COMMERCE. 



359 



872.946 tons of American slapping entered, and 

 944/799 cleared, from the ports of the United 

 States ; and that 130,743 tons of foreign shipping en- 

 tered, and 133,00(5 cleared, during the same period. 

 (See the valuable Statistical TaMes, by Watterston 

 and Van Zandt, Washington, 1829.) 



THE CANADAS, NOVA SCOTIA, AND NEW BRUNSWICK. 

 The trade of the two Canadas was long confined to 

 the bare produce of the fisheries and the fur trade ; 

 but, iii consequence of the improvement of the Bri- 

 tish colonial system, and the embargo which was im- 

 posed on the American trade during the last war of 

 the United States with Great Britain, it has much in- 

 creased. Its exports are wheat, flour, corn, biscuit, 

 fish, oak and pine timber, staves, masts, lumber, 

 Canadian balsam, spruce beer, pot and pearl ashes, 

 cast-iron, furs and skins, castoreum, ginseng, &c. 

 The imports are wine, rum, sugar, molasses, coffee, 

 tobacco, salt, coal, British manufactures. Since 1825, 

 tiie trade of Canada has increased rapidly. (See 

 Canada.) The trade is mostly with the British West 

 India colonies and with the mother country. They 

 do some business, however, with the United States 

 (q. v.). The trade which they have with the Indian 

 tribes, consists merely of barter. Nova Scotia and 

 New Brunswick have nearly the same exports. In 

 Halibut-ton's Nova Scotia, vol. i, p. 233, is an interest- 

 ing table of the prices of different articles, estimated 

 in spring beaver, as settled by government in 1761. 

 The trade of Nova Scotia has lately again increased, 

 particularly with the West Indies. (See the sta- 

 tistical table in Th. C. Haliburton's Histor. and Statis. 

 Account of Nova Scotia, 2 vols., Halifax, 1829.) 



MEXICO. The commerce of Mexico is, at present, 

 checked by natural and political causes. The want 

 of river communication is a great impediment to its 

 internal commerce. Roads lead from the plateaux 

 to the seaports, but they are very imperfect, and 

 beasts of burden, therefore, are preferred to carriages, 

 which would not be able to make their way. A 

 much easier communication between the Mexican 

 Atlantic seaports and those on the coast of the Paci- 

 fic, would be effected in case of the execution of the 

 great canal across the isthmus of Tehuantepec, so 

 much spoken of. The principal objects of export 

 are gold and silver, either in bullion, coined, or 

 worked up in various ways ; cochineal, sugar, 

 flour, indigo, salt meat, dried vegetables, tanned 

 hides, sarsaparilla, vanilla, jalap, soap, Campeachy 

 wood, and pimento of Tabasco. Among the articles 

 imported are woollen cloths, silks of Lyons, linen 

 from Germany, white and printed calicoes from 

 France, Britain, and the United States, paper, china, 

 spirits, cacao, quicksilver, iron, steel, wine, wax, 

 jewelry, watches and clocks, and all kinds of orna- 

 ments. In 1826, 1267 vessels entered the ports of 

 the republic. The chief port of Mexico is VcraCruz. 

 Mexico, the capital, is a commercial place, as we 

 might easily suppose to be the case in a country in 

 which very little is manufactured, and which is so 

 fertile. A part of the commerce of the United 

 States with Mexico is carried on by means of cara- 

 vans, which go from the state of Missouri to Santa 

 Fe, in Texas. The smuggling trade in Mexico is 

 very great. The chief commercial cities of Mexico 

 are Acapulco and Vera Cruz. Acapulco, or Los 

 Reyes, carries on a considerable trade with the Philip- 

 pines, and the coasts of Quito and Peru. To Manilla 

 a galleon used to be sent from this port every year, 

 freighted with silver, cochineal, cacao, sweet oil, Spa- 

 nish wool, and European toys. This brought back 

 muslins, printed linens, silks, Chinese goods, grocer- 

 ies, spices, and prtcious stones. Guatimala is cele- 

 brated for its indigo, which is noted for its hardness, 

 lustre, and weight. 



SOUTH AMERICA. South America has many ar- 

 ticles of trade. The mineral treasures of the coun- 

 try are boundless. In the sixteenth century, gold 

 and silver existed in such profusion, that, for twenty- 

 five years, 13,000,000 dollars are said to have been 

 annually exported to Spain from Peru alone, exclu- 

 sive of what was sent in bars. These precious me- 

 tals are found throughout Peru, Chile, and the upper 

 section of Tucuman, especially in the Cordilleras ; 

 but, in addition to gold and silver, this immeasurable 

 chain of mountains affords copper, lead, iron, and 

 platiiia. The richest mines of South America are 

 those of the province Las Charcas, in the territory of 

 the former vice-royalty of Buenos Ayres. There are, 

 in that district, thirty gold mines, twenty-seven silver 

 mines, seven copper, one tin, and seven lead mines. 

 The richest of these mines are those of Potosi, which 

 are situated near the sources of the La Plata. Acos- 

 ta's account, that, during forty years that the mines 

 liad been wrought, they had yielded 12,000,000,000 

 dollars, is much exaggerated. But we gather from 

 official reports, that, from the time of the discovery 

 of America, till 1538. the fifth part, accruing to the 

 king, of all the silver obtained from the mines of 

 Potosi, and registered, amounted to 395,619,000 dol- 

 lars, so that, when 39 years had elapsed from the dis- 

 covery of America, 41^255,043 dollars were obtained 

 annually, exclusive of the considerable quantities which 

 undoubtedly were conveyed from the country secret- 

 ly, and without the payment of duties, and of that 

 which was used for making silver vessels, images, and 

 ornaments for the monasteries and churches, which 

 must have amounted to an immense sum, since all 

 the religious establishments in the country, and es- 

 pecially in the city of Potosi, were very rich in silver 

 vessels. But, whether owing to the exhaustion of the 

 mines themselves, or the faulty management of them, 

 the profits have since diminished. The other exports 

 from South America, although the Spanish and For 

 tuguese directed their chief attention to the obtain- 

 ing of metals, are very considerable. The following 

 are the principal : cochineal, indigo, cacao, the Per- 

 uvian bark, hides, ox horns, tallow, wax, cotton, 

 wool, flax, hemp, tobacco, sugar, coffee, ginger, pi- 

 mento, jalap, sarsaparilla, ipecacuanha, guaiacum, 

 dragon's blood, and various other medicinal gums, 

 dye-wood, ebony, mahogany, emeralds, various kinds 

 of balsams, &c. 



The chief commercial cities of South America are 

 Rio Janeiro, Buenos Ayres, Lima, Carthagena, Cara- 

 cas, Potosi, and Bahia. Buenos Ayres was in pos- 

 session of the transit trade of all the Spanish posses- 

 sions in America, and, before the beginning of the re- 

 volution, was the mart of the trade of the mother 

 country and its colonies. The principal source of 

 gain for Caracas is the cacao plant, as it supplies 

 nearly two-thirds of the European demand. The 

 hides and skins which it exports are superior to 

 those of Buenos Ayres ; and the rich ore from the 

 copper mines of Aroa is superior to the Swedish, 

 or to that of Coquimbo, in Chile. The internal trade 

 of South America, especially between Buenos Ayres 

 and Peru, is very considerable. That with the Indian 

 tribes is chiefly in the way of barter ; axes, knives, 

 scissors, swords, necklaces, mirrors, and coarse cot- 

 ton and woollen goods, being exchanged for the pro- 

 ductions of tlie country, especially the celebrated 

 Paraguay tea, and some fine furs. 



Brazil has three great commercial cities Rio 

 Janeiro, Bahia, or St Salvador, and Pernambuco. 

 The exports are, chiefly, cotton, indigo, sugar, coffee, 

 rice, tobacco, tallow, mahogany, Peruvian bark, 

 ipecacuanha, hides, gold, cacao, vanilla, the diamond, 

 the topaz, clirysolite, amethyst, and other precio-is 

 stones, and a great variety of dye-stuffs, balsams and 



