It is right, however, to inform the reader, that although the subjoined table may approach very nearly to the truth in most respects, as it has been gradually and very carefully collected by the largest British mercantile establishment at Manilla, the nature of whose business requires that they should be as well acquainted with all facts such as the table embraces, as from the nature of existing circumstances there it is possible to be, yet at that place there is at all times a greater or less degree of difficulty in obtaining correct statistical information of the trade; and this is considerably increased by the Government not choosing to communicate the particulars they collect at the Custom-house, erroneous though they be.

In an underhand way, however, these particulars can be obtained from some of the Indian copyists employed in that establishment, if they are paid for it; and, in fact, they are in the habit of communicating a note of the different cargoes of ships coming in, or going away loaded, to some of the merchants. Yet these notes are nearly always more or less erroneous, from various causes. To obviate these inconveniences, several of the principal export merchants are in the habit of mutually furnishing each other with a correct statement of the various cargoes they ship; but still, as there are many exporters besides themselves, some degree of error must pervade even their carefully-gleaned information. But there is one thing to be borne in mind, that the following table is most likely to be considerably under the truth, and certainly is not over it.

General Statement of Exports from Manilla during 1850.

To Great Britain.To the Continent of Europe.To the Australian Colonies.To China.To Singapore, Batavia, & Bombay.To California and the Pacific.To United States.Total
Sugar 146,926 50,830 142,359 — 12,749 29,144 77,919459,927 peculs.
Hemp 16,073 5,568 — — 544 —102,184124,367 peculs.
Cordage 96 476 3,753 1,732 680 2,137 210 9,084 peculs.
Cigars 10,319 11,867 12,561 9,262 26,859 1,707 914 73,439 mil.
Leaf Tobacco — 42,629 — — — — — 42,629 quintals.
Sapan-wood 37,068 14,436 — 18,942 17,337 — 9,015 96,798 arrobas.
Coffee 165 9,670 1,481 100 250 1,072 2,063 14,801 peculs
Indigo 259 213 —uncertain — — 3,753 4,225 quintals.
Hides 3,340 213 — 1,069 — — — 4,622 peculs.
Hide Cuttings — — — 536 — — 2,419 2,955 peculs.
Mother-of-pearl Shell 820 338 — — 260 — 74 1,492 peculs.
Tortoise-shell 2,081 580 — 555 1,912 — 469 5,597 catties.
Rice — 6,576 —uncertain — 1,467 —Uncertain.
Beche de Mer — — — 4,348 — — — 4,348 peculs.
Gold Dust — — — 5,068 — — — 5,068 taels.
Camagon, or Ebony-wood 235 1,213 — 794 — — — 2,242 peculs.
Grass-cloth 175 13,252 — 500 — 650 22,975 37,552 pieces.
Hats — — 9,400 5,115 9,115 500 25,870 50,000 hats.

The quantity of rice and paddy shipped to China from the provinces cannot be ascertained with any degree of exactness; what goes from Manilla is very small, because, before arriving there, it has, by its transport expenses, added to the price at which it is obtainable in the districts where it is produced, which, of course, prevents its being shipped from the capital. At a guess, however, I should suppose that about a million cavans, each of which, one with another, weighs about a China pecul, or 133⅓ lbs, is an average yearly export, should the Government not prohibit the article from being exported for a longer period than usual, which is annually regulated by the scarcity or abundance of food in the country.

From the preceding table, the reader will observe that the exports of 1850, when compared with those of 1847, of which the following is a statement, have increased in some respects, and fallen off in others.

Statement of Exports from Manilla during 1850.

To Great Britain.To the Continent of Europe.To the United States.To the Pacific and California.To the Australian Colonies.To China.To SingaporeTo Batavia.Total
Sugar104,246 18,755 92,149 4,150 174,777 — — —394,077 peculs.
Hemp 16,592 2,438 98,440 — — 300 1,888 —119,658 peculs.
Cordage 20 546 7,038 404 4,430 825 1,425 — 14,688 peculs.
Indigo 58 78 2,166 — — 149 118 — 2,569 quintals.
Sapan-wood 12,055 11,960 28,891 — 160 5,210 18,814 1,817 78,907 peculs.
Hides 1,366 183 1,821 — — 2,389 — — 5,759 peculs.
Hide Cuttings — — 1,893 — — — — — 1,893 peculs.
Gold Dust — — — 3,970 — — — — 3,970 taels.
Coffee — 9,244 395 — 4,267 — — — 13,906 peculs.
Rice 23,760 4,520 — 300 772uncertain 875 —Uncertain.
Paddy 1,870 13,978 — — —uncertain — —Ditto.
Cigars 16,010 11,176 548 787 9,674 6,706 19,169 5,943 70,013 mil.
Leaf Tobacco 5,440 115,016 — — — — 5,280 —125,733 arrobas.
Mother-of-Pearl Shell 708 92 — — — 16 — — 816 peculs.
Grass-cloth — — 56,171 — — — — — 56,171 pieces.
Hats — — 1,600 — 10,932 — 5,560 — 18,092 hats.