being strictly in the hands of Government, no adulteration can take place, without a most extensive system of fraud; but it will not be uninteresting to trace the progress of the opium from the hands of the natives, to the condition in which it is delivered to the public by the Government.

From the commencement of the hot season to the middle of the rains the Government is ready to receive opium, which is brought by the natives every morning, in batches, varying in quantities from twenty seers to a maund.  The examining officer into each jar thrusts his examining rod, which consists of a slit bamboo, and, by experience, he can so judge of the qualities of the specimens before him, which are sorted into lots of No. 1 to No. 4 quality.  Opium of the first quality is of a fine chesnut color, aromatic smell, and dense consistence.  It is moderately ductile, and, when the mass is torn, breaks with a deeply notched fracture, with sharp needle-like fibres, translucent and ruby red at the edges.  It is readily broken down under water, and the solution at first filters of a sherry color, which darkens as the process proceeds.  One hundred grains of this yield an extract to cold distilled water of from 35 to 45, and at the temperature of 212 degs., leaves from 20 to 28 per cent., having a consistency of 70 to 72, the consistence of the factory.

The second quality is inferior to the first, and the third quality is possessed of the following properties, black paste, of a very heavy smell, drops from the examining rod, gives off from 40 to 50 per cent, of moisture, and contains a large quantity of “Pasewa;” while the fourth or last number embraces all the kinds which are too bad to be used in the composition of the balls, comprising specimens of all varieties of color and consistence.  This number is mixed with water, and only used as a paste to cement the covering of the balls.

The three first qualities are emptied from their jars into large tanks, in which they are kept until the supply of the season has been obtained.  The opium is then removed and exposed to the air on shallow wooden frames, until it becomes of the consistency of from 69 to 70, when it is given to the cake maker, who guesses to a drachm the exact weight, and envelops the opium in its covering of petals, cemented by a covering of quality number 4.  The balls are then weighed and stored, to undergo a thorough ventilation and drying.  Formerly the covering of the balls was composed of the leaves of tobacco; but the late Mr. Flemming introduced the practice of using the petals of the poppy, which was such an improvement that the Court of Directors presented him with 50,000 rupees.  The balls, forty in number, are packed in a mango wood case, which consists of two stories with twenty pigeon holes in each, lined with lath and surrounded by the dried leaves of the poppy.  Sometimes these balls are so soft as to burst their skins, and