COTTON. 173 



quarter may escape all mishap, whilst another is 

 unfortunate. * 



The quality of the cotton which is produced 

 in South America, either to the north or south 

 of Pernambuco, is inferior to that of the pro- 

 vince of which I am treating. The cotton of 

 Seara is not so good, and the cotton of Maran- 

 ham is still coarser. Cotton is the staple com- 

 modity of both these ports. Proceeding from 

 Pernambuco to the south, the cotton of Bahia is 

 not so fine, and the small quantity which is pro- 

 duced at Rio de Janeiro is not so good as that 

 of Bahia. 



In treating of sugar and cotton, I have stated 

 the chief points in which the planters in the 

 Columbian islands and those of Brazil princi- 

 pally differ. Those of my readers to whom 



* The following is a statement of the export of cotton 

 from Pernambuco, from the year 1808 to 1813. It was 

 furnished to me by my friend Mr. I. C. Pagen, who resided 

 at Kecife during a considerable part of the time : — 



1808 26,877 



1809 ----- 4-7,512 



1810 50,103 



1811 28,245 



1812 ----- 58,824 



1813 65,327 



From this it would appear that in saying, at chapter 1st, 

 that the export from thence at the present time is between 

 80,000 and 90,000 bags annually, I have overrated the real 

 number. But it will be seen that the increase has been con- 

 siderable from 1812 to 1813, and I know that it still cbntinm 

 to increase as rapidly, if not more so. 



