The subjugation of Scinde afforded opportunity for the levy of a higher rate.  Down to the period of that event, a large portion of the opium of Malwa had been conveyed through Scinde to Kurrachee, and thence onward to the Portuguese ports of Diu and Demaun.  That route is now closed, and it was reasonably expected that an advance might be made in the charge of passes without the risk of loss to the revenue from a diminished demand for them.  The rate was accordingly increased in October, 1843, from 125 to 200 rupees per chest.  Upon the principle that it was desirable to fix the price at the highest amount that could be levied, without forcing the trade into other channels, a further increase was made in 1845. when it was determined that the charge should be 300 rupees per chest.  Under the like views it was, in 1847, raised to 400 rupees per chest.

The company was perfectly correct, for though the quantity of opium did not increase, the revenue did; and whilst in 1840-41 16,773 chests yielded an income of only 22,046,452 rupees—­16,500 chests brought in 1849-50 actually 72,094,835 rupees into the coffers of the Government of Bombay.  But the people of India earned not a pice by it, and those richest descriptions of land, which it was so desirable to reserve for other produce than the poppy, remained barren.

The white variety of the poppy is that which is exclusively brought under cultivation for the production of the drug in India and Egypt.  For the successful culture of opium a mild climate, plentiful irrigation, a rich soil, and diligent husbandry are indispensable.  One acre of well cultivated ground will yield from 70 lbs. to 100 lbs. of “chick,” or inspissated juice, the price of which varies from 6s. to 12s. a pound, so that an acre will yield from L20 to L60 worth of opium at one crop.  Three pounds of chick will produce one pound of opium, from a third to a fifth of the weight being lost in evaporation.  A chief chemical feature, which distinguishes Bengal opium from that of Turkey and Egypt, is the large proportion which the narcotine in the former bears to the morphia, and this proportion is constant in all seasons.  It is a matter of importance to ascertain whether the treatment which the juice receives after its collection can influence in any way the amount of alkaloids, or of the other principles in opium.  In Turkey it is the custom to beat up the juice with saliva, in Malwa it is immersed as collected in linseed oil, whilst in Bengal it is brought to the required consistence by mere exposure to the air in the shade, though, at the same time, all the watery particles of the juice that will separate are drained off, and used in making Lewah, or inferior opium.