The ripe fruit of this tree yields a concrete oil called cinnamon suet, which was formerly employed to make candles for the Kandian kings.  An oil, called clove oil, is also distilled from the leaf, which is said to be equal in aromatic pungency to that made from the clove at the Moluccas.

The following were the quantities sold, and the average prices realised during the Dutch rule in Ceylon:—­

s.  d.
1690    3,750  bales sold at  4   8  all round.
1709    3,750        "        4   6      "
1710    3,500        "        4   4      "
1720    5,000        "        4   4      "
1740    4,000        "        9   3      "
1760    5,000        "        8   5      "
1780    2,500        "       12   6      "
1784    2,500        "       17   4      "

The last quotation appears to have been the highest ever obtained for cinnamon, for 17s. 8d. average would give about 22s. for the first sort.  In later years we find the deliveries and prices to have been as follows:—­

s.  d.
1824      5,934  bales sold at  6   6  all round.
1828      3,918        "        6   0      "
1830      5,849        "        7   8      "
1842      1,018        "         —–­       "
1845      3,245        "         —–­       "

The comparative exports of cinnamon from Ceylon in the first six months of 1853, as compared with the same period last year, are as follows:—­

1853.          1852.
lbs.           lbs. 
Quarter ending 5th January       99,778         93,291
"    5th April        73,815        135,248
-------        -------
Total                           173,593        228,539

The diminished export was caused by the prospective abolition of the export duty, which came into operation on the 1st July last.  The quantity that will be sent to the English market by the close of the year (1853) will be something prodigious compared with the average consumption.  From October 10, 1852, to July 22, 1853, the shipments were 406,326 lbs.

RETURN OF CINNAMON EXPORTED FROM CEYLON, SHOWING THE QUANTITY AND
VALUE.

Quantity.      Value. 
Year.           lbs.          L
1836          724,364       —­
1837          558,110       —­
1838          398,198       —­
1839          596,592       —­
1840          389,373       —­
1841          317,919     24,857
1842          121,145     15,207
1843          662,704     66,270
1844        1,057,841    105,784
1845          408,211     40,821
1846          491,656     49,165
1847          447,369     44,736
1848          491,688     49,168
1849          733,782     73,378
1850          644,857     64,485
1851          500,518     50,051
1852          427,667     42,766

The question of the export duty on cinnamon has, during the last twenty years, occupied a considerable space in Ceylon correspondence and the Island journals.  This duty was first imposed in 1832, on the abolition of the Grovernment monopoly, and was then fixed at