COMMERCE. 



355 



are very excellent, and are perhaps surpassed only 

 by the sabres of Damascus. In polishing steel and 

 all other metals, they are also very skilful, and their 

 fine porcelains are much superior to the Chinese. In 

 the beginning of the 17th century, the English began 

 to trade with Japan; but the Portuguese mission- 

 aries, and afterwards the Dutch, succeeded in pre- 

 judicing the government against them. In 1673, the 

 attempt to renew the trade was again frustrated by 

 the Dutch. On account of the great advantages 

 which it was thought this trade would ensure to Bri- 

 tain, a third attempt was made in 1699, and the 

 factory at Canton was instructed to enter into con- 

 nexion with Japan, if by any means possible. The 

 result, however, did not satisfy expectation, and all 

 further attempts have been given up. In 1813, how- 

 ever, when Java was subjected to Great Britain, the 

 East India company had some slight intercourse with 

 Japan. The Russian mission to Japan, under Kru- 

 senstern, in 1805, was no less unsuccessful than the 

 British had been. See Gulownin. 



The Islands of Amboyna, Banco. , the Bandas, Java, 

 S/imafra, Borneo, &c. From Amboyna are export- 

 ed cloves, to confine the cultivation of which solely 

 to this island, the Dutch took great pains to extirpate 

 all the clove-trees on the neighbouring islands. For 

 this purpose, also, the government of Amboyna, with 

 a numerous retinue, still makes a journey every year 

 to the other Dutch islands. Banca is celebrated for 

 its tin mines, and the exportation of this tin to China 

 is of much importance, as the Chinese prefer it to 

 the English, on account of its malleability. About 

 4,000,000 pounds of tin are obtained annually. The 

 Banda islands produce nutmegs and mace. The sta- 

 ple exports from Batavia, where all the goods of the 

 Dutch East India company are deposited, are pep- 

 per, rice, cotton, sugar, coffee and indigo. 6,250,000 

 pounds of pepper, part of which is raised on the 

 island itself, part brought from Bantam, Sumatra, 

 Borneo, and the other islands, are annually stored in 

 the magazines. Both coffee and sugar have also 

 been cultivated here, of late years, to the amount 

 each of 10,000,000 pounds. Borneo has, besides 

 pepper, gold in dust and bars, wax, sago, camphor, 

 the last of the most excellent quality. In addition 

 to the Dutch and English, the Chinese have here an 

 active trade. The exports of Ceylon are cinnamon, 

 pepper, coffee, tobacco, betel, cocoa-ruts, drugs, 

 timber, pearls, precious stones, corals, &c. Of the 

 Philippines, the principal are Lucan or Manilla, and 

 Magindanao or Mindana. The exports are indigo, 

 sugar, silk, gold dust, quassia, pepper, tortoise-shell, 

 wax, precious stones, silver, sago and tobacco. The 

 trade of the Philippines with China and South 

 America is considerable. Manilla produces sugar, 

 the best Asiatic tobacco, indigo, and a kind of hemp. 

 The Prince of Wales' island, from its situation be- 

 tween India, China, and the Eastern Isles, has an 

 important trade. Its exports are chiefly benzoin, 

 pepper, betel-nuts, groceries, metals, East India zinc, 

 cochineal, eagle- wood, Japan-wood, elephants' teeth, 

 sugar, and silver bullion. Sumatra carries on consi- 

 derable trade. The exports are gold dust, betel, 

 benzoin, pepper, camphor, Japan-wood, sulphur and 

 rattans, wax, gum-lac, groceries, tin, &c. 



III. AFRICA. The want of navigable rivers, 

 and the immeasurable deserts by which the fruitful 

 regions of Africa are separated, form an insurmount- 

 able obstacle to that extension of commerce, which 

 the great fertility of this quarter of the globe would 

 promise. In addition to the intercourse of the in- 

 terior, the commerce of Africa has its sources in 

 Egypt, the Barbary states, on the west coast in 

 Guinea, in the neighbourhood of the rivers Gambia, 

 Niger, and Senegal, at the cape of Good Hope and 



the Portuguese colonies, and on the coasts of the 

 Red sea. The inland trade is carried on by means 

 of caravans. The African caravans consist of from 

 500 to 2000 camels. The three principal countries 

 from which they proceed are Morocco, Fez, and 

 Egypt. The chief articles of the inland trade of Af 

 rica are salt, gold, and slaves. The greatest cara- 

 vans go from the western coast and from the interior 

 by way of Timbuctoo, the great mart of the inland 

 trade, and other places of depot, to the eastern 

 coast, where the most important commercial places 

 are Natal (on the coast of Lagoa), Softala, Quili- 

 mane, Mozambique, Querimba, Quiloa, Mombaza, 

 Melinda, Brava, Magadoxo, Berbera, Zeila, and 

 Adel. Quilimane, Mozambique, and Melinda, are 

 Portuguese settlements. From Adel, Zeila, Berbera, 

 and Brava are exported, mainly, gold dust, ivory, and 

 incense, for which the products of Arabia and the 

 East Indies are returned. There is considerable 

 trade between the British settlements in the East 

 Indies and Mozambique, and the English obtain ele 

 phants' and hippopotamus' teeth, tortoise-shell, 

 drugs, cowries, gold, &c. 



The Barbary States. The commercial intercourse 

 of the Barbary states with Europeans is very incon- 

 siderable and vacillating, and the little business 

 which is transacted is mainly in the hands of the 

 French, British, and Americans. The exports con- 

 sist of olive-oil, wax, wool, wheat, gums, almonds, 

 dates, aromatic seeds, ivory, leather, hides, and os- 

 trich-feathers. Even the coral fisheries on the coasts 

 (from cape Rosa to cape Roux) are in the hands of 

 the French and Italians ; and the annual produce of 

 about 50,000 pounds of coral is about 100,000. 

 But far more important commerce is pursued by the 

 Barbary states with Arabia, Egypt, and the interior 

 of Africa. Their caravans are met with in Mecca, 

 Cairo, and Alexandria. The chief commercial cities 

 are Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, Sallee, and Agadeez, or 

 Santa Cruz, and in Morocco, Mogadore. Before 

 the French revolution, the commerce of Algiers was 

 wholly in the hands of a company of French mer- 

 chants at Marseilles, who had regular settlements in 

 the ports of Bona, La Calle, and Il-Col. But, in 

 1806, the dey conveyed, for .11,250, the possession of 

 those ports to Britain. The chief ports of export 

 of Algiers are Bona and Oran. Tunis is the most 

 important commercial state in Barbary. Its chief 

 harbours are Biserta, Susa, and Soliman. Tripoli 

 has little trade, and its exports consist mostly of saf- 

 fron, ashes, senna leaves, and madder. The trade of 

 Morocco and Sallee is also of little importance. 

 Agadeez, or Santa Cruz, is the most southerly har- 

 bour of Morocco, and was once the centre of a very 

 important trade. Fez is still such a centre between 

 the ports of Morocco, the Mediterranean sea, and the 

 interior of Africa. See Timbuctoo and JVassanah. 



Cape of Good Hope. The trade with the cape 

 of Good Hope is extremely advantageous to Great 

 Britain. In 1809, the importation of British goods 

 exceeded 330,000, while the exports of the colony 

 (mostly Cape wine) did not amount to 6000. The 

 amount of the trade has since been very much en- 

 larged by the increase of colonization. The average 

 exports from Great Britain to the cape of Good 

 Hops amount to 476,770, and the imports into 

 Britain from the Cape to 351,225. 



Egypt. From its uncommonly favourable situa- 

 tion to the centre of three portions of the globe, this 

 country seems destined by nature to be also the 

 centre of their commerce ; but it has altogether lost 

 its former high rank in the commercial world, since 

 it has ceased to be the channel of the India trade. 

 It has, nevertheless, considerable inland trade, which 

 extends into the interior of Africa. Three caravans 

 z2 



