138 



ORIENTAL COMMERCE. 



[Bombfttf. 



and to meet a second time ; and if both retain their first opinions, the 

 minutes are entered on the consultations, and the orders of the Governor 

 are to be valid, and put in execution. 



Trade. — Bombay from its situation commands the commerce of the 

 Gulphs of Persia and Arabia, and the northern parts of this side of India ; 

 the trade, however, is only a transit, the island not furnishing from its own 

 products any considerable articles for exportation, or even sufficient food 

 for its numerous inhabitants. It is merely an emporium for the reception 

 of articles produced in other countries, and a port of resort to merchants. 

 All sorts of Asiatic and European commodities are therefore to be procured 

 here. It would consequently be a waste of time to enumerate the various 

 descriptions of articles imported and exported between Bombay and British 

 and Foreign Europe and America, as well as the rest of Asia. Every year 

 a Report of Trade is prepared at Bombay, copies of which are sent home to 

 the Court of Directors. Very copious details respecting the internal and 

 external trade of this Presidency are contained in that Report, which fills 

 a very thick folio volume. The Tables published in the first editiou of this 

 Work were extracted from that source ; but Mr. G. A. Prinsep, of Cal- 

 cutta, has demonstrated so satisfactorily the defects of these accounts, by 

 reason of the mode adopted at the Bombay Custom-house of obtaining the 

 valuations, which, far from approximating to the truth, are not even formed 

 upon a consistent plan, that they serve in many cases only to mislead. The 

 little Work of this gentleman, entitled " Remarks on the external Commerce 

 find Exchanges of Bengal" affords a very useful key to understand the 

 nature and extent of the trade of all the Presidencies. 



The Reports furnish the following statement of the external trade of 

 Bombay in the year 1821-22. The imports into the Presidency (excluding 

 Company's investments), amounted to 2,79,74,672 B. Rupees : the chief 

 places are as follow : 



a Rupees. 



United Kingdom 43,94,908 



Madeira 64,173 



Cape of Good Hope 2,980 



Mauritius 3,53,087 



China 74,01,l«?0 



Manilla , 3,30,650 



Penang and Eastward 7,53,737 



Bengal 20,03,718 



B. Rupees. 



Coromandel Coast 92,923 



Ceylon 46,161 



Malabar and Canara 47,10,607 



Goa and the Concan 4,74,639 



Cutea and Scindy 5,44,252 



Persian Gulph 33,98,462 



Arabian Gulph 37,65,854 



Coast ofAfrica 4,27,511 



The exports from the Presidency (exclusive of Company's investments) 

 from the year 1821-22, amounted to 2,23,79,975 B. Rupees: the chief 

 places are as follow 



