9 
Hard  Fine  was  quoted  at  Soft  ^/6d.,  but  a temporary  reac- 
tion in  August  resulted  in  quotations  again  reaching  3/ io<^.  to  3/9^. 
We  have  then  had  irregular  declines  of  2d.  per  lb.  and  in  Novem- 
ber Hard  Fine  was  as  low  as  3/5 Soft  3/3 W.  the  lowest  of  the 
year.  Additional  cable  advices  from  Para  of  probable  short  receipts 
during  the  end  of  the  year  and  the  early  months  of  1902  brought 
about  some  recovery  on  less  pressure  to  sell,  and  with  very  large 
deliveries  and  moderate  receipts  we  close  the  year  firmly  with 
quotations  of  Hard  Fine  at  3/6|fl^.  and  Soft  at  3/5!^.  Xegroheads 
continue  to  remain  very  scarce,  Scrappy  being  quoted  at  2/9^., 
Island  2/ihd.,  Cametas  2/ 2d.,  Ball  2/6d.  and  Slab  2lohd.  The  total 
amount  of  Rubber  imported  from  Brazil  shows  a further  increase 
of  3,200  tons,  and  the  total  quantity  exported  from  the  State  of 
Amazonas,  including  Peruvian  via  Iquitos  and  Manaos  is  4,000 
tons  against  3,100  tons.  The  Peruvian  Fine  imported  has  we  think 
been  better  as  a whole,  but  owing  to  the  Rubber  having  arrived  in 
most  cases  uncut  and  unselected  before  shipment,  new  rules  had 
to  be  adopted  in  order  to  provide  for  this  altered  mode  of  shipping 
this  rubber.  The  Peruvian  Ball  imported  has  not  been  up  to  the 
expected  quality  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  the  standard  of  fair 
average  quality  was  considered  lower,  although  some  nice  clean 
Hard  Balls  when  received  did  realize  fairly  good  and  in  some 
cases,  exceptional  prices.  The  Slab  continues  to  be  of  good  ser- 
viceable quality  and  the  consumption  of  it  is  certainly  spreading. 
Bolivian  kinds  have  been  very  fair,  but  the  imports  were  not  as 
large  as  last  year.  Mollendo  again  showed  a marked  improvement 
in  quality,  and  consequently  sold  exceedingly  well.  From  Vene- 
zuela via  Orinoco  the  supply  was  less  than  last  year  and  the  quality 
not  very  attractive. 
Imports  of  Ceara  Scrap  are  smaller,  but  of  these  grades  only  the 
best  qualities  could  be  sold  easily,  others  are  dragging.  Of  Mani- 
coba  kinds  we  received  less,  but  quality  was  good  and  prices 
realized  were  satisfactory.  Pernambuco  and  Assaree  qualities  have 
somewhat  improved,  but  owing  to  the  general  decline  of  the  Rub- 
ber market,  the  values  of  these  classes  receded  considerably. 
There  were  not  very  important  arrivals  of  good  Mangabeira  and 
although  the  stocks  are  going  down  and  available  supplies  very 
small,  the  prices  realized  for  ordinary  quality  show  an  enormous 
falling  off  in  price.  The  imports  of  Mattogrosso,  in  sympathy 
with  Para,  showed  similar  fluctuations,  although  transactions  were 
only  spasmodic.  Central  America  has  again  been  conspicuous  by  a 
further  considerable  decline  in  its  export  of  Rubber,  probably  owing 
to  the  continued  political  unrest  existing  in  those  parts,  and  the 
only  Rubber  reaching  us  comes  from  the  Columbia  districts,  but  the 
quantities  were  very  insignificant.  The  Equator  and  Guayakil 
kinds  sold  readily,  and  the  prices  at  the  end  of  the  year  are  only 
about  id  lower  than  they  were  a year  ago.  Of  course  this  refers 
to  good  qualities  only.  Inferiors  and  mixed  kinds  are  much  cheaper. 
The  imports  from  Honduras,  Mexico  and  Panama  were  likewise 
very  small. 
Africans. — .As  e.xpected,  at  the  close  of  the  previous  year,  the 
