No. 31.— 1885.] 



PLUMBAGO. 



213 



industry. Besides the quantities which may subsequently 

 have been transhipped thereto from Britain, the direct ship- 

 ments for the United States from Ceylon were 1 33,000 cwt. out 

 of a total of 205,000 in 1880 ; 160,000 from 260,000 in 1881 ; 

 113,000 from 260,000 in 1882; 141,000 out of 262,000 in 

 1883, and 94,000 out of the total of 182,000 in 1884. The 

 general result is that of the whole export of 1,170,000 cwt. in 

 the five years, 641,000 (or very considerably more than one- 

 half of the whole) went to the United States, the United 

 Kingdom taking the bulk of the remaining 529,000 cwt. 

 How far the continent of Europe may draw on Britain for 

 supplies of graphite, I am not aware, but the shipments of 

 plumbago from Ceylon diverted in the past five years to 

 other ports than those of the United States and the United 

 Kingdom have not been important. To Trieste went 4,217 

 cwt. in 1881 ; to Hamburg 4,031 in 1881 ; to British India 

 1,095 in 1880 ; to France 884 in 1884; to Holland 945 

 in 1884 ; to Australia 885 in 1881 ; and to Hongkong 

 739 in 1883. But for all practical purposes we may regard 

 Great Britain and the United States as taking at first 

 hand the whole of the plumbago Ceylon produces. Out of 

 an export of 263,000 cwt. in 1883, Britain took 119,000 and 

 the United States 142,000, leaving only 3,000 cwt. for all 

 other places. The memorandum referred to is appended as 

 a note.* It seems probable that three-fourths of all the 



* Plumbago exported in each of the last five years, showing the 

 countries to which the mineral was shipped :— 





1880, 



1881. 



1882. 



1883. 



1884. 





cwt. 



cwt. 



cwt. 



cwt. 



cwt. 



United Kingdom^ 



70,276 



89,709 



143,450 



119,312 



84,981 



Holland 









438 



945 



Trieste 



107 



4,217 



1,828 





210 



France 



507 



699 



300 



294 



884 



Hamburg 





4,031 







816 



U. S. of America 



133,556 



160,259 



113,451 



141,664 



94,083 



British India ... 



1,095 



109 



999 



326 



506 



Australia 



197 



885 



118 







China 







12 







Hongkong 







8 



739 





Total ... 



205,738 



259,909 



260,166 



262,773 



182,425 j 



1 



