the combatants. This man had succeeded, by assiduous cultivation, in raising a
pair of moustaches which were a triumph of art, for they each contained about a
dozen hairs more than three inches long, and which, being well greased and
twisted, were distinctly visible (when not too far off) as a black thread hanging
down on each side of his mouth. But the beard to match was the difficulty, for
nature had cruelly refused to give him a rudiment of hair on his chin, and the
most talented gardener could not do much if he had nothing to cultivate. But true
genius triumphs over difficulties. Although there was no hair proper on the chin;
there happened to be, rather on one side of it, a small mole or freckle which
contained (as such things frequently do) a few stray hairs. These had been made
the most of. They had reached four or five inches in length, and formed another
black thread dangling from the left angle of the chin. The owner carried this as if
it were something remarkable (as it certainly was); he often felt 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,