Notwithstanding foreign wars, civil wars, insurrections, and those continued conspiracies which have almost every year disturbed the country, the productive powers of the soil are so great, that nothing appears permanently to depress the exports, and therefore the imports.
The export trade of Hayti in 1835, which then included the whole island, was as follows:—
| Lbs. | Value. | |
| Coffee | 48,352,371 | $6,812,849 |
| Logwood | 13,293,737 | 86,409 |
| Cotton | 1,649,717 | 247,457 |
| Mahogany, feet | 5,413,316 | 405,998 |
| Tobacco | 2,086,606 | 125,196 |
| Cacao | 397,321 | 47,678 |
| ————— | ||
| $7,725,587 |
At the exchange of the day this represented just £1,000,000 sterling. The last year in which the statistics refer to the whole island is 1842.
M. Madiou, in his “History of Hayti,” vol. i. p. 31, gives the amount of the produce exported in the years 1842 and 1845, but does not affix a value to them:—
1842.
| Coffee | 40,759,064 | lbs. |
| Cotton | 880,517 | ” |
| Logwood | 19,563,147 | ” |
| Tobacco | 2,518,612 | ” |
| Cigars | 700,000 | No. |
| Mahogany | 4,096,716 | feet |
and various small amounts of miscellaneous articles.
It will be remarked that in the returns for 1845 tobacco has ceased to appear, as Santo Domingo had by this time separated from Hayti. M. Madiou considers that about 5,000,000 lbs. of coffee are consumed in the island, which is probably an under-estimate, considering the lavish manner in which it is used, and that 20,000,000 lbs. are exported as contraband, to avoid the heavy duties. This calculation appears too high. Whilst I was in Hayti, the illicit trade was considered to represent from 15 to 20 per cent of the acknowledged exports. Much, however, depends on the character of the men in power.
1845.