Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1821-03-20

in a manner which must Con-,
ry person VIII" bestows the Ic,. .tH1
ton on the snbject, that Britis 1, s,e
try and enterprise may deri,a II, 'a's
tagrs from this intercourse H. ava
Of which the most sansuine c," ms'
aggcrate. ""nOl
"The Indian Islands ls,n, :.
Crawford) present to Us an SaN y
Country, more easy of ACRES "'''''
merchant or navigator tLau .n, II"
portion Of the globe, owing to H.. ''l'
guilty of The seas which ,n. s ''$
them, that like SO many canals "r'et
na,isable rivers. throw the con,! 81
cation open. and render it e,s' ''II'
one extremity 10 another T% I;! ft
advantage peculiarly dlstns,sI,e
them from the Contiguous TERM, %s''hA
the continent of Africa, and fr' "o'y q
OF that Of America. At the ssm' , ,;
as many of the islands are If , 'In',
tent the whole region is exem, lT f. e..
that Character Of sterility, fl n 'rn
islands of small size within ~ th y. r., ~lr'
are naturally liable. from the s h,r'
fertility in these climates. "'"0'ta
All the great islands con,o:
bic rivers, and many of them ,t a''
inlets, and bays or fine harbors "''
commercial point of view, tha ;m
date neighborhood of the in '';F'
islands to the greatest nations If A."
is one of their most prominent rhsr,.
terist'cs With respect to fertility :
soil, they are eminent. Thei, m;no.I
and animal productions are yar;o'a
rich and extensi,e.-They afford
l"xnriance, the vegetable produc,i,m
Common to other tropical climates, ,ni
some which are peculiarly their own
and which refuse to grow in chesnues,
orrerlection any ahere else. II i, q
the same time, to he remarked Of tles
lat and it is singular coincidenc,
that they have been and still are, n
more universal request among men n
every rank of social impro, ement,,
bbv, that OF mere sayages, than the
productions of any other portion of the
globe"
But it is not enough that people pos.
sess productions, OF which We are desi
rous, We must also possess those pro
auctions Of which they are DESTROYS, il
order to the establishment of trade
How stands this matter? Let us hes,
what MIR. Crawford says on this sui
ject.
" The desire of the islanders, i
says, for articles of foreign luxury,
tility or comfort, has no bounds b.
their means to purchase, and the tn.
der who acquires a knowledge of lie
little local tastes and fancies of his Gus
toners will be sure Of carrying on
beneficial and agreeable intelcoust
with them"
MIR. Crawford then proceeds to pOin
out more particularly the article
which they are most DESTROYS of OBJ
tanning:
Among the important articles o.
Importation into the islands, cotton 70
brics-from the long usage of the PEG
ple-their sui:ableness to the CLIMATE
the dearness and imkerfection Of thei
own stuffs-and the capacity of moter
manufacturing Europe to afford
cheap and abundant supply. Cotto
vel, cts are in considerable demand
mong the richer natives. Woolens ar
an article of considerable and increa:
ing demand among The Indian islar
ders. There cannot be greater e'
ror than to imagine that this descrlI
ton of fabric is unsuitable to the q
mate and habits OF the people. WOO
lens are, perhaps, upon the wh"'
more suitable to cIimatrs under an
near the equator. that to those in u
neigAborhood of the tropics. Hall III
year in the latter is indeed mild VII
ter, in which wooIlen clothing is an OF
ject of comfort, but the other hall Is
sultry summer, in which it is intolrT'
bic. In countries upon the equal"
on the other hand, it is an Object
comfort throughout the year from u I,
frequency of rains--on account OF u
land and sea breezes, and of the Prev
lcnce nf ele, ated tracts of land. Du
ing the summer of countries near u
tropics. European habits give way
the climate, and cotton garments al
the constant wear of the colonlsts. VI
Al