114 



COLOMBIA. 



The value of the imports from the United 

 States it is impossible to determine with pre- 

 cision, Panama being a free port of entry, and 

 no official record being kept of imports there- 

 to ; but Consul Wilson estimates that value at 

 $450,000 for the year mentioned. The commod- 

 ities received from the United States are chiefly 

 canned goods, fruits, jellies, corn, beef, beans, 

 etc. ; bacon, hams, lard, butter, breadstuffs ; 

 prints and other cotton fabrics. Since 1878 the 

 trade in American dry goods appears to have 

 greatly increased, from one half to two thirds 

 of the entire quantity imported being of Ameri- 

 can manufacture, while formerly the supply was 

 almost exclusively from Europe (Great Britain, 

 France, and Germany). Panama merchants 

 attribute this change to the present superiority 

 of quality and style of the United States prod- 

 ucts, together with their comparative cheap- 

 ness, but more particularly to the quality and 

 style, since they find our fabrics to be preferred 

 to all others, even at equality of prices. 



As all merchandise in transitu is carried 

 over the Panama Railway, an idea of the extent 

 of the trade may be formed from the total 

 tonnage of that line for the years 1876-' 79, as. 

 shown by the following schedule : 



MONTHS. 



January 

 February. . . 



March 



April 



May 



June 



July 



August 



September. . 

 October 

 November.. 

 December . . 



Totals. . 



is re. 



12,165 

 8,915 



9,569j- 5 

 11.385J* 



M71jj| 



KT'HS 

 7,805fa. 



K -"1-r,1 5 



T,766iJ 

 6,918i* 

 8,092fS 



113,781^ 



1877. 



7,50 



18,451* 



16,095ft 

 11,291 3g 

 12,043ft 

 11,6233* 

 13,746ft 



13,500 

 146,942|g 



12,62iag 

 10,765ft 

 14,746ft 

 14,571fg 

 12,245ja 



11,1TT 



11,079ft 



12,074 



1879. 



12',806i 

 12.480J5 



152,477JJ : 161,743|5 



Here follows a table exhibiting the quanti- 

 ties of the principal commodities received in 

 transitu at Panama from Central and South 

 America and transported by the Panama Rail- 

 way in 1877, 1878, and 1879 : 



The quantities and destination of the coffee 

 received at Panama from Central America 

 (principally Guatemala and Costa Rica) in the 

 first four months of 1879, were as follows: 



DESTINATION. Sacki. 



Panama. 8,047 



South Pacific ports 6,094 



Aspinwall 57 



Europe (by British steamers) 106.316 



Europe (by German steamers) 44,122 



Europe (by French steamers) 86,400 



United States (by American and British steamers).. 24,706 



Total 219,742 



The port of Aspinwall, with a population 

 of some 3,000, imports now from the United 

 States almost everything it requires of foreign 

 production, except liquors and cigars. Hereto- 

 fore, scarcely anything went from us save cot- 

 ton fabrics, and these under guise of a British 

 brand ! The value of the imports from the Unit- 

 ed States, in 1879, was estimated at $800,000. 



The exports to the United States from As- 

 pinwall, in 1879, were as follows : 



COMMODITIES. Values. 



Bananas $152,551 35 



Cocoa-nuts 13,177 99 



Hides 1,392 27 



Ivory-nuts 124,459 48 



Rubber 55,518 85 



Tortoise-shell 5,510 00 



Wood 773 72 



Oldrope 1,518 60 



Sundries 86,614 14 



Total $391,511 40 



Cartagena, the finest and the only natural har- 

 bor in Colombia, has, besides its own local trade, 

 that of the Sinu and Atrato Rivers, for which 

 it is the port of entry, and the prospect of con- 

 trolling before long much of the commerce now 

 carried on through Barranquilla. This diver- 

 sion will be effected by means of a canal which, 



