most extensive system of fraud;[1] 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 colour, 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 212º leave from 20 to 28 per cent, having a consistence of 80 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, pasty, 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 colour and consistence. This number is mixed with water, and only used as a paste to cement the covering of the baits.
- ↑ Lately I saw a Chinaman brought to the Police for fabricating Opium Balls. The imitation Balls were composed of a skin, or husk formed from the leaves of Madras tobacco, inside was sand, which was evidently intended to form the shape of the Balls till the outer covering had sufficiently set. The whole was neatly "served" with bandages of Calico, which would be removed when the tobacco was able to retain the proper shape; the sand would then be abstracted, and a mistare of Gambier and Opium substituted; while the outside would be rubbed over with a watery solution of Chandu. By these means the native traders are much and often imposed upon.
