239 



at La Guayra, of which I am in possession, the 

 exports, without counting the produce of illicit 

 trade, were 



in 1789 of 103,655 fanegas 

 1792 — 100,592 

 1794 — 111,133 



1796 — 75,538 



1797 — 70,832 



In an official document, taken from the papers 

 of the minister of finance*, the annual pro- 

 duce (la cosecha) of the province of Caraccas is 

 estimated at a hundred and thirty-five thousand 

 fanegas of cacao; thirty-three thousand of which 

 are for home consumption ; ten thousand for 

 other Spanish colonies ; seventy-seven thousand 

 for the mother-country ; fifteen thousand for the 

 illicit commerce with the French, English, 

 Dutch, and Danish colonies. From 1789 to 

 1793, the importation of cacao from Caraccas 

 into Spain has been, on an average, seventy- 

 seven thousand seven hundred and nineteen 

 fanegas a year, of which sixty-five thousand 

 seven hundred and sixty-six have been consumed 

 in the country, and eleven thousand nine hun- 

 dred and fifty-three exported to France, Italy, 



* Report (MS.) of the Count of Casa Valencia, counsellor 

 in the Department of the Indies, to Don Pedro Varela, 

 minister of Real Hacienda, on the commerce of Caraccas, the 

 13th June, 1797 (fol. 46). 



