A considerable quantity of arrowroot is now produced in the Sandwich Islands. In 1841 arrowroot to the value of 3,320 dolls. was shipped, and in 1843, 35,140 lbs., valued at £1,405, was exported, principally to Tepic and San Blas, where it is used as starch for linen.
A kind of arrowroot of very good quality was sent to the Great Exhibition of 1851, by Sir R. Schomburgk, which is obtained in St. Domingo from the stems of a species of Zamia, called there Guanjiga; and the Zamia Australis, of Western Australia, yields even better fecula. The taste was unpleasant and salt, as if it had been immersed in lime. The other starch, from the Western Australian Zamia, in quality rivalled arrowroot. This fecula hangs together in chains, quite unlike the ordinary appearance of arrowroot when seen under the microscope.
The following figures show the exports of arrowroot from Bermuda:—
| lbs. | Value of the exports. | |
| 1830 | 18,174 | — |
| 1831 | 77,153 | — |
| 1832 | 34,833 | — |
| 1833 | 44,651 | — |
| 1834 | 54,471 | — |
| 1835 | 65,500 | — |
| 1836 | — | — |
| 1841 | 91,230 | — |
| 1842 | 136,610 | — |
| 1843 | 151,757 | £8,682 |
| 1844 | 173,275 | 10,974 |
| 1845 | 224,480 | 8,084 |
| 1847 | — | 4,716 |
| 1848 | — | 4,747 |
| 1849 | — | 6,760 |
| 1850 | 854,329 | — |
In the spring of 1851, 201,130 lbs. were shipped from Bermuda.
In 1843 the quantity of arrowroot in the rough state made in Bermuda was 1,110,500 lbs.
| ARROWROOT EXPORTED FROM ANTIGUA TO | |||
| Great Britain | B. N. America | B.W. Indies | |
| Boxes | Boxes | Boxes | |
| 1835 | 1,075 | 20 | — |
| 1836 | 581 | 43 | — |
| 1837 | 100 | 42 | — |
| 1838 | 472 | 20 | — |
| 1839 | 682 | — | 32 |
| 1840 | 453 | — | 30 |
| 1841 | 289 | — | 10 |
| 1842 | 582 | — | — |
| 1843 | 744 | — | — |
| 1844 | 376 | — | — |
| 1845 | 402 | 5 | — |
Barbados exported in 1832, 16,814 lbs., value £469; in 1840, 387 packages; in 1843, 302; in 1844, 790 packages; in 1851, 306 packages; these average about 30 lbs. each.
Ceylon now produces excellent arrowroot. In 1842, 150 boxes were exported; in 1843, 200; in 1844, 300; in 1845, 600 boxes.
From Africa we now import a large quantity: 250 boxes were received in 1846. Not unfrequently arrowroot from Africa has been sent to the West Indies in the ships with the liberated Africans, and thence re-exported to England, as of St. Vincent or Bermuda growth. The duty on arrowroot, under the new tariff, is equalised on all kinds to 4½d. per lb.