604 



Stewart's Present 



supplying this and the other islands with 

 her pjoduots is one important source 

 of Iier commercial and manutactiirin^ 

 prosperity. The annual amount of 

 Brilisli manufactures imported into tl)is 

 island alone is upwards of two mil- 

 lions. 'J1ie imports from other parts 

 (of lumber, provisions, cattle, Stc.) 

 amount to nearly a million currency. 

 A portion of the goods received from 

 Great Britain is for the supply of the 

 Spanish American settlements, particu- 

 larly of cotton and linen good.t. 



FromBritishNorth America, Jamaica 

 and the other islands receive lumber, 

 salted cod-fish, salmon, mackerel, oil, 

 tar, &c. and give in return sugar, rum, 

 molasses, coffee, and pimento. 



The tonnage of all vessels trading to 

 and round this island, from the 29th 

 September 1816 to the 29lh September 

 1817, was as follows : — From Great 

 Britain and Ireland, 101,305 tons; 

 from North America, 56,411 tons ; 

 from the Spanish Main and neighbour- 

 ing islands, 15,557 tons ; dioggers, 

 3109 tons: vessels trading under the 

 free-port act, 13,121 tons. Of this ship- 

 ping there is engaged in the Kingston 

 trade a very large proportion, viz. From 

 Great Britain and Ireland, 35,904 tons ; 

 from North America, 36,085 tons : from 

 the Spanish Main and islands, 12,691 

 tons ; droggers, 2032 tons : vessels, 

 trading under the free-port act, 10,391 

 tons. 



LOCAL TRADE. 



The coasting trade of the island is 

 carried on by means of droggers, or 

 small vessels" of from fifty to seventy 

 tons burden. It consists of exportations 

 of all sorts of dry goods, Irish provi- 

 sions, cod-fish, &c. from Kingston to 

 all the outports, the droggers taking, as 

 return- cargoes, sugar, rum, pimento, 

 and other produce. The houses in the 

 commission line in Kingston supply the 

 store-keepers at the other ports with 

 the above-mentioned commodities as 

 cheaply as they could import them, and 

 sometimes much cheaper : for in the 

 market of this emi)orium of the island, 

 goods, but especially those of a perish- 

 able nature, rise and fall according to 

 the supply in it. For example, butter 

 may one week sell at 2s. Id. per i)Oimd, 

 from its being scarce, and on the follow- 

 ing week fall to Is. 6d. in consequence 

 of the arrival of a large supply. 



The store- keepers, or retail dealers 

 in almost all sorts of goods, charge an 

 immense profit on thera. In selling 

 goods on credit, they have a very sim- 



State oj Jamaica: 



pie proces"? for ascertaining the price to 

 Recharged. They mnllipry the sterling 

 cost by liiree, and this gives them the 

 amount in currency they are to demand, 

 being a profit of somewhat more than 

 cent, per cent.; and yet their actual 

 proiits may not ultimately be fifty per 

 cent., in consequence of bad debts, &c. 

 They lay their account with not receiv- 

 ing payment for at least a third of the 

 goods they s*?!! in this way, and they 

 indemnify themselves by charging ac- 

 cordingly ; — in other words, they make 

 the honest customer pay for the defi- 

 ciencies of the fraudulent one, — than 

 which notiiing can be conceived more 

 rcpugnant'to fairness and equity. 



The cash price of goods is from thirty 

 to forty per cent, below the credit price. 

 All the commodities of the country have 

 also their cash prices, being about ten 

 |)er cent, below what are called the 

 market prices. The latter are fixed by 

 n sort of compromise between the 

 planters and merchants; the former by 

 the respective buyers and sellers, regu- 

 lated, of course, by the quality of the 

 commodity. A wharfinger's receipt for 

 a puncheon of rum, a tierce of coffee, 

 or a bag of pimento, endorsed by the 

 payer, passes in payment as readily as 

 a bill or draft would do; so that these 

 articles become a sort of circulating 

 medium, and it is not unusual for a 

 puncheon of rum, or other commodity, 

 to pass through twenty or more different 

 hands, without ever being moved from 

 the wharf-store where it was deposited 

 by its original owner, into whose pos- 

 session it may again ultimately return. 



COINS. 



The coins in circulation in this island 

 are chiefly Spanish. There are also 

 some Portuguese gold pieces, and gui- 

 neas and sovereigns. The Spanish 

 gold coins are doubloons, value 16 dol- 

 lars, or £5 6t. 8d. currency ; half 

 doubloons; pistoles, value 4 dollars, or 

 £1 6s. 8f/. ; and half i)istoIes. The 

 Portuguese gold coins are johannoes, 

 and half and quarter johannoes, the full 

 value of which are jg5 10s., £2 15*., 

 and £1 7s. 6d. ; but there are few of 

 these coins that are not deficient more 

 or less in weight, according to which 

 their value is regulated — as indeed that 

 of all the other gold coins are, at the 

 rate of 3f/. per grain. Very few of the 

 Spanish coins are deficient in weight. 

 A few moidores and half moidores are 

 in circulation, the full value of wiiicli 

 arc £2 and £1 ; but they are generally 

 deficient in w eight. Guineas and sove- 



