Note 2415 — Chapter XIII · EXPORTS FROM AFRICA AND THE EAST.

Plin. Nat. Hist. xvi. 12. xxii. 3. Iorio, Storia, &c., t. iv. 1. ii. c. x. p. 269. Colonel Scott, who mistakes the insects for berries, gives the following brief account of the collection and price of kermes in the territories of Abd-el-Kader: “We travelled for the greater part of the day through a barren and mountainous country; but one at the same time abounding in riches, from the circumstance of its being covered with the plant which furnishes the kermes, a small berry about the size of a pea split in two, and which gives a dye between vermilion and red, and is an article of considerable trade, selling at from a dollar to one dollar and a half per pound in Fez, whilst here, during the month of May, which is the season for gathering it, it can be procured at from one bougou (1s. 4d.) to one and a half per pound, when bought from the Arabs: but if the proper plan were adopted, which is, to send a party hired by the month, with a superintendent to direct their operations, it might be procured at from eight-pence to one shilling per pound, and would form a most lucrative branch of trade.” Journal of a Residence in the Esmailla of Abd-el-Kader, p. 88.