wealth to
the country.

Some one will object that it is an immoral trade, which caters to
the worst passions of the nature of the Chinese. Let it be proved so;
let us see something more than mere prejudice; let it be shown to be
worse than the conduct of the farmer, at home, who raises and sells
barley to make whiskey; or of the distiller, who makes it; or of
the West Indian, who produces rum from his estate, as both of these
stimulants increase the evil passions in men while swayed by them,
to a much greater extent than opium.

Smoking tobacco does no good to the person who practises it; it is
a vice, although those addicted to it may call it one of the lesser
sins. But would it be just or wise to prohibit the growth of tobacco,
because smoking it may not be a virtue?

To attempt stopping the use of opium is no wiser, and just as futile,
in China, as King Jamie's foolish decrees against tobacco proved to
be in Britain.

Wheat is grown in the provinces of Ylocos, Tayabas, and the Laguna,
but is seldom or never more than enough to supply the wants of the
European population, none of it being exported; and the import of
foreign wheat is prohibited, although it is frequently conceded to
the bakers, on their memorialising the Governor, and showing that
the prices at the time of their doing so are excessively high.

Although sulphur can scarcely be ranked in the same category with the
preceding articles of commerce, I set it down here, as a considerable
quantity is annually shipped to China. It is brought from the vicinity
of the volcanoes in Bisayas: the best is said to come from Leyte,
which is worth about one and a quarter dollar per pecul. Residents
at Manilla usually immerse a large block, weighing about two peculs,
in the wells from which their drinking water is taken, just as the
rainy season commences, and it is found to have a most salutary effect
upon the water impregnated with it, causing less liability to those
who drink it, to suffer dysentery from its use.

Cowries, the shells of a small snail, are found on the shores
of several islands, and are shipped as an article of commerce to
Singapore, &c., where they are, I believe, purchased by the Siam
and Calcutta traders, as they serve for money in several of the
countries of Asia. Those found on Sibuyan island, in Capiz province,
are considered the best, being the smallest and stoutest. They are
sold by the cavan, weighing nearly a pecul, if of good quality