Not long after the mariner's compass was employed, its variation was noticed; as it is obvious that, unless the degree and direction of this variation are accurately known, the compass would be of little service in navigation, the attention of navigators and philosophers was carefully directed to this point; and it was ascertained that the quantity of this variation is subject to regular periodical changes. By means, therefore, of a table indicating those changes, under different latitudes and longitudes, and of what are called variation charts, the uncertainty arising from them is in a great measure done away. Another source of error however existed, which does not seem to have been noticed till the period of Captain Cook's voyages: it was then found, "that the variation of the needle differed very sensibly on the same spot, with the different directions of the ship's head." Captain Flinders attributed this to the iron in the ship, and made a number of observations on the subject; these have been subsequently added to and corrected, so that at present the quantity of variation from this cause can be ascertained, and of course a proper allowance made for it. It does not appear that any material improvement has been made in the construction and use of the log,—that useful and necessary appendage to the compass,—since it was invented about the end of the sixteenth century.

These are the most important improvements in nautical knowledge and science, which renders navigation at present so much more safe and expeditious than it formerly was; there are, however, other circumstances which tend to the same object; the more full, accurate, and minute knowledge of the prevalent winds at different times of the year, and in various parts of the ocean; the means of foretelling changes of weather; and, principally, a knowledge of the direction and force of the currents must be regarded as of essential advantage to the seaman. When to these we add, the coppering of ships, which was first practised about the year 1761, and other improvements in their built and rigging, we have enumerated the chief causes which enable a vessel to reach the East Indies in two-thirds of the time which was occupied in such a voyage half a century ago.

Nor must we forget that the health of the seamen has, during the same period, been rendered infinitely more secure; so that mortality and sickness, in the longest voyages, and under great and frequent changes of climate, and other circumstances usually affecting health, will not exceed what would have occurred on land during the same time.

The great advantages which the very improved state of all branches of physical science, and of natural history, bestow on travellers in modern times, are enjoyed, though not in an equal degree, by navigators and by those who journey on land. To the latter they are indeed most important, and will principally account for the superiority of modern travels over those which were published a century ago, or even fifty years since. It is plain that our knowledge of foreign countries relates either to animate or inanimate nature: to the soil and geology, the face of the surface, and what lies below it; the rivers, lakes, mountains, climate, and the plants; or to the natural history, strictly so called:—and to the manners, institutions, government, religion, and statistics of the inhabitants. Consequently, as the appropriate branches of knowledge relating to these objects are extended, travellers must be better able, as well as more disposed, to investigate them; and the public at large require that some or all of them should at least be noticed in books of travels. The same science, and many of the same instruments, which enable the seaman to ascertain his latitude and longitude, and to lay down full and accurate charts of the shores which he visits, are also useful to the land-traveller; they both draw assistance from the knowledge of meteorology which they may possess, to make observations on the climate, and from their acquaintance with botany and natural history, to give an account of the plants and animals. But it is evident that so far as the latter are concerned, as well as so far as relates to the inhabitants, the land traveller has more opportunities than he who goes on a voyage.

But there are other advantages enjoyed by modern travellers besides those derived from superior science: foreign languages are at present better and more generally understood; and it is unnecessary to point out how important such an acquisition is, or rather how indispensible it is to accurate information. The knowledge of the languages of the East which many of the gentlemen in the service of the East India Company, and the missionaries, possess, has been of infinite service in making us much better acquainted with the antiquities, history, and present state of those countries, than we could possibly have otherwise been. There is at present greater intercourse among even remote nations; and prejudices, which formerly operated as an almost insurmountable barrier, are now either entirely destroyed, or greatly weakened: in proof of this, we need only refer to the numerous travellers who have lately visited Egypt,—a country which it would have been extremely dangerous to visit half a century ago. At the same distance of time, natives of Asia or Africa, especially in their appropriate costume, were seldom or never seen in the streets of London, or, if seen, would have been insulted, or greatly incommoded by the troublesome curiosity of its inhabitants; now there are many such, who walk the streets unmolested, and scarcely noticed.

Commerce, which has derived such advantages from the progress of geographical knowledge, has in some measure repaid the obligation, by creating a much greater, more intimate, and more frequent mutual intercourse among nations; and by doing away with those prejudices and antipathies which formerly closed many countries effectually against Christian and European travellers: and to the zeal and perseverance of modern travellers, assisted as they are by commercial intercourse, we may reasonably hope that we shall, before long, be indebted for a knowledge of the interior of Africa. Those countries still imperfectly known in the south-east of Asia will, probably, from their vicinity to our possessions in Hindostan, be explored from that quarter. The encreasing population of the United States, and the independence of South America, will necessarily bring us acquainted with such parts of the new world as are still unknown. But it is difficult to conjecture from what sources, and under what circumstances, the empires of China and Japan will be rendered more accessible to European travellers: these countries, and some parts of the interior of Asia, are cut off from our communication by causes which probably will not speedily cease to operate. The barriers which still enclose all other countries are gradually yielding to the causes we have mentioned; and as, along with greater facilities for penetrating into and travelling within such countries, travellers now possess greater capabilities of making use of the opportunities thus enjoyed, we may hope that nearly the whole world will soon be visited and known, and known, too, in every thing that relates to inanimate and animate nature.

The progress of commerce during the last hundred years, the period of time to which we are at present to direct our attention, has been so rapid, its ramifications are so complicated, and the objects it embraces so various and numerous, that it will not be possible, within the limits to which we must confine ourselves, to enter on minute and full details respecting it; nor would these be consonant to the nature of our work, or generally interesting and instructive.

During the infancy of commerce, as well as of geographical science, we deemed it proper to be particular in every thing that indicated their growth; but the reasons which proved the necessity, or the advantage, of such a mode of treating these subjects in the former parts of this volume, no longer exist, but in fact give way to reasons of an opposite nature—reasons for exhibiting merely a general view of them. Actuated by these considerations, we have been less minute and particular in what relates to modern geography, than In what relates to ancient; and we shall follow the same plan in relation to what remains to be said on the subject of commerce. So long as any of the causes which tended to advance geography and commerce acted obscurely and imperfectly—so long as they were in such a weak state that the continuance of their progress was doubtful, we entered pretty fully into their history; but after a forward motion was communicated to them, such as must carry them towards perfection without the possibility of any great or permanent check, we have thought it proper to abstain from details, and to confine ourselves to more general views. Guided by this principle which derives additional weight from the vastness to which commerce has reached within the last hundred years, we shall now proceed to a rapid and general sketch of its progress during that period, and of its present state.

From the first and feeble revival of commerce in the middle ages, till the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, the Italian republics, and the Hanseatic League, nearly monopolized all the trade of Europe; the former, from their situation, naturally confining themselves to the importation and circulation of the commodities supplied by the East, and by the European countries in the south of Europe, and the districts of Africa then known and accessible; while the latter directed their attention and industry to those articles which the middle and north of Europe produced or manufactured.

The discovery of the Cape of Good Hope gave a different direction to the commerce of the East, while at the same time it very greatly extended it; but as it is obvious that a greater quantity of the commodities supplied by this part of the world could not be purchased, except by an increase in the produce and manufactures of the purchasing nations, they also pushed forward in industry, experience, skill, and capital. The Portuguese and Spaniards first reaped the fruits of the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope; subsequently the Dutch; and at the period at which this part of our sketch of commerce commences, the English were beginning to assume that hold and superiority in the East, by which they are now so greatly distinguished. The industry of Europe, especially of the middle and northern states, was further stimulated by the discovery of America, and, indirectly, by all those causes which in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries tended to increase information, and to secure the liberty of the mass of the people. The invention of printing; the reformation; the destruction of the feudal system, at least in its most objectionable, degrading, and paralizing features; the contentions between the nobility and the sovereigns, and between the latter and the people; gave a stimulus to the human mind, and thus enlarged its capacities, desires, and views, in such a manner, that the character of the human race assumed a loftier port.

From all these causes commerce benefited, and, as was natural to expect, it benefited most in those countries where most of these causes operated, and where they operated most powerfully. In Holland we see a memorable and gratifying instance of this: a comparatively small population, inhabiting a narrow district, won and kept from the overwhelming of the ocean, by most arduous, incessant, and expensive labour,—and the territory thus acquired and preserved not naturally fertile, and where fertile only calculated to produce few articles,—a people thus disadvantageously situated, in respect to territory and soil, and moreover engaged in a most perilous, doubtful, and protracted contest for their religion and liberty, with by far the most potent monarch of Europe,—this people, blessed with knowledge and freedom, forced to become industrious and enterprizing by the very adverse circumstances in which they were placed, gradually wrested from their opponents—the discoverers of the treasures of the East and of the new world, and who were moreover blessed with a fertile soil and a luxurious climate at home,—their possessions in Asia, and part of their possessions in America. Nor did the enterprising spirit of the Dutch confine itself to the obtaining of these sources of wealth: they became, as we have already seen, the carriers for nearly the whole of Europe; by their means the productions of the East were distributed among the European nations, and the bulky and mostly raw produce of the shores of the Baltic was exchanged for the productions and manufactures of France, England, Germany, and the Italian states.

From the middle of the eighteenth century, the commerce of the Dutch began to decline; partly in consequence of political disputes among themselves, but principally because other nations of Europe now put forth their industry with effect and perseverance. The English and the French, especially, became their great rivals; first, by conducting themselves each their own trade, which had been previously carried on by the Dutch, and, subsequently, by the possessions they acquired in the East. The American war, and soon afterwards the possession of Holland by the French during the revolutionary war, gave a fatal blow to the remnant of their commerce, from which it has not recovered, nor is likely at any time to recover, at least nearly to its former flourishing state. For, as we have remarked, the Dutch were flourishing and rich, principally because other nations were ignorant, enslaved, and destitute of industry, skill, and capital.

England took the place of the Dutch in the scale of commercial enterprise and success: the contest between them was long and arduous; but at length England attained a decided and permanent superiority. She gradually extended her possessions in the East; and after expelling the French from this part of the world, became in reality the only European sovereign power there.

The manufactures of England, those real and abundant causes and sources of her immense commerce, did not begin to assume that importance and extent to which they have at present reached, till the middle, or rather the latter part of the eighteenth century; then her potteries, her hardware, her woollens, and above all her cotton goods, began to improve. Certainly the steam engine is the grand cause to which England's wealth and commerce may be attributed in a great degree; but the perfection to which it has been brought, the multifarious uses to which it is applied, both presuppose skill, capital, and industry, without which the mere possession of such an engine would have been of little avail.

At the termination of the American war, England seemed completely exhausted: she had come out of a long and expensive contest, deprived of what many regarded as her most valuable possessions, and having contracted an enormous debt. Yet in a very few years, she not only revived, but flourished more than ever; it is in vain to attribute this to any other causes but those alone which can produce either individual or national wealth, viz. industry, enterprize, knowledge, and economy, and capital acquired by means of them. But what has rendered Britain more industrious, intelligent, and skilful than other nations?—for if we can answer this question, we can satisfactorily account for her acquisition of capital; and capital, industry, and skill existing, commerce and wealth must necessarily follow.

Britain enjoys greater political freedom, and greater security of property than any other European nation; and without political freedom, the mass of the people never can be intelligent, or possess either comprehensive views or desires; and where views and desires are limited, there can be no regular, general, and zealous industry. Unless, however, security of property is enjoyed, as well as political liberty, industry, even if it could spring up under such circumstances, must soon droop and decay. It is a contradiction in terms to suppose that comprehensive views and desires can exist and lead to action, when at the same time it is extremely doubtful whether the objects of them could be realized, or, if realized, whether they would not immediately be destroyed, or torn from those whose labour, and skill, and anxious thought had acquired them.

But there are other causes to which we must ascribe the extension of British manufactures and commerce; of these we shall only enumerate what we regard as the principal and the most powerful: the stimulus which any particular improvement in manufactures gives to future and additional improvements, or rather, perhaps, the necessity which it creates for such additional improvements; the natural operation of enlarged capital; the equally natural operation of encreased wealth among the various classes of the community; the peculiar circumstances in which Britain has been placed since the termination of the war which deprived her of her American colonies; and, lastly, her national debt. A short view of each of these particulars will, we believe, sufficiently account for the present unparalleled state of British manufactures and commerce.

The direct effect of improvement in the mode of manufacturing any article, by the introduction of a more powerful machinery, is to encrease the quantity, and to lower the price of that article. Hence it follows, that those who manufacture it on the old plan must be undersold, unless they also adopt such machinery; and as knowledge, both speculative and practical, has greater chance to improve in proportion as it is spread, from this cause, as well as from the more powerful cause of rival interests, wherever improvements in manufactures have begun and been extended, they are sure to advance.

That this is not theoretical doctrine requires only an appeal to what has been effected, and is yet effecting in Britain, to prove. A very curious, interesting, and instructive work might be written on the improvements in the cotton machinery alone, which have been made in this country during the last forty years: we mean interesting and instructive, not merely on account of the tacts relative to mechanical ingenuity which it would unfold, but on account of the much higher history which it would give of the mechanism of the human mind, and of the connections and ramifications of the various branches of human knowledge. In what state would the commerce of Great Britain have been at this time, if the vast improvements in the machinery for spinning cotton had not been made and universally adopted?—and how slowly and imperfectly would these improvements have taken place, had the sciences been unconnected, or greater improvements, which at first were unseen or deemed impracticable, not been gradually developed, as lesser improvements were made. The stimulus of interest, the mutual connection of various branches of science, and above all the unceasing onward movement of the human mind in knowledge, speculative as well as practical, must be regarded as the most powerful causes of the present wonderful state of our manufactures, and, consequently, of our commerce.

2. The natural operation of enlarged capital is another cause of our great commerce. There is nothing more difficult in the history of mankind—not the history of their wars and politics, but the history of their character, manners, sentiments, and progress in civilization and wealth—[as->than] to distinguish and separate those facts which ought to be classed as causes, and those which ought to be classed as effects. There can be no doubt that trade produces capital; and, in this point of view, capital must be regarded as an effect: there can be as little doubt, that an increase of capital is favourable to an increase of commerce, and actually produces it; in this point of view, therefore, capital must be regarded as a cause. As in the physical world action and reaction are equal, so are they, in many respects, and under many circumstances, in the moral and intellectual world; but, whereas in the physical world the action and reaction are not only equal but simultaneous, in the moral and intellectual world the reaction does not take place till after the immediate and particular action from which it springs has ceased.

To apply these remarks to our present subject, it is unnecessary to point out in what manner trade must increase capital; that capital, on the other hand, increases trade, is not, perhaps, at first sight, quite so obvious; but that it must act in this manner will be perceptible, when, we reflect on the advantages which a large capital gives to its possessor. It enables him to buy cheaper, because he can buy larger quantities, and give ready money; buying cheaper, he can sell cheaper, or give longer credit, or both; and this must ensure an increase of trade. It enables him immediately to take advantage of any improvement in the mode of manufacturing any article; and to push the sale of any article into countries where it was before unknown. Such are some of the more important effects on commerce of large capital; and these effects have been most obviously and strikingly shewn in the commercial history of Britain for the last thirty years, and thus give a practical confirmation to the doctrine, that capital, originally the creature of trade, in its turn gives nourishment, rigour, and enlarged growth to it.

3. Encreased wealth among the various classes of the community, may be viewed In the same light as capital; it flows from increased trade, and it produces a still further increase of trade. The views, and desires, and habits of mankind, are like their knowledge, they are and must be progressive: and if accompanied, as they generally are, by increased means, they must give birth to increased industry and skill, and their necessary consequences, increased trade and wealth.

Had the views, desires, and habits of mankind, and especially of the inhabitants of Europe and the United States, continued as they were fifty years ago, it is absolutely impossible that one half of the goods manufactured in Great Britain could have been disposed of; and unless these additional and enlarged views, desires, and habits, had been accompanied with commensurate means of gratifying them, our manufactures and commerce could not have advanced as they have done. Minutely and universally divided as human labour is, no one country can render its industry and skill additionally productive, without, at the same time, the industry and skill of other countries also advance. No one nation can acquire additional wealth, unless additional wealth is also acquired in other nations. Before an additional quantity of commodities can be sold, additional means to purchase them must be obtained; or, in other words, increased commerce, supposes increased wealth, not only in that country in which commerce is increased, but also in that where the buyers and consumers live.

4. Since the termination of the American war, Britain has been placed in circumstances favourable to her commerce: the human mind cannot long be depressed; there is an elasticity about it which prevents this. Perhaps it is rather disposed to rebound, in proportion to the degree and time of its restraint. It is certain, however, that the exhaustion produced by the American war speedily gave place to wonderful activity in our manufactures and commerce; and that, at the commencement of the first French revolutionary war, they had both taken wonderful and rapid strides. The circumstances, indeed, of such a country as Britain, and such a people as the British, must be essentially changed,—changed to a degree, and in a manner, which we can hardly suppose to be brought about by any natural causes,—before its real wealth can be annihilated, or even greatly or permanently diminished. The climate and the soil, and all the improvements and ameliorations which agriculture has produced on the soil, must remain: the knowledge and skill, and real capital of the inhabitants, are beyond the reach of any destroying cause: interest must always operate and apply this knowledge and skill, unless we can suppose, what seems as unlikely to happen as the change of our climate and soil, the annihilation of our knowledge and skill, or that interest should cease to be the stimulating cause of industry; unless we can suppose that political and civil freedom should be rooted out, and individual property no longer secure.

Circumstances, however, though they cannot destroy, must influence, beneficially or otherwise, the wealth and commerce of a country; and it may happen that circumstances apparently unfavourable may become beneficial. This was the case with Britain: during the American war, her manufactures and commerce languished; during the French wars they increased and throve most wonderfully. The cause of this difference must be sought for principally in the very artificial and extraordinary circumstances in which she was placed during the French war: and of these circumstances, the most powerfully operative were her foreign loans; her paper circulation; the conquests and subsequent measures of Bonaparte on the continent; and her superiority at sea. Foreign loans necessarily rendered the exchange unfavourable to Britain; an unfavourable exchange, or, in other words, a premium on bills, in any particular country, enabled the merchant to sell his goods there at a cheaper rate than formerly, and consequently to extend his commerce there. The paper circulation of Britain,—though a bold and hazardous step, and which in a less healthy and vigorous state of public credit and wealth than Britain enjoyed could not have been taken, or, if taken, would not have produced nearly the beneficial effects it did, and would have left much more fatal consequences than we are at present experiencing,—undoubtedly tended to increase her commerce; and the very stimulus which it gave to all kinds of speculation has been favourable to it. The ruinous consequences of such speculation, though dreadful, are comparatively of short duration; whereas it is impossible that speculation should be active and vigorous, with commensurate means, without improving manufactures, and opening new channels for commerce; and these effects must remain. In what manner the measures of Bonaparte on the continent, and our superiority at sea, were favourable to our commerce, it is unnecessary to explain.

Lastly. It only remains to explain how our national debt has been beneficial to our commerce. Necessity, if it is not absolutely overpowering, must act as a stimulus to industry as well as interest: the desire to avoid evil, and the desire to obtain good, are equally powerful motives to the human mind. In the same manner as an increase of family, by creating additional expense, spurs a man to additional industry; so the certainty that he must pay additional taxes produces the same effect. Individuals may contrive to shift the burden from themselves, and pay their taxes by spending less; but there can be no doubt that the only general, sure, and permanent fund, out of which additional taxes can be paid, must arise from the fruits of additional industry. We wish to guard against being taken for the advocates for taxation, as in any shape a blessing: we are merely stating what we conceive to be its effect. But we should no more regard taxation as a blessing, because it increased commerce, than we should regard it as a blessing to a man, that, from any cause, he was obliged to work fourteen hours a day instead of twelve. In both cases, increased labour might be necessary, but it would not the less be an evil.

The only other nation, the commerce of which has increased very materially and rapidly, is the United States of America; and if we trace the chief and most powerful causes of their commercial prosperity, we-shall still further be confirmed in the opinion, that at least some of the causes which we have assigned for the extension of British commerce are the true ones; and that, in fact, commerce cannot generally or permanently increase where these causes do not exist, and that where they do they must encourage and extend it

It is not our intention to enter into a detail of the causes of American prosperity, except so far as they are connected with its commerce. They may, however, be summed up in a few words. An inexhaustible quantity of land, in a good climate, obtained without difficulty, and at little expence; with the produce of it, when obtained and cultivated, entirely at the disposal and for the exclusive advantage of the proprietor. The same with regard to all other labour; or, in other words, scarcely any taxes: and with respect to labour in general, great demand for it, and extremely high wages. These are causes of increased population and of prosperity, and indirectly of commerce, peculiar to America. It requires no illustration or proof to comprehend how the increased produce of a new soil must supply increased articles for commerce. While Britain, therefore, finds increased articles for her commerce, from her improvements in the machinery applicable to manufactures, by means of which the same quantity of human labour is rendered infinitely more productive,—the United States finds materials for her increased commerce, in the increasing stock of the produce of the soil.

Political and civil liberty, and the consequent security of property, are causes of commercial prosperity, common to the United States and Britain.

It may also be remarked, that the circumstances of Europe, almost ever since the United States have had a separate and independent existence, have been favourable to its commerce. The long war between Britain and France afforded them opportunities for increasing their commerce, which they most sedulously and successfully embraced and improved. They became, in fact, the carriers for France, and in many cases the introducers of British produce into the continent.

There is only another circumstance connected with the United States to which we deem it necessary to advert in this brief and general developement of the causes of their commercial prosperity: we allude to the wonderful facilities for internal commerce afforded them by their rivers, and especially by the Mississippi and its branches. There can be no doubt that easy, speedy, cheap, and general inter-communication to internal trade,—whether by means of roads and canals, as in England, or by means of rivers as in America, is advantageous to foreign commerce, both directly and indirectly. It is advantageous directly, in so far as it enables the manufacturer with great facility, and at little expence, to transmit his goods to the places of exportation; and to ascertain very quickly the state of the markets by which he regulates his purchases, sales, and even the quantity and direction of his labour. It is advantageous indirectly, in so far as by stimulating and encouraging internal trade, it increases wealth, and with increased wealth comes the increased desire of obtaining foreign produce, and the increased means to gratify that desire.

We deemed it proper to preface the details we shall now give on the subject of the present state of commerce with these general remarks on the principal causes which have enlarged it, in those two countries in which alone it flourishes to a very great extent. But, as we have already remarked, commerce cannot extend in one country, without receiving an impulse in other countries. While, therefore, British and American commerce have been increasing, the general commerce of the whole civilized world, and even of parts hardly civilized, have been increasing; but in no country nearly to the extent to which it has reached in Britain and the United States, because none are blessed with the political advantages they enjoy, or have the improved machinery and capital of the one, or the almost inexhaustible land of the other.

In the details which we are now about to give, we shall confine ourselves to the statement of any particular circumstance which may have been favourable or otherwise to the commerce of any country during the last hundred years, and to an enumeration of the principal ports and articles of import and export of each country. We shall not attempt to fix the value of the imports and exports in toto, or of any particular description of them, because there are in fact no grounds on which it can be accurately fixed. We shall, however, in the arrangement of the order of the goods exported, place ihose first which constitute the most numerous and important articles.

1. The countries in the north of Europe, including Russia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and the countries generally on the south shores of the Baltic. From the geographical situation of these countries, and their consequent climate, the chief articles of the export commerce must consist in the coarsest produce of the soil. These, and the produce of their mines, are the sources of their wealth, and consequently of their commerce.

The principal exports of Norway consist of timber, masts, tar, potash, hides, (chiefly those of the goat,) iron, copper, cobalt, tallow, salted provisions, and fish. Corn, principally from the southern shores of the Baltic, is the most considerable article of import. The only event in the modern history of this country, which can affect its commerce, is its annexation to Sweden; and whether it will be prejudicial or otherwise, is not yet ascertained.

Denmark consists of the islands in the Baltic, and the peninsula lying in the north-west of Germany, comprizing Jutland, Sleswig, and Holstein. The face of the country, both insular and continental, presents a striking contrast to that of Norway, being flat, and fertile in corn and cattle. Denmark possesses a large extent of sea coast, but the havens do not admit large vessels. The communication between the insular and continental possessions, the German ocean and the Baltic, and consequently the commerce of Denmark, was much facilitated by the canal of Keil, which was finished in 1785. Prior to the year 1797, the commerce was much injured by numerous restraints on importation. During the short wars between this country and Britain, it suffered considerably. At present it cannot rank high as a commercial kingdom. Denmark and the Duchies, as they are called, export wheat, rye, oats, barley, rape seed, horses, cattle, fish, wooden domestic articles, &c.; and import chiefly woollen goods, silks, cottons, hardware, cutlery, paper, salt, coals, iron, hemp, flax, wines, tobacco, sugar, and other colonial produce.

Sweden in general is a country, the wealth, and consequently the objects of commerce of which, are principally derived from its mines and woods. Its principal ports are Stockholm and Gothenburgh. The political event in the history of this country which gave the most favourable impulse to its commerce in modern times, is the alteration in its constitution after the death of Charles XII.; by this the liberties of the people were encreased, and a general stimulus towards national industry was given: agriculture was improved, the produce of the mines doubled, and the fishery protected. More lately, the revolution in 1772, and the loss of Finland, have been prejudicial to Sweden. The principal exports are, iron, copper, pine-timber, pitch, tar, potash, fish, &c.; the principal imports are, corn, tobacco, salt, wines, oils, wool, hemp, soap, cotton, silk and woollen goods, hardware, sugar, and other colonial produce.

The most important commercial port on the southern shore of the Baltic is Dantzic, which belongs to Prussia. This town retained a large portion of the commerce of the Baltic after the fall of the Hanseatic League, and with Lubec, Hamburgh, and Bremen, preserved a commercial ascendency in the Baltic. It suffered, however, considerably by the Prussians acquiring possession of the banks of the Vistula, until it was incorporated with the kingdom in 1793. Dantzic exports nearly the whole of the produce of the fertile country of Poland, consisting of corn, hides, horse-hair, honey, wax, oak, and other timber; the imports consist principally of manufactured goods and colonial produce. Swedish Pomerania, and Mecklenburgh, neither of which possess any ports of consequence, draw the greater part of their exports from the soil, as salted and smoked meat, hides, wool, butter, cheese, corn, and fruit; the imports, like those of Dantzic, are principally manufactured goods and colonial produce.

The immense extent of Russia does not afford such a variety, or large supply of articles of commerce, as might be expected: this is owing to the ungenial and unproductive nature of a very large portion of its soil, to the barbarous and enslaved state of its inhabitants, and to the comparatively few ports, which it possesses, and the extreme distance from the ocean or navigable rivers of its central parts. We have already mentioned the rise of Petersburgh, and its rapid increase in population and commerce. The subsequent sovereigns of Russia have, in this as in all other respects, followed the objects and plans of its founder; though they have been more enlightened and successful in their plans of conquest than in those of commerce. The most important advantage which they have bestowed on commerce, arises from the canals and inland navigation which connects the southern and the northern provinces of this vast empire. The principal commerce of Russia is by the Baltic. Petersburgh and Riga are the only ports of consequence here; from them are exported corn, hemp, flax, fir timber, pitch, tar, potash, iron and copper, hides, tallow, bristles, honey, wax, isinglass, caviar, furs, &c. The principal imports consist of English manufactures and colonial produce, especially coffee and sugar, wines, silks, &c. The commerce of the Black Sea has lately increased much, especially at Odessa. The principal exports are, corn, furs, provisions, &c.; its imports, wine, fruit, coffee, silks, &c. Russia carries on a considerable internal trade with Prussia, Persia, and China, especially, with the latter. Nearly the whole of her maritime commerce is in the hands of foreigners, the Russians seeming rather averse to the sea; and the state of vassalage in the peasants, which binds them to the soil, preventing the formation of seamen. Latterly, however, she has displayed considerable zeal in posecuting maritime discoveries; and as she seems disposed to extend her possessions in the north-west coast of America, this will necessarily produce a commercial marine.

2. The next portion of Europe to which we shall direct our attention consists of Germany, the Netherlands, and France.

Germany, though an extensive and fertile country, and inhabited by an intelligent and industrious race of people, possesses few commercial advantages from its want of ports: those on the Baltic have been already mentioned; those on the German Ocean are Hamburgh and Embden, of which Hamburgh is by far the most important, while, to the south, the only port it possesses is Trieste. It is, however, favoured in respect to rivers: the Elbe, Weser, Rhine, and Danube, with their tributary streams affording great facilities, not only for inland commerce, but also for the export and import of commodities. The chief political disadvantage under which Germany labours, affecting its commerce, arises from the number of independent states into which it is divided, and the despotic nature of most of its governments. As might be expected from such a large tract of country, the productions of Germany are various. Saxony supplies for exportation, wool of the finest quality, corn, copper, cobalt, and other metals, thread, linen-lace, porcelain, &c. Hanover is principally distinguished for its mines, which supply metals for exportation. The chief riches of Bavaria arise from its corn and cattle: these, with pottery, glass, linen, and silk, are the exports of Wurtemburgh. Prussia Proper affords few things for exportation: the corn of her Polish provinces has been already mentioned, as affording the principal export from Dantzic. Silesia supplies linen to foreign countries. Austria, and its dependant states, export quicksilver, and other metals, besides cattle, corn, and wine.

The commerce of the Netherlands, including Holland, though far inferior in extent and importance to what it formerly was, is still not inconsiderable. Indeed, the situation of Holland, nearly all the towns and villages of which have a communication with the sea, either by rivers or canals, and through some part of the territory of which the great rivers Rhine, Meuse, and Scheld empty themselves into the sea, must always render it commercial. The principal ports of the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Antwerp. The exports of the Netherlands consist either of its own produce and manufactures, or of those which are brought to it from the interior of Germany: of the former, butter, cheese, madder, clover-seed, toys, &c. constitute the most important; from Germany, by means of the Rhine, vast floats of timber are brought. The principal imports of the Netherlands, both for her own use and for the supply of Germany, consist of Baltic produce, English goods, colonial produce, wines, fruits, oil, &c.

There is perhaps no country in Europe which possesses greater advantages for commerce than France: a large extent of sea coast, both on the Atlantic and the Mediterranean; excellent harbours; a rich soil and genial climate, adapted to a great variety of valuable productions; and some manufactures very superior in their workmanship,—all these present advantages seldom found united. Add to these her colonial possessions, and we shall certainly be surprized that her commerce should ever have been second, to that of any other country in Europe. Prior to the revolution it was certainly great; but during and since that period it was and is vastly inferior to the commerce of Great Britain, and even to that of the United States.

The extent of sea coast on the Atlantic is 283 leagues, and on the Mediterranean eighty leagues: the rivers are numerous, but none of the first class. The canal of Languedoc, though from its connecting the Atlantic and the Mediterranean it would naturally be supposed highly advantageous to commerce, is not so; or rather, it is not turned to the advantage to which it might be applied. In England such a canal would be constantly filled with vessels transporting the produce of one part to another. It is not, however, so; and this points to a feature in the French character which, in all probability, will always render them indisposed, as well as unable, to rival Britain, either in manufactures or commerce. Besides the want of capital, which might be supplied, and would indeed be actually supplied by industry and invention, the French are destitute of the stimulus to industry and invention. As a nation, they are much more disposed to be content with a little, and to enjoy what they possess without risk, anxiety, or further labour, than to increase their wealth at such a price.

The principal commercial ports of France on the Atlantic are Havre, St. Maloes, Nantes, Bourdeaux, and Bayonne: Marseilles is the only commercial port of consequence in the Mediterranean. The principal exports of France are wines, brandy, vinegar, fruit, oil, woollen cloth of a very fine quality, silk, perfumery, &c.: the imports are Baltic produce, the manufactures of England; fruits, drugs, raw wool, leather, &c. from Spain, Italy, and the Mediterranean states.

3. The next division of Europe comprehends Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece.

Spain, a country highly favoured by nature, and at one period surpassed by no other kingdom in Europe in civilization, knowledge, industry, and power, exhibits an instructive and striking instance of the melancholy effects of political degradation. Under the power of the Arabians, she flourished exceedingly; and even for a short period after their expulsion, she retained a high rank in the scale of European kingdoms. The acquisition of her East Indian and American territories, and the high eminence to which she was raised during the dominion of Charles V. and his immediate successors,—events that to a superficial view of things would have appeared of the greatest advantage to her,—proved, in fact, in their real and permanent operation, prejudicial to her industry, knowledge, and power. It would seem that the acquisition of the more precious metals, which may be likened to the power of converting every thing that is touched into gold, is to nations what it was to Midas,—a source of evil instead of good. Spain, having substituted the artificial stimulus of her American mines in the place of the natural and nutritive food of real industry, on which she fed during the dominion of the Moors, gradually fell off in commercial importance, as well as in political consequence and power. The decline in her commerce, and in her home industry, was further accelerated and increased by the absurd restrictions which she imposed on the intercourse with her colonies. All these circumstances concurring, about the period when she fell into the power of the house of Bourbon,—that is, about the beginning of the eighteenth century,—she sunk very low in industry and commerce, and she has, since that period, continued to fall.

And yet, as we have observed, she possesses great natural advantages: a sea coast on the Atlantic and Mediterranean of considerable extent; a great variety of climate and soil, and consequently of productions,—she might become, under a wise and free government, distinguished for her political power and her commerce.

On the Atlantic, the first port towards the north is Saint Sebastian; then succeeds Bilboa, St. Andero, Gijon, Ferrol, and Corunna; but though some of these, especially Ferrol and Corunna, possess excellent harbours, yet the poverty of the adjacent country prevents them from having much trade. To the south of Portugal is Seville, on the Guadalquiver, sixteen leagues from the sea; large vessels can ascend to this city, but its commerce was nearly destroyed by the transfer of the colonial trade to Cadiz. This last town, one of the most ancient commercial places in the world, is highly favoured both by nature and art as a port; and before the French revolutionary war, and the separation of the American colonies from the mother state, was undoubtedly the first commercial city in Spain. The exports of the northern provinces consist principally in iron, wool, chesnuts and filberts, &c.; the imports, which chiefly come from England, Holland, and France, are woollen, linen, and cotton goods, hardware, and salted fish.

On the Mediterranean, Malaga may be regarded as the third commercial city in Spain, though its harbour is not good; the other ports in this sea, at which trade is carried on to any considerable extent, are Carthagena, Alicant, and Barcelona, which ranks after Cadiz in commercial importance, and now that the colonial trade is destroyed, may be placed above it. The principal exports from these Mediterranean towns are wines, dried fruits, oils, anchovies, wool, barilla, soap, kermes, antimony, vermilion, brandy, cork, silk, &c. Barcelona formerly exported an immense number of shoes to the colonies. The imports consist chiefly of Baltic produce, the articles enumerated as forming the imports of the north of Spain, and some articles from Italy and Turkey.

Portugal, not nearly so extensive as Spain, nor blessed with such a fertile territory, is before her in commerce: she possesses two sea-ports of the first consideration, Lisbon and Oporto; and five of the second class. There are few cities that surpass Lisbon in commerce. The principal trade of Portugal is with England; from this country she receives woollens and other manufactures; coals, tin, salted cod, Irish linen, salt provisions, and butter: her other imports are iron from the north of Spain; from France, linens, silks, cambrics, fine woollens, jewellery; from Holland, corn, cheese, and drugs for dying; from Germany, linens, corn, &c.; and from Denmark, Sweden, and Russia, Baltic produce. The principal exports of Portugal are wine, oil, fruits, cork, &c.

The Italian States, the origin of the commerce of the middle ages, are no longer remarkable for their trade; the principal ports for commerce are Leghorn, Naples, Venice, Genoa, Messina, and Palermo. The exports of Leghorn are silk, raw and manufactured; straw hats, olive oil, fruits, marble, &c.: its chief trade, however, consists in the importation of English merchandize, which it distributes to all parts of the Mediterranean, receiving in return their produce to load the British ships on their home voyage. The greatest import to Naples consists in European manufactured goods, and salt fish; its exports are those of Leghorn, with capers, wool, dye stuffs, manna, wax, sulphur, potash, macaroni, &c. Venice has declined very much, from the influence of political circumstances: her exports are olives, looking-glasses, rice, coral, Venice treacle, scarlet cloth, and gold and silver stuffs; the imports are similar to those of Leghorn and Naples. The exports and imports of Genoa, consisting principally of those already enumerated, do not require particular notice. Sicily, a very rich country by nature, and formerly the granary of Rome, has fallen very low from bad government: her exports are very various, including, beside those already mentioned, barilla, a great variety of dying drugs and medicines, goat, kid, and rabbit skins, anchovies, tunny fish, wheat, &c.: its chief imports are British goods, salted fish, and colonial produce.

The principal trade of Greece is carried on by the inhabitants of Hydra, a barren island. The commerce of the Hydriots, as well as of the rest of Greece, was very much benefited by the scarcity of corn which prevailed in France in 1796, and subsequently by the attempts of Bonaparte to shut British manufactures from the continent. These two causes threw the greatest part of the coasting trade of the Mediterranean into their hands. The chief articles of export from Greece are oil, fruits, skins, drugs, volonia, and gall nuts, cotton and wool. The imports are principally English goods, and colonial produce, tin, lead, &c.

We have already dwelt on the causes which produced the immense commercial superiority of England; and we shall, therefore, now confine ourselves to an enumeration of its principal ports, and the principal articles of its export and import. London possesses considerably above one-half of the commerce of Great Britain; the next town is undoubtedly Liverpool; then may be reckoned, in England, Bristol, Hull, Newcastle, Sunderland, Yarmouth, &c.; in Scotland, Greenock, Leith, Aberdeen, Dundee, &c.; in Ireland, Cork, Dublin, Limerick, Belfast, Waterford, &c. From the last return of the foreign trade of Great Britain it appears, that by far the most important article of export is cotton manufactures and yarn, amounting in real or declared value to nearly one-half of the whole amount of goods exported; the next articles, arranged according to their value, are woollen manufactures, refined sugar, linen manufactures, iron, steel and hardware, brass and copper manufactures, glass, lead, and shot, &c. &c.; of colonial produce exported, the principal articles are coffee, piece goods of India, rum, raw sugar, indigo, &c. &c. The principal imports of Great Britain are cotton wool, raw sugar, tea, flax, coffee, raw silk, train oil and blubber, madder, indigo, wines, &c. &c. The principal imports into Ireland consist of old drapery, entirely from Great Britain; coals, also entirely from Great Britain; iron wrought and unwrought, nearly the whole from Great Britain; grocery, mostly direct from the West Indies; tea, from Britain, &c. &c. In fact, of the total imports of Ireland, five-sixths of them are from Great Britain; and of her exports, nine-tenths are to Great Britain. The principal articles of export are linen, butter, wheat, meal, oats, bacon, pork, &c. &c.

On the 30th September, 1822, there belonged to the United Kingdom 24,642 vessels, making a total of 2,519,044 tons, and navigated by 166,333 men; of the vessels employed in the foreign trade, including their repeated voyages, in the year ending the 5th of January 1823, there were about 12,000, of which upwards of 9,000 were British and Irish, and the rest foreign vessels. The coasting trade of England is calculated to employ 3000 vessels. We have already stated the proportion which the trade of Ireland to Britain bore to her trade with the rest of the world; this point may be still further elucidated by the following fact: that the number of vessels, (including their repeated voyages,) which entered the ports of Ireland, from all parts of the world, in the year ending the 5th of January, 1823, was 11,561, and that all these, except 943, came from Great Britain.

From this rapid view of the commerce of the European states, it appears that, with the exception of Great Britain, by far the largest portion and greatest value of the exports of each country consist in the produce of the soil, either in its raw and natural state, or after having undergone a change that requires little industry, manual labour, or mechanical agency. Britain, on the contrary, derives her exports almost entirely from the produce of her wonderful mechanical skill, which effects, in many cases, what could alone be accomplished by an immense population, and in a few cases, what no manual labour could perform.

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 depot 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.

The exports from America, the produce of their own soil, are corn, flour, timber, potash, provisions, and salt fish from the northern States; corn, timber, and tobacco from the middle States; and indigo, rice, cotton, tar, pitch, turpentine, timber, and provisions, to the West Indies, from the southern States. The imports are woollen, cotton goods, silks, hardware, earthen-ware, wines, brandy, tea, drugs, fruit, dye-stuffs, and India and colonial produce. By far the greatest portion of the trade of the United States is with Great Britain. The principal ports are Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New Orleans.

The British settlements in America export, chiefly from Quebec and Halifax, corn, potash, wheel timber, masts, lumber, beaver and other furs, tar, turpentine, and salted fish from Newfoundland. The imports are woollen and cotton goods, hardware, tea, wine, India goods, groceries, &c.

The exports of the West India Islands are sugar, coffee, rum, ginger, indigo, drugs, and dye stuffs. The imports are lumber, woollen and cotton goods, fish, hardware, wine, groceries, hats, and other articles of dress, provisions, &c.

Brazil, and the late Spanish settlements in America, countries of great extent, and extremely fertile, promise to supply very valuable articles for commerce; even at present their exports are various, and chiefly of great importance. Some of the most useful drugs, and finest dye stuffs, are the produce of South America. Mahogany and other woods, sugar, coffee, chocolate, cochineal, Peruvian bark, cotton of the finest quality, gold, silver, copper, diamonds, hides, tallow, rice, indigo, &c. Carthagena, Porto Cabello, Pernambucco, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, and Buenos Ayres, are the principal ports on the east coast of South America; and Valparaiso, Calloa (the port of Lima), Guayaquil, Panama, and Acapulco, on the west coast.

Our sketch of commerce would be incomplete, did it not comprehend a short notice of the manner in which the trade of great part of Asia and Africa is conducted, by means of caravans. This is, perhaps, the most ancient mode of communication between nations; and, from the descriptions we possess, the caravans of the remotest antiquity were, in almost every particular, very similar to what they are at present. The human race was first civilized in the East. This district of the globe, though fertile in various articles which are well calculated to excite the desires of mankind, is intersected by extensive deserts; these must have cut off all communication, had not the camel,—which can bear a heavy burden, endure great famine, is very docile, and, above all, seems made to bid defiance to the parched and waterless desert, by its internal formation, and its habits and instinct,—been civilized by the inhabitants. By means of it they have, from the remotest antiquity, carried on a regular and extensive commerce.

The caravans may be divided into those of Asia and those of Africa: the great centre of the former is Mecca: the pilgrimage to this place, enjoined by Mahomet, has tended decidedly to facilitate and extend commercial intercourse. Two caravans annually visit Mecca; one from Cairo, and the other from Damascus. The merchants and pilgrims who compose the former come from Abyssinia; from which they bring elephants' teeth, ostrich feathers, gum, gold dust, parrots, monkies, &c. Merchants also come from the Senegal, and collect on their way those of Algiers, Tunis, &c. This division sometimes consists of three thousand camels, laden with oils, red caps, fine flannels, &c. The journey of the united caravans, which have been known to consist of 100,000 persons, in going and returning, occupies one hundred days: they bring back from Mecca all the most valuable productions of the East, coffee, gum arabic, perfumes, drugs, spices, pearls, precious stones, shawls, muslins, &c. The caravan of Damascus is scarcely inferior to that of Cairo, in the variety and value of the produce which it conveys to Mecca, and brings back from it, or in the number of camels and men which compose it. Almost every province of the Turkish empire sends forth pilgrims, merchants, and commodities to this caravan. Of the Asiatic caravans, purely commercial, we know less than of those which unite religion and commerce; as the former do not travel at stated seasons, nor follow a marked and constant route. The great object of those caravans is to distribute the productions of China and Hindustan among the central parts of Asia. In order to supply them, caravans set out from Baghar, Samarcand, Thibet, and several other places. The most extensive commerce, however, carried on in this part of Asia, is that between Russia and China. We have already alluded to this commerce, and shall only add, that the distance between the capitals of those kingdoms is 6378 miles, upwards of four hundred miles of which is an uninhabited desert; yet caravans go regularly this immense distance. The Russians and Chinese meet on the frontiers; where the furs, linen and woollen cloth, leather, glass, &c. of Russia, are exchanged for the tea, porcelain, cotton, rice, &c. of China. This intercourse is very ancient. There are also caravans of independent Tartars, which arrive on the Jaik and Oui, and bring Chinese and Indian commodities, which they interchange for those of Russia.

Tombuctoo is the great depot of central Africa: with it the maritime states of Egypt, Tripoli, Algiers, Tunis, and Morocco carry on a very extensive and lucrative trade by means of caravans. They take 129 days in travelling to Tombuctoo from the borders of the desert, but only fifty-four are spent in actual travelling. There is also another caravan which sets off from Wedinou, and after collecting salt at West Tagossa, proceeds to Tombuctoo. This goes as far as the White Mountains, near Cape Blanco, and is occupied five or six months in its journey. The merchandize carried by these caravans is German linens, Irish linens, muslins, woollen cloth, coral beads, pearls, silk, coffee, tea, sugar, shawls, brass nails, &c. &c. In exchange they bring back chiefly the produce of Soudan, viz. gold dust, gold rings, bars of gold, elephants' teeth, gum, grains of paradise, and slaves. There are also several caravans that trade between Cairo and the interior of Africa, which are solely employed in the traffic of slaves. There can be no doubt that caravans arrive at Tombuctoo from parts of Africa very distant from it, and not only inaccessible, but totally unknown, even by report, to Europeans, and even to the inhabitants of North Africa.

What a picture does modern commerce present of the boundless desires of man, and of the advancement he makes in intellect, knowledge, and power, when stimulated by these desires! Things familiar to use cease to attract our surprise and investigation; otherwise we should be struck with the fact, that the lowest and poorest peasant's breakfast-table is supplied from countries lying in the remotest parts of the world, of which Greece and Rome, in the plenitude of their power and knowledge, were totally ignorant. But the benefits which mankind derives from commerce are not confined to the acquisition of a greater share and variety of the comforts, luxuries, or even the necessaries of life. Commerce has repaid the benefits it has received from geography: it has opened new sources of industry; of this the cotton manufactures of Britain are a signal illustration and proof:—it has contributed to preserve the health of the human race, by the introduction of the most valuable drugs employed in medicine. It has removed ignorance and national prejudices, and tended most materially to the diffusion of political and religious knowledge. The natural philosopher knows, that whatever affects, in the smallest degree, the remotest body in the universe, acts, though to us in an imperceptible manner, on every other body. So commerce acts; but its action is not momentary; its impulses, once begun, continue with augmented force. And it appears to us no absurd or extravagant expectation, that through its means, either directly, or by enlarging the views and desires of man, the civilization, knowledge, freedom and happiness of Europe will ultimately be spread over the whole globe.

[6] Since this part of our work was written, the narrative of Lieutenant Franklin has been published: from this it appears, that he was engaged in this arduous undertaking during the years 1819, 1820, 1821, and 1822; that the route he followed to the Coppermine River was to the east o the routes of M'Kenzie and Hearne; that he reached the river three hundred and thirty-four miles north of Fort Enterprize; and the Polar Sea in lat. 67 deg. 47' 50"; and in longitude 115 deg. 36' 49" west; that he sailed five hundred and fifty miles along its shores to the eastward, and then returned to Port Enterprize.



CATALOGUE OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS.

Preliminary Observations on the Plan and Arrangement pursued in drawing up this Catalogue.

It is obvious, that whoever undertakes to draw up a catalogue of books on any particular subject, must proceed on one or other of these two plans,—either to give a complete catalogue of all the works published on that subject, or a select catalogue of what seems to him the best works. It is scarcely necessary to point out the objection to the first plan, arising from the impracticability of making any catalogue absolutely complete; but it may be said, though not absolutely complete, it may, by sufficient information and diligence, be rendered nearly so. Let us suppose, then, that by unwearied assiduity and research, aided and guided by the requisite knowledge, a catalogue is rendered as perfect as it practically can be made,—is the utility of such a catalogue enhanced in a proportion any thing approaching to the labour, research, and time expended upon it; or, rather, would not such a catalogue be much less useful than one within smaller compass, drawn up on the plan of selection?

On all subjects there are more bad or indifferent works published than good ones. This remark applies with peculiar justice and force to modern works of voyages and travels. A very extensive catalogue, therefore, must contain a large portion of bad or indifferent books, which are not worth the purchasing, the consulting, nor the perusing; consequently, if such works appear in a catalogue drawn up for the purpose of guiding those who purpose to travel in particular countries, to write on the subject of them, or merely to read respecting them for the sake of information, it is plain that such a catalogue cannot be trusted as a safe and judicious guide; as if the persons consulting it select for themselves, there is an equal chance of selecting useless books as good ones; and if they attempt to peruse all, they must waste a great deal of time.

It may be said, however, that this objection can easily be obviated, by distinguishing such works as are bad or indifferent from such as are good, either by a short notice, or by a particular mark. The first plan necessarily must increase the size of the catalogue; and it really appears a piece of superfluous labour to introduce works not worthy to be perused, and then, either by a notice or mark, to warn the reader from the perusal of them. Is it not much more direct to omit such works altogether?

As the object in view in the present catalogue is to render it useful to the generality of readers, and not valuable to the bibliographer, those works are omitted which have no other recommendation but their extreme scarcity. For such works are of course accessible only to very few, and when obtained, convey little interest or information.

A select catalogue then appears to be the most useful, and of course must occupy less room. But to this objections start up, which it will be proper to consider.

In the first place, What is the criterion of good works of voyages and travels? The antiquarian will not allow merit to such as pass over, or do not enter, con amore, and at great length, into the details of the antiquities of a country: the natural historian is decidedly of opinion, that no man ought to travel who is not minutely and accurately acquainted with every branch of his favourite science, and complains that scarcely a single work of travels is worthy of purchase or perusal, because natural history is altogether omitted in them, or treated in a popular and superficial manner. Even those who regard man as the object to which travellers ought especially to direct their attention, differ in opinion regarding the points of view in which he ought to be studied in foreign countries. To many the travels of Johnson and Moore seem of the highest merit and interest, because these authors place before their readers an animated, philosophical, and vivid picture of the human character; whereas other readers consider such works as trifling, and contend that those travels alone, which enter into the statistics of a country, convey substantial information, and are worthy of perusal.

Whoever draws up a catalogue, therefore, must, in some measure, consult the judgment, taste, and peculiar studies of all these classes of readers, and endeavour to select the best works of travels in all these branches.

But there is a second objection to a select catalogue to be considered. The information and research of the person who draws it up may be inadequate to the task, or his judgment may be erroneous. This observation, however, applies to a complete catalogue—indeed the first part of it,—the information and research requisite, in a greater degree to a complete than to a select catalogue; and with respect to the judgment required, it will be equally required in a complete catalogue, if the bad and indifferent works are distinguished from the good ones; and if they are not, such a catalogue, we have already shewn, can only lead astray into unnecessary or prejudicial reading.

Whoever draws up a catalogue, or gives to the public a work on any particular subject, is bound to make it as good as he can; but, after all, he must not expect that there will be no difference of opinion about his labours. Some will think (to confine ourselves to the catalogue) that he has admitted books that ought not to have found a place in it; whereas others will impeach his diligence, his information, or his judgment, because he has omitted books which they think ought to have entered into it. All, therefore, that a person who engages to draw up a catalogue can do, is to exercise and apply as much research and judgment as possible, and to request his readers, if they find general proofs of such research and judgment, to attribute the omission of what they think ought to have been inserted, or the insertion of what they think ought to have been omitted, to difference of opinion, rather than to a deficiency in research or judgment.

It may be proper to remark, with regard to the principle of selection pursued, that many works are admitted which do not bear the title of travels; this has been done, wherever, though not under that title, they are the result of the actual travels and observations, or enquiries of the authors. The form into which information respecting the agriculture, manufactures, commerce, antiquities, natural history, manners, &c. of foreign countries is cast, or the title under which it is communicated to the world, is obviously of little consequence, provided the information is not merely compiled by a stranger to the country, and is accurate and valuable. Such works, however, as are avowedly written for scientific purposes, and for the exclusive use of scientific men, and are consequently confined to scientific researches and information conveyed in the peculiar language of the science, are omitted.

So much for the plan on which this catalogue has been drawn up. Before we proceed to explain the arrangement pursued, it may be proper to make a few remarks on some intermediate points. One advantage of a select catalogue over a complete one is, that it occupies less room. With the same object in view, only the title in the original language is given where there is no translation of the work into the English or French; only translations into English or French are noticed, where such exist, and not the original work; and all the articles are numbered, so that a short and easy reference may be made from one article to another.

Room is thus evidently saved, and not, in our opinion, by any sacrifice of utility. For German or Spanish scholars it is unnecessary to translate the titles of German or Spanish books, and for the mere English scholar it is useless. Translations into the French are noticed in preference to the original, because this language is at present familiar to every literary man in Britain, and French works can easily be obtained; and the German or Spanish scholar, who wishes to obtain and peruse the original, can be at no loss to procure it from the translated title. The advantage of numbering the articles will be immediately explained in treating of the arrangement.

The catalogue is arranged in the following manner:

After noticing a few of the most useful works which contain instructions to travellers, in the first place, Collections and Histories of Voyages and Travels are placed: next follow Voyages round the World;—Voyages and Travels which embrace more than one quarter of the World;—Travels in Europe generally;—Travels in more than one Country of Europe;—Travels in each particular Country of Europe. It is in this particular department of the Catalogue that the plan of reference by numbers is more especially necessary and useful; for the Index to the Catalogue being drawn up with reference to the numbers, not only those travels which are confined to one country,—France, for instance,—may easily be found, but also all those travels which comprehend France along with other countries.

The same arrangement is pursued in the other parts of the world,—Asia, Africa, America, Australasia, and Polynesia. The articles are arranged as nearly as possible in the chronological order in which the voyages and travels were performed in each particular country, and the countries are placed according to their geographical relation to one another.



I.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR TRAVELERS.

1. L'Utilite des Voyages qui concernent la Connoissance des Inscriptions, Sentences, Dieux, Lares, Peintures anciennes, Bas Reliefs, &c. Langues, &c.; avec un Memoire de quelques Observations generales qu'on peut faire pour ne pas voyager inutilement. Par Ch. C. Baudelot Dairval. 2 vol. 12mo. Paris 1656.—The Rouen edition is much inferior. This is an excellent work.

2. C. Linnaeus on the Benefit of Travelling in one's own Country. (In Stillingfleet's Tracts.) This was published in Latin, separately, and in the Amoenitates Academicae, in the Select, ex Amoenit.; and in the Fundamenta Botanices of Gilibert.

3. Instructio Peregrinatoris, Dissertatio. Praeside C. Linnaeo. 1759, 4to.

4. Memoire Instructif sur la Maniere de rassembler, de preparer, de conserver, et d'envoyer les diverses Curiosites d'Histoire Naturelle. Par Turgot. 1758. 8vo.—This work is also appended to "Avis pour le Transport par Mer des Arbres, des Plantes vivaces, des Semences, et de diverses autres Curiosites d'Histoire Naturelle. Par L.H. Duhamel." Published at Paris, 1753. 12mo.

5. Directions in what Manner Specimens of all Kinds may be collected, preserved, &c. By J.R. Forster. London, 1771.—This tract, worthy of its well-informed and able author, was published along with his Catalogue of North American Animals.

6. The Naturalist's and Traveller's Companion. By J.C. Lettsom, M.D. London, 1799 8vo.

7. Analysis of the Natural Classification of Mammalia, for the Use of Travellers.

Introduction to the Ornithology of Cuvier, for the Use of Travellers.

Introduction to Conchology, for the Use of Travellers. By T.E. Bowdich. Paris, 1821-2. 8vo.

8. Instructions for Travellers. By Dean Tucker. 1757. 4to.

9. Essay to direct and extend the Enquiries of patriotic Travellers. By Count Berchtold.—The second volume contains a Catalogue of Travels in Europe; the first alone relates to the subject of the title. 2 vols. 8vo. 1789.

10. Essay on the Study of Statistics; intended to assist the Enquiries of inexperienced Travellers. By D. Boileau. 12mo. 1807.

11. Fried. J. Freyherr von Gunderode Gedanken uber Reisen. Frankfort, 1781. 8vo.

12. Apodenick, oder die kunst zu Reisen von Posselt. Leipsic, 1795. 8vo.—This is an excellent work.

13. Uber den Worth und Nutzen der Fussreisen. Hanover, 1805. 8vo.—We notice this work, because it points out the superior advantages possessed by foot travellers, in exploring the natural beauties and natural history of a country.