458 



ORIENTAL COMMERCE. 



[China. 



1S21-2. 1822-3. 



Woollens, 0iar.~*JBroad ells Pieces «™ 2,280 



Worleys „ ™ w Do. 4,000 3,520 



Camlets Do. 19,000 11,340 



Cottons, tf/#.»*««British calicoes & cottons, Do. 5,828 — 



Cotton twist — « lbs. 5,010 — „ — 



British iron tons. 1,479 721 



Lead Do. 500 ™« 500 



Tin * . Do. 123 287 



The Talue of the above in 1821-22 was i?848,302 ; in 1822-23, 

 .2604,075. The cargo of the ship Prince Regent, which was lost in the 

 latter year, amounted to the value of £ 133,623. 



The number of ships belonging to the Company clearing out from the 

 Port of Canton was the same in both years, viz. 221. 



The Company make their purchases of cloths gradually, and the quali- 

 ties are the best that can be procured ; the tradesmen are paid punctually ; 

 in short, the system is regular and uniform. The chief consumption in 

 China of woollens is at Pekin, or farther northward ; it is therefore impos- 

 sible to carry on, much less to extend the sale, except the most implicit 

 confidence with regard to us subsist in the minds of the Chinese. The 

 French at one period having procured English packages, and made up their 

 bales in a manner exactly conformable to those of the Company, imposed a 

 considerable quantity of their cloths upon the Chinese for a season ; but the 

 fraud was soon discovered, and they could not afterwards sell an entire 

 bale, nay scarcely a single piece, without the most scrupulous examination. 

 The Company's woollens meet with a very different reception. Tlie Chi- 

 nese merchants at Canton will take them according to their invoice ; and 

 there is every reason to believe that the bales under the Company's mark, 

 after being transported to an immense distance, and passing through a 

 number of hands, are received every where with the most perfect confidence, 

 and are never opened until they reach the shop of the person who sells for 

 actual use. 



Company's Exports to England. — The Company's exports from 

 Canton to England consist chiefly of drugs, silk, nankeens, and tea. 

 The extent of these exports cannot be stated with accuracy, because in 

 the olficial accounts their imports from the East Indies and China into 

 England are blended together ; except in so far as regards the article of tea, 

 the quantity of which shipped by the East India Company from Canton in 

 the years 1821-22 and 1822 -23, was as follow* : 



