to 
increase  in  imports  of  these  descriptions  was  not  only  not  main- 
tained but  showed  a considerable  and  serious  falling  off,  and  we 
estimate  the  difference  of  imports  from  Africa  to  be  about  2,000 
tons  below  that  of  last  year. 
With  the  exception  of  slight  spurts  in  April  and  again  in  August, 
(in  sympathy  with  Fine  Para)  the  year  1901  has  been  characterised 
by  an  uninterrupted  decline  in  African  Rubber,  the  only  exception 
being  First  Sierra  Leone  Niggers  which  are  actually  rather  dearer 
than  a year  ago,  while  all  other  descriptions  show  a decline  varying 
from  \d.  to  as  much  as  6d.  per  lb. 
From  Angola  we  received  250  tons  less,  made  up  in  shipments 
from  Benguela  of  1,250  tons,  as  against  1,500  tons  in  1900.  Loan- 
da  730  tons,  against  678  tons.  Quality  has  been  hardly  so  good. 
7'he  Congo  has  slightly  increased,  but  the  quality  has  seriously 
declined,  about  5,300  tons,  against  5,000  in  1900.  The  average 
price  shows  a very  considerable  fall  because  so  much  was  of  poor 
quality.  The  supply  from  Sierra  Leone  and  French  Guinea  has 
again  fallen  off,  partly  owing  to  the  prohibition  by  the  French 
authorities  of  the  exportation  of  dirty  wet  and  inferior  Rubber  from 
Conakry.  The  quality  being  thus  reliable  has  caused  consumers 
to  look  on  this  kind  with  favour,  and  their  appreciation  is  reflected 
in  the  price  which  is  usually  high  compared  with  other  Rubbers, 
both  African  and  Brazilian.  • 
Quite  an  extraordinary  decline  in  supply  of  Gold  Coast,  Accra, 
Lagos  &c.  and  only  moderate  from  Cameroons,  Sierra  Leone,  Ga- 
boon &c.  and  small  of  Senegal.  Prices  of  nice  hard  only  about 
2d.  lower,  but  soft  common  and  Lagos  fully  j\d,  decline  for  the 
year.  We  no  longer  quote  Strips  and  Biscuit,  the  pressing  of 
Lump  Rubbers  being  practically  abandoned.  Liverpool  imports  of 
West  African  q,2oo  tons,  against  5,140  tons  in  J900  and  5,600  in 
1899. 
The  Congo  Free  State  has  given  increased  exports  to  Antwerp, 
but  other  kinds  of  African  have  gone  there  in  reduced  quantities, 
so  that  the  total  Antwerp  imports  show  little  change. 
During  January,  African  Rubber  met  with  a disappointing  de- 
mand- at  rather  easier  prices.  February  and  March  were  very 
dull  and  prices  declined  for  most  sorts,  closing  with  lower  values 
all  round.  In  April,  fairly  good  trade  was  done  at  rather  better 
prices,  closing  however  somewhat  quieter.  A moderately  large 
business  was  done  in  May  at  irregular  prices.  Good  Sierra  Leone 
sorts  were  then  well  in  demand,  showing  however,  little  if  any, 
change  in  price,  whilst  Lump  descriptions  weie  \d.  to  \d.  per  lb. 
lower.  During  June  and  July,  African  Rubbers  met  with  a 
moderate  to  poor  demand  at  general  lower  rates,  and  only  a com- 
paratively small  trade  was  done  at  barely  steady  prices.  The 
demand  was  better  in  .August,  especially  for  parcels  of  good  quality 
which  arrived  from  Sierra  Leone.  This  position  of  the  market  was 
not  maintained,  and  we  see  a constant  falling  off  in  the  demand 
which  remained  disappointing  with  only  small  business  passing  at 
generally  lower  rates,  until  the  end  of  November  when  quite  a 
steady  trade  was  done  at  generally  unaltered  and  in  some  instances 
