This Man Had
Succeeded, By Assiduous Cultivation, In Raising A Pair Of
Moustaches Which Were A Triumph Of Art, For
They each contained
about a dozen hairs more than three inches long, and which, being
well greased and twisted, were
Distinctly visible (when not too
far off) as a black thread hanging down on each side of his
mouth. But the beard to match was the difficulty, for nature had
cruelly refused to give him a rudiment of hair on his chin, and
the most talented gardener could not do much if he had nothing to
cultivate. But true genius triumphs over difficulties. Although
there was no hair proper on the chin; there happened to be,
rather on one side of it, a small mole or freckle which contained
(as such things frequently do) a few stray hairs. These had been
made the most of. They had reached four or five inches in length,
and formed another black thread dangling from the left angle of
the chin. The owner carried this as if it were something
remarkable (as it certainly was); he often felt it
affectionately, passed it between his fingers, and was evidently
extremely proud of his moustaches and beard!
One of the most surprising things connected with Aru was the
excessive cheapness of all articles of European or native
manufacture. We were here two thousand miles beyond Singapore and
Batavia, which are themselves emporiums of the "far east," in a
place unvisited by, and almost unknown to, European traders;
everything reached us through at least two or three hands, often
many more; yet English calicoes and American cotton cloths could
be bought for 8s. the piece, muskets for 15s., common scissors
and German knives at three-halfpence each, and other cutlery,
cotton goods, and earthenware in the same proportion. The natives
of this out-of-the-way country can, in fact, buy all these things
at about the same money price as our workmen at home, but in
reality very much cheaper, for the produce of a few hours' labour
enables the savage to purchase in abundance what are to him
luxuries, while to the European they are necessaries of life. The
barbarian is no happier and no better off for this cheapness. On
the contrary, it has a most injurious effect on him. He wants the
stimulus of necessity to force him to labour; and if iron were as
dear as silver, and calico as costly as satin, the effect would
be beneficial to him. As it is, he has more idle hours, gets a
more constant supply of tobacco, and can intoxicate himself with
arrack more frequently and more thoroughly; for your Aru man
scorns to get half drunk-a tumbler full of arrack is but a slight
stimulus, and nothing less than half a gallon of spirit will make
him tipsy to his own satisfaction.
It is not agreeable to reflect on this state of things. At least
half of the vast multitudes of uncivilized peoples, on whom our
gigantic manufacturing system, enormous capital, and intense
competition force the produce of our looms and workshops, would
be not a whit worse off physically, and would certainly be
improved morally, if all the articles with which w e supply them
were double or treble their present prices.
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