252 



humboldt's ctjba. 



from contributing to commerce what we now style 

 colonial staples, exported only hides and skins, until 

 the eighteenth century. 



The cultivation of tobacco and the care of bees, 

 the first hives of which were carried from Florida, 

 succeeded the raising of cattle. Wax and tobacco 

 were soon more important articles of commerce than 

 hides, and were in their turn, superseded by sugar 

 and coffee. The cultivation of these articles did not 

 diminish that of the former ones, and in these differ- 

 ent phases of agricultural industry, notwithstanding 

 the efforts we have seen to make the coffee culture 

 predominate, the sugar plantations have thus far 

 yielded the greatest returns. The export, through 

 licit and illicit channels, of coffee, tobacco, sugar, 

 and wax, has risen to fourteen millions annually, 

 estimated at the present value of those staples. 



The export of sugar from Havana alone during 

 the last sixty -four years, according to the custom- 

 house returns, is as follows : — 



From 1760 to 1763, average at most 13,000 Boxes. 



« 1770 " 1780 ; 50.000 • 



1786, 

 1787,. 

 1788, . 

 1789,. 



63,274 Boxes. 1791, . . . 85,014 " 



61,245 " 1792,.... 72,854 " 



69,221 " 1793,. .. 87,970 " 



69,125 " 1794,. ...103,629 " 



1790,.... 77,896 " 1795,.... 70,437 



