284 



hijmboldt's ctjba. 



tion, and the licit and contraband export, under the 

 same point of view. 



[Note. — The product of coffee in Cuba has stea- 

 dily declined for some years past, under the compe- 

 tition with the greater profits from sugar culture, 

 and the less cost of coffee produced by the cheaper 

 slave labor of Brazil, where, for a series of years 

 before the total cessation of the African slave-trade, 

 in 1851-2, slaves were sold at an average price* of 

 $300 to $350. It reached its highest point about 

 1835, as will be seen by the following tables of 

 exports, compiled from the custom-house returns : 



1825 to 1830 Qqs. 2,149,581 Average, 429,71G 



1830 " 1835 " 2,494,479 " 499,000 



1835 " 1840 " 2,347,058 " 469,412 



1840 " 1845 " 1,666,247 " 333,249 



1845 " 1850 " 960,306 " 192,061 



1851 « 143,780 



1852 " 193,837 



About seventy per cent, of the export in 1852 was 

 from the Eastern department, where the competition 

 of the sugar culture for the employment of slave 

 labor, has not been experienced to the same extent 

 as in the western part of the island.] 



Tobacco. — The tobacco of Cuba is celebrated in 



