The success with which the cultivation of the nopal and the breeding of
the insect which produces cochineal has been practised at Cadiz, and
thence at Malta, is well known. A French apothecary is said to have made
the experiment in Corsica, but on a very confined scale; and the King of
the Netherlands, on information that the Isle of Java was well adapted
for the cultivation of this important article of merchandize, determined
on attempting the transplantation into that colony. As the exportation
of the trees and of the insect is prohibited by the laws of Spain, some
management was requisite to acquire the means of forming this new
establishment. The following were those resorted to:--His Majesty sent to
Cadiz, and there maintained, for nearly two years, one of his subjects,
a very intelligent person, who introduced himself, and by degrees got
initiated into the _Garden of Acclimation_ of the Economic Society, where
the breeding of this important insect is carried on. He so well, fulfilled
his commission (for which the instructions, it is said, were drawn up
by his royal master himself), that he succeeded in procuring about one
thousand nopals, all young and vigorous, besides a considerable number of
insects; and, moreover, carried on his plans so ably, as to persuade the
principal gardener of the Garden of Acclimation to enter for six years
into the service of the King of the Netherlands, and to go to Batavia.
Between eight and ten thousand Spanish dollars are said to have been the
lure held out to him to desert his post. In the service of the Society he
gained three shillings a day, paid in Spanish fashion, that is, half, at
least, in arrear. A vessel of war was sent to bring away the precious
cargo, which, being furtively and safely shipped, the gardener and the
insects were on their voyage to Batavia before the least suspicion of
what was going on was entertained by the Society.--_From the French_.