it
affectionately, passed it between his fingers, and was evidently
extremely proud of his moustaches and beard!

One of the most surprising things connected with Aru was the excessive
cheapness of all articles of European or native manufacture. We
were here two thousand miles beyond Singapore and Batavia, which are
themselves emporiums of the "far east," in a place unvisited by, and
almost unknown to, European traders; everything reached us through at
least two or three hands, often many more; yet English calicoes and
American cotton cloths could be bought for 8s. the piece, muskets for
15s., common scissors and German knives at three-halfpence each, and
other cutlery, cotton goods, and earthenware in the same proportion.
The natives of this out-of-the-way country can, in fact, buy all these
things at about the same money price as our workmen at home, but in
reality very much cheaper, for the produce of a few hours' labour
enables the savage to purchase in abundance what are to him luxuries,
while to the European they are necessaries of life. The barbarian is no
happier and no better off for this cheapness. On the contrary, it has
a most injurious effect on him. He wants the stimulus of necessity to
force him to labour; and if iron were as dear as silver, and calico as
costly as satin, the effect would be beneficial to him. As it is, he
has more idle hours, gets a more constant supply of tobacco, and can
intoxicate himself with arrack more frequently and more thoroughly; for
your Aru man scorns to get half drunk-a tumbler full of arrack is but a
slight stimulus, and nothing less than half a gallon of spirit will make
him tipsy to his own satisfaction.

It is not agreeable to reflect on this state of things. At least half
of the vast multitudes of uncivilized peoples, on whom our gigantic
manufacturing system, enormous capital, and intense competition force
the produce of our looms and workshops, would be not a whit worse off
physically, and would certainly be improved morally, if all the articles
with which w e supply them were double or treble their present prices.
If at the same time the difference of cost, or a large portion of
it, could find its way into the pockets of the manufacturing workmen,
thousands would be raised from want to comfort, from starvation to
health, and would be removed from one of the chief incentives to crime.
It is difficult for an Englishman to avoid contemplating with pride our
gigantic