xii 



PREFACE. 



the home and colonial trade circulars, Legislative papers, and 

 scientific periodicals of different countries. The harassing 

 duties appertaining to the position of City editor of a daily 

 paper, coupled with numerous other literary engagements, have 

 aflPorded me insufficient time to do full justice to the work 

 while passing through the press; and several literal typo- 

 graphical errors in the botanical names have, I find, escaped 

 my attention in the revision of the sheets. I have, however, 

 thought it scarcely necessary to make a list of errata for these. 

 From want of leisure, to reduce all the weights and measures 

 named in the body of the work into English, I have given their 

 relative value in the Index. I have taken considerable pains 

 to make the Index most full and complete, for it has always 

 appeared to me, that in works embracing a great variety of 

 subjects, facility of reference is of paramount importance. 



Some discrepancy may here and there be found between 

 the figures quoted from Parliamentary returns and those . 

 derived from private trade circulars; but the statistics are 

 accurate enough for approximate calculations. 



Whilst the work has been passing through the press, 

 several important modifications and alterations have been 

 made in our Tarifi*. 



I have throughout found great difficulty in obtaining 

 commercial information from the various Colonial brokers 

 and importers of the City, w^ho, with but few exceptions, 



