CANADA. 



Canada, country, in which these were not produced, was con- 

 >-. .yij a j deserving of any attention. It was soon 



iiTce. undrrrtooil, tliut no mined were to be found in that 

 quarter of North America ; and hence the colony 

 of New France fell into complete disrepute, before 

 a proper knowledge could be acquired of its soil and 

 productions. This early prepossession to its disad- 

 vantage was the principal source of the future dis- 

 couragements and obstacles, with which its commerce 

 had to struggle ; and it never attained any degree of 

 prosperity, as long as it remained in the hands of the 

 French. It sustained very great injury, also, by the 

 .lent alterations which took place in the medium 

 of exchange, especially by the inconveniences which 

 resulted from the introduction of card or paper mo- 

 ney. In 1706, the whole trade of the colony was 

 carried on with a fund of 650,000 livres, distributed 

 among a population of 30,000 inhabitants. During 

 seven years of its most flourishing period, previous 

 to its conquest by the British, its annual imports 

 were valued only at L. 160>000, sometimes at 

 L. 24-0,000 ; while its exports seldom exceeded, and 

 frequently did not reach, the sum of L.80,000. The 

 balance was supplied by the sums, which the French 

 government expended in paying the troops, building 

 ships, raising fortifications, &c. ; but the bills drawn 

 upon the treasury of France on these accounts were 

 not long very punctually paid. For a few years af- 

 ter the reduction of the colony, the British traders 

 derived considerable assistance from the quantity of 

 furs which had been previously collected, and from 

 the sums of money which were regularly remitted 

 for the payment of the large military force then sup- 

 ported in the country ; yet the commerce of Canada 

 was still rather in a declining than increasing state ; 

 and, in 1769, the quantity of produce exported a- 

 mounted only, according to Heriot, to L. 163, 105; 

 but, according to Lambert, to L.34-5,000, and was 

 shipped in 70 vessels belonging to Great Britain and 

 her colonies. During almost thirty years longer, its 

 commerce continued in a state of great fluctuation, 

 according to the varying degree of demand in Eu- 

 rope for its productions ; but, in the year 1795, it 

 was very considerably augmented by the scarcity of 

 grain, which prevailed about that time in Great Bri- 

 tain and most of the European countries ; and net 

 less than 128 vessels ( 19,953 tonnage) arrived that 

 year in the river of St Lawrence. At that period, 

 also, the construction of vessels at Quebec was be- 

 gun by a company of London, and very considera- 

 ble profits were- drawn from that branch of employ- 

 ment. In 1799, 1800, 1801, and 1802, an immense 

 quantity of grain was exported ; and, in the last of 

 these years, it amounted to 100,000 bushels of wheat, 

 ^8,000 barrels of flour, and 32,000 casks of biscuit. 

 The vessels employed in the transportation of these 

 and other productions, were not fewer than 211, and 

 the amount of tonnage nearly 36,000. As the crops 

 in Canada, however, are extremely precarious, and 

 the demand for its grain equally irregular, the surest 

 statement of its connncice must be taken from an 

 average of several } 



During the space of five years, ending in 1805, 

 the average amount of exports from Canada to Great 

 Britain and British settlements, according to Gray, 

 was L.767,705 : 17 : 3 Sterling, and were conveyed 

 in 193 vessels, equal to 33,996 tons. They consist- 



ed chiefly of wheat and other kinds of grain ; beef, 

 pork, and fish of various sorts ; timber in the form 

 of planks, staves, maMs, oars, &c. ; pot and pearl Commerce, 

 ashes ; flax-seed, n\>\>\ , and essence 01 spruce; but- 

 ter and tallow, soap, 1 < r, and castoreum ; horses, 

 cattle, and hides ; stoves, manufactured at Trots 

 Rivieres ; vcssclsi built at Quebec ; and furs and 

 peltry, equal in value to more than one third oi 

 whole. 



The imports from Britain and British settlements, 

 which pay duty, amounted to L.201-,105 : 17 : 6, 

 consisting principally of wines, spirits, sugar, mo- 

 lasses, salt, coffee, tobacco, cards ; while those which 

 pay no duty are calculated to have nearly equalled 

 the difference between the above sum and the value 

 of the exports, namely, L. 563,600, consisting chiefly 

 of cloths, linens, muslins, silks, furniture, tool*, hard- 

 ware, crockery, coals. 



In consequence of the late improvements of the 

 country, and the embargo on the American trade, 

 the commerce of Canada has recently increased in a 

 very astonishing degree. The unusual and growing 

 demand for its productions, especially since the year 

 1808, has greatly increased the price of every article ; 

 and hence a considerable portion of the exports, such 

 as timber, staves, pot and pear! ashes, and provisions 

 of every description, have, in spite of the embargo- 

 law, found their way across the boundary line of the 

 United States into Canada, and been shipped for Eu- 

 rope and the West Indies with great advantage to 

 the Canadian merchants. In 1806, the tonnage of 

 the shipping employed in the trade of the colony 

 amounted to 33,996 ; in 1807, to 42,293 ; in 1808, 

 to 70,275; in 1810, to 14-3,893; and in 1811, to 

 223,762. The following tables, from Lambert, will 

 afford a clearer view of the progressive and amazing 

 increase of this commerce since t!u year 1751. 



175L 



