Stic-lac, used in dying, is procured in many parts of Java, and can easily be obtained in a quantity sufficient to meet the demand. The insect which yields it abounds in the Bantam districts, and the lac prepared is considered of good quality; but it is not an article which appears to have attracted much attention. The trade between Java and China in vessels belonging to Europeans, at present consists principally in carrying out tin, pepper, spices, rattans, and betel-nut, for the China market, and receiving in return a few articles of China produce in demand for the European market, a balance of cash, and a supply of manufactures required annually at Batavia; but it is calculated that cotton, rice, and timber, which may be considered as the staple produce of Java, might be exported to China with advantage. A small quantity of Javan cotton lately sent to China, was sold at a higher rate than the ordinary prices of the cotton from Western India[61]. Cotton-yarn is an article sometimes exported to China, but in the existing state of society on Java, the exportation of the raw material is likely to be attended with the greatest advantages. Some writers have estimated the capability of Java to export raw cotton almost incredibly high, but it must be admitted, that although the soil is not universally favourable, yet few countries afford greater general advantages for the cotton cultivation, it being practicable to raise it to a great extent, without interfering with the general grain produce of the country. It could be grown as a second crop on the rice fields, being planted shortly after the harvest, and attaining maturity before the season again comes round for irrigating the lands. Nothing can convey a higher idea of the richness of the soil of Java, and of the advantages of its climate, than the fact, that during one half the year the lands yield a rich and abundant crop of grain, more than sufficient for the ordinary food of the population, and during the other half a valuable staple, which affords the material for clothing them, and opens in its manufacture a source of wealth and of continual domestic industry through the year.