There have not been above two or three instances of their being met with by people of Labun, (from whom any information is derived,) and one of these was entrapped many years ago, in much the same manner as the carpenter, in Pelpay’s fables, caught the monkey. He had children by a Labun woman, which also were more hairy than the common race, but the third generation are not to be distinguished from others. The reader will bestow what measure of faith he thinks due to this relation, the veracity of which I do not pretend to vouch for. It has, probably, some foundation in truth, but is exaggerated in the circumstances.”--See History of Sumatra, p. 41.

[f] See History of Sumatra, pp. 332, 333.

At Perak, the principal tin country of the peninsula, there are two distinct races of wild people in the interior, the one called Semang, resembling those of Quedah in personal appearance, but speaking a different dialect, somewhat more civilized, and fond of collecting silver and gold, with which they ornament their spears and knives, which they obtain in exchange for the products of the wood; the others are called Orang-Sakei by some, and Orang-Bukit or hill-people by others. [g] They are much darker complexioned than the Malays, but fairer than the Semangs, and speak a distinct language of their own. They are not so timid as the Semangs, and sometimes come down to the Malayan villages to amuse the inhabitants by their peculiar dances and music. Their ordinary dress consists of pieces of bark beat out, tied round their middle, but in their woods they are frequently met quite naked. Both tribes are reported to be pretty numerous on the hills which divide the Perak from the Patani states, and they are often engaged in hostilities with each other. They are not so untractable as the Semangs, and some of their children are trained up as domestics in the Malayan families.

[g] This race of people seem to correspond in their appearance and habits with a tribe called Jokong, which Sir S. Raffles describes as being found near Malacca, (Asiatic Researches, vol. xii., p. 109): “I had an opportunity,” remarks this author, in his paper on the Malay nation, “of seeing two of these people, from a tribe in the neighbourhood of Malacca; it consisted of about sixty people, and the tribe was called Jakoons. These people, from their occasional intercourse with the Malayan villages, dependant on Malacca, speak the language well to be generally understood. They relate, that there are two other tribes, the Orang Benna and the Orang Udai. The former appears to be the most interesting, as composing the majority; the latter is only another name for the Semang or Caffres. They are not circumcised, and they appear to have received some instruction regarding Nabi Isu, or as they pronounce it, Nabi Isher. They, however, have no books, nor any word for God, whom they designate by the Portuguese word Deos. The men are well formed, or rather short, resembling the Malay in countenance, but having a sharper and smaller nose. They marry but one wife, whether rich or poor, and appear to observe no particular ceremony at their nuptials; the consent of the girl and the parents being obtained, the couple are considered as man and wife.”

The Orang-Laut is a race of people resembling the Malays in appearance, who live almost entirely on the water; they are certainly the Ichthyophagi of the East, and they subsist wholly upon fish. Dr. Leyden supposes the Battas of Sumatra to be the Ichthyophagi described by Herodotus; but there are several circumstances in his description which would seem to contradict such a supposition. The same author also, in alluding to the Batta Anthropophagi or cannibals of Sumatra, says: [h] “This inhuman custom is not however without a precedent in history, for Herodotus positively asserts that the Padang or Pedasi, about five hundred years before our era, were not only addicted to the eating of raw flesh, but accustomed to kill and eat their relations when they grew old.” Now it is curious that Batta or Battey, for the name is written both ways, seems to be the very word which in Greek, is rendered Padasi, the letter P being almost always pronounced B among several of the Indo Chinese nations, as in the word Pali, which is almost always pronounced Bali. The following is the account which Herodotus gives us of the Paday or Padasi:--“Another Indian nation, who dwell to the _eastward_ of these, (the Indian Ichthyophagi,) are of Nomadic habits and eat raw flesh; they are called Paday and are said to practise such customs as the following: whoever of the community, be he man or woman, happens to fall sick, his most familiar friends, if it is a man, kill him, saying, that by his pining in sickness, his _flesh_ will be spoiled for them, and though he deny that he is sick, they do not attend to him, but put him to death and feast on him. When a woman falls sick, she is treated in like manner by her most intimate female associates. They also sacrifice and feast on him who arrives at old age, and this is the reason that so few ever attain it, for they kill every one who falls sick, before that period.” [i] Although this account corresponds in some particulars with the habits of the Battas, yet it differs materially in others. The Battas, it is well known, inhabit the _central_ parts of Sumatra and but rarely approach the _seashore_; they could not therefore be termed Ichthyophagi, as they scarcely _see fish_. The Orang-Laut of the present day are not known to be addicted to cannibalism, though it is extremely probable they were in former times, as they _yet_ retain all the characteristics of the most savage life. They rove about from one island to another, and are found in greatest numbers about the Lancavy group of islands opposite Quedah, and likewise in the straits of Singapore, Dryon, Banca and Belitong. They subsist wholly by fishing, and are very expert at striking fish with the spear; they live principally in small canoes: sometimes when the weather is boisterous, or their little barks require repair, they erect temporary huts on the seashore: they are almost all covered with ring-worms and scorbutic eruptions, and have altogether a most squalid, wretched look; they are sometimes, when chance throws them in the way and they have become a little civilized, employed by the Malays to pull an oar, at which from their continual practice, they are very expert; “their religion is,” (as Symes says of the Andamaners,) “the genuine homage of nature,” offering up a hasty petition to the sun and moon. Of the origin of that most singular and curious race called Semang, [j] the Malays possess no tradition: certain it is, however, that the tribes of them which inhabited various parts on both sides of the peninsula, were much more numerous before many of the Malayan colonies were founded by emigrants from Sumatra. The Semangs are designated by the Malays Semang Paya, Bukit, Bakow and Bila. The Semang Paya are those who reside on the plains and borders of morasses; the Semang Bukit whose abode is on the _hills_, and the Semang Bakow are so called from their frequenting the _seashore_, and occasionally taking up their quarters in the mangrove jungles; the Semang Bila are those who have been somewhat reclaimed from their savage habits and have had intercourse with the Malays. A similar race of people are said to have formerly inhabited all the islands of the Archipelago, and small parties are still to be found on many of them. To the eastward they are called Dyake, and on the east coast of the Peninsula, Pangan. They are at present most numerous in the interior of Jan, a small river to the northward of Mirlow, near the lofty mountain Jerei, in the Quedah territory. There are small parties also in the mountains inland of Jooroo and Krian, opposite Pinang. Their huts are temporary dwellings, (for they have no fixed habitations, and rove about like the beasts of the forest,) consist of two posts stuck into the ground, with a small cross-piece, and a few leaves or branches of trees laid over to secure them from the weather; some of them indeed, in the thicker parts of the forest, where the elephants, tigers, and other wild animals are most abundant, make their temporary dwellings upon the cliffs, and branches of the large trees; their clothing consists chiefly of the inner bark of trees, having no manufactures of their own; a few who have ventured to approach the Malayan villages, however, obtain a little cloth in exchange for elephant’s teeth, gahru, dammer and canes, which they procure in the forest, but of the intrinsic value of which they possess little knowledge, and are imposed upon by the crafty Malay. From the Malays also, they procure their arms, knives and tobacco, of which last they make great use; they in turn frequently impose upon the superstitious Malays, when they have no products to barter and wish to procure a supply of tobacco, by presenting them with the medicines derived from particular shrubs and trees, which they represent as efficacious for the cure of headaches and other complaints. The Semangs subsist upon the birds and beasts of the forest and upon roots; they eat elephants, rhinoceroses, monkeys, and rats, and with the exception of the partial and scanty supplies which they obtain from the Malays, they have no rice nor salt: they are very expert with the sompit, and poison their darts with the ipoh, procured from the juice of various trees, which are deadly poison; they handle the bow and spear with wonderful dexterity, and destroy the largest and most powerful animals by ingenious contrivances. They seldom suffer by beasts of prey, as they are extremely sharpsighted, and as agile in ascending trees as the monkeys. Their mode of destroying elephants, in order to procure their ivory or their flesh, is most extraordinary and ingenious; small parties of two and three lie in wait, when they perceive any elephants ascend a hill, and as they descend again, (which they usually do at a slow pace, plucking the branches as they move along,) while the hind legs are lifted up, the Semang, cautiously approaching behind, drives a sharp-pointed bambic or piece of weebong, which has been previously well hardened in the fire, and touched with poison, into the sole of the elephant’s foot, with all his force, which effectually lames the animal and most commonly causes him to fall, when the whole party rush upon him with spears and sharp-pointed sticks, and soon despatch him. The rhinoceros they obtain with even less difficulty. This animal, which is of solitary habits, is found frequently in marshy places, with its whole body immersed in mud, and part of the head only projecting. The Malays call them bodak tapa, or the recluse rhinoceros. Toward the close of the rainy season, they are said to bury themselves in this manner in different places, and upon the dry weather setting in, and from the powerful effects of a vertical sun, the mud becomes hard and crusted, and the rhinoceros cannot effect its escape without considerable difficulty and exertion; the Semangs then prepare themselves with large quantities of combustible materials, with which they quietly approach the animal, who is aroused from his revery by an immense fire over him, which being kept well supplied with fresh fuel, soon completes his destruction and renders him in a fit state to make a meal of; the projecting horn on the snout is carefully preserved, being supposed to be possessed of medical properties, and highly prized by the Malays, to whom they barter it for tobacco and other articles.

[h] On the language and literature of the Indu Chinese nations. (As. Res. vol. 10, 202, 203.)

[i] Herodotus, Lib. 3, s. 99.

[j] Dr. Leyden, in his disquisition on the language and literature of the East, makes mention of the negro-tribes as follows: “The Papuas, termed by themselves Inglote, but by the Spaniards of the Philippine islands, ‘Nigritos del Monte,’ from their colour of woolly hair, are the second race of Aborigines in the Eastern isles, in several of which they are still to be found, and in all which they seem to have originally existed. Some of these divisions have formed small savage states, and made some advances towards civilization; but the greater part of them, even with the example of more civilized races before their eyes, have betrayed no symptoms, either of a taste or capacity for improvement, and continue in their primary state of nakedness, sleeping on trees, devoid of houses or clothing, and subsisting on the spontaneous products of the forest, or the precarious success of their hunting and fishing. The Papuas, or Oriental negroes, seem to be all divided into very small states, or rather societies, very little connected with each other. Hence their language is broken into a multitude of dialects, which, in process of time, by separation, accident, and oral corruption, have nearly lost all resemblance. The Malays of the peninsula consider the language of the blacks of the hills as a mere jargon, which can only be compared to the chattering of large birds, and the Papua dialects in many of the Eastern isles, are generally viewed in the same light.” See As. Res. vol. x. p. 218.

A more simple and natural mode of bestowing names cannot well be imagined, than that adopted by the Semangs: they are called after particular trees: that is, if a child is born under or near a cocoa-nut, or durian, or any particular tree in the forest, it is named accordingly. They have chiefs among them, but all property is in common; they worship the sun. Some years ago, I am told, the bindahava or general of Quedah, sent two of these people for the inspection of some of his English friends, at Penang; but shortly after leaving Quedah, one of them, whose fears could not be appeased, became very obstreperous, and endeavoured to upset the small boat, in which they embarked; the Malays, therefore, with their usual apathy and indifference about human life, put the poor creature to death, and threw him overboard; the other arrived in safety, was kindly treated, and received many presents of spades, hatchets, and other implements, which he appeared to prize above every thing else. On his return to Jan, he built himself a small hut, and began to cultivate maize, sugar-cane, and yams, and it is said that he is still there, and is a quiet inoffensive man. This man was, at the time of his visit to Penang, according to report, about thirty years of age, four feet nine inches in height: his hair was woolly and tufted, and of a glossy jet-black; [k] his lips were thick, his nose flat, and belly very protuberant, resembling exactly the natives of the Andaman islands. The Semangs are found also at Tringand, on the eastern side of the peninsula. I am informed by the Malays that the dialect of that tribe is different from those of Quedah, but much the same as of those near Malacca: they are not of such a jet-black, glossy appearance as the Semangs from Quedah, nor as the Andamans. There is little doubt that the degenerate inhabitants of the Andaman islands, in the bay of Bengal, are descended from the same parent stock as the Semangs, and it is extraordinary that they have preserved the same uniformity of manners and habits, through such a series of ages. It will be seen by a reference to the following specimen of the Semang language, that there is a very material difference in many of the words collected by Colonel M’Lunes, (late Malay translator at Penang,) from a Semang or Jan, and published by Mr. Crawfurd, and those collected by Mr. Maingy, the president of Province Wellesley, (government of Penang,) from the Semang of Jooroo, and that the Andaman language bears no resemblance to either.

[k] “The East Insular Negro,” says Crawford, “is a distinct variety of the human species, and evidently a very inferior one. Their puny stature and feeble frames cannot be ascribed to the poverty of their food, or the hardships of their condition, for the lank-haired races, living under circumstances equally precarious, have vigorous constitutions. Some islands they enjoy almost exclusively to themselves, yet they have in no instance ever risen above the most abject state of barbarism. Wherever they are encountered by the fair races, they are hunted down like wild animals of the forest, and driven to the mountains and fastnesses, incapable of resistance.” (Crawford’s Archipelago, vol., i. p. 26.) Sir Everard Home gives the following description of a Papua negro, carried to England by Sir S. Raffles, Hist. of Java, vol. ii., Appendix, p. 235: “The Papua differs from the African negro in the following particulars: his skin is of a lighter colour, the woolly hair grows in small tufts, and each hair has a spiral twist. The forehead is higher, and the hind head is not so much cut off. The nose projects more from the face, the upper lip is longer and more prominent, the lower lip projects forward from the lower jaw to such an extent that the chin forms no part of the face, the lower part of which is formed by the mouth; the buttocks are so much lower than the negro as to form a striking mark of distinction, but the calf of the leg is as high as in the negro.”

_Specimens of the Semang Language in two Dialects, and of the Andaman._

English. Semang Jooroo. Sensing Jan or Andaman.
Quedah.

Earthquake Talila
Land Teh Karmon Teh Tatonguangu
Mountain Maidap Tabing Chubak
Plain Teh Haita
Sand Pasain
Island Paloo
Road Ha
Water Ho Bateao Migway
Sea Lawat Lant
River Sungei Sungai
Flood Pasing
Ebb Suit
Sun Milkatok Milkatok Allag
Moon Bulan Kachit Tabei
Stag Binting
Rain Ujar Oye
Fire Us Mona
Smoke E’el
Lightning Kilat
Thunder Kai
Wind Bioh
Cloud Miga
Dark Tin, Amea
Light Cha hai
Cold Gun, Amad Choma
Hot Pedee Mooloo
Black Belteng Belting Cheegheoga
Charcoal Auggu Mannying
Ashes Tebut Tapip
Cloth Budbud Panzah
Tree Kuing Chuck
Leaf Klee
Rattan Latei
Bough Teboa
Flower Bungei
Rice Bei Bayas
Salt Ceam Siyah
Milk Boo
Teeth Kabis
Life Gamas
Sick Myi
Fever Maa
Smallpox Champang
Man Tumbal Teunkal Camolon
Woman Mabei Badon
Virgin Kedah
Father Kan Ai
Mother Boh Mak
Brother Tobai Inak
Sister Wan-Ku-Man
Infant Wang Wanganeg
Husband Tee
Marriage Goon
Body Pee
Mine Eng
Flesh See
Bone Gehee Aieng Geetonggy
Blood Muhum Cochengohee
Head Kula Kuyi Kai Tabay
Face Mid
Ear Pal Anting Quaka
Mouth Tenut Ban
Tooth Lemum Yus Maboy
Tongue Litig
Belly Koad Cheong Napoy
Nipple Bou Chas
Hand Tong
Fingers Wantung Momay
Thumb Boaling
Hair Saa
Nail of the
hand Tiku Tong
Arm Belang Pilei
Foot Chan
Nail of the
foot Tiku Chan
Toe Wong Chan
Eye Meda Tabay
Nose Muck Neak Mellee
Tiger Chiai Taiyo
Hog Tuban, Badai
Dog Wan Ek
Deer San Rusak
Elephant Ta-Meen-da Gazah
Crow Eghail
Peacock Mah
Monkey Jayo
Buffalo Kebao
Rat Tikus
Cow Lemboh Lembok
Fowl Kawao
Duck Itek
Fish Ikam Nabohee
Snake Ekob
Bee Galu
Crab Kandun
Ant Kesub Les
Egg Mahu
Nest S’am

TEA.

It is well known wherever tea is used, that there are two descriptions of it, the _black_ and the _green_. In the account of the _domestic_ commerce of China heretofore mentioned, it is shown that the _black_ teas are brought from the province of _Tuh-keen_, (which lies at the distance of about four hundred miles from Canton,) and the _green_ teas from _Keang-nan_, (at the distance of about eight hundred miles.) The hilly upland districts of these provinces are the native and favourite soils of the tea-tree. It has not been supposed that these leading kinds of tea, as an article of wide consumption, were the produce of the same tree--but it has been and still is questioned, whether the black and the green teas are the produce of plants _specifically_ differing, or whether these differences of colour, flavour, &c., are the result of the action of soil and sun on the same original tree. Botanists have never been permitted to traverse these provinces, and so decide this question; we believe however, that their opinion now is, that there must and do exist differences sufficiently great to be denominated _specific_, between the black-tea tree and the green-tea tree.

Beside this region producing the real tea of commerce, the greater part of the Chinese provinces, and even Cochin-China and Japan, have their tea-tree. The provincial tea of China is a widely different, and very inferior article, though used by the poorer local population; and sometimes when prices are high, it is used to adulterate, before exportation, the _true_ tea. Perhaps the grape is the only plant whose produce can be compared for singular diversity of flavour, &c., to the tea of the tea-tree. The delicious “Woolung” differs as totally from the common Souchong, as does the “Vin ordinaire” of the worst districts, from the “Chambertin of Burgundy.”

We are not aware that there is any thing peculiar in the cultivation of the tea-tree, except that, like the mulberry, it is kept down to a sapling size, to secure a tenderer leaf, and to render its gathering the more easy. It is said to be cultivated by small proprietors, who sell the produce of their tea-groves to collectors, called at Canton “teamen.” These collectors leave Canton in the winter and spring with their own, and perhaps a loaned capital, and after purchasing, curing and packing, as much tea as their means will command, return with it to Canton in the autumn. In the curing of tea, we are not aware that any unwholesome methods are regularly resorted to--it is certain, however, that _iron filings_ have sometimes been detected in black teas, and that the colour of the green is sometimes attempted to be heightened by a little “Prussian blue.” It is perhaps from a few cases of this kind, that prejudices have been excited against this wholesome, temperate and social beverage. The green tea, when arrived at Canton, is spoken of in the market as a “Sunglo,” or a “Hyson” tea; the _black_ tea is called a “Mohea,” or an “Anki” tea. These names, derived from the districts where the tea is grown, are used as general distinctions of flavour and quality--the “Hyson” and “Mohea” being _sweeter_ and more _valuable_--the “Sunglo” and “Anki,” more _astringent_ and _less esteemed_ teas. These names are however almost unknown to the consumers in Europe and America. The names with which they are familiar, are found under both these general distinctions in tea. The Hyson--Hyson Skin--Young Hyson--Gunpowder and Imperial, all green, may be either Sunglo or Hyson teas. These names, viz.: Hyson, Hyson Skin, &c., merely designate the sortings, or siftings of the green leaf into its different _sizes_, or _stages of growth_, but _plucked from the same tree_. The Hyson, being the full-grown, mature leaf, has hitherto been in much the greatest quantity; but the increasing demand for Young Hyson, Gunpowder and Imperial--_younger leaves_--will no doubt be followed by a corresponding effort to increase by a different time of gathering, the proportion of these kinds of tea.

There is not so much care taken in sorting the produce of the black-tea tree. Its rougher, coarser leaf cannot be made to curl or roll when dried, like that of the green-tea tree. In the spring, the first sproutings of its twigs and tender leaves are gathered--these make the _Pecco_ tea; they may be distinguished by the _white down_ which covers them, as it does the spring shoots of other plants; hence the name “_Pih-haou_,” white down. In the course of the summer, there are three other gatherings, each less valuable than the preceding, of the leaves of the _black-tea_ tree. The “_Congo_,” the great article for the English market, is made from one of the _early_ gatherings, without any mixture of inferior tea. The “_Campoi_,” though not at the present day a favourite article, or a very inferior one, has a large clean leaf, and should be, as its name signifies, a “selected” tea. It is not correct to say that the “Souchong” is an _inferior_ tea. Its name merely designates it as a “_small-leafed_” tea; its different qualities take in a wide range of flavour and value. Its first gatherings, from favourable soils, are delicious teas; while the third crop, “Souchong,” is superior only to Bohea. The “_Pouchong_” is only a peculiarly _packed_ tea; a clean unbroken black tea is chosen and tied up in small papers to make Pouchong tea; its name signifies “_enveloped_,” or a “packed tea.” The very inferior article called “_Bohea_,” is at the present time, rather a manufacture than a growth of tea. Its name is corrupted from “Woo-E” the hills bearing the black tea. It is now prepared either in the country, by mixing the refuse of the Souchong, or with “Wa-ping,” a neighbouring provincial tea, or at Canton by adding farther, the tea which has been damaged on its passage from the interior, and all the leaves within reach of collection, which have been _once infused_ and dried again.

The “teamen” are in the habit of affixing the same name, year after year, to the tea which they bring to market; this name given to their whole parcel, or to each of the qualities it may contain, is called the “Chop” name. The foreign resident at Canton has little or no intercourse with the “teamen.” The “hong” merchants, or the merchants trading through the hongs, are the medium of sale; they often, however, purchase largely on their own account and judgment from the “teamen.”

The Dutch learned the use of tea at Bantam from the Chinese, and first introduced it into Europe in 1610. It was not known in England until after 1650; and from 1700 to 1710, there was imported less than eight hundred thousand pounds; but from 1710 to 1810, it amounted to seven hundred and fifty millions of pounds: between the years 1810 and 1828, the total importation exceeded four hundred and twenty-seven millions, being on an average of between twenty-three and twenty-four millions a year. In the year 1831, the quantity amounted to twenty-six millions, forty-three thousand, two hundred and twenty-three pounds; and in the season of 1832-33, the export of the English Company was thirty millions, thirty-six thousand, and four hundred pounds. The expiration of the English East India Company’s charter, and the ill success of the Netherlands Trading Company, are now turning the commerce in this valuable article into private hands. At the close of the company’s charter, (in 1834,) the consumption of tea in the United Kingdom, was estimated at thirty-two millions of pounds. Under the free trade now opening, it may be estimated at thirty-five millions. The consumption of the rest of Europe, imported almost entirely through Hamburgh and Holland, may be estimated at _five_ millions of pounds. The quantity imported into Russia by land from China is not included.

The _American_ trade to China commenced in 1784-5; and that season, eight hundred and eighty thousand, one hundred pounds, were exported. In the next season, six hundred and ninety-five thousand pounds were taken. In 1786-7, five ships were engaged in the trade, and they exported one million, one hundred and eighty-six thousand, eight hundred and sixty pounds; but in the season of 1832-3, _fifty-nine_ vessels exported thirteen millions, two hundred and fifty thousand, one hundred and eighty-five pounds of the following descriptions:--

Catties.

Bohea, 13,665 quarter chests of 50 catties each, making 683,255
Souchg. and Pouchg. 39,538 chests 50 catties „ 1,876,900
H. Skin and Tonkay, 36,608 „ 52 „ „ 1,903,616
Young Hyson, 51,363 „ 70 „ „ 3,595,410
Gunpowder and Imp. 12,583 „ 83 „ „ 1,041,899
Hyson, 14,248 „ 49 „ „ 710,972
Pecco, 2,563 „ 49 „ „ 125,587
----------
Catties, 9,937,639
Equal to pounds, 13,250,185

The consumption of the United States, and the ports supplied from the commerce of the United States, may be estimated for 1834, at _fifteen_ millions of pounds.

We have therefore a total annual consumption, on this side of the Cape of Good Hope, of this great staple of China, of FIFTY-FIVE millions of pounds. This amount will in a few years be increased to sixty millions. The quantity of tea exported by the Dutch cannot be accurately estimated. Some seasons there are five or six ships engaged in the trade, and in other seasons there are none: when there is any deficiency it has been supplied by the Americans. The quantity exported to British India averages about _two_ millions, three hundred thousand pounds annually. The export by vessels of other nations is very inconsiderable.

The Portuguese, notwithstanding their direct, early, and intimate connexion with China, neglected to import it, being very indifferent to its use; they, as well as the Spaniards, place but little value on it even to this day; coffee and chocolate being preferred in Spain and Portugal, as well as in South America, Mexico, Cuba and Porto Rico, with the addition of the Yerba de Paraguay or Maté, the favourite beverage of the Spaniards of La Plata, Paraguay, Chili, and other parts of South America.

_Comparative Estimate of the principal Exports from Canton to the United States._

------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
| 1822-23.| 1823-24.| 1824-25.| 1825-26.| 1826-27.
| | | | |
------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
Bohea, one fourth chests| 10,018| 2,413| 5,795| 3,340| 1,095
Souchong & Pouchong | 37,828| 29,296| 31,566| 24,527| 27,405
Hyson skin & Tonkay | 37,134| 32,426| 56,788| 45,299| 29,395
Young hyson | 22,165| 31,217| 39,303| 45,461| 28,487
Gunpowder & imperial | 4,899| 5,587| 6,817| 8,019| 5,992
Hyson | 14,703| 11,562| 14,501| 19,072| 8,915
Pecco | 175| 315| 215| 368| 377
+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
Total chests | 127,022| 112,816| 154,985| 146,086| 101,666
+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
Cassia, peculs | 7,773| 6,459| 8,624| 9,023| 4,035
_Silks_--Crape, pieces | 91,447| 55,616| 103,236| 46,703| 29,615
„ Crape shawls | 156,631| 142,425| 220,635| 264,630| 104,060
„ Crape scarfs | 45,264| 8,683| 8,100| 15,800| 4,160
„ Crape dresses | 32,457| 23,298| 46,500| 58,050| 32,940
„ Florentines | 4,295| 3,846| 2,879| 1,025| 750
„ Sarsnets | 46,264| 45,384| 64,231| 62,662| 20,474
„ Senshaws | 24,145| 12,302| 10,919| 7,740| 9,485
„ Pongees | 5,649| 2,850| 2,967| 2,145| 5,369
„ Handkerchiefs | 92,338| 37,877| 80,979| 90,985| 42,635
„ Satins | 8,150| 5,614| 7,384| 7,880| 10,881
„ Levantines | 10,944| 8,645| 9,600| 6,280| 7,657
„ Camlets | -- |-- | -- | -- | 1,477
„ Droguets | -- |-- | -- | -- | 425
Sewing silk, peculs | 75| 58| 75| 41| 18
Raw silk | -- |-- | -- | -- | 210
Nankeens, pieces |1,070,707| 259,506| 765,000| 664,000| 267,405
| | | | |
| $ | $ | $ | $ | $
Total value $|6,760,582|5,006,243|7,716,444|7,650,938|3,806,708

------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
| 1827-28.| 1828-29.| 1829-30.| 1830-31.| 1831-32
| | | | |
------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
Bohea, one fourth chests| 1,100| 901| 1,904| 3,592| 12,182
Souchong & Pouchong | 24,775| 17,216| 25,428| 17,514| 39,596
Hyson skin & Tonkay | 33,926| 18,097| 68,134| 5,447| 20,883
Young hyson | 31,085| 26,192| 29,476| 25,528| 40,065
Gunpowder & imperial | 6,614| 4,888| 6,289| 3,953| 9,117
Hyson | 14,963| 11,264| 11,197| 7,147| 9,346
Pecco | -- | 191| 366| 205| 517
+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
Total chests | 112,463| 78,749| 102,794| 63,386| 131,706
+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
Cassia, peculs | 7,209| 2,916| 2,888| 1,828| 3,541
_Silks_--Crape, pieces | 69,028| 24,605| 9,660| 5,881| 9,507
„ Crape shawls | | | | | 77,570
„ Crape scarfs | 57,293| 101,425| 87,304| 102,162|
„ Crape dresses | | | | |
„ Florentines | 2,135| 850| 400| -- | --
„ Sarsnets | 23,489| 17,295| 25,439| 53,385| 27,455
„ Senshaws | 14,957| 11,340| 10,113| 25,810| 22,292
„ Pongees | 13,530| 16,087| 10,491| 41,439| 44,578
„ Handkerchiefs | 76,569| 24,314| 14,662| 14,189| 23,157
„ Satins | 18,606| 4,836| 5,154| 8,985| 6,965
„ Levantines | 13,497| 7,382| 4,356| 6,155| 13,643
„ Camlets | 2,620| 2,465| 310| 990| 3,500
„ Droguets | -- | -- | -- | -- | --
Sewing silk, peculs | 184| 144| 164| 354| 350
Raw silk | 157| 68| 230| 285| 109
Nankeens, pieces | 524,500| 392,900| 305,568| 118,774| 122,285
| | | | |
| $ | $ | $ | $ | $
Total value $|5,318,966|3,337,480|3,629,722|3,356,551|5,577,731

------------------------+---------+--------
| 1832-33.| Catties
| | each.
------------------------+---------+--------
Bohea, one fourth chests| 13,665| 50
Souchong & Pouchong | 39,538| 50
Hyson skin & Tonkay | 36,608| 52
Young hyson | 51,363| 70
Gunpowder & imperial | 12,553| 83
Hyson | 14,248| 49
Pecco | 2,563| 49
+---------+--------
Total chests | 170,538|
+---------+--------
Cassia, peculs | 7,428|
_Silks_--Crape, pieces | 4,559|
„ Crape shawls | 77,876|
„ Crape scarfs | -- |
„ Crape dresses | |
„ Florentines | -- |
„ Sarsnets | 22,289|
„ Senshaws | 13,172|
„ Pongees | 48,741|
„ Handkerchiefs | 27,274|
„ Satins | 7,201|
„ Levantines | 6,351|
„ Camlets | 1,091|
„ Droguets | -- |
Sewing silk, peculs | 72|
Raw silk | 144|
Nankeens, pieces | 31,500|
| |
| $ |
Total value $|6,691,412|

_Average Prices for Teas._

-------------+--------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- |1822-23.|1823|1824|1825|1826|1827|1828|1829|1830|1831|1832 | |-24.|-25.|-26.|-27.|-28.|-29.|-30.|-31.|-32.|-33. +--------+----+----+--- +----+----+----+----+----+----+---- | | | | | | | | | | | Bohea tea | 11 | -- | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 Souchong | 22 | -- | 25 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 18 | 20 Pouchong | -- | -- | -- | -- | 18 | 18 | 17 | 24 | 20 | 20 | 25 Hyson skin | 21 | -- | 28 | 27 | 18 | 21 | 21 | 18 | 18 | 24 | 27 Tonkay | -- | -- | -- | -- | 18 | 23 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 24 | 30 Young hyson | 33 | -- | 40 | 40 | 25 | 33 | 30 | 32 | 30 | 44 | 47 Gunpowder & | | | | | | | | | | | imperial | 55 | -- | 50 | 50 | 55 | 50 | 45 | 48 | 49 | 56 | 58 Hyson | 40 | -- | 40 | 45 | 40 | 40 | 40 | 42 | 42 | 46 | 49 Pecco | 55 | -- | 50 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 80 | 50 | 55

_Export of Teas for Account of the English Company, to London, season 1832-1833._

Bohea Peculs 52,844 Cost Tales 837,556
Congo 139,640 „ 3,315,811
Souchong 2,321 „ 86,482
Tonkay 23,103 „ 631,866
Hyson 6,579 „ 342,947
Hyson Skin 786 „ 21,450
-------
225,273
133⅓
----------
Pounds[A] 30,036,400 {on account of the English Company,
{ exported during the season 1832-33
13,250,185 by vessels of the United States.
----------
43,286,585 {Pounds of tea exported by American
{ and English vessels, from Canton,
{ in the season 1832-1833.

[A] The Company’s agents, in Canton, do not give the number of chests in their returns of teas shipped.

_Annual Revenue obtained by the Government of Siam from Farms and Duties._