In reviewing the commerce of the remaining parts of the world, we shall find the articles that constitute it almost exclusively the produce of the soil, or, where manufactured, owing the change in their form and value to the simplest contrivances and skill. We shall begin with Asia.
Turkey possesses some of the finest portions of this quarter of the globe; countries in which man first emerged into civilization, literature, and knowledge; rich in climate and soil, but dreadfully degraded, oppressed, and impoverished by despotism. The exports from the European part of Turkey are carpets, fruit, saffron, silk, drugs, &c.: the principal port is Constantinople. From Asiatic Turkey there are exported rhubarb and other drugs, leather, silk, dye stuffs, wax, sponge, barilla, and hides: nearly the whole foreign trade is centered in Smyrna, and is in the hands of the English and French, and Italians. The imports are coffee, sugar, liqueurs, woollen and cotton goods, lead, tin, jewellery, watches, &c.
China, from the immense number of its population, and their habits, possesses great internal commerce; but, with the exception of her tea, which is taken away by the English and Americans, her export trade is not great. She also carries on a traffic overland with Russia, to which We have already alluded, and some maritime commerce with Japan. Besides tea, the exports from China are porcelain, silk, nankeens, &c.; the imports are the woollen goods, and tin and copper of England; cotton, tin, pepper, &c. from the British settlements in India; edible birds' nests, furs, &c.
The trade of Japan is principally with China: the exports are copper, lackered ware, &c.; the imports are raw silk, sugar, turpentine, drugs, &c. The trade of the Birman empire is also principally with China, importing into it cotton, amber, ivory, precious stones, betel nuts, &c., and receiving in return raw and wrought silk, gold leaf, preserves, paper, &c. European broad cloth and hardware, Bengal muslins, glass, &c. are also imported into this country.
But by far the most important commerce that is carried on in the eastern parts of Asia, consists in that which flows from and to Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras. In fact, the English country trade there, as it is called, is of great value, and embraces a very great variety of articles. Bombay is the grand emporium of the west of India, Persia, and Arabia; here the productions of those countries are exchanged against each other, and for the manufactures, &c. of England. The principal articles of export from Bombay to these places, as well as to England, are cotton piece goods, sugar, and saltpetre, received from Bengal; pepper from Sumatra; coffee from the Red Sea. The imports from Europe are woollens, tin, lead, &c. A very lucrative trade is carried on from Bombay to China, to which it exports cotton in very great quantity, sandal wood, &c., and receives in return sugar, sugar-candy, camphire, nankeens, &c. There is also considerable traffic between Bombay and Bengal, Ceylon, Pegu, and the Malay archipelago. The exports of Ceylon are cinnamon, arrack, coir, cocoa nuts: the imports are grain, piece goods, and European merchandize. The commerce of the eastern coast of Hindostan centers in Madras: the exports from this place are principally piece goods, grain, cotton, &c.; the imports, woollen manufactures, copper, spirits, pepper, and other spices. The trade of Bengal may be divided into four branches: to Coromandel and Ceylon, the Malabar coast, Gulph of Persia and Arabia, the Malay archipelago and China and Europe. The principal exports by the port of Calcutta are piece goods, opium, raw silk, indigo, rice, sugar, cotton, grain, saltpetre, &c.: the principal imports are woollen goods, copper, wine, pepper, spices, tea, nankeen, camphire, &c.
A considerable trade is carried on in the Malay archipelago from Prince of Wales Island, which, since it was settled by the English, has become the emporium of this trade.--Batavia, Bencoolen, and Achen; the principal articles of export from these islands are cloves, nutmegs, camphire, pepper, sago, drugs, bichedemer, birds' nests, gold dust, ivory, areca nuts, benzoin, tin, &c.: the imports are tea, alum, nankeens, silks, opium, piece goods, cotton, rice, and European manufactures. Manilla is the depôt of all the productions of the Philippines, intended to be exported to China, America, and Europe. The exports of these islands are birds' nests, ebony, tobacco, sugar, cotton, cocoa, &c. The commerce of New Holland is still in its infancy, but it promises to rise rapidly, and to be of great value: a soil very fertile, and a climate adapted to the growth of excellent grain, together with the uncommon fineness of its wool, have already been very beneficial to its commerce.
The external commerce of Persia is principally carried on by the foreign merchants who reside at Muscat, on the Persian Gulph: into this place are imported from India, long cloths, muslins, silks, sugar, spices, rice, indigo, drugs, and European manufactures; the returns are copper, sulphur, tobacco, fruits, gum-arabic, myrrh, frankincense, and all the drugs which India does not produce.
The Red Sea, washed on one side by Asia, and on the other by Africa, seems the natural transit, from this consideration, of the commerce of the former quarter of the globe to that of the latter. Its commerce is carried on by the Arabians, and by vessels from Hindostan: Mocha and Judda are its principal ports. The articles sent from it are coffee, gums and drugs, ivory, and fruit: the imports are the piece goods, cotton, and other produce of India; and the manufactures, iron, lead, copper, &c. of Europe.
Egypt, in which anciently centered all the commerce of the world, retains at present a very small portion of trade: the principal exports from Alexandria consist in the gums and drugs of the east coast of Africa, Arabia, Persia, and India; rice, wheat, dates, oil, soap, leather, ebony, elephants' teeth, coffee, &c. The imports are received chiefly from France and the Italian States, and England; and consist in woollen and cotton goods, hardware, copper, iron, glass, and colonial produce. The commerce of the Barbary States is trifling: the exports are drugs, grain, oil, wax, honey, hides and skins, live bullocks, ivory, ostrich feathers, &c.; the imports, colonial produce, (which indeed finds its way every where,) cutlery, tin, woollen and linen goods, &c. The exports of the rest of Africa are nearly similar to those enumerated, viz. gums, drugs, ivory, ostrich feathers, skins, gold dust, &c. From the British settlement at the Cape are exported wine, wheat, wool, hides, &c.
The United States claim our first notice in giving a rapid sketch of the commerce of America: we have already pointed out the causes of their extraordinary progress in population and wealth. American ships, like English ones, are found in every part of the world: in the South Sea Islands, among people just emerging into civilization and industry; among the savages of New Zealand; on the north-west coast of America; and on the dreadful shores of New South Shetland. Not content with exporting the various productions of their own country, they carry on the trade of various parts of the globe, which, but for their instrumentality, could not have obtained, or ever have become acquainted with each other's produce.