ACCOUNT OF JAVA and BATAVIA.

205

land rix-dollars annually. No pearls ufed formerly to be filhed, but upon the oyfter-bedsof Tutocorin ; but they are now likewife got from thofe on the Ceylon fide, near Ma-naar and Aripo. The fifhery, however, does not take place for certain every year; forthis depends upon the condition in which the beds are found. When the fifhing feafonapproaches, the oyfters are examined by the Ceylon council, and if they are found ofa proper fize, publication is made of the time when the pearl fifhery is to commence,and the number of boats and men to be employed in it are determined upon : thenumber of divers is at prefent ufually fixed at ninety-fix. A certain per-centageis allowed to the governor of Ceylon , on what the Company receive from the farmingof this fifhery*.

The trade of the Company in Bengal is entrufted to a director, as they pofiefs onlya very fmall territory there, by permiflion of the Emperor of Indoflan, or the GreatMogul. It is the fame at Surat , where, as in Bengal, they have a lodge, or factory,for the fecurity of their goods, and their jurifdicton does not extend far beyond itslimits. From Bengal, they receive piece-goods, faltpetre, and opium. From Surat ,piece-goods, various forts of Indian drefles, &c.

tile oppofite coaft, pepper from the coaft of Malabar, cowries from the Maldives , faltpetre from Bengal,an d fome Surat goods, help to form, however, the cargoes of the veffels which are difpatched from PuntQ.Gallo ; and in 1778, the fales in Europe, of the imports from Ceylon , were as follow :

6oo,ooolb. cinnamon, at about f .6 (us. fterling) per pound.

4,ooolb. cardemoms, at 33 divers (3s.)

5,ooolb. coffee, at 10 (livers.

300,coolb. cowries at 7! divers.

20,ooolb. cotton-yarn, and

piece-goods to the amount of/.200,000 (about t8,i8ot.)

A confiderable quantity of cinnamon is alfo yearly lent to Batavia, for the confumption of the ead.The cinnamon found at Ceylon in 1795, was purchafed of the captors by the Englifh Ead India Com-pany, for i8o,oool. derling. In the latter end of 1797, the quantity of 13,893 bales, containing9681 b. of cinnamon was brought to England ; and the Ead India Company fold 350,ocolb. at theirenfuing fpring fale. Tr.

The advantages which accrued from this fource amounted only to one hundred thoufand gilders, notri x-dollars, annually ; but the Company have been deprived of them entirely fince the year 1771 : at thatP e riod, the nabob of the Carnatic attacked and took poflefiion of Marrua near Tutucorin, whofe prince1,1 alliance with the Dutch ; the nabob immediately laid claim to the pearl-fifhery, and the Company^ 0,1 ght fit to give up the point, and have abandoned it ever fince. The famous Van Imhof, in his poft-unious elaborate memorial refpedting the date of India , condders Marrua a3 an important barrier, orontier place of Ceylon. Many precious dones are found in Ceylon , the principal of which are rubies,Ppntres, topazes, and garnets; different kinds of chrydals, and quartz, are fold there under the pompousn ° m inations of diamonds, amethyfls, &c. Dr. Thunberg has given a curious lift of all the kinds whichon mC f WU ^ at Ce y lon - The digging of them is farmed out by the government; and though trifling, ischa ° °^j c< -^ s °f revenue of the idand. Thefe amounted in 1779 altogether to/.6l 1,704, while the

ta A.8 es °f the whole ellablifhment were y 1,243,038, which makes the expence of the Company in-main*ttienf 1 ^ Ceylon okimately amount to y 631,334, or 57,3941. fterling ; but this is eafily borne by the im-as h f P ro ^ ts attached to the excludve cinnamon trade, and the other articles brought from this ifland,e ore noticed. In 1 755, however, when Model drew up his datements, Ceylon appeared in a veryf.nQ Ient ^S^t: he made the revenues and profits amount to y.1,168,000, and the charges only toCau f 2, 5 °®>. by which it appears that the idand was then fully able to maintain itfelf. Yet there are manyP f arl*fifh ma ^ f u PP 0 f e d to contribute to this difference : the failure of the revenue from thej nc re f augmentation of the territory of the Company by the peace of 1766, and confequent

dred 3 l ^ eir nailitary force, &c. In 1776-1777, the eftablifhment at Ceylon confided of four hun-three 3 ]! '? x * ;een perfons in civil, and thirty-three in ecclefiaftical offices, fifty-four furgeons and affillants,undred and fifteen belonging to the artillery, fix hundred and fifteen feamen and marines employedan ;°^ e ’ - tw °, *^ ou fand three hundred and' ninety.feven foldiers, and two hundred and forty-three me-

on

chan" ’ • 1>VU tnouiand three hundred and'ninety-:_ . -

lcs .’ ln all four thoufand and feventy-three Europeans , befides one thoufand two hundred and twenty*.

fiv,

6 natives. Tr.

The-