ACCO UNT OF BOOKS. 



963 



the country, and the manners, po- 

 litics, and complexion of the court, 

 we must not expect that the Bri- 

 tish merchant will be sufficiently 

 encourafied to make considerable 

 adventures to West Barbary ; and 

 hence one reason why the trade 

 has of late years been in a great 

 degree abandoned by us, and has 

 fallen into the hands of a few Jews, 

 subjects of the emperor. 



" The French, aware of the im- 

 portance of a trade which carries 

 off manufactured goods of all 

 kinds, and furnishes in return raw 

 materials, were induced to attempt 

 an establishment of considerable 

 capital ; but the British cruizers in 

 the Mediterranean, rendering it al- 

 most impossible for their ships to 

 sail to or from Marseilles, h;ive 

 lately obliged them to relinquish 

 their enterprize for the present, 

 though there can be no doubt, that 

 in the event of a permanent peace, 

 it will be resumed with additional 

 vigour. The same causes have also 

 compelled the other merchants, 

 natives of countries now under the 

 dominion of France, to remain al- 

 most entirely inactive, waiting 

 impatiently for some change that 

 may enable them to resume with 

 some security their commercial ne- 

 gotiations ; so that, with the excep- 

 tion of two or three houses, there 

 is, at present, no European esta- 

 blishment of any consequence at 

 Mogodor. 



The commerce of Mogodor with 

 America, during the years 1 SOI and 

 1805, was impeded by a dispute 

 between that country and the em- 

 peror, which, however, lias been 

 amicably adjusted, and the trade is 

 now resumed. Vessels going from 

 Salem, Boston, and other parts of 

 America, with East and West In- 



dia produce to Mogodor, receive, 

 in return, the various articles of 

 Barbary produce; and by this 

 means, the agents of the Americaa 

 merchants established at Mogodor 

 are enabled to undersell us in all 

 East and West India goods. 



«« A close connexion with the 

 empire of Marocco is of the great- 

 est importance to Great Britain 

 both in a political and commercial 

 point of view ; for besides the va- 

 rious articles of trade already enu- 

 merated, it affords ample supplies 

 of provisions ; and if a friendly in- 

 tercourse between the two nations 

 were firmly established, we should 

 never have any difficulty in vic- 

 tualling not only Gibraltar, but 

 also all our different fleets which 

 cruize in the Mediterranean, and 

 on the northern coast of Africa, a 

 resourse which, in the present 

 state of things, certainly merits the 

 serious attention of this country. 

 The advantages of a trade with 

 this empire must be evident from 

 what has been detailed in the pre- 

 ceding pages, where it will be seen 

 that nearly the whole of the ex- 

 ports to Marocco consists of manu- 

 factured goods, and that the re- 

 turns for these are entirely raw ma- 

 terials, many of which are essen- 

 tially necessary in our manufac- 

 tures. That the present trade is 

 so inconsiderable, arises entirely 

 from the little encouragement and 

 support it meets with ; for British 

 subjects, finding they had to de- 

 pend on their own exertions alone 

 for the protection and safety of their 

 property embarked in this traffic, 

 have for the most part abandoned 

 it, and now it is falling into the 

 hands of subjects of Marocco, esta- 

 blished in England. This is the 

 more to be regretted, as we have it 



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