IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

1.0

I.I

^ li^ 12.2
2.0

t*o

1.8

1.25 ||U 1.6

►

''■^

HiotDgrapbic

SdencBS

Corporation

•SJ

^ >. <^K\

23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580

(716) 873-4503

CIHM/ICMH

Microfiche

Series.

CIHM/ICMH
Collection de
microfiches.

Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques

Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques

The Institute has attempted to obtain the best
original copy available for filming. Features of this
copy which may be bibliographlcally unique,
which may alter any of the images in the
reproduction, or which may significantly change
the usual method of filming, are checked below.

Coloured covers/
Couverture de couleur

I I Covers damaged/

Couverture endommagie

□ Covers restored and/or laminated/
Couverture restaurie et/ou pelliculAe

□ Cover title missing/
Le titre de couverture manque

Coloured maps/
Cartes giographiques en couleur

□ Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/
Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire)

I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/

□

Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur

Bound with other material/
ReliA avec d'autres documents

Tight binding may cause shadows c? distortion
along interior margin/

La reliure serrde peut causer de I'ombre ou de la
distortion le long de la marge intArieure

Blank leaves added during restoration may
appear within the text. Whenever possible, these
have been omitted from filming/
II se peut que certaines pages blartches ajouties
lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte,
mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont
pas 6t6 filmies.

Additional comments:/
Commentaires supplAmentaires:

L'Institut a microfilm* le mellleur exempialre
qu'il lui a At6 possible de se procurer. Les details
de cet exempialre qui sont peut-Atre uniques du
point de vue bibllographique, qui peuvent modifier
une image reprodulte. ou qui peuvent exiger une
modification dans la methods normale de filmage
sont indiquAs ci-dessous.

r~~| Coloured pages/

Pages de couleur

Pages damaged/
Pages endommag6es

□ Pages restored and/or laminated/
Pages restaurtes et/ou peiiiculAes

Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/
Pages ddcolories, tacheties ou piqu6es

I I Pages detached/

Pages d6tach6es

Showthrough/
Transparence

Quality of prir

Quality inigaie de I'impression

Includes supplementary materii
Comprend du matiriei suppl^mentaire

Only edition available/
Seule Edition disponible

r~7| Showthrough/

n~| Quality of print varies/

I — I Includes supplementary material/

I — I Only edition available/

Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata
slips, tissues, etc.. have been refilmed to
ensure the best possible image/
Les pages totalement ou partiellement
obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata. une pelure.
etc.. ont 6t6 fiimAes h nouveau de fapon A
obtenir la meilleure image possible.

Tl
to

P<
oi
fil

O
b(
th
sii
ol
fil
sii

Tl
sh
Tl
w

M
di
er
b(

"J
re
m

This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/

Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction indiquA ci-dessous.

10X 14X ItX 22X

26X

30X

12X

16X

20X

24X

28X

32X

Th« copy filmad har« has b««n reproduced thanks
to tha ganarosity of:

Library Division

Provincial Archives of British Columbia

L'axamplaira film* fut raproduit grAca A la
gAnArosit* da:

Library Division

Provincial Archives of British Columbia

Tha imagas appearing hara ara tha bast qualUy
possibia considaring tha condition and legibility
of tha original copy and in keeping with the
filming con'ract specifications.

Las images suivantes ont At* raproduites avac la
plus grand soin. compta tenu de la condition at
de la nettetA de I'exemplaira film*, et en
conformity avac las conditions du contrat da
filmaga.

Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed
beginning with the front covrr and ending on
the last page with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All
othar original copies are filmed beginning on the
first page with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, and ending on the last page with a printed
or illustrated impression.

The !ast recorded frame on each microfiche
shall contain the symbol — '^ (meaning "CON-
TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"),
whichever applies.

Les exemplaires originaux dont le couverture en
papier est imprimAe sont filmAs en i ommen^ant
par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la
derniAre page qui comporte une empreinte
d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second
plat, salon le cas. Tous las autres exemplaires
originaux sont filmis en commenpant par la
premiAre page qui comporte une empreinte
d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par
la derniire page qui comporte une telle
empreinte.

Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la
dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le
cas: le symbols — ^> signifie "A SUIVRE", le
symbols V signifie "FIN".

Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at
different reduction ratios. Those too large to be
entirely included in one exposure are filmed
beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to
right and top to bottom, as many frames as
required. The following diagrams illustrate the
method:

Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre
filmAs A des taux de reduction diff Arents.
Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atra
raproduit en un seul cliche, il est film* A partir
de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche A droite,
et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre
d'images nicessaire. Les diagrammes suivants
illustrent la mithode.

■ ■ !

• • •

• • • ••

SUMMARY VIEW

OF THE

STATISTICS AND EXISTING COMMERCE

OF THK SHOllES OF THE

PACIFIC OCEAN,

^c. ^c. 4r.

1 ■

f .

.s«

i".\ I. .^' no 1-1 K

vlanuiHm

^J^»niiV!*.iiiii

^^^A ^

I »

»-

'■afmim^

SUMMARY VIEW

OF Tin:

STATISTICS AND EXISTING COMMERCE

oi' tut: i'Uinc ii'Ai, snoRKs or

IHE PACIFIC OCEAN.

WITH A
SKETCH OF THE ADVANTACiKS, F'OLITIC AL AND COMMEnCI\L,

\vm< n WOULD iucsui.t fkum the estaislishment or

A CENTllAL fUEE PORT WITHIN ll'S LIMITS;

AND ALSO ; ' ■ ' ;

OF ONE IV THr. SOITIIK.RV ATI.AVTIC, VTZ. WITHIN THE TEURtt&lJV

OF THE CAl'E OF (;OOI) HOl'K, tONl FIIIUNO OX THIS I.ATTEIN-IM^

X-ARTKl I.AH, THK SA.MF I'UIVIIKGK OF DIRECT TltAHK WITH

IXniA ANU THE NOiriHFRX ATLANTIC, HESTOWED

LATELY 0>J MALTA AND HIIUIALTAH.

BY C-U>to..i,

CAPTAIN M'KONOCHIE,

ROVAL NAVY.

LONDON ;

PRINTED FOR JAMES M. RICHARDSON, 23, CORNHILL : AND
WILLIAM ULACKWOOD, I'RINCE's STREET, EDINUURGH.

181S.

10407

■KIOI.K'.'MV ni.\|;-|' OKTIIK l'>,r||.|r (, .• k. ,.■,- ,,.-. ^, • i^; "..'| ,.,,; s < i i v i' ' •" I".--' ■■!<,.'

• ll l.v I'lll.l'l' 1' 1. 1

I •' I H : > ■

1, .:!•,■ '. .s'

■ i< i.\ I' I ('A t , ^ I i;j It •;.

• •1*1

• • • • •
• • •

• •••t

I I t
t • • •

• • •

• > • • •

• • • • •

•••••

• • •
• • •

• I •

• • 1 1 1

ll I

» » • • •

t ■ »
> •• •

I • • •

Printed bi/ Balfour and Clarke.
Edhihurgh, 1818.

'^^HAPTER 1.

summahy of the statistics, means of foreign com-
munication, AND EXISTING COMMERCE, OF THE
PRINCIPAL SHORES OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

INDIAN SKTTLEMENTS.

XHE soiitliern extremity of South America is
yet, for th-j most part, in the occupation of the
native Indian tribes, the aboriginal inhabitants
of the whole country ; the continued line of
Spanish colonial dominion terminating on the
west shore, at the river Bio-bio, joining the Pa-
cific in lat. 37° south. From this j)oint, then,
the whole extent, quite to the Straits of Magel-
lan, comprising a line of sea coast exceeding
1400 miles in lengtli, is, with the exception of
one or two isolated Spanish settlements, which
will be noticed in another place, included un-
der the general head which I here prefix, of In-
dian Settlements. Their importance, in a com-

1 1

inerciul point of view, is net as yet great ; but
a summary of the statistics, and means of com-
merce of the Pacific shores, would be incom-
plete, without a sliort notice of the leading fea-
tures, of their soil, climate, population, and
means of internal and external communication
— the extent to which these last are as yet
ini] »roved furnishing also matter for a very few
remarks.

Soily Climate, and Vegetable Productions. — The
soil and climate of so extensive a tr^ct of coun-
try must necessarily be much diversified ; nor
can I here notice more than the principal fea-
tures characterizing the two extremps. The
southern districts are comparatively low ; the
line of Andes, which traverses i\w whole con-
tinent from north to south, gaining its greatest
elevation nearly under the equator, and melt-
ing down gradually towards the sea in the high
southern latitudes. There, too, the climate is
cold and humid ; the soil sandy, intermixed
with extensive tracts of morass j and the vege-
table productions few and unimportant, corre-
sponding to a soil and climate thus character-
ized. The only valuable article is the forest
timber, which, on the shores adjoining the Gulf
of Chiloe in particular, attains a vigour of growth
and quality, holding out very considerable in-

{

rc-

-f.

,er-

est

■■j

rulf

'»

Nth

ill-

ducements to commercial speculation, were the
Pacific Ocean to become the theatre of an ac-
tive maritime commerce, and a certain market
thus provided for naval stores. The northern
districts are somewhat more mountainous, al-
though still more generally level than the con-
tiguous provinces of Spanish Chili ; and the cli-
mate, although still, in v/inter, tinctured with a
portion of the asperity of that of the south-
ern districts, is yet in summer mild and genial,
giving vigour and maturity to an infinitely more
extended list of vegetable productions. Of these,
maize, wlieat, and potatoes, are objects of culti-
vation to the simple natives, v/hose plains, more-
over, abound with nearly every species of wild
fruit, while their forests are composed of every
variety of valuable timber. These forests are, how-
ever, by no means so abundant as in the southern
districts ; the whole of this northern division, as
far as the Valdivia, having been once in the
occupation of the Spaniards, and cleared, ei-
ther while under their sway, or during the san-
guinary war which, for nearly 200 years, was
maintained against them by the native tribes,
united in that celebrated Araucanian confe-
deracy which the successive pens of Ercilla and
Molina have made familiar to the students of
South American history or manners.

i" •■:

•^■K

Ik'tbre ([uitting this article, it may be proper
to observe, that siti:ate on the declivity of the
Andes, the Indian, as the Spanish settlements,
have ever been exposed to the most dreadful
calamities from earthquakes and volcanic erup-
tions. Some most deplorable instances of these
are recorded in Molina's Natural and Civil His-
tory of Chili, a work to which I would beg leave
to refer whatever curious reader may be desirous
of more minute information than I can here
give respecting these settlements.

Mineral Productions. — These are said to be
both rich and abundant, but their research is for-
bidden, under the most severe penalties, by the
natives. This prohibition was occasioned by
their resentment against the Spaniards, and was
promulgated immediately after their expulsion,
with all the formalities of legislative enact-
ment.

Population. — The Indian population of South
America is divided into two great nations, the
Puelche, or Eastern ; and the Moluche, or
Western People ; so named from their situation
relatively to the central chain or Cordillera of
Andes, which traverses the whole continent.
The Moluches, who alone come within the li-
mits of this compilation, are further divided in-
to Huilliches, or Southern j Peliucnches, or Pinej

(

I. \

th
le

i-
n-

and Picunches, or Northern Indians; who, fol-
lowing the same Uiw with the vegetable produc-
tions of the country, gradually improve as they
draw to the northward, and progressively ad-
vance in energy and political importance, from
the naked and, shivering savage of the Magel-
lanic shores, to the bold and sagacious Arau-
canian, whose merits are attested by his suc-
cess against the invaders and plunderers of his
native land. Of their total numbers, we have
no accurate knowledge ; thus far only we have
been assured, that they maintained their ground
in every way while engaged in one of the most
sanguinary wars on record, and that they have
even considerably decreased since. Deprived of
that strong excitement which the vicissitudes of
war had supplied, they have substituted the moic
pernicious one of strong liquors in its stead,
and have degenerated in a proportionate ratio
to their means of obtaining this pernicious gra-
tification.

Means of Co77imimicatio7i.-— While the Spaniards
yet occupied Araucania, the cities which they
founded, the once flourishing and opulent cities
of Imperial, Osorno, Canete, Valdivia, &c. were
connected by tolerable roads, for tlie mainte-
nance and improvement of which, the long pro-
tracted civil wars furnished numerous additional

inducements. The-e are now understood to be
gone to decay; but such is the general level na-
ture of the country, and such the gentle flow
of" the great rivers to the sea, the means of in-
ternal communication are still ample. One only
road has been made within the last few years by
tlie Spaniards, connecting Valdivia and Fort
Maullin on the shores of the Gulf of Chiloe,
two of those out settlements, which, it has been
already noticed that they possess along the coast.
This road is an interesting channel of communi-
cation with the southern districts ; all access to
which by sea is precluded, to the skill and en-
terprize of Spanish navigators at least, during
the winter months.

The means of external communication im-
prove with the inducements to its maintenance
in passing from south to north ; the extreme
southern districts being nearly inaccessible, the
Gidf of Chiloe stormy and hazardous only, and
the shores of Araucania everywhere easy and
safe of approach. Of the six great rivers, too,
which join the Pacific within the limits of these
Indian settlements, the southernmost, the Sin-
fondo, empties itself into the Gulf of Chiloe ;
the next, the Rio-bueno, joins the Pacific in
lat. 4P 20' south ; the Chaivin and Valdivia in

< i

! >

"^.l

Ill
in

about 30° 4(y south; and the Tolten* and Cau-
ten within the limits of Araucania Proper, as
the narrow stripe of land between the Valdivia
and Bio-bio is named. All these are navigable,
for even the largest class of shipping, some con-
siderable distance into the interior ; and, toge-
tlier with the Bio-bio itself, the boundary river,
would all become most interesting points of com-
munication with these shores, were the Arau-
canian prejudice against working their minerals
to be dispelled, or were the Pacific Ocean to be
so frequented as to afford a certain contiguous
market for naval stores.

Commerce. — Tlic commerce of these shores is
as yet of the most minute and desultory descrip-
tion ; to the southward, consisting chiefly in the
sale of their labour in felling timber, for which
they are paid in ardent spirits j and even among
the northern and most civilized tribes, confined
to the simplest form of barter, aided by some
conventional values affixed to horse furniture,
and some other articles of common demand
among them, by which they express their no-
tions of value, and conclude their bargains. Tlieir
good fiith is the most remarkable characteristic
of these transactions, and is even proverl)ially

* This river communicates with a large and navigable
lake, 80 miles in circuit, situated in the interior.

Piasii.,

• f

quoted by the Spaniards, to whom their com-
merce, by terms of the final treaty of peace con-
cluded in 1773, is exclusively confined,

The chief articles of import into Araucania,
are horse furniture, cutlery, spirituous liquors,
grain, and wine. Those of export, are Ponchos,
or Indian clokes, in the manufacture of whicli
they display great ingenuity, and of which they
are said to export annually from 40,000 to 50,000,
some of which are valued by the Spaniards, among
themselves, at IJO dollai's each ; togetlier with
some other trifling manufactures of Ostrich fea-
thers and basket-work. The total amount is ex-
ceedingly small, and is entirely conducted by
interior communication, the Spaniards being ex-
tremely jealous of any endeavour to open their
sea-ports. In preventing this, their own good
faith co-operates with Spanish precaution, and
not even the whalers have ever, I believe,
succeeded to any extent. The inducements to
the attempt are indeed, as yet, too small ; nor
can these ever be increased, but by the progres-
sive improvement and activity of tlie other com-
mercial resources of the whole Pacific Ocean,
that sea which, by a singular neglect, seems
hitherto to have been regarded rather as a sub-
ject of wonder and curiosity, than of consistent
enterprize and exertion.

• J

SPANISH SOUTH AMERICAN COLONIES.

The Spanish South American colonies in the
the Pacific, extend, in an unbroken line, from
the river Bio-bio, in latitude SQ)" 50' south, to
thf isthmus of Panama, in 9* north latitude. The
line of sea-coast, embraced within these limits,
exceeds 3000 miles, without considering its less-
er sinuosities ; besides which, however, several
isolated points along the Indian sliores, particu-
larly Valdivia and Fort Maullin, already men-
tioned; together with Isla Grande de Chiloe,
the principal island in the Archipelago of that
name, which, with its innumerable islets, skirts
the whole coast between the latitudes of 44° and
52" south ; and tlie islands of Juan Fernandez,
and some others of lesser note, are also subject
to Spanish dominion in the Southern Pacific. The
average breadth of their continental territory,
does not exceed 350 miles, the eastern boundary
being traced by the great central chain of Andes;
its superficial contents are estimated between
300,000 and 400,000 square leagues.

i^olitical Divmons, Clikf Cities, Pojmlaliony S^c.
The whole of this extended territory is divided
into three chief governments, Chili, Peru, and

New Grenada ; and the following table will be
found to specify the limits, chief cities, and po-
pulation of each. The limits are marked by
tables of tlie latitudes bounding them on the
sea-coast.

' 1

Govern-
mcnts.

ChiU.

Limits.

Southern. Northern

360 SO' S.

22" 30' S.

Popula-
tion.

Chief Cities.

Names.

800,000

St. Jago.

Concep.
tion.

Popiil.

Remarks.

42,000 The capital of Chili, and
great emporium of its
trade, distant, howev«r, 70
mUcs from Valparaiso, its
sea-port.

12,000 Most advantageously si-
tuate, both for internal
and external communica-
tion, beingr both an excel-
lent sea-port, and in the
immediate vicinity of tlie
navigable river Bio-bio. It
has suffered much, how
ever, by repeated earth-
quakes.

Peru. 220 30' S.

Ijima.

30 30' S. 1,500,000

Cuzco.

80,000 The celebrated capital of
Peru, and once the empo-
rium of the whole com-
merce of these southern co.
lonies with Old Spain. It
is situate in an extensive
and commodious plain, wa
tered by a small river, and
is five miles distant from
Callao, its sea-port.

30,000 The once opulent capi-
tal of the Incas, now chief-
ly maintained by its cot-
ton and woollen manufac-
tures. It is situate in the
interior, 400 miles from
Ylo, the nearest sea-port,
and its commercial connec-
tions are chiefly, therefore,
confined to the upper coun-
try.

TABLE—ContinuccL

Govern-
ment,

Peru.

Limits.

Southern. Northc-n.

220 30' S,

S^SO'S.

Papula-
tion.

1,500,000

Chief Cities.

Barnes.

Potosi.

Uncer-
tain.

Poput.

Remnrks.

Cuonza.

Truxillo,

Potosi, by arrangements
made in 1773, belongs to
the viceroyalty of La Plata,
but it is included in this
list, from its commercial
connection witli Peru. It
is situate in the interior,
in a most bleak, barren,
and mountainous country,
300 miles from Cobija,
the nearest sea-port. Pre
vious to the breaking out
of hostilities, it correspond-
etl principally direct with
iJma, from which it is
1215 miles distant, on the
direct road to Buenos-
Ayres. Frezier sUtes its
population at 70,000 souls
2C,00O Also an inland town,
tlie capital of one of the
most fertile provinces in
Peru, and noted for its
manufactures of woollen
and cotton cloths. It is
situate about 300 miles
from Guayaquil, through
the medium of wliich a-
lone, it maintains any in-
tercourse with the Pacific.
Loja, famous for the cul-
ture of .Jesuit's bark, is
within the intendancy of
Cuenza.
H,000 Once an opulent, but
now decayed city, situate
in tlie north of Peru, 300
miles from I-ima, and five
from Ciuanchaco, a small
sea-port in the Pacific. It
was a place of great pas-
sage, while the trade with
Europe was maintained
tlirough Panama and Por-
to Bello.

TA BhE'^CouHnued.

Otn<ern-
mcnts.

Limits,

Southern. Northern

Poptihi-
lion.

('/ii(J' Cities.

Names.

Popid.

Remarks.

New
GrcnaclOi

S'' 30' S.

9" 10' N,

1,800,000 Santa I'c
di Uogoto,

Quito.

Popayan.

Antioquia.

10,000 The capital of New
(rrcnada, an inland city
situate 2.50 miles from
Bonavcntura Hay, in the
Pacific, and about sixty
miles from Ilonda, the
eniporiuni of the conmierce
of these provinces with the
Atlantic, down the Jiio
Madalcna. Santa Fd is
populous and commercial,
in the direct road from this
last-mentioned place, to the
interior of Peru.

50,000 Also an inland city, si
tuate on the northern ex
tremity of the famous plain
of Quito, elevated 9000
feet above the level of the
sea, and tlie immediate
base of Chimborazo, the
highest peak of the Andes
Quito is an opulent ma'
nufacturing city, also on
the higli road from Honda
towards Cuenza, Potosi,
and La Plata ; 600 miles
from Santa Fc ; and 300
from Guayaquil, on the
Pacific.

30,000 The capital of the pro
vince in which the gold al
luvious grounds are princi
pidly deposited. It is rich,
but not manufacturing ;
the residence, chiefly, of the
proprietors of these opu-
lent but unhealthy inheri
tances.
7,000 The capital of one of the
highest and most inacces'
sible provinces in New
(Grenada, poor, and thinly
Ipeopled.

TABLE— Co«/i/»Mfti.

(Uwern-
mcnls.

Limits.

Soiitfuni. 'Xorthrni.

rScw
Orcnadtt.

3»;}0'S.00 10'N.1,80(),()()()

Popula-
tion.

('fiiifrill,:i.

X(imt\i. Popnl,

l{imark.\

Neyva.
Honda.

a jK)or town and

Cartliagc-
niu

22,000

Panama.

Porto-
BeUo.

700

6,000 Also
district.

0,000 The opulent and busy
emporium of tJie Atlantic
commerce of these colo
nies. ilcrc theMadalena
first becomes navigable,
and tlicnco it proceeds 500
miles to the Atlantic.

The population here as-
signed, is the average of
that of Carthagena, such
as it was l)efore taken and
almost destroyed by the
royalist (leneral Morillo,
in the present war. It is
situate on the principal
mouth of the Madidcna,!
and xn tluis most advanta-
geously placed for an ex.
tensive commerce.

The celebrated and once
opulent emjiorium of the
overland conunerce between
the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans, now in ruins and
decay,

Even, if possible, more
thoroughly deserted than
Panama, situate in a most
unhealthy and pestilential
valley near the sea, on the
Atlantic side of the Jsth-
Imus.
i ^ I

^^^

.',.

Soil and Climalc. — These are oi' an almost in-
finite diversity ; a tliversity occasioned not so
much by the variety of hititudes comprised with-
in the amj)le limits which we have seen to bound
tliese colonies, as by tiie several points of even
extreme elevation which they attain along the
sides of the Andes ; points, many of them with-
in the limits of perpetual snow. It is thus im-
possible to speak of tliem here, but in the most
general terms ; and to these only, therefore, I
shall confine myself. The sea-coast is for the
most part of very moderate elevation, level, and
in many districts, particularly in Peru, sandy
und arid, only occasionally, and at long inter-
vals, interrupted by patches of the richest loam,
yielding ample returns to even the slightest and
most superficial cultivation. One only labour is
indeed imposed on the husbandman, viz. that
of irrigation, which, as it very seldom rains
near the coast, is quite indispensable to Jiis suc-
cess. The upper country, as it is called, in
contradistinction to these maritime districts, is,
on the other hand, irregular and mountainous,
here sliooting up a volcanic spiracle of immense
elevation ; there presenting an extensive surface
of bare and barren rock, the receptacle of the
treasures of the mineral kingdom ; and there,
again, opening out a delicious valley of the

^aV^tifftM^'l^'

in-
. so
•itli-
(und
2ven
; the
vitli-
im-
most
re, I
: the
, and
jandy
inter-
loam,
t and
iir is
that
rains
siic-
d, in
s, is,
nous,
ense
irfacc
f the
here,
the

richest appearance, stored with every varied
form of vegetable creation, and enjoying a cli-
mate exi)osed to considerable vicissitudes from
the operation of the cold winds blowing from
some neighbouring i)eak, yet, in the main, warm,
salubrious, and delightlul. It is in these vallies,
that the picture of the Happy Valley, drawn
from the imagination of our great moralist, is
embodied, even to the letter of his description.
Within, is every varied resource which luxury,
or even the grossest sensuality, can desire; and
without, is the same rocky wall, almost imper-
vious to human enterprise, forming that great
obstacle to the improvement of Spanish Ame-
rica, which is derived from the extreme difficul-
ty of mutual intercourse and communication.

The volcanic cliaracter of the Andes has been
noticed in the i)receding article, and need only
again be quoted. The devastations produced by
the eruptions, earthquakes, &c. which have suc-
cessively ruined nearly every opulent town with-
in the limits of these colonies, would excite a
surmise, at least that the same sites were not
again occupied, which had just been visited by
such calamities. The surmise would be found-
ed, however, on a contracted view of human
nature ; a view, indeed, contradicted by even
the most ordinary experience. The sailor is in-

,^-.<i^.'

f\ <

different to the dangers of the sea ; the miner
to the casualties of the mine ; the South Ame-
rican to the impending menace of volcanic fire.
And it is thus, that by a beneficent principle in
our moral constitution, the danger which actu-
ally threatens our existence, is deprived of that
hold on the imagination, which would indeed
aggravate its consequent suffering beyond what
we could bear.

Vegetable Productioiis. — These form a very
numerous list ; a hst whicii I shall only attempt
to class in the most general terms, according to
the districts in which each article predominates.
In the low sandy plains of Peru, the chief pro-
ductions are pepper, sugar, grapes, olives, maize,
and algarrobales, a species of forest tree, bearing
a fruit of peculiarly nutritious qualities to cattle,
on which accordingly they are principally fed
while maintaining the interior communication
across these thirsty plains. In Chili are added
to these, wheat, potatoes, and great quantities
of the finest fruits; while, in the more northern
districts of Guayaquil and New Gienada, rice
and pasture lands, of considerable extent, indi-
cate the swam})y alluvions grounds brought
down by the rivers from the mountainous in-
terior, in many of which are found rich depo-
sits of gold ore. The vallies of the interior and

— w

:attle,
fed
:ation
idded
itities
:hern
rice
indi-
[iight
in-
[epo-
and

ii})|)cr country arc still more diversified in their
])r()diice, yielding ample returns of sugar, ';otton,
indigo, the nopal, on which the cochineal is rear-
ed, and every \ariety, as well of esculent grain,
as of the most delicious tropical fruits. The me-
dicinal hcrhs and balsams of these countries are
also celebrated. Among others, are, (piinquina,
or Jesuit's bark, sarsa])arilla, jalap, balsam of To-
hi, kc. ; and to the whole varied list may yet far-
ther be added, tlie botanical riches, the knowledgeof
which was first communicated to the European world
by the celebrated Mutis, the correspondent of IJn-
na-us in yoiith, and again, in the decline of life,
the friend and iiost of lluml oMt and Ronpland.

Animals. — I'he Abbe Molina, in his Natural
History of Chili, emnnerates not less than 35 spe-
cies of animals, ])eculiar to the western colonies of
South America, and unknown in Europe. Of these,
I shall only notice the several varieties of do-
mestic camel, as he considers them. ])eculiar to this
continent, and which offer some })oints of com-
mercial interest, either from their habits as beasts
of burthen, or from the hair and wool which they
severally yield to the native manufactures. These
are variously designated, guanchaco, clulihueque,
lama, alj)aco, and yicogna ; the first and last only
being ([uite wild, and only valuable on account of
their fleeces, the latter of which are tlie finest in

the world, and alone bear the expense of trans])ort
to the European market. Tlie other three are va-
rieties of the Same domestic animal, the native
beast of burthen of these countries, and differ I'roni
each other only in some min-jte ])oints. They avc
rage from three and a half to four and a half feet in
height, and carry about one hundred weight at a
time. They are principally used for the interior
labours of the mines, to the mephitic vapours oi'
which they seem to possess some degree of insen-
sibility. For every other purpose of labour, mules
are now almost exclusively employed.

Minerals. — The mineral wealth of these colo-
nies is exclusively lodged in the rocky moun-
tainous districts of the interior, and labours accord-
ingly under great disadvantages in the competi-
tion with that of Mexico, from the severe expense
of land carriage. In New Grenada alone, the ex-
cess of the evil has produced the remedy. Tiie
mineral wealth of that province is placed at such
inaccessible heights, as to be only wrought amid
the alluvious grounds deposited by the rivers in
their passage to the sea. On these, washing places
are erected, and the returns are in many places
very rich and abundant, consisting almost exclu-
sively of gold.

Tiie ])rincipal metallic jiroductions of South
America, are gold, silver, q^u' ';silver, copper, tin,

-■.«■ »-

)ense

le ex-

Thu

such

amid

'Qi'H in

jlaces

)lllCCS

cxclu-

vSoutli
r, tin,

iron, and lead; in one mountain in the Chilese pro-
vince of Huilquilemu, there is also found a spe-
cies of very fine native brass, supposed to be pro-
duced by the action of internal fires upon conti-
guous veins of copper and zinc, both of which
arc found in tlie vicinity. Besides these, an infi-
nite variety and profusion of marbles, alabasters,
jaspers, chrystals, and other precious stones, in a
peculiar maimer characterize the Chilese mountains.
Coal is also found within the limits of that pro-
vince, which may be said generaliy to possess the
greatest variety of mineral productions, the mines
of Peru being rather distinguished for richness,
and the alluvions grounds of New Grenada pro-
ducing, as has been remarked, only gold. Quick-
silver is only wrought at the great mine of Huan-
cavelica, in Peru, but is known to exist in many
other places, although its research is forbidden by
royal order. Copper, tin, and iron, are very ge-
nerally disseminated throughout the upper dis-
tricts, but are principally wrought in those of
Chili and La Plata. Saline earths, in a peculiar
manner, distinguish the plains of Low Peru, af-
fecting even, it is said, the flavour of the vege-
table productions.

The following Table, extracted from M. Hum-
boldt's work on New Spain, gives the average
produce of the gold and silver mines of the south-

crn coJonies in 1803, according to tlie official data
procured by that eminent traveller. Since that
period, many improvements have been introduced
into the general administration of the mines ; and
their ])rodLice, it is beUeved, has been proportion-
ally increased.

Proditee in mures of

Governments.

ClIS

nk.

Total value in

Rcmurk.H,

Gold.

Silver.

Cliili . .

1,212

29,700

2,060,000

Estimatinp; the contra-
band to bear to the
registered produce,
the proportion of

Potosi and \
iidjoiniiig |-
districts )

1 to 1

2,200

481,830

5,8^0.000

1 to6

Peru . .

3,k)0

(ill, 090

6,210,000

1 to .>

New Grenada

20,000

■

2,990,000

1 to 7

f^ ■

The annual produce of the quicksilver mine in
Huancavelica, already noticed as the only one s} s-
tematically wrought in these southern colonies, ave-
raged at the same period 3000 quintals, but had
been some time before as high as 6000. This sup-
ply, at its greatest amount, is, however, totally in-
adequate to the demand, even at that lesser point
to which the late improvements in mining have
brought it ; and before their introduction, scarcely
sufficed tor the consumption of a single consider-
able district. The mountain of Potosi, alone, has

!21

me 111

e s}-s.
S ave-
it had

s SLip-

yin-
)oint
liave
rcely
idcr-
', has

been known to consume 15,0()0 quintals in a year;
but at that period, the consumption of quicksilver
ill amalgamating the precious metals, bore tlie pro-
portion to the quantity of metal acquired by the
process, of 1 to to 1 — a consumption eiglit times
greater than that observed in tlie mines of Saxony,
which does not exceed 2-lOths to 1. But the nn'n-
ing operations of South America are even yet far
from having attained this perfection.

Means of Inland Communicalion. — The means of
inland communication are extremely bad in the west-
0111 ])rovinces of South America ; and all the po-
litical and ])hysical evils consequent on their state
of inferiority, present themselves, accordingly, in
their most aggravated features. Separated from
each other by almost impassable wastes, the ])opu-
lation has no common or united feeling; no intrin-
sic bond of alliance beyond the feeble tie thrown
over them by their common origin. They neither
supply each other's w^ants, nor minister to each
other's strength ; the history of their obedience
to the parent state, was ever characterized, ac-
cordingly, by local, but most tlestructive famines ;
and that of their rebellion is now equally marked
by disunion and dissension ; by the })romulgation,
in each petty township, of its own theory of consti-
tution — its own favourite form of Lcovernment :
and by the obscure but sa\'agc and unnatural de-

f-^^.»^':

tails of a guerilla war unto clcatli ; not by tliose
united and combined plans of operations, which
gave a character and dignity to even the earliest
military enterprizes of our American offspring.

The principal obstacles to mutual conununica-
tion in these provinces, arise in each from the pe-
culiar features of their geological character; in
ChiH, from the width and depth of the rivers by
wiiich it is intersected ; in Low Peru, from its ex-
tensive sandy plains ; and in the Upper country,
and throughout New Grenada, from the excessive-
ly steej) and rugged mountainous tracts of country
which isolate their fertile plains. These obstacles
are, for the most part, overcome by means of such
temporary expedients as suggest themselves to tra-
vellers, and the extreme rudeness of these may
be surmised from the following account of the
bridges generally used throughout the whole Up-
per country. These are formed of three ropes,
drawn tight across the ravine which it is pro-
posed to cross, interwoven with branches of trees,
and covered with loose earth, so as to form
a species of flooring; to which are added two
similar ropes, at a convenient height above the
others, to serve as ballustrades. Along these va-
cillating supports, even loaded mules arc some-
times conducted ; but they are not in general in-
tended for such a purpose, another device being

employed for their transport, wlicn either the sides
of the ravine are too steep, or the enelosed ri\ cr
is too rapid to admit of their passing without as-
sistance. A very strong rope is drawn very tight
across, and to this is affixed a running groove or
traveller, fitted with slings, in which the animal,
being previously unloaded, is secured, and thus
drawn across. But the bridges do not form +he
only feature in the internal communication in South
America, indicative of its extreme rudeness and
difficulty. Some provinces in the interior of New
(Grenada are altogether impenetrable, unless either
on foot, or on men's shoulders ; and so jealous are
the inhabitants of these provinces of this direction
to their domestic industry, that not many years
ago, when some ])roposals were made to improve
their roads, these were lost through their own stre-
nuous opposition. In the history of so despotic an
administration as that of Spain, it is not a little
singular, that almost the only instance of acqui-
escence with the wishes of the subject should be
thus characterised with absurdity — should be thus,
as it were, a sneer levelled by despotism at popu-
lar administration. *

* The extreme absurdity of this case, is, in fact, attributable
to that very despotism itself, which suppresses every species of
political discussion, and thus unfits its subjects for understand-
ing their own most palpable interests. But, after all, the Brf^

2i<

Alcans of E.rtcnml Commioiicalioii. — Tlicic arc
ibiir several outlets for tlie coiTunerce of these west-
ern colonies, viz. Buenos Ayres, Brazil, tlie At-
lantic anil Pacific Oceans. Tlic means of com-
municating with each nujst be se[)arately con-
sidered.

1. Buenos Ayrcs. The post roads to Buenos
Ayres, from Lima and St. Jago, the capitals of
Peru and Chili, have been constructed with infi-
nite labour; and during the first half of their pro-
gress, whilst yet winding amid the gorges of the
Andes, present to the traveller a combination of
every vaiied feature of danger, difficulty, and dis-
tress. The remaining half is, on the other hand,
most insipidly uniform, being conducted along the
level Pampas, or j)lains of Buenos Ayres, where not
even any variety of vegetation enlivens the tedium

tish reader must neither laugh too loud, nor too lon^, at these
poor South Americans ; parallel cases may be found, neither
very remote in time nor in place, from ourselves. Mob councils
are every where the same. It is not yet 80 years since petitions
were presonted at tlie bar of our own House of Commons,
against extending the turnpike roads ; and it is but the other
day, that a royal burgh in Scotland turned the high turnpike
road out of the town altogether, to save a tiexv causeway in one
of the streets. The popular clamours lately so industriously
excited against improvements in machinery, are all of a similar
stamp ; and the influence of the same pursuit of immediate ob-
jects, indifferent to their remote accompaniments, might be yet
further traceu and illustrated in some popular topics in Palace
Yard — " Sed ex his disce omncs."

of tlic joiirnoy. Post houses liavc been crectetl
upon both ; aiul the military operations, of wliich,
witiiin tlie last tew years, tliey have been the tliea-
tre, will })robably perfect and coin])lete whatever
may be yet wanting ni their respecti\e acconnno-
dations. The whole distance from Lima bv Toto-
si to Buenos Ayres, is about 2800 miles ; from St.
Jago, it is about one-third less ; but the former
road is best ])rovided with relays, the intercomse
between Chili and Buenos Ayres never having been
so intimate as that between the latter and Peru.
This last will probably also now receive the great-
est sliare of im])rovement ; the protracted v, arfare
on the borders of Peru being moro calculated to
produce this effect, than the rapid movement which
at once placed the Chilcse capital in the hands of
the insurgent forces.

Q. Brazil. Tlie communication with Brazil is
maintained exclusively by means of the river Ama-
zon ; which, rising in Peru, and winding along the
Andes, first to the southward, and then to the
north-east, at length reaches the Atlantic Ocean,
aftei" an inland navigable course exceeding 3000
miles. The details of this medium of external com-
munication are very imperfectly known; and its im-
provement, like that of the interior roads, has been
o})posed, though for another reason, by that por-
tion of the colonial population, within whose pro-

*mt3im

|{fv^^^^

uii

V 1

' '

\incc it i'cW to reason on the subject. It was main-
tained by the majority, that, to imj)rove its navi^jja-
tion, and to encourage the commerce maintained by
it, would be to facih'tate the smuggbng transactions,
for which it is now ahnost exclusively traversed.
It was in vain that M. Humboldt, and the few, op-
posed to this reasoning the almost self-evident ar-
gument, that these were in fact promoted by the
solitude of its shores, and could only effectually be
checked by their population.

3. Atlantic Ocean. The eastern boundary of
the province of New Grenada, described in a great
measure by that central chain of Andes which tra-
verses nearly the whole continent from south to
north, is farther defined, on its ap[)roach to the
Atlantic, by the great Rio Madalena, which, receiv-
ing at Honda the accession of several tributaiy
streams, becomes there navigable ; and thence pur-
sues its course 500 miles to the ocean, which it joins
by two mouths, at Santa Martha and Carthagena.
By it is the principal communication maintained be-
tween the western provinces and the Atlantic Ocean,
the Rios Atrato and Chagres, the only other two
outlets in this direction, being comparatively unim-
portant ; the former communicating between the
gold provinces of Choco and Popayan, and the
Gulf of Darien ; the otlier between Panama and
the Caribbean Sea. The Rio Atrato has become

of sonu'wliat more importance witliin the last twen-
ty years, in consetjuence of its navigation luivini;'
been tleelared free for all importations of slaves
and provisions into the adjoining provinces, wliose
unliealtliy lal)onrs reqnire a constant sn})ply of both:
but the Ciiagrcs, once the exchisive medium of
conniiunication between the town of Porto IJello
and the western worUI, is now rarely traversed at
all, unless by a few dozen wretched negroes, pro-
ceeding along its lonely channel to their ultimate
destination on the sickly shores of New Grenada.
Never was rexolution so com})lete as in the com})a-
rative importance of this once celebrated river.

4. Pacific Ocean. The following Table will be
found to comprize most of the necessary points of
information respecting the Spanish sea-ports in the
Southern Pacific.

Names. Lat. hi.

Hctiutrks.

Valdivia
Conception

40" 5' S.
36° 40' S.

A most excellent harbour, but deficient in
supplies, there being no town, and only a petty
garrison, and small convict settlement maintained.
It is situate on the mouth of the river of the same
name, beyond the Spanish frontier, and amid the
Indian settlements, on which it is meant as a
check.

A good jjort, and abounding in every species
of supply. It is situate near the conflucrice
of the Bio-bio, the frontier river, with the Pacific ;
the town, indeed, being now built on its banks,
nine miles from the jwrt. It bus tiie privilege of
direct trade with Old Spain, a privilege only en-
joyed by three other ports in the Soutliern Pa-
cific.

A4l|$<i|cS«|?f'

! ;-

'.'8

TAHLK — Vonlinucd.

Niitno.

Vuli>urnibi)

Co(]uiiiiI)o

Ciuasco
C^ojiiiipo
Suiuilu
Cobija

iVrica

\no

Pisco

Cullao

I,at.

Jii" .iO' S.

3(>' 0' S.

28" ■'>' S.
27" 0' S.

22" 10' S.

18" 20' S.

IT"37'S.

13" 40" S.

I{i'i>iiir/,\

12"j'S.

An iiju'ii iiiu'li(irii<;L', .ilisoliitdy iintuniiblL' in win-
tor, yet in (•on''('(i\itjncc of biinj^ the sea-purt of St.
Ja^o, the r:ipita) of Cliili, from wliich, howuvor,
it is 70 iiiilts (list;int, it has cn^rosstd imich the
(.^rciitc.it shiire of (tu' wliole coinnvrcc of tiie pro-
vjni'e. It h:is thf piivHi_::rc of direct intercourse
with ( )l(l Spai'i.

A ^00(1 summer port, heinj; well j)rotectc(l from
southerly winds ; but in winter, when northerly
■jakii blow itron;^ on the coast, it eannt>t shelter
above 2> or 150 vessels. It is well supjdied with
provision ^.

An open anchorage, into wiiich falls a fine strc.ini
of fresh water.

A1.-.0 opi'ti, and very inditterently supjjlied with
fresh water.

..Uso (juitc open, and named from tlic sm' with
which all its springs art stroni^Iy impregnaied.

An open insecure anchorage, nuicn fre(juented,
however, as being the nearest sea- j)ort to i\tacama,
I ,ii)es, and Potosi, all ricli mining districts ; from
the Hrst of which, however, it is forty leagues dis-
tant, and more than one iiundred from tiie other
two.

(iuitc open, witli a heavy surf constantly beating
on tlie 1)1 ach. It has tlie privilege of direct inter-
course with Old Spain ; a j)rivilege of wliicli it
does not, however, avail itself I'epper, and some
other spices, form its principal articles of export.

A mere ojien road, mudi frequented as being the
nearest sea-port to Cu/co, from which it is, liow-
ever, 400 miles distant. It is also occasionally re-
sorted to by merchants from I'cttosi, from which it
is, at tlie same tjuie, I'istant nearly ))()0 miles.

An txcelleut sea-port, enjoying an extensive
coasting connnerce, in winos, brandies, olives, and
ordurQ of sea-fowl, employed in Peru both as fuel
and manure, "^-'ot less than from HOOO to 9000
l)ns of small snippiiijj; bilonj^ing to Pisco, are said
to be con.--faiitl7 engaged iii oUetting and distri-
buting it along the cci'.st ^i^co is deficient in fiesh
water.

The celebrated port of Lima, secure, commodi-
ous, and abo;.)i(lin^ i'l su))plies of cvcrv di'riip-
tion, fire- wood ;;l:ine l)fcing soinewl'.at scarce .uid
high-priced. It is unprovided, h.r.we'.vr, v.itli

^^l

'Jfl

TAli], E^Contimicd.

: the

liow-
rc-
it

suid
stri-

'lOfiil

(xii-
■np-
.iiiil
vith

Xii»i(.i.

(iimura

(iii.incliui'o
I'liyiii

'I'uiubt'/.

CliuiyiKjuil

/,.//. In.

1 1" ;i' s.

8" 0' S.

I. VS.

;j'» :jo' s.

?"!!' S.

St. Jttgo

St. Midiad

2" 0' X.

G»iO' X.

Pcrico

8"jO' X.

Uim(ir/,:i.

(Uiiks ; uiul vessels rcijuirin^ repair bdow tliu wa-
tiT-liiiL', must i.c liovc down to st«j{i.'.s. It lius the
jifivilege of direct trttde with ( )lil S|)iHn.

i\ii oj'en insecure anchorage, at the luoiitli of a
small river.

The seaport of TruxUlo, open and insecure.

()])eii, but tolerably secure; once a place of sonic
trade, now dtca} ed.

A siiiall, but secure harbour, in the (Julf of
(luayaijail ; once a place of niucii resort, now aban>
doiud. Its prosjierity was founded on its trade in
let'ri -linienus aiiIi the I'.inanin Heels.

An t\cellent liarbour, formed by the mouth of
the river of the same name, wliiili is navigable
IdO miles above its confluence with the Pacific, and
forms I he principal, almost the only point of ac-
cess from the westward to the interior of New
(irinaila. The town is situate about 'i.i miles up,
aiiil LTijoys 11 very «rc'ut coiriDierec. The principal
productions of tlie adjoiiiing districts are em-oa of
very superior (piality, ship-timber, cattle, and fire-
wood. Tlic town itself is poor and mean.

Tlic mouth of a larj;e river, comnmiiicating with
the j:;old alluvious grounds in New (irenada, l)ut
of no icsorf for Spanish conmiercc. It is navi-
j^able for shijjiiing nine miles up.

A lart;e and deep bay, receiving three consider-
able ri\ers, v.hich communicate wiili the gold dis-
tricts of (.'hvK-,) and I'opayan. 'J'hey arc each na-
vigal)lc for omc leagues iij), and on one of them,
tlie Santa iMaria, the Sparuards have a sniiUl sct-
tUnicnt, which maintains a triHing conauerce in
provisions with the interior. The adjoining coun-
try is, liowever, extremely hot and unhealthy ; and
as the navigation of the (lulf of Panama is gene-
rally excessively tedious, little or no external com-
merce is maintained by its shores.

The sea-port of I'anama, nine miles distant
from that town, and a secure couiUKKlious roadstead,
altliougii now nearly di'serted, having shared in the
ruin, as it did also in the prosj)erity, of that cele-
brated emporium, 'i'he jitarl tislieries, for which
it is still noted, are in the immediate vicinity.

.*«ae»r

' )

?']

I !

ManuJactiin'S. Remote i'roni I'uiope, a/ul ex-
cluded by Spanisli policy from tlie beiielils oi' a free
intercourse with Asia, tlie inannl'actures of these
colonies, although far from elet^mt iti any one
brancli, embrace nearly all the fn\sc objects of do-
mestic utility and convenience. They have uni-
formly to contend with the disadvantages conse-
quent on rude and imperfect implements, the per-
fecting of which seems, by some peculiar law of
our nature, to be reserved exclusively for the most
advanced stages of society, advantageously distin-
guishing, for example, that of England; and, among
savages, being, on the other hand, entirely over-
looked. The Spanisli Soutli American colonists
liold a middle place between both ; turning their
weaving, and some other implements, with consi-
derable neatness and ingenuity, but altogether ig-
norant of th.it combination of mechanical power
with polish and convenience in the instruments
em])loyed for even the coarsest purj)oses, which
gives the manufacturers of Birmingham and Man-
chester their unrivalled superiority.

'J'he ])rincipal manufactures of these colonies are
<?oarse woollen and cotton cloths, mostly prepared
at Cuzco, Quito, Cuenza, and other cities in the
interior, where external conununication is most
ditlicult ; together with leather, soa]), sugar, oil,
wine, brandy, chocolate, ^c. in quantities adequate

v-^n

for tlic domestic consumption, none of these arti-
cles bearing the expense of exportation. Tlie ma-
ritime districts prepare a somewhat more extensive
supply ; but all labour under the same general dis-
advantage of want of market, a disadvantage
which, while it subsists, will be ever opera*^ive
against the improvement and perfection of the
usefiU arts in South America. Indeed, even
the acquisition of a market would not, for ages
probaLly, give this direction to national industry.
The whole country is thinly peopled ; and produ-
ces in abundance the richest and the finest crude
material. The exportation of that would long fur-
nish employment and subsistence at an easier and
chea})er rate, than a com})ctition could be main-
tained, by its means, with the foreign manufactures
which the increased intercourse woidd necessarily
introduce into its domestic mart. Spanish Ameri-
ca, thus situate, is jneciscly the market wanted by
om selves ; — a ])eople in every respect differently
characterized, numerous, active, and already em-
barked in manufacturing pursuits, the crude mate-
rials of which our country does not itself grow, and
for which it necessarily looks abroad.

Commerce. Of the |)reci.se amount of each branch
of the commerce of these colonies, (their several di-
rections have been already indicated,) the British
public is altogether without the means of forming?

«■

• (

'■

I! ,

any precise estimate. In considering tliem, as I
now })ro|)ose to do, separately, I am unable to fur-
nish more than mere a])proximating data— always
confused, and some of tliem even conti' ulictory.
When my own conjectmes maj therefore seem im-
founded, the reader is requested to exercise his
own judgment and discretion.

1. Commerce with Buenos Ayres. The revolu-
tionary wars which have now raged for some years
in these colonies, have, it is presiuned, for the pre-
sent, interrupted the regular intercourse between
them. While it yet subsisted, it consisted princi-
pally of the intercliange of the following artici*^'^ :—

Exported from the western provinces : wines,
brandies, maize, precious metals, sugar, s})ices,
indigo, and, previous to the glut of European
ffoods at Buenos Avres, the woollen and cot-
ton cloths of Cuzco and Quito.

Imported from Buenos Ayres : mules (annually
60,000 into Peru alone), cattle, sheej), tallow,
wool, Paraguay tea, (an heib universally used
as tea iy the western provinces,) tin, and ne-
groes.

The Merciu'io Peruano states tl; e ^'alue of the
exports from Peru alone, to have averaged, in 1790,

K^A

.f tlie
171)0,

annually 2,000,000 ; while tluit of the imports
anioiuit 'd, at the same time, to 1,000,000 piastres.
The whole cireulation did not then probably ex-
ceed .5,000,000 piastres, allowing Chili 2,000,000
for her own share; an extravagant allowance, were
it not that many of the im}>ortations into Peru, par-
ticularly negroes, followed the route by Chili, as
being the shortest land journey. The trade, on the
whole, is a very interesting subject of public curio-
sity ; and it is to be wished, that we knew better
what are the chances of its revival when the pre-
sent disturbances shall be quelled, and whr.t extent
of competition an entirely maritime communication
is likely to sustain from it. The latter is that which
it would be decidedly for the best interests of Great
Britain to maintain ; but this rather for political
than connuercial reasons, as, under any circumstan-
ces, her manufactures would engross the supply of
any etTcctive demand which these colonies could
produce.

2. Commerce with Brazil. The commerce of
tlie western provinces with Brazil, consis's almost
exclusively of illicit exportations of silver from the
minini? districts conti<ruous to the Amazon. We
are nuich in the dark respecting the whole details
of this communication, M. Iliunboldt only gene-
i.illy estimating its amount at l-*lth of the annual
))roduce ol'somc of them, and elsewhere stating it,

-<;»•'

'1^^

34^

ill round minihers, as averaging annually '2500
nuircs of Castile. It has })robably increased in ex-
tent and activity since he wrote : the residence of
the Portuijuese court in Brazil will have occasion-
ed a greater demand, while the degree of contempt
into which, on the other hand, the Spanish royal
authority has since fallen in High Peru, will have
loosened the opposing sliackles to its increase. This
also is a very highly interesting vein of commerce,
worthy of being more particularly known.

3. Commerce with the Atlantic. The two pre-
'. ig branches of external traffic are almost en-
tirely confined to the southern colonies of Chili
and Peru ; this with the Atlantic is engrossed by
the merchants of New Grenada. It is of very an-
cient date; having been actively maintained in the
time of the Porto Bello fairs, and with such suc-
cess, as to excite some selfish murmurs on the part
of the merchants of Lima, and some very absurd
regulations on that of the court of Spain, with the
view of satisfying their clamorous demands. The
operation of these, together with the greater faci-
lities progressively bestowed on maritime commu-
nication with the remote colonies on the Pacific,
had, however, very much injured this branch of
commerce ; and previous to the commencement of
the rebellion in 1811, or rather previous to the
French invasion of Spain in 1808, it was reduced

i?,"

acf

to a A'cry low ebb. From tliesc periods, it lias,
liowever, progressively increased; and it now fornis
an ini})ortant branch of that commerce, which the
merchants of Jamaica, in a late official document,
valued at ten millions Sterling, and which is gra-
dually acquiring a stability and a legality in the
estimation of those maintaining it, which it would
be \ cry difficult indeed for Spain to overcome, were
she even again mistress of the territory in which
it is maintained.

This commerce consists of the interchange of
European goods with the precious metals, cotton,
cocoa, coffee, medicines, (particularly bark, jalap,
sarsa})arii!a, and balsam of Tolu,) wax, &c. Tiie
precise amount of it is unknown ; but it nuist be
considerable, however checked by the reduction of
C'artiiagena, and the other more recent successes
of tlie rovalist armv in New Grenada.

1'. C'onnnerce with the Pacific. The commerce
witli the Pacific must be considered under the two
heads of Coasting Connnerce, and Commerce with
the Motlier Country . On both, our information
is exceedinfflv vau'ue and uncertain.

1. Coasting Commerce. The })orts of Peru,
particularly Callao, form the great centre of mu-
tual comnumication between these southern colo-
nies, none of which maintain any intercourse across
tlieir parallels. The following Tables, therefore,

^•^..*»-.j55(5pff»^

1 =

in shewing the state of tlie coasting comnieice of
the Peruvian ports, will indicate also that of the
whole in 170O, the latest period to which our mi-
nute information extends. They are extracted ver-
V)atim from the Mercurio Peruano and Viagero Ge-
neral, as quoted in the Edinburgh Review, for I
have not had the means of oriq-inal reference to
these works ; for the remarks on them only am I
personally responsible.

I. Coasting Trade of Callao, in 17S5-6-7.8-[).

.Ir

Po>ts -.villi

which
maiiitdiHcd.

Imports.

Exports.

Biila lire for
Callao.

lialaiici'
o_u:aUist
CuUao.

Uetnarks.

Chili . .
Guayaquil .

Panama

Gualimala .

Total in .1 years
Annual average

.^»,533,775 1
2,.J17,C« 1

59,03j .5
210,295 7

4,686,423 3
2,9^)6,305

201,631 7
29,416 4

358,661 7
142,596 2

847,351 6
180,394 4

Part of tills hftlancc
accrued from imports
from IJuenos Ayres,
sent by way of Cliili.

(I'.ic'fly occasioned
by imports intoGua-
yaquil, destined for
i:ie interior provin-
ces.

This balance arose
principally from go-
vernment consign-
ments for the main-
tenance (if the pro-
vincial authorities.

It will be seen in
another place, that
much of this inter-
course is now sus-
pended.

8,;}5(),749 (5,7,823,776 6
1,670,149 71,564,755 3

501,258 1

1,028,231 1
105,391. 4

I of
the
mi-
ver-
Gc
)r I

2 to

in I

marks.

tlnsbftliince
•oni imports
enos Ayres,

ly ot' Chili.

occiisi(nied
t.siiitoCiiui-

(.'stini'd for
:ior provin-

alaiicc arose
ly from go-
toiisign-
tlie main-
tlie pro-
itliorities.
be seen in
place, that
this inter-
now sus-

lif

II. Annual A\Tragc of the Coasting- Trade of Ari-
ca, Payta, and other Peruvian ports, at tlie same
time.

Ports -cit/i

■u'/iir/i
viiiiiita'imd.

Imports.

Exports.

lluluiicc

(i^tiiiist

I'n II

Bcmarks.

ChiJi . .

Panama ami 1
Ciuayac]uil j"

1G,G7j
3."j(»,000

m I*

130,000

lG,«r>i
220,000

Tliese imports consisted prin-
cipally of provisions ; and were
in part paid for in ordure of sea-
fowl, not entered in any regis-
ter.

I cannot conjecture any rea-
son for this balance l)eing a-
gainst Peru, and 1 think it is
a mistake. Panama is dej)t.'n-
dent on Peru for nearly all its
supplies; anil CJuayaciuil is the
point of access into ilie inte-
rior of New Cironailii. These
are indeed precisely the only
points in whidi tlie balance of
the coasting; trade was in fa-
vour of C'allao; why tlien this
opposite result at the other
ports ?

The result of these Tables o'ives the followinji'
averac^e for the annual trade of Peru with the other
colonies, in the year 1790 : viz. im])()rts, ^2,0(j(), 8-2,5 ;
and exports, l,(')[)i,755 piastres. The annual ba-
lance, by the same statement, was against Peru,
37'2,OC)9 })iastres : a balance reconcileable enough in
the main, with our knowledge of the fact, that Li-
ma, at that period, was a very general metliiim by
which the out provinces made their remittances to

Ill

' I

WV ) '

the mother country. Tliat part only of the state-
ment is incongruous, wliich makes the balance in
the trade of the out j)()rts witli Panama and (Jua-
ya(iuil so very unfavourable to Peru ; and even for
this, some solution may be found, from a consider-
ation of the delay and difficulty attending a mari-
time })assage from these ])orts to Callao, which
might, although I think it improbable, make it
more expedient to disembark at a northern port,
and })roceed thence to Lima by land.

It will be observed, that in the first of the above
Tables, 1 have noted that much of the intercourse
between Callao and Ciuatimala has ceased. It con-
sisted, at tlie date of these Tables, princi])ally of
consigmnents of indigo from the latter province to
Old S})ain, made through the medium of Lima.
This course of intercourse will be seen, in the fol-
lowing article, which treats of the Spanish North
American settlements, to have altogether ceased.

The above Tables state generally the amount of
this coasting trade : it is only necessary to add,
that it consisted, on the part of Peru, in the disse-
mination of Euro])ean goods, of quicksilver, wines,
brandies, and flour ; and in the receipt, in return,
of such indigenous productions as were cither suit-
ed to the European market, or were required for
domestic consumption. The whole trade in 1803
had considerably increased in value and inactivity;

.if

.1-

but to what extent, is not stated by M. Hiiniboldt.
We are entirely ignorant, also, of the changes which
it may since have sustained : if a conjecture may
be formed, these have been on the whole favour-
able, at least till within the last very few years.

Q. Commerce with Old S})ain. The commerce
of these distant colonies with the mother country has
adopted several successive media of communication;
first by Lima, Panama, and Porto Ik'llo; next direct
round Cape Horn, in register ships, as they were
called, from the registered licence which vessels
were forced to take out previous to undertaking
such a voyage ; and now finally, by the means of
communication granted to certain of their j)orts, by
the act or edict, commonly called, of free trade,
wliich enabled them to correspond directly with
certain other ports in Old Spain, without the ne-
cessity of each vessel taking out a sj)ecial permis-
sion. This last is infinitely the most fair, liberal,
and convenient of any of these three methods; and
was considered, both by the parties bestowing and
those receiving the concession, to have been equi-
valent to a grant of free trade to the colonies at
large. Hence the edict received that somewhat
too comprehensive title by which it is genenilly
known ; a title, however, to which some of its
provisions, particularly the arbitrary and even
unjust selection of some ports for these privi-

/'• ^

4f)

leges, to the exclusion of others, by no means give
it a chiim.

This trade consists generally in a similar inter-
change of conmiodities, manufactured and cii'cle
produce, as that maintained on tlie shores of the
Atlantic ; and wliile Spain yet ])reserved iier au-
thority over these colonies, it ^vas further swelled
by annual remittances of goiil and silver, on go-
vernment account, as well as on that of individu-
als. Of its total actual value, we have no precise
idea ; our latest accurate information only coming
down to 1794, and even then being confined to the
single pf)rt of Callao, the em])orium of Peru. Its
exports to Europe at that time averaged nearly
7,W0,(J00 of dollars annually; having ])rogressively
increased from about 2,0C)0,(X)0, while the system of
the Panama galleons prevailed, to nearly 4,o()(),000
by the register ships, and filially to the sum already
stated, by the free trade. In 1803, M. Humboldt
summarily states the whole to have very materially
increased ; but he does not say to what extent :
and now again it is to be feared, that it is much
injured by the usual operations of hostility and con-
fiscation, particularly on this ])oint, (Peru,) the
commerce of which, from its contirnied loyalty, is,
in a peculiar manner, exposed to the depredations
of the insur£}:cnt marine.

X'-)!'

SPANISH XORTIT AMEIUCAX COI.ONIKS.

Tme Spanisli Xorlli AnuM-ican colonies cxtoiul
alonir tht- shores of the Pacilic, from the Isthimis
of Panama, ill tlie <jth ])arallel of north hititndc,
to San I'Vaneisco, in the .'JStli, where they confine
with the Inch'an tenitorv designated on the charts
by the name of New Albion. On the Atlantic,
they extend only to the '^fith j)arallel, where the
Rio Hravo del Norte divides them in its whole
length from the United States province of Lonisi-
ana ; and fi'om the mouth of this river, according-
ly, the line of frontier runs in a north-west direc-
tioii, as far as lO" nortli, where is situate its source.
The wiiole extent of territory embraced by these
boundaries is about LOOjOOO square leagues.

Pali Ileal D'lr'isions^ &^c. — This ample j)ortion of
the eastern shore of tlie Pacific Ocean, comprises a
small part of the pro\ince of Panama belonging to
New Grenada, and which it is unnecessary further
to notice, and is besides divided into one caj)tain-
generalship, Ciuatimala; one \iceroyalty, New
Spain, or Mexico Pro])er ; and one commandancia-
general, viz. de las Provincias Internas de Mexico,
a division of the northern and least doduIous pro-

vinces of that viceroyalty, which arc placed under

1}!

tlu! special govcrnmonl of an olliccr hearing the
title of ('omniaiKlant-«;iMUM'al, who is chartijod with
the ilotcMK'c of the frontiers from the incursions of
the Indian tribes. The following Table will be found
to contain the most important particulars respecting
the provinces, population, and chief cities, of each
of these principal divisions: it will l)e observed, on-
ly, that their respective limits are omitted. This
omission is indispensable, if I would continue the
tabular enumeration which 1 adopted under the
same head in the j)reccding Article. The latitude
alone will not here give any idea of the relative
boundaries ; and indeed, tor commercial purposes,
such knowledge is not very important.

(inriTii-
nu'iiis.

Total Pn-

Priwhirrs,

Cli'iff Cii'tfs.

Rf marks, S(C.

pidaiion.

Names.

Popul. 1 Nanus.

Popul.

(luati-
inula.

1,S()(),()()G

ClosUillica
Nicaragua

m m

St. .lago.
liCon.

Thecapitalofthecaptain-
gciK ralship, destroyed by
an earthquake in 1773,
and rebuilt at some dis-
tance from its former site.
It is 90 miles distant from
Sonsonata, its seaport in
the Pacitic ; and lias now
very little communication
vith that sea.

An opulent, thriving
town, situate at one end
of the (ireat Lake of Ni-
caragua, by means of
which it maintains an ex-
tensive inland communi-
cation.

1^ tlic
1 with
ons of
fbiiml
ectiiig
f each
h1, oii-
This
le the
21' the
titiide
?liitive
'poses,

r/,x, S(c,

ofthecaptain-
tiestroyed by
ike in ITT.S,
at some (lis-
ts former site.
s distant from
ts seaport in
and has now
niniunication
I.

ent, thriving
; at one end
Lake of Ni-
y means ot'
intains an ex-
id communi-

TABLE'-.ConUnueil.

Ginrnimi'iits,

Xdlilis,

.Mexico
I'rojHT

l'(i/)iil.

A.lHO.OOO

Prtninns,

X.iiiif.i.

Mexico

I'uebia

(iuanaxu-
atu

I'opnI.

Chh'f C'il'us.

Xiimis. I'li/iiil.

Ill riKtrl.s, i\r.

l,.jj l,H()()]Mexic(> 1K»,0(M)

813,300

.'>17,30()

Queretaro

Acapiileo

ruebla

Cholula

(luanaxii
ata

The iTlebnitid lapitul
of this kingdom, and the
Stat of goveriiiuent, as well
inider the native as Spa-
nish administration. Jt
enjoys a very great ccnn-
merce, hv\\^fi the len
tre of all inliind eomniii-
nication, including also
that from sea to sea. Its
public buildings, aque
ducts, sluices, \c. are all
on the most magnilicent
scale.

3.5,000 Notetl for the beauty
of its public buildings, a-
(jueducts, and cloth iiia
nufactures.
I-.OOO The celebrated port of
Mexico on tlie Pacific. It
is, liowever, liOmilesdis
tant from that capital.

67,800 Tile capital of a depart,
ment, especially remarka.
al)le for its fertility and
aniiiimt of population. It
is principally situate in
the interior; but a small
jMirtion of the sliorc of tlit
I'acific is comprised with
in the intendancy.

1(!,0()0 Hemarkable for a py-
ramid, a curious riniain
of A /tec architecture ; se-
veral otliers of them arc
also found tiiroughout the
country, particularly in
the province of Mexico,
the capital city.

•tUOOO The capital of one of
the chief mining district.s,
and containing, in its im-
mediate suburbs, a fur
ther population of 3(»,000.
This intendaniy is altoge-
ther inland.

■^

T ABLE— -Conlinued.

i'U ,

•i

Governments.

Names. Popiil.

Provinces.

Names.

^Mexico
Proper

5,479,095 Vallado-
lid

Guada-
laxara.

Zacatccas

Oaxaca

Mcrida

VeraCruz

San TiUis
Potosi

J'op/il.

Clin f C'tlifS.

Names. PojjhI,

37«,4^i; Vallado-
lid

630,5()(»r.uada-
laxara

153,300 Zacatecas
534,800 Oaxaca

465,800 Merida

Canipechc
156,000 VeraCruz

Xulapa

334,900 San I.uis
Potosi

Remarks, ,^c.

18,000 Capital of an intcndan-
cy, containing many ricli
mines, and comprising a
small portion of the shore
of the Pacific.

19,500 The capital of a mari

time province on the Pa

ic, also a rich mininjj

district.

33,0(J0 Capit:il , f the richest
mining district after CJua
naxuata in JK'xico. It
is entirely inland.

21,000 The capital of u thinly
peopled, but extensive pro
vince, contiguous to the
Pacific, and celebrated for
its cochineal produce.

10,000 Tlie capital of an At-
lantic province, sultry, yet
salubrious.
6,000 Celebrated for its dye-
woods.

16,000 rlie piuicipal Atlantic
port in tlie kini;dom ; opu-
lent and coniUjercial, but
extremely imhealthy.

13,000 An agrteablc little town,
on the brow of the Cor
dillera, where the opulent
merciiants of Vera Cruz
principallv reside.

12,000 I he chief city of the
most northerly intendancy
on the Atlantic; some
portion of it is according
ly in charge of tlie com
iiiandiuit-general

Provincias
Internas

359,200 Uurango l 159,700 Durango

Chihua-
hua

San Ju-in
del Rio

li,<Kni Cajiital ol the inten
dancy.

11,600 Tlie residence of the
commandant-general.

10,200 ( )ne of several populous
little towns in this inten-
dancy, in wliich the po
pulation, througli fear of
the Indians, is accumula-
ted in the towns.

./Il*

TABLE— Con//«Mfa.

A tlantic

Uuvcni limits.

Piviiiiccs.

t'liitf Cities.

Xiimcs. Poind. \ Nuiiics.

I'roviiicias 3o9,200 Sonora
Intcruas

New \
Mexico j
Old Cali-
fornia

Pup III.

y a Dies,

Pii/jul,

licjiuirks, ^c.

New CiJi
fornia

121,400iArispe
40,200 Santa Fe
9,000 Loreto

15,600

Monterey

San Fran-
cisco.

7,()00, \ 'Die capital cities of
,, ,. ... '-tlicir respective intcn-
' ) ilancies.

The cliiel village of
this province, which i:
conipobcd (if tiiat celebra-
ted isthnnis projecting in
to the Pacific ( 'cean, and
enclosing the Sea or (Julf
of Califoriii-., otherwise
called the Vermilion Sea,
noted for its pearl fishc'
ries.
700 'I'he most noted, id
though not the most po-
pidous, of 18 missions, or
establishments founded by
missionaries in this remote
province, which extends
north of the Ihthmus of
California to the extreme
limit of the Spanish do-
minion on the Pacitic.
820 'I'lie most northerly Spa
nish settlement ; a secure
and capacious harbour,

: opulent

e of the
icral.
po])idous
lis inten-
i the po
;li fear of
iccumiUa-

Soil, Climate, and Vegetable Productions. — The
range of Andes, which we have seen in the south-
ern hemisphere cliaracterized by lofty precipitous
peaks, arranged in parallel chains along the sea
coast, dips, in crossing along the isthmus of Pana-
ma, into North America ; is low, broken, and shat-
tered by volcanic hres in the cnptain-generalship
of (luatimala ; and ascends again in Mexico, ac-
cumulated in one prodigious mass, and gaining

■Ifi

II Jl

^l jfi

an elevation, almost uiiitorm in its Avliole length,
of from GOOO to <)()()() feet above the level of the
sea. The table sunnnit which it thus ])resents,
forms the celebrated plain of Anahuac, the chief
seat of the Aztec emj)ire, and in which even now
are accumulated nearly all the most populous and
important cities in the colony. It is no where in-
tersected by any transxerse valley, running east
and west, but maintains its extreme elevation
nearly to the shores of the Eastern or Atlantic
Ocean, towards which it descends with almost per-
pendicular slope. On its northern side it is skirl-
ed by three longitudinal vallies, which, as with suc-
cessive steps, break the raj)id descent, but which
are themselves extremely steep, and most material-
ly aggravate the difficulty of the communication
between the interior and sea coast.

With a geological character thus constituted,
the soil and climate of this extensive country are
necessarily diversified, the whole being indeed divi-
ded, by the common usage of the inhabitants, into
Tierras Calidas, Templadas, and Frias. The first
include the coasts of both oceans, which are uni-
formly sultry, and generally unhealthy ; but which
abundantly return, to even the slightest cultivation,
all the native productions of the torrid zone. Of
these, the celebrated indigo ot Guatimala, and the
nopal, on which, in the province of Oaxaca in par-

into

first

iini-

/liich

Ltioii,

1 the

tictilar, prodigious quantities of cochineal are an-
nually reared ; together with cocoa, vanilla, cot-
ton, coffee, sugar, and various species of dye-woods
and medicinal plants, form the chief articles •, of
which, however, a more minute enumeration will
be found in the table of exports subjoined. The
Tierras Templadas, the second in the enumeration,
include the whole declivity on both sides of the
great centjal plain, and combine, on almost all
points of tlieir ascent, the varieties of tropical pro-
duce, with those peculiar only to more temperate
regions. And, lastly, the Tierras Frias, designate
the nearly level surface of the ])Iain itself, together
with the more northern districts on each side, in
all of which only the hardier European grains are
found to return adequately to the husbandman's
labour. In the elevated regions of Anahuac, snow
is not indeed uncommon, even within the tropic ;
while, in many of the more elevated points of it,
with every advantage of soil 'uetation is found
slow and tardy in its developemem, impeded, it
would appear, by that uniformity and tenuity of
clin„ite and atmosphere which very strikingly cha-
racterize them.

Mineral Productions. — When (jiiatimala was fii st
discovered, the promise of luineral wealth which it
was suj)posed to offer, procured for one of its dis-
tricts the appellation of Costa Kica; but this promi«,e

, \ j

h-^-w

\)\

has not been fulfilleil, no (juantityofthe preeiousrne-
tals liavinu; ever been extracted from it, and even
their research beinu" now loim' discontinued. Mexi-
CO, on the contrarv, abounds with tiiem in even
the greatest variety and profusion : its mines being
moreover peculiarly accessible, am! altogether free
from those noxious ine})hitic vapours which so pe-
culiarly cliaracterize those of Peru. Their value is
accordingly very great •, and the passion for their
research and discovery much more universal among
the whole Mexican population, than among the 4

inhabitants of any other Spanisli colony. ''

The nn'neral wealth of New S))ain is jMincipally ^

situate on the western declivity of the central })lain,
and consists of gold, silver, quicksilver, copper, i

lead, iron, and tin ; of which, however, only the
two first are objects of systematic pursuit to the
inhabitants. In 1803, the a\'erage produce of the
gold mines was 7^00 marcs of Castile amuially ; |

while that of the silver was ^2,500,000 marcs, more
than two-thirtls of the whole produce of the globe.
The average value of both together was f22, 170,740
piastres, and was drawn from about 500 reales, or
mining districts ; of which the annual expenditure
of (piicksiher axeraged ir),000 quintals. The
quicksilver is entirely the produce of im})ortation
from Europe, the native mines of this valuable semi-
metal being neglected and o\ erlooked.

I'J

the

Means of Internal Communication. — In the cap-
tain-generalsliip of Guatimala, the internal commu-
nication is much facilitated by the great lake of
Nicaraijua, situate within its limits ; and the inter-
course thence with Vera Cruz, in New Spain, the
principal port by which the valuable indigo of the
whole province is exported, is maintained along a
road cut within the last ten years, which extends
across the whole continent, from the port of Te-
huantepec on the Pacific, to Vera Cruz on the At-
lantic Ocean. The land carriage by this road, is
shortened by an embarkation for about thirty miles
on the Rio Huasacualco, falling into the Atlantic
about fifty miles S. E. of Vera Cruz, on quitting
which it proceeds nearly along the sea shore to that

J)OJ"t.

In New Spain there are no lakes considerable
in pro])ortion to the whole face of the country ;
neither are there any navigable rivers, by which
the internal communication might be facilitated.
The roads are, however, good ; and, from the level
nature of the great central plain of Anahuac, the
communication between the principal cities is ea-
sily maintained. It is only difficult when passing
to either sea, and, on the eastern declivity, is pecu-
liarly painful and inconvenient. The importance,
however, of that communication is too great, and
the views of the inhabitants too enlightened, to

.00

t^.'

'^'^

suHcr any obstacles to remain which art may re-
move ; and new roails, or new repairs, are constant-
ly on luind, accordingly, in that direction. Towards
the Pacific Ocean the stimnlus is not so strong,
and there is, conseqnently, some neglect ; the
whole charge, however, on the transport of goods
I'roni sea to sea, not exceeding two piastres per
carga of 80 11 )s.

Meam of External Communicalion. — The extcr-
niU connnunication of Guatimala and Ne\v Spain,
is confined to the two oceans hv which their several
shores are washed ; the petty traffic maintained
with the Indians on the northern frontier of the
Provincias Intemas being unworthy of notice.

1. Commnnication with the Atlantic. — There
are only two ports, Campeche and Vera Cruz, by
which the Atlantic commerce of these colonies is
maintained ; and both are very bad and insecure.
Placed in the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, and
receiving constant accumulations of sand from the
currents in the Carribbean Sea, they are both but
indifferently protected from the vicissitudes of the
weather ; yet arc they both noted, as will be seen
in its place, for very lucrative exportations.

2. Communication with the Pacific. — The fol-.
lowing Table contains the enumeration, latitudes,
and })roperties, of the principal sea-ports along the
western shores of these colonies. It niav be re-

fol,

[ties,

the

re-

marked generally, that the sea is receding fromthc
south-western shores of Guatiniala, and also from
those of the contiguous provinces of New Spain :
the praises which Ca])tain Danipier bestows on se-
veral of the ports here named, arc quoted accord-
in iz-lv, with verv considerable modifications.

Govern-

Ports.

Lat. III.

JitviiirLs:

Giutiuiiilii

llualcjos
Sonsonata

(luatulca

12"20'N.
13050' N.

15" 30' N.

TIic sea-port of Leon, from wiiicii it
is SO miles distant. A tolerable port,
extremely sickly and unwholesome.

A very insecure port, but tl\e only
point of comnnmication between Cluati-
niala and the Pacific Ocean. The dis-
tance between them exceeds 90 miles ;
yet thus, and then round Cape Horn,
previous to tlie completion of the new
road from 'rehuantepec to Vera Cruz,
the indigo of that district was in the ha-
bit of reaching the Kuropean markets.

A tolerable port, but unfrequented,
from the diffiailty of internal communi-
cation, the land rising in short, abrupt,
and detached ridges within it.

Mexico
I'roper

Tehuantepec

Acapulco
San Bias

16" 10' N.

160 .50' N.

210 OQ/ J^T^

A mere open road, with a dangerous
bank across its mouth, within which,
however, is tolerable riding for very
/small vessels. It is somewhat celebrat-
ed, from the opposite coasts of the Paci-
fic and Atlantic Oceans here approach-
ing each other nearer than at any other
point in ^fexico.

The celebrated galleon port, ample
in its accommodations, and very secure in
some creeks ; although generally admit-
ting a heavy swell from the south-west,
when tlie wind blows hard from that
quarter. 1 1 is extremely unhealthy.

Situate within the Gulf of California,
San lilas is a secure and capacious har-
bour, but extremely siJtry and unheal-
thy. It is, however, a royal dock-yard,
and enjoys some little coasting trade.
1

ft f'f

Mr-

'>/!

■ n

: ill"'

mciits.

Ports.

Lut. in.

liniKirks.

Provincias
Internas

San Lucur

Monterey

San Francis-
co

W" 35' N.
360 39' N.

3T« 59' N.

A small port, ne-ir the south point of
the isthmus of California, where the gal-
leons arc in Uie habit of calling for or-
ders and rt'freslniients.

Already noticed as tlie capital of New
California ; a large, but nearly open bay,
with indift'erent slielter in one cove for a
very few vessels.

A noble harbour, about a league wide
at the mouth, but opening within to a
magnificent basin. 'I'hcre is ordy a
small presidio, or mission, established
here ; and refrusiimcnts are accordingly
somewhat dittitult to be proiiued, al-
though the adjoining country is rich and
productive.

T ■

Manufactures. — In Guatimala, wlicrc there is a
thinly scattered population, easily accessible to fo-
reign importation, and enabled to make in return
very valuable crude exports, there are few or no
manufactures. In New Spain, they are abundant
and diversified, and have attained, many of them,
very considerable perfection; but they ..e over-
borne, notwithstanding, by the weight of European
importations, and have, in consecjuence, very trif-
ling comparative acti\'ity. Those most in esteem
are joiner's work, carriages, musical instruments,
&c, for all of which the variety of fine woods, grow-
ing indigenous in the country, affords the choicest
materials ; and besides these, the several manufac-
tures of cloth, leather, soap, and sweet-meats, af-
ford materials for some trifling exportation. But
at home, the fashion of European wares is pre-

V ii ^

dominant, and the market afforded for tliem, ac-
cordingly, is immense. The woollen and cotton
cloths manufactured in Mexico in the year 1803,
were estimated to amount to the value of 7 or 8
millions of piastres ; yet the average value of the
Siime articles im})orted at Vera Cruz exceeded, at
the same time, 13,000,000: a striking proof of the
dissemination of the comforts and luxuries of life
among the Mexican population.

Commerce, — The commerce of Guatimala and
New Spain is confined to the two oceans which
bound their respective shores. It must be consi-
dered, accordingly, under the heads which their
names will denote.

1. Commerce with the Atlantic. It has been
seen, that there are two ports, Campcche and Vera
Cruz, by which the Atlantic commerce is main-
tained. Of these, the exports from Campeche con-
sist almost exclusively of dye and other valuable
woods, which are principally directed also to the
port of Vera Cruz, the grand emporium of the
eastern commerce of these colonies, whitrlier, also,
the indigo of Guatimala and the cochineal of Oax-
aca, are sent, and whence alone the whole finds
its way direct to the European market. Of the
nature and value of the commerce of that port, and
consequently of the whole northern colonies in its
direction, the following Tables, quoted from M.
Humboldt's E-ssai Politique, v

glV(

imple

.01.

!■'• S\

! l<

adequate idea. They arc extracts from tlie annual
report published in ISO!^, at Vera Cruz.

Goods imported into Mexico from Spain, the produce oj
National Industrie and Agriculture.

Dcnumtnal'um.

Brandy

White wine

lied wine

Ditto in bottk'S

Vinegar

Dried grapes

Almonds

Olives

Oil

Saffron

Aromatic plants

Capers

Nuts

J'igs

Arigan

Cuniine

French grapes

Pilchards

Anchovies

White paper

Foul paper

Thread

Corks

Canteens

Hams

Fine liquors

Soap

Delt't ware

Beer

Cider

Sausages

Vermicelli

Sharping stones

White iron

Iron in bars

AVrought iron

Steel

Cordage

Bale'goods . , . •> tercios *...
Woollen, cot- / caxones ...

ton, silk, rbaules ....

&c J toscos

Qii'iiililic.'

2l,fi,57
lU.I.W

2,:>(»i

V,.>9()

9,51 !>

32,099

5,187

18.5

202

227

:{2o
2A')0

242
1,170

271,211

7,90«

.'J7(}

699,000

192

li2

8,52

119

:?,oi-i

71,87()
1,920
3,;{(i8

23:j

.513

289

42,U(>

7,792

7,030

4.59
.5,(1.51
3,293

89!)
3, US

hhds.

do.

do.
bott.
hhds.
quint.

do.
jars,
arrob.
HI),
quint,
barrels,
quint.

do.
lib.
arnib.
pitch,
barrels,
arrob.
reams.

do.
quint.

arrob.

do.

qiunt.
doz.
bott.

do.
lib.
quint.

chests,
quint.

do.

I'dllli'

1,28.3.911.

683,079

331,882

8,642

48,149

27,414

81, .543

22,205

96,297

99,765

2,009

2,714

3,240

2,491

30()

1,992

.'1,5 10

1,347

885,884

4,577

11,451

5,177

20,583

1,380

11,766

1,785

4,651

4.5,779

968

1,684

4,623

1,292

10,115

382,480

78,882

132,392

6,442

2,25(t,552

3,889,891

606,130

520,182

Total value in double piastres Il,5;i9,219

" These several packages not being oponctl at the custom -house, the nature
of the goods which they usually contain is not sjjccitied : but, in gen'Tal, ter-
cios contain woollens and cottons, linens <ind baize; caxones, silks, i.aules,
silk and cotton stockings, luce, &c. ; and toscos, (<". c. caxones toscos) hard-
ware, drugs, crystals, hats, boots, shoes, &c.

lual

Goods imported from Spain info Mc.ricn, Ihe produce of
Foreign /4griciiUitre and Inaiislrii,

f)iiioinhial'wii.i.

ture
ter-
Jcs,
ird-

Mutter

("lufse

Wine - -

AVhite paper

Steel - -

Delft ware

White iron

Canteens -

Coarse linens

Wax eandles

Cod - .

C^loves . -

Pepper

Cinnamon -

Bale ^o«>ds - ■» tercios

Woollen, cc-t- I caxones

ton, silk, r baules

\£. • - J caxones toscos

Qiianlilic.i.

l.i.HHl lil).
2,')<> (|uiiit.

irt,f)2() i)i>tt.

HT.iifi.i reams.
7,()<jO (juint.
9,2;U(lo/.
i)U(i chests.
12 do.
&0 pieces.
337 HI).
.140 quint.
ll.,737 lib.
37.i6,> do.
1<)9,96.> do.
18,529
£01
21
5,200

r,////,

l,(i7S

iii,;{;i.
3JH,7I !•

i'<;ii,i)()j

'^:{,os5

;'.9o

2.000

270

H,5()0

♦7,201

22,tio7

66l,5()n

6,572,108

3yi,4.:i5

H,5:w

595,158

Total value in double piastres

8,8,il.0'».O

Importation of Spanish Colonial Produce into Mexico.

Dcnomiiiat'tons of Gootlr

AVax . - - - .

Cotiee - . . . ,
Cocoa of Caraccas
Ditto of Maracaybo
Ditto of Tabasco

Starch . . - - .

Canijieche wood - ■

liuligo . . . • ■

Salt fish - . - ■

Tortoise shell - - ■

Salt

Sacks (cortales) - •

Straw hats . - - .

Packthread - - ■

Cordage - - - .

tiarpoons . . . .

Blankets . ■. . .

Hammocks • - ■

Quinquina - - . .

Shoes . . . . .
Divers articles

Quantities.

20,571 arrob.
'3H quint
1,981 faneg.
18,708 do.
6,952 do.
1,7 I4j arrob.
28,019 quint.
4,910 lib.
6,586 arrob.
570 lib.
18,699 faneg.
130,800 do.
5,084 doz.
1,964 arrob.
259 pieces.
1,057 arrob.
716
325
1,030 lib.
624 *^^^-

Total value in double piastres
To which add . . - . .

Value ill Doiihl,
Pill. it r ex.

332,359

(),060

106,234

687,928

315,902

2,550

38,958

4,910

15,185

2,954

3i,8l6

42,388

7,9 18

6,0(15

2,H 1-2

2,379

2,229

846

5, 1 50

302

1,224

Total importation

1,607,729
11,539,219

8,851,64.0

? 1,998,588

Exportation from Mexico Jor Spain.

Driiotr ' iiixllim of (Inodn,

Qiinntilirx.

Value.

i ^rnna Knu
Cochincul -' graiiilla - -

( IMilvos dc {^rana
Indigo, iliiffly from (iuutiniala

V'aiiillu

Sugar - -

UouroD

Cotton

Tabasco pupper - - . .
Canipcclie wo(kI . - - .
Cocoa of Soconiisco . - -

Coffee

Sarsaparilla . . . . -

•lalap .......

Balms .......

Quinquina . . . - -

Tuns

Tortoise shell ....
Different articles ...
Plates of copper . - - -
Coined and wrought gold .
Wrought silver ....
Coined silver .....

•1-H,?77 arrob.

2,\\r,rt do,

1,M22

1,4H(),.';7()
1,7!);} mill.
431,<iri7 arrob.
19.5 do.
^i.n^ do.
2,!>3() quint.
17,:J8!) do.
1,721. lib.
278 quint.
4()1 do.
«,921 do.
•t8 arrob.
700 lib.

439 do.

(»70 quint.

3,30:{,i7O

60,472

14,61. 5

3,229,796

6.5,076

1,4.54,240

1,419

28,644

15,622

23,116

1,078

4,8(i0

2,988

68,760

1,200

612

14,626

2,290

3,516

15,745

62,663

.52,«?2

25,4«!),289

Total value in double piastres

33,886,219

• The real value of the foregoing I'ables will be much undervalued, if
tliey are considered only as affording information as to the actual state of the
Mexican Atlantic trade in a particidar year. Every other Spanish colony in
the Pacific is composed of the same original elements of society with Mexico,
and growing nearly the same articles of exchange, affbrtis also a similar cf*
fective demand, only not bearing every where the same proportion to the
amount of population as on this point, where a tiiste for the luxiurics ji life is
inftnitely more disseminated than any where else. These Tables then con-
tain, moreover, the most important hints fortlie assortment of speculative car-
goes for South America : hints, which the progress of revolution in Peru would
seem to render doily of more interest and value to the commercial world.

K'V

the
ife is

CO'l-

car-
(ould

Exportalionfrom Mexico to other Spanish Colonic?.

Dcnom'mal'wn nf lluod...

Flour ....
Sugar ....
Cocoa ofliuajaquil
U'lix ....

I 'am peel ic wood -
Raw hides . .
Tallow . . -
I'.atablfs . . -
Woollen clotii
Titeh anil tar . -
Sacks - . - .
( )riliiiary delft
(i old leaf - - -
Soap ....
I'it.- ....
'J'anncd liides
I )itttrcnt articles
I'latcs of copper -
Wrought copper
Load ....
Wrought silver -
Coined silver
Coined gold • -

Qiianliliis.

7.2«5
631
36H

6,219
,300
,675

tcr.

arrob.

fan.

arrob.

quint.

arro

403

7,690

239

barr.
chLiits.

1 016
1,235

chi'sts.
arrob.

13,947
330

([uint.

lib.

quint.

Vdhu

40i,H51

22,195

15,H21

6,426

7,773

2,403

6,711

100,461

9,062

1,012

3,419

2,019

7,041

5,'>,H32

9,504

82,353

66,912

2,779

5,844

2,779

15,417

3,730,171

4,400

'Total value in double piastres
To which add . . . .

Total value of cx|)ortation ....
From which take total imiiorts ...

Balance in favour of Mexico ...

Add the above sums, and the result will )

be the ttital trade of Vera Cruz

4,581,148
33,886,21"

38,467,36V
21,998,588

16,468,777
60,465,955

In this balance, the merchandize and productions
transferred on account ol' governir.ent are not in-
cluded. These amount to twenty-one millions and
a hali' of piastres more, \'iz. imported in mercur\',

, -ff

paper foi cogais, kc, to llio amount of two nul-
iions ; and oqxMlcd in golil and silver, nineteen
millions and a lialf; of which, twelve aiul a halt' to
.Spain, and sexcn to tiic other colonies.

a. Commerce witli the Pacific. The commerce
of the Spanish North American colonies with the
Pacific is of the most nnimte kind, scarcely ave-
raging in all an annual circulation of c'JjtMHJjOOO of
})iastres ; and even this divided iri^o two distinct
and inde})enden* branches. The first is the inter-
course maintained bv (Juatfmala with Callao and
Guayaquil, consisting in tiie excliange of its in-
digo with the salt, pepper, and cocoa of these ports.
Tins intercourse was once of some importance; the
"xpoits to Callao alone, in 1789, a\ eraging *^^1(>,'295
piastres, as may be seen by a reference to the Tables
of the trade of that port in the preceding article.
But at that time, the indigo of Guatimala sought the
European markets through Callao; and the balance
in its favour WiiS accordingly j.^aiil by credit on the
motlier country. But since the opening of the new
road from Tehuantepec to Vera Cjuz, tin's direc-
tion of tlie home tratle has entirely ceased ; and
the whole exchange is now accordingly reduced
to that dictated hy the mutual wants of these coIo-
iiies themseKes, which, as they grow each near!;/
the r,anie articles, and as their connnunication is
peculiarly embarrassed by the iliHicrlties of coast-

\. i

lug navigation along both tlicii .sliores, is almost
necessarily very small.*

The next branch of Pacific Ocean commerce
enjoved by tliese North American colonies, is that
4' -\capulco, vsliich diverges in two directions, viz.
to iManilla and Callao. The iirst is that celebrated
galleon trade, of which foreigners, jndging from
tlie opportunities which it enjoyed, once entertain-
ed so magniiicent an idea: the second is almost
noiiiing, consisting exclusively of a I'eeble attempt
occasionally made to vend a portion of the Indian
produce receivetl by the Manilla galleons in the
Lima nuuket. The first is maintained by an an-
nual shij) of' biOO tons burthen, provided by go-
vernment, and commanded l)y a naval officer ; and
her import cargo, thus subjected to military law, is

Inx'C-

and

need

L;oi!o-

?avly
in is

)ast-

* Alonjv the west coasts, alike of Africa and America, strong
currents set from the north and south, meeting, on the one, in
tlie fruif of Guinea, and on the othei', in that of Panama, ren-
dering the approarh to these severaj points very easy from both
hemiipheres, but depiiftrare from them tlifficult in every direc-
tion, unless to the westward, whither the accumulated waters
vusli y> ith great rapidity, i'hese currents (they are both in the
air and in the ocean) \would .seem to be occasioned by the eddy
wmds and currents, which are always i'ound to set to the east-
ward in the high latitudes, l>eing interrupted, in both oceans,
by projecting capes between the j./th and 1-Oth parallels of lati-
tude north and south, and which are thus constrained to escape
along the adjoining land, until meeting, they are together thrown
to the westward : but, whatever be their cause, their effect is at
least certain, and is in the highest degree embarrassing, parti-
cularly to the Spanish coasting navigation in the Pacific Ocean.

¥.

by order restricted 'to an average value of half a
million of i)iastres, altliongli, by connivance, it ge-
nerally amounts to a milb'on and a lialfi or two mil-
lions. It consists of silk, raw and manufactured,
spices, ivory, and other valuable Asiatic produce.
The returns are chiefly made in silver, with some
cochineal, sweet-meats, Sj)anish wine, and woollen
cloth, most of it the j)roduce of the Mexican looms.
The whole trade is most cruelly oppressed by the
various exactions which custom and prejudice have
imj)osed on it ; and every successive account of it
which we receive, announces its progressive dimi-
nution and decay. That these are the consequen-
ces, however, of impolicy only, may easily be ga-
thered from a variety of incidents peculiar to the
trade j but the inference can be by nothing so
clearly demonstrated, as by a comparison of the
burthens imposed on it by convention, with that ne-
cessary expense of freight and embarkation which
it must undergo. This last is estimated at 5 per
cent, ad valorem ; while the remaining charges are,
33 per cent, import duty at Acapulco, 6 export do.
on specie, and 7 commission to supercargoes, of
whom each merchant is accustomed to provide one
for his own purpose merely, the galleon thus em-
barking from ^0 to 30 every voyage.

1 have now siunmarily traced the whole Spanisli
colonies on the eastern shore of the Pacific, from

' I

tlieir extreme southern, to their extreme northern
limit ; I shall now conclude this account of them
with the following Table of the respective values
of their foreign trade in 1803, extracted from M.
Humboldt's work on New Spain, to which I have
teen indebted, besides, for nearly all that is most
valuable in this portion of njy compilation.

Political

Divisions.

Cliili and Peru

New Grenada

Intportation
\frnm Europe
\aud Asia, in-

(Uidin<^ con-
traband.

E.vportdtUms.

11,500,000

Value of
agricultu-
ral produce

4,000,000

Value of
Gold and
Silver pro-
duce.

Remarks.

Guatiniak and )
New Spain J

.5,700,000

22,000,000

2,000,000

8,ooo,om)

3,000,000

Population 2,000,(100,
of which, in Pcni .done
the census gave, in 1 7!) I ,
l:iO,0()00 whites, and
24.0,000 mestizoes.

PopiUation 1,800,000.

9.000,000

22,500,000

Tot. iK)pul. 7,800,000.
In New Spain alone,
3,3:17,000 whites and
mixed casts, all consum-
ing I'uropcan conuuodi-
ties, according to their
niean.s.

iy-'

• It
if '

NEW ALBIOxX,

Under the generally received, but disputed, ap-
pellation of New Albion, 1 propose including the

■

whole intermediate coast of America between the
jSpanish and Russian settlements, bounded thus on
the south by the SH{]\ parallel of north latitude; on
the north by Cook's Inlet ; on the east by the Rocky
Mountains, the Andes of the northern hemisphere;
and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Thus li-
mited. New Albion presents a sea-coast, extending
about KJOO miles in length, by a breadtli \arying
from 600 to 700.

Soiiy Clbnatc^ and Vegetable Proditctioiis, — The
soil and climate of this portion of the sliores of
the Pacific Ocean are exceedingly various ; but its
indigenous productions, and there are as yet few
others, are very uniform, consisting almost exclu-
sively of forest timber, growing in great abundance
and luxuriance. The more southern districts are
mild even in winter ; and are characterized by de-
tached patches of open, champaign land, which,
from their recurrence in similar situations, Captain
Vancouver was inclined to consider as having been
cleared by the industry of man. Further nortl\,
these disappear, and the climate assumes, too, con-
siderable additional severity and rigour; the growth
of forest timber still, how'ever, retaining its luxuri-
ance, and, during the short summer, a thousand
field flowers embellishing the inland plains. Kvery-
where, indeed, along the coast, the quality alike of
soil, climate, and productions, is found siiperior to

()i

[cry-

e of"

Ir to

tliose of the corresponding latitndes on tlic casterii
sliores of the same continent ; and the \ igorous
growth of the timber, cited by Captains Lewis and
Clarke as having been witnessed by them in the
interior, vies with that of the best woods in the
Old WorUl. Several species of oak and pir.o are
instanced by tliese gentlemen, averaging from 180
to QOO feet in height, by a diameter of 9 ; and to
these are added tlie cypress, pophn*, yew, maple,
ash, birch, and other nati^'es of the colder climates,
of corresponding growth, and almost infinite vane-
ty. These want but a permanent contiguous mar-
ket, to become lucrative objects of mercantile spe-
culation.

Mineral Productions. — Many specimens of iron
ore have been found on the shores of New Albion j
but we are too little acquainted with the interior
to be enabled to give any list of mineral produc-
tions. Quartz, agate, the common flint, and other
siliceous matter, with some varieties of calcareous,
magnesian, and argillaceous earths, constitute the
whole enumeration furnished by Captain Vancou-
ver ; and to these Captains Clarke and Lewis only
add some vague indications of coal and iron obser-
ved among the Rocky Mountains.

Population. — The native population of New Al-
bion is as yet very imperfectly known to the Euro-
pean world ; and is only characterized, by the so-

■ I

\ ij

.11

'rf

\Qn\\ voya^eis who have frequented its sliores, by
those f^cneral murks which seem, unfortunately,
common to all savaj^es, viz. ferocity, and j)ropensi-
ty to theft. Tiic various tribes of which it is com-
posed, have all evidently one common origin with
the Indians on the other side of the mountains; but
they do not seem to })ossess the favourable points
of character, the sense of honor and hospitality,
the suscej)tibility to emotions excited by eloquence,
and the perseverance alike in good and evil, for
which these are so remarkably distinguished. That
wonderful sagacity, too, quoted repeatedly, as cha-
racterizing the Canadian Indian, is nowhere cited
as observable among those of the western shores ;
who seem in all, indeed, inferior, exce])t in that
passionate love of war and bloodshed, which seems
instinctive in savage man. In that feature, they
are inferior to none j and, unfortunately, the desulr
lory tragic maintained on their shores, has but too
well su])plied them with the means of gratifying
the propensity. Fire-arms are familiarly known and
employed by them ; and the traders themselves
have had frequent occasion to lament the pernici-
ous comnnmication to them of these weapons of
assault.

Means of Communication. — The southern shores
of New Albion are remarkably characterized by the
entire want of a sea-i)ort capable of affording shel-

!.r

•ited

hores
the
ishel-

ter to a vessel of any burthen. With the country
in this direction, accordingly, but little communi-
cation has been held, the temptation to the attempt
not having been, indeed, very strong, the furs of
these districts being very inferior in value to those
farther north.

The Columbia, or Great River of the West, is
the first point of communication, then, in tracing
these shores from north to south, which has been
sedulously improved; and is, in fact, the only con-
siderable river, or point of ready access to the in-
terior, which has yet been discovered along the
coast. Situate in 46" 18' north latitude, its en-
trance is guarded by a bar, or rather bank, of con-
siderable extent, on which only four fathoms water
have been found ; but within, it gradually deepens
to eight, ten, and twelve fathoms, and is navigable
for vessels of 300 or 400 tons burthen, from 80 to
100 miles up. The rise and fall of the tide is per-
ceptible 180 miles up, but the stream is shortly af-
ter interrupted by great falls. It has been traced
1500 miles to its principal source in the Rocky
Mountains, and is navigated in nearly its whole
length by the boats of the Canadian Fur Company,
who followed the steps of the intrepid Mackenzie
some years ago, and have now factories established
on several points along its banks. These points have
been, for the most part, selected near the con-

.vj

!.(

fluence of the several considerable streams wliicli
join the ri\-er in its course, and which furnish far-
ther facilities of internal communication, interrupt-
ed only by the savage tem])er of the natives, which
demands the utmost vigilance and precaution to
guard against its effects.

About two degrees to the nortliward of the Co-
lumbia, that is, in about tlie ISth j^arallel of north
latitude, lies the mouth of the celebrated inlet of
Juan dc Fuca, so long considered tlie entrance to
an inland sea conmiunicating with some portion
of the Atlantic Ocean. This surmise was finally
disproved by Captain Vancouver in 179'^, and the
strait was determined to be only the commence-
ment of a chain of islands which, from this ])oint,
skirt the whole coast of New Albion northwaids.
Behind them the land breaks into several consi-
derable inlets, all affording convenient means of
communication with tlie native inhabitants ; these,
however, it would be equally tedious and luiprofit-
able to enumerate. On one of the islands them-
selves that celebrated settlement of Nootka was
founded, which, in 1790, was so near occasioning
a rupture between Spain and Great Britain ; and,
on another of them, an American factorv was esta-
Wished in 1804, overthrown by the natives in 1813,
and now again understood to be re-establishing.
To the island on which it is placed they have given

i-\

ds.
•onsi-
ns of
lese,
•olit-
lem-
was
•ning
land,
lesta-
1813,

O".

Inn

tiven

the name of Madison's Island, after tlie late presi-
dent of their republic.

Commerce. — The commerce of New Albion is as
yet confined exclusively to the exchange of its va-
rious valuable furs, the sea and common otter skins,
together with those of the bear, fox, ermine, mar-
tin, wolf, and rabbit, against such European manu-
factures as the traders find suitable to the savage
market in which they are exposed. These, unfor-
tunately, are principally fire arms and ammunition;
objects of extreme desire to the ferocious natives,
but which they almost as frequently direct against
their European visitors as against each other. No-
thing, indeed, can be more unfortunate than the
wide dissemination of these implements of hostility
among this people : a dissemination consecjuent on
the imprudent avidity, and mutual comj)etition,
with which the desultory traders first sought their
market, but which they all now nearly equally re-
gret.

The commerce of the shores of New Albion was
maintained, at first, only in the most desultory
manner, single trading vessels ranging along the
coast, and picking up furs as they might happen to
meet natives who had been successful in the chace;
while, on the approach of winter, they were in the
habit of repairing to Canton, and disposing of the
proceeds of their cruize, however small or great

'\'\

■"♦^j

>'(!

{

•A

.'»!

tlicse miglit l)c. Successive improvements have
been since, however, introduced. First, two or
more traders joined tof^ether, and, on the aj)proacli
of winter, repaired to the Sandwich Islands; whence
they disj)atched those of their number only to Can-
ton, whose lading they were enabled to complete ;
while the remainder returned, on the approach of
spring, to the coast of New Albion, where they
hail previously appointed renilezvous with the na-
tives along the coast. Next, the Americans esta-
blished their factory on Madison's Island ; and
then the Canadian Fur Comj)any crossed the Rocky
Mountains, in the steps of Mackenzie, and esta-
blished their factories on the Columbia, which,
with the American set jment, have been noted
among the means of connnunication. Between
these several establishments the whole trade is now
divided. During the late war, indeed, with Ame-
rica, it was monopolized entirely by the latter of
them ; but the competition is now again revived,
and the advantages are so much in the opposing
scale, it is to be feared that the Canadian Compa-
ny will be constrained, in time, to abandon the un-
dertaking. Their convoys on the river Columbia
itself are exceedingly burdensome and expensive,
in consequence of the imtamed ferocity of the na-
tive inhabitants of its shores ; and even when they
have cleared these, and have embarked the pro-

«i

een
now
Ame-
er of
ived,
osing
mpa-
e iiii-
mbia
isive,
^e na-
they
pro-

ceeils of their baiter on the Great Ocean, their dif-
ficMiUies and disadvantages rather multiply tiiasi di-
minish. They liave no market !)ut Canton, and
there they are exposed to all those oppressive re-
guhitions which have been enacted by our legisla-
ture for the protection of the mono|)()ly of our East
India Company. They can only sell for specie, an
ecpiivalent which is well known to bear a peculiar-
ly high price in the Chinese markets ; ami that s|)e-
cie they cannot, either, embark, but must lodge it
in the Company's treasury, taking bills on India or
England for its amount. These bills, however long
the interval before they can be presented for pay-
ment, bear only the ordinary rate of interest ;
while, at the same time, the fur merchant is una-
ble to embark, at any neighbouring port, a cargo
of tropical produce, however valuable it might pos-
sibly be in his home market in New Albion, be-
cause the proceeds of his previous trip are thus ta-
ken out of his hands, and only represented to him
in bills without credit, and without efficacy, unless
in the ordinary line of their circulation.

The whole extent of these disadvantages, under
which the British fur trader labours at the port of
Canton, forms one of the most lamentable instances
of impolicy within the whole scope of our mercantile
administration. The subject of their palliation, or
removal, will be again resumed in another part of

''4

i^".

! Vk

this -work. T\\vy are here only iiicitleiitally t\\m.
ted, as tending, in their direct and inevitable o|)e-
ration, to convey to an active and indefatigable ri-
val the whole profits of a most lucrative trade, a1
the innnediate expense and loss of a C onipany,
which, in the enterjnize which it has dis])layed in
traversing this vast continent, has established a
claim (m our encouragement and })rotection, such
as but few can equal, and certainly none exceed.

RUSSIAN AMERICA.

^i\'

Russian America is bounded on the south-east
by Cook's Inlet, and extends thence round the pro-
montory of Alashka, to the extremity of the land
hitherto ex])lored beyond Behring's Straits. Many
patches of islands skirt its shores, and from the
S. W. or Alashka Point, above named, two clusters,
called the Aleutian and Fox Islands, run in a di-
rection nearly west, almost quite across to the op-
posite Asiatic shore of Kamtschatka. The whole
lengtb of continental coast exceeds 2000 miles —
the islands are iimumerable, and are many of them
tlie sites of those occasional factories, detached
from Kodiak, the principal settlement, by which

the chief iiitcrcourso with the luitive tribes is niain-
taineil. Koiliak is itself an island, situate in .07" 3V
north latitude, and 1.3'J'' west of Greenwich.

Soi/f Clhiiafe, and Vegetable Productions. — With
tlie interior of this extensive coast we are nearly
altogether unacquainted, and, indeed, the aspect
of the sea-coast is too uninviting to have ever
tempted any one to extend his excursions beyond
the immediate sphere of his business or resources.
Incessant torrents of rain, in an especial manner,
characterize the short-lived summer of these deso-
late shores, and the immediate effect of these is
to produce a rai)iil and forced vegetation in the
low and sheltered corners, which are alone suscepti-
ble of it ; but the early return of winter soon chills
the opening jirospect, nor have the esculent grains
ever been known to ripen under their influence.
The hartlier species of forest timber, together with
some grasses and garden vegetables, are alone
found to survive the (piick recurring vicissitudes ;
and even of them, the former run principally to
brushwood, scarcely ever being found of vigorous
growth, or considerable diameter.

Population. — The native inhabitants of Russian
America rank sin":tdarlv low in the scale of even
savage man, and are neither remarkable for cun-
ning, i'erocity, nor any otiier mental quality ; their
excessive tilth being, indeed, their only very promi-

ini

7'^

IM ,h

\h^ i

'41

ill ■■

■ .1

nent chart^cteristic. Tlie Russian population is not
numerous ; tliat of Alexandria, the chief settienieni
in the island of Kocliak, from the population oi'
which most of the demantls for out-factories must
be sup|)lied, having been only calculated by Camp-
bell, in 180«>, at 1800 souls. The whole amount
is probably overstated at 3000. It is scattered
about in the several islands which are annually
chosen as sites tor out-factories, whence, too, the
greatest portion of it is constantly detached along
the bavs and inlets which diversify tlie whole coast,
trading with the natives, and procuring from tliem
those valuable furs which compose the sole induce-
ments to the maintenance of establislunents along
these shores. Cut off thus from all connexion with
the civilized world, and necessarily associating
much with the natives, it is but natural, perhaps,
that these poor Russians shoiUd adopt their man-
ners, and even diet, and should be, indeed, in lit-
tle but mercantile sagacity, their superiors. The
excess to which this is generally represented to be
carried, is, however, a little extraordinary ; but, it
mav be remarked, that its efl'ect has been extreme-
ly favourable to their connnercc. They are, in
general, much beloved by the native traders, and
have succeeded, also, in converiing most of them,
to the exterior semblance at least, of the Greek
church. It adxantageously distinguishes, indeed,

'{-)

f, it

ine-

even the earliest Russian settlers on this coast, tliat,
from the first, they made this conversion a favf»urite
object of their pursuit, before they could have been
aware oftlie temporal and political advantages which
are inseparably connected with its acquisition.

Commerce. — The commerce of Russian America
consists exclusively in the acquisition of furs from
the native tribes, and their subsequent transmission
t ) the respective markets for which they are des-
tined. The whole is in the hands of a comjiany
establislied at St. Petersburgh, called the Russian
American Company, whose agents reside at Ko-
diak, and assert a political as well as commercial
authority over the settlements. One peculiarly evil
consequence results from this system, viz. that no
part of the }>rofits of the traffic are expended on the
s|)ot where they are acquired, the agents for the
transaction of one of the most lucrative br^nch*r»»
of commerce in the world being established at a
fixed salarv, and from their distance secluded even
from the means of private speculation. Their only
virtue is fidelity to their employers ; their onl\ re-
ward, promotion in their service. They live mean-
ly, and the colony is neither benefited by their pre-
sence, nor injured by their repeated absences while
visiting the out-factories.

The furs obtained from the natives of Russian
America, are of the same description wath liiose of

k:\

New All)ioii, and arc partly exacted from them as
tribute — partly aecjiiirod by fair and regular barter,
the just tlealing of which is attested by the attach-
ment which these poor savajjjes testify for thcMr mas-
ters. The articles of exchan«^e are iron tools, wool-
len cloths, beads, ardent spirits, provisions — most
of these latter previously obtained from the Sand-
wich Islands, neither Kamtschatka nor Ochotsk
admittinir of an exportation of that nature — toge-
ther with some other trifling articles in estimation
amonu: the luitive tribes. The furs, when obtain-
ed, are transiuitted in covered boats to Alexandria,
and are thcuce sent either to Pctropaulowska and
Nishui in Kamtschatka, or direct to Ochotsk, as
the season, or other circumstances, may direct.
From these j)laces tiiey are sid)sequently transmit-
ted to the interior, in the several directions which
will be summarily explained in the following arti-
cle, treatiug of tiie Russian settletneuts on the east,
coast of Asia.

nUSSIAN SlVmrNf F.XTS (1\ TIII: KASI coast OV ASIA.

TiiK Uussiau settlements ou the east coast of
Asia, are composed of the peninsula of Kan)tschat-
ka, and the interior shores of \\ie sea of Ochotsk,

•ti-
ll St.

ol"

lilt-

as far as 53" north latitude, where a chain of moun-
tains, running in a line W. S. W. into the interior,
separates them from Chinese Tartary, and forms
tlie southern boundary. On the north, tliey are
bountled on the shores of tlie Pacific by the tribu-
tary but sovereign tribes of Koriaks, and others,
occupying the western shores of Belu'ing's Straits.
The length of sea coast, from this frontier to Cape
Lo])atka, the extreme south ])oint of Kamtschat-
ka, is about I.OIK) miles; from Cape Lopatka to
Ochotsk, it exceeds 1100; and from Ochotsk to
the Chinese frontier, the line extends to about GOO
more. The breadth of Russian territory, from
Ochotsk, as a central ])oint, situate moreover in
nearly the same i)arallel of latitude with St. Peters-
burgh, exceeds, in an unbroken line, KMf of lon-
gitude ; the whole comj)rising an em})ire greatly
exceeiliug, in extent, that of the })roude.st days of
Roman granileur. In intrinsic resource it is, how-
ever, tar inferior, anil, itideed, has only begun to
figure with importance on the great European stage
within our own times.

-5*0//, Climate, and Varetahlc Productions. — Of this
extensive em])ire only the extreme eastern siiores

tl of

come within the scope ot tins c()mj)ilati()n, am
these, a very few words will explain the principal

particulars.

The climate of Kamtschatka is cold

and wet; and the soil, bound u)) during a long win-

t !

^i^

",* 1

11 •

.y ,

'i :■]

'W^

< ' \

Ttl

! (,(<

lA'

¥■

ter in snow and ice, rcce:\^cs a short-lived but ra-
pid principle of vegetation from the sj)ring rains,
which, as on the opposite shores of America, give
forth an early promise, very seldom fulfilled by
the autumnal produce. The esculent grains rarely
come to maturity, rye-corn alone, indeed, being ge-
nerally attem])ted. The growth of timber is, how-
ever, considerably more luxuriant than on the op-
I){)site coast ; and a profusion of grasses and vege-
tal)los render the Kamtschadale ports not altoge-
ther ineligible for the reception and refreshment
of the crews of the fur traders, whom filthy and
unwholesome diet but too generally exposes to scor-
butic attacks, during their tedious and laborious na-
vigations. To them, even the resources of Kamt-
schatka appear luxuries, and tli^ir demands form
the only market for siuplus produce possessed by
its inhabitants. It is almost unnecessary to add,
that agriculture is at an extremely low ebb among
them, and, iuileed, even its most simple operations
would be here exj)osed to obstacles, which only a
very powerful stinudus could permanently over-
come.

On quitting Kamtschatka, and proceeding along
the sea coast to the westward and south-west, some
small improvement, both in soil and climate, is per-
ceptible ; but no material change is found in the
ictions, which are still limited to

3geti

pr.

. ~.\

Ins
a
1-

crops of rye-corn, some of the hardier fruits, and
forest timhcr. The interior of Siberia proj^ressive-
\y improves in passing to the westward, but it
would be to stray beyond my Hmits to follow up
its progress and advance.

Mineral Productions.-. — The peninsula of Kamt-
schatka is essentially volcanic in its composition,
and abounds also in those metallic substances, the
composition of which would seem to be connected
with the action of internal fires, being generally
found in their vicinity, although sometimes also
discovered where they do not now at least exist.
Of these, copper is the most valuable which has
yet been observed; and I ought to have remarked,
in the preceding article, that this metal is also
found in such abundance in some of the neigh-
bouring Aleutian islands, as to have given a name
to several of their number. Iron ore is also com-
mon, and an abundance of the inferior minerals,
talc, &c. is found along the whole interior oC
Kamtschatka. Of all these, only the last mention-
ed, talc, forms an object of export into the inte-
rior. It will be found in the subsequent enunuMa-
tion of the chief articles of traffic with the Chi-
nese.

Popnlation. — The population of Kamtschatka,
native as well as Russian, was long very limited,
having, indeed, declined materially for many yeai«

.\T

: t

('III

■\t

ai'ter its first discovery and occupation by tlic Rus-
sian power. Within the last twenty years, how-
ever, it is understood to liave very considerably
advanced; and, as tiie encouragement of the Rus-
sian trade in the Pacific Ocean is a favourite object
with the present Em])eror, its importance will un-
doubtedly increase with the success which his mea-
sures may obtain. Of the amount it is impossible to
form any very correct surmise. It is probably under-
stated at 9000, including the population of Ochotsk,
and the other maritime districts of Tartary, in the
enumeration, but excluding such of the native
tribes as are merely tributary, but not always sub-
missive to Russian authority. Thus understood,
its component elements are the pure Russian, the
pure Kamtschadale, and the mixed race ; of which,
both first and secontl are the least numerous, the
latter composing nearly the whole permanent po-
pulation, exclusive of the garrisons anil company's
agents. The assimilation of manners with the na-
tive tribes, which we noticed in the Russians esta-
blished on the coast of America, is here, even if
possible, still more c()mj)lete ; nor can ahnost the
nicest scrutiny detect, in the domesticated Rus-
sian, the smallest superiority over the Kamtscha-
dale peasant with whom he associates. Of course,
I neither speak of the ofticers of the garrison, nor
the superior agents. To their lubanity and hos-

i'^v

)0-

7!)

])ital)lc alU'iilion, every successive voyager, iron;
our own illustrious Cook down, has borne a willing,
an anij)le, and a grateful testimony.

Chill/' Citii'.f, S^r. — The following einuniMation of
chief cities, comprises those through wlncli tlie
commerce of the Eastern Sea j)asses in its way to
Irkutsk ; whence it separates into two hranciies,
and seeks the Chinese and St. Petersbuigli mar-
kets. Beyond that point it is not my intention to
trace it in its progress to Europe, further than l)y
a mere statement of the distances which it subse-
quently traverses. The comnnmication with China
is an integral object of my comj)ilation, and will,
consequently, be further considered. The points
of contact, too, Kiachta and Zuruchaitu, will be
also noticed in the following enumeiation of chief
towns.

mik

Political
Divisions.

Chief To-u'iis.

Iti'Murki:

Kaintschatka

■

Nishni

Petropaulowska
Bolclierctsk

The rapital of Kuintschallia, situate on ilie
great river Kanithcluilka, aliout twenty miles
from thf cast coast. It is I'x.clkntly atlapted
for tlie purjioses hotli of external ami intirnal
eonnnunication, liavinj; a goinl purt at the
mouth of the river, which is, hesiilcs, naviga-
ble for boats upwards of ;{IK) miles into tlie
interior, 'i'hc town is very meanly built.

A noted seajwrt. The town also, how-
ever, very meanly built.

(Jnce the capital of the peninsula, and a to-
lerable sea port on its west coast ; now altoge-
tlier abandoned and neglected.

".'*

)}'

TABLE— Co/j/iHwerf.

■if) '-'

I'olillnit
l)hi.iioii».

usRian
artary

Chief Towns.

Ochutsk

Yakutsk

Irkutsk

Ncncliinsk

Kiachta

Zuruchoitu

licmtirkf.

A very bail, insecure port, and meanly built
town, situate »t the extremity uf the gulf or sea
of the same name. It ik tlie general rendezvous
for the whole Russian trade on the Pacific, which
cither pnK-eetis direct to it by sea, or, if prevented
doing so by tlic sciison, the gulf being very hazar-
dous in winter, lands at I'etrupauluwska or Nish-
ni, and proceeds overland.

Situate on the I .ena, in 64-" north latitude, and
620 miles distant from Ochotsk. This is the first
ronsiderablc stage made by the Itussian trade, in
its way from the I'acitic to its market. The I^ena,
on which Yakutsk is built, is navigable from that
point upwards of lAOO miles up, and HOO down,
to its confluence with the Frozen Ocean, and is,
consequently, a medium of inland communication
for more than I^UOO miles.

The ca|)itul of the province of Russian Tartary,
and the point where tlic roads to China and St.
Petersburgh diverge. It is situate in about .^i°
north, near the inland scu of ilaikul, about ISOO
miles from Yakutsk ; of which distance, however,
15U() may be made on the Lena. It is an opulent,
well built town, an archbishop's sec, and the resi-
dence of the governor of the wliole eastom posses-
sions of tlie Russian empire.

A small town, situate about 700 miles E. S, Tl.
of Irkutsk, in about 51" north latitude. It is ce-
lebrated as being the place where the first com-
merciid treaty between the Itussiun and Chinese
empires was signed ; and it has since flourished
luider the shade of tiie success with which the
arrangements then made have been crowned.

The celebrated eniporiinn of Russian and Chi-
nese traffic, divided into two towns ; of which, the
Russian quarter only is named Kiachta, the Chi-
nese being by tliem designated .Mainiat«chin. Here
the rich nuuual traffic is lUmost entirely transact-
ed, the conmion boimdary being marked by a ])06t,
with a suitable inscription in the Russian and
Alantchur characters. The Russian <|uarter is
poorly built The Chinese is decorated in their
usual style of gaudy but tinsel magnificence.

Another point of communication with China,
but of very inferior im|xirtance to Kiociita.

Means of Communication. — The means of* exter-
nal communication enjoyed by the eastern shores
of Tartary and peninsuhi of Kamtschatka, neces-
sarily resolve themselves under two heads, viz.
those afforded by the interior roads to China and
St. Petersburgh, and those supplied by the Pacific
Ocean.

1. The Interior Roads to China and St. Peters-
burgh. — Of the composition of these roads nothing
is known of a later date than the journey overland
by M. Lesseps, who, in the year 1787. was charged
with dispatches for the French government by the
unfortimate De la Perouse, then about to quit the
port of Petropaulowska, in tlie prosecution of tiiose
discoveries which had so fatal, and as yet myste-
rious a termination. Amidst the frippery with
which this traveller has chosen to clothe his narra-
tive, it is not very easy to discover the precise na-
ture of the obstacles which he had to encounter ;
they seem, however, to have resolved, in their out-
set, into those of cold and hunger, both which lie
very pathetically sets forth ; and, subsequently, to
have been little more than those usual obstacks
which imperfect civilization will necessarily pre-
sent, in even the most open and accessible coun-
tries. Our surprise indeed, at least if I may judge
from my own sensations, is rather at their compa-
rative paucity and unimportance, than either al

' ii

»•

the counipfc or pcrscvi'iaiice with which M. Lt's'-
sops ;ic'(inaints its in very direct terms, tliat they
were overcome.

The f'olh)wing Table will convey ii precise idea
of the distances along which this commimication is
maintaineil. It is extracted from Mr. Coxe's Rus-
sian Discoveries, and presents a picture of mercan-
tile perseverance unparalleled in any other country,
the interior wilds of C'anaila alone perhaps exce])t-
ed. The distances are expressed by Mr. Coxe in
Itussian versts, of which three make about two
English miles.

(. «i

From Ochotsk to Yakutsk - 972
Yakutsk to Irkutsk . 2133

3405

Fram Irkutsk to St.
Pitir.ihuif^fi.

From Jrkiitnk to Fckin
by Kluvhta.

From Irkutsk to Pckln
hi) Xuruc/inilu,

To 'robolsk - - 2918
Moscow - - 2385
St. Pftersburgh 731

(i037

To Iviachttt - - 471
Pckiii - - . 1532

2003

To Nerschinsk - 1129
Zurucliaitu - 370
Tekin - - 1588

3087

IIesult.— From Ochotsk to St. relcrsburgh
From Ochotsk to Pekin by Kiachta
From Ochotsk to Pekin by Zuruchaitu

7452

5408
6492

It is pro])er here to remark, tliat although these
distances are thus comjiuted only from Ochotsk,
yet to many of the fur exports from that town it
is not the beginning of their land journey, the con-

tJH

1129

5881

ese
tsk,
1 it
lon-

tributions of tlic pcniiisiilii of Kaintschatka, and
nuicli also of the winter produce of the Aleutian
Isles, liaviii*!^ already performed a land journey from
Nishiii exceeding l'si(X) versts. Amid such faillicr
distances, however, even this addition, considera-
ble as it really is, ap])ears comparatively unimport-
ant, nor is it, indeed, found materially to affect the
price of the commodity.

2. Communication by the Pacific. — There are three
sea ports of some note in the peninsula of Kamt-
schatka : the mouth of the river Kamtschatka, in
which the chief town is called Nishni ; Petropaul-
owska, otherwise called the harbour of St. Peter and
St. Paul ; and Bolcheretsk : and one, viz. Ochotsk,
on the main land of East Tartary. These have
been each mentioned in the preceding enumeration
of chief towns, nor is it necessary here to add to
what has been there said of them. It may only far-
ther be remarked, that Bolcheretsk owes its decay
and fall, from being the chief residence of the go-
vernor of the peninsula to its })resent rank of a
mere neglected village, to the improvement of the
Russian navigation along these inhospitable shores.
►Situate near the extreme point of the peninsula,
on its western side, it was the regular winter quar-
ter of the traders between Ochotsk and the Ame-
rfcan islands, when the intermediate passaire con-

sumeil always twu sunnners.

Thj

s IS now, how-

v^.

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

:/.

S'j

1.0

I.I

■ 22

u
It:

1.8

L25 liU IIIIII.6

PhosiJgraphic

Sciences

Corpomtion

n WIST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. MSM

(716) •72-4503

I' I

If,

[ M

ever, currently performed in one, and Bolchcretsk
is accordingly abandoned.

Commerce. — The commerce of these shores will
equally resolve itself under two heads, viz. the over-
land commerce with the Chinese ; and the mari-
time commerce on the Pacific Ocean.

1. The commerce maintained by the Russians
on the Chinese frontier is of very ancient standing;
and, even so far back as the year 1680, had begun
to excite the jealousy of that proud and suspicious
people. Camhi, the reigning emperor at that pe-
riod, declared war ; and this was maintained, with
various success, until the year 1 j89, when that fa-
mous treaty of Nerschinsk was concluded, which,
although successively modified and retrenched, may
yet be considered the basis of the commercial in-
tercourse between the two nations. That, as it
now stands, is maintained at two several points,
Kiachta and Zuruchaitu ; of which the first is infi-
nitely the most important, the latter being only a
small dependency on Nerschinsk, and a point of
communication with the Mongol Tartars, who re-
pair to it in the month of July, and barter some
inferior silk and cotton wares against some ordi-
nary furs, cloth, and Russia leather. The trade of
Kiachta is infinitely more valuable, and was esti-
mated, in 177^» to average an annual value of
K000,000 of rubles, or nearly L. 800,000 Sterling.

•^1

n..^.

incf.

Jt was understood to liave suffered materially sub-
sequently to that period, by the influx of" furs into
the port of Canton in English and American bot-
toms, consequent on the familiar navigation of tlie
Pacific Ocean which took ])lace after Captain
Cook's last voyage ; and it was farther for a timfe
suspended altogether, by a difference between the
two empires in the reign of the Emperor Paul.
Under these circumstances, it is impossible to form
any just surmise of its present value ; but it is pro-
bably now even more considerable than ever, from
the enlightened patronage bestowed by Alexander
on every branch of commercial speculation within
his dominions, but especially on the aflairs of tlie
American Company, of which he is, indeed, per-
sonally a member.

The exports from the Russian dominions at this
point, consist of furs, (those, viz. drawn from Kamt-
schatka and the Aleutian Isles) ; cloth, cliicfly Rus-
sian, with some little French, English, and Prus-
sian, previously imported at St. Petersburgh ; Rus-
sia leather ; glass-ware ; cattle, chiefly camels,
horses, and horned cattle ; tin and talc, the latter
tlie produce principally of the eastern shores. The
imports consist of raw and manufactured silks; teas,
many sorts of which are considered superior to any
which can be procured from the fraudulent Hong
merchants at C'anton ; porcelain, toys, tiger and

_^.^.-

panther skins, rhubarb, musk, sweatmeats, &c.
These are princij)ally destined for the St. Peters-
burgh markets ; saddled with tlie multiplied ex-
penscs of their land journey, their acquisition is
much beyond the means of Tartar or Siberian po-
pulation.

2. The Russian commerce on the Pacific, exclu-
sive of that already mentioned with their own set-
tlements in America, is as yet extremely limited ;
consisting only of some little trade with the Sand-
wich Islands, and with Canton, for the supplies of
provisions, teas, &c. necessary for their domestic
consumption. The improvement of this commerce
also, is however a favourite object with Alexan-
der ; and although the heavy understandings of hi^
subjects seem little calculated for the meridian of
Canton, yet the prospect is not altogether a bad one
which perseverance would seem to hold out. Theyare
most advantageously situate for obtaining an inter-
course with Japan, some of the northern establish-
ments of which on the peninsula of Segalien, literal-
ly confine with the Russian Kurile Islands ; t. id al-
though an embassy, formally sent in 1806 to Nan-
gasaki failed in its object, yet cannot the slow but
certain operations of neighbourhood and mutual
wants be thus arrested at a despot's nod. Rus-
sia may not reap the full or exclusive harvest of
Japanese traffic-— she may, and probably will be

superseded in it, when it sliall be fairly opened,
by a more active or richer rival ; but she is very
likely indeed, to set that encouraging example of
first success, which would alone seem wanting to
fix the attention of the mercantile world on that
mart.

al-

lal-

in-

»ut

Lial

lus-

CHINA.

It is not my intention to speak here of the vast
empire of China in detail : its commercial re-
sources, with the leading features of its domestic
policy, statistics, &c. are already sufficiently well
known to the mercantile world, to render it unne-
cessary to attempt even their outline. I shall con-
tent myself, therefore, with very summarily indica-
ting the limits and direction of its sea coast, with
the existing means of communication which they
afford, and several branches of external commerce
maintained by them.

The boundary line separating Chinese from Rus-
sian Tartary, has been already indicated to be a
chain of mountains running W. S. W. into the in-
terior, from the sea of Ochotsk, in about 53*^ north
latitude. From this point the coast runs nearly
R. S. E. to the mouth o^ the Amoor, or Scgalicn,

^ !

a large, and as is generally understood navigable
river, which enters the Pacific in about 5'1^ north.
Here the peninsula of Segalien is connected with
the main land by a narrow spit of sand, the accu-
mulation, it is believed, of the river deposits j and
hence the coast runs nearly 8. S. W. as far as the
extreme point (situate in about S5^ north) of the
peninsula of Corea, a dependancy of the Chinese
empire, rather than an appendage of its crown.
Behind this point the land fldls back to the north-
west, and ibrms the spacious Yellow Sea -, the mi-
nute particulars respecting which have been lately
given to the public by Captain Hall, who com-
manded his Majesty's sloop Lyra, attached to Lord
Amherst's mission. From the south-east pomt of
this opening the coast runs nearly south, as far as
the 25th parallel of north latitude, where it falls
back W. S. W. until it is at length terminated by
the contiguous kingdom of Tonquin, in about 103"
east longitude from Greenwich. The total extent
of sea coast thus described, considerably exceeds
SOOO miles, without including its lesser sinuosities;
but of this, from 35^ to 53" north is comparatively
unimportant, in its present state at least, being in-
habited exclusively by the Coreans and wandering
hordes of Tartars, the rude inhabitants of those in-
terminable plains which skirt the empire of China
properly so called, and which divide it from the

*..-.T.

^ •)?!

lin-

|in-
ina

ihe

more populous districts, where the extreme line
of boundary separates it from Russia, and wliich
are ^he theatre of that laborious commerce which
we have already contemplated in the preceding ar-
ticle.

Means of External Communication. — Only two
ports, Macao and Canton, are directly open to Eu-
ropean speculation throughout the vast empire of
China. Of these I shall speak at some length in
their places ; but before proceeding to them, I
would trace the whole shore of the empire, from
north to south, and indicate certain points in it,
where, as I conceive, a farther communication
might be indirectly instituted, some of them, in-
deed, being already the sites of external commerce
and communication.

1. The river Amoor, or Segalien, already indi-
cated as falling into the Pacific in 5!2" north lati-
tude. This river was once in the occupation of
the Russians, but was ceded by them, in 1089,
when the victories of the great Camhi, emperor of
China, removed their line of boundary many mik\s
back from the advanced points whicli it had once
occupied. Its cession was a very severe loss to the
Russian trade; and, in fact, is the very circum-
stance which imposes on it those weary land journies
from Ochotsk to Kiachta, which we have already
contemplated, and which might be nearly altoge-

\i\

'i.

» '

IT>^ 'I

'' \

gether avoided, could the Russians command the
navigation of this noble stream, which passes witli-
in a very short distance indeed, of'Nerschinsk.and
Zuruchaitu. As a means of improvable commu-
nication, hov/ever, with the interior of Chinese
Tartary, its acquisition is yet, I should deem, at-
tainable. It is known that the Mantschur Tartars
visit the adjoining coasts, and they are said also to
collect pearl oysters in its vicinity. Nothing could
appear more easy than to institute a trade with
these people ; and even, by degrees, to draw down
to this point the whole of that intercourse at Kiach-
ta and Zuruchaitu, which consists in the exchange
of the commodities of Kamtschatka, the American
islands, &c. for Chinese wares. The difference
to the Tartars would not probably be much, if any;
while the convenience to the Russians, or to whom-
soever chose to embark in the speculation, would
be immense.

2. The tributary Chinese kingdom of Corea, it
is well known, maintains an almost unreserved in-
tercourse with the Japanese and Loo-Choo islands,
each nearly opposite to its eastern shores ; and
each successive voyager mentions the numerous
sampanes, or coasting boats, which are constantly
observed in the intermediate sea, or gulf, also call-
ed Corea. With these it might not be difficult to
institute a regular intercourse, were these seas ever

to be habitnalJy navigated by small vessels, or by
iiulividiial traders, (as distinguished from the agents
of a great commercial company,) whose notions
would not, accordingly, be so entirely confined to
speculations on a large scale, and who would have
no dignity to compromise by a conformity to local
forms and customs, to the observance of which, it
would appear, an extreme importance is attach-
ed by all ranks of Chinese subjects. In opposition
to this it may perhaps be objected, that only the
other day, the Alceste and Lyra were repulsed fri
every similar attempt on the west coast ; but even
to this objection, a very satisfactory answer may,
I think, be given. Neither of these vessels were
prepared for trade ; they were both evidently arm-
ed ; and the inhabitants of the western shores of
Corea may, moreover, easily be supposed to be
more completely subject to Chinese maxims of po-
licy than those of the eastern, situate as they are
on the coast of an inland and domestic sea. The
cases are evidently not sufficiently the same to war-
rant a decided inference respecting the one, from
the result of the other experiment.

3. The river of Nankin, joining the main ocean
at the mouth of the YeUow Sea, and not more than
40 leagues to the southward of the debouchure of
the Yellow River, whence this latter takes its name,
is the first point which I shall indicate along the

v,\

h it-

9«

coast of Cliina Proper which actually maintains an
extensive foreign intercourse ; and which might
accordingly probably be converted into a medium
of indirect trade. This foreign intercourse is main-
tained exclusively in native bottoms, but extends
as far as Batavia and Siam, exporting porcelain,
silk, preserved fniits, &c. ; and receiving in return
assorted cargoes of the varied produce of the In-
dian Archipelago.

4. Ning-po, situate on a river joining the sea be-
hind the Archipelago of Chusan, will come next in
this enumeration. It has the monopoly assigned
to it of the whole national trade with Japan, the
nature and extent of which will be more particu-
larly considered when treating of that empire; be-
sides which, it also maintains a very considerable
traffic, also, however, in native bottoms,- with the
islands and ports of the Indian Archipelago, Ma-
nilla, Sooloo, Batavia, &c. Its exports are nearly of
the same nature with those of Nankin, with which
it maintains also a very active coasting trade.

5. Amoy, or Emouy, situate nearly at the south-
east extremity of China, behind the island of For-
mosa, is the. only other point besides Macao and
Canton, where any Europeans are allowed to trade;
this exemption being, by virtue of a special treaty,
conferred on the Spaniards resident in the Philip-
j)ine Islands ; and, in common with every commer-

9.^

ith-

''or-

land

Ide;

jaty,
Jlip-
ler-

cial opportunity enjoyed by them, is almost entire-
ly neglected, not more than one annual ship of small
tonnage being sent by them to this point. In re-
turn, however, the Chinese merchants resident at
Emouy are extremely active in their intercourse
with all the Indian islands; and their ])ort being the
nearest along the eastern coast, is also much fre-
quented by the Chinese settlers throughout the
whole Archipelago. It enjoys, accordingly, a very
extensive trade, exporting, for the most part, nan-
keens and other cotton cloths, raw and manufactur-
ed silk, paper fans and parasols, iron Instruments,
vermilion, &c. in exchange for native produce of
the Indian islands ; amid which, however, it would
not appear difficult to insinuate English goods, were
some of those regulations relaxed, which at present
shut up the English market to those silk manufac-
tures, in which consists the great wealth of this
eastern coast.

6. Macao, the well-known Portuguese settlemenJ:
in the mouth of the river of Canton, is another
point of access into the Chinese empire ; and is
probably alone, of all those in this enumeration,
improved to the uttermost, a \ery extensive sys-
tem of smuggling into the interior being regular-
ly organized at it. The commerce is accord-
ingly very great; and is maintained principally
with British caj)ital, although, for the most part.

>«.

i^!'.'

!)1

I* y

confined to tlic Portiipjuese flapf. Its chief mcrcan-
tile connexions are with Hen<»al ; from wliich, he-
sides piece ^oods, cotton, saltpetre, a!id ^rain, it
dra.vs annually upwards of iJOOO chests, of 100 Ih.
each, of opium, all of which, notvvithstanthn^ the
most rigorous j)r()hibitions, is smuggled into the
interior of China. From Madras it principally re-
ceives Ceylon pearls, cotton and piece goods; from
Lishoi;, Madeira wine ; from Cochin-China, areca
nuts, biril's nests, tripang, or sea slug, a dainty in
much estimation at Chinese tables, ivory, and rice;
and from the Indian islands their varied produce,
such as will be afterwards more particularly emune-
rated. In I8O7, the entire tonnage entered at Ma-
cao amounted to 91 GO tons, arriving in the follow-
ing proportions: from Lisbon, li280; Goa, 450; ben-
gal, 4730 ; Madras, 2.30; Indian islands, 19^0; and
Cochin-China, 500. The same vessels sailed the
same year also as follows: to Lisbon, 1400; Ceylon,
Bombay, and Goa, 1080; Bengal, some of them
touching at the Indian Islands on their passage,
3^250; Madras, 250; Indian Islands, 1200; and
Cochin-China, 1200.*

* For these minute details, I am indebted to the late Captain
Tuckey's most valuable work on xVlaritime Geography. Poor
Tuckey ! We were fellow-prisoners of war in France when he
devoted his leisure to this laborious compilation, and when, at
the time most of us were idle, reckless, and dissipated, lie thus

7. Canton, the celebrated port of direct European
communication with China, is situate on the river
Pe-kiang, vulgarly called the Tigris, from the name
of a small island in its mouth, whence tiiat of
Bocca Tigris was first given to tlie adjoining j)as-
sage, and tlie general appellation thence impr(){)er-
\y transferred to the river itself. The trade of
Canton is innnense, and must be considered, if
even the faintest outline of it be attempted, at con-
siderably more length than those we have already
noticed. It may be disiilod summarily under the
following heads : 1 . Trade vvitli England ; Q. with
Foreign Europe, and Atlantic America ; 3. with
India ; 4. with the Indian Islands -, and, 5. witii
the Pacific Ocean.

1. Trade with England. — The trade of Canton
with England is most rigorously confined, by act
of Parliament, to the East India ('ompany ; and
the monopoly by that body is further supported by

itain
'oor
he
^, at
thus

laid the foundation of that distinction which ultimately consign-
ed him to a premature but honourable grave. His first-lieute-
nant in his late expedition (Hawkey) was in the same circum-
stances too, and was equally assiduous. How little did any of us
then anticipate, that the manly studies in which he was unremit-
tingly engaged were so soon to experience a brief and fatal termi-
nation ! Peace be to their ashes ! The cordial sympathy and good
wishes of all their brother-officers accompanied them on their fa-
tal errand ; and the sincere sorrow with which the account of
their fate was received by all who had known them, was a more ge-
nuine testimony to their merits than any monument could eonfcv.

i'i

a variety of regulations, which nearly exclude alto-
getlier every British subject from entering it, un-
less only their own agents or Indian subjects. No
others can sell their cargoes unless for specie, a
commodity always very high priced in Canton;
and even that specie is not allowed to be exported
by the merchants purchasing it, but must be pour-
ed into the Company's treasury, in exchange for
bills on England or India, as may be most suitable.
A variety of other restrictions are also imposed,
but this is the most important ; and its operation
on another branch of Canton trade will be cited
presently in its own place.

The Company's exports from Canton are teas,
nankeens, wrought and raw silks, and porcelain. —
In 1810, the prime cost of the investments at Can-
ton was L. 1,487,000; the freight and charges
L. 873,000; and the customs paid in England
L. 18,500; total cost and charges L.2,378,500;
which returned at the Company's sales L.3,723,000,
of which tea alone for more than three millions and
a half; the annual import into England by the
Company of other objects being only raw silk
L. 100,000, nankeen L. 50,000, porcelain L.5000,
and wrought silks L.IOOO. The returns to Can-
ton, on the other hand, annually average between
a million and a millioii and a half'prime cost in Eng-
land; and consist of woollens for L. 1,000,000, tin

u.i^

I tin

and lead L. 200,000, and bullion L. 100,000, toffe-
tlier with a small list of sundries, chiefly the pri-
vate ventures of the officers of the ships employed
in the trade, consisting of lead, furs, Prussian blue,
cochineal, clocks, watches, &c. The total value
of these, amounts, communibus annis, to about
L. 100,000; besides which about the same sum in
specie is supposed to be annuidly imported also
among the private ventures.

2. Trade with Foreign Europe and Atlantic
America. — Previous to the late long war, the trade
with Foreign Europe direct was chiefly in the hands
of the Dutch, Danes, Swedes, French, and Spanish
Phili])pine Company ; but the gap made in the
commercial relations of these several people by that
event has not yet been filled up at this point, al-
though it is generally understood to be within the
contem})lation alike of all to make the attempt.
The trade with the United States is accordingly the
only one in this list which can be spoken of in the
present tense ; that is understood to average an ex-
port of about VI or 1'3 millions of pounds of tea, in
exchange for furs, chiefly brought from the west-
ern sliores of America, English camblets, ebony of
the Isle of France, sandal wood, bird's nests, &c.
picked up among the Indian and Pacific Ocean
islands, and brought to this ultimate market. Two
circumstances remarkably characterise this trade.

I
til

The first is tlie circuitous and desultory manner in
which it is maintained. Each American vessel
leaves its own port on general speculation, carrying
perhaps a cargo of provisions to Madeira, and em-
barking wine in lieu ; or to the Isle of France, the
English settlements in India or New South Wales,
the Spanish port" in South America, &c. &c. with
an assorted caigo suited to these several destina-
tions. Wherever they unload, they are ready and
willing to embark in any speculation, whether of
country or of foreign trade, and close with any
promising offer, keeping Canton only remotely in
their view as the port whence, afiter a lapse even
of years, they propose to proceed home, when they
shaU have accumulated from these slender begin-
nings a capital sufficient to complete the 'cargo of
tea with which they mean to return. The next re-
markable feature in this trade is its rapid increase.
In 1789 only 15 American vessels touched at Can-
ton, and exported about half a million of lbs. of
tea, with a little silk and porcelain. In I8O6 there
were 39; and in 1809, inunediately previous to the
breaking out of liostilities with Great Britain, tliere
were iipwarc's of 80. In this last year, it is true,
they were hurrying home from all quarters in the
anticipation of confiscation from British cruizers ;
but they are now again out, it is understood, in
greater numbers than ever, an active, busy band.

tmd.

sagacious to discover and eager to improve every
promising opportunity.

3. Trade with India. — The principal mercantile
connexions of'Canton with India are with the respec-
tive presidencies of Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta.
From the first it receives cotton for about L.700,000,
sandal wood for about L. 30,000, and shark's fins,
also a dainty for the Chinese table, for about the
same sum. The returns are in sugar, sugar-candy,
nankeens, raw silk, camphire, tutanague, porce-
lain, &c. the whole averaging about L.330,000. The
balance is principally made up in specie, except such
portion of it as may belong to the Company, which
is invested in teas for England. From Madras
Canton receives pearls of Ceylon for about L.40,000,
cotton for L. 11,000, piece goods for L. 11,000,
and sundries for about as much ; the total import
thus averaging nearly L. 80,000. The exports are
in the same articles as are sent to Bombay, and
amount in all to about L. 60,000. Lastly, from
Bengal, Canton receives for about L. 250,000, of
whicli nearly L. 200,000 in cotton, the remainder
being in piece goods, saltpetre, &c. Bengal also
sends, as has been already noticed, a great quanti-
ty of opium to China, but it principally circulates
through Macao, its importation being contraband.

4. Trade with the Indian islands. — The trade
iiuiintiiined bv Canton with the Indian islands cen-

i^.i

"""*T!tDi'-

100

tres ill Manilla belonging to the Spanish, Bata-
% ia to the Dutcli, and Pulo Penang to the English
companies ; besides which, a little desultory traf-
fic is carried on in native junks with IJorneo, Cele-
bes, and the continental coasts of Tonquin, Cochin-
China, Cambodia, &c. The amount altogether is
very great, but we have no such materials as will
enable us to hazard a precise conjecture. The ex-
ports are principally raw and manufactured silks,
nankeens, teas, alum, camphire, &c. ; and the re-
turns are made in that varied produce, for the mi-
nute detail of which I beg again to refer to the ar-
ticle devoted to the summary of the commercial
equivalents of those islands themselves. Those
from the continental coasts are areca nut, i\ ory,
tortoise-shell, dried fish, varnish, mother of pearl,
&c.

5. Trade with the Pacific. — The last and least
important branch of trade maintained at Canton is
that, notwithstanding, most material to this compi-
lation, its commercial relations, viz. with the Paci-
fic Oceati. Had I not been induced to give these
a separate place from my desire to make some re-
marks on their prosecution, I might have appro-
priately included it under the head of United Stat ^
commerce, for it is almost exclusively in the hands
of the subjects of that republic, the free British
traders being nearly entirely excluded by those re-

I *

101

rl,

gulations already mentioned, which so sedulously
confine tlie British trade at Canton to the East In-
ilia Company.

The commercial connexions of Canton with the
Pacific diverge in three directions, to the coast of
New Albion and the other fur coasts, to Spanish
America, and to the Sandwich and other islands
of the crreat ocean. To these midit be added New
South Wales ; improperly, however, inasmuch as
some little intercourse subsists from that colony to
Canton, but none direct from Canton to it, the re-
turns nc c being due to the colony itself, but to the
merchants, who having embarked convicts in Eng-
land for it, purchase up its furs, &c. and proceect
with them to Canton. Of these three branches of
commerce then, the first, as has been seen, is for
the j)resent divided between the Americans of Ma-
dison's Island and the Canadian Fur Company's
factories on the Columbia. The second is entirely
indirect, being maintained by way of Manilla in
the first instance, whence it subsequently diverges,
as will be seen in its place, to Acnpulco, Lima, &c
The last is exclusively engrossed by the subjects oi
the United States, who in the course of their trad-
ing speculative voyages, which have been already
noticed, pick up among the widely extended Poly-
nesia, as the islands in the Pacific have been ge-
nerally designated, assorted cargoes of pearls, mo-

- :■>■'

/• K^

.nu^iiS^:- — ^,':<i V ,.^

10i2

ther of pearl, sandal wood, ambergris, ebony, &c.
This speculation generally falls to the lot of those
vessels who, not having completed a cargo of furs
along the sho/es of New Albion, are unwilling to
repair to Canton without some substitute, and has
frequently been known to reward the lost labour
and time very handsomely. The wliole traffic is
however maintained in too desultory a manner to
be always very certain ; but in return, the Indian
islands are directly in their path, and a very short
research among them is always adequately reward-
ed by an assorted cargo of their numerous produc-
tions.

In the year 1805, 122 European and American
vessels in all arrived at Canton ; of them 80 were
English, 18 belonging to the Company, and G2 to
the country trade, 3 were Danes, and 39 United
Statesmen. In 1809, there were 84 English, the
increase having been in the Company's shipping ;
and, as has been already seen, in the same year a
very considerable increase took place, from a tem-
porary cause, in the American shipping at this port.
It would be a very interesting communication, but
which I have not myself any means of obtaining,
could a list be procured of the flags and arrivals
within the last years, with a detail of the steps tak-
ing to renew those European factories which the
late long war had so completely overthrown.

p.~^'~.^ — ,jt„

KXJ

ak-
tlie

It is foreign to the purpose of this compilation
to trace the shores of Continental Asia beyond the
limits of tlie Chinese empire, and I now therefore
take up the western boimdary of the Pacific Ocean
as it is defined by the several islands and groups of
islands, which extend in continued succession from
Cape Lopatka, the southern point of the peninsula
of Kamtschatka, situate in 5 1*' north latitude, to the
extreme point of Van Diemen's land, lying in
48" 36' south, which thus divide it in its whole ex-
tent from the Indian and Chinese seas. These I
shall class under the following heads : Kurile
Islands, Jesso, Japanese islands. Loo Choo Islands,
Indian Archipelago, New South Wales, and Van
Diemen's Land ; and when I shall have concluded
the brief sketch of tliem, which alone I propose
here to submit, I shall, under one general head, to
which I shall give the name of Archipelago of the
Pacific, select for description, a few of the most im-
portant of those numerous groups which in almost
every direction cover the bosom of the great ocean,
but which, in a peculiar manner, extend from New
South Wales towards South America, and seem al-
most to describe a southern boundary to this sea,
which by ordinary usage, however., has, in fact, no
other limit in that direction tlian the Polar ice.

■•'i

; I

!)l

If'

s.;

I»-. :

lOl

KUllILE ISLANDS.

The islands to wliich the name of Kurilc, or, as
it has been interpreted, of Sea Weed, lias been ^i-
ven, are, according to the latest authority, (Kru-
senstern,) 25 in number, and extend from Cape
Lopatka to the 46th parallel, where they are parted
by a narrow strait from the island of Jesso. They
are divided into two distinct grou])s, named the
Great or Japanese, and the Lesser or Kamtschat-
ka Kuriles : and it is remarkable, that although
the intervening strait (Canal de la 15oussole) is not
more than 5 leagues wide, tlie tlistinctions !)etween
the geological features of the islands themsehes,
aud the physical lineaments of the inhabitants, is
the greatest imaginable. The Nortliern, or Lesser
Kurile Islands, are little more than rocky })oints,
lightly covered with a thin sandy soil, scarcely push-
ing any species of vegetable to ])erfection, and on-
ly valuable, when iirst occu])ied by the Russians,
on account of the furs of the sea-otter and other
animals which they hunted among them, but which
have now disappeared before the persecution to
which they were thus exposed. The inhabitants
are of the pure Kamtschadalc or Eastern Tartar
race, with lank black hair, and no beard. Tlie South-
ern, or Great Kurilc Islands, are, on the other

'TSC^aisa

10.)

<;;■.'•!

hand, mountainous, and tolerably fruitful, clothed
in particular with wood, pines, maples, alders, &c.
even to the summits ; and the inhabitants, other-
wise called Mosins, or Hairy Kurilians, are consi-
derably stouter than those to the northward ; and
combine with nnich, in other respects, of the Tar-
tar physiognomy, the bushy black beards, and friz-
zled, but not woolly hair, of the Papuan or Oceanic
negro, the inhabitant of New Guinea, New Britain,
&:c. The manners and customs of the several
tribes are equally dissimilar ; but for this, a suffi-
cient reason will readilv be found in the different
comforts and conveniences thus placed at their
connnand.

The im})ortance of the Northern Kuriles, in a com-
mercial point of view, is extremely small ; the only
intercourse whicli they maintain beinu; with the Rus-
sians, and that even is now so much reduced, in con-
sequence of the extinction of the race of sea-otters,
and the remission, accordingly, of the tribute which
they had been in the habit of paying, that, in 18()(),
notwithstanding the usual attention of the Russians
to maintain the Greek faith among their subjects,
there was no pastor establisheil among them what-
ever ; and a visit at that time paid them by a priest
from Petropaulowska, was deemed a s])ecial exer-
tion of zeal and intrej)idity. The Southern Kiu'iles
are of somewhat more value, ])artly from their own

»>.

h'^

) II

106

productions, which are in some degree vahiable,
but more from the intercourse maintained by them
with the Japanese, and which it might not possi-
bly be difficult to improve. Their exports to Japan
arejdried fish, dried sea weed, (fucus saccharinus,)
considered as a delicacy by the Japanese, and some
few furs of the sea-otter, bear, and fox. To these
might be added forest timber, were any demand
created for it. The returns made by the Japanese
are principally ardent spirits, sugar, beads, and cop-
per instruments.

JESSO.

South of the Kurile Islands, and comprised be-
tween 45° 3(y and 42° north latitude, lies the island
of Jesso, long known by name to the European
geographer through the medium of Japanese and
Jesuit report, but only first given to us in its true
form and place by La Peyrouse. It is nearly 500
miles in circuit ; and is only separated by the Straits
of Sangaar, jfive leagues wide, from Niphon, one of
the principal of the islands composing the Japanese
empire, to which it is accordingly subjected. It re-
sembles in nearly every point the Southern or Ja-
panese Kurile Islands, among which indeed it may

>j*^-

107

witlioiit impropriety be classetl ; being nioiintain-
oiis and wooily, a)id inhabited by the same tribe
of Mosins, or Hairy KuriHans, ahcady noticed.
Its forests afford a very extended list of woods ;
nearly all, however, being those peculiar to the
colder climes, such as oak, elm, ash, maple, birch,
linden yew, silver pine, poi)lar, chesnuts, &c. ;
while of esculent vegetables, the enumeration is
nearly ecpially extended, comprising wheat, maize,
millet, pease, beans, lentils, turnips, ^c. besitles
hem}), tobacco, and other similar protluce. Deer,
bears, foxes, and rabbits altound in the interior
and sea-coasts ; whilst the latter are moreover fre-
quented by seals, sea otters, whales, salmon, 6cc. in
great profusion.

Notwithstanding this varied list of original pro-
ductions however, it is certain that the view of
Jesso the most interesting to the commercial read-
er, is that which its intimate intercoiuse and cor-
respondence with Japan presents. Its exports are
of the same nature with those of the Southern Ku-
rile Islands ; but the whole amount is infinitely
greater, the intercourse being facilitated by the
establishment of a small Japanese town, Matsumay,
on the south side of the island, within the Straits
of Sangaar.

ill

— '••«

108

JAPANESE ISLANDS.

The empire of Japan is composed of'tiiive })riii-
cipal islands, Niplion, Sikokf, anil Kiiisiu, and of a
multitude of smaller isles, separated from the east
coast of C.'liina by the Straits and Gulf of Corea,
and melting to the northward into the chain of
Jesso and the Kurile Isles, with which the whole
would seem to form but one group. They are com-
priseil between the ])arallels of 42" and .31" north
latitude, and between those of 1^9" and 14^2" east
longitude from Greenwich ; their extent of sea-
coast being about 3000 miles.

Climate, Soii^ and Vegetable Productions. — The
climate of Japan is very variable, in winter even
inclement ; and the soil, although diversified, and
in some of the lower maritime districts rich and
fruitful, is yet on the whole somewhat light and
sandy, and in the mountainous interior is under-
stood to be even extremely arid and unproductive.
Like the Chinese, however, the Japanese are inde-
fatigable in their agricultural labours ; and their
returns of rice, in particular, are very abundant,
although still insufficient for the effective domestic
demand, which, it is understood, })resses with great
severity on the means of suj)})ly, leaving a great
part of the inferior classes of population dependtjnt

lOf)

on casual siip])lies of fish, &c. for sii|)|)ort. Thus
.situates it is to be imagined tliat there are very few
> egetable ))roductions destined for export ; and we
do not accordingly find mention made of other than
a few medicinal plants ami gums, with some species
of fine woods, such as are employeil in China in the
manufacture of toys and other cabinet-work. Sugar,
coffee, and other tropical luxuries are raised for ilo-
mestic consumption, but only in small comj)arative
quantities ; the use of the latter, at least, being by
no means general throughout the empire.

Mineral Productions. — The islands of Ja})an are
volcanic in their composition, and teem with metal-
lic substances of great value and variety. Gold, sil-
ver, copper, tin, and lead, are the chief objects of
mining speculation ; and are not only found in
great abundance, but also with great ease, being
placed at very accessible elevations, and very near
the surface. Iron ore is also abundant, but the
mines are not wrought with much activity ; the
steel. manufactures constituting the chief demand
for it, and these being nearly exclusively confined
to the preparation of arms. Sulphur, and general-
ly all the saline earths, are commonly disseminated
in the interior plains.

Population^ Chief Cities^ (§c. — Of the amount of
the Japanese population, the accounts are extreme-
ly vague and contradictory \ some writers reducing

( >'i'

»■•;

'fX\\

•\ I

If'

>i 4

i ("

■ (

1*^

it to twenty, and others raising it to fifty millions
of* souls. All are agreed, however, as to the fact
already noticed, of the severe pressure of the po-
pulation on the effective means of esculent supply;
and the miseries which, under any form of go-
vernment, such a pressure would occasion, are en-
hanced in ,Jaj)an by that peculiar policy which pro-
hibits, under the severest penalties, all intercourse
with strangers, and thus excludes the possibility of
extern nl supply. Nor is this the only evil conse-
quence attending these impolitic prohibitions ; the
idleness which they occasion in almost all classes
of society, is their still more pernicious effect. The
fiercest and most vindictive passions are nurtured
under its fostering wing, and their deadly opera-
tion is attested by the peculiarly sanguinary cha-
racter of their civil and religious broils. In Japan
only in the whole known world, has religious per-
secution been known to carry her point. The
Christian religion was once very extensively dis-
seminated among its population ; but it was fairly
rooted out upon the scaffold, not a single proselyte
remaining to cherish even in secret the recollec-
tion of its faith.

There are many populous cities in the Japanese
empire ; but three only of them are known in de-
tail to the European world. These three are Jedo,
the capital, and residence of the emperor, or tern-

9't

111

poral sovereign ; Miaco, the residence of the
Dairi, pontiff", or supreme spiritual chief; and Osa-
ca, situate on the great river Jegodawa, in the
island of Niphon, and a sea-port of great note for
coasting commerce. To these may be added Nan-
gasaki, the only sea-port open to foreign traffic, a
town, however, only remarkable from this circum-
stance, being small, and but thinly inhabited. Je-
do, Miaco, and Osaca, on the contrary, are ex-
tremely populous and magnificent, equalling, it is
said, the first European cities, both in extent and
in display.

Means of External Cc/nmunication, — These, as has
been already hinted, are confined to the single port
of Nangasaki, situate in 32" 44' north latitude, and
in 129" 45' east longitude from Greenwich, on the
west side of the island of Kiusiu, the most southern
of the three principal islands of the group. Tlie
mouth of the harbour is narrow, but it is tolerably
spacious within ; and the town is built in the form
of a crescent around its head. As a solitary point
of communication with the extensive empire of Ja-
pan, the value of the market of Nangasaki might
be reasonably considered great ; but it is much di-
minished, if not indeed altogether destroyed, by the
insulting and injurious restrictions imposed on al3
foreign traffic, whether European or Chinese, within
its bounds. The Dutch are the only European mer-

112

diauts \\lio liave a small privilege of trade here al-
lowed ; a privilege which it has heen strenuously
asserted by their enemies, and as strenuously de-
nied by themselves, that t!iey purchase by the most
degrading and even impious ceremonies. It is cer-
tainly not worth such a purchase ; for they are ri-
gorously confined to the small island of Desima
within the harbour, and all intercourse with them
must pass directly through the chief officers of the
port, who are encouraged by their superiors in the
most wanton abuse of the power with which they
are thus invested. The Chinese are nearly equally
harshly treated, being confined within a small for-
tified suburb, and watched with every precaution
which the most jealous policy can dictate or sug-
gest. These severe restrictions were originally in-
stigated by the repeated attempts made by the Je-
suit missionaries in China again to introduce,
through the medium of these traders, the Chris-
tian faith into Ja])an; but they are now sanctioned
by custom and habit, and would be ecjually difficult
to alter with those by w Inch European trade is fet-
tered and restrained.

Commerce. — The foreign commerce of Jajxin is
on the most limited scale, consistent with the abso-
lute wants ot its inhabitants, and is exclusi\ely
maintained in foreign bott is, Dutch and C ninese.
Of the former, two are annually admitted into

M \

lis

is
ho-

Nangasaki, and ot the latter 1*2 ; each dismantled
immediately on entering tlie port, their arms and
ammunition landed, and the crews rigorously shut
up in their respective factories.

The exports are gold, refined copper, tin, cam-
phor and other medicinal drugs, and lacquered
wares ; in the preparation of which last they have
attained very great perfection, owing principally to
the superior qualities of their varnish, with the
composition of which, I belie /e, we are unacquaint-
ed. The imports are spices, provisions, ivory, silk
stuffs, furs, and a few woollen and cotton goods,
only received from the Chinese. For these how-
ever, from the nature of the climate, tliere is al-
ways a very effective demand ; a demand indeed
greatly beyond the ordinary means of supj)ly, and
which would alone constitute Japan a most valua-
ble marke*: for the British merchant, could the se-
vere restrictions by which it is at present fencQcl
round, by any means be palliated or remo\'e(L

Before quitting this article, it is impossible not
to advert to the very singular civil constitution by
Wiiich Japan is said to be governed. Tliere are
two superior chiefs, the one presiding over tempo-
ral, the other over spiritual affairs ; and, singidar to
relate, the authority of the former is the result of
encroachment on the hereditarv ris:hts of the latter
personage, w^ho at one time combined both func-

114,

tions in his own person, and to whom still some ex-
ternal deference is paid by the temporal sovereign.
These two potentates have each their own capital,
their own hereditary revenues, independent altoge-
ther of those of the provinces of their joint empire,
which are administered without controul by the
viceroys placed over them. The one is the foun-
tain of power, the other of the honour by which it
is graced ; and such would seem to be the good
understanding between both in a long series of
ages, that although the empire has been repeatedly
convulsed by the pretensions of usurpers, viceroys,
and others, the civil and religious authorities do
not seem ever to have clashed. The most extra-
ordinary feature of this system of governm^t would
seem still to remain untold. Many religious sects
exist in Japan ; mention is even made of a sect of
philosophers, who deride them all alike. Yet how-
ever divided among themselves, all are represent-
ed as concurring in acknowledging the supreme au-
thority of the Dairi, as their great pontiff is styled ;
while he on his part proves them by this one test of
orthodoxy, in which alone probably the Christiarxs
failed, when they excited against themselves that
tempest of persecution which ended in the extirpa-
tion of their faith.

There are phenomena in the moral as in the phy-
sical world J and ignorant as I am of the original

'1aaE«< in-.

115

authorities on which these representations are found-
ed, it would be rash to express a doubt of their
correctness. I may be allowed, however, to ob-
vserve, that a system thus composed of contradicto-
ry elements, can only be supported by prejudice
and force : and that its ruin must therefore be sud*
den and almost immediate, whenever these outposts
are subverted or even seriously assailed. The same
generation will probably witness the first success-
ful step taken to overcome Japaiftse jealousy, and
even the last port in its dominions open to foreign
speculation. There wants but one keenly main-
tained civil war, such as has been often witnessed
within its limits, and one little experience by one
party of the bent fits of foreign communication and
assistance, to crumble at once this mighty fabric of
jealousy and power, and build on its ruins a super-
structure of pacific commerce, alike substantial and
gaudy, alike beneficial, lucrative, and alluring.

r t.ii

LOO-CHOO ISLANDS.

South-west of the Japanese Archipelago, about
60 miles from its extreme point, and comprised be-
tween 30 and 26° north latitude, lies the group of
Loo-Choo islands, towards which the visit of his

jfl

I I

Majesty's ships Alccste and I.yra lias oi' late so
strongly attracted public attention. In speaking
of them in this place, it is not my intention to give
any abridgement of the information which that vi-
sit has added to what we formerly j)ossessed re-
specting them ; indeed, the deserved popularity of
Captain HalPs work, renders any such attempt al-
together unnecessaiy. I propose merely to sum
lip, in the first place, the principal particulars rela-
tive to their statiftics with which we are by any
means acquainted, and then to give a place to an
arranged selection of the most curious portions ot'
the memoir respecting their manners, customs, &c.
which was published in the year 1758, in the Let-
tres Edifiantes et Curieuses. This very curious do-
cument professes to be a translation of a similar
paper published at Pekin in 1721< by a Chinese
ambassador then returned from Loo-Choo ; and al-
though the authority is not thus the best, it is yet
worthy of remark, that none of the particulars
which I shall select have been in any way disprov*
cd, while many of them have been indeed other-
wise confirmed. The whole account is exceeding-
ly interesting j and may be found at length in the
28th volume of the Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses,
page 335.

The Loo-Choo Islands are 3(j in number, one on-
ly, however, being of considerable extent; and are

I:;'

117

■s.

divided into two distinct groups, of wliicli tlie east-
ern only properly bears tlie appellation of'Loo-Choo,
being named after the piincipal island ; the west-
ern being by tlie natives called Madjicosemah. 'i'he
wliolc are subject to one sovereign, tributary to the
Chinese emperor ; the tribute is, liowever, Httle
more than nominal, being commuted into gifb sent
every two years by a solemn deputation to Pekin.
Climate, Soil, and Vegetable Productions. — Situate
between the Japanese and Indian Arcliipelagos,
the climate among the Loo-Clioos is intermediate
between tlie asperity which not unfrequently cha-
racterizes the one, and the almost insupportable
heat which, for the greater part of the year, pre-
vails in the other range, and is, moreover, for the
most part serene, this latter attribute, however,
as in most places similarly situate, being not unfre-
quently interrupted by severe hurricanes during the
rainy seasons within the neighbouring tropics. The
soil in nearly all the islands is fruitful j and yields
in return to a very simple system of tillage, very
inferior, it would appear, to the Chinese, abundant
crops of maize, wheat, rice, cotton, flax, sugar, tea,
&c. : while, at the same time, a considerable varie-
ty of fine fruits, medicinal plajits, dye woods, and
forest timber, further distinguishes the list of ori-
ginal vegetable productions. Silk worms are rear-
ed in great quantities, but the silk is very inferior

■11

■I

pi
V
I

\i-

118

;?/,

'Mt

in quality to the Chinese ; pearl oysters are also
found among the coral banks which surround
nearly all the islands alike ; and, lastly, tortoises
are familiarly caught along their shores, their shells,
with others similar, affording articles of consider-
able export to China and Japan. The mineral pro-
ductions alone seem somewhat scanty ; copper,
tin, sulphur, and saline earths, completing the list
given by Father Gaubil. Of these, sulphur would
seem the most abundant ; one island being indeed
named from the great quantities of that mineral
drawn from it, the quality of which, it is added, is
extremely good.

Manners, Customs, ^c. — " The Loo-choo island-
ers," says the memoir to i^fhich I alluded above,
♦* the Loo-Choo islanders are affable to strangers,
intelligent, laborious, and cleanly in their houses.
Their chiefs are extremely fond of riding on horse-
back, and have always shewn themselves hostile to
the introduction of slavery into their country, to
lying, and to deceit. With the exception of the
principal families, of the Bonzes or priests, and of
the Chinese established in the country, few of the
inhabitants can either read or write : indeed, when
any of the peasants, artizans, soldiers, or shop-keep-
ers, acquire these accomplishments, they are forced
to shave their heads in the same manner as the

the

11»

Bonzes, physicians, and lacqueys of the palace.*
This is quite different from the fashion followed by
tlie others, who all wear a large lock at the top of
the head, round which is also left a small circle of
very short hair."

«* Families are distinguished in Loo-Choo by sir-
names, as in China ; and the men and women of
the same sirname cannot intermarry. As for the
king, he can only marry a daughter of one of three
principal families, the representatives of which al-
ways occupy the chief posts in the state ; and al-
though there is another family of equal importance
with them, yet can he not intermarry with it, be-
cause it is believed that it has the same extraction
with the royal family itself. Plurality of wives is
permitted ; and when a marriage is proposed, the
suitor is always permitted first to speak with his
mistress, nor is the ceremony performed without
mutual consent. The women are exceeding reser-
ved in their demeanour, and neither paint nor wear
ear-rings ; their only ornament being long hair pins
of gold and silver, round which they twist up their

* This association would leave it almost doubtful whether this
regulation were a privilege conferred on learning, or the reverse.
It is remarkable, however, both that Father Gaubil's expressions
(on les oblige, S^.) indicate punishment, and also that Captain
Hall should have remarked a degree of contempt attached to the
persons of the Bonzes, very different from the respect generally
naid the priesthood in comparatively rude states of society.

120

1 r)

■■

ffl

ftfh

hair in tiic form of a ball on the crown of the head,
Wc are assured that there are few or no instances
of adultery, robbery, murder, or beggary among
them all.'*

" There are nine ranks of mandarins or nobles,
the same as in China ; and these are also distin-
guished by the colours of their bonnet, and by their
sash and cushion. The greater number of them
enjoy their dignities by virtue of hereditary right ;
but there are besides others created by the sove-
reign, who do not transmit their honoiu's to their
posterity, and who are dependant on the royal will,
even for the stability oi' their own establishments.
The princes and great lords have towns and villages,
either in the })rincipal island, or in the others ; but
they are not allowed to reside in them, or to absent
themselves from the court. Mandarins are special-
ly sent by the king to levy all rents ; and it is with
them the farmers and labourers account for what is
due to their landlords, to whom, however, the
amount is regularly remitted. Labourers of every
description, tenants, &c. are all entitled to one half
of the proceeds of their exertions ; and as the land-
lords are besides obliged to pay certain expenses,
they do not receixe in all above a third of the gross
income of their estates."

*' The mandarine, nobles, and even princes of
tlie blood-royal, can only have two bearers to their

V2'i

setkn chairs ; the king iiUmc haviiijr the privilege
of employing as many as he cliooses. Tlieiv equi-
pages, chairs, &c. are usually made in the Ja})anese
fashion, as also their arms and clothing; ])ut witji-
in some little time, the chiefs, both in their j^ala-
ces and dress, have imitated in a great measure
the Chinese.'*

" The king chiefly resides at Kint-ching, the
capital of the princi})al island, situate about 5 miles
from Napakiang" (the port visited by the Alceste
and Lyra). " Kint-ching is of no very great ex-
tent, the custom of the country fixing the princi-
pal inhabitants in profcrcnce in villas adjoining ;
neither are the houses in general magnificent, be-
hig built low, on account of the violent hurricanes
to which they are sometimes ex})osed, and mostly
raised too on piles, with a space of 4, .5, or 6 feet
left beneath, to preserve them from the damp and
wet of the rainy seasons. The j)rincij)al j)ul)iic
buildings are the king's palace, stated to be a nuie
and a quarter in circuit, and commanding a very
fine view of the adjoining country, the port of
Napakiang, &c. ; the palace of the Chinese am-
bassador ; and a temj)le dedicated to the goddess
Tien-fey, or Destiny, the worship of whom was in-
troduced into Loo-Choo at the instance of the cele-
brated Cam-hi, emperor of China. All these are
built in the Chinese fashion ; the Japanese taste

•I ]{

f. 1^

ll< '•

1'2«

being, however, still universal in ordinary build-

ings

}»

The king has very considerable revenues, aris-
ing cliiefly from taxes, and from the property of
the salt works, mines of copper, tin, sulphur, &c.
wrought within his dominions. It is from the re-
venue arising from these several sources that he
pays the salaries of the officers of state and house-
hold ; and these are assigned in determinate num-
bers of sacks of rice, by which general sign of value
they are indicated, in whatever manner paid, whe-
ther in grain, silk, linen, or otherwise.* There are
few law-suits respecting either landed property or
merchandize ; and scarcely any excise or customs.*'
" There are tribunals established in Kint-ching
for all purposes of administration, whether relating
to the principal island, or to the others ; these last
having always agents resident at court. There are

* It is remarkable that the same cumbrous sign of value is also
employed at Mindanao, one of the Philippine Islands; and the
similarity is not less astonishing from its peculiarity, than from
the absolute impossibility that it should have resulted from any
communication between these two points, or from the common
origin of thdr inhabitants. The whole range of Philippine Islands
intervenes her ween them, and they are each occupied by entirely
different races ; the Loo-Choo islanders being of Japanese, and
the inhabitants of Mindanao of Malay extraction. The country
which they inhabit is also fruitful and abundant ; the custom is
not likely accordingly to have originated in any exaggerated va«
lue attached by scarcity to the means of animal subsistence.

aJso ti

of adm

dent al

ries, ki

nies, n

war.*

ters an

and otl

per, ire

"Tl

islands

ese, bei

ten lan^

ters, ho

ders, &

ture of

gion of

circulat

and the

years, s

same.'

"Fid

•The
but their
to indicate
life araon^
dictated b
of provinc
seen, abou

123

k,.

aJso tribunals of civil and criminal judicature;
of administration of the estates of the nobility resi-
dent at court ; for affairs of religion, pubUc j^rana-
ries, king's revenues, manufactures, civil ceremo-
nies, navigation, public buildings, literature, and
war.* Besides these, the king has his own minis-
ters and councillors ; and his own granaries for rice
and other grains, and for works in gold, silver, cop-
per, iron, tin, &c.'*

" Three different languages arc spoken in these
islands ; none of which are pure Chinese or Japiui-
ese, being all corrupt dialects of both. The writ-
ten language is principally Chinese ; familiar let-
ters, however, together with accounts, king's or-
ders, &c. being in Japanese. The classical litera-
ture of China, with the books relating to the reli-
gion of Fo, established in Loo-Choo, are in current
circulation : the Chinese calendar is also followed,
and the expressions used to denote the hours, days,
years, signs of the zodiac. Sec. are precisely the

same.

Finally, There are in all these islands manufac.

* The tribunals here mentionetl, are probably only councils ;
but their great number, if they really do exist at all, would seem
to indicate a very extraordinary advance in all the arts of civilized
life araong these people. They were possibly in the first instance
dictated by the expediency of finding employment for the crowd
of provincial nobility, which a despotic pohcy chains, aS we have
seen, about the person of the prince.

k:H£^

124

iii

?/•

Nl'i-

tiircs of silk, linen, paper, arms, and copper; good
workmen in gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, and other
metals ; abundance of barks and vessels, not only
for the pin'})ose of passing from one island to ano-
ther, but also qualified to make the voyage to Chi-
na, and sometimes also to Tonquin, Cochin-China,
and other places equally remote ; to Corea, Nan-
gasaki, Satsuma, &c. I have been told, also, that
the inhabitants of Loo-Choo maintain an active
trade with the east coast of Formosa, and that
they draw from that island both gold and silver.
Their vessels, it is only necessary further to add,
are peculiarly esteemed by the inhabitants both of
China and Japan.**

To the information thus given respecting these
glanders, I have but little now to subjoin. The
intercourse with China here ascribed to them is
iiu'ther attested by Sir George Staunton, who met
their ambassadors proceeding to Pekin with the
usual gifts ; and some particulars relative to their
trade with Japan are also afforded us by Captain
Broughton, who was shipwrecked amid the Madji-
cosemah group, and subsequently visited Napa-
kiang, in a small schooner which lie purchased at
Canton, and with which he proceeded to execute
the service confided to him of surveying the east
<*oa,st of Tartary. According to his statements, the
trade of the Japanese in this direction must be to-

1Q5

ierably active and unrestrained, 20 large junks',
mostly Japanese, being anchored in the inner haf-
bour of Napakiang when he was there ; one of
which, indeed, proceeded to sea at the same time,
and passed him in the outer road^ without suspi-
cion or alarm. It might not be difficult, were this
the place for such discussions, to extract a useful
lesson from this anecdote, fol* the regulation of any
future intercourse which we may attemrpt to esta-
blish either with the Loo-Choo islaitds themselves,
or with the ulterior market (Japan), with which
they would thus appear so well calculated to attbrd
an indirect medium of communication.

INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.

Between the Loo-Choo Islands and New South
Wales, the western boundary of the Pacific Ocean
is defined by the eastern groups of that immense
Juster of islands usually denoted by the general
name of the Indian or Asiatic Archipelago. These
islands iiave been generally classed under separate
heads, according to some natural or j)olitical divi-
sion, and this method I shall also pursue in the
brief summary which I now propose to give oi*
their- several statistics. The division I shall follow

! I

hi!

■\

Hi I '> \li

»,

'^^.1

V2G

is that of Philippine, Sooloo, and Spice Islands,
Celebes, Borneo, Sunda Islands, and Sumatra. The
three first, in point of fact, denote the boundary of
the Pacific, the remainder lying west of them in
what is called the Chinese Sea ; I include them,
however, in my enumeration, in order to be en-
abled to give that general idea of the existing com-
merce of the whole, with which I propose to con-
clude the article devoted to them.

Philippine Islands, — The Philippine Islands are
said to exceed 10,000 in number, but of the whole
not above a very few hundred deserve the name of
islands, the remainder being mere rool;«. '^'^ey are
comprised bet^ffeen the latitudes of 19° ^^ ^d ^ north,
and the longitudes of 125" and 11 9" east from Green-
wich ; and are claimed in sovereignty by Spain,
although not more than eight or nine are occupied
either in whole or in part by the subjects of that
power, the remainder being divided between the
Bissayan or native tribes, who acknowledge a par-
tial dependence on the Spanish government, arid
the Malay or Mahomedan tribes, who swarrr^
throughout the whole Archipelago, and who W2 >
an almost unceasing war with them. Luconia is the
most important Spanish island, being indeed the
largest of the whole group ; on its western side is
situate, in Lat. 14' 36o north. Long. 120' 25' east
of Greenwich, Manilla, the celebrated emporium

1«7

©f Spanish commerce, and the capital of her domi-
nions in those seas, averaging a permanent popula-
tion of about 1200 Spaniards, and from 35 to
40,000 Indians and Chinese, these latter obtaining
permission to reside, under the condition of cou^
forming externally to the Catholic religion, and en-
grossing the greatest part of the direct trade be-
tween the Spanish Philippines and their native
country. Next to Luconia, the island of most use
to the Spaniards, although by no means one of the
largest, is Cebu, employed by them as a sort of en-
trepot between Manilla and the tributary Bissayau
Islands ; and next, Panay, valued by them for its
vast supplies of horned cattle, its gold dust, and a
pearl fishery in its neighbourhood. Of the Bissayan
Islands, Mindoro h noted for its valuable timber,
Negros for eiTiother pearl fishery, and Leyte for an
esteerTied breed of horses ; and, lastly, of those al-
most exclusively occupied by the Mahometans,
Mindanao is remarkable for its great extent, being
the next largest to Luconia of the whole group, and
Palawan for its ebony, cacao, bees-wax, &c. A
more minute enumeration would be only tedious,
the Philippine Islands resembling each other so
much in native productions as to admit of being
correctly spoken of in the most general terms. Com-
prised in their whole extent, between the tropic oi'
Cancer and the Equator, their productions are tlumt

•I

'iii

12S

exclusively of* the torrid zone, disseminated, how-
ever, among them in a peciiHar abundance and va-
riety. Rice, indigo, cocoa, coffee, pepper, areca
nut, logwood, and the most valuable cabinet woods,
teak timber, tobacco, gums of various sorts, and,
lastly, medicinal plants of nearly infinite variety,
are the principal articles : the whole combined with
gold, found in dust and in masses, but not of the
first quality or touch, rough diamonds, and other
precious stones, copjjer, iron, and other inferior
minerals. Several peai'l fisheries of considerable
, me are established near their shores, along which
uic also found the edible bird's nests, so much in
request in the Chinese masket. Many varieties of
excellent fish are caught in the seas contiguous to
their coasts, and cattle, horses, goats, hogs, &c. are
abundant in the interior plains. The climate, how-
ever, under which all these stores of commercial
wealth are found, cannot be characterised in equal-
ly favourable terms ; it is periodically wet, and al-
most always unhealthy ; and heavy tornadoes are
also experienced at the change of the monsoons.
Volcanoes, eruptions, earthquakes, &c. complete
the picture, in which, with much to allure, there in
somethiuij: also to intimidate and deter.

Sooloo Islands. — Off the south-west coast of Min-
danoa, the most southern of the Philippine islands,
lies the small Archipelago of Sooloo, giving name

lu:'

129

to the adjoining sea to the southward, sometimes
also known by the name of the Sea of Celebes, the
coasts of which it also bathes. The principal island
of the group, called the Great Sooloo, lies nearly
in the middle of the chain; it is 10 leagues long
and four broad, and is extremely fertile and pro-
ductive, particularly in the tropical fruits. The
sea washes up considerable quantities of amber
along its shores, and there is a large pearl fishery
carried on along its eastern side in the west mon-
soon. But the chief value of Sooloo arises from
the judicious encouragement uniformly given by
its Sultans to the Chinese commerce established at
their capital. This encouragement has constituted
it a sort of rendezvous for the whole eastern Malay
trade with China ; the small coasting vessels which
are in the habit of quitting Celebes, Borneo, &c.
with the west monsoon, to fish for tripang on the
coasts of New Holland and New Guinea, and which
at the same time traffic among the out ports in the
Moluccas for spices, repairing generally to Sooloo
towards the end of the west monsoon, to exchange
the produce of their success with the Chinese mer-
chants resident there, for those commodities which
may suit their further destination among the west-
ern islands, when the change of monsoon enables
them to proceed. It is remarkable, however, that
with this indulgence for native, or, more properly

'I
1

• 1

130

.il

■ i
'I .
>)

'•I.'!

if' ,

I . /. I

t^'

'(*'

speaking, Chinese commerce, the Sooloo Sultan«
have uniformly shewn themselves treacherous a'.id
inimical to their European visitors. In 177^, the
English East Inlia Company obtained from the
reigning Sultan the cession of the small island of
Balambangan in the vicinity of the principal Archi-
pelago, and settled a factory on it for the pui^joses
of trade ; but in 177«5, only two years after, it was
attacked and destroyed by his subjects. In 1803
it was again re-established, but almost immediately
again withdrawn.

Spice Islands, — The Spice Islands are comprised
between the parallels of 5" north and 6° south lati-
tude, and between 133" and 124° east longitude
from Greenwich. They are subject to the Dutch,
and are by them divided into three groups ; the
Moluccas Proper, for this name is sometimes ex-
tended to the whole, the Banda, and Amboyna
Islands. The Moluccas are 6 in number ; Gilolo,
the most eastern and largest, which defines accord-
ingly the western boundary of the Pacific between
Mindanao and New Guinea ; and Ternate, Tidor,
Motir, Machian, and Bachian, a chain of smaller
islands which skirt the south-west side of Gilolo, of
one of which, however, Ternate, the Sultan is con-
sidered the chief native prince in the whole group,
the principal part of Gilolo being subject to him.
On this island the chief Dutch factory is also esta-

»,v

131

blished ; established, however, rather for political
than commercial views, the Dutch discouraging all
sort of trade to these islands, and even subsidizing
the native princes to induce them to extirpate the
nutmeg trees within their dominions. In this sin-
gular policy they have not, however, been success-
ful altogether, the wild nutmegs of Ternate and
Gilolo vying even with the finest cultivated
produce of Banda ; and the other islands are re-
markable almost equally with them for the richness
and fertility of their soil. — The Banda islands, which
lie nearly south of the Moluccas, are also 6 in num-
ber, viz. Neira, the seat of government, Lonthoir,
or Banda Proper, Pulo-way, Pulo-run, Rosingin,
and Gunung-api ; this last uninhabited, and con-
taining a volcano constantly emitting smoke and
even flame. The Banda Islands have few or no na-
tive inhabitants; the Dutch, on taking possession of
them, having, with a barbarous policy, nearly ex-
terminated the existing population. Their climate
is unhealthy, and their soil in general sandy and
arid, producing only nutmegs in abundance, the
culture of that spice being confined, by Dutch po-
licy, to this group ; and the inhabitants are ac-
cordingly dependent for subsistence entirely on the
resources of importation from Java, Celebes, &c.
Lastly, the Amboyna Islands are 12 in number, of
which Amboyna, Ceram, and Bouro, are the lar-

I f I'

ill

Iff

V>mim

13'2

n< '

gust and most important. To Amboyna is con-
fined exclusively the culture of the clove spice j
cxtiipators, as they are called, being regularly sent
annually to all the other islands to destroy the trees ;
for their consent to which operation, the native
Sultans here, as in the Moluccas, are subsidized.
The Amboyna Islands are uniformly mountainous
and woody ; the interior of all, except Amboyna,
being inhabited by native tribes, of whom various
ridiculously fabulous stories are told, leaving only
the general impression, that they are fierce and
cruel, and accordingly, little known. The soil of
the whole is unfavourable to the growth of rice, the
great esculent grain of the eastern world ; the ci-
vilized inhabitants are accordingly dependent on
importations from Java for this chief article of their
subsistence. The natives have, however, an ex-
cellent substitute in the pith of the sago tree, which
grows abundantly throughout the interior of near-
ly all the islands in the Archipelago, and which is
accordingly much in use as bread throughout the
whole.

No minerals of value are anywhere mentioned as
having been found in the Spice Islands. Fish are
abundant, and of great variety of species, along their
shores ; and their chief quadrupeds are deer and
wild hogs. Snakes are very numerous, but do-
mesticanimals exceedingly rare j insomuch so, that

133

their flesn is only seen at the tables of the richest
whites.

Celebes. — North-west of the Spice Islands lies the
extensive and important island of Celebes, stretch-
ing out from 7° south latitude to 4" north, but of
so irregular a shape, no idea of its size can possi-
bly be given by a mere enunciation of the limits,
east and west, to which it extends. It is formed
by four peninsulas, enclosing three deep gulfs open
to the eastward ; and on the west, it is separated,
in about 129" east of Greenwich, from Borneo by
the Straits of Macassar, so well known in the na-
vigation of these seas. On the south-west point of
the island is situate the Dutch settlement of Ma-
cassar, maintained by means of all sorts of intrigues
among the native princes, who are divided into
two great nations, the Bugguesses and Macassars,
and are considered the bravest and most enterpris-
ing among all the Malay tribes. The Bugguesses,
so named from Bugguess, or Long Bay, along the
shores of which they are settled, or Bugis, as they
are also called, are peculiarly noted for the exten-
sive commercial intercourse which they maintain
throughout the whole Archipelago, from the Gulf
of Carpentaria in New Holland, where they go
to fish for tripang, or sea slug, on the one hand ;
to Pulo Penang in the Straits of Malacca, and Ba-
tavia, on the other. The Macassars are rather war-

Jl'

134.

like than commercial, but are, on the whole, a
handsomer and more generous race tlian the others.
They were also once much superior in political im-
portance among themselves to the Bugguesses ; but
the wars in which they have been constantly en-
gaged, througli the insidious macliinations of their
Dutch neighbours, have thinned their numbers
and diminished their power. Both tribes are sub-
divided into many lesser parties.

The island of Celebes is in general mountain-
ous, and there are many volcanoes in its interior
in a state of eruption ; but the coasts present a
smiling appearance of perpetual verdure and rich
cultivation. Rice is especially grown in great
abundance, forming not only the food of the in-
habitants themselves, but exported, in large quan-
tities, from Macassar to the Spice Islands, where,
as has been seen, it is entirely wanting. The ibland
abounds, moreover, in all the tropical fruits, and
its list of minerals k extensive and valuable ; gold
mines existing, particularly in the northern penin-
sula, and copper, iron, crystals, and sulphur,
abounding among the interior mountains of all.
One or two pearl fisheries are found along its shores,
and considerable quantities of amber are also wash-
ed up by the sea against them. Buffaloes, wild
hugs, deer, goats, and sheep, are reared in the

U:'

V-:

135

the

interior forests and plains, where also are found
many species of monkies, serpents, &c.

Borneo. — North-west of Celebes, and separated
from it, as has been seen, by the Straits of Ma-
cassar, lies the vast island of Borneo, the largest
in the whole Archipelago, and, next to New Hol-
land, the most extensive also in the world. It is
comprised between the parallels of 4* south and T
north latitude, and between 1 19" and 109" east lon-
gitude from Greenwich ; and thus situate, is fur-
ther separated to the south, from Java and the
Sunda Islands, by the Straits of Madura, anil to
the north-west lies open to the extended Chinese
Sea. The Dutch possess a small fort and factory on
the south side at Banjarmassing ; but their influence
does not extend far into the interior, the Sul-
tan of Borneo, as the chief native prince is called,
whose territories and capital (Borneo) are on the
north side of the island, being quite independent,
and even formidable. The total native population is
estimated at three millions ; besides which, there
are said to be upwards of 200,000 Chinese settlers
in the island, who are nearly altogether independ-
ent of the native chiefs.

The interior of Borneo is also mountainous, but
the sea coasts are low, swampy, and exuberantly
productive. The climate is sultry and unwhole-
some, the periodical rains inundating the whole

156

coast during certain months, and producing, on the
return of dry weather, the most noxious exhalations.
The coasts are uniformly well wooded, the clove,
nutmeg, pepper, gum dragon, camphire, and ben-
zoin trees in an especial manner abounding ; and
the rich minerals of the interior complete a list of
native productions unrivalled in value and abun-
dance by any other island in the world. Gold and
diamonds are the most valuable of these last arti-
cles, the former being found in great abundance,
and of very superior touch, the latter of great size,
but somewhat inferior water to those of Indostan.
Elephants, tigers, very large wild oxen, wild hogs,
and a species of water deer which grows to a great
size among the marshes, are the animals of chief
note in its interior. Pearl oysters are md along
some of its shores, and iish are abu .^t in the
neighbouring seas.

Sunda Islands. — South of Borneo and Celebes
runs a long and narrow chain of islands, extending
east and west from 124° to 105° east longitude, but
from north to south comprised between 6" and lOo
south latitude. The principal islands in this chain
are Java, Madura, Sumbava, Flores, and Timor ;
the first the chief seat of the Dutch in these seas,
the last divided between them and the Portuguese,
who have a small settlement, Delly, or Delil, on its
north-west coast. The intermediate islands are no-

i!,;i

•i* » v.

137

IS,

Its
lo-

niinally Dutch, but are not otherwise possessed by
that people than by the occupation of some detach-
ed torts to keep the native princes in awe. They are
all rich and fruitful, growing great quantities of rice,
most of which is exported, through the agency of
the Malay and Chinese proas, from the adjoining
spice islands. Horned cattle and horses are abun-
dant among them, and a considerable export of both
is also maintained ; the tropical fruits aie also
found in great profusion and variety, but amidst
islands teeming for the most part with every differ-
ent species of these productions, there can be no
export of them from any one point.

To return, however, to Java, which merits a more
particular account, it is long and narrow, extend-
ing 250 leagues east and west, by about 45 north
and south, and is separated from Sumatra to the
north-west by the well known Straits of Sunda, the
direct and most frequented passage between the
Indian and Chinese seas, and which at the narrow-
est point do not exceed five leagues in width.
Within these straits is situate Batavia, the cele-
brated emporium of Dutch oriental commerce, and
the residence of the Governor-general of their east-
ern dominions^ From this point they extend their
influence in a degree over the whole island, the
nearest native princes being altogether tributary

•I

138

and dependent, and even the most remote rather
asserting than maintaining their freedom and inde-
pendence.

The south coast of Java is mo?mtainous and pre-
cipitous, whence, however, the island gradually
slopes down to the northward, and for some leagues
within the north coast is nearly quite level and
marshy. Many rivers traverse it thus in nearly
its whole breadth, but none of them are fitted for
the purposes of navigation, their mouths being uni-
formly interrupted by shallow mud bars, and their
currents diverted in the interior to irrigate the rice
plantations. The soil throughout the whole south-
ern districts is eminently rich and productive, and
the most abundant rice harvests repay an agricul-
ture in which little labour but that of irrigation is
bestowed. The other principal vegetable produc-
tions are pepper, of which the chief growth is in
the kingdom of Bantam on the west coast, cam-
phire, cassia, rattans, cotton, sugar, coffee, &c. with
a variety of fine gums, procured by bleeding the
corresponding trees, which are found of nearly
every tropical species in its forests. The most va-
luable sorts of timber are the teak, of which the
suppl;^ would seem nearly inexhaustible, iron wood,
manchineel, ebony, sassafras, sandal, aloes wood,
&c. The finest fruits complete an enumeration
which, were it earned to minute particulars, would

» 1 ' v.";

139

comprise nearly every thing most valued among
tropical productions.

Sumatra. — Across the Straits of Sun da lies the
extensive island of Sumatra, the western boundary
of the Chinese seas, and which doubling behind
the peninsula of Malacca, from which it is sepa-
rated by the well known Straits of the same name,
would seem scarcely to belong to a summary which
professes to be confined rigidly to the shores of the
Pacific Ocean. It is usual, however, to include it
in the enumeration with those islands which we
have already considered in the Chinese Sea, and
the few words which I now propose to bestow on
it, may not therefore be considered as foreign to
my purpose. It is comprised between the paral-
lels of 6° south and 5^ 20' north latitude, and nms
north-west and south-east, with a medium breadth
of about 180 miles. Its eastern coast is claimed in
sovereignty by the Dutch, who have a fort and fac-
tory at Palembang at the mouth of a navigable
river, carrying l6 and 18 feet water a considerable
way up the country. The west coast of the island
is in like manner claimed by the English, wlio have
the settlement of Bencoolen, nearly directly oppo-
site Palembang, and wuhin a day*s journey of the
source of its river. But the pretensions of the one
and of the other are nearly equally unfounded, the
Sumatrans of even the immediately contiguous dis-

140

tricts to Palembang and Bencoolen being nearly
altogether independent of their authority. The
English settlers labour besides under a disadvantage
from which the Dutch, as we have seen, are exempt,
that, viz. of having selected an extremely inconve-
nient point for all their embarkations, the road of
Bencoolen being quite open to the westerly mon-
soons.

A lofty chain of mountains, sometimes double
and even treble, crosses Sumatra in its whole length,
approaching within 1 2 miles of the western, but re-
ceding nearly 100 from the eastern coast ; and be-
tween the ridges which compose its summits exten-
sive longitudinal plains are found, reminding us of
those between the Cordilleras of the Andes, where
an abundant vegetation and most salubrious cli-
mate crown the labours of the industrious husband-
man with the most ample returns. The coasts on
either side are low, swampy, and unhealthy, cover-
ed with wood, but when cleared, eminently pro-
ductive in all the most choice and valuable tropi-
cal produce. The principal articles of vegetable
export are pepper, camphire, caissia, cotton, vege-
table gums, teak, ebony, sassafras, sandal, and aloes
word, mauv^hineel, &c. and with them, in the native
woods, are blended every variety of the choicest
tropical fruits. The chief mineral productions are
gold, copper, block tm, iron, coal, &c. Elephants

141

lierd together in immense droves in the interior fo-
rests, and frequently do great damage b;^ merely
walking over the plantations ; the rhinoceros, tiger,
and hippopotamus, complete the enumeration of
tormidable animals ; wild hogs, and deer of several
species, (one of which, the hog-deer, yields the
bezoar,) with many varieties oi' monkies, &c. &c.
are abundantly found also in the woods.

We have now summarily traced all the most im-
portant islands in this vast Archipelago, two only
remaining, deserving some little particular notice.
The first, Banka, lies off the east coast of Suma-
tra, opposite Palembang, separated from it by the
narrow Straits of Banka. It is especially noted for
its inexhaustible stores of tin, which were discover-
ed only in I7IO, and which produce annually
300,000 lbs. of metal, without sensible diminution.
Some copper is also found in it. The next island,
Pulo Penang, or Prince of Wales* Island, is re-
markable, not so mucli tor its own produce, as for
being the staple mart for the v iiole British trade
with the Malays. It is situate wiiiiin the .Straits of
Malacca, and possesses a most excellent harbour,
with 14i fathoms water in most places, ami no where
less than 4, even on the mud bank whicli protects
it to the northward, to which point alone it lies
open. The town, named George Town, is regu-
larly built, and healthily situat ^ j and a building

'■» i

142

yard, in which ships of 1000 tons burthen have
been constructed, attests the attention of the East
India Company to improve its natural advantages
to the uttermost. It has one serious disadvantage,
however, as an entrepot ; it is too remote from
the principal sources of native traffic, and is in this
decidedly inferior to Batavia, its great rival in the
Malay trade.

Commerce. --^In treating of the several islands,
and groups of islands, which have necessarily pas-
sed under review in this article, I have studiously
avoided any allusion to the extensive traffic main-
tained by them, desirous to condense under one
head all the information on this topic, with which
the public has any where been favoured. To that
task I now proceed ; and shall commence with a
general enumeration of the chief articles of native
produce exported by these islands, and of which I
shall only subsequently speak in the most general
terms. These are gold dust, rough diamonds, ivo-
ry, tin, tutenague, tripang, or sea slug, edible bird's
nests, bees m ax, dammer, (a resin used all over In-
dia in the composition of pitch,) rice, rattans, shark's
fins ami maws, (a dainty for Chinese tables,) terra
ja])onica, pepper, dragon's blood, camphire, are-
ca nuts, sago, cloves and nutmegs, balachang,
benzoin, copper, eagle, sandal, aloes, and other
cabinet woods, and vegetable oils of many sorts and
varieties. These are not, as we have seen, all pro-

Ln-

143

duced alike in every island ; but these and even
more, for a minute enumeration is not pretended,
are meant, when I shall have occasion in future,
to allude to the varied produce of those islands.

The trade of the whole Arcliipelago will be most
distinctly elucidated, by dividing it under the se-
veral heads of domestic traffic, trade with the Pa-
cific Ocean, with China, with the Hindu Chinese
nations, as Dr. Ley den terms them, resident be-
tween China and Bengal, with India, with the
Gulfs of Persia and Arabia, and round the Cape
of Good Hope. For in so many directions does
their varied traffic diverge. Its value, under each
particular head, will be attempted to be conjectur-
ed, according to the data with which we may be
supplied ; only fuither now observing in general,
that the whole population of the Archipelago is
probably under-stated at twenty millions, Borneo,
Celebes, and Java, alone giving ten, according to
the best surmise of their respective historians. Of
these, more than one half may be considered as
opulent and luxurious consumers, well supplied
with the necessary equivalents their own native
produce, able and willing, accordingly, to indulge
in every foreign gratification, whether of clothing
or of food. Add to this, that their climate is va-
riable, their respective islands being for the most
part mountainous, and their interior accordingly

144.

cool, sometimes even cold, although so near the
equator. These last considerations more peculiarly
apply to the trade in woollens, maintained with
them by English and Dutch merchants ; but they
are better placed here than under that particular
hc^ad, as they indirectly also influence that exten-
siv<3 trade with China and British India in cotton
goods, which it will be seen that they maintain.

1. Domestic Commerce. — The domestic commerce
of the Archipelago is principally in the hands of
the Bugguesses or Bugis, (the Malay natives of Ce-
lebes,) and of the Chinese settlers, who are dissemi-
nated throughout the whole. It consists in the
exchange of their several commodities, particular-
ly rice, which, as it is in universal demand, and
only grows in the western islands, Celebes, Bor-
neo, Java, &c. is almost every where a staple com-
modity. Freighted with this, and some other ar-
ticles, particularly Chinese cottons, the Bugguess
and Chinese traders leave their hemes with the
westerly monsoons, and having made the tour of
the eastern islands, as far even as New Guinea in
the Pacific, and the Gulf of Carpentaria in New
Holland, off which coasts they fish also for tripang ;
they either proceed finally to Sooloo, where they
dispose of the cargo which they may have accumu-
lated, for Chinese wares, suited to their own market,
or to Batavia, when the north-east monsoon sets in,

ii/i

K 'V*;

14j

there to meet their European customers. The ex-
tent of this desultory traffic is incredible; it may be
surmised, however, from the fact, that not less than
2000 tons of Malay proas leave annually the port
of Macassar alone on these expeditions, and a still
greater, but uncertain number, it is well known,
sail from Bugguess or Boni Bay. The Chinese en-
gaged in them are those chiefly of Borneo and
Sooloo.

2. Commerce with the Pacific, — The commerce of
the Archipelago with the Pacific, is confined exclu-
sively to the port of Manilla, whence two annual
ships sail for Acapulco and Lima, the one public
property, the other belonging to the Philippine
Company. The export cargoes of each are assort-
ed in nearly the same proportions ; four-fifths Chi-
nese produce, raw and manufactured silks, &c. the
remainder in the more valuable spices, and some
Bengal cloths. The \'alue of the Acapulco ships,
as we have elsewhere seen, is limited by law to
500,000 dollars, but generally amounts to 2,000,000;
that of the second is indefinite, but does not average
above half as much. They are both depressed by
heavy import duties in America, not however both
in the same proportion, those levied at Acapulco
being 33 per cent, ad valorem^ and at Lima only
18 ; the duty on the returns, which consist almost
exclusively of specie, being at both 6. But they

! I-

' k

U()

«('' ^

. J

i> >

are still more kept down, by the multiplied regula-
tions which confine each in particular channels, to
be entered only by Spanish subjects ; these latter,
at Manilla, being in a pecidiar manner infected
witli that listless apathy and indifference towards
commercial speculation, which has so long been a
leading feature in the Spanish national character.

3. Commerce with China. — This is almost entire-
ly engrossed by Dutch, English, and still more than
either, gr even both, by the Chinese themselves,
■whose junks swarm throughout the whole Archipe-
lago. Of tlie varied produce of its islan^ls, every
article is suited to the Chinese markets, while
some, as tripang, shark's fins and maws, bird's nests,
&c. in these alone find a sale.

The trade of the Archipelago with China, main-
tained by the Dutch and English, is only by the
way ; the ships of the one touching at Batavia, the
other at Pulo Penang, on their pa »age from Hol-
land or India to Canton, and there taking in what-
ever their respective agents may have by them of
island produce suited for that market. That main-
tained by the Chinese themselves is much more ex-
tensive, and centres principally at Emouy, although
extendmg both north and w^est, as far as Nankin
and Canton. Their principal rendezvous points
among the islands are Sooloo and Batavia, wheie
their imports consist for the most part of coarse

-^•Cjfr'

silks, cottons, parasols, iron culinary instruments,
gongs,* &c. The returns, in all the varied pro-
duce of the Archipelago, circulate through China,
and from Ning-po reach even Japan, where the
demand for some of the articles, particularly am-
bergris, birds* nests, elephants' teeth, spices, cam-
phire, and tortoise-shell, is always much beyond
the means of supply which that jealous people ad-
mit into their ports.

4. Commerce mth the Hindu-Chtnesef the natives^
viz, of Tonquifi, Cochin-Climax CambodiOy Siam, Ma-
lacca, <§'c. — The trade with these several nations is
divided between the Chinese settlers and Bug-
guesses ; the former engrossing that with the two
first, the more easterly tribes conterminous with
their own empire ; the latter that with the last.
They each leave the islands with assorted cargoes ;
the Chinese towards the end of the easterly mon-
soon, at the entire tei-mination of which, when they
have concluded their traffic, they proceed to their
own ports with cargoes of rice, salt, areca nuts,
&c. received in exchange, together with teak junks,
in building which the Cochin-Chinese are allowed
a superiority over them. The Bugguess merchants,

* For the proportion in which a Chinese junk is generally
laden with articles suited for the island market, and for a mi-
nute list of these articles themselves^ see Forrest's Voyage to
New 0uinea, p. 325.

(

118

i\ '\

on the other hand, quit the islands at the very be-
ginning of tlie same monsoon, and trade coastways
to the westward, concluding their voyages at Pulo
Penang, where they dispose of the cargoes which
they may have accumulated, for the English cloths,
India cottons, opium, &c. with which that market
is always plentifully supi)lied from Calcutta and
Madras. The value of this last branch of trade
may be surmised from the fact, that not less than
half a million of dollars in bullion are left annually
at Pulo Penang by these desultory traders, in ex-
change for the single article of opium, for which
there is a constant demand among their native
islands.

5. Commerce with India. — While Java was in our
possession, the commerce of the Archipelago with
India was divided between the two ports of Bata-
via and Pulo Penang : since its restoration, how-
ever, to the Dutch, it will doubtless have reverted
to its original channel, the last mentioned, viz. of
these two places. Its mode of prosecution has been
anticipated in the preceding article, in which the
desultory traffic of the Malays has been seen to ter-
minate at Pulo Penang, where they complete re-
turn cargoes of those supplies in demand at their
native ports, particularly English broad cloths,
Bombay, Madias, and Bengal piece goods, iron and
steel manufactures, opium, &c. The united va-

KN*v

141)

lues are nearly as follows : Bombay imports an-
nually into Pulo Penang for about L..SO,(X)0 in
goods, and exports for about L. 00,000; Madras
imports for about L. 120,000, and exports for about
L. 80,000; and Bengal imports for about 270,000,
and exports for nearly L. 110,000; the respective
balances being paid in specie. Besides this, a
circulation has been always maintained with Bata-
via also, amounting to about L. 70,000 ; but, with
the exception of a little opium from Calcutta,
their exports at this point have been almost con-
stantly paid for by the English in specie, except
during the sliort interval when Java was in our
hands, when this vent for our Indian and Eng-
lish manufactures was very great indeed. The dif-
ference in the amount of returns was principally
made up in teak wood, of which not less than
10,000 tons were shipped, un wrought, during the
short period in which this extended intercourse was
maintained, besides about 8000 tons of shipping
constructed on British account. Whether this
most advantageous traffic to both parties be now
altogether superseded, or whetlier it is only dimi-
nished and restricted by the re-occupation of Java
by its former masters, isy I believe, as yet unknown
in this country.

6. Commerce with the Persian and Arahia7i Gulfs,
— The direct trade of the Archipelago with the
Persian and Arabian markets is extremely minutCi

150

M ^

H \

ami is maintained principally through the agency
of Arab merchants, who, besides the profits on tiieir
cargoes of dried fruits, salt, Mocha coftee, gold,
elephants* teetli, &c. exchanged for island produce,
derived also a certain advantage from the passage
of pilgrims to and from the holy cities of Mecca
and Medina, previous to their destruction by the
Wahabees in 1801<. But tiie indirect trade main-
tained still by the English of Bombay, the Por-
tuguese of Mozambique, and formerly also by the
Dutch at Surat, is much more considerable. Mus-
cat, a port nearly at the extreme southern point of
the peninsula of Arabia, has been now long de-
clared a free port by the policy of Uie Imaum, as
the native prince is styled, to whom it is subject.
Hither, accordingly, European vessels almost ex-
clusively repair ; and from this point tlie spices, ind
other produce of the Indian Archipelago, cl ca-
late, together with its continental produce and ma-
nufactures, in the Arabian trankeys, as the native
coasting vessels are called, along all the shores of
Persia, Arabia, and Abyssinia, in the Gulf of
Persia, and in the Red Sea.

7. Commerce round the Cape ofCwdHope,'^
The commerce of the Indian Archipelago round
the Cape of Good Hope is engrossed by the Eng-
lish, Spanish, Dutch, and American traders. The

emporium of the lirst is, as we have already seen,
6

fcib

--.-.♦•

151

1 ulo Penang, whence the jjiothice of the islands
finds its way through Calcutta, Madras, and Bom-
bay, in small quantities only to the home markets;
that of the second is Manilla ; of the third, Buta-
via and Amhoyna ; the last only, viz. the Ameri-
cans, trafficking about in person throughout the
whole Archipelago, doing that themselves which
the others entrust to the Malay traders. The Spa-
nish share in the whole trade is very minute, never
Iiaving exceeded two annual ships, and having been,
besides, now long interrupted by the convulsions
of the parent state. Twenty-five years ago, the
Dutch share v/as infinitely the most considerable,
and the jealousy with which they guarded their
monopoly is familiar to every reader. Since that
period, however, their possessions in these seiis
have all for a time changed masters ; and although
they are now again restored, and the attempt has
been made to replace every thin"" '>n its former
footing, the wheels of the mighty machine have
been found, it is said, to be rusted ; and the mo-
nopoly of trade claimed by their company, to be a
monopoly of loss instead of gain. Report adds,
that it will accordingly be thrown open ; and it i&
then only that it will become truly formidable to
us, and profitable to its new masters. It has been
already remarked, tJiat as an emporium, Batavia is
nearer and more convenient to the Malay nier-

152

chants than Pulo Penang ; and so sensibte were we
of thi! fact, that when Java was in our hands, we
actually transferred thither the greater part of our
whole connections with these islands, abandoning
our own national emporium, Pulo Penang, as com-
paratively insignificant. The consequence was,
that Batavia became even a more confirmed em-
porium than before ; and although it is very )K)s-
sible, that should it continue confined, as hereto-
fore, exclusively to the use of the Dutcli conipa-
n) , the advantages of free trade may easily recal
the Malay merchants to Penang ; yet if, on the
other hand, it should also be declared free, then
will this latter have little or no chance in the
competition. Perliaps there is nothing so mvch
wanted by us in these seas — the observation is not
original, I quo+c it almost verbatim from a very
recent publication—as a nearer and more centra)
emporium among the oriental islands, possessing
the sani3 advantages of 'accommodation with our
owri Pulo Penang.

Before quitting the subject of the commerce of
these islands, I would notice the very scandalous
license allowed to the freebooters and pirates who
lurk among their several groups, particularly about
the east coast of Sumatra, Banka, Bally j among
the Sunda and Sooloo Islands, about Mindanao, and
among ihe LacUone Islands on the coast of China.

iJrtWKBt"*:i_:

...<ni»w#«.t||||Af|f

153

These ruffians embark in proas carrying 20 men eacli,
withScamage guns, six or twelve-pounders, and wall
pieces, muskets, &c. They assemble sometimes
in fleets of 200 sail, and respect neither property
nor life ; generally murdering Europeans and Chi-
nese who fall into their hands, and stripping and
selling Malays for slaves. These are the fellows
who besieged the remnant of the Alceste's people
wrecked in the Straits of Gaspar ; and by such al-
so is that trading intercourse which we have con-
templated among the islands, harassed and inter-
rupted. Surely their chastisement and dispersion
would be a worthy exercise of that maritime power,
of which Great Britain is at once so jealous and so
proud.

"'J

NEW SOUTH WALES.

Directly south of the Indian Archipelago lies
the vast i^Uind or continent of New Holland, the
easterm or Pacific Ocean coast of which was first
traced and delineated in its whole extent by Cap-
tain Cook, and by him named New South Wales.
In this arti'dc, I shall first notice its limits and na-
tive produce, and then consider the English colo-
ny established in it somewhat more in detail.

uWwtpv,.-^

154*

I. The north and south boundaries of New South
Wales are Torres Straits on the one hand, which
separate it, in about 10" south latitude, from the
Indian Archipelago j and on the other. Bass's
Straits, which, in 39° south, divide it from Van
Diemen's Land, the last and concluding point of
the broken chain of islands which define the west-
ern boundary of the Pacific Ocean, and separate
it from the Indian Seas. Its extreme eastern point.
Cape Moreton, is situate in 153** Si/ east longi-
tude from Greenwich ; end his Majesty's commis-
sion to the governor of the English colony extends
his authority to the westward as far as 135° east.
This western boundary is, however, a mere illu-
sion. A lofty chain of mountains travers^is the
whole island from north to south, at an irregular
distance of from 40 to GO miles from the east coast ;
and by this barrier accordingly, till within the last
two years, the extension of English dominion to
the westward had been constantly opposed. It was
then at last overcome by the zeal and perseverance
of one of the colonial officers, fertile plains have
been discovered, and a magnificent river, gently
flowing to the westward, has been named after the
governor. General Macquarrie, at whose instiga-
tion tiie attempt had been made, and who had in
person witnessed its success. The 135th parallel
will now be equally illusory, on the other hand,

Id5

This river will be probably soon traced to its
mouth ; and if found navigable in its whole extent,
the English flag will equally wave, and her domi-
nion be equally asserted, on the west as on the
east coast. The discovery will be indeed a most
important one, in every point of view, both for the
improvement of our own commercial speculations,
and for the defence of our eastern trade against fo-
reign machination. The west coast of New Hol-
land is for the most part placed within that current
of westerly winds which prevails in all the high
latitudes, whether north or south, and which is in-
dependent of that variation in seasons and mon-
soons, by which the navigation of the Indian Ar-
chipelago is facilitated in some respect?, but embar-
rassed in others. A military position witliin its li-
mits is accordingly desirable, from the facility with
which at all seasons it may be communicated with,
as well as from the command which it derives, from
its proximity and bearing, over the navigation both
of the Straits of Sunda, and of that exterior pas-
sage to the southward of Java by which the port
of Canton is sought, when the favourable monsoon
has been lost for the more direct course, Such a
point it may not be very material for us to occupy
ourselves, our maritime ascendancy being, for the
present at least, adequate to all demands of pro-
tection ; but it is most exceedingly iniportant tltat

156

it should not be possessed by any other ; and the
hope that the discovery of the magnitude of the
Macquarrie in the interior may liave stimulated to
its indefatigable investigation quite to its termina-
tion, gives thus a dignity and importance to these
labours of our colonial brethren, v/hich the mere
discovery of a new tract of country, however rich
or fertile, could not certainly possess without these
associations.

To return to New South Wales however, from
which these remarks are some deviation. It pre-
sents, as may be expected in a country comprising
so many degrees of latitude within its limits, a very
considerable diversity both in quality of soil and
character of a egetable produce ; a diversity which
seems to be whimsically opposite to what is gene-
rally remarked, the tropical portions of it being
strikingly more sterile and unproductive than those
situate in the higher latitudes. In coasting along
from Cape York, its north-eastern extremity, to
Cape Moreton, a harsh and rocky coast is only di-
versified by shifting sandy plains, salt morasses
overgrown with mangroves, and a thinly wooded
mountainous interior, the principal trees of which
are the red gum and a species of pine resembling
the alerse wood found on the opposite shores of
South America, and considerably harder and hea-
vier than those of a colder clime. From Cape More-

157

ton southwards the aspect of the country sensibly
improves, and the vicinity cf the English settle-
ments has been found suitable to tiie culture of
nearly every species of esculent grain, as well as
of the finest tropical and temperate region fruits.
Scarcely any of these are however indigenous in the
country, and exclusive of that n.ultitude and varie-
ty of shrubs and plants which procured for Botany
Bay its peculiar appellation, the whole seems near-
ly altogether deficient in original vegetable produce
of either positive or relative value to the commer-
cial world. Of the several species of timber may
be named however an oak, the bark of which is said
to possess peculiarly superior properties for the
purposes of tanning ; and very good pines and ce-
dars are also stated in the usual enumeration of tlie
resources of the English colony in the way of trade.
No minerals of value have been discovered ; coal
alone is found in abundance, and wrought to a suf-
ficient extent to cover the whole domestic demand,
and even to admit of some trifling export. Sper-
maceti and black or blubber whales are found in
abundance along the coast ; and a great many most
beautiful varieties of the parrot and pigeon tribe,
with the emu or cassiowary, black swan, eagles, he-
rons, hawks, &c. swarm in tlie interior forests.
Very few species of quadrupeds have ever been
found among them however, and of them all only

It^

\ I

1.5S

the kangaroo possesses a fur of sufficient value to
form an article of profitable export.

The natives of New South Wales rank particu-
larly low in the enumeration of the human species,
and have withstood moreover nearly every attempt
which has been made by the English settlers to huma-
nize them. Sullen, ferocious^ and revengeful, they
cling to their original habits with a pertinacity evi-
dently the fruit rather of obstinacy than of stupi-
dity, for they are very good mimics, and readily
seize and expose any characteristic foible or singu-
larity in those with whom they converse. They go
about nearly in a state of nature, although their cli-
mate is by no means a warm one ; and subsist
chiefly on fish, which they catch with the spear, in
the use of which they display very considerable ad-
dress. This address they are however too fond of
exhibiting on other occasions; and it has been
ac Jtely observed by a much lamented and hardly-
used navigator, the late Captain Flinders, that to
the habits of solitary existence, and to the confi-
dence in their individual dexterity which they ac-
quire from this method of procuring their food,
may be traced much of tliat ferocity for which they
are distinguished. Having said so much of its evil
consequences, it would be unfair to close this sketch
of tlie character of tliese native tribes without ad-
verting also to that judicial combat or duel which

V k*'-

159

so remarkably distinguishes them from every other
race of savages with which we are acquainted, and
which may be traced to the same cause. When
one of their number is accused of any crime, as
murder or otherwise, of sufficient importance to in-
terest a number in its punishment, he is not imme-
diately sacrificed to their resentment, however vio-
lently that may be excited, but is challenged by
them to a combat in the presence of some neigh-
bouring tribes. At the appointed time he appears
before his judges and antagonists, armed with a
spear and round buckler such as they usually wear,
and is required to stand the united discharge at
the same moment of the spears of all his accusers.
Such are the dexterity and quickness which cha-
racterise nearly all of them however, it is not un-
common for a champion, thus placed, to escape
either altogether unhurt or verj^ slightly wounded,
and he is thus secure from the future open ven-
geance at least of his antagonists, being deemed to
have expiated his offence by this perilous exhibi-
tion of activity and skill.

II. Of the peculiar object and piupose for which
an English colony was first established in New
South Wales, it is not necessary to speak at length ;
it is sufficiently well known, that it was intended to
serve as a place of reception for such felons as might
be deemed suitable objects of conditional forgive-

IGO

I (

iiess ; the punishment due to wliose offences might
accordingly be commuted into periods of exile,
during which it was hoped, not only that their la-
bours might be made productive to the public, but
also that measures might be taken for the gradual
and effectual reformation of their own evil propen-
sities. Such a purpose was most laudable in its
pursuit, and tlie interest which accompanied the
earlier progress of the experiment, is attested in
some measure by the numerous minute publications
which for a time placed the events of every suc-
cessive day at Paramatta and Sydney Cove fami-
liarly before the eyes of the British public at home.
Some little disapprobation was however at length
expressed by political economists ; disapprobation
partly suggested by the striking want of success
which seemed to attend the whole experiment as
far as its object was reformation not punishment,
and partly by the very obvious impolicy of some of
the measures of administration resorted to by the
colonial government. Since that time the chronicle
of New South Wales has been shut up, public at-
tention and curiosity have acquired different direc-
tions, and the individual inquirer who would now
wish to trace the connection between cause and ef-
fect in political administration, is here at least left
completely in the dark, and can only guess at the
present state of this interesting colony by dint of

16)

.J,

considerations regarding its former condition, and
the probable consequences of more modern im-
provements. The latest minute information we
possess, indeed, only bears the date of 1810, being
contained in a very masterly report made by a
committee of the House of Commons in 1812; be-
sides which a gentleman of the name of Mann, who
held at one time an official situation in the colony,
pubhshed, on his return to England, a very well di-
gested summary of its state in 1809» when he left
it. To these a very recent publication has added
a short notice of the alterations made in 1812, in
some parts of the constitution, by which the colony
was administered, together with long extracts from
the Sydney Gazette, illustrative of the habits,
public feeling, and amusements of that town. But
in this last compilation a lamentable silence is
maintained as to the chief fact of which we should
be curious. What are now the habits and general
state of morals among the convicts ? Do they for
the most part reform, or do they still persist in those
acts of desperate and uncontrollable wickedness
which characterize so painfully the earlier history
of the establishment ? These are the points on
which we want information ; they are points, too,
into which it might again be worthy of our repre-
sentatives in Parliament to inquire ; the rather as
every reasoning by induction and analogy would

--M..^^.

ih ■'

16«

seem to contradict the hope in which we wouUl yet
gladly indulge, that a favourable and satisfactory
answer would reward the investigation.

In considering the whole subject with which the
mention of this colony is almost inseparably con-
nected, I propose to deviate from the rigid plan on
which I have conducted this summary, in every
other point of the limits which it embraces. I shall,
first, endeavour to furnish a clue to the present
state of the colony of New South Wales, by a com-
parison of former statements with each other : I
shall then consider the political constitution under
which it was first administered, and the changes in-
troduced into it in 1812 : and I shall conclude by
giving my ren^ons for considering it nearly quite
certain, that the original and principal purpose of
its establishment — the reform as well as punish-
ment of convicts — is quite unattainable by any mo-
dification of which it is susceptible, and that the
whole subject most imperiously requires revision
and reconsideration, upon every principle of policy,
humanity, and even justice, which are all, I think,
outraged by the further maintenance of New South
Wales as a receptacle for the outcast felons, whom
we may deem it expedient to exile from their na-
tive land. I shall make no apology for entering
into the subject so largely in this place : it is one
of too much interest and importance, not to give

If 1.3

weight to even the humblest siij:;geslioiis whit li i\-
gai'il it.

1. Statistical Summary. — The English colony oC
New South Wales is accumulated between tlie rjoili
and 34th parallels of south latitude, and being con-
iined to the westwanl by the mountainous barrier
already noticed, contains in all only about 1 1<,(K)0
square miles of territory. These are divided into
two counties, Cumberhmd and Northumberland, of
which the 32d parallel is the common boundary ;
and contain four principal townships, Sydney and
Paramatta in Port Jackson, Hawkesbury or Rich-
mond, on the river of the former name, faUing into
Broken Bay ; and Newcastle, on the river Hunter,
joining the Pacific near the northern limit of the
colony, and traversing the principal coal district
within its bounds. The whole population, in 1809f
is stated by Mr. Mann to have consisted of {)35G
souls, of whom about GOOO were free settlers, the
remainder being on the public lists for rations, ei-
ther as civil and military servants of the crown, or
as convicts. In 1810, the population is generalk^
stated in the Parliamentary Report at 10,454. At
the same rate of increase, it may be deemed now
to exceed 20,000, of whom from 15 to 18,000 will
probably be free settlers, subsisting by their own
industry and exertion, a large proportion of them
indeed the descendants of convicts, not men who
have themselves incurred the penalties of the law.

< •

i 1

9 '

St^

KM-

Vegetable Productions^ Agriculture^ ^c.^It lias
been already noticed, that nearly all the esculent
grains and fruits return abundantly in this portion
of New South Wales. The following, then, is a
statement of the proportions in which, according
to Mr. Mann, they were cultivated in 1809: Wheat,
6887 acres ; maize, 3889 ; barley, 534 ; oats, f)2 ;
pease and beans, 10(); potatoes, 301 ; turnips, 13;
orchard ground, 53G ; flax, hemp, and hoj)s, 34.
The whole amount of ground in cultivation is 11,896
acres. The report for 1810 states generally the
whole similar amount to have then been ^1,000
acres in cultivation, and 74,000 in pasture. There
is imdoubtedly an inconsistency in these state-
ments ; this measure of increase being equally at
variance with that already noticed in the popula-
tion, and with that which is also furnished during
the same period in agricultural stock ;♦ but it is

* The following is the Statement of Stock within the same pe-
riods :

Date.

Horses.

Marcs.

Bulls.

Cows.

Oxfit.

Shrrp.

Goats.

1
SxLinc.

1809

1810

Difference

411
521

529
593

118
193

5115
G351

3771
4732

33.258
33,818

2975
1732

18.823
8,992

+ 110

+64

+75 +1236

+961

+560

—1243

—9,831

It may here be remarked^ that the diminution found in thtK

** " '" *< »|twgli 8»'*» 'nwi m i »

1G5

impossible to attempt to adjust or reconcile them by
mere surmise. It may be observed, lu)wever,tljat tbe
amount of lands in cultivation probably iio'v con-
siderably exceeds tiie pro[)ortion t'urnislied by the
medium of these numbers, viz. li acres per head;
inasmuch as the increased proportion of a free po-
pulation to that working and subsisting under bonds,
will increase the relative consumption ; and also as
there is now much more foreign intercourse main-
tained with the colony, than at those periods, when
a very opj)ressive system of mono})oly and restric-
tion was imposed on all mercantile pursuits within
its limits. There are probably now fully •1(),()()()
acres of land in constant cultivation in its whole
extent ; and indeed we may gatlier, from several
hints in the recent publication to which I ha\e al-
luded, (O'Hara's State of New South Wales) that
the demand for farms and settlements begins to
press on the governor's power of bestowing them
within the limits to which roads are as yet carried,
and which possess, accordingly, a ready intercoinse
with the chief settlement. This last, it must be
observed however, is a very uncertain measure of

Table in the number of goats, is acroimted for by the accompa-
nying assertion, that they were not found to thrive ; but hogs are
said to have answered well, and yet they are found to have de-
creased one half. Tliere must be some mistake in the original
figures.

'^nx

1(36

s'iV

jmprovement, being liable to almost indefinite nio-
(liiication, from local circumstances of* Sv)il, expo-
sure, means of communication, &c. with which wc
are not sufficiently acquainted to enable us to esti-
mate their value.

Means of Covimunication. — None of the rivers in
New South \^'ales are navigable ; such indeed are
tlie tremendous inundations to which they are lia-
ble, (the Hawkesbury, among others, averaging
70, and attaining sometimes 8.> and 8() leet per-
pendicular elevation above its usual le\ el,) that they
are incapable of being adapted geyierally to any
})uq)Ose of inland communicition. This however
is, notwithstanding, easy and commodious, very
good roads leaving been made in every direction
within the inhabited limits.

Of the numerous creeks and bays into which the
coast is broken, one only, Port Jackson, is open
k> external intercourse, the remainder being pro-
hibited from being entered by strangers, through
fear of the convicts effecting their escape. Port
Jackson is situate in 38° 47' south, and is a most
excellent and commodious port, carrying from 10
to 4 fathoms water alongside the wharfs oftlietown
of Sydney, and shooting up thence to Paramatta,
navigable for small craft cpiitc up to tliat settle-
ment. It is completely landlocked for some miles

^' <-^

■*"'■

'■^•^«^fii' '''•■^'^^•V

167

below Sydney, and before that town is at all time»
smooth and secure.

Mativfactures and Commerce. — In 1809, a system
of monopoly prevailed to such extent, as to have
enabled the merchants, it was said, to demand oc-
casionally as far as 1000 per cent, profit on their
European importations ; notwithstanding which,
such was the general insecurity of pro^vrty aris-
ing from the lawless state of the colony, the do-
mestic manufacliu'cs, in spite of every encourage-
ment which was given them, were also in a state of
utter inferiority and depression. In 1810, the firm-
er rule of the present governor, General Macquar-
rie, had already begun to produce some eftect i but
its operation, together with that of the greater fa-
cility subsequently afforded to importation from
Europe, has been ratlicr injurious perhaps to the
manufactures, which are still extremely coarse, and
consist exclusively of some flannel and Imen cloths,
the native flax employed in the latter being found,
however, of most excellent quality ; togeth«^r with
the preparation of leather, pottery, and salt, for
the domestic market, of kangaroo skins for ex-
portation, and of the coarse machinery, as wind
and water mills, &c. used in the agricultural la-
bours of the settlers. In ISIO, the conunerce was
still also very limited indeed, consisting principal-
ly of importations from England in thegovenunent

•I

i ■

ir';

! .. 1

'J '

\ I

168

transports, all other English vessels being exclud-
ed, unless under peculiar circumstances, by the
terms of the East India Company's charter ; toge-
ther with some direct trade with India, and some
occasional supplies obtained from an American with
an assorted cargo looking for a market, or from a
whaler prepared to purchase refreshments where-
ever she might touch, here as elsewhere, with equi-
valents suited to the anticipated demands. The
articles from England were principally public stores
for the use of the colony, with some private ven-
tures of haberdashery, &c. laid in by the crews of
the vessels conveying them ; those from India were
piece goods, spirits, and refuse European wares ;
while those finally procured from desultory visitors,
w ere chiefly articles of luxury, as superior sorts of
wearing apparel, wine, sweetmeats, &c. The sta-
ple returns were kangaroo skins, whale and seal
oil, and wool ; together with such articles of naval
equipment, as provisions, spars, coal, &c. as the
trading vessels themselves might require ; to which
sonic trifling and occasional traffic witli the islands
of the Pacific, added a small uncertain sup})l> of
sandal and other cabinet woods, chiefly bought uf),
together with the kangaroo skins, by the masters
of such transports as were subsequently bound to
Canton. The whole average value of tlie trade is
now iiere mentioned i it fijrms, indeed, a very ini-

169

portant desideratum in Mr. Mann's otherwise well
digested work, which, with this and some other ad-
ditions, would yet serve as an excellent model for
the labours of any other gentleman possessed of si-
milar opportunities of original information, and who
might choose to devote his time and talents to the
important purpose of supj)lying the gap now left in
our information respecting New South Wales.

Such, then, was the state of commerce and ma-
nufactures in this colony in 1810. Since that time,
although we have no minute details, we have been
frequently assured, through the medium of the
public prints, that both have progressively improv-
ed ; and we are in possession, indeed, of some facts,
which render this very certain in some degree. The
East India Company's charter has been relaxed,
within these few years, on this as on so many other
points, and the facilities of" comnumication with
England have been proportionally increased ; the
state of society in the immediate neighbourhood of
Sydney at least, has become gradually more stable
in its organization, new comers being now neces-
sarily exiled to the more remote settlements ; and,
lastly, the distinguished talents of Sir Lachlan
Macquarrie, testified in a great many difficult and
delicate situations, })articularly at the commence-
ment of his aihninistraticm, cannot have been al-
together without their effect. There are, however.

' J

I ■?

iV)

170

some other circumstances and considerations, which
somewhat contradict the flattering assertion ; in-
deed, there is a slight incongruity in its own terms,
which forbid us to give it impHcit beHef ; for it is
not very probable, that the domestic manufactures
would flourish in opposition to the increased com-
petition of home made articles, necessarily conse-
quent on an enlarged communication. The large
exportations of wool, but very lately announced,
would seem indeed to confirm, beyond question,
the surmise of their progressive decline ; but on this
surmise I shall not now insist : I shall again have
occasion to allude to it, when stating some other
reasons on which, it would appear to me, it may
vith even greater certainty be founded.

2. Political Consutution. — The government of
New South Wales is administered by a governor in
chief, to whom are also subordinate the out settle-
ments in Van Diemen*s Land, which will be fur-
tlier noticed in a following article. He is absolute
in his authority, there being no colonial council,
or representative body of any sort ; and in him was
also at first vested the supreme judicial authority,
appeals to him in person having been competent
even in civil cases. This latter power has been,
however, since limited, as we shall see in the next
paragra])li. He is, by his commission, vice-ndnii-
ral of the territory, and can accordingly cuvcuc

171

at pleasure a vice-admiralty court. All sentences
of courts martial, as well as of criminal judicature,
are subject to his revisal ; and, finally, his procla-
mations have in all cases the force of laws, and
must be recognised and acted on as such in all tlie
courts.

The juilicial was originally not less summary and
arbitrary than is this administrative authority ; and
in all the three branches of civil, criminal, and admi-
ralty judicature, was constituted in a very difterent
manner from what we are accustomed to see in this
country. An officer called a judge advocate, tlic
legal adviser auvi recorder in Enghmd of certain
courts, was in New South Wales the supreme head
both of civil and criminal judicature, assisted in
the first *' by two inhabitants of the settlement ap-
pointed by the governor ;" and in the second, " by
such six officers of the sea and land service, as the
governor, by a precept under his hand and seal,
shall require to assemble for that purpose." No
juries were convened in either case ; a majority of
voices condemned even to death, nor was any local
appeal comj)etcnt from the first summary decision,
unless to the unassisted good sense of the governor
himself, who was uniformly a naval or military of-
ficer, without j)rej)aration, from previous study,
for the wholesome and judicious exercise ol such
an authority. Such an arrangement as this, Iiow-

Ml'1

' (

17'2

' ,\

. I

ever, could not last long after the colony was com-
jjosed, as in 1808 it was already composed, of a
community in which the convicts, for whom alone
such summary forms of justice could have been con-
templated, bore only a small relative proportion to
the free population. One instance of individual
oppression then occurred under this system, which
led finally to the arrest of the ji^overnor, Admiral
Bligh, by the subordinate colonial authorities; and
the agitation produced by such an event, fixed at
length the attention of his Majesty's ministers on
the necessity of constructing a new frame of judi-
cial authority. This was, however, done with ex-
treme caution ; and even yet, although we are ig-
norant as to the fact of the success of these altera-
tions, some very plausible objections may be made
to some parts of the principle on which the consti-
tution of the courts in tins settlement is founded.
The cognizance of civil cases is divided between
two, the governor's and the sui)reme courts ; nei-
ther, however, a court of aj)peal, but eacli final
within its sphere. The judge advocate presides in
the first, the jurisdiction of which is limited to ac-
tions under L.50 value; neither has it any power,
like tile supreme court, of attaching real property
by writ ; but from its decision, on the other hand,
there is no apj)eal, not even to the governor.
The supreme court is composed of a chief justice.

... i I

assisted by two magistrates In rotation as tliey stand
on the list ; and its jurisdiction extends to all cases
of civil and criminal judicature whatever. In the
former, the decision is determined by a majority of
voices, with this proviso, that if the chief justice
himself form the minority, he may protest against
the award, and appeal then lies to the governor in
person, assisted by the judge advocate. Incases
where the contested value exceeds L. JOOO, appeal
also lies, under any circumstances, to the King in
council, with a further most judicious proviso, that
if the appellant be the person from whom the mo-
ney in dispute is claimed, he must, on the first de-
cision against him, pay it into court. Such a pro-
vision would be most wholesomely extended to all
our colonial judicatures, particularly to those in the
East Indies, where the system of ultimate ap})eal
to England is one of the most intolerable hardship
and inconvenience ; but in New South Wales, the
error in principle seems to be on the other side,
and to consist in limiting too rigidly the power of
local revision and appeal. Many doubtfid and f)ar-
ticular cases must even daily occur, in which it
would be most satisflictory, and even necessary for
the ends of substantial justice, to have a second
o})inion emanating from a second authority. But
for this purpose, the constitution contemplated has
made little or no provision.

l( 1

h 'i

■I. ;

i •

E i

f #

j I

It'''''

I7i

The supreme court sitting in criminal cases is
not assisted by a jury, but unanimity ni the judges
is required to condenni to deatli, and its ca})ital
sentences are moreover subject to the revision of
the governor, and can only be carried into execu-
tion under his special authority. In the Vice Ad-
miralty Court the lieutenant-governor is sole judge,
and tile only other officers attached to it are the
registrar and marshal. This Court has been so
seldom convened, no particular inconvenience has
ever yet been experienced from this imperfect orga-
nization ; but were it ever to become a court of
common jurisdiction in prize cases, it would abso-
lutely require revision and amendment. The judi-
cial functions which exercise the talents and legal
learning of a Sir William Scott, could not be ad-
ministered by a naval or military officer, such as
the lieutenant-governor of New South Wales has
always been ; and who, witliout previous study,
would find himself in a very novel and embarrass-
ing situation if called on to solve any knotty ques-
tion of the law of nations. In this very situation,
however, one lieutenant-governor has in a degree
been already })laced, two prize questions having
been decided in the year 1709 in this court.

It may very fairly, I think, be argued, from t!iis
brief summary of the existing constitution of the
colony of New South Wales, tiiat it is incomplete

-'^^-T.^

175

in many respects, and that even its principle is in-
correct and injudicious in some. The want of a
representative assembly, the paramount authority
of the governor's proclamations, and the summary
and insufficient administration of justice within its
limits, are three causes which, even as a colony,
would seem to condemn it irremediably to a state
of comparative depression and insignificance. As
a corrective prison, other circumstances, such as I
now proceed to consider, would seem still more
signally to disqualify it ; and as over these circum-
stances we can have no controul, their considera-
tion, and the consequent removal of this object
from among those, which we may still think likely
to be answered by its maintenance as a colony, be-
coiiie pressing subjects of discussion and delibera-
tion, among those who, with the will, have also
the power to make themselves heard in such a
cause.

3. Before proceeding to consider the peculiar in-
competence of New South Wales as a corrective
prison, it will not be amiss slightly to review some
of those first principles, which would seem insepa-
rable from the very constitution of a prison, at all
likely to attain that principal and most important
object — the reform of convicts, not their punish-
ment only, and still less their exile. Of these, the
following four would appear to me quite indispen-

170

K,«

(■

1 ' '.►

!(al)lc ; and by them accordingly, I propose to try
and weigh the merits of New Soutli Wales.

1. The barriers confining convicts should be of
that insurmountable nature, as not to leave a single
hope of escape to agitate their minds. They will
never be brought to a true sense of their condition,
nor to any proper or permanent desire of ameliorat-
ing it by systematic industrious exertion, while the
smallest chance remains, or seems to remain, to
them, of at once extricating themselves by a vio-
lent exertion.

a. Convicts ought to be placed in such circum-
stances, as will admit of maintaining over them a
rigorous but paternal superintendence, such as may
check in their first buds the shoots of vice, and
may cultivate and encourage the ends of returning
industry and virtue. They must, from their very
situation, be ])re-supposed vicious, and almost har-
dened ; they must not, therefore, be left to them-
selves hardly for a moment, least the continuance
of depraved indulgence should nourish its baneful
conse(iuences in their minds.

3. They should be kept as much as possible se-
parate ; at the least, a rigid separation of the two
sexes should be maintained. Upon the minds of
the female convicts particidarly, the most whole-
some consecjuences might be anticipated, from even
a constrained interval of morid habits.

lU-.

177

And, lastli/t a strong, permanent, and springing
stimulus should be furnished to their industry ;
their very liberation ought to dcj)end uj)on their
own exertion, not solely upon the lapse of time.
Indeed, I think time alone is the worst concei\ able
measure of punishment, particularly when length-
ened out to 7 and 14 years, as is conunon in our
judicial sentences. These periods make no impres-
sion whatever on the surrounding mob, for whose
edification more than for that of the criminal him-
self, all punishments should be directed ; while
they only strike despair into the heart of tlie poor
convict, and deaden, not excite laudable exertion.
They are passed, accordingly, for the most part, in
noting, vice, and immorality, and when survived at
all, only return the culprit to his native country,
a worse member of society than when he left it.

It is unnecessary, 1 think, to argue in favour of
maintaining these several objects as first princij)les
in the constitution of corrective prisons ; tiieir pro-
priety may be assumed, and I shall therefore only
compare the actual state of the colony of New South
Wales, with their several requisitions. It is situate
on the extremity of an extensive continent, rich,
and luxuriant in native productions, affording ac-
cordingly every apparent facility for escape. The
inevitable effects of such a local position, may be
traced accordingly in the first, as in the last page

:>5

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

1.0

21 Sii^.5

110

12.2

I.I

I 1^ 12.0

WUu

1.8

Hiotograpiiic

Sdeaces

Corporation

1.25 III U. i.6

4 6"

►

23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. M5S0

(716) 872-4503

178

of its history; desertions are ever frequent, and
the minds of even those convicts who remain, are
distracted by conflicting anxietie:?, and withdrawn
altogether from, those industrious pursuits, from the
habit of which alone their reform is to be antici-
pated. In tlie next place, its only means of em-
ployment is agriculture ; the convict population is
accordingly dispersed promiscuously over its plains,
far from the eye either of temporal or spiritual
guide. To such extent \yas this dispersion carried
in the first instance, that nothing was more com-
mon than for convicts to draw rations of provisions
at several different depots ; nor was there even suf-
ficient check upon their conduct to remedy so glar-
ing an irregularity as this, without having recourse
to severe examples among themselves, instead of
depending on the probity and punctuality of the
storekeepers and their clerks. It is probably much
better now ; but no one will believe that even yet
the morals of these poor victims of early excess can
be looked after with that minuteness with which
they ought to be watched, when they are dispersed
over a plain of 14,000 square miles, inliabited by a
population inured themselves, from early habit, to
make light of every villany which does not compro-
mise tneir own individual interests and pursuits.
In the third place, the notorious prostitution of
the female convicts, and the general laxity of mo-

f -1. h\

179

rals absolutely inseparable from a colony compo-
sed of such elements, and organized upon such
principles of dissolution as is that of New South
Wales, are cacli among the worst and most melan-
choly featiues of its character. They alone lay
the axe to the root of every hope which might be
entertained of its answering its original purpose ;
while, to crown all the objections which might be
multiplied without end to every part of this most
expensive of all our fiscal institutions, it provides
no stimulus to industrious perseverance, no excite-
ment to reformation, no temptation whatever to
abandon ciginal evil propensities, or to adopt and
cherish good and moral habits. The convicts
themselves are, in the first instance, well fed at the
public expense, and have no interest whatever in
the works in which they are employed ; their first
object accordingly is to loiter away their time as
much as possible : but were even this altered, as
it might easily be, the soil being fertile and produc-
tive, there is no market for surplus produce, and
it is well known that agricultural labours will always
find subsistence for a much greater number of in-
dividuals than they will employ. In a word, no-
thing can be conceived much loss suited for all its
original purposes than is this colony, and its selec-
tion at all as a means for their attainment, is in-
deed one of those remarkable events in the histojy

180

lit

... J -
lit'

!! ^

of mankind, wliicli attest the slender influence of
ji^eneral principles on political administration.

But if it was ill suited, in tlie first instance, for
the purpose of its estabUslnnent, it is even less so
now ; and indeed its maintenance so long in this
capacity, is a striking proof how much the atten-
tion of politicians has been called away, during the
last twenty-fiv e years, to other and more important
objects of consideration, than those of colonial ad-
ministration. For be it remarked, that now not
merely the moral character of the guilty, but also
of the comparatively innocent, is compromised by
the policy of retaining New South Wales on its
present establishment as a corrective prison. Its
free, and as yet guiltless population, probably ex-
ceeds that number at which I have stated it, of
16,000 souls ; and their moral and religious habits
should be a sacred consideration with us, no long-
er to be tampered and trifled with by the contami-
nating vicinity of infamy and vice. Our jiolitical
sovereignty over them gives us, in fact, no right
to inundate them annually with the sweepings and
offscourings of our prisons — those channels and
canals by which that worst of jail fevers, a moral
pestilence, is conveyed. We are guilty of an in-
justice towards these people in this instance alone,
which no political or commercial advantages could
compensate, were they even bestowed. But here-

181

again we oppress and injure them. The convicts
must be controlled by an arbitrary and summary
authority ; they liave forfeited their claim to more
ceremonious treatment ; and, in fact, this very co-
ercion is a part of their allotted j)unishment. But,
in restraining them, we also cast the fetters over
their free brethren, and subject them and tlieir
property to the same summary, and, it must neces-
vsarily be sometijnes, capricious and ill-directed au-
thority. Every page of the history of the colony
teems with instances of the evil consequences, not
to individuals only, but to the state in general,
arising from this very circumstance. The military
and naval officers entrusted with the government,
have been suddenly called on to legislate for a civil
society, the intricate nature of whose domestic re-
lations they had no previous means of studying.
They carried with them to tlieir new task the ha-
bits- of their early life, that ])assion for minute re-
gulation which constitutes tlie very essence of mi-
litary discipline, and that straight forward pursuit
of a particular object, indifferent to the passions of
mankind, and relying only on their obedience,
which peculiarly characterize such a school. And
what have been the consequences ? Why, truly,
just what might have been expected from the asscr
ciation of such elements. All sorts of bad laws
have been eiiacted by proclamation ; the indi\'i'-

f" ' TOWU

182

lli

dual administration of justice has been repeatedly
invaded j a maximum of price has been affixed to
every species of produce, as well as labour j the pro-
perty of coal and timber has been engrossed by the
crown : in a word, an example has been set of every
species of oppression, paralleled, and only paralleled,
in the Spanish American and Dutch East Indian co-
lonies, so long the byewords for every gradation of
misrule.* It is such circumstances as these which
must have, I think, prevented commerce from
flourishing, or manufactures improving within their
reach; nor can they ever be systematically pre-
vented themselves, while any necessity continues,
or is supposed to continue, to exist, for entrusting
despotic authority in the hands of any single indi-
vidual, whatever may be his talents ; and while he
is accordingly exempt from that salutary controul
which the existence of a legislative assembly, and
its right to be heard and listened to in his pre-
sence, can alone permanently bestow.

These words are strong, but the subject under

* In these remarks I cannot be supposed to mean to make any
invidious or disrespectful allusions to the gallant and able officers
who have successively filled the situation ef Governor of New
South Wales. For them all individually I can feel nothing but
respect ; and if I instance their failure in attaining the great ob-
jects which must have been within their contemplation, it is to
illustrate the peculiar difficulty of their situation, not in the most
remote degree to reflect on their conduct while so placed.

183

discussion is important, and the results wliich I
would draw from the whole are in every point of
view worthy of mature consideration. Not only
then would I argue, that New South Wales is un-
fit for tiic attainment of its original objects ; I
would add, that, in my opinion, no convict colony
ever can have the smallest chance of success in re-
forming generally the individuals sent to it. Some
may of themselves ameJid ; and as a colony, the
whole, if more f avourabl} situate and better orga*
nized than New South Wales, may increase in con-
sequence and wealth. But its state of morals must
always be relaxed ; and of the convicts annually
sent to it, it is dreadful to think how few have the
smallest chance of amendment ; how many, on the
contrary, must grow worse and worse, until at
length the gallows redeem its victims, after a short
and aggravated reprie^^e. For the important pur-
pose of individual amendment, penitentiary houses
would alone appear to me to liave a chance of suc-
cess J and these might, I think, be regulated so as
even to insure it. Let them be so established as
that every individual con\ ict may be separately con-
fined at night ; and let tlieir usual commons be ex-
cessively bare indeed, such as by scarcely any means
can support life. On the otlier hand, let the keep-
er enjoy the benefits of their labour, but let him
have no means of constraining it, other than by the

■S'

ifi

181.

'..!

«i

temptation of reasonable wages. Let not these,
however, be regulated ; let them find their own le-
vel. Let free admission be given to reputable
hucksters, with permission to sell, at the outside
of certain established windows, every species of re-
freshii^ent, even spirits, for a constrained temper-
ance is no gain at all ; but, on the other hand, let
the term of confinement depend on the convicts'
amassing a certain sum, on the production of which
they shall be permitted immediately to quit the
prison, carrying with them, of course, this sum,
which, as it has thus once served as a proof of con-
sistent exertion, so will it probably enable them to
persevere in the same course. If any convict is
not already an artist, let his acquisition of a handi-
craft trade reckon as a portion of this sum, if he
chooses it ; and if he is, let the competent instruc-
tion of one or more pupils count in like manner.
Let the men and women convicts never come near
each otlier^on any pretence whatever ; and let them
be both alike secured from that unfeeling curiosi-
ty which daily carries visitors to such scenes, and
which hardens the culprit, and seems to himself to
mark him out for ever to the recognition of his fel-
low men. On the other hand, to prevent indivi-
dual oppression, if such can exist where the keep-
er's interest would be thus identified with that of
his prisoners, let each ward have a sort of post-of-

185

fice, into which any complaint may be conveyed
without the possibility of being intercepted ; and
let the public officers, whose duty it will be to su-
perintend the whole, examine into every signed
complaint with a scrupulous minuteness, alike sug-
gested by the sacred nature of their charge, and by
the responsibility under which it will be admini-
stered.

Such a sketch of a penitentiary house is undoubt-
edly incomplete, but even as thus thrown off", it
would seon to answer all the most important ob-
jects of its institution. If properly constructed and
contrived, it may leave no hopes of immediate es-
cape, and may subject every individual to the most
rigorous superintendence even during those hours
of labour when it may be necessary that some num-
ber of them should be together. The separation
of the sexes is an integral part of it, and the stimu-
lus furnished to industrious exertion would be the
strongest imaginable, for it would be founded on
the concurrent operation of hunger, desire of pre-
sent comfort, and aspiring after future emancipa-
tion. The ability to dissipate their gains at once
would be checked in its abuse by the natural de-
sire for liberty which would animate every bosom,
and the habit of self-denial which would be thus
acquired would be the most valuable of all the gifts
which such an institution could bestow on tlic

k( ^

Biiit

lullf

l^H

Hkv

wSSBom

186

[I ■

W' 1

wretched victims whom wc now annually condemn
to infamy and vice, while we abuse tiie real mean-
ing of the word by calling the exchange for im-
mediate death which we thus confer, •* mercy!"
Thus far the argument for the proposed innovation
holds as it regards the culprit himself; it is not
less cogent at it applies to the state. In the first
place, the convict would return to society an use-
ful member of it, not a poisonous and infectious
limb ; while the knowledge he would have acquir-
ed, and the habits of industry he would have ob-
tained, would fit him to resume that place in its
ranks of which early vicious practice and example
had defrauded him. In the next place, the ex-
penses of his schooling and reformation would not
be thrown away, they would at least compass their
end, which now it is but too apparent they do not.
And, lastly, these expenses would be most mate-
rially retrenched. A thousand penitentiary houses
constituted as I propose, would not equal in a lapse
of years the expense of New South Wales, as a place
of exile, for a single season : W properly managed,
they might even become sources of revenue j for
keepers who are to enjoy the fruits of the labour
of their prisoners, would willingly pay a rent for
their places, not stipulate for a reward. But these
are petty and sordid calculations, altogether un-
worthy the great object which they are adduced to

187

support. No man of liberal spirit would grudge
twice tlie expense of the colony of New South
Wales, aye thrice and four times told, if it could be
proved that the great object of its institution, the
reform of convicts, neither their punishment nor
yet still less their exile, was in the smallest degree
answered by it. But this is not, cannot be the case,
while a promiscuous intercourse of all denomina-
tions of guilty is not merely an anomalous abuse
and excrescence, but an integral portion of its whole
system ; and when in addition to this most crying
error in it, the noxious current in which these ele-
ments are blended, is annually poured into the bo-
som of a free and permanently settled British po-
pulation, bone of our own bone, flesh of our own
flesh, our brothers, not our slaves. We have not
even the right, collectively speaking, to call them
our subjects, they are only our fellow subjects ;
with ourselves the subjects of a paternal adminis-
tration composed of the three estates of our realm,
an administration under which we enjoy all of us
the same equal privileges, and are maintained in
them not upon toleration or sufferance, but by virtue
of the share which we ourselves and our represen-
tatives possess in its composition ; an administra-
tion, in a word, which, thus constituted, has in
principle and in fact precisely the same abstract

,'./

•i

wsr:^-

IfiS

ii«ifl«1 Jo direct, lliis noxious and ])Ostik'ntial stroiim
1o tlie uietroj)olis of Scotland, as to the I'rce town-
sliips of New South Wales. How should wc re-
lish, I would ask my countrymen, the im{)orta-
tion, or vluit stand, do we ima<;'ine, would the
moral habits of the lower classes of oiu' popula-
tion, high us they are generally and justly lated,
what stand, I say, would they make against its
poisonous influence on every feature of their cha-
racter? We recoil with aversion ironi even the
mention of sucli a thing ; some of my readers, I
doubt not, will indeed reject it altogether as an
even extravagant illustration of the true jet of the
argunieitt I would maintain. But I do not hesi-
tate to say, that in enormity even this extravagant
supposition is not a parallel case with that which
we have been contemplating in New South Wales ;
for here, as in the flrst place, the amount of vice
thus annually imported would bear but a very
small proportion to the sum and degree of moral
feeling wliich it would have to encounter, so also
would its operation be incalculably more repressed
by that indefatigable and well organized adminis-
tration of criminal justice which characterizes our
Scottish system of jurisprudence. In New South
Wales, on the contrary, it is quite evident that nei-
ther of these cliecks can have attained the same ef-
ficiency, that nciliier the counterpoise of moral feel-

•l^'i

l8!)

in*; can be so strong*, nor the administration ofjns-
ticc so matured; the burden we impose according-
ly on our cohmial brethren is infinitely heavier than
it j)0ssibly coukl be on ourselves even in its first
vState, while many of its remote conseciuences, tiie
loss of trial by jury, Sec. whieh j)ress the heaviest
on them, could not, by possibility even, be thus en-
tailed upon us.

I cannot here say more, and I could not say less on
this im])ortant subject, which I now, therefore, quit,
with a sincere hope that whatever may be wanting'
in these hints lor its consideralion, may soon be
su})j)lied from some other qur'tor better qualified
to undertake the task of its com})lvjte elucidation.

In «»'

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND.

New South Wales had been eleven years in the
occupation of the English settlers before it was sus*
pected that the southern point of land round which
they had first arrived, and then daily connnunicat-
ed with their native coimtry, was not a part of the
same island with that on which they resided, but
the head land of a detached cluster divided from
the main by a strait in the 39th parallel of south
latitude. In the year 1799, however, this discovery

h i , ;r

■I

ILIO

was at length made ; and Mr. Bass, after wliom the
strait was named, then first reconnoitred it in a
whale boat, and subsequently in the Norfolk colo-
nial vessel, commanded by Lieutenant, afterwards
Captain, Flinders, explored and traced both its
shore;?. The portion of land cut off by it to the
southward was found to consist of one large and
many smaller islands. To the large w as continued
that name of Van Diemen's Land, given in 1642
by Tasman to its south-west extremity ; to the
smaller groups different appellations were attached
at the choice of these first discoverers of their num-
ber, nature, and extent.

Van Diemen's land then, the principal of the
whole, is bounded to the north by Bass* Straits,
situate in 39°, and extends thence as far as 43" 40'
south. In exploring it minutely, two considerable
rivers were found, the one on the south east, the
other on the north side, the adjoining territory to
both being also rich, fertile, and convenient. No
immediate use was however made of the disco-
very; but in 1804, when the settlement on Norfolk
Island was broken up, in consequence of the great
loss and inconvenience experienced by its total
want of a sea port, it was determined to remove its
materials to these several points, to which the names
of Derwent and Tamar Rivers had been attach-
ed. Several townships were accordingly founded

( I ■

V i.'-H

191

'v^-\^

in their neighbourhood, of which the cliief are now
Hobart's Town and Port Dalryraple ; the whole
island was then divided into two counties, named
Cornwall and Buckinghamshire, of which the 42d
parallel of latitude was declared to be the common
boundary ; and every means was adopted to give
consistency and stability to the nascent establish-
ments. Lieutenant-governors were appointed to
each, and a proportion has ever since continued to
be allotted them, at the discretion of the successive
Governors in chief, of the several importations from
England of stores as of prisoners, of the means of
supj)ort and coercion, as of the elements of turbu-
lence, riot, and excess. With the particulars we
are not however acquainted j we are only summa-
rily told, that in 1810 the whole population amount-
ed to 13!21 souls, and that the settlements had every
prospect of floiuishing. The total amount now
probably exceeds 3000 j and it is also probable
that the proportion of free settlers to convicts is
here considerably smaller than in New South Wales,
a circumstance likely to arise, both from the more
recent establishment of the settlement in Van Die-
men's Land, and from the desire which it will be
most natural for every Governor in chief to feel, to
disperse new importations to the distant points,
instead of receiving them into the bosom of the
chief settlement. These surmises are, however.

w *'

',.!

Vki

192

extremely vague ; and the only apology tor their
insertion here as elsewhere, is founded on that ac-
tual want of authentic information respecting the
present state of these interesting colonies, which I
have already regretted, and of which the public
has much reason to complain. It is an effect per-
haps much beyond what is likely to be produced
by such slender means, but it would infinitely re-
pay whatever trouble or responsibility these two
articles have cost me, were they to call forth such
plain, unornamented, and concise information on
all the principal topics of inquiry which they em-
brace, such as that of which Mr. Mann*s book, as
I have elsewhere observed, furnishes an example ;
together with that still more interesting addition
than all, which can only be obtained from a brief
review and comparison of their Newgate Calendars
with those of other countries, — I mean the necessary
information for judging of the state of moral feel-
ing, disseminated among the population of which
they treat.

ARCHIPELAGO OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN,

^i I

We have now traced all the principal shorea
bounding the Pacific Ocean j and of this poitioa

193

of the task which I allotted myself, it only remains
therefore briefly to notice the various and scatteretl
groups of islands which cover and diversify its bosom.
These are as yet comparatively uninteresting to the
commercial reader ; yet something may be glean-
ed even for his purposes from their consideration.
They may be generally classed as follows :

Marian^ or Ladrom Islands. — Nearly due east
of the principal range of Philippine Islands, in 141"
east longitude from Greenwich, and comprised be-
tween the parallels of 20" and 13" north latitude, lie
the Marian or Ladrone Islands, l(i in number, and
of which the principal, Tinian, Guam, Saypan, &c.
are well known, from the refreshments they were
long in the habit of supplying to the Acapidco gal-
leons, as well as from the shelter and succour which
they have afforded, at different times, to many of
oiu' principal navigators in these seas, Dampier,
Anson, Byron, Wallis, &c. Situate in a tropical
climate, their principal vegetable productions are
those of the torrid zone ; rice and Indian corn be-
ing, however, the chief objects of the rude and im-
perfect agriculture of their 'nhabitants, who, al-
though now long under immediate subjection to the
Spaniards, have learned but little from them ex-
cept those Catholic observances, in which, in near-
ly all their remote colonies, these rulers have made
their religion to consist. In return, however, for

/ 1

11^ 1 ^

ill -^"f 1^1 1

"^..>^

lyi

this ignorance of all the most useful arts in which
the natives of the Ladrones have been allowed to
remain, they have to boast of a much more gentle
yoke than any the Spaniards have been in the ha-
bit of imposing elsewhere ; and although rigorous-
ly repressed whenever they have shewn any dispo-
sition to revolt, have not otherwise been oppress-
ed. The whole group has only been occupied from
the convenience of obtaining refreshments for the
galleons in their long passage. It contains no
mines, nor is any hard labour requisite to obtain
from the soil the necessary agricultural returns.
Where no temptation to tyranny existed, even the
Spaniards did not step aside to seek the opportniii-
ty of inflicting it.

The Spanish population in the Ladrone Islands
does not exceed, the garrison included, a very few
hundred souls ; and the mean and paltry town of
St. Ignatio de Agana, in the island of Guam, is
the only collection of houses in the whole group
deserving that name. The harbours in all the islands
are open and inconvenient ; and to this cause it was
owing, that at length the galleons gave up altoge-
ther the practice of touching at this point. Since
that time, the Spanish settlement has become dai-
ly mo) e insignificant ; and I think it even doubt-
ful, whether it is now at all more than nominally
maintained. The only inducement was, perhaps,

19.5

a small pearl fishery on the west side of Saypaii,
and the value of that was not likely to be coniinen-
surate with that of the supplies of men and stores
which would be required to be constantly furnish-
ed by Manilla, however itself weakened by the long
interruption, of late years sustained, to its inter-
course with the mother country.

Caroline and Pelew Islands. — Immediately south
of the Marian Islands, and extending in a line
from 13" to T north latitude, and from 15.5" east of
Greenwich, qvite down to Gilolo, the easternmost
of the Molucca Islands, lie the contiguous groups
of Caroline and Pelew Islands ; the first nearly en-
tirely unknown to us, and even the latter, however
familiar in our ears, from the popular narrative of
the loss of the Antelope packet, and the visit of
Prince Lee Boo to England, yet very imperfectly
explored. They are known to be each, for the
most part, of small extent, but very numerous ;
and they are said to abound in the ordinary pro-
ductions of the South Sea Islands, cocoa nuts, bread-
fruit, plantains, &c. no valuable objects of trade liav-
ing, however, been discovered among them by the
crew of the Antelope, nor any such being mentioned
either by their still more recent visitor. Captain De-
lano, of the American merchant service, whose very
curious and interesting voyages liave only very late-
ly reached this country. The natives, according to

\\ '^

'<>*i

106

his account, still retain that frankness and sinceri-
ty in their demeanour to strangers, which so essen-
tially served the crew of the Antelope after their
melancholy shipwreck, and which, many years af-
terwards, induced the master of an English mer-
chant ship, Maclure, to abandon his country and
liis connexions, and take uj) his residence among
them. The good Abba Thulle was indeed no more,
and the miseries of a disputed succession pressed
heavy on the domestic comforts and organization
of the Pelew islanders ; but the leading features of
their character still subsisted, such as they are de-
lineated by Mr. Keate ; and it is pleasing to wit-
ness, in the affectionate terms in which Delano
mentions them, the effect of such unsophisticated
worth on 'he shrewdest and most interested of man-
kind, such as are, for the most part, the masters of
those American cockboats, to which 1 have elsewhere
alluded, which are launched and equipped at the
expense, and manned and navigated through the
personal seiTices of one or more adventurous fami-
lies, who thus make or mar their fortunes toge-
ther, and scarcely seek to return unless successful.
Of this class was Delano, of whose work, however,
I am happy to have this opportunity of speaking
with approbation, as in many respects most interest-
ing even from the information which it contains; but
which appears to me even still more valuable, as

-■► — ^"> '--f'f..

Iii7

it illustrates tine extent of knowledge, enterprise,
iind sagacity which so eminently distingiish these
desultory traders, of whom he may be considered
as the representative.

Papuan Archipelago. — South of the Caroline and
and Pelew Islands, and comprised between the
Equator and 1^" south latitude, lies a widely ex-
tent'ed Archipelago, confining to the west with the
Spice Islands and New Holland, and extending to
the east as far as l63° east longitude. The islands
composing it are thus classed from the race of na-
tive tribes by which they are all inhabited, and
which, a})proaching to the negro, is therefore call-
ed Papua or Woolly, by the Malay tribes in the
neighbouring Indian Islands.

The principal islands in this Archipelago are to
the west. New Guinea confining with the Moluc-
cas and New Holland, New Ireland, New Britain,
Admiralty Isles, &c. &c. ; to the southward, the
islands of Louisiade, an archipelago so named by
Bougainville, who first discovered it ; and to the
eastward, Solomon's Islands, Terre des Arsaci-
des or New Georgia, a cluster to which these se-
veral names have been attached by successive navi-
gators who have at different times visited it, and
who bv this means have attached an almost endless
confusion to the nomenclature of the group. The
whole archipelago is strikingly alike in its ])rincipal

PI'

i-T' I*

wmm

wmmmm

■HHOI

19S

■V

i'eatiires of climate, soiJ, and vegetable productions ;
the first being sultry on the coasts, and cooling
gradually in ascending the mountains, which every-
where characterise the interior ; the second ricli
and fertile ; and the last forming a mixture of the
bread-fruit, cocoa nut, and plantain of the Pacific,
with the areca, wild nutmeg, iron-wood, ebony,
and other forest woods of the Indian Archipelago.
New Guinea is almost the only island among the
whole which enjoys the advantages of foreign trade.
It has been already noticed, that the Bugguess
and Chinese traders of the Indian islands push
their trading voyages to its western coast, whence
they embark ambergris cast up on its shores, birds
of paradise which abound in its forests, tortoise-
shell, pearls, mother of pearl, birds* nests, and tri-
pang ; leaving in exchange, Chinese cotton cloths,
iron and brass utensils, toys, beads, &c. The
amount is not very great, but the trade is improve-
able, were it only vested in hands who would not
be afraid to quit the shelter of the islands, and pe-
netrate among the more eastern groups, who as yet
neither know nor value the advantages it might
confer.

Isles of Santa CruZy or Queen Charlotte Islands. —
East of Solomon's Islands, and in about 11" mean
latitude, and 166° east longitude from Greenwich,
lies the small group of Santa Cruz, so named by

199

Mendana, but to whicli the name of Queen Cliar-
lotte's Islands was also subsequently attached by
Carteret, who visited it in 17^9. This cluster claims
tobe enumerated next after the Papuan Archipelago,
being inhabited by a race of people in whom the
features of the Papuan and Malay, or Polynesian
tribes, are evidently blended, and who may there-
fore be considered as sprung from both. It has been
successively visited, since Carteret, by D'Entrecas-
teaux andLabillardiere, by each of whom the islands
composing it have been minutely described. They
are of moderate elevation, thickly wooded up to their
summits, abounding chiefly with cocoa nut and
cabbage trees. The chief island, the Santa Cruz
of Mendana, Egmont Isle of Carteret, has several
good ports, and the inhabitants at most of them
shewed themselves friendly to their visitors, whom
they did not however permit to penetrate into the
interior.

New Hebrides. — South of the islands of San-
ta Cruz, and comprised within the parallels of
W and 20" south latitude, and 168" and 177"
east longitude from Greenwich, lies a group of
islands, supposed to be a southern continent by
Quiros, the first discoverer, and named accord-
ingly by him, La Tierra del Espiritu Santo ; but
minutely explored, and the islands of which it is
composed enumerated, by Captain Cook, by whom

.'«.!

t^'

vv.

L>00

,^(i

the above appellation, now universally received,
was also first bestowed. The group is composed
of 1!) islands oi' tolerable extent, to the larj^est of
which Captain Cook continued the name of Espi-
ritu kSanto, while to the remainder he affixed others
at his choice. They are all extremely beautiful
and productive, the choicest tropical fruits, toge-
ther with many varieties of excellent timber, com-
posing extensive forests along their shores. The
natives, without being hostile, are yet jealous and
distrustful, and evinced strong marks of dissatis-
faction at every attempt made by Captain Cook's
people to penetrate into the interior of their coun-
try. These attempts were not accordingly per-
severed in ; and it is only from rumour and vague
information that we are told, that the richness
and fertility of the interior correspond with those
of the sea shore. The natives of two adjoin-
ing islands have been particularly noticed in Cap-
tain Cook's narrative, from the very remarkable
dissimilarity, or rather contrast, observable in their
persons ; the one, the inhabitants of Tanna, being
as remarkable for their beauty, as the others, those
of Malicolo, for their extreme deformity. No
signs of the precious metals were discovered among
any of them ; but pearl oyster-shells, and some
small seed pearl, were common ornaments of their
persons.

^^01

Ik OH'

New Caledonia. — South-west of Esplritu Santo,
and comprised within tlie parallels of* '20" and '■t>i^ SiY
south latitude, and lOl" and 107"'^)' east longitude
of* Greenwich, lies the large island of New Cale-
donia, discovered by Captain Cook, and represent-
ed by him to be inhabited by a superior set of sa-
vages to any he had elsewhere found in the Pacific
Ocean, tall, strong, friendly, and humane. It is
somewhat diHicult to reconcile this account of their
moral, and still less that of their physical charac-
ter, with the unfavourable description of both giv-
en by M. D*Entrecasteaux in his voyage ; and it
is only surmise which would seek to impute a por-
tion of the diversity to the different character and
talents of the two observers. The su])position is
however plausible. Of all modern navigators, none
seems to have carried the talent of conciliating the
savage tribes whom he visited, so far as our much
lamented Cook ; and it is natural to believe, that
his indulgence for their peculiarities grew with his
success in managing them. M. D'Entrecasteaux's
observations are all, on the other hand, caustic and
severe ; and even tlie poor ignorant and debased
New Hollanders, whose habits are so simple one
might almost run and read them, afforded him
and some of his officers scope for injurious mis-
conception. The difference between the two is not
less prominent and marked, than is that between

,^^,1

!il:

■ — ^^-s;-^-

202

tlioir several representations of the inhabitants of
New Caledonia.

The soil and climate of this extensive island bear
a very strong resemblance to those of New Hol-
land ; and it is, on the whole, the least favoured by
nature of all those islands in the Pacific included
in this article, and situate witiiin the tropics. Ex-
tensive rocky mountains are only partially inter-
sected with plains of some considerable fertility,
and the thinness of the population, respecting
which all seem alike agreed, would apj)ear to war-
rant an unfavourable conjecture respecting the qua-
lities of the interior produce. Some extensive fo-
rests of valuable timber, however, exist within its
limits, and its more minute examination might dis-
close other sources of wealth, various indications
of minerals having been found along the coasts.

New Zealand. — Tlie two islands of New Zealand
extend from 3i>^ to 48" south latitude, and from
181" east to 186" west longitude of I^ondon, cross-
ing thus its meridian, and comprising about 13" of
longitude within their limits. These islands, al-
though separated only by a very narrow strait, dif-
fer materially in their apj)earance and conforma-
tion. The northern and lesser is rich and fertile,
covered with wood, and abounding in the produc-
tions of the temperate regions, particularly flax,
which the inhabitants regularly cultivate and ma>

.^v'l

■■-<«^*

403

niiliictiire. The soiithurii and largest is on the
contrary extremely lofty and mountainous, compa-
ratively thinly wooded, and far less vigorous in its
productions. The peak of one mountain in its in-
terior has been vaguely estimated at 14,0(X) feet
above the level of the sea, and is covered with snow
in even the height of summer.

The jealousy and ferocity which we have seen
more or less to characterize the natives oi' so many
of the islands which have just passed under review,
peculiarly mark also the New Zealanders, and have
been signally exemplified in the treacherous assault
and cruel murder of many of their visitants. They
have contributed to prevent also all minute ac-
quaintance with the interior of the country, al-
though, from the neighbourhood of the English co-
lonial settlement at Norfolk Island while it was yet
maintained, and the assiduity and perseverance
which Governor King when at that station applied
to the cultivation of some intimacy with them, a
considerable mass of desultory information has been
obtained. They are anthropo|)hagi, neither affect-
ing to conceal nor anticipating the condemnation
of such a practice ; and although fierce and impla-
cable towards their enemies, are yet mild and gen-
tle in their domestic relations. Divided, however,
into many distinct tribes, they live in a constant
state of mutual hostility, and accordingly fix theii"

kiii

!/.

M *

: 'f

abodes by way of precaution in fortified towns or
Hippahs, as they are called, which are secured with
considerable skill. They cultivate sweet potatoes,
eddas, (another species of esculent root,)andgourds ;
but their chief vegetable is the bruised root of the
fern, which, with fish, composes the greatest por-
tion of their diet. From the flax, which springs
up indigenous in the country, they manufacture a
species of linen with which they clothe themselves,
and they have notions of decency in almost all the
relations of life very superior to those generally
found among savages. With this they present,
however, a sad mixture of some of their most bar-
barous propensities ; and in treachery and cruelty
seem unfortunately second to none with which we
are acquainted.

Tonga, or Friend/i/ Islands. — N. N. E. of New
Zealand, and nearly in the same parallel of latitude
with the New Hebrides and Caledonia, lie the
Tonga or Friendly Islands, the inhabitants of which
have been lately introduced so particularly to the
acquaintance of the English reader by Mr. Ma-
riner's interesting narrative of his residence among
them. The number of islands exceeds 100, ex-
tending between 16'^ SO' and 21" 30' south latitude,
and 176" 30' and 174^" 10' west longitude of Lon-
don. They are rich and productive, and the in-
habitants are to a certain degree civilized, although

'/ (

205

fierce and treacherous in their intercourse witli
strangers. The vessel in which Mr. Mariner ar-
rived among them was thus unexpectedly seized by
them, and the greater part of the crew murdered ;
yet such were their ideas of moral fitness, that
wlien it was suggested to Finow the chief, that some
revenge might be taken on them if any of the
English were allowed to escape to tell their story,
his reply was, that the ship having possessed many
articles of which he himself stood in need, he had a
right to take them if he could, and that he was sure
tiie king of England was too just to take any re-
venge on him for his exerjise of that right. In
this reasoning he pretended to be confirmed by past
experience ; and thus the very impunity with which
a morbid humanity has induced us to allow these
and other savages in the Pacific to exercise their
outrages on our defenceless or unguarded merchant
ships, is interpreted by them as a proof of their
right to avail themselves of such opportunities. It
is painful to find in another part of this same work,
that the very feast and entertainment bestowed by
these natives on Captain Cook, and which procured
for their islands the name by which W^ designated
them, (Friendly Islands,) were, in fact, meant as
snares for his prudence ; and that, had he relaxed
in his precautions, he also was doomed a victim to
this right.

206

' i.

The Tonga Islands, it lias been observed, are
rich and fertile, principally, however, in tropical
produce, cocoa nuts, bread-fruit, bananas, plantains,
limes, sugar-canes, sweet potatoes, &c. Unlike the
New Zealanders, the inhabitants have no towns,
but are scattered abroad in separate plantations, all
of which are improved with great assiduity. This
circumstance must not however be interpreted in-
to an indication of pacific habits. They are equal-
ly restless with the inhabitants of New Zealand, and
nearly equally ferocious in their mutual hostilities;
but being separated, each tribe from the other, in
detached islands and groups of islands, the same
minute caution is not necessary to guard against
surprise. A singular point of honour indeed exists
on this subject among them ; they will never at-
tack t heir enemy by surprise, and always notify
their intended hostilities in a manner somewhat
resembling that followed by the heralds in the chi-
valrous days of Europe. In many other respects,
both of internal and foreign polity, they are far
advanced in civilization, or at least in a concep-
tion of its usages and advantages ; and the very
amiable character which Mr. Mariner attributes to
Finow Fiji the present chief, contributes to lend
additional interest and probability to the hope that
these people may at some not rt ote period acquire
the additional lights which Christianity and per-

I '

207

manent commerce are alone calculated to bestow
on them.

Navigators* Isles. — North-east of the Tonga
Islands, in the medium latitude of 1 2" south, and
comprised between 173" and 169° west longitude of
Greenwich, lie Navigators* Isles, ten in number,
each of considerable extent, and abounding in all
the usual refreshments found in the islands of the
Pacific, hogs, bread-fruit, cocoa nuts, oranges, &c.
The same ferocity of temper, ho vever, which we
have seen to characterize the natives of New Zea-
land, the Tonga Islands, &c. has been also signal-
ly evidenced by those of this group j the unfortu-
nate expedition of M. de la Peyrouse having here
sustained a most severe and unexpected loss, un-
provoked, as it would appear, unless by the im-
prudence with which M. de Langle, commanding
the detachment, confided in their professions. He
himself, with the naturalist of the expedition, and
nine seamen, paid the penalty of their fatal con-
fidence.*

1)13

,ii

■', t

* With all his eminent professional and scientific attainments,
M. de la Peyrouse does not seem to have either exacted from his
followers that implicit obedience, nor to have received from them
that unbounded respect, which in our service are so justly deemed
of the very essence of good discipline. Whether this was owing
to the extreme ease and benevolence of his own temper, or to the
general relaxed state of discipline then prevalent in the French
marine as in every oth«r branch of their administration, I shall

I ' si

1*1

'20H

Navigators* Isles, as has been observed, abound
in refreshments j but, independently of the feroci-

. -i

L I

not pretend to determine ; but that it really was the case I might
prove by a great many circumstances in the narrative of his voy-
age, by none, however, so signally as by those which characterized
the two most fatal events of it previous to its mysterious conclu*
sion — I mean the severe loss of men sustained at Port des Fran-
cois, and here again at Navigators' Islands. On the first occa-
sion we find one of M. de la Pcyrouse's officers making a most
grossly insolent reply to some part of the instructions he was re-
ceiving for the conduct of a detached service; and in pursuing the
narrative, we ascertain, that instead of his being immediately re-
called to the recollection of that duty from which he had thus
strangely wandered, he was continued in charge of the very party,
for the command of which he had shewn himself thus unfit. The
event might have been predicted with almost as much certainty
before, as it was recorded after the catastrophe : this officer had
already staked his own self-sufficiency against his commander's
instructions ; he neglected accordingly every prescribed precaution,
and his own life and the lives of all those with him fell a sacrifice
to his presumption. Again, at Navigators' Islands, M. de la Fey-
rouse expressly tells us himself, that the whole fatal watering par«
ty was undertaken contrary to his uwn judgment, and that he as-
.sented to it merely to avoid quarrelling with M. de Langle, who was
bent on it. Had he been thoroughly imbued with the principles
of discipline which as yet, thank heaven ! characterize in an espe-
cial manner our school of tactic, he would never have hazarded
such an expression, far less would he have allowed his conduct to
be guided by such a motive. The attempt thus made by an infe-
rior to dictate to him, would have been instantly met with the
sharp reproof and firm refusal which it was so peculiarly calcu-
lated to excite, and the lives thus lost would never even have been
compromised.

These observations are not thrown out at landom ; they are not
meant either to convey a trite compliment to my own profession,
still less is it their object to strip even one single leaf Irom the

M '

209

ty of the inhabitants, another inconvenience is ex-
perienced in touching at them, from tlie entire

wreath, hallowed by misfortune, which graces the memory of the
illustrious De la Peyrouse. This last purpose I would indeed
most particulaily disclaim ; but the truth is, the subject of naval
and military discipline has been of late years a favourite topic of
desultory discussion ; and the rigorous canons and summary ad-
ministration which alike characterize both, have been in an espe-
cial manner the object of invective to a certain petty party in our
state, which scarcely seeks to recommend itself to its constituents
but by its sweeping denunciation of all existing institutions. To
the declamation by which it would endeavour to excite a morbid
and irritable seriisibility against these, no reply can be made by
reasoning ; that is alike foreign from the manner in> which the
subject is treated by it, and to the assembly for which the
speeches alluded to are intended. The appeal must be made to
facts ; and surely when the fate of one of the most eminent, but
most unfortunate, of all modern navigators, can thus be traced, in a
degree, to this one speck in his professional character, whoever has
any regard for the British name and reputation, would pause be-
fore he would allow even an effervescence of humanity rudely to
assail that by which these have been preserved in the most peri-
lous periods of our national existence. This, however, is still on-
ly a general remark ; but I am not afraid to giVfe the subject yet
a closer grasp. Corporal punishment, considered abstractly, is
perhaps in some respects to be deprecated ; but in societies com-
posed for the most part of refractory elements, cooped up in a nar-
row and confined space, and placed almost hourly in situations
where only the most extreme promptitude in command and in obe-
dience can ward off impending danger, the most rigorous coercion,
I will maintain, is indispensable ; — indispensable indeed, not less for
the comfort and happiness of these little bands, than for their
union and security ; nor ought any lever to be rashly assailed with
invective, whatever party or individual purposes such declamation
may be supposed to serve, when for so many ages nearly the whole
mighty machine has been kept in motion through its agency. It

..JiW'

210

want, as far as has yet at least been discovered, of
a secure anchorage in the group. Coral reefs sur-

is of this invective that I would particularly complain, and I scarce-
ly hesitate to add, that the most mischievous effects were even al-
ready becoming perceptible in many of the minor details of our
service through its operation, when fortunately the mortifications
which characterized the early progress of the late American war
scoured away some of the vile rust, and restored the springs to
their usual elasticity. But even now these same effects may be
traced in that fashion whicli I think rather gains than loses ground
in both services, but against which I would enter a most serious
protest ; that fashion, I mean, which would seek to estimate an of-
ficer's character by the gross sum of punishment which he may
have been called on to inflict, perhaps with the greatest pain to
his own feelings, rather than by the general success of his system
of discipline, whatever that may be, in keeping his people together,
and in maintaining their spirit and efficiency. It surely can re-
quire but little acquaintance with the real nature oiour task at least
to see the fallacy of such a measure of ability as the former, or to
anticipate the effects which its permanent employment is but too
well calculated to produce. The first step of its progress is to in-
troduce the habitual infliction of arbitrary confinement and extra
labour in lieu of other punishment ; and these, as in the first place,
they are not calculated to strike forcibly on the imagination of
others, and consequently make no example, so can they not either
be apportioned v.ith the same nicety to the amount of offence, and
they are therefore for the most part much more oppressive, much
more susceptible of abuse, and much more easily perverted from
their proper destination, to minister to the gratification of private
dislike. Their direct consequences are then insubordination and
tyranny, while their remote effects are inefficiency and discon-
tent ; — poor substitutes for the vigour which a former system gave
to our naval force ; a system of which the debasin^r moral effect
would seem to exist only in the imagination of those who wish to
serve their own ends by inveighing against it ; while it is contra-
dicted absolutely, by the experience of every past time, — by the va-

]k^M^

round tliem all alike, uninterrupted by those
breaches which, in almost every other island in the
Pacific, characterised by this natural barrier, tbrm
the entrances to secure harbours within their line.

Society Islands, — East and north-east of Naviga-
tors* Islands, numerous groups of others are scat-
tered at random over the vast face of the Great
Ocean. It is not my purpose, however, to encum-
ber this portion of my work with a tedious nomen-
clature ; these islands being so uniformly similar
to each other, and to Navigators' Islands, in all
the leading features of soil, cHmate, and production,
the account of each successive series would be on-
ly another reading of the same tale. From among
their whole ni'mber, I shall only select therefore
the Society, Marquesas, and Sandwich Islands, as
the subjects each of a short separate article.

The Society Ivslands, including Otaheite and its
accompanying group, are eleven in number, di-
vided into two distinct clusters, of which Bolabola

lour of the Roman legions, before the leaders of which the instru-
ment of chastisement was carried even as a badge of authority, —
as by the spirit, enthusiasm, and intrepidity, which have illustrated
the annals of every age of the British marine, the pride of its
own country, the terror of that country's foes, and which can only
cease to merit these appellations, when civilians, who can know
nothing at all about the matter, shall have succeeded in ingrafting,
by dint of public opinion, their own abstract notions upon the prac-
tice and detail of its most ancient institutions.

Jl- ^ . — .

mmm

mmmm

212

r\{

f A

is the chief island of one, and Otaheite of the
other ; the first, however, being only 30 miles in
entire circumfierence, while the last extends to
130, being in every respect equal besides in quali-
ty of soil and produce. They are all comprised be-
tween the parallels of 16" and 17" south latitude,
in the mean longitude of 149" SC west ; are all sur-
rounded by coral reefs, in which, however, are
numerous breaches opening to large and capacious
harbours, within which, to use Captain Cook's
words, " there is room and depth for any number
of the largest vessels ;" and are so extremely alike
indeed, in every original character of climate, soil,
and produce, that to describe one is to give a sum-
mary idea of all. I shall dilate therefore on Ota-
heite in particular, without further noticing the
other islands.

Otaheite, or King George's Island, as it was
called by Captain Wallis, is composed of two great
peninsulas, connected together by an isthmus of
low land, not more than three miles wide. Each
peninsula rises into lofty hills, surrounded by a

border of low land of the medium breadth of three
miles. To copy again nearly the words of Cap-
tain Cook, " The view which it affords is the
most luxuriant imaginable ; the hills are high,
steep, and even craggy, but are covered to the
vefy summits with trees and shrubs, in such a

*^'

^jj^

^213

manner that the spectator can scarcely help
thinking that the very rocks possess the pro-
perty of producing and supporting tlieir verdant
clothing* The flat land which bounds these hills
towards tlie sea, and the interjacent vallies, also
teem with various productions, that grow with the
most exuberant vigour, and at once fill the mind
of the beholder with the idea, that no place upon
earth can outdo this in the strength and beauty of
vegetation.'* The principal vegetable productions
are yams, taro root, sugar cane, kava, plantains,
bread fruit, cocoa nuts, &c. Sandal wood is also
found in the interior, together with many other
species of valuable cabinet timber. Every sort of
European and tropical vegetable introduced by the
successive visitors of the island, has been found to
spring up and return abundantly : in a word, na-
ture seems to have left nothing undone on her part
to render this favoured island the chosen seat of
happiness and of abundance*

The experience of all ages, however, concurs in
the testimony, that the gifts of nature are not in-
separably connected with the happiness of man-
kind, but that, on the contrary, her liberality,
by superinducing idleness and debauchery, but
too often taints and corrupts both the moral and
physical qualities of the species. The Otaheitcans,
even when first discoveretl, bore the incontestible

!ty

n .! '»!

marks of habitual sensual indulgence ; and the
Arreoys, or societies established among them, the in-
dividuals composing which bind themselves to
maintain their freedom from incumbrance by the
public murder of their own offspring, afford an anec-
dote of the depravity resulting from the abuse of
prosperity, which we shiill in vain seek to parallel
among the atrocities produced by famine and star-
vation. These excesses had not however, at that
time, very materially affected either their physical
constitution or their numbers ; they were still ac-
tive, cheerful, clean limbed, hospitable, and hu-
mane ; and their numbers must, at the lowest com-
putation, have approached to 30,000, since, as
Captain Cook informs us, their fighting men alone
amounted to GJHO. But since that period, melan-
choly have been their descent and degradation.
Enervated by luxury ; tainted by disease ; their
cheerfulness sunk in gloom and despondence ; their
hospitality in avarice and deceit ; even the person-
al cleanliness for which they were before remark-
able, is represented by Mr. Turnbull, in 180'i, to
have deserted them in this their last stage of poli-
tical existence. They were reduced to the num-
ber of 5000 ; and as the same causes still prevail
among them to the same extent, it seems proba-
ble, that at no very distant time their name itself
will be extinguished among the nations.

215

This picture is truly deplorable, and it requires
no extraordinary degree of sensibility to t'eei acute-
ly for the share which we ourselves have had in
throwing in its darker shades. From u« and from
our countrymen have the wretciied Otaheitean.s re-
ceived many a noxious gift, the taint of disease,
the knowledge of factitious wants and convi':iien-
cies, for the regular supply of which they can . evise
no permanent resource, and which, accordingly,
have only destroyed their relish for former com-
forts, without instilling into their minds the small-
est spirit of industrious application. It is scarcely
romance to say, that we are bound to make what
reparation is in our power ; and in another part
of this work, 1 shall again, therefore, recur to this
subject, and again endeavour to appeal to common
justice and humanity in behalf of these wTetclied
victims of depravity and disease.

Marquesas Islands. — North-east of the Society
Islands, in the mean latitude of 9° 40' south, and
in 139° west longitude from Greenwich, lie the
Marquesas, or Washington's Islands, also compos-
ed of two groups. Of these the south-eastern was
discovered in 1705 by Mendana, and by him the
first and most generally received of these appella-
tions was bestowed ; the north-western was not
discQvered till 1795, when In<]rraham, the master

210

•7 'i

of an Aincriciin raercliant ship, touched at it, in
the course of a spt^culative voyage in these seas.

The Marquesas are extremely numerous, the
princi})al islands being high, volcanic, and rocky;
abounding, however, in the usual vegetable pro-
ductions of the islands of the Pacific, the vallies
being well watered by rivulets descending from the
mountains. The smaller islands are for the most
part low, and evidently formed by the growth oi
coral, many oi' them being yet in that unfinished
state, which deserves rather the name of reef than
island. There are many good ports among the
more considerable islands ; but hogs and other ani-
mals are more rare and higher priced in all of them,
than in either the Society or Navigators* Islands j
the convenience of touching at them is according-
ly more limited.

The inhabitants of the Marquesas are represent*
cd as among the handsomest of all the eastern
islanders ; fierce, however, and untractable in their
tempers, and equally given up with the Otaheiteans
to the excesses of sensual indulgence. They have
received also some small taint of disease from their
European visitors j but the ferocity of their tem-
per has saved them from that general and unreserve
ed intercourse which has been so signally prejudi*
cial to the others. We have accordingly no reason
to believe, that their numbers have suffered any re-

Juction since tlieir first cJiscovcry — a most striking
proof, it' proof were wanting, that the original
taint of licentiousness and tlebaucliery, with all it8
horrid consequences of prostitution, infanticide^
&c. would not have sufficed to produce this deplo-
rable effect among the Otaheiteans, had it not been
assisted in its operation by the desultory and un-
profitable communication of civilized visitors with
their shores.

Sandwich Islands, — Had we had no other instance
of European communication with the savages of
the Pacific, than what we have thus shortly consi-
dered in the southern hemisphere, we could have
deemed it only a scourge, in all cases pernicious in
exact proportion to the extent of its infliction.
Crossing, however, the equator^ we find an exam*
pie of its benefits, instructive both as to the cause
of the evil, and as to its relief. The advantages
which the Sandwich islanders have derived from
their acquaintance with us, are altogether as pro-
minent as are the miseries and misfortunes which
we have heaped on the devoted heads of the wretch-
ed Otaheiteans ; their consideration will appro-
priately wind up accordingly this whole Lumma-
ry, and conclude it with the most thoroughly agree-
able object which it has come within its limits to
present.

The Sandwich Islands, eleven in number, are
comprised within the parallels of 19'' and ^22" nortli

'i I'.

i nn

' K !a

latitude, and between 154'' and Idl" west longitude
from Greenwich. Several of tliem are of very con-
siderable extent, particularly Ow!iyhee, so noted
as the scene of Captain Cook s death ; they are
also generally mountainous, Mouna Kaah and Mou-
na Roah, two volcanic peaks in tlie same island of
Owhyhee, shooting up their summits above the li-
mits of perpetual snow, even in a tropical cli-
mate. They are only partially fertile, the inte-
rior and mountainous districts being even striking-
ly cold and arid ; but this is more than compen-
sated to the inhabitants by the exuberant fertility
of the lower grounds, nearly all of which are sub-
jected to a rude tillage, which has even yet bor-
rowed almost nothing from European improvements.
The principal object of this cultivation is taro root,
which the natives prepare in various ways, and
which forms the principal article of their vegetable
food ; but besides this, bread-fruit, cocoa nuts,
plantains, bananas, yams, sweet potatoes, and eve-
ry other variety of tropical produce yield abundant-
ly to the slightest cultivation. Sandal wood, and
many other species of valuable timber, grow luxu-
riantly in tlieir forests, and pearl oysteis are found
on several portions of the coral reefs which sur-
round each island to even an inconvenient degree,
neither the s})ace within, nor the breaches in tho
outer barrier, being so ample as those in Otaheite.

219

•Jk

The want of commodious sea-ports is indeed the
only boon which nature seems to have denied to
these islands ; the growtli of the coral, unless pre-
vented by mechanical power, such as was ap})lied
by the French at Madagascar, threatening to fill
up even those harbours which they possess.

When the Sandwich Islands were first discovered
by Captain Cook in 1777» the natives were found
to be strong, active, and well limbed ; inferior,
however, somewhat, in physical organization, to
the Friendly or Tonga islanders, and in arts and
manufactures decidedlyalso behind the Otaheiteanp.
Although not absolutely hostile to strangers, they
were yet however somewhat fierce and untractable j
and the premature death at their hands of the
great man who first introduced them to the know-
ledge of the European world, seemed to stamp on
them the distinguishmg characteristics of jealousy
and precipitation. The beginning of Captain Van-
couver's loncc maintained intercourse with them
seemed to confirm too this prepossession ; for he had
scarcely kno'.vn them, ere the t''eacherous murder
of two of the officers attached to his expedition,
seemed to belie that late repentance which they
had professed for that of Captain Cook, and thnt
superstition which had ( onsecrated his bones, like
those of the famous Scauder Beg in the estimation
of another enemy, as the assured pl'?dgcs of prts-

MiJ

^.i^

' 1'

)«!20

»r

J)enty and triumph. The firmness and genuine
courage of Captain Vancouver were not, however^
to be thus baffled : he prosecuted to conviction be-
fore their own chiefs three of the accomphces in
the assassination j and in their execution he read
the natives a salutary lesson, which they have ne-
ver since forgotten. His severity was tempered
by acts of kindness and beneficence. He instruct-
ed them in ship-building, and several other useful
arts ; laid down for them the keel of their first
decked vessel ; and, finally, received from their
chiefs that express resignation of the sovereignty
of their islands, which constitutes the whc'p g ^^ip,
in reference at least to European powers, .11 liite-
gral portion of the British empire. His memory
is still revered by them j and even this last act, the
benefit of which to them may be perhaps question-
ed, is yet quoted by them to their visitors as their
privilege and acquisition. They constantly display
English colours ; and the zeal with which they
liave imbibed some of our prejudices, is one instance
among many, how easily the lesson of hatred is in-
fused into the savage breast.

But all Captain Vancouver's gifts and instruc-
tion would have been useless, had it not been for
the central position which these islands occupy in
the Northern Pacific, and which has made them,
ever since their firstdiscoverv,a common rendezvous

iAk.^

221

tn various branches of permanent traffic, alike pro-
fitable to themselves and others. From them the
fur traders on the shores of New Albion draw their
supplies, and in their ports also such of tliem win-
ter, as are obliged to pass tv;o seasons on that bleak
inhospitable coast to complete their cargoes. From
the same point, the Russian settlers, both on the
coast of Asia and America, recruit their stock of
provisions, but inadequately supplied from their
own resources : it is even reported, that one of the
group has been lately occupied by them for this
very purpose. And, lastly, the trading Americans,
whom I have already noticed as swarming in these
seas, have long made these islands a place of con-
stant rendezvous and resort, and have now at length
organized, according to Delano, a trading firm,
of which some of the partners reside in the Sand-
wich Islands, tlie others at New York. It is by
means of these, and such as these visitors, that
the Sandwich islanders have thriven and improv-
ed, and made an absolute leap towards civiliza-
tion, such as never perhaps before was witness-
ed in so short a period. In 1794, Captain Van-
couver, as has been mentioned, laid down the keel,
36 feet long, of their first decked vessel ; in 1803,
Mr. TurnbuU found Tamaahmaah, their princi-
pal chief, (a very singular character, the Napo-
leon Bonaparte of the Pacific Ocean,) in posses^

! >.!

'K.

■ M

lili

ooo

1 ' t

k'W.

V f

siou of 25 vessels of from 25 to 70 tons burthen
oacli ; and in 1810, Campbell describes him as num-
bering a navy of 50 sail, one of which was a vessel
of 200 tons burthen, purchased from the Ameri-
cans. In 179 1> Captain Vancouver bought of them,
as of every other savage tr'be, his supplies of pro-
visions, &c. in retail, for the usual equivalents of
nails, beads, hatcliets, and the like ; but in 1813,
when Captain Tucker, commanding his Majesty's
ship Cherub, touched at the same place, Tamaah-
maah caused him to be at once supplied without ex-
p' irtre — a compliment, as he expressed it, due
b} m to the public servants of his own superior
lord. And, lastly, while, in 1704', the dwellings
of this interesting people were the same leafy co-
verings which are found generally among the na-
tives of all tropical climates, in 1810, Tamaali-
maah resided in a brick building fitted with glass
windows, and ostentatiously displaying too, along
its front, a regularly mounted train of brass guns.
Nor was this magnificence confined exclusively to
his own person ; the inferior chiefs vied with each
other in the appointment of their households, and
even the meanest of the })eople exerted their talents
in competition with their European visitors, in all
the most useful arts of life, a separation of pro-
fessions, the first signal of improvement, having
already taken place among them. To conclude, in

QQ^

the words of a British seaman, (Campbell), ^vho
was more than a year resident among them, '* They
are distinguished by great art and ingenuity in all
their arts and manufactures, as well as by a most
persevering industry. Many of them are em))loy-
ed as carpenters, coopers, blacksmiths, and tailois,
and do their work as perfectly as Europeans. In
the king's forge, there are indeed none but native
blacksmiths ; they had been taught by the armour-
er of a ship, who quitted the island when 1 was
there. It is astonishing how soon they acquire the
useful arts from their visitors."

A minute detail respecting these people would
fill a volume, and I have already trespassed on my
allotted limits. I shall not, therefore, now pursue
the topic, but shall here close this portion of my
task by the expression of a heartfelt wish, that such
a picture may not long remain an anomaly in the
Pacific Ocean, but that a participation of the be-
nefits and advantages enjoyed by these islanders
may lead others in the same course j and that thus
the dark cloud which has settled over the political
infancy of Otaheite, may soon be dispelled by
the same bright sun of commerce and civiUzation
which has thus early chased away the mists from
the summits of Owhyhee.

\{\-

-.1

CHAPTER II.

ON THE POLITICAL AND COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGES WHICH
WOULD SEEM CONNECTED WITH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF
A CENTRAL FREE I'ORT WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE PA-
CIFIC OCEAN.

* (1

We have now summarily traced the principal
shores of the Pacific Ocean, and without entering
into any very minute details, for which indeed the
sources of information within the reach of the or-
dinary reader are inadequate, we have acquired, I
trust, such a general knowledge of their statistics,
means of foreign communication, &c. as will enable
us to comprehend the full scope of any conjecture
as to the consequences likely to arise from the es-
tablishment of a colony on one of those innumera-
ble islands with which the surface of the whole
ocean is studded, together with the general grounds
on which such conjectures may be founded. To
that portion of my task then I now proceed, which,
as is explained in the prefatory introduction, is to

'I '^.

Q25

he devoted to the purpose of classing and elucidat-
ing a scries of these conjectures ; and in the intrin-
sic interest of the subject itself^ as well as the means
which 1 have thus previously aiforded of correctly
estimating it, I hope to find some indulgence for
tliat incaj)acity which I do not hesitate to acknow-
ledge in my self i to treat it with the entire depth
and variety of which it is yet evidently suscepti-
ble.

It will be in the recollection of my readers that
the specific proposal, which I thus submit to gene-
ral consideration, is not only to establish a central
colony within the limits of the Pacific, but also to
constitute its port or ports free to all and every
traffic within its horizon ; and to make it thus not
only an emporium whence our own exports will
readily diverge to their several destinations, but al-
so a conduit by which the whole speculations of
these seas shall be conveyed to the European and
other Atlantic markets. Before therefore consi-
dering the peculiar application of such a measure
to the circumstances of the Pacific Ocean, I con-
ceive it will be expedient to set before the reader
a distinct picture of such a port, with its usual cir-
cumstances and consequences, as detailed in the
positive history of a similar establishment in another
quarter ; that in reasoning subsequently respecting
its operation on this point, he may have a clear

•' ffi

^•21}

\' •,

conception both of its own nature, and of tlie vivi-
fying commercial powers with which it is endowed.
This illustration, this picture, I most happily find
in a work of great celebrity and undoubted autho-
rity in matters of commercial history, a work be-
sides, which no one will accuse of a disposition to
aggravate or embellish the features of any subject
of which it treats, but which is written throughout
with that simplicity which best befitted its purpose,
that purpose, viz. of supplying the commercial
world with an imvarnished narrative of the facts
and incidents inscribed in its record.

** The Dutch island of St. Eustatius,'* says Mr,
Macpherson in his Annals of Commerce, *' the
Dutch island of St. Eustatius is not above six miles
long. It consists of two hills of rock with very lit-
tle soil upon them, and has not a single rivulet or
spring of fresh water ; so that it is not worth occu-
pying for any purpose of cultivation or comforta-
ble residence. Yet the wonderful industry and
commercial spirit of the Dutch have made it a most
valuable possession, and of at least as much import-
ance as any other of the windward islands in the
West Indies. By giving the greatest possible ac-
commodation to strangers of whatever nation, this
barren island soon became an universal repository
for the produce and manufactures of every quarter
of the globe j and as the Dutch were not so often

^27

engaged in hostilities as the other maritime powers
of Europe, tlie season of war has always been their
peculiar and richest harvest. Tliere the Ameri-
cans with their cargoes of provisions, tobacco, lum-
ber, and naval stores, the Frencli with their wines,
brandies, and manufactures, the British with their
innumerable manufactures, and the merchants and
planters of almost all the neighbouring islands fly-
ing with their produce to elude the grasp of mo-
nopoly, or shun the dangers of warfare, as well as
the Dutch, whose stores were filled with every de-
scription of commodity, met as in a great fair, and
without any restraint transacted their sales and pur-
chases in this truly free port, and general magazine
of all nations. Hence an island which produces al-
most nothing, used to ship more produce for Eu-
ro})e tlian many of the most fertile sugar colonies
in its neighbourhood, and a prodigious stream of
wealth flowed in upon the Dutch, through whose
agency most of the business was transacted.'*

Such is the picture afforded us in the history of
this celebrated Dutch colony, — a colony placed in
the most ineligible situation possible, and wliich had
but this one spark of life and prosperity, freedom
of trade, in its whole composition. In applying the
lesson which it inculcates to the circumstances of
the Pacific Ocean, I shall first again summarily
trace its principal shores, and then contem])late the

I !

-TTTiTTT

2<38

II f

nil'

il J,

hS'ii/i;

more general prospects \\liicli sucli an estal)lisli.

ment within its limits would seem calculateil to
o})en to us.

I. Spanish Colonies.''— The Spanish colo;n'c's on
the shores of the Pacific are at present in that du-
bious state, that in reasoning respecting them it is
necessary to contemplate them under the several as-
pects of being in a state of war with the mother
country, reduced again under her authority, and,
finally, altogether emancipated from her controul.
Under the first aspect, which is that which they now
present, they afford us the picture of a country a
prey to faction and misrule, its manufactures inter-
rupted, and its expenditure increased by the ordi-
nary operations of violence and confiscation. Un-
der the second, which is still a supposable although
unlikely case, they will place before us the image
of a country still bleeding under many and se\ ere
wounds, but yet beginning to experience some of
those advantages which are peculiarly attached co
intestine warfare, and which act as a sort of heal-
ing balm to its worst inflictions. The minds of its
population will have been freed from those local
and superstitious shackles by which they were for-
merly fettered ; the habit of political discussion
will have enlightened them to their true interests;
and even the government itself, if endowed with
any perception of the precepts lor future jjfuidance

22Q

\vliicli the events oftlie passing times are so well
calculated to instil, will have opened its eyes to
that true connexion which insej)arably subsists be-
tween its own weltare and security, and the wealth
and prosperity of its recovered subjects. It will
have read the instructive lessoii ailbrded by the
loyalty of Mexico and of Lima, and it will study
to extend over its more remote ])r()vinces that cir-
culation of mercantile ca})ital and industry by which
these liave been kept togetlier, while all was anar-
chy, and revolution and revolt around them. With
minds thus disposed, the means of improvement
will readily suggest themselves, some of them even
will have been created, as it were, by domestic war-
fare. Their roads will have been imj)roved,* their

* If wc would seek an example of this necessary effect of civil
dissension and of its ulterior consequences, we sliall find it in a
portion of even our own domestic empire. Previous to 'Me rebel"
lion of 1745 not a single road traversed the Highlands of Scot-
land in any quarter ; and the state of society amid their path-
less wilds vied accordingly in rudeness and anarchy with any on
even the most remote feudal record. Since that period thsy have
been pierced in every direction by practic'ible highways, some few
of them constructed at the expence of a government made sensible
by recent experience of the extent and nature of the evil, but more
of them cut by individuals, as the convenience and advantage of
easy mutual communication became progressively familiar to their
understandings. The improvement in manners I need not even
mention ; it is well known that within less than i-O years of the
period to which I first alluded, even the acrinionious Johnson re-
laxed, in favour of his Highland hosts, from a portion of tiiat in-
veterate prejudice which jauncaced the eye he cast on almost all
our northern habits and instttuliuns.

UH-H

1 \ r

'mwmmtm

'230

''< ij

liabits of rcmo'^ inutuiil cominiinication will have
been formed, and a spirit of iiKli\ idual as well as
public enterprise will have been engendered. And,
linally, the Spanish colonies eniancij)ated altogether
from the controul of the mother country, will pre-
sent the same aspect nearly, but with an infinitely
more vivid colouring. The ardour and emulation
of youth will be substituted for the tardy and cau-
tious j)rudence of a yet hesitating and doubtful old
age ; the flush of victory and triun)})h will animate
councils, which would have been otherwise deatlen-
ed in some measure by the suspicion and jealousy
inseparable from the restitution of a government
to authority, which had been shaken to its furthest
base by anarchy and revolt ; and the views which
in the former case would have been d" ided be-
tween internal and external policy and inistra-
tion, will in this be carried abroad with an intensi-
ty corresponding to the enthusiasm by which alone
the numerous sufferings and privations to which
they are now subject can be endured, or this con-
summation of liberty ever be attained.

Such then are the several views in which the Spa-
nish western colonies must either actually or pro-
jspectively be regarded, if we would give them that
comprehensive consideration by which alone our
own polic} respecting them should be guided. The
jidvantageous application of a contiguous free port

281

■M

to tliem in all these circumstances is very obvious.
While yet contending in the field and mutually in-
terrupting those manufactures by which their po-
pulation has been hitherto lor the most part cloth-
ed and subsisted, each party will be able to receive
from it the supplies of which it may stand in need,
contraband or not contraband of war as may be
judged fit, for these ought to be either given or re-
fused indifferently to both ; and thus those com-
mercial connexions will be gradually and progres-
sively forming, which on the return of peace and
tranquillity would matiu'e into such a harvest as it
would be impossible for almost any restrictions,
or any success on the part of the mother coun-
try, however complete, altogether again to de-
stroy. In the next plate, should these colo-
nies continue under the dominion of the mother
country, and her government acquire, in addition,
those more liberal views of commercial policy which
the events of the passing war are so well calculated
to inculcate on it, then would such a settlement as
this, for a time at least, engross nearly all the in-
dulgence which might be granted, and all the be-
nefit arising from those facilities of internal com-
munication, which have been already considered as
the inseparable consequences of the present war,
let its termination be what it may. Its proximity

■t

.1 I

lih

iij!».*

alone would give it this monopoly, whatever might
be the character of the Spanish population for mer-
cantile enterjirise ; but wi*h the known indolence
and inactivity of that, heightened iis these qualities
would necessarily he by tlie sensation of recent de-
feat, for we cannot but believe that tlie restoration
of the authority of the mother country over these
distant provinces would be felt by all of them as a
defeat, there can be no doubt tliat an ult'mate mar-
ket, teeming, as this would necessarily be, with
every speqies of suitable equivalent, j)]aced too at
so convenient a distance, and which might be ap-
proached by so safe and easy a navigation, woidd
lon'g engross every particle of commercial enter-
prise wliich these colonies would supply.

But the aj)pUcation of the measure proposed, to
the last aspect in which these Spanish colonies have
been contemplated, is infinitely the most im|)ortant
of all, both as being by much the most likely to be
realized, and as combining, together with all these
preceding views of advantage arising i'rom an en-
larged intercourse with these colonies themselves,
other and even inestimably higher interests. The
Spanish colonies emancipated will be in the further
limits of our globe the same infliriutetl a})ostles of
liberty and revolution, intemperate with success,
and thirsting to extend its limits, whom, under an-
other name, we have witnessed in our own days

it '. t

'2S3

■Ml

convulsing Europe, and drenching it witli blood.
Tlie Pacific Ocean they would call their domestic
sea ; the assumption is familiar to them, it has
been already loudly avowed, though feebly main-
tained, by Old Spain ; and their first commercial,
and through them their military views, woukl car-
ry them to India, unless checked in their career
by the facility of obtaining every species of Indian
produce at a more conveni 'ut distance, and at an
easier rate than any for which they could themselves
make the whole voyage. It is tliis last most im-
portant service which the establislnnent of a cen-
trid free port in the Pacific would perform ; this,
and also that other, of familiarizing the inhabi-
tants of its shores to the existence of a British set-
tlement within its limits, before they are in the si-
tuation to dispute our rights ; while, in fact, they
woidd rather hail our approach to them as a fa-
vour, than question it as an usurpation.

II. New Albion. — The ad\antages of establish-
ing a central free port in the Pacific, as tliey would
apply to New Albion, are of two diffeivnt sorts.
In the first place, such a settleiiRiit would give the
fur traders a new and lucrati\e market, thronuh
the medium of which they could all apj)roach Can-
ton on equal terms, at the same time that it would
probably, or rather certainly, lead to the opening
of a communication with other ])oints of the Pa-

234

cific shores, the Spanish colonies in particular,
where their wares would be certain of finding a
ready sale. This particular object requires no il-
lustration ; the advantages to the fur traders, con-
nected with their acquisition of an ultimate mar-
ket in their immediate vicinity, whence too their
imports would readily diverge in other hands, and
at other risk, are self-evident. The next object,
however, which this settlement would seem calcu-
lated to attain with respect to New Albion, is of
a wider and somewhat more intricate nature, and
will require, accordingly, a more specific elucida-
tion. It consists of the facilities which the fur
traders would acquire through its means, of em-
barking return cargoes of South American and
East Indian produce, in such proportions as would
enable them first to introduce progressively the taste
for these articles of luxury among the savage tribes
adjoining the Columbia ; and, finally, to supply
Upper Canada, and even the back settlements of
the United States, with them, through the me-
dium of their inland navigation across the conti-
nent of America. It will be in the recollection of
my reader, as being stated in the preceding sum-,
mary, that ^he Canadian or North-west Fur Com-
pany, has, within the last few years, carried its
factories along the line of the Columbia quite to
the Pacific Ocean, with which accordingly it main-

1 f

23.5

tains a regular communication. This communica-
tion, it was also stated, is however embarrassed by
tlie heavy expenses attending the water-carriage —
expenses arising principally from the strong convoys
necessary to protect it against the natives. Now
the expenses of these convoys would, in the iirst
place, be very much diminished, relatively to the
fur trade, if they could be made to protect, toge-
ther with it, another branch also of commerce ;
while, at the same time, it is probable that the dis-
semination of the taste for the rich fruits and other
luxuries of tropical countries among the savage
tribes contiguous to the Columbia, might in a lit-
tle time wean them from that hostility towards the
traders which at present characterises them, and
which must be rather exasperated than allayed by
military array. But these considerations, impor-
tant as they are, are by no means those which, in
my opinion, give the most interest to this idea :
Ibe object of giving to L j»i>er Canada a new branch
of external commerce, entirely dependent on our
Fufferance and permission, and whicli it can only,
therefore, hope to enjoy while a province ot our
empire, appears to me an object of even incalcu-
lably greater weight. The situation ol Canada,
both Upper and Lower, is one which cannot b< too
seriously considered by every one interested' iu its
preservation to this country. It is, in its whole

'11

236

boundary, directly conterminous with oiu' most ac-
tive and most insidious rival, while, on the other
hand, it is for some months in every season cut oft'
from all communication with us, by the severities
of an inclement winter. A still greater misfortune
than either of these, consists in its want of any
brancli of lucrative external traffic, which it might
not almost equally well maintain without us ; its
trade in timber by no means deserving the aj)pella-
tion of lucrative, and even the privileges conferred
on tliat having been but very lately menaced by Go-
vernment, and even now only temporarily assured.
Now this want is that precisely which the im-
provement of the navigation of the Columbia, anc^
its employment as a means of supplying Upper Ca-
nada with tropical produce, would supply ; and the
facilities again for doing that, would be furnished
by the establishment of a central free port in the
Pacific Ocean. Nor would the vent for tropical
produce in this way be limited by the mere con-
sumption of Upper Canada. The Mississippi rises
almost within its limits, and skirts the United States
in their whole length as far as the Gulf of Mexico ;
there never can exist, accordingly, a point offering
more temptations to the establishment of an exten-
sive inland communication, nor where the induce-
ment to the government to which it belongs, to fos-

237

ter and encourage such an undertaking, would socm
so numerous and so strong.

I do not doubt but that many of my readers will
consider this idea extremely wild and visionary ;
but to these I can only answer, that so at one pe-
riod must have equally appeared a proposal to con-
nect Buenos Ayres and Lima, Petersburgh and
Ochotsk ; and yet the most precious tropical com-
modities have now long familiarly traversed the al-
most interminable wilds which separate these points.
There is no wildness in the idea itself; there is on-
ly an appearance of it, in consequence of the whole
measure being thus at once presented to the ima-
gination on this point, while, on the others, its de-
tails were progressively added, as ambition advan-
ced the limits of territorial acquisition in these se-
veral directions. I might add, indeed, yet ano-
ther observation, which is, that if we do not our-
selves do something of this kind soon, we shall in
all probability be anticipated. The Rocky Moun-
tains have been crossed on more points than that
indicated by M'Kenzie to the Canadian Fur Com-
pany ; Captains Clarke and Lewis were equally suc-
cessful with him, and with less apparent difficulty
and danger too, than he encountered ; and it is
certainly not a little remarkable, that their steps
have not been even already habitually followed by
their countrymen.

'23S

III. Russian Settlements. — In considering the
Russian settlements on the Pacific Ocean, the most
prominently remarkable feature which they pre-
sent, is the immense distance at which they are
placed from the more populous districts of the em-
pire, and the almost interminable land journies by
whicix all communication with t em is accordingly
maintained. The ordinary operation of this dis-
tance on the price of all sorts of goods will very rea-
dily be surmised, but its exact extent will be best
illustrated by a comparison of the prices of some
of the principal articles in an enumeration now ly-
ing before me, and containing a minute specifica-
tion of prices at Kasan and at Kamtschatka in 1 798.
Among other articles, the yard of linen sold at the
former place for 21 roubles, fetched at the latter
139 ; a pair of boots, which were 3 roubles at Ka-
vsan, rose to 12 and 18 at Kamtschatka ; a pound
of candles, which at Kasan had sold for 8 kopecks,
at Kamtschatka were currently disposed of at from
80 to 100 ; and every other article was in the same
extravagant proportion. The expenses on the re-
turns must necessarily be at the same rate ; the
whole indeed affording a specimen of difference be-
tween prime and ultimate cost, quite unparalleled
in any other branch of trade.

The opening to improvement likely to be afford-
ed by the establishment of an ultimate market in

f230

the immediate vicinity of these remote regions, will,
not require a laboured illustration. Its first effect
would be, undoubtedly, that of drawing the whole
fur trade of the Russian settlements to its market-
place, dividing thus the profits on its prosecution,
in nearly equal proportions, between the original
speculators and the intermediate British merchant,
who would charge himself with the subsequent dis-
posal of the furs. But the political consequences
of this contiguity of ultimate market, would be in-
finitely more important than this. The value of
imported produce of every description would fall
at Kamtschatka, while that of exportable produce
would necessarily rise with the facility for its dis-
posal. Tiiat wretched poverty, accordingly, would
disappear, by which these remote settlers are at
present characterised j and a portion of the domi-
nions of Russia, which, except as a mere conduit for
trade, is now absolutely useless to her empire, would
become an efficient portion of her dominions, able
and willing to contribute alike to her foreign and
domestic resources. The benefit, too, would be
reciprocal to ourselves : in peace, a civilized popu-
lation of consumers would replace a horde of mea-
gre savages, whose demands scarcely rise to the le-
vel of what we would consider necessary to their
preservation ; while, on the menace of war, tlie
value of the remote colony, and its dependence on

f; & <m

^^lo

1.1

our support, would give a higher tone to our lan-
guage and demands.

In 1786 and in 179'^. single vessels from Bengal
arrived at Kamtschatka, and were disappointed in
the hopes their owners had entertained of the suc-
cess of the voyage, having only been able to sell
small portions of their cargoes ; while, on the other
hand, it was announced very lately in the pubHc
newspapers, that another vessel fitted out on the
same speculation had made a most advantageous
trip. The truth is, no exact judgment with regard
to the general question can possibly be drawn at all
from these isolated experiments : desultory traders
may or may not find the inhabitants of a particular
point prepared to trade with them. But is it pro-
bable, that a permanent opportunity of improving
the comforts of life would be permanently reject-
ed ? That is the true question ; and it admits but
of one answer, as I should think, .id that a de-
cided negative.

IV. China and Japan. — The markets of Cliina
and Japan are shut to us by the same system of jea-
lous vigilance and exclusion, in the one case mo-
dified, it is true, by a local exemption, but, in the
other, absolute and entire. Thus situate, they may
appropriately be considered together, the o])orati(in
of a free contiguous port being equal and alike on
both.

241

Two centuries, then, have now elapsed since the
markets of China and Japan have been known to
the European world ; and, during the whole period,
they have been the undeviating object of pursuit
to every trading nation which has successively ac-
quired the ascendancy in the Indian Seas, the Por-
tuguese, Spanish, Dutch, English, &c. It is not
less singular, however, than true, that the success
of all their endeavours has but little corresponded
to the zeal with which they have been prosecuted.
With respect to China, we are now all of us near-
ly equally limited and restricted in our communi-
cations, in a degree too quite unknown in the more
early history of the trade ; indeed, the nation which
has made the smallest exertion, viz. Spain, is yet
the farthest advanced, the port of Emouy, as well
as Canton, being still open to her subjects alone of
all Europeans : while, with respect to Japan, the
Company the most abjectly complaisant has alone
any admission at all. Would not this very remark-
able fact seem to instruct us in the true lesson to
be derived from this long course of experience ?
AVould it not seem to indicate, that the blindness
to what we consider their real interests, which thus
secludes these nations from the benefits of a fair and
equal intercourse, is not so much tlie effect of their
constitutional prejudices, as of the haught}', arro-
gant, and offensive manner in which we Iiave en-

'.I

i ,1

deavouied to convey our infoi'mation, ami iiiciil-
cate our precepts ? Every successive attempt wliicli
has ever been made to overcome tlic barriers placed
to our cncroaclmients, has been urged by a i)ow-
erful Company, vaunting its resources, and emulous
to be received itself, and to have its agents ac-
knowledged, as the depositaries of sovereign autlio-
rity. Is it astonishing that such attempts should
have failed, or that, witnessing the barbaric splendour
with which these pretended merchants have sought
to approach them, and listening, at the same time,
to the tales of their usurpations industriously told
of all alike by their rivals in the same race, the na-
tives of Chinr md Japan should have shrunk from
their insidious embrace, and recoiled from the par-
ticipation of even the most alluring benefits, which
seemed but the snares and blandishments by which
sovereign ambition, the ambition of territorial not
of commercial acquisition, sought to varnish over
and conceal the purpose of its soul ?

It is not astonishing that such should have boen
the inference of these native princes ; and thus si-
tuate, it is still less extraordinary that the most
solemn embassies should have failed to excite e^ en
the smallest disposition in the minds of any of them
to depart from their rooted maxims. In Japan,
these have indeed been peculiarly unsuccessful j
the last attempt of the sort — that made by Russia

'21S

in 1806 — liaving forfeited those privileges whicli
liad been even gratuitously granted to the unsup-
ported request of a private individual, Laxmanii, a
few years before. Would not this circumstance,
then, seem still more to Strengthen the argument
which I would now introduce by these preliminary
observations ; the argument, I mean, in favour of
trying the experiment of a free port contiguous to
these shores so long shut to our exclusive Compa-
nies, and of leaving that to make its own way by
dint of the small traders who would soon make a
common rendezvous of its market ? The produce
of the several shores of the Pacific is known to bear
a high price in the dominions alike of China and
Japan. The silver of the Spanish colonies, the furs
of the more northern coasts, the varied produce of
the several archipelagos which extend in every di-
rection along its western boundary, and within its
bosom, are all objects of extreme desire in these
markets, and have already various circuitous ways
of attaining them. Even the slightest intermixture
of European produce and manufacture is rejected
iiow, when circulating through the hands of pow-
erful Companies, and exhibited for sale only by
1200 ton ships, arrayed in all the panoply of mili-
tary pomp, and commanded by men claiming, even
, from their own fellow subjects, a superior rank to
that allowed to ordinary merchant seamen. But it is

I \i.

^11

impossible to say that this woiiltl equally be the case,
were the same temptations held out by men assum-
ing no other character tlian that of'traders, and with
whose equipment it would be impossible to associate
any other views : on the contrary, it may almost
be advanced as a certainty, that these woidd be in
time received with even open arms, and encouraged
in the prosecution of objects of trading barter, the
very idea of w^hich has not yet occurred to the
overgrown Companies by which the intercourse has
hitherto been maintained, and which ever view with
indifference every minute detail of trade, the i»n-
mediate prospect of which offers nothing ,<;igantic
to the eye, however improvable it may in fact be.
That such would almost infallibly be the result,
needs no laboured illustration : the success of the
petty American traders in these very seas, and along
these very shores — a success which, in reiatioi- to
the Mediterranean alone, has, as we have seen in
the Introduction to this work, already excited the
jealousy of our merchants— the success of the petty
American traders alone, I say, in these very seas,
is the proof and example of its accuracy and trutli.
V. Loo-Choo Islands, Indian ArchijJelago. — The
commerce of the Indian Archipelago, as we have
seen in the preceding chapter, diverges already in
almost every coiK'eivable direction ; and ])artly
tlirough the industry and enterprise of the inhabi-

'( (

• r

'.MmO

the

I has

with

tants of its ishmds thcmsdvcs, partly tlirou«r|i the
avidity and commercial skill of their foreign visi-
tants, has acquired a degree of activity and disse-
mination which singularly contrasts with tlie stt/e
of trade in the immediately contiguous Loo-Choo
islands, the very existence of which has hcen hither-
to known only, I may say, to the minute geogra-
})hical student, and now seems to dawn on the more
general reader with all the freshness of a recent dis-
covery. Thus different in apparent circumstances,
in what ilo they tlien agree, that they should be
thus classed under one head in this enumeration ?
In one only point, 1 answer, are they similar — in
the unrestrained intercourse, namely, which they
each maintain with China and Japan ; and it is in
the point of view suggested by this circumstance
alone, accordingly, that I now j)ropose to consider
them, the more immediate and direct benefits
which an improved commerce with each would af^
ford, being sufficiently evident on even the slight-
est review of their several statistics. This peculiar
consideration, then, which I now propose to fol-
low out, forms a sort of sequel to what is contain-
ed in the immediately preceding paragraphs re-
specting China and Japan tiiemselves, those vast
and important markets, from which I would main-
tain we most essentially contribute, ourselves, to
exclude our trade.

r- I

246

.1 '

The process then by which, 1 should conceive,
we might convert these several |)oints into indirect
avenues to an extended Chinese and Japanese
trade, is by gradually overflowing them with our
conunodities to produce a species of glut, which
would interest their inhabitants themselves in the
further dissemination of these articles among their
friends and allies. This effect, if we will on-
ly trade in such a manner as shall excite no jea-
lousy of our further views, it would not be difficult
to produce, particidarf y among the Loo-t'hoo Is-
landers, in whose untutored minds our productions
must necessarily for a time bear a higher compa-
rative value than they do in those which have been
long familiarized with tliem ; but it would be easj, ,
I think, to produce it nearly equally in both, ii' \re
would but agree to be buyers as well as sellers, and
receive in exchange the Chinese silks, &cc, which
alone our intermediate agents, as these natives
would thus be, could obtain in return lor the wares
they will have received from us, and which we
would thus force through their means into these
ulterior markets. Now this is the stumbling block
which has hitherto prevented our employing the
inhabitants of the Indian Archipelago in this very
way, and which, if we do not rtmove it, must
equally prevent us from improving any ot'ier indi-
rect medium of connnunicution with China and

21-7

Japan. We have silk manufactories of our own at
Spitalfields ; and, in defiance of every principle of
sound and effective policy, we attempt to maintain
these in t!ie exclusive possession of our home mar-
]v*^t by a series of legislative enactments, the perni-
cious effects of whicii we reap in full measure from
the exckision of our more peculiar manufactures
from those markets in which they might be ex-
changed for other silks ; while the individual be-
nefits which they are supposed, and only supposed,
fo contbr, (for be it remarked that the superior va-
lue of silk over woollen manufactures arises mere-
ly from the superior value of the raw commodity ;
yard for yard, tliey neither pay the master nor
workman better, ^\hile, value for value, they pay
them in an almost infinite ratio worse, inasmuch as
they do not furnisii either with the same extent of
employment, or the same circulation of capital ;)
while tbe individual benefits, I say, which they are
su})|)osed to confer, are frittered away by the daily
and hourly success of the contraband pursuits which
such enactmcir s are most especially calculated to
excite. AkmI while we thus contribute ourselves to
liie exclusion ot our man u fact urcr^ from the Chinese
and Japanese moarkets, we presume to call these se-
veral nations slTwart-Sighted and biuid to their true
interests, vvhicli, ans we pretend, would be promoteil
bv our liberal admission into tiieir ports. Have

•' K.

^2t8

.11

not these nations then, equally with ourselves, a su-
perabundant population to maintain, and have they
not a right, accordingly, to maintain it by the ex-
clusion of those who would inundate their markets
with every species of supply, while they refuse to
take in exchange any but crude productions of the
soil, which support but one class of society within
their dominions ? Most certainly they have ; but I
will take yet higher ground. Is not the very ex-
clusion of which we complain supported thus al-
most entirely by our own act, for were these wish-
ed for ports open to us to-morrow, what would they
avail us if we refuse the manufactures which are
their staple article of exchange ? China in particu-
lar has few or no crude productions sufficiently va-
luable to increase materially our exports to it, let
the facilities of trading intercourse be what they
might; and although Japan is in some measure
differently situate, exporting principally the crude
produce of its mines, together with camphire and
other vegetable gums, still were we on any enlarg-
ed intercourse to refuse the lacquered ware, in the
manufacture of which the ingenuity of its inhabi-
tants is principally exercised, the effect would be
in time precisely the same ; we should ourselves
impose the limits beyond which our trading inter-
course could not possibly extend, whatever indul-

249

gences or whatever means of direct or indirect com-
munication we might obtain.

If we really, then, have a desire to improve our
intercourse with China and Japan, let us use the
means whicli are actually in our possession, which
promise to lead to the acquisition of the object.
Let us open that lock the key of which is in our
own hands, and then we shall deprive the enclosed
treasure of at least one of its protecting securities j
time and opportunity will not fail to remove the
rest ; and those barriers which have for such an al-
most incredible period sequestered these nations
from our minute examination, will crumble even
to their base before, first the anticipation, and then
the actual enjoyment oi those mutual advan ages,
the true nature of which would seem to have been
ever misunderstood nearly alike by each party in-
terested in their pursuit.

VI. New South JVales.-^In considering the co-
lony of New South Wales in the preceding sum-
mary, I deviated so far from the rigid method which
I prescribed to myself on every other point, as not
only to consider its actual state, as far as we may
conjecture it from the most recent publications,
but also to go at some length into the argument
respecting the propriety of now at last altogether
changing its destination, and bestowing on it the
full privileges of a British colony. To that argu-

5.50

'vlM

iTient I do not now refer with any view of resum-
iufs; the consideration of the several topics which it
tlisciisses ; I only propose quoting one inference
which I endeavoiu'ed to draw from it, that name-
ly, that while New South Wales continues a con-
vict colony, and subject accordingly to the sum-
mary and arbitrary administration by which it is
now governed, it never can become a flourishing-
commercial establishment, — not even the settle-
ment of a contiguous free port could give it sucli
a character, powerful as I consider such a mea-
sure for almost any purpose to which it can be di-
rected. But though it cannot, in my opinion, be
thus made a flourishing commercial settlement, J
am yet far from thinking that it may not be most
essentially benefited by such an establishment. By
its means it would, in the first place, acquire a cer-
tain market for its surplus agricultural produce ;
an additional stimulus to industrious exertion would
be accordingly supplied to the convict. It would
moreover be placed within the immediate reach of
assistance should any unexpected calamity ever re-
duce it, as heretofore, to a state of absolute depend-
ence on foreign supply; and more than tliis, as being
a benefit of more permanent operation, a greater va-
riety of sensual indulgences would thus be placed
within the competence of the lower classes of its
population, in consequence of the reduced prices nt

251

which the merchants of a contiguous free port would
be enabled to offer every species of luxury for sale at
its market. The great advantage of this last acqui-
sition would consist in the probability it would hold
out oi' weaning the convicts from that immoderate
love of intoxication which now characterizes them.
We behold daily in England the bentrt in this re-
spect, which the cheapness of tea has produced ;
the same weed has been productive of precisely the
same effects in Kamtschatka, where the use of spi-
ritous liquors was at one time more confirmed by
habit, and apparently still more consonant to the
necessities of climate. The lower classes of so-
ciety are nearly every where composed of the same
original elements, nor would those of New South
Wales long be proof against a similar experiment.
They are, it is true, placed under one peculiar dis-
advantage ; their good dispositions are liable to be
constantly overpowered and mastered by a fi-esh
importation from head quarters, of immorality and
vice. But I cannot persuade myself that such a
system can long prevail, by whatever prejudices of
habit or education it may now be supported. The
destination of New South Wales must soon be al-
tered ; all the sympathy of Britons cannot be con-
fined to the physical wrongs of Africans, while the
moral and religious character of a portion of their
own countrymen cry aloud to them for rescue and

!■),>■

I'. Hi

release from the bondage of contagious example in
wliich they are enthralled, and by which their throes
of repentance and reformation are kept down. When
that shall be removed, then will the establishment
of a free port in their neighbourhood have its full
effect on these victims of impolicy ; then will it
re-organize their moral character, and stimulate
their industry, by affording them profitable direc-
tions in which it may be embarked, the sale of their
fine woods, of their coal, their whale oil, their
wool, their flax, their corn — in a word, of all the
A aried productions for which the circumstances of
their soil, climate, and character are appropriate.
And then, and not till then, shall we too be able
to consider New South Wales as a profitable pos-
session, — as a sinew of strength and power in the
southern hemisphere, not as a load upon our pecu-
niary resources, and a most; foul blot and stain
upca our political administration.

VII. Archipelago of the Pacific. — It is not my
intention, under this head, to consider at length
the numerous objects of mercantile speculation
with which the islands of the Pacific abound ; their
pearls, sandal wood, &c. are well known to the
commercial world, and the opportunities will readi-
ly suggest themselves, which the establishment of
a free port in their immediate vicinity would af-
ford, both for prosecuting these to the uttermost,

'2o3

and for discovering other sources of lucrative traf-
fic among them. But what will be the consequence
of such a settlement to the natives themselves of
these islands ? In some one of them our free
port will be itself established : what will be the re-
turn to the inhabitants of that island in particular,
and to the otliers more generally, which shall re-
quite to tliem this apparent usurpation of their ter-
ritorial rights ? In considering questions of this
nature, it has not been usual to regard them in this
point of view ; too long, indeed, has it been custom-
ary to examine them only as they refer to ourselves,
and to rank the native inhabitants of any proposed
point of settlement but as the live stock, or even
sometimes but as the wild beasts on the estate, to
be employed or extirpated as suited our conveni-
ence. So were Mexico and Peru invaded, and
thus too, more recently still, were Indostan and
the Indian islands occupied ; and from these ex-
amples, a sort of discredit has been thrown in the
estimation of generous minds on every similar pro-
posal. Let us not however, on this occasion, over-'
look this important point, but let us recur again to
the question, What will be the consequence of the
proposed measure to tJie natives themselves of those
islands in which its first steps must be traced ?

To this question I have no hesitation in giving
the most brief and comprehensi^'c answer : it is

V->\

. ) If I'

'234>

easy to prevent their sustaining the smallest injury
from even 'its most immediate operation, while its
ultimate consequences must be in the highest de-
gree beneficial ; must be, indeed, precisely those
which will repair to them some part of that mis-
chief which our desultory intercourse has entail-
ed on them. In the first place, they are placed
in very different circumstances from those which
characterized the Mexicans, Peruvians, Hindoos,
&c. and do not, consequently, run the same risk
i'rom our neighbourhood ; they are wretchedly poor,
while the others possessed immense accumulations
of wealth ; and they are parted and broken into
different islands, and groups of islands, with each
their fixed and limited boundary, which nothing
but an avowed spirit of violence can tempt either
party to violate ; while those other nations alluded
to were scattered and dispersed over immense con-
tinents, connected and intermingled together by a
variety of discordant interests, into which whosoever
entered even ever so little, was almost inevitably
drawn on ad infinitum. Thus far, then, the two
cases are different, however the circumstances of in-
vasion may resemble ; but even these would es-
sentially vary. Our fathers acted under a political
creed which sanctioned every act of violence, so
that gain was its object ; we, their offspring, have
been warned by the odium attached to their exam-

Qj.'i

pie, and have, besides, an improved moral and po-
litical feeling among ourselves, to preserve us from
treading in their steps. We have it in our power
to purchase the site of our proposed establishment —
the whole island indeed on which we may wish to
place it — inch by inch, from its present possessors ;
and in the humanity of our military servants alone,
we might have a well-founded guarantee against
every act of violence and oppression. But we need
not even depend on that ; we may prohibit, in the
most rigid manner, every attempt at fuither terri-
torial acquisition, and every, even the smallest, en-
croachment on the freedom of the surrounding na-
tives. Such as choose to reside on the isli\nd we
shall have purchased, will of course be amenable to
oin* laws, and subject to whatever discipline we
may think proper to impose on them for our conve-
nience and security ; but the privilege to depart,
whenever they conceive themselves aggrieved, may
be rigidly maintained to them, and will alone pro\ c
ample security against oppression.

The fountain-head being thus pure, let us now
consider in what direction its waters will flow, whi-
ther they will tend, what will be the remote con-
sequences which they will superinduce. These
will most undoubtedly be good ; they will consist
in the industry, order, economy, moral and reli-
gious habits, which the neighbourhood and exam-

; '»

u \.m

\ i.

; •11

256

pie of a rich, productive, and permanent market,
will naturally and progressively inculcate on the
surroimding population. The natives will acquire
tlie knowledge of many objects now unknown to
them ; a system of presents will either never pre-
vail, or will at least speedily cease in a mercantile
community ; and they will soon learn, that these
objects are only to be acquired by industry and as-
siduity, either in rearing stock and. bringing pro-
duce to market, or in labouring in the service of
the possessors of these valued articles. The germ
of industry thus sown will not be defrauded of its
appropriate harvest ; its progressive steps towards
maturity need not be here stated, they will be fa-
miliar to the political economist, and to every other
reader will be best . lustrated by a direct reference
to the opposite scenes which different corners of
the Pacific Ocean already exhibit, from the opera-
tion of this very cause. When Otaheite and the
Sandwich Islands were each first discovered, the
natives of the former somewhat bore away the palm
from those of the latter in the estimation of our
voyagers ; yet, what is now the relative situation
of both, and to what is the marked difference ow-*
ing ? The Sandwich Islands happened to lie con-
venient for a particular branch of traffic, by no
means very lucrative in itself, nor yet conducted
on those systematic principles which could alone

give it full tlcvelopement and effect. The natives,
however, were by its means early iamiliarized with
the principles of trade and barter ; and the conse-
quence has been, that, without the aid of mission-
aries, they have acquired all the most valuable no-
tions of morality, the effects of which may indeed be
distinctly traced in every feature of their character,
in every step of a progress towards civilization,
which, abstractedly considered, seems little less
than a prodigy and a miracle. The Otaheiteans,
on the contrary, have lain remote from the course
of regular traffic, and have only received the be-
nefit of the Missionary Societies. Their presents,
their abstract notions, their very assiduity in col-
lecting the inhabitants in idleness around them to
listen to their exhortations, have poisoned the sa-
cred volume itself which it was their object to im-
part, but which can only worthily and profitably
be received; when, with it, is also received the op-
portunity of carrying its moral precepts steadily
and systematically into effect, and when tlie spiri-
tual benefit of these is reinforced to the worldly
mind of the savage by the experience and example
of their temporal advantages. That opi)ortunity,
that comment on the text, the Otaheiteans have ne-
ver had : they are sunk, accordingly, in idleness,
vice, and debauchery, are becoming annually few-
er in number, and in a short time, if no steps be

ff I .'

2.08

taken to reclaim them, must disappear altogether

as a nation from our sight.*

li"

:
I-

r.\

* The Missionaries of Otnlicite have lately given consijcrablc
publicity to a letter purporting to have been sent them by Pomarrc,
the firincipnl chief or king on the islam!, in which he ncknowlcd^'cs,
in the most unreserved terms, the conversion of himself and peo-
ple ; transmitting to them, nt the same time, the symbols of iiis
former worship, to be burnt at the Missionaries' j)Ic!isurc, or sent
to their country, " for the inspection of the people of Europe,
that liiey may satisfy their curiosity, and know Tahiti's (Ota-
heitc's) foolisii gods." Of such a document itisim|,'Ossiblc not to
speak in contemptuous terms, whatever good wi.shes for the ac-
quisition of the great object pursued by the Missionaries we may
profess, or whatever respect we may entertain for that entire
abrogation of self which characterizes their exertions. Even sup-
posing it to be the genuine lerord of Poinarre's sentiments, ( it may,
in fact, either be dictated by the most sordid motives, or il may
be an entire fabrication, for no set of men have a riglit to de-
mand implicit belief on the part of the public, where the internal
evidence affords so strong a presumption against them,) but sup-
posing even, I say, that it were the genuine record of Pomarre's
sentiments, what does it prove ? It proves certainly enough,
that whatever moral obligations may have been imposed by his
former religion must be now dissolved, since he can not only treat
its symbols with disrespect himself, but even court the ridicule of
others with regard to them. But dues this make him a Christian,
or does it in any degree heighten the degrading opinion we had ob-
tained from other sources of his character? To my mind it most
certainly does neither; indeed I think it nearly sclf>evident, that
at no time, probably, were the Otaheiteans ever less likely to be
actuated by correct moral principle than at this moment, when
it seems thus proved, that they consider themselves released
from the obligations imposed on them by their former worship,
and when, as yet, their new belief can have made but little
impression on their habits and conversation. If the Missionaries
would controvert this presumption, let them favour us with the

f2.59

. I do not mean to dilate on this topic at greater
length, but I couhl not allow that the lunnanity,
to which I would appeal in behalf of iny argument,
should be enlisted in opposition to it, by overlook-
ing these most important considerations. I shall
now only further observe, that our iiiterference on
such an occasion need not be altogether disinterest-
ed, for the success of our endeavours to civilize
the inhabitants of tliese islands would almost in-
stantly repay us, through the imi)roved market
which they would afford us for oiu* manufactures.
Their demands on us at present in this way are no-
thing, or next to nothing ; but with industry to
provide equivalents mugt also come discernment in
the choice of objects of desire, contempt lor the
trifles which have been hitherto bestowed on them

oil

only assured test by whic)i their success can be estimated — de-
tailed statements, I mean, respecting tlie progress and actual
amount of Otaheitean population; respecting its moral habits, and
the disappearance of Arreoyism, with all its horrible accompani-
ments of unreserved prostitution, infiinticide, &c. from among its
members. Until these are given us, and while our impression of
Pomarre's own character, of that of his subjects, and of the state
of the Missionaries among them, is the result of the details respect-
ing each given us by Mr, Turnbull in his Voyage round the World,
it cannot even be believed possible, by any means short of a di-
rect miracle, that of such elements a religious and moral commu-
nity could have been formed, without the application of an exter-
nal impulse to that spirit of industry, honesty, and sobriety, by
whose fruits alone a true Christian spiiit can be recognized among
these savage tribes.

'. >»»

mmmm

ado

in their exchangees, and a crav.in£^ after more valu-
able sources of gratification. Our home manufac-
turers will thus be admitted to a share in tlie profits
of the whole communication ; while tlie merchant,
in the rapidity of circulation which the \icinity of
an uiiimate market will insure him, will equally
find his account in tlie prosecution of these pur-
suits.

Vni. Ecotiomy of Outfit. — The preceding ad-
vantages, it will be observed, are purely local, and
pecidiar to distinct portions of the shores of the Pa-
cific : it now remains briefly to consider those of
more general application. The first of these which
I shall mention is the greater economv which an
establishment: of tlie nature proposed would intro-
duce into the outfit in England of all \essels, with-
out exception, bound to these seas. This is at pre-
sent of the most expensive nature, whether of
men, of provisions, or of stoics. Preparation of
men must be made to meet the usual t^asuaJties of
death and desertion — casualties which, in a distant,
precarious, and un])opuIar voyage of nearly thretj
years duration, are both more mnnerous than on
ordinary occasions, and are besides irremediable.
The sauK^ observation applies to naval stores ami
provisions. Of these, the first cannot anywhere
l>e sup})iied, and must therefore be embarked in a
j)rofusion, of which the (list consetpience is waste,

m. >--.il^^-»-a^»>- ia^af^

201

and the last decay. Every seaman knows, that,
in these distant voyages, the loss by rot is not less
severe than tiiat by service ; while of the stores
wliich snrvive both, half the efficiency is j)robably
!ost, throngh tJie want of some corresponding arti-
cle of equipment — a few nails, a little twine — by
which they require to \w applied. Of provisions,
again, some uncertain supj>ly may, if is true, be
for the most part obtained among the islands of this
great ocean ; but the quality is generally inferior,
and us they must be cured down by the crews them-
selves, this is frequently done in a slovenly and in-
sufficient manner, and their entire loss forms an-
other item in the complicateil expenses of these
vovages.

All this would be prevented by the establishment
of a central free port within the limits oi'tlui sea it-
self, which is the theatre of these s])eeulatiorf5(. At
such a poim, supplies of every tU;»scriptM>n, of im-n as
of stores, would be readily obtained; ^ik\ thusalir-^t
step would be gained lor facilitating vwry se))arate
pursuit within its horizon, which will equally enter
into our consideration of all, however it be thus
^'»Maratel)■ stated and otherwist; ovcrlookeii.

IX. Whale Fislierjj. — Among the topics of ge-
neral aj)plication to the whole scope of the i\nific
Ocean, none more reailily presents itself to our re-
collection than the whale fishery, nor is there any

s ^

^6Q

more deplorably in want of the assistance which
tiie establishment of a central mart within the li-
mits of these seas would so abundantly confer. The
national value of the object pursued by the South
Sea whalers is recognised by the legislature, which
has granted bounties for their encouragement ; but
the mode in which they are compelled to prosecute
their speculations, in a great measure defeats the
operation of these aids. Their vessels must receive
in England an equipment for two or three years,
the expense and loss attending which have just
been adverted to ; and they must be manned by a
disproportionate and excessive number of the best
seamen, who will only be lured into this dangerous
and most disagreeable sei*vice by the reward of
shares in the proceeds of the voyage. The neces-
sary equijuuent of provisions and water for such a
ship's company precludes the possibility of embark-
ing also a cargo, even if there were a market ; the
outwartl-bound voyage is therefore entirely unpro-
ductive, and from 1^2 to 14 months elapse before
any thing is done for the owners' behoof. When
the fishery docs begin it is exceedingly precarious,
and only the spermaceti whale can be an object
of pursuit, the black or blubber whale not being
sufHciently valuable to make a return adequate to
such expenses. A single material casualty, whether
by death or desertion, unnihilates the speculation,

and £he vessel herself is perhaps with difficulty
brought home, her seamen having been kept toge-
ther only by the hopes of her success.

The change which the establishment of a free
port in the Pacific would produce on all this, is suf-
ficiently obvious. The fishery would gradually de-
volve on resident seamen, and vessels would leave
England freighted with cargoes for this port, se-
cure of being able to purchase there, oil, sperma-
ceti, or whatever other return they preferred, by
means of its proceeds. They would be navigated
thither by only the usual proportion of seamen,
who would receive only the usual remuneration ;
and their supplies would be recruited with such
ease at this port, it would be unnecessary to bestow
on them in the first instance more than the ordi-
nary equipment. The black equally with the sper-
maceti whale would reward such a speculation,
and the necessity of bounties would be altogethei
superseded.

X. Piracy. — The merchants of Jamaica have
lately, it is said, presented a memorial to govern-
ment, soliciting and inviting its attention to the
acts of piracy committed in the Pacific Ocean.
Their representations are of a merely local and pe-
culiar nature, but the subject is well deserving a
more general and more complete elucidation.

r I

^nmmm

W-.Wl

2(JI.

Three ditterent sets of outlaws infest the waters
of the Great Ocean and neighbouring coasts, and
exercise their depredations witii an iinpunity at our
hands the more remarkable, as tiiey sliew no res-
pect or regard for our flag more tlian another, but
lieely violate it wherever they have the power.
The first are the Malay and Chinese pirates, who
hifest the coasts of Cliina and the Indian Archipe-
lago ; and wI»o, but the other day, were only frus-
trated in their schemes of murdering and j)lunder-
ing the survivors of the wreck of one of our men
of war by the skill and spirit which they displayed
in their defence. \V hile mentioning these ruffians,
it is impossible not to remark on our singular apa-
th and forbearance towards them for so many
years that we have nav "gated these seas, consider-
ing too, that the river of Canton itself is hourly
subjected to their insults, and that the Portuguese
owe their settlement at Macao to that identical
service of checking and repressing their violence
along the coast of China, which \vc are called on
by so many other reasons at any rate to perform.
The next class of pirates, for so they may be styl-
ed, which I shall mention, are the inhabitants them-
selves of s(Mne of the islands of the Pacific, particu-
larly New Zealand, the Tongas, and Marquesas,
who have repeatedly seized our merchant ^hips,
murdered their crews, and even drawn, as we h "

2i)5

seen in one instance, aa a posteriori argument in
favour of tlieir right to commit such excesses found-
ed on a long impunity. Here, again, our forbear-
ance is somewhat surprising, considering the re-
cord with which we are furnished of the beneficial
effect on tlie Sandwich islanders produced by Cap-
tain Vancouver's prosecution unto death, before
their own chiefs, of the murderers of Messrs. Hergcst
and Gooch. Since that period, scarcely a single in-
stance is mentioned of the smallest act of violence
Offered by them to any of their numerous Euro-
pean visitors ; and if, which is extremely probable,
this forbearance be ns much influenced by a sense
of interest as by a remembrance of punishment, so
much the better for my principal argument in fa-
voui' of forming such an establishment among them
as sliall convey to all those islanders the same mo-
tives for respecting the lives of their visitors, as are
here proved to have been so powerful.

The last class of lawless invaders of individual
rights and property in the Pacific, is composed of
those men, the privateers fitted out by the insur-
gent Spanisli colonies, against whom the memorial
of the niercliants of Jamaica is addressed, but who,
as yet, are somewhat improperly stigmatised as pi-
rates. Acting under commissions issued by go-
vernments, self constituted it is true, but vet with
some plausible pretexts of right and reason on their

side, it yet remains to be proved, by success, wlic-
ther that coarse aj)pellation is to he applied to them
or not. The pohcy of this country respecting
them is however sufficiently apparent and indispen-
sible ; they must be jealously watched, and most
rigorously curbed whenever they attemj)t to travel
out of their record, to violate or to insult the Bri-
tish flag. They must be more vigilantly watched
than ordinary belligerents. The ultimate success
of their cause may rank them with the acknow-
ledged nations of the earth j but their defeat con-
demns them irredeemably to piiacy and raj)ine for
the means of subsistence. History gives us again
the illustration and example. The outcast English
fugitives from Honduras became the butchering
buccaneers of the Caribbean Sea ; and with many
a bitter tear of blood and humiliation did Spain re-
gret that first success, and the cruelty with which
it had been staindd.

Let not England then forget the precautions by
which alone she can purciiase her own exemption,
and the exemption of her subjects from those ilis-
asters of which almost every sea for a time will !)«
the scene should the Spanish colonies be finally
subdued. In the Pacific Ocean they nnist longer
predominate than in any other, both from the dis-
tance and the convenience of its iimunierable ports ;
and such a predominance is peculiarly interesting

26?

to lis from the proxiiriity of* the Iiulian Seas. Let
lis tirst, then, occupy the ground, let us mingle a
|)re\ cMitive with the corrective which we may be
called on to administer. The appearance of the
British flag now in these seas, the rather it' floating
on the walls of a permanent settlement, would he
acce])ted and submitted to as a warning, — it would
be deemed even a favour. A little time and it may
be resented as an encroachment; and a distant and
doubtful warlare may alone viiuUcate its authority
and its power.

XI. Science. — Such are the vicissitudes in popu-
lar estimation of relative values, that the interests
of scientific research — for the promoticm of which,
in the beginning of his present Majesty's reign,
scarcely any sacrifice seemetl too great — can
scarcely now find any suitable place amid the
important political and commercial objects with
which they are thus associated. It is true that,
in the interim, even their intrinsic value has been
im})aired, the grand outline of the shores of the
Pacific having been now long traced, and even of
the minute details, only a few still remaining for
examination. But in return I would observe, in
the first place, that some little chivalrous feeling
might, with infinite propriety, be attached to the
prosecution of inquiries, with the history of the
outset of which, the youthful patronage of our now

Ifi

aged Sovereign, and the names of some of tlie most
illustrious of our countrymen are inseparablv con-
nected ; and we might fairly and creditably pro-
test against yielding up to France and Russia, nei-
ther of them maritime powers, the honour exclu-
sively of bringing them to a conclusion. But, in
the next place, even allowing that the hydrography
of tile Pacific were nearly complete, (be it noted
that this is really hardly the case, many minute de-
tails being yet wanting,) but allowing, I say, even
that it were the case, it must by no means thence
be inferred, that no objects of curious inquiry still
remain within its limits. Its meteorology is as yet
entirely in its infancy ; I may remark, indeed, by the
way, that so it must remain imtil science do at
length acquire a permanent home within its limits,
for meteorological information can only be depend-
ed on, when it is the result of the comparison of
long contiimed observations, not the vague surmise
founded on a few casual and desultory remarks.
Tiie magnetical and barometrical inquiries accord-
ingly, which it would be curious to have satisfied
in this ocean, occur in a profusion of which I shall
not now pretend to ofier an outline : indeed, any
list which it would be within my competence to
supply, would be, to say the least, unsatisfactory to
the scholar, while, to the general reader, it would
be only tedious and unintelligible. But there is

(■

2(11)

one consideration to which I may with safety ad-
vert, as being equally obvious to every cajiacity

that, I mean, which regards the facilities for scien-
tific inquiry, aftbrded by the immense extent, and
easy, certain navigation of this great ocean. A
few weeks sail within its limits will place the in-
quirer into any branch of physical science in pre-
cisely siuular, or precisely opposite circumstances,
in either hemisphere, as the nature of his experi-
ment may require ; and this convenience, which
certainly does not exist in any quarter of our whole
globe even, to the same extent, as it will be suf-
ficiently a])preciated by all students, as it relates to
investigations connected with astronomy, natural
history, geology, mineralogy, &c. so, may I remark,
is it peculiarly favourable to inquiries into the
great questions of variation, * &c. the solution of

* I cannot avoid taking this opportunity of recommending in
the strongest terms, to my brother officers, and generally to all
interested in keeping a ship's reckoning, a little work on the Va-
riation of the Compass, lately published by Mr. Bain, a Master in
the Navy. The object of it is to illustrate, by a variety of ex-
amples, taken in part from his own experience, not only the exist-
ence of the fact, that a difference exists in the result of observations
for variation taken with the ship's hrtd east and west, a phenomenon
first observed by Captain Flinders, but also the dangers in which a
neglect of the rules for calculating this difference, may involve the
navigator. Such a work was become the more necessary, from
the existence of a very general prejudice, in the minds of practi-
•:al seamen, against the result of Captain Flinders' experiments.

270

which forms at present so great a desideratum in
nautical science. Such as it is, however, it can
never be adequately improved by occasional desul-
tory visits, but must ever lay waste and in abey-
ance, until, as I have already said, science shall
have acquired a permanent and conveniently cen-
tral home within the hmits of the horizon which her
inquiries would thus pervade.

XII. In the next place, a free British port in the
Pacific would draw towards it those detached and
isolated American traders, who now nearly occupy
every corner of its shores, their thoughts filled with
home, and their minds strongly bent on acquiring
useful information, and imparting it on their return
to their fellow citizens, who thus reason with re-
spect to these distant objects with a precision which

It was asked by them, with some apparent plausibility, how that
could be affected by the direction of a ship's head, which was pc-
cuhar to her place in the water, not to her position ? Such an ar-
gument is, however, extremely shallow, and may be put down at
once, by supposing, that something in the accumulation or direc-
tion of the iron-work in either a ship's head or stern, produces
an effiect on the compasses. This effect will draw the needle to-
wards the true north, with the ship's head one way, and from it
when it is the other; and, as it operates therefore in both, twice its
actual amount, whatever it may be, will be the difference between
the observations. But it is absurd to argue in a physical question
of any sort, but above all in one which regards the variation of
the compass, of the theory of which we do not possess even the
lirst elements.

271

we cannot attain. By drawint? llicso men tovvariU
it, it will weaken those domestic ties whicli now
make them 550 exchisively national and anti-British
in all their thonghts and commnnications vvitii the
savage trihes, and will at any rate enable onr re-
sident merchants to procure a knowledge of the
objects of tiicir traffic, and a participation in its bc-
netits, such as at present no Britisli subjects can
acquire.

When American independence was first acknow-
ledged, tile advantages attending connnercial spe-
culatioris were ah'eady so thoroughl)- understood,
that altliongli still in a state when agricultural jnu*-
suits were the most natural and congenial to their
resources, while labour yet bore a high price, and
agricultural produce found a ready demand, the
subjects of the United States uotwi^^hstanding,
threw themselves at once into connnercial specula-
tions, and have ])rosecuted them ever since with a
success corresponding to the zeal and intelligence
which are their noted characteristics. Among othci
points, the Pacific Ocean did not escape their ob-
servation, they were even among the first who pro-
fited by the instructions regarding its resources af-
forded by Captain Cook's third voyage. Its desul-
tory traffic, and the small original ca|)ital requisite
for embarking in it, suited the state of tl»eir indi-
\ idual resources j and the economy wliicii, from

■ u

>.■■ ('

^>.

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

«?.

1.0

I.I

lii

L25 iU 11.6

n%^ -^^Z

^^^
^.^*
^

PhotDgrapWc

Sciences

Corporation

Z% WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. MSSO

(716) •72-4503

•%^

^
S"^*

^4^

'.^>

mmm

272

necessity, they introduced into the detail of their
voyages, together with the superior advantages
with which, through the operations of our East In-
dia Company's privileges, they entered the port of
Canton, the only neighbouring market then open
to them, enabled them to prosecute their several
pursuits in these seas with a success which is best
illustrated by the fact, that of twelve ships which
touched at the Sandwich Islands in 1810, only two
were English, and these, too, whalers, not coasting
traders, one was Russian, and the remaining nine
were all Americans. These men, as we have else-
where seen, are in the habit of leaving their own
country with trifling cargoes of provisions, &c. al-
together on speculation, and passing from port to
port, and from sea to sea, they accumulate as they
proceed, their eyes still intent on home, their minds
still filled with domestic prejudices and animosities.
Every thing English is in a peculiar manner their
aversion ; and to instil the same feelings into the
several tribes with which they traffic, is their
choicest gratification.

Let no one despise an enemy because apparent-
ly insignificant, nor let us undervalue this one be-
cause the poison which he imparts is not immediate-
ly followed by inflammation. Tliese desultory trad-
ers are of all men the most likely to open the out-
j)orts of China and Japan, and thoy are at this mo-

273

ment familiarly to be seen in every insurgent port
in Spanish America. Let not these important
points be pre-occupied by those who, however ap.
parently insignificant, are yet avowedly opposed to
us aiid to our interests. I do not ask that tliey
shall be attacked, far from it, let them be encou-
raged ; but, in the encouragement, let the venom
be subdued which alone makes them dangerous.
Give them a civilized home within the scope of
their usual pursuits ; accustom them to look to it
for their market, to it for their supplies, to it for
the means of realising past, and of organising future
speculations. Let them form domestic ties among
your subjects, they will themselves soon swell their
list ; let them find their own account in making a
home of your dominions, thither will they soon
carry their sympathies, and thither convey their in-
formation. They will identify their own interests
with its prosperity, and neither scowl at its flag,
nor murmur at its fees.

XIII. Revenue. — These fees, and the revenue
they would produce, form, then, the last subject on
which I shall now touch in recommendation of this
portion of my scheme. They will naturally con-
sist ill the levy of a small transit duty on every spe-
cies of commodity passing through the warehouses
of this port, on its way to the ultimate market,
whether European, American, or Asiatic j and, in

it u

'i74<

tlie genuine spirit of a free port, will be levied on
all alike, without favour and without drawback of
any sort. The total amount must necessarily de-
pend on the degree of developement wliich the
whole measure might be able to bestow on the
commerce of the Pacific ; lor, whatever that may
be, it must almost necessarily centre in this point.
No resident merchant within the limits of the whole
sea, whatever might be his circumstances, would
be able to trade direct with any Atlantic port on
the terms with which he might communicate with
this market, which, at scarcely a tenth of the dis-
tance, would combine every variety of produce,
European, American, and Asiatic ; while, lice ver-
sa, the Atlantic merchant would be unable to find
imited on any other point of the Pacific the same
advantages which he would meet here. The re-
sult would seem demonstrable, nor shall I now far-
ther dilate on the topic ; finally observing only,
that the revenue thus acquired would be interest-
ing to us not merely as might regard the amount of
pecuniarj'^ gain which we might derive from it, bul
as its details, together with the exchanges on the
market place of the free port itself where it would
be levied, would afford us a sort of political barome-
ter for the whole ocean and the various interests
which it involves, such as the independence of the
Spanish colonies in particular, may make it most

275

especially desirable for us to possess, and which
by no other means we should seem likely to attain.
This last consideration almost deserves a se})arate
place in the enumeration which I now conclude j
but I suj)press a particular illustration of it, partly
because its application is so nearly akin to what we
are in the daily habit of employing as a guide for
our i)olitical conduct in Europe, that it appears
superfluous to do more than thus to name it j and
partly from my desire now to bring to a close these
observations respecting the Pacific, and respecting
the various sources of political and commercial as-
cendancy which the due improvement of the natu-
ral advantages possessed by its {)rincipal shores so
abundantly presents. Their elucidation has already
drawn me indeed, to trespass materially on the limits
which I had wished to assign to this particular por-
tion of my work ; and as some little recurrence to
the entire topic will necessarily form a portion of
both the following chapters, but more especially of
the last, to the opportunities afforded by them,
I now reserve whatever little addition I still wish
to make to them.

m. !»:

27^

CHAPTER III.

[•^.a

ON THE POLICY OF FORMING A SIMILAR ESTABLISHMENT
ALSO IN THE SOUTHERN ATLANTIC (wiTHIN THE TER-
RITORY, NAMELY, OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOI'E), AND
OF CONFERRING ON IT PARTICULARLY THE SAME PRIVI-
LEGE OF TRADE WITH INDIA LATELY BESTOWED ON
MALTA AND GIBRALTAR.

In the preceding chapter I have summarily laid
down what I consider the chief advantages con-
nected with the establishment of a central free
port in the Pacific Ocean ; I am now to follow out
the plan of this work by considering those identified,
as it would appear to me, with the formation of a
similar establishment within the territory of the
Cape of Good Hope, bestowing at the same time
on the portselected, the same privilege of unli-
mited trade with India and the Atlantic markets,
in other words, the same privilege of receiving tin;
transit duty on East Indian produce imported in

277

British bottoms, conferred only last session of Par-
liament on Malta and Gibraltar.

In carrying the reader's mind at once to a sub-
ject so remote, alike as it regards place and interest,
from that to which I have hitherto endeavoured to
confine his attention, I am aware some preface
would be necessary, had I not already anticipated
that task in the introduction which ' have prefix-
ed to the whole work. In that I have detailed at
length the prima facie argument in favour, at least,
of the last of these proposals ; that argument, I
mean, which is drawn from the proximity of the
Cape of Good Hope ports to the track from India
alike to every Atlantic market, and the little compa-
rative inconvenience which would accordingly be
imposed on the British merchant by the exaction
of a transit duty at them, to that now inflicted by
the necessity of touching at a Mediterranean or
British domestic port on his way to his ultimate
destination. To that I shall not therefore now
again recur ; but combining the whole proposal in-
to one, — that is, adding to it as therein originally
contained, the further ingredient of free trade,-—
shall proceed at once to develope what would ap-
pear to me the most striking and important conse-
quences with which it would seem likely to be at-
tended.

■ y

^-.-.*

mwA

278

' 5

III

1: yhe first of these tlien is the extreme facility
which the establislimeiit of an intermediate free
port between Europe and India would confer on
their mutual communications ; a facility which I
scarceb characterize too strongly, when I consider
its effect as tantamount, or very nearly tantamount,
to the entire annihilation of half the whole dis-
tance which divides them. The view of the sub-
ject which suggests to me so strong an expression,
I cannot better elucidate than by an illustration
which must be familiar to every one accustomed to
travel post in this country, and who has had his
horses changed between two stages, giving uj) tiiose
belonging to that he has left, and taking in lieu
those of that towards which he is proceeding. The
effect of this very simple operation is that two par-
ties 01 travellers are equally forwarded to their re-
.spective destinations, and two postmasters derive
full benefit from their passage, while the horses em-
ployed do at the same time but half the work which
was originally cut out for them. Ev en so would be
the effect were an intermediate port established be-
tween us and India. The respective produce of
each hemisphere would get under way from both
extremities at the same time, and, meeting at a
point in the middle, would there be exchanged ;
each vessel employed in its conveyance deriving
precisely the same advantages from a voyage of

. ?.

270

only half the usual duration, and attended consc-
cpiently with only half the risk, ex})ense, and delay
in realizing the profits of the speculation, that she
does now by completing the wliole.

It is unnecessary, I think, to dilate at gieater
lengtli on the moral certainty ot the superior eco-
nomy of this method to that now employed; still
less is it possible for me, in this place, to enter in-
to minute particulais respecting the immediate
commercial advantages necessarily consequent on
thus ameliorating the means of communication be-
tween Europe and India. There is one particular
effect of it, however, which I camiot altogether
overlook ; the increased extent, I mean, which it
woidd give to the exchange of British manufac-
tured against Indian crude produce. The banks of
the Ganges have already witnessed the prodigy,
the commercial miracle, of their native i)roduce
being transported to England in the crude state,
there manufactured, antl at last consumed on its
native shores ; and if that can be done with the
present method of comnmnication, its occurrence
must be multiplied indefinitely when that shall
come to be improved. This is so obvious, I should
hardly have thought it necessary to notice it, were
it not for my desire to make the following remark
on it. An objection may be anticipated to the
whole scheme, from consideration for the domestic
capital and industry at present embarked in the

> h

■> 1 "I

'^h

i\ \

^80

transit of East Indian produce through the liome
market. This objection will, 1 think, fall to the
ground, when a comparison is instituted between
the value and sort of these embarked in that spe-
culation, and those engaged in manufacturing pur-
suits. The capital engaged in the transit of East
Indian produce through the home market, is for the
most part supplied by a few wealthy individuals,
who, when this source of its employment shall be
withdrawn, will easily find another — will find ano-
ther indeed immediately, in the more active ex-
change of manufactured and crude produce which
is anticipated. The labour is in the same manner
furnished by the sturdy porters of half a dozen of
our principal sea ports, who, in the same conse-
quence, will find the same resource. But the ca-
pital and labour engaged in manufactures are very
differently situate. Of the first, a very heavy out-
lay must be made before even commencing any
speculation — an outlay which, if that prove unsuc-
cessful, can in no way be redeemed ; while the la-
bour is furnished by the sedentary of all ages and
of both sexes, by women, children, &c. who have
only one direction in which they can possibly turn
their industry, either to their own or to public ac-
count, a direction, however, in which their pre-emi-
nent skill has happily elevated their country to
that pinnacle of political greatness which she has

•J81

now long attained. There can be no comparison
between the value of the two objects, no doubt to
which our preference should be given.

II. The natural consequence of abridged dis-
tance, for so it may even literally be called, and of
freedom of trade, would be to draw the traders of all
nations alike towards this one point, to make it the
conduit, in other words, by which the whole com-
munication between the two hemispheres would be
maintained. Of the two active elements which I
thus name as working together to produce this ef-
fect, the influence of the last, viz. freedom of
trade, was exemplified in the beginning of my last
chapter, at a length to which I need only now re-
fer. But I would further observe, that in the in-
stance then alluded to, it was acting alone ; St.
Eustatius, possessing no advantage of situation
above any of the Leeward Islands to make it thus
resorted to, outward bound being further distant
than almost any of them, while homeward bound
it is not one inch even nearer. But the employ-
ment of the Cape of Good Hope, in the same way,
would further, as we have seen, abridge the whole
distance nearly by one half j thus constituted, there-
fore, it would stand to the Atlantic markets in the
relation of India, and to the Indian markets in that
of Europe ; presenting at the same time to botli ii
variety and assortment of the produce of each,

282

I' :t

If!

ifl ill

H ^1

'tt nl

H^''

ill

H*'!

,'i

!'■■

wV'

i '

R-JI

ii.

sucli as no otlicr single port in even tlic wliolc
world could offer. We need not fear that foreiirn
merchants would be slow to avail themselves of
the opening it would thus afford : they could not
be prechided from doing so, no, not even if the
states to which they might respectively belong were
to foresee the consequences to which their repair-
ing to it would seem to lead, and were to endea-
vour to prevent them by legal enactments.

III. On the general resort then whicli I tlnis an-
ticipate as a necessary consequence of the measure
wliich I propose, I would now build the whole
mighty fabric of anticipation vvhich I proceed to
develope. The first consequence of it which I
shall mention, would be the immense revenue
which it would confer on us ; a revenue by so much
the more agreervble to receive, as it would be le-
vied, without partiality, on foreign as on domestic
speculation. The total amount of revenue accru-
ing to us at present from the transit of East Indian
produce through the home market, I have no o])-
portunity of learning exactly; but whatever it
may be, it must be evident, that frittered away
by collection at a dozen different points; by that of
watching a most extensive line of coast to prevent
smuggling ; and, finally, by the return made to the
merchant of nearly the whole amount as draw-
back on his re-exportations, I say, that fritter-

! )'

"w -_

283

ed away by these several incumliranccs, its nctt
amouriL to the L,^overnment can bear no j)ro|)ortion
at all to the gross sum exacted from tlie mereliaiit,
togetlier witli the Interest and profit siibse([uentiy
paid him l)y the consumer, as a return tor the
risk and outUiy of his money. This is so evident,
I shall n(>t dilate on it ; 1 shall only eom})are it
with what may reasonably be expectetl from a re-
venue levied at one internu'diatc point, exacted
without partiality from rival as well as domestic
speculation, and unincumbered Oy ;my calculation
of drawback whatsoever. The Jittorenci* in com-
parative amount cannot be stited hi any terms at
all ; for were this intermediate port to flourish, as
it would appear likely that it woidd flourish, the
nett revenue derived from even a very moderate
impost thus levied at it, would apj)ear to me calcu-
lated to average a sum of almost imbounded mag-
nitude — of a magnitude which would alone seem
to recommend the proposed measure beyond the
reach of all o))position.

But, in point of fact, the amount of income
which this measure would seem calculated to be-
stow on us. Is not, after all, the most interesting
modification of which this subject of revenue would
seem susceptible ; there is another view of it which
ought to fix the attention of every sin^^ere lo\er of
his country in a still more especial mamier. The

r « '

'h:

,.'

evil tendency of contraband pursuits on tlie morals
of'a people, requires no detailed illustration, it is but
too often displayed to us, in all its most lamenta-
ble characters, in the concluding confessions of
criminals condemned by justice to expiate their
crimes on the scaffold, and who almost uniformly
attribute their fate to the premature lessons of vice
inculcated by habits of either poaching or smug-
gling in early youth. Respecting the first of these
fatal stimulants to juvenile depravity, it is impos-
sible here to introduce any of those obseiTations,
which yet crowd instinctively to the mind on its
very mention ; but with respect to the last 1
shall say, that notwithstanding these sad and per-
petually recurring examples, no legislature has
ever yet been able to infuse into the public mind
a prejudice against its practice ; high and low, even
in England, where moral sentiment is incontestibly
higher wound than in any other country, yet con-
niving almost uniformly at that which seems to in-
flict no corresponding injury to the individual be-
nefit derived from it. If such then be the real
state of the case, and if the experience of everv
age and country proves also that it is likely ever to
continue so, let the hydra be attacked with other
weapons. Let us endeavour to make that con-
temptible and mean, which we cannot make igno-
minious ; let us divide the entire sum of tax into

►■ I'

portions, to be paid by different hands, and at suc-
cessive stages of the progress of the article in (lues-
tion to consumption. Let the temjitation to con-
traband pursuits at no one point equal the risk ;
and let common prudence at length guard that
property, which neither threats, nor denunciations,
nor captivity, nor even the infliction of death it-
self, have ever been able to secure.

I have expressed this argument in general terms,
because the principle which it contains might, I
think, be introduced with advantage into nearly
the whole range of our financial institutions. Its
application, however, to the case in point, is even
still more easy and obvious. The transit duty paid
at the Cape of Good Hope would be subtracted
from that whole amount required from the impor-
tations of East Indian produce into this country for
home consumption ; the remainder, accordingly,
would no longer present that strong inducement to
fraud, which at present encourages it to laugh at
every fresh precaution taken for its prevention.

IV. The next consequence of this general resort
would be, the placing all traders in the exchange
of East Indian and European produce on an equa-
lity, enabling English capital and activity to pro-
duce their full efi'ect in every direction, without
taxing them, as at present, to overcome sj)ecific
difficulties and obstructions arising from the colla-

•i'i' Iti

u^.

286

teral oi)eration of statutes and regulations, good
perhaps in themselves, but on some one point in-
jurious. This argument is directed principally to
a set oi' common'])lacc reasoners on political sub-
jects, who are strongly bigotted to ancient modes,
and who, to every home-thrust directed against
them by incontrovertible facts, have always the
same weary reply in their mouths — •' It may be all
very true, there is perhaps some little disadvan-
tage accruing here ; but never mind, British ca})i-
tal and enterprize will easily overcome that, and
all will be again right." To the power and efficacy
of these means 1 willingly subscribe ; they have
borne us, thank heaven ! through many a difficul-
ty and danger, and 1 do not fear but that they will
do so again. But I would remark, that if thus
powerful to overcome actual obstacles, give them
but a fair field and no favour, they would be more
successful still, and would soon infinitely outstrip
that competition which is only enabled to maintain
any struggle with them at all, by means of the ob-
stacles which thus beset their path.

V. This general concourse of all traders to a
port subject to our jurisdiction, would now further
enable us to guide and direct the course of the
whole trade within its scope, as suited our interests,
by the mere operation of financial regulations. This
power is extremely delicate, and would requii'e to

s>87

.' '

be exercised, it is true, with the utmost precau-
tion ; but the certainty of its acquisition is suffi-
ciently obvious, and there are one or two instances
in whicli it might, I think, be wisely and politi-
cally exerted. We might, for instance, encourage
by its means the exchange of our manufactures
against the crude produce of India ; and we might
also support by it that monopoly of the trade with
Cliina, which we think proper to confer on our
East India Company. The policy of the gift is per-
haps very questionable, but it is of long standing
and has been conferred besides for a valuable consi-
deration : we cannot tlieref ore, with propriety, hasti-
ly violate it,liowever we may disapprove of tiie means
by which it is su})poited, Iiowever sensible we may
be of the actual injury and injustice of which these
means, or some of them at least, are the operative
causes. The exclusive privileges conferred on the
Company at tlie port of Canton are those to whicli
I most particulaj'ly allude, and their various ope-
rations on British interests in the Pacific have been
already noticed in their own place. But to this 1
may safely add the humiliating forbearance and
submission which have so long characterized and
disgraced all Eiuopean intorcourse writh the vain
and supercilious Court of Pekin — a forbearance and
submission which, in compromising our national
honour and dignity, compromise even infinitely su-

i\ f.

\ l-^r

' km

'life

688

I ■ I

perior considerations to that for which they are sa-
crificed. Now it would appear to me, that all
points alike would be gained by the moderate ex-
ercise, on this occasion, of the power to which I
allude — the power, viz. of regulating the course of
trade at this intermediate point by financial regu-
lations. Some pecuniary exemptions conferred
there, on the East India Company's Chinese trade,
would enable it in a short time greatly to increase
its actual extent, while we remain in a state of
peace and amity with that empire ; while, on the
other hand, should we ever be forced into hostili-
ties with it — a consummation becoming every day
more probable, both from the approach of our mu-
tual boundaries in the interior of India, and from
the continued insolence of the empty satellites of
its throne — I say, should we ever be thus forced
into hostilities with it, such a previous arrange-
ment would hold out, not merely a chance, but
even a certainty to the East India Company, of re-
gaining their trade on the return of peace — a cer-
tainty, in a word, of that of which otherwise they
can entertain no hopes whatever. During the con-
test these privileges would lie, as it were, in abey-
ance ; and we should be supplied with Chinese pro-
duce in t 'le interim by neutral traders at only a slight
advance of price, consequent on the higher duties
which their traffic would pay, diminished however.

289

it must on the oilier hand be observed, in some niea-
sLire, by the su})crior economy with which the spe-
culations of'})rivate merchants are always conduct-
ed, to any to which those of a public body can pre-
tend. On the restoration of jjeace, with the return
of the opportunity of exercising their privileges,
would return also to theCompany the trade which, in
the very first instance, they would increase and ex-
tend; and thus we might at once abolish those re-
gulations by which the commerce of Canton, suf-
ficiently embarrasjcd at any rate by Chinese regula-
tions, is still fu.ther rendered nugatoiy to us l)y
our own statutes j and might assume and maintain
that real independence of bearing towards the fee-
ble Court of Pekin, of which our refusal to com-
ply with some ridiculous ceremonies is but tiie
pageant not the reality, the empty and degrading
semblance, not the honourable and dignified sub-
stance and effect.

VI. The proximity of the Cape of Good Ho)}e
in comparison to India, and the advantages which
it would hold out to individual traders, would have
a powerful effect in reviving tlie sjiirit of mercan-
tile speculations on the continent of Europe, and
would foster and encourage its several trading ma-
rines. The first statement of this proposition woidd
seem by no means to contain a favourable })rospect
to the shipping interest of this country, which, o\i

''i\

QDO

>!-j

the contrary, would appear likely to suffer some-
what from the habit which it anticipates as being
thus given to continental merchants of having their
work done by their own native shipping, instead of
employing as now, almost exclusively, English and
American bottoms. But in the field of fair com-
petition I have no fears for British capital and en-
terprize ; they may lose on one particular point,
but they must gain on others, and not even the
shipping interest would suffer on the whole. But
it is not r J with the American shipping, which de-
rives little or no employ, comparatively speaking,
from its own native resources, but is almost entire-
ly fed and supported by that carrying trade which
first the Dutch, and now these new rivals, have al-
most entirely engrossed, but which we have so espe-
cial an interest in proscribing. Between them and
us, the continental shipping interest is quite over-
borne ; indeed, I am not sure that there is not some
little prepossession lurking in the public mind aU
together against its revival ; I believe a great many
politicians would hear with some little pain, that
the Indian seas were again swarming with French,
Dutch, Danish, Hanseatic, and other flags, while
they would have the real picture of the extended
and extending commerce of the Americans, in the
same quarter, jjlaced before them without emotion.
Certainly never was prejudice so misplaced. In

our late contest, we derived no assistance whatever
from the American merchant marine ; 1 do believe,
as a naval officer, we had not a man from it, we
rather lost, through tlie difficulty of recognizing
our subjects from among Americinis, and through
the scandalous encouragement wliich, even while
professing a strict neutrality, the government of
the United States was not ashamed to hold out to
our deserters. Well may I speak to the fact, 1
was myself, on one occasion, a most material suf-
ferer by its occurrence. But how was it, on the
contrary, with the mercantile marines of conti-
nental Europe ? Their seamen swarmed in our
fleets even when their severid sovereigns were
leagued against us, and scarcely did they require
even not to be led against their own national flags.
We may not approve of this unpatriotic principle
in individuals, but in a body it is for our purposes
a useful quality ; and I must here remark, that the
valuable services which our navy derived from these
men last war — services which were only rendered
efficient through this distinctive feature in their
character — have never been adequately acknow-
ledged or rewarded by us. Those rights of natura-
lization which were nominally conferred on them as
an encouragement during tlie w^ar, on the return of
peace were rendered luigatory by the combinations
among our native seamen to exclude them from

.">

li-. I'

Pill

T- u

i''

), /

our mercantile em])l()y — combinations which, as far
as this eftect was their object, were almost sanc-
tioned upon ])rinciple by the great mass of British
public ; and thus the men who had fouglit and
bled for us in our day of need, in the hour of com-
})arative prosjierity, or when at least the burthen
had changed its character, were thrown aside, and
in vain appealed to the naval officers with whom
they had served, in animated protest against the
wrong they thus received.

In the general statement of this question, I have
been led somewhat away from its particular bear-
ing on my principal purpose. This, however, k
very obvious. The capital, resources, and enter-
prize, which may be unable to organize a specula-
tion for India and the further corners of the south-
ern hemisphere, may yet readily embark for the
Cape of Good Hope ; and in the habits and acqui-
sitions of success, continental merchants would again
resume that activity and speculative exertion which
they now want. We owe our exertions towards ef-
fecting such an object to a great many interests ;
to our manufactures, for these now languish in the
absence of that luxurv and cheerfulness, which in
a pecuhar manner characterize the successful pur-
suits of trade ; and to our good name, for that now
suffers under the imputation that we can take no
interest in any thing beyond our own immediate

M '\

(Mi* I

203

objects, that we have neither capacity nor h'bera-
lity sufficient to sec the advantages of associating
others in our success. But more tlian these, not as
more important, but as more immediately bearing
on the subject of the foregoing observations, we
owe them to the poor fellows whose services we
even exacted in our day of need ; whom we cannot
now encourage in oin* own mercantile marine, but
at the expense of a still more valuable set of men,
our own native seamen ; but for whom we might
thus indirectly provide. And, lastly, we owe them
in a most peculiar manner, to the deep interest we
have in proscribing every species of carrying trade,
in disseminating among many channels the excess
of maritime employment over what we oursches
engross — not in allowing it to be accumulated in
one, which a revolution in our circumstances may
not only make commercially, but even politically,
formidable to the dearest interests of oiu' land.

VII. By presenting at the Caj)e of Good Ho])e
advantages which would most certainly allure all
Indian traffic towards it, we should interru})t, with-
out violence or dispute, that connnerce maintain-
ed by the Americans with India, which we wished
to refuse them, it was understood, at the late ])eace,
but which they would not resign. Tlie importance
of this object is in my minil very great. India is
an extremely delicate point of our empire, main-

\ I

'i-\

291

i \

\'^

\ ^ \

'■ ,i

'. . /

tained, as wc shall presently sec at greater length,
in a great measure, by the ibree of oi)ini{)n, and
which is therefore peculiarly accessible to those
weapons of offence, detraction and allecteil coti-
tenipt, in which the petty American traders al-
most mechanically indulge with respect to us. It
is indeed somewhat a painful study to trace, e\en in
one's self, the excess to which mutual aversion now
exists between the United States' subjects arid our-
selves — an aversion founded on a long train of in-
juries and disgusts, and aggravated by that con-
tempt which we each pretend, and only pretend, to
feel for the other. Its effect in every port, where the
petty agents of both meet, is palpable to even the
grossest observation ; but the rancorous and sarcas-
tic remarks which it elicits, are in a peculiar manner
injurious to us in India, where we are for the most
part rather feared than loved, and where, according-
ly, a greedy and delighted ear is turned to observa-
tions tending to depreciate and vilify our name.
But this is not all. The pecuniary value of this trade
to America is perhaps not very great, it is much
greater, however, I may observe by the way, than
is generally believed ; but its moral importance to
them is, beyond all computation of this sort, great.
There is a dignity and elevation of sentiment in-
separable from all distant speculations, of which
the first hazards are great, and the returns only

)■

29c>

contingent and remote. They enlarge the capa-
city, exercise and improve the understanding, and
familiarize those combinations of great ends with
slender and apparently inefficient beginnings, such
as alone are entitled to give the name of ambition
to the steady purpose which they produce on the
mind ; while that once bestowed, vires acquivit
eundoy difficulties and moderation alike disappear
before its course, and the most lofty and daring
views at length dawn on its contemplation. Such
have been the effects of this Indian trade on the mo-
ral intellect of the American people ; for be it re-
marked, that its influence on them is not as with
the Spaniards, Dutch, and, until lately, ourselves,
dammed up and confined to an exclusive Company,
the directors and chiefs of which alone catch the
spark of inspiration, while all beneath them lie yet
grovelling in the slumber of counting-house obedi-
ence. No !^The Americans have no exclusive char-
ters or associations ; their Indian ships are, as I
have elsewhere noticed, launched at the joint ex-
pense, and navigated by the united labours of a
few indigent but adventurous individuals, all in-
terested in husbanding the resources, and promot-
ing the ends of the speculation, and all acquainted
with its lirst hazards, and with the proposed object
by which it is hoped they will be rewarded. The
effects which such enterprizes produce, are accord-

ifi

')'i>i

W-4

«f)r»

ingly wiiloly ilisseminatctl iimoiif? their ])0|)u1ation»
iiiul inny iiuU'cd he most (hstinctly traccil in almost
all of tliem. Other and nearer hranches of com-
merce have made many ot'tliem ricli ; but it is this
Indian and l*acific Ocean trade which has made
them as a nation ambitions ; it is tliis winch has
envenomed their hatred to the ])arem state, which
fostered them w itii her very blood ; this, in a word,
which makes them anticipate with deli<z;ht even,
the hoin', however remote, which shall witness,
as they fondly hope, the ruin of her most anci-
ent institutions. I do not speak of their admini-
stration : that, I do believe, is innocent of such
thoughts ; such combinations are nearly incompa-
tible with its loose and feeble organization. But I
speak of the great mass of their po])ulation, of
their mercantile and seafaring communities, of the
factious but able leaders of their provincial elec-
tions and assemblies. To all these the most ex-
travagant anticipations of future greatness are even
familiar ; and by them, as well as by the perma-
nent and enduring o})eration of the original cause,
is that moral energy of mind sustained and sup-
])orted, by which alone they can ever hoj)e to see
these visions realized.

Both points of view, therefore, in which this
trade is contemplated, are most interesting, and
both claim for it our steady consideration of the

2f)7

means by whicli it iniiy l)c anilcaMy iiilornipted.
Tliose iTH»aiis, the institution of an intcrnuuliate
i'lvv port wonid sri-in in a most osjjccial maimer
to present. If inilecil capable of otferini;- those ad-
vanta*;es of iliminislicd distance, smaller risk, (piick-
er circniation of jjtoHIs, and, iinaily, variety of
eqnivalent for almost every species of cargo, all of
which would seem inseparable from any idea whicli
we can form of it by anticipation, then may we rest
assured, that no avowal of our own ultimate obj<^ct
would be able to defeat its operation, no leu;:islative
enactments elude its j)urpose. The Americans
must come to us and to our })ort, or they must
abandon altogether the market ; there is no keep-
ing up a disadvantageous trade for mere purposes
of state convenience anv where ; but least of all
could such a measure e\er be attem})ted imder a
government supj)orted only by the breath of public
opinion at home, and which but the shortest inter-
mission in its applause must level with the ground.
VIII. The interruption of this intercourse on
tbe part of the Americans, would, from the opeiation
of the same causes, be extended to other ])owei*s,
and would promote the security of India, whether
we choose to colonize it or not. The first part of
this })roposition is sulHciently ol)\ ious, I wish, how-
ever, both to give it a distinct expression, and also
to guard against a possible misunderstanding of

'•^

21)8

R'«-.-

M"^

;■!

llie exact meaning which I attach to it. By an in-
terruption, I mean only in the direct trade ; I do
not by any means suppose that the measure which
I recommend would banish foreign flags from the
Indian seas altogether. The trade from all parts of
India to the Cape of Good Hope, would be just as
free and open to all, as that from the Cape to all
parts of Europe and America ; and a share of the
one would be accordingly as readily engrossed as of
the other by neutral powers. I only mean that
aiiritish port would be the common rallying point of
both, and that the whole commerce would be main-
tained by virtue of privileges conceded by our fa-
vour, and which might accordingly be forfeited at
our nod. Those exclusive feelings, accordingly,
would gradually subside, which make the trader be-
tween Canton and New York an enthusiastic Ame-
rican, and the merchant passing from Batavia to
Amsterdam a mere Dutchman in political feeling.
The breasts of both would progressively warm to the
port and country which still divide their time and
their domestic associations ; they would be half our
subjects, to whatever lord the remainder of their
fealty may incontestably be due.

The second part of the whole proposition prefix-
ed to this portion of my subject, comes now to be
considered — to be considered too at a length, which,
however inadequate to its real importance, may

Q09

-i-l

yet, in this brief and summary compilation, bear
some proportion to its intrinsic magnitude. The
security of India is indeed a question which must
come home to every individual, however callous to
the ordinary topics of alarming and serious consi-
deration, with wliich we are ever daily beset. I do
not say that every one is to take it on trust that it
is really compromised because it is so said ; but I do
say, that if but the smallest surmise of the kind be
advanced, it is worth any man*s while to examine
into its reality and truth.

The security of India, then, has been long con-
fided to its remote situation, ;ind hitherto that has
been sufficient for the purpose to which it was
tasked, aided however, be it remarked, by some
very considerable sacrifices of money, moral cha-
racter, and reputation, such as in an especial man-
ner characterize our administration of that opulent
inheritance. But that remoteness of situation, let
it be also remarked, with fear but with firmness, is
nov/ actually under compromise. The emancipa-
tion of tlie Spanish South American colonies — their
entire reduction seems almost hopeless, — must de-
velope in our despite, and unless we timeously in-
terfere, beyond our controid, the vast commercial
and still more formidable political resources of
their Pacific Ocean shores ; and the North Ameri-
c:uis, we may be assured, already contemplate such

I ,

;(i

'J.t

hi ff

■ V

t'i

300

an issue with even the tyger'sgaze of interest ami
eager anticipation, (public commissioners do not
go now-a-days ho the extreme corners of the worhl
merely in search of accurate iiivormation, however
plausibly the tale be told.) Supposing that result
were actually realized, which is beyond all measure
the most probable, I mean that Peru, Chili, Buenos
Ayres, &c. had achieved their emancipation, and
were united with the North Americans in the
bonds of an interested compact, in what direction, I
would ask, is it most likely that their first commer-
cial, and consequently political views, would be
carried ? Why, most certainly towards Asia ; the
distance is much less, the ground is not already so
much occupied, and the interchange of commodi-
ties is in most respects more suitable than with
Europe ; the specie^ raw cotton, and fine wool of
the one, corresponding in all respects to the de-
mands of the other; while the natural returns are
equally suitable, composed as they would probably
be of the manufactures, ivory, frankincense, spices,
betel nut, &c. for which the eastern shores of Asia
are so famed. When these friends and allies have
been thus led then by the hand to India, in what
situation will they find us there — vigorous at home,
powerful abroad, respected and beloved, the ter-
ror and yet the stay of the nu. ^e chiefs? No!
thanks to our cold-blooded policy, they will not so

301

find us; our situation is the reverse, absolutely
the very reverse of this picture. — Seated on the
surface of India, not amalgamated with its compo-
sition ; paltering in a petty traffic, by which they
acknowledge themselves losers, but to which they
cling with much the same feeling, as that with
which a superannuated tradesman still lingers over
those now losing occupations which once were pro-
fitable ; and viewing, finally, with agitated emotion,
every petty cabal, every casual intei change of cou-
riers between the native powers ! Such is the mag-
nificent description which more truly pictures the
rulers whom it is oiu* pleasure to bestow on India,
and who now, after nearly a century's occupation,
are still seeking to bind it to their side by a mere
chain of sand — a chain of which the scattered grains,
we cannot call them links, are formed of all that
is most foreign, most irreconcilable ; of a military
force, strong only in the weakness of its antago-
nists ; of an almost antiquated respect, the fruit of
past victories and success ; and of a fixed, a rooted
turbulence and aversion on the part of the native
princes, the ricli and merited harvest of a thousand
usurpations and intrigues. I do not speak in re-
proach, but in counsel ; not in invective against the
past, but in warning for the future. Tlie season of
security from such a tenure, or of success fronr
such a policy* draws alike to a close 5 our own es-

\ 1
. \

i*i

')v

■ -^^ ."-ss-

■ "J

m
I

302

!?■

I >

tablishments of Sepoys have taught the natives tac-
tics ; our indulgence to the Americans, with the
licentious liberty of speech which these latter every
where caiTy with them, have taught them to doubt
the truth of those tales of national greatness, the
belief in which our local successes had once almost
interwoven with their very composition. And if dis-
tance, military superiority, and moral prejudice, are
all thus to be at once torn from us, what is there
that will remain for the support of our establish-
ments ?

One support the institution of the 'ntermediate
ports which I have severally proposed in the Paci-
fic and Atlantic Oceans, will unquestionably be-
stow; a feeble one, comparatively perhaps, but
yet something in such a case. They will exile
from our Indian shores those whose ambition and
sagacity we have most reason to fear. To the east-
ward the South Americans will find at their own
doors a still greater profusion and variety of equi-
valent than they could hope to encounter, in one
place at least, by making the whole voyage to India,
for European commodities would at our port be
added to the enimieration ; while to the westward
the same causes would ])roduce the same effects,
aided, moreover, in a degree, by our still greater
military ascendancy in that direction, to any which
we could almost ever hope to attain in the Pacific

503

Ocean. Or if these institutions fail in accomplish-
ing completely these ends, in this, at least, they will
succeed — in chaining foreigners to their commercial
compters, they will place them in India in an infi-
nitely more insignificant light than that in which
they now appear to the native population. Trad-
ing, as they will then do, whether they pro-
ceed east or west, to a British, not a foreign, to
them a native port, the most eager credulity will
hesitate in believing their insinuations to our pre-
judice, will pause before it confide in the pretend-
ed impotence of that power, to which even its ca-
lumniators must thus acknowledge themselves in-
debted for a market.

But this alone will be, I would fear, insufficient ;
we must colonize India if we would permanently
retain it. The argument in favour of such a mea-
sure is long and complex, it is besides foreign in
some measure to my principal purpose ; but I can-
not refuse a place to a short exposition of its prin-
cipal outline.

The great objection to the colonization of India
is said to be drawn from the fatal experience we
have already had, as is pretended, of the insecure
tenure by which a powerful colony is held by a pa-
rent state ; and immediately on the first proposal
of such a measure we are desired to read in histo-
ry its consequences and result. History is un-

1'?

[(I

•J

y 1

i'-.

.hi '

»t I f

304.

doubtedly the great glass in wliicli all political mea-
sures should be ilressed, and I most willingly sub-
scribe to the appeal thus made to its authority. Let
us turn then to the identical page thus alluded to, let
us consider its contents, and let us adopt the maxim
of policy which they arc calculated to inculcate.
Does this page of history then tell us that in mere
wantonness of strength our North American colo-
nies threw us off? that despising our name, and
hating our controul, they chose for themselves a
new designation, and cajMiciously and contemp-
tuously set us at defiance ? Does it tell us this, I
say, or does it not rather proclaim, that we were
wanton, that we were capricious, that it was we
who, not content with a\owing our belief in the
existence of separate interests from oiu* children,
and demanding of them a tribute to our necessities,
carried, moreover, the insolence of fancied power
to such a pitch as to prescribe even the mode of its
exactment, and tO persist in that mode when it had
no recommendation left on earth but the offence it
gave to the feelings and prejudices of these our
brethren ; w hen it was become a bone of conten-
tion even amongst ourselves, and when the most
eminent talents in the kingdom, I speak especially
of those of the great Lord Chatham, were set in
array against the very principle on which it was
founded. I would ask again which of these tw©

^305

readinjifs is the most correct of this record to whicli
we arc thus trium])hantly referred for the ultimate
decision of the great (juestion /espeetin<»; eolouiz-
ing India ? the topic is now one of sober discussion,
tiie passions which it would once have excited are
now hushed. — Surely it is the latter, indubitably
the hitter ; and if so, what is the true ])ractical les-
son which we ouglht to draw from it ? Is it a«:faii.at
the possession of oj)ulent dominions, or against the
imstatesmanlike passions which lost us these ? Not
only do I maintain that this last is the lesson which
we ought to draw from it, but I assert also that it
is the lesson, the only lesson, which we have prac-
tically drawn from it, however another may still
appear in our theoretic discussions ; for we ha\e
established a continental colony. New South Wales,
since the loss of America, and composed it too of
the same refractory elements with that ; and, on
the other hand, we have adopted, for the most part,
towards our other colonies, even the meanest of
them, a tone of conciliation and deference, of whicli
we reap the appropriate reward in their respect and
in their love. No one will pretend that the sacri-
fices of life and property made by the inhabitants
of Canada during the late American war to defend
and to maintain our right to rule over them, were
a tribute paid by fear to our power, or to our means
of retribution should they prove disaffectetl. On

ti''

T,'

hr.

JM,

-f

306

"•

the contrary, every dastard feeling, if they iiad
any, was enlisted on the side of our opponents ;
and tlie Canadians, moreover, had the mortification
at that time to be ruled by a Chief Governor who
was personally unpopular to most of them, and to
witness also some considerable and very lamenta-
ble disunion in the military councils entrusted with
their defence. But still they loved and honoured
us in the main ; some few individual cases except-
ed, we had been kind and indulgent to the voice
of their popular assemblies ; and in our day of need
they generously forgot petty grievances to prove to
us their sense of loyalty and obligation.

There is then no insurmountable objection, prima
facie, to colonizing India, its propriety must be
discussed and determined on other grounds. Let
us then consider it, first, as it would relieve Eng-
land, and next as it would secure India : I shall be
very short on both heads.

First, then, it has been long recognised by poli-
tical writers that England has attained that stage
of improvement, that extent of population, when a
judicious emigration is not merely salutary but in-
dispensable ; and the only question remaining is in
what direction this healthful stream should be im-
pelled. By a series of prejudices, for which it is
not easy to account in a country where political
discussion is so widely disseminated, this impulse

307

has ever been given in what may very fairly, I
think, be considered the very worst direction possi-
ble, let the other be what it may. Canada alone
has been selected, and thither accordingly we have
been in the habit of annually carrying our sui)er-
abundant and starving population. Canada aftbrds
but 6ne article of lucrative export, wood ; it is suit-
ed for the growth and culture of only the most or-
dinary vegetable productions, for the surplus of
which, moreover, it has no market ; and, finally,
the agricultural labourer within its limits must de-
pend on the proceeds of only one half the year for
his entire annual subsistence, the whole country dur-
ing the remainder being bound up in the fangs of a
long, a severe, and a most painful winter. Such is the
picture of its integral resources ; What then are its
other characteristics ? Is the possession of it secure,
or is it placed in a friendly neighbourhood, which we
would gladly see benefit by our exuberance ? Alas !
it is in these respects even still more deficient ; its
possession is exceedingly precarious, its only neigh-
bour is our most active and most formidable com-
mercial rival, and our superabundance is thus not
only lost to us, but even goes to feed his resources,
which already, from a concurrence of other circum-
stances, multiply in a ratio which has no parallel
in the world. Surely it requires but little argu-
ment to expose the impolicy of such a sjstem ; we

1).'^:

5 >!'

\U'

.i'

308

( ^ii

-i f

ought to blush to think, that by our perseverance
in it we not only breed up our children as aliens,
but 'even as enemies to our name. Any interests
almost should be compromised, rather than allow
such an anomaly in the parental system of our ad-
ministration to subsist. I^Acn the safety of India is
but as dust in such a scale ; for, were that lost, we
could still foster its growing resources, and rule by
mediating between our powerful children. But the
alternative is not so severe. India would be se-
cured, not endangered, by diverting to it that
stream of emigration of which the present course
is thus pernicious : there wants, indeed, a;bsolute-
ly some such vigorous measure to give us even the
smallest chance of much longer retaining it, or of
ever benefiting essentially by the midtiplied resour-
ces of wealth and power with which it teems.

Into this second i)ortion of the whole argument,
I shall not, however, now again enter; its sub-
stance has been already anticipated in some pre-
ceding observations, and indeed there remains but
little now further to remark, except only, that un-
til we do at length, by these means, acquire some
integral source of security in India, we can never
hope to be enabled to relax, in any degree, from
that oppressive, and even horrible policy respect-
ing the nati\'e princes, which renders the history
of our administration in that countrv odious and

301)

rcvoItin«jj to every generous niiiul, whetlicrat lionie
oi' abroad. To this considei'ation I may also aiUI,
that until we resort to the same means, we ran ne-
ver hope either in any degree to amalgamate with
the native popuhition, or to break down those reh'-
gious prejudiees whieh now keep its coiviponent
parts distinct and isolated from us anil iVom our in-
terests, their hearts sore with o})pression, their
hands only tied up by impotence, while their curses,
*' not loud but deep," are constantly poured out
against us before the altars of every symbol of the
common God and Father of us all, which their ido-
latry has taught them to revere. These are toj)ics
on which I might dilate almost ad utjiniluvt; for
where there is, alas 1 such truth in these delinea-
tions, who is there so insensible as not to find an
ever-springing source of declamation against the
sad realities, the idea of which they convey. I will
not however, now, further pursue the theme ;
enough, and perhaps more tban enough, has been
already said to convey my own impressions respect-
ing it ; and if even its most simple statement does
not carry conviction, what can be hoped for from
any words which I could employ in its discussion ?
I shall return therefore now, finally, to my })rinci-
pal subject, submitting only one other observation
on this portion of it j an observation, however,
which may serve to connect the two together some-

Jf *

m
r

*? lit
I"

310

j5;'

what more closely than has been hitherto done.
I would remark, then, that the security with which,
under almost any circumstances, we might, I think,
colonize India, would be incalculably enhanced by
the institution of those intermediate free ports
whicii 1 would recommend, and which I have now
successively contemplated in so many favourable
lights. Pressed on either hand by these powerful
and formidable bulwarks, communicating alike with
Europe and with America exclusively through their
medium, and dependent accordingly on them for
every means oi' external commerce, these precious
dominions, thus secured, would alike want the
temptation to foment intestine revolt, or to invite
or support foreign invasion or attack.

IX. The possession of an intermediate port,
such as we have contemplated, within the territo-
ry of the Cape of Good Hope, would bestow on
us a power and influence in both hemispheres ex-
actly j)roportioned to the extent of its improve-
ment as a medium of communication : we should,
accordingly, have a very strong interest directly in
its prosperity as a port of general resort, and more
remotely, in promoting the intercourse between all
tlistant points in both hemispheres, whether inde-
pendent kingdoms or colonies, whether foreign or
domestic ; in other words, we should have a very
strong interest in the commercial prosperity of all.

ail

The first. portion of tliis general proposition is ex-
ceedingly obvious. Scarcely any ordinary sacrifice
would be deemed too great by a foreign state, to
gratify that power through whose medium alone it
woiild thus be enabled to communicate with its re-
mote colonies ; or, in the sujiposition that it has
no cohmies itself, through whose medium alone it
would be enabled to obtain its supplies of East In-
dian produce, and to find in the great southern he-
misphere a market for its own original exports.
The same remark is equally applicable, mutatis mil'
tandiSf to the southern colonies ; tlieir affections
and deference would no longer be confined to their
own parent state, they would be divided between
it and that power through whose intromission
alone they would be enabled to correspond with
it advantageously. The power and influence
Ve should thus acquire would be unbounded
consequently, could we obtain for this port an
absolute monopoly of all communication, and if
that communication were universal ; but if that be
impossible— I do not say, I do not even think it is
impossible, on the contrary, I think it is very easy —
but if it be impossible, at least this is certain, that
the powerand influence which it would bestow would
be always in exact proportion to its approach towards
that monopoly and unlimited extension ; would
just fall short of the unbounded extent to which

fl1>

: '

31Q

they might be carried, by that precise sum of com-
petition in tlie whole intercourse^ which the a(l\an-
tages offered by this port wouhl yet be unable to
supersede, and by the precise deficit uf those points,
in eitlier hemisphere, which might yet continue to
have no share in tlie mutual communication.

The second term in the whole proposition, then,
now ensues as a mere corollary, necessarily conse-
(pient on the preceding assumption, yet itself de-
manding some little illustration. If the power and
influence which we covet be necessarily proportion-
ed, in their acquisition, to the prosperity of this
intermediate point as a port of resort, our interest
would be necessarily intimately allied to that pros-
perity, and would be in all respects connected with
the extent of the commerce by which it would be
sustained. This connection would be, it is true, ri-
vetted by another link than this ; for the revenue
arising from the contemplated transit of ^he produce
of both hemispheres, would always be equally de-
pendent on tiie same extent. But here ambition, as
well as avarice, woul 1 be brought into play, both
])ointing at the same ultimate result, national aggran-
dizement, and both equally contemplating ^he same
means for its acquisition ; first, the monopoly,
through the medium of this port, of the whole
conmiunication between the two hemispheres ; and,
next, the increase of the thing monopolized, that
is to say, the encouragement and promotion of

'. < \ '

313

commercial exchanges between all points of both
— between Batavia and Amsterdam, Cadiz and
Manilla, Canton and New York, as between Lon-
don and Calcutta, Liverpool and Madras. And
this whether in peace or in war, luiless we would
wish to weaken the sinews of our strength ])recise-
\y when they are about to be most strained ; un-
less we woidd deem it good policy to lessen our
power, .diminish our influence, and curtail our re-
venue, precisely at the moment when perhaps their
whole united strength may be tasked to their ut-
most limits, to cope with the blow levelled at our
existence.

This, then, is the point towards which I have
been tending through the almost obvious truisms
which occupy the two preceding paragraphs. I
would suggest the propriety of for ever exempting
the commerce of this port, from whatever point it
may be derived, or whithersoe\ er it may subse-
(juently be bound, from tliat coniiscation of private
property, by which we assert our naval empire, I
must also add, that I think we disgrace it at the
same time, on awry occasion of foreign hostility.
Whatever may be tlie advantages of situation, or
freedom of trade, or moderation of impost, which
we may be able to offer at tliis point, it can never
presume to hope for a monopoly of the whole com-
munication between botii hemispheres, inless we

■■>ht

h't'i

cast into the balance with it that privilege also,
which we alone of all the world can bestow — an ex-
emption to its commerce from the vicissitudes in-
cident to every other from the vacillation of mili-
tary politics. Without this, the principle of its
establishment would be adopted on other points by
other powers j and the sum of benefit which it is
calculated to confer, not merely on ourselves who
would be its masters, but on those also who, under
the shadow of our power, would enjoy its privi-
leges, would be dissipated and destroyed by the
endless jarrings which competition is ever calcu-
lated to excite between rival powers. Wl/'m >
high privilege, on the other hand, there would be
no room for these sources of contention, these oc-
casions of inimical discussion, these pretexts for
bloodshed and strife. The subjects of all powers
alike would seek this neutral bound, within wliich
war could find no place, and the very idea of com-
petition with it would vanish from their minds.

X. If the foregoing reasoning be correct, then
would our acquisition of such a free port as has
been contemplated be in the very highest degree
acceptable to every humane mind of whatever
country or clime, inasmuch as it would develope
the principle, and illustrate the facility witii which
we might give up altogether the right of confiscat-
ing private property as an engine of public hostili-

315

ty ; •■' it might tempt us accordingly to the more
general experiment ; and as it would thus strip war
of half its attendant horrors and miseries, while it,
at the same time, removed many of the temptations
which usually excite to its renewal. This is a view
of the whole principal argument which I am pecu-
liarly anxious to establish. Amidst all the ambi-
tion, and all the avarice of which our enemies loud-
ly accuse us, there is yet among us also, by the
confession of these very same enemies, by the prac-
tical experience indeed of most of them, a spring-
ing fountain of genuine benevolence and philan-
thropy never shut to the avowed and rightly un-
derstood interests of suffering humanity. Tliat
fountain, that stream, I sought to direct on a form-
er occasion towards the poor Islanders of the Paci-
fic Ocean, who possess so many claims on our con-
sideration, but who yet, in the blindness of their
understandings, are unable to utter them. I would
now again have recourse to it in yet a higher cause,
in the cause of that measure which would seem cal-
culated to heal some of our own bleeding wounds,
and not only to heal them now, but even for ever.
And surely if but the slightest chance of success be
allied to such a scheme, those feelings to which I
appeal will not slumber over the demand, however
incompetently urged, however inadequately con-
veyed.

.VI

ilv

it *t

•1 i.i'i

316

u'iy

The first term, tlien, of my subordinate proposi-
tion is, that the establishment of a free port within
the territory of the Cape of Good Hope, organized
as I have just contemplated, would develope the
principle and illustrate the facility with wliicli we
might give up altogether the right of confiscating
private property as an engine of public hostility,
and might tempt us accordingly to give the reme-
dy a more general, an even universal application.
The illustration of this is not difficult. We caii-
«ii^L Rs a nation wish to continue an acknowledged
abu for which we have hitherto had no excuse
but the supposed necessity of the case. We can-
not state a right to this. confiscation in any abstract
proposition at all ; we cannot assign any reason for
that violation of private property being honourable
and justifiable on one element, which yet is univer-
sally scouted and contemned on another ; or for
his property being sacred and respected, even by
ourselves, who has just yielded up the sword which
was levelled at our lives, while we without hesita-
tion confiscate and condemn that belonging to the
trembling and defenceless merchant who has no
alternative, but must unconditionally submit to us.
We do not profess any personal enmity to this lat-
ter ; abstracted from his property, and from tlie
flag under which that is navigated, or the port for
Y'liich it is destined, we wish him individually as

ol/

well, or even better, than the other ; we only ruin
iiim by the way, because, as we say, we cannot
help ourselves, but are under the necessity of so
doing. In what then, let us inquire, does this ne-
cessity consist ? Why, truly, in nothing in the world
but in this, that if this property were allowed to
reach its destination, it would contribute some
small matter to the pecuniary resources of our ene-
mv, and would disseminate comfort and content
throughout such portion of his subjects as it might
feed or employ. But on the intermediate point
which we have now contemplated in so many dif-
ferent lights, if constituted as I propose, we sliall
have admitted the adequate value of the equivalent
to ourselves, in consideration of which, we are will-
ing to allow this benefit to accrue to our enemy. If
he will but purchase from ourselves, we are will-
ing that he should be supplied ; if his importa-
tions do but first pay the regulated tribute to our
exchequer, and yield the regular profit to our sub-
jects through whose hands they will have passed,
we are content that tliey shall contribute afterwards
in proportion to him and his. The mutual bene-
fits of such a system would soon be understood and
appreciated, and the example would probably be
followed on other points, the rather, perha})s, that
even this precedent, contemplated as being afford-
ed by the privilege proposed to be conferred on

^ 'k

\^'^\

ri!

«18

the commerce of the Cape of Good Hope, would
not be, in point of fact, the first, even in our own
generation, of such a practice. Our system of li-
censes during the late war was the same to the very
letter, inasmuch as it required transit through a
British port, and the contribution, p^o forma, of a
mite towards our pecuniary resources, as the only
indispensable requisites to obtain our consent and
sanction for inimical commerce.*

"* Our late system of licenses is unquestionably the most perfect
precedent which can be conceived of the innovation in the mode
of prosecuting maritime hostilities which I propose, but it is not
the only one of that nature to be found in our history. In 1528,
Henry VIII. then at war with the Flemings, signed with them a
special treaty, guaranteeing on both sides the security and free*
dom of mercantile exchanges. Indeed, it was only in the needy
and profligate reign of Charles II. that the invasion of private
property became a primary object and consideration with English
ministers : and it was then, too, that the atrocious precedent was
first set of confiscating it previous to the declaration of hostilities,
of regulating even that declaration by the suggestions of this most
despicable cupidity. 1 do maintain, that scarcely even his French
pension reflects more unqualified disgrace on Charles' head than
does this anecdote, and yet the example has found advocates, and
even imitators, it is grievous to think, among the first talents
which have ever illustrated this country. How were the mighty
fallen, when the immortal Lord Chatham, in 1761, could resign
his situation as prime minister, because he could not get-the Spa-
nish galleons intercepted ; and when his still greater son could
preface a declaration of war in 1804 with an attack on the frigates
of the same ration, whose only crime was the treasure they con*
reyed. These cases, it is true, are not precisely parallel, inas-
much as the treasure contemplated principally in both was public

311)

But, it will be pretended, the immediate object
and purpose of making war by confiscation of pri-
vate property, is to exhaust the means of its prose-
cution, and thus bring it to a speedier termination :
and moreover, it will be urged, if we withdraw
property from the field of action altogether, we
leave only Hfe as an object of attack ; wars will
become accordingly both more bloody and less de-
property, while the private wealth compromised was only a sub*
ordinate feature in the temptation. But I would ask generally,
on what principle is it that peace is always restored with so many
precautions, with an allotment of time suited to the distance to
which the news is to be carried, while war at once levels all the
barriers of good faith ? When the argument is retorted on us,
we can understand its fallacy easily enough ; for in all our invec-
tives against our late antagonist, none have been more loud and
bitter than those directed against his detention of travellers in
1802 : and yet there is no difference in principle between the
right to reduce a man to beggary in violation of all previous trea«
ties, and that of imprisoning his person while travelling on their
faith ; the one is only a more unusual exercise of arbitrary will
than the other, and which, as being moreover without the same
apparent temptation or reward, looks a little more petty. But
surely we would not wish our public conduct to be justified mere-
ly on the score of the temptation to which its weakness had been
exposed ; surely we would like to look higher for a motive, than
to an excuse which we would unhesitatingly reject if offered by the
meanest criminal at the bar of the Old Bailey. The question,
indeed, abstractly considered, would seem to require only to be
stated, to be decided ; and yet such is the force of habit and pre-
judice, I fear more for the reception of this one argument which
I have sought to maintain against them, than for any in this
whole work, varied as have been the details into which it has led
me.

■tl

Ikt

-i!

r-,

ilki

320

cisi\'e, and thus in remedying one evil at present
incident to a state of warfare, we shall but super-
induce an aggravated proportion of another, gain-
ing nothing in fact, perliaps losing by the exchange.
These objections bring me to tlie second term of
my original proposition, viz. that such a conse-
quence would strij) war of lialf its liorrors and mi-
series, while it would remove, at the same time,
many of tlie temptations to its renewal. In answer
to the first of them, then, I would boklly appeal to
the experience of the last tliirty years, during
which the system of confiscating j)rivate property
was carried to a pitch never before contemplated,
even in idea. Did we terminate the war through
its means ; did we gain any thing, in a word, by it,
but contention with neutral powers, exhaustion
pressing on ourselves equally with our antagonists,
and now, finally, a repose resembling decrepitude
so nearly as to have alarmed even the most san-
guine reasoners, and to have struck dismay—abso-
lute dismay, into the hearts of most. Can we ima-
gine that any of tlie purposes of our adversary's
prosperous career were foiled for want of pecuniary
resources ? Undoubtedly they were not j the only
difference was, that what he might have obtained,
had private property been mutually respected, from
the interest of his people's capital, he was constrain-
ed to extort from their principal itself. And were

not we ill the same situation ? Were we not raising
loan upon loan, mortgaging security upon security^
and screwing out painfully and laboriously, by a rigid
inquisition into the income and sources of income of
our subjects, those supplies wliich the j)ossession of
free poi'ts, on every principal point, would have be-
stowed on us in a profusion infinitely more than com-
mensurate with the extent of those derived by our
enemy from the privilege contemplated as being al-
lowed their commerce, inasmuch as the pecuniary
resources acc;ruing from them, would with us have
all centered in one common object, whenccsoever
they had proceeded, or whithersoever they were
bound, while he would only have reaped an ad-
vantage from that portion of their speculations
which might have been directed to his own domi-
nions. We would have enjoyed the wholesale pro-
fits, he only those arising from a small portion of
their retail ; and the trident of Neptune, which,
as we chose to wield it, was but a barren, and im-
productive, and tyrannical sceptre, if thus exert-
ed, might have been the key to the mighty treasures
arising from mercantile speculation in every quar-
ter of the globe, our paJ>sport and our guide to
that cordiality, affection, and respect, which such
an administration of the power which it bestows
would be so calculated to insure us.

^^V

ll-i

aV-

The confiscation of private property docs not,
then, hasten the termination of war. — Does it now,
further, mitigate its horrors ? — by interposing an-
other object of attack, does it afford a screen to
human life, which would be otiierwise alone ex-
posed ? In answer to this question, I would strong-
ly maintain, not only that it by no means produces
this effect, but, on the contrary, multiplies incal-
culably the occasions of strife and contest, and
holds out innumerable temptations to bloodshed,
which would not otherwise exist at all ; but also,
that even if it did produce such an effect, it would
still be nearly as much to be deprecated as ever,
for that, most decidedly, for every purpose of so-
cial charity, property is even infinitely more valu-
able than life. The lives which war invades are
for the most i)art volunteered into its doubtful lists.
High in hope, they are staked against a prize,
which, if they are fortunate enough to obtain it,
rewards them for their hazard with all that can
make life valuable to one thoroughly embued with
the principles of the school in which he is thus
cast — rank, honour, and estimation. Should the
turn of the die, on the other hand, require a vic-
tim, honoured and beloved that victim sinks to re-
I)Ose with all that can soften his dying hour, with
a deep consciousness of duty performed, of memo-
ry about to be cherished, the clang of victory per-

.1^28

liaps elating his fleeting spirit, and even the wail-
ing and inortilication of* defeat fading from his fail-
ing sense, and striking on it but as something harsh
and dissonant, from wliich he is now about to
escape. His family regret his loss, but even their
regrets are mingled with exultation and triumph ;
while the severity of the blow must be in some mea-
sure broken, by that preparation for such a catas-
ttophe, which must ever be made by the friends of
those adventured in war's high career. The sym-
pathy of their fellow citizens pours a healing balm
over even the greenness of the wound — that sym-
pathy which so honourably distinguishes, in parti-
cular, our British public, and which, on one me-
morable occasion, clothed in darkness and in si-
lence the whole street in which the home of a fal-
len champion was situate, amid even the first loud
shouts of England's victory and success.* — But
how is it, on the contrary, with him whose projierty
has been ravished from him by this foul abuse of
power, and who is sunk, accordingly, in a vale of
inextricable difficulty and distress, unable to dis-
charge obligations which yet he had most hoiiour-

* Such was the admirable compliment paid by the Magistrates
«f the city of Edinburgh to tlie memory of Captain Duff of the
^lars, who fell at Trafalgar. Can we doubt of the consolation it
must have aflbrded to his family, even amid the first burst of
passionate regret ?

Hi •

k i

'< '■
^ i;'

ably coutrac'tt'il, imkI \\iliic.ssiii«^ only dosjiair, aiuf
even iTj)roacli, on the coimteiiaiu.t's of those
aroiiiul him. Tlie merchants who had confided
in Iiim imjierionsly demand tlie gronnds on which
his sjjccnhit ions liad been Ibnnded ; and conchuU
inij^, as we all do too often, alone irom success,
tle))reciate his jnd^*ment, question his j)rudence,
his veracity, his honour, all that constitutes the
basis of sell-esteem and aj)prol)ation. He turns
to his family for consolation, to his friends for
.symj)athy, to his own conscience for excul])ation ;
and all are for a time nearly equally leagued
against him. His family is yet stunned by the same
blow bv which he is himself overwhelmed ; his
friends iiesitate to sympathise with him whose .' '^od
name even is imder question ; and many ii '^*
those whom next himself he trusted, fall in the
liour of difiiculty from his side, who is likely to tax
their sentiments for him at a higher rate than mere
[)rofession. Kven the sympathy that is most cor-
dially offered, his agitated and irritable spirits re-
ject, perhaps, as mockery and insult; while liis con-
science finally suggests to him some maxim of pru-
dence overlooked, some precaution neglected, some
assurance thrown away, and re})roaches him, more-
over, with the ulre consequences of the ovcrsiglit
to those whom, more than himself, he loves. Wlio
is there so b:isc as to prefer such a life as this to the

•niC'

-,> •■.^«. ^._-

•i

sharp but passincr pains of u destiny ant icfpatod but
by some momcMits by the sword? Or who shall
weigh such misery, and coinpaiv it with even the
sharpest endurings of the widow and orphan of him,
who sprung from our netherworld witli one boimd of
animated exertion, drawing after him, in his course,
the meteor train of honour and estimation, those
glitterin^r stars, dearer than life itself to the sol-
dier's own heart ; and which, Ibr him, even tlu?so
relics of his love must prize beyond its choicest en-
joyments, if these he could only have purchased
at the expense of their eclipse.*

In both points of view, then, is that sweeping
confiscation of prixate pr()j)eify, with which we
choose to characterise the administration of our na.
val emi)ire on every occasion of petty hostility, to

* " War," says the venerable Priiire de Li,ri,e, " VV^-, the
most aUuring calamity, ought not to be depicted as a monster.
I have witnessed so many fine instances of humanity, so ,„udi
good done to repair a little cvii, that I cannot accustom myselfto
cons.der war altogether as an ahommaUon, promdcd Iher, he no
plundering nor burning, and no harm inflicted, hut ihat of Idlling
those who, a few years later, mmld perish less aUmouslij. I have
•seen my grenadiers giving their loaves and their pence to the poor
of a vdla.re, which an accident not connected with the war had re-
duced to ashes. I have blessed my situation as the co.nmander
of such men. I have seen some of our hussars restoring their
purses to their prisoners, and opening to them their own. " Such
deeds exalt the soul. The greater the courage of a man, the more
exalted is his feeling. \xx every circumstance of life, it is emotion
that IS sublime."_/,c//,T.v et Pcnsccs du Marechal Prince dr.

I'intic, to:

n. n,

p. lf!o,

ii '

Nlu

3f2G

be deprecated and deplored. It is not necessary,
for it in no shape tends to sliorten any period of
liostilities, while it in a most especial manner, and
much beyond what could be {)roduced by any t>;reat-
er effusion of* blood which its abolition might by
possibility entail, disfigures and degrades the ])omj)
and circumstance of glorious war, and aggravates
the calamities with which it is necessarily and un-
avoidably surchrirged. There needs no moi e than
these considerations to recommend a measure to
the philanthropist of every country and clime, which
premises, or seems at least to promise, an easy and
effectual illustration of the facility with which tiie
whole stain might be removed. But to the British
philanthropist and patriot, it would seem to come
peculiarly recommended from this quarter ; for, in
very truth and fact, this glaring abuse of power is
not even politic, its maintenance is even striking-
ly unwise. It has already twice raised up formida-
ble rivals to our military marine, first in the Dutch,
and then again in the American naval i)owers ;
and although the danger from one of these would
now seem past, and that from the other may by
many be coaside'ed visionary, it is yet impossible
altogether lu forget the peril which we have once
incurred liom that })ast competition, or to shut our
eyes to the general odium which, through this one
cause, attaches to oiir naval emj)ire — an otliiim

ti'27

whicli has once armed all the powers of the Nortli
ajyainst us, and which is now the touchstone even,
by which the patriotism of the native inhabitants
of nearly every foreign power is tried among them-
selves. Tliat we may long he enabled to set this
smothered flame at defiance is very possible ; no-
thing would as yet seem too great for the ])ower
and energies of a navy, which in number, equip-
ment, and spirit, stands unrivalled on tlv* records
of time. But it ii surely imwise to maintain the
attitude of defiance when we can assume that of
conciliati(m ; when we can make it both our in-
terest and our pride to do that, which in all time
past both these passions liave seemed irremediably
to oppose.

It would be very easy for me to carry the whole
abstract argument in this question to a great length
— to a length, indeed, irreconcilable with the li-
mits which alone I can here assign it. I might re-
conmiend the innovation which I })ropose, by il-
lustrating the extent to which it would remove ma*,
ny of the most j)rominent existing sources of poli-
tical dissension, as also the degree in whicli it would
facilitate accommodations, and break down na-
tional animosities, from the constant circulation of
interests which it would occasion — a circulation
which no vicissitudes of military politics would ever
disturb. I might, on the other hand, anticipate

'i.

■ii

< I

'iSv

, i

i.'

:S^2S

and attemj)t to answer some of the objections wlilcli
might be made to it — that one, in particular, which
would regret the want of encouragement to active
cruising on the part of our military marine, when
its rewards would be thus essentially curtailed. Nei-
ther of these, however, shall I now attempt ; the
first, from a consideration of the time and space
which it would necessarily occupy, and which would
scarcely be adequately rewarded, the various rami-
fications of the subject very readily presenting them-
selves on even the slightest examination j and the
last, from pure contempt for such reasoning, and
for the grounds on which it w^ould be thus attempt-
ed to establish it. I hardly know, indeed, why I
notice such an argument at all, unless it be merely
to take the opportunity of stigmatising it ; for lit-
tle docs he know our naval servjce, who believes
that pecuniary emolument is necessary to excite its
ranks to the study of their duty, or to its even en-
thusiastic discharge. That consideration?* of prize
money and emolument find their place wlien no-
thing else occurs, I w ill readily admit ; but w hen
other service was on hand, when a military expe-
dition was in array, who has witnessed a plea offer-
ed lor exL'mption from its lists ? who has then so-
licited a cruizing ground ? or, rather, who has not
used every exertion in his power to give up even
the most advantageous, and staked all his public

529

as well as private interest with the Commander ia
Chief to attain his object ? And who, finally, liua
ever witnessed these animating scenes, or read them
in their rlijord, and wonld allow but one glance
even of suspicion to pass unnoticed, tliat such a
service wojld require the encouragement of pecu-
niary promise to excite it to any exertion at which
it may be tasked ? No one would do so — I could
not at the least ; and if I should seem to have here
somewhat indecorously panegyrised the profession
to which it 16 the boast of my existence to belong,
I trust the honest feeling of professional pride
which my words betray, will be no indelible blot
on the argument which thus they would conclude.
XI. The measures which I have now successive-
ly proposed for the promotion of our commercial
and political interests in the Pacific and Atlantic
Oceans, their colonies, and the minute and per-
manent intercourse which *^ey would necessarily
occasion with evqn the most remote points of both
hemispheres, would facilitate the preaching and
propagation of Christian knowledge tiiroughout
the world, and thus accomplish readily, and with-
out difficulty, that most important object, ^» iiich
our Missionary Societies profess, indeed, as the
ultimate end of all their labours, but which, it is*
but too evident to even the slightest examination,

V-i

i;i:

> »

'hi

t '

i"'

I'll

330

their limited powers are utterly unable, w ithout as-
sistance, to attain.

I am unwilling to extend the enumeration of the
advantages which would seem to me *^»onnected
with the several measures which I have successively
contemplated in the foregoing pages ; and indeed,
after connecting them with so many interests, with
those, viz. of commerce, of national policy, and,
finally, of moral and benevolent feeling, it is not
difficult to surmise, that the whole argument would
rather lose than gain by a further multiplication of
images and applications. The one topic of reli-
gious conversion, however, still remains — that topic
which must come home nearly alike to every bosom,
whether abstractly pious or only worldly wise ;
whether intent on the communication of those be-
nefits from which its own religious consolations are
drawn, or merely occupied with the acquisition of
that most powerful engine of political influence,
community of worship and belief. In touching on
this portion of the subject I shall not, however, use
my own words ; amid a diversity of opinions both
as to the value of the object itself, and of the
grounds on which it is to be estimated, they could
scarcely attain that sober medium of expression
which should give due weight to both, and even if
they did, they would be probably only the more of-
fensive to the great mass of readers, as these may

331

individually incline towards the several extremes.
But I shall place in contrast before them all, a live-
ly picture of the different effects attendant on Mis-
sionary labours, and on permanent a^ul minute
commercial intercourse, and shall then lea\e each
to draw his deductions as he may think best.

" As for the Missionaries," (says Sir Alexander
M'Kenzie, in the Introduction to his Travels across
the Continent of North America,) " as for the
Missionaries, if suffering and hardships in the pro-
secution of the great work which they had under-
taken deserved applause and admiration, they had
an undoubted right to be applauded and admired.
They spared no labour and avoided no danger in
the execution of their important office ; and it is to
be severely lamented that their pious endeavours
did not meet with the success which they deserved ;
for there is hardly a trace to be found beyond the
cultivated parts of their important functions.

" The cause of this failure must be attributed to
a want of due consideration in the mode employed
by the Missionaries to propagate the religion of
which they were the zealous ministers. They ha-
bituated themselves to the savage life, and natu-
ralized themselves to the savage manners, and by
thus becoming dependent, as it were, on the na-
tives, they acquired their contempt rather than
their veneration. If they had been as well ac-

•I

S32

.quainted with human nature as tliey were witli the
articles of their faith, they would have known, that
the uncultivated mind of the Indian must be dis-
posed by much preparatory method and instruc-
tion to recei' '^ the revealed truths of Christianity ;
to act under its sanction, to be impelled to good
by the hopes of its rewards, or turned from evil by
.the fear of its punisliments. They should have be-
gun thei;r work by teaching some of those useful
arts which are the inlets of knowledge, and which
lead the mind by degrees to objects of higher com-
prehension. Agriculture, so formed to fix and com-
bine society, and so preparatory to objects of supe-
rior consideration, should have been the first thing
introduced among a savage people ; it attaches the
wandering tribe to that spot where it adds so much
to their comforts, while it gives them a sense of
property and of lasting possession, instead of the
uncertain hopes of the chace, and the fugitive pro-
duce of uncultivated wilds. Such were tlie means
by which the forests of Paraguay were converted
hito a scene of abundant cultivation, and its savage
inhabitants introduced to all the advantages of ci-
vilized life.

" The Canadian Missionaries should have been
contented, in the first place, to improve the morals
of their own countrymen, so that by meliorating
their character and conduct, they woiUd have given

I •

335

a striking example of the effect of religion in pro-
moting the comforts of life to the sm-rounding sa-
vages J and might, by degrees, have extended its
benign influence to the remotest regions of that
country, which was the object, and intended to be
the scene of their Evangelical labours. But by
bearing the light of the Gospel at once to the dis-
tance of 2500 miles from the civilized part of the
colonies, it was soon obscured by the cloud of ig-
norance that darkened the human mind in those
distant regions*

" The whole of their long route I have often
travelled, and the recollection of such a people as
the Missionaries having been there was confined to
a few superannuated Canadians who had not left
that country since the cession to England in 17^3,
and who particularly mentioned the death of some,
and the distressing situation of them all," &c. &c.

Such was the fate of desultory preaching in Up-
per Canada, and such, were I disposed to multi-
ply examples of an almost incontestible fact, such
has been its fate wherever it has been attempted in
modern times, in the interior of America and of In-
dostan, as in the remote islands of the Pacific
Ocean. But I hasten rather to select a happy il-
lustration of the contrary effects of permanent set-
tlement and minute commercial intercourse, an il-
lustration peculiarly apposite, as being drawn from

■i^

I i

:'f

I -A

■i

.i.i

il'

334.

the narrative of the first establishment of ahnost,
the only European settlement among the inlands
of the Eastern Pacific, as published in Mr. Coxe*,s
Russian Discoveries, 4th edition, pages 280, 281.
The contrast is the more striking, as the happy ef-
fect detailed was produced by the labours of a lay-
man, a merchant whose mind was otherwise occu-
pied by that train of speculation which subsequent-
ly constituted him the father of the present Russian
American Company, and who consequently enter-
tained this object only by the way, only as a means
towards attaining his further purposes, not as the
ultimate end of his expedition.

** I laboured to persuade them," says, then, She-
lekoff, in his simple but most interesting narrative
of the settlement of Kodiak, now the chief empo-
rium of the Russian fur trade in the Pacific Ocean,
" I laboured to persuade them to quit their savage
life, which was a perpetual scene of massacre and
warfare, for a better and more happy state. I shewed
them the comforts and advantages of our houses,
clothes, and provisions ; I explained to them the
method of digging, sowing, and planting gardens,
and I distributed fruit and vegetables, and some
of our provisions amongst them, with which they
were highly delighted." — ** I endeavoured to con-
vey to them intelligible notions of Christianity, and

before ray departure converted about 40, and bap-

335

tized them with such ceremonies as a layman is
permitted to use. I soon observed that these per-
sons conceived a higher opinion of themselves, they
decried their countrymen as their inferiors, readily
adopted our manners and customs, and expressed
a great curiosity to be informed of many ihings
i which struck them with astonishment," &c. &c.

I have said, that on this subject I shall not in-
dulge in the expression of my own sentiments ; it
is politic indeed not to do so, for the contrast which
I have now placed before the reader might be
weakened, but could not possibly be strengthened
by any observations which I could oifer. I here
therefore close the whole argument, finally remark-
ing only, that the observations of Sir A. Mackenzie
on the effect of agriculture in eliciting moral prin-
ciple, and in conveying a true sense of property and
possession, apply equally to permanent, as contrast-
ed with desultory commerce. The first principle
of desultory commerce is to circumvent and en-
snare ; the illustration of the remark is to be found
in the complaints of the natives of the Sandwich
and other islands in th<i Pacific, respecting the dis-
ingenuous conduct of the petty American traders
who visit them ; and the pernicious effects of these
practices again on the minds of these poor savages,
indisposing them towards a religion common alike
to preacher and to trader, may be traced in every

',1

i '

1,
I;

i '

' f

l)ii<rc« of the Missionary publications. The very lil'e
and soiiJ of permanent trade, on the contrary, are
the rules of honour and good faith, and the reputa-
tion of British merchants for both qualities is the
most effectual guarantee, that here too they would
not be wanting, were a proper sphere provided for
their exhibition.

337

CHAPTER IV.

feONsiDEnATToxs wi„c„ wori.,, s..:f,m to btctatf orn
ruo.cF OF POINT, ox wrnr.r to kstahmsh the fref

PORTS IN THE PACIFIC AND ATLANTIC OCEANS, OF W,„r,r
THE ADVANTAGES HAVE llEEV (ONTEM PLATED IN THE
TWO PRECEDING CHAPTEUS— S.;j3,siDIAR V CONSIDERA-
TION IN S,r,poUT, AND U E( APITUL ATION OF THE HJIOLE
ARGUMENT — CONCLUSION.

We have now briefly and summarily considered
the advantages, political and commercial, which
would seem connected with the judicious applica-
tion of a system of free trade, first, to the cir-
cumstances of tlie Pacific, and next, to those of
the Atlantic Oceans ; and althoun-h we have by no
means penetrated into all the recesses to which a
minute consideration of the whole subjt-ct would
carry us, yet, if there be any foundation whatever
for the reasonings adduced in support of the pro-
posed measures, enough, and more than enough,
has been said to excite the most lively solicitude in
behalf of the -experiment. The principal subject

■t

,'!

l-i.iH

*i».

is lIuMi coinpli'ti', ami tlio iviiiarks Nvliiili 1 would
•U)\v fiirtlu'r otVcv will not ai'coriLin^ly ivlati* to that,
l)iit to lilt' minor and local topics which would sccni
to dictate our choice of points on which to esta-
blish the i'lee ports thus leconunended. Tlu'se to-
j)ics are uiupiestionably oi' only subsetjnent and
subordinate importance to those which oii!j;hl to
influence our decision on the whole ji;eneial (pies-
tion ; they are not, howc\er, altogether without;
their interest, for on the capability of the se\eral
])oiiits which we may select, to answei' the pur-
})oses for which these ports are retpiired, must, after
all, depend in a most essential mamier any de^Tce
of success with which the \vhole scheme can be at-
tended, should the attempt e\ er be made to carry
it into execution.

The principal qualities, then, which the.-.e })oints
would rcfpiire to combine, w'ould t\pj)ear to be,
central position with reference to tlie several mar-
kets with which they would be ])laced in corre-
spondence, conveJiient accommodation lor shi])-
j)in-^, together with such means of defence and
protection, as may place the trade maintained with-
in their limits in perfect security irom at leaj;t pre-
datory or (I'.'sultory invasicju. To these ought to
be added, Ihcilities of a])proach and de])ailure, anil,
if r-j^sible, the intriiisic meaiis of maiutaiiiini? their
periuunent })0()ulation. This last is, however, the

least important (|ii;iliticati()ii of all. Ajvririiltural
colonics may starve; wo have sorii, in lln' instance
of New Soiitii Wales, ihat siicli a fate dors some-
times oven literally await them: Diit cominereial
establishments aie always well supplied; the eolo-
iiy of St. Hnstaliiis hronnjit even it^ fresh water
from a neinhhonrniL.- islantl.

Such, then, wonid a|)pvMr to be the ,i»vnenil rnlcs j
iet us now eiidcavom; to apply them.

Pacific Occau.^'VUv vast bosom of the Pacific
is, as we have elsewhere seen, thielvl\ studded with
islands and i,n'ouj)s of islands; and amonn- the'^e so
many answer every possible demand, it is only ditl
ficnJt to find a ^romid tor ultimate selection, a rea-
son for j)ecnliarand exclusive choice. This, how-
ever, I think, we may derive from the wish we
ought to entertain of alle\iatinn- thai extreme mi-
sery and depopulation of which Otalu-ite has been
so lonn^ the scene — a misery and ile})oi)ulation
which, if wc did not ourselves first occasion, our
desultory visits have at least most undoubtedly con-
tributed tojjromote. \Xv should sacrifice nothiuo-,
either by allowiiin- this consideration to decide our
line of conduct, for Otaluitc answers e\ en to the
very letter of our rcupiisitiou > ; it is in an esj)ecial
manner central and coiiwuiein with rt'fei-enco to
the most interestino- portions of the Pacilic, the
Spanish colonies and New South Wales ; siiuato

340

almost witliin the line of the traik* winds, its com-
numication wHh China is also very easy ; and fur-
ther, placed on the outer or southern verge of
these, vessels from Europe bound to it would l)e
spared tlie delays necessarily attendant on crossint»-
within their line, from the calms and cross cur-
rents which constantly prevail upon their skirts.
Its harbours are numerous and secure, its climate
is healthy, its soil fertile ; and even its shape and
form would seem favourable to its partition between
two distinct powers, the narrov/ isthmus which
connects the two peninsulas of which it is com-
posed, being a line of boundary as precise and
complete as could be desired. Nothing would ap-
parently so entirely suit our purpose in at least the
Southern Pacific, whether we consider our own
private views, or those more generous and disin-
terested ones, which regard tlie wcltare and pros-
perity of the if^landers themselves among whom we
would seitle j for surely none would seem so im-
periously to require our aid as the "wretched inha-
bitants of this fairy isle, who, blest even to super-
fluity with aii the gifts of nature, are yet depri\ed
of every enjoyment, by that moral depravity which
so especially characterizes them.

But unfortunately the Pacific Ocean is of such
immense extern, it is hardly possible that any one
point should be susceptible ^f general a])plj cation

311

to all its branches of trade ; and besides that Ota-
lieitc is really too remote to coniniunicate conve-
uiemly with all the subordinate portions of com-
merce of which the Northern Pacific is susceptible
were its resources developed, the unassisted pros-
perity of the Sandwich isUuids would seem to in-
dicate an original sj)ring of life in their position
it*elf, wiiici) it would be most unwise in us alto-
gether to cverlook. Situate in nearly the centre
of the Northern Pacific, communicating readily
with ail its pnnci])al })oiiUs, and indeed already
maintaining a partial intercourse with most of
them, it i> not ditKcult to detect in what this s])riiig
of prosperity consists, nor yet to sec the impor-
tance of rcnderinLr it subservient to ourjiurposes —
a matter indeed of the most easv execution, our
claims to the dominion of these islands being un-
questionably superior to those of every other civi-
lized power, and the natives themselves openly pro-
fessino- their attachment to us, and claiming as a
jirivilege the title (A' British subjects. But, inde-
pendent altogether of tlie immediate value of
the Sandwich Islands, there is a j)ros})ective case
of not improbable (x;currence, in whicii their oc-
cupation would app<-?ar n<^arly indispensable ; I
mean that of an attempt being made to execute
the project of maintaining an habitual eonnnuni-
cation between Europe and China across the con-

■)■■

. V

342

(I
tinent of America. This project has very often

engrossed the attention of political writers, and
M. Humboldt, in particular, enumerates not less
than nine points on which he thinks it possible that
a water communication might be instituted between
the two seas. In my own opinion, all these points
are impracticable for that purpose j but that is
mere matter of opinion, and, after all, says nothing
to the principal argument, for a communication
overland is already habitually maintained in many
places, particularly between Vera Cruz and Aca-
pulco. Vera Cruz and Tehuantepec, and, finally,
Porto Bello and Panama ; and the whole expense
even of the longest journey, that, viz. between Ve-
ra Cruz and Acapulco, is, as we have elsewhere
seen, only two dollars per carga of 80 lib. or about
I's^s. per cwt. ; while, opposed to this, is a saving of
3000 miles sea voyage to China and Manilla. The
project, then, is of very easy execution, were it
ever undertaken : it is but to constitute the several
ports on both shores, east and west, free ports, and
the superfluity of supply beyond the internal de-
mand would naturally and necessarily overflow to
Europe or Asia, according to the nature of the su-
perabundant article. The communication is then
established, not, it is true, in the hands of one
mei'chant, nor under the patronage and encou-
ragement of one speculator, but much more ^co-

i>:

343

nomically and beneficially, through the intromis-
sion of many ; and yet, however easy of execu-
tion it may thus be, it is scarcely possible to ima-
gine a more fatal revolution to England, than this
very measure might occasion, were we to sutter it
to be organized without notice and without prepa-
ration. It would transfer to Mexico that gene-
ral resort which we have already contemplated
as conferred on a port within the territory of
the Cape of Good Hope, and all those conse-
quences of wealth, power, influence, &c. which
we have considered, would be its necessary at-
tendants. Scarcely was Venice more reduced by
the original discovery of the Cape of Good Hope
passage, and by the consequent loss of her Indian
trade, than we should be by a revolution which
would thus strike at ours. The analogy is indeed
but too striking, and exci.es anticipating fears,
from which I gladly turn away to contemplate the
means which we possess of warding off the blow,
and eluding its effects. These are afforded us by
the Sandwich Islands, which, placed mid-way be-
tween Mexico and India, must ever connnand the
open trade between them, I do not mean by force
of arms, that could be only available in time of
war, and even then, according to the hypothesis
which I have elsewhere endeavoured to maintain,
had better be let alone j but by the advantage

•I

■ii

34*

which they would thus give to merchants resident
among them, of competing with every otiier in the
whole communication. Themselves the merchants
of a free port, scarcely half so remote as India,
these our trading subjects would enter the markets
of Mexico with advantages to which none could
pretend who made the whole passage ; and thus,
to whatever extent this eastern medium of com-
munication with Europe might be improved, it
would but convey thither merchandize which had
already paid its transit duty to our revenue, and
left a share of the pi'ofits of its circulation among
oar subjects. The competition would be no long-
er, then, between England and Mexico, which
should derive the promts, and power, and general
attitude conferred by the monopoly of the whole
communication, or by its principal share ; but be-
tween the Cape of Good Hope and the Sandwich
Islands, which should contribute most to our na-
tional pros})erity, our wealth, our power, our glo-
ry ; themselves holding that to be their chiefest
honour, to be the messengers of our benefits to the
furthest corners of a world, which, in the happi-
ness diffused through our means, would lose even
the wish to strike at our authority.

Having indicated these several points in the Pa-
cific Ocean as being those which appear to me best
calculated to suit the pui'poses which have been re-

84.5

viewed, I shall now only further observe in their
recommendation, that, situate as they are on the
extreme southern and northern verges of the trade
winds, the whole volume of these, and the whole
medium of communication between Spanish Ame-
rica and India which they afford, are inc'uded be-
tween them, and are subject, accordingly, to their
influence and command. As bulwarks to India,
they become, accordingly, still further interesting,
than if they wanted this recommendation ; but on
this topic I shall not now enlarge, and shall finally
quit the subject with reminding the reader, that I
stake no portion of the principal argument on the
local details which may or may not make them ap-
pear, on further examination, the most eligible
points of selection. That argument I have most
studiously kept apart from these details, to avoid
this very snare ; and it must be tried and weigh-
ed, as it has been advanced, only on general prin-
ciples, not on minute topics regarding merely the
locality with which it is thus subsidiarily connect-
ed.

Atlantic Ocean, — In the Pacific Ocean, the only
embarrassment was a ground for selection from
among the many points which seemed to present
themselves nearly equally recommended : in the
Atlantic, on the contrary, there seems to be but
one point in any degree calculated to suit our pu •

\i V

— , r-^-

3i(i

pose. There are no islands of any extent in tiio
Southern Atlantic, none possessed of any port suit-
ed for our present purposes : we must accordingly
approach the continent, and that too only on that
point which is our own property. The only re-
maining question is, then, to what extent is this
point calculated to suit our views ?

The principal qualities, it will be remembered,
which were considered necessary to be combined
in the several points destined for our free ports,
were, central position with reference to the mar-
kets with which they would be placed in correspond-
ence, convenient accommodation for shipping, sus-
ceptibility of external defence, together with those
facilities of approach and departure, which are al-
ways advantageous, and to a certain degree even
indispensable, for the maintenance of a lucrative
trade. Let us, then, try the territory of the Cape
of Good Hope by the rules suggested by these re-
quisitions.

And, first, as regards central position, and con-
venience of approach and departure, in these points
it is quite unexceptionable. It lies in the direct
track to and from every European and every Ame-
rican, as well as every Indian market, being near-
ly half way between them all ; its ports may be ap-
proached, besides, without any material difficulty,
,on every side, soundings being found both south

347

and west, at a very considerable distance from the
shore, the weather also, though sometimes tem-
pestuous, being generally clear. Thus far, then,
I do not anticipate any objection, but still the most
essential points remain behind ; and on these I
now proceed to speak at somewhat greater length.
The grand physical feature characteristic of the
Continent of Africa is the very small number of its
navigable rivers and ports fit for the reception of
fleets ; and this feature, which is alike common to
its Mediterranean, Indian, and Red Sea shores, is
in a degree equally descriptive of that which forms
the eastern limit of the Atlantic Ocean. Thus,
from the Straits of Gibraltar to Senegal there is not
a single river of consequence, and not one port ;
and although the coast of Guinea discharges a con-
siderable number of small rivers, they are all, I
believe, without exception, barred and inaccessi-
ble to shipping, while the ports formed by the few
islands which here skirt the coast, are alike small
aiid inconvenient. Further south, it is true, the
Zaire or Congo, lately rendered but too conspicu-
ous by the misfortunes of our expedition to trace
its course, discharges a vast volume of water into
the Ocean ; but this very circumstance renders it
ineligible as a port of resort, there being here no
tides to counteract the perpetual current setting
out, and the approach to it* accordingly, being

348

equally tedious and unsatisfactory. It is in the
territory of the Cape of Good Hope alone that
this general feature acquires some little modifica-
tion, the magnificent harbour of Saldanha opening
out within its limits, (in lat. 33^ 7' south,) ample,
secure, and commodious, labouring indeed under
one only disadvantage, the want of fresh water in
its immediate vicinity. This disadvantage, its re-
mote situation from the most fertile and best cul-
tivated districts of the settlement, its inconvenient
access from tlie interior, and more than all, per-
haps, the small comparative value of the trade
maintained by even the whole colony, have ever
hitherto precluded from being remedied ; and it
has accordingly, as yet, condemned this magnifi-
cent basin to entire neglect, although so immedi-
ately contiguous to a point where the want of a
secure harbour has been always most grievously
felt. Table Bay, near Cape Town, being entirely
open to the north-west, and consequently nearly
quite untenable in the winter months, when the
winds blow habitually strong from that quarter.
It could, however, very easily be removed, abun-
dance of fresh water being found within from six
to eight miles of the head of the Bay, a distance
less than that along which both London and Edin-
burgh are at this moment supplied with the same
necessary of life ; and indeed it has always been

understood in our service, that Sir Home Pophani,
when he commanded in chief on the Caj)e station,
submitted plans to the then existing administration,
by which he thought the object might be effected
with but very little difficulty. The changes which
almost immediately afterwards took place at home,
and which were the means subsequently of subject-
ing that able Officer's services on this point to so
rigid and unprecedented a scrutiny, threw these
hints as well as others into oblivion, and, in the
mean time, his active mind has sought and found
other objects of investigation. But it could not
be difficult, even now, to recall the subject to his
recollection, or to cause it to be considered from
the beginning by able Engineers ; and surely, if
but the smallest portion of the advantages which
we have severally contemplated in the preceding
chapter be indeed connected with the object, no
pecuniary considerations would seem calculated,
even for a moment, to come in competition with
its pursuit.

Thus far, then, the territory of the Cape of Good
Hope would seem perfectly suited to our purposes,
it is central to every market with which we would
place it in correspondence, and is j)rovided more-
over with a port which is not only most excellent
in itself, but which would seem especially and even
providentially placed within its limits for our pur-

:j'

■♦=="

350

pose, being an exception, an even solitary excep-
tion, to the great geological feature which charac-
terizes the whole continent in which it is thus found.
The last, and perhaps the most important question
of all, remains yet, however, unanswered. What
are the original means of defence and protection
possessed by this portion of our dominions ? Are
they such as would warrant our entrusting it with
a deposit of such extreme value as tliat contem-
plated ? To these questions the reply I now pro-
ceed, however, to say, is also most satisfactory :
the integral resources possessed by the whole ter-
ritory, but particularly by Saldanha Bay, being pre-
cisely enough to make them most powerful and de-
fensible possessions, with at, at the same time, con-
ferring on them the means of ever pretending to
inde])endence. The southern promontory of the
whole very remarkably resembles that of Gibral-
tar, being a vast peninsular mass of rocky moun-
tains, nearly precipitous to the north, sloping down
towards the southern point, and only connected
with the main land by a narrow sandy isthmus. Of
greater extent, it is accordingly nearly equally de-
fensible with that celebrated fortress, and is equally
the key to the commerce of the adjoining shores.
Further north the land is rugged and rocky along
the coast, in an especial manner indeed wild and

desolate in the immediate vicinity of tSaldanha Bay,

.3.51

which from tliat circiiinstiinco, as well as from ih^.
comparative iinnowues.s of its i iitraiu'C, is susco])-
tible of even iiulefinitc scciiritv, by means of u in-
dicioiis system of fortiHcaliou. 'Iho iivteiior of the
country is flat, sandy, anil i^enerally sterile, al-
though here and there piesentiiiu i)atehes of ex-
tremely fertile soil, abouiulini;' in every variety of
Tropical as well as European production; most s[)e-
cics of the latter being found, however, rather to
degenerate, grapes forming, at the same time, one
especial exception to the remark, some kinds of
them having been found even to iinj)rove. There
is little or no wood in the whole territory, the
parching south-east winds being unfavourable to
the growth of timber ; nor any original production
of much value, as nuiy be judged, indeed, from
the fact of the average exports from the Ca[)e be-
tween 1799 aiul 180^2 only amounting to h. 15,000
amnially, while its imports exceeded, at the same
time, L..^()0,000. The articles exported were wine,
brandy, hides dry and salted, wool, whalebone,
whale and seal oil, ostrich feathers, ilried fruits,
salt, butter, aloes, and ivory ; articles of which on-
ly two, wine and wool, would seem calculated to
increase materially in quantity or Aaliie, while the
ostrich feathers and ivory, as indeed they are al-
ready becoming daily more rare, so nuist they dis^
appear altogether, whenever the whole territory

T-1

r,t

fX:

I f i'll

& ' if

',(

)')

I ■

>\\:\\\ boconie lliickly pcojjk'd, or gtMicially pro-
(lii('ti\'('.

Siicli tluMi ;irc' tlic sovcnil (Mrcmiistaiiccs \vl\ic'Ii
would appear to me in an cspi'cial manner lo ro-
connnLMiil sn('ccssi\t'ly Ofalicitc, the Sandwich
Islands, and now linall\ Saldaiiha liay, within the
teiritory of the ("ape ol'dood IIo)»e, to om' selec-
tion as points Tor our free ports, could we he in-
duced to entertain the whole scheme hy the consi-
derations which 1 ha\e now atteiDptcd to lay he-
fore the public, as they relate to both seas, the Pa-
cific and Atlantic Oceans. On the \alue of these
then the whole (|uest ion idtimately rests; and the>e,
ha\in^ now concludi'd the remaiks which I wish-
ed to otter on the immeiliately precedin<»; portion
of my subiect, these. 1 sav, I shall now linallv en-
deavour to reintbrci' by a brief and condensed re-
ca])itulatioii of theii' whole scope, ])refaced by one
or two subsi.iiai'y remarks in theii" recommendation,
lor which I Ikuc not as yot found a place.

First, then, I would l)e_u' the reader to remark
the extremely small stake which woidd be comj)ro-
mised by makint;' the i>\))erinHin j)rt)pose(l. In
tlu' Pacilic, the w hok' iirst e\j)ense would be linut-
ed to the establi-lmiciit of one, or at most two
trading' factories, of w hich, if wi' chose it, tlic^ ware-
houses mi'.'ht, in the tirst |)la.ce, be composi>ci of
old sliipp'iii;' e([uipj)ed for the pur})Obe, to be only

Son

voplactn] proufrossivcly, as indiv idn il niordiaiits shall
ac(iiiir(' siillicicMit coiiliiU'iici' in tin- ■>|)i'c'iilati()ii to
embark tlu-ir capital in hiiiLliiiu. 'I'lu- |);i!)lif csta-
blislmii'iil may ho on an i'<|;ially moK-iai.' M-alc,
llu" ()nl\ \\T\ inilispiMisal)I(' part ol' il Ij/in;.';, in-
(li't-'il, till' na\al liircc hy wlncli it must hr protocl-
cd, and the cnNtom-honsc drpartnu'iil, l)\ which
the dntics must he colU'cU-d. In the Athnilic, on
tlu' otiui- liaml, there nui^l he o'ain, not expense;
e\en the \ cry smallest concei\al)le extent to whicli
the pri\ilene of free trade e(.ni;>ired on Saldanlia
r>a\ ininjn he im))ro\i«d, ni"ces>arily in\ oh ini; an
increase of i)ro\incial ri>\enne amoni; its conse-
(piences; an inciiMse hy so ninch the more jnte-
lestin-, as the Cape of (iood Hope establishment
IS now a severe bnrthen on onr other lesonrces, its
pnblic income not excei'dinii- L. !()(),( )()(), uhile its
expenses aj)pn)ach to L. loo.ooo. So nnicli then
'or expense in makin-' the experimeiit : l)iii now,
liii'ther, 1 wonid obs^M-Ms that vwyy other feannv
of risk wonId seem e(pially nninite, il" not liKlccd
rather aJtogether non-existent. \o loreion nation
can j)ossihly take nmbra-e at oni' pmvhasin- iVoi
ihe Sontli Sea islanders a tract of terriiorv, whi( h
we devote to the nvneral nnpro^ement of all t,-;,,!,.
uilhin thelnnitsofthe I'acilic, not to anv exclu-
sive enconra-vinent of onr own; if snch a fians.
action excited any sentnnent indeed in their nn'nds

35i*

at all, it must be that of willing and even thankful
aciiuiesceiioe in a measure which must essentially
benelit themselves also, if they carry their trading
views to these seas. And as for the Cape of Good
Hope, if any nation j)resumed even to think of in-
teifering with our administration of that, I should
be inclined to say, that that circumstance alone
would almost justify our acting counter to its de-
sires.

The second subsidiary argument which I would
now offer in behalf oi' my whole scheme, is derived
from its extreme simplicity. Here are no complex
details, no restrictive regulations, no minute points
to consider, the smallest excess m the application
of which might threaten the whole fabric. The
whole consists in affording certain opportunities to
particular points of oiu* dominions, and leaving
these to be improved as their real value shall sug-
gest. The improvement would undoubtedly be
gradual, and even that is in fact another recom-
mendat^i'ju ; violent changes being equally danger-
ous in all public matters, whether of policy or of
commerce.

In the third place, this whole scheme may be
recommended from its respect to existing rights
and institutions. The first part of it, that, name-
ly, which relates to the Pacific Ocean, trenches on
vested rij^jht or privilege whatsoever, the nomi-

nal
ret
lia^
grJ
onl
th(
th(
mo

*o'

[i *^

S55

rial privileges of the South Sea Company merely
requiring a license to evade, a requisition which
has long been a mere tbrmality, licenses being
granted as of course, on aj)}jHcation. The second
only asks that for one Britisli colony, which but
the last session of Parliament was granted to at>o-
ther, and s[>eculates subsequently merely on the
more efficient means possessed by that one, of im-
proving the talent committed to its charge. It
does not even wish that the similar privileges ac-
corded to the other should be withdrawn, satisfied
that they will gradually becotne a dead letter, if
the conclusions drawn from the whole argument be
indeed well founded ; and if they are not, then
willing to acknowledge tliat this particular point
has no claim whatever for snj)port from exclusive
legislative enactment, at best but a col)bling expe-
dient, but which, on such an ocrasi()u as tl*e pre-
sent, would be not less unjust than uawise.

The last consideration w^hich I sliall now in-
trude on the reader's attention, in support of my
scheme, I shall derive from tlie universality of its
applica^^ion within the sphere allotted to it — an
universality which alone I should be inclined to
consider an unanswerable argument in its behalf.
For be it remarked, that the body politic is not
one undivided w^hole, but a whole composed of
many parts ; and that measure is not accordingly

356

the best, which accumulates a mass of benefit up-
on one point, but, on the contrary, that which, at
tlie least sacrifice, disseminates it among many.
This, as we have seen, is without expense, with-
out risk in the experiment, is simple in its details,
trenches on no vested right or privilege, is mode*
rate, in a word, in all its requisitions. There can
be nothing very absurd in any proposal which, how-
ever narrow its promise, could thus j^f'ifnajacie be
characterized. But, with these recommendations,
I trust I have already succeeded in proving, that
it combines also the most magnificent, the most
varied promises ; and of these I now then finally
proceed to the recapitulation, with a feeling of dif-
fiilence, it is true, but of diffidence springing from
my fear of making out too strong, not too weak a
case ; for so entirely disproportioned appear the
])r()mised advantages to the means by which, it
seems to me, they might be attained, I almost fear
for the links by which they are connected, how-
ever carefully 1 appear, to myself at least, to have
considered them,

Fiist, then, as regards the Pacific Ocean, my
scheme v ould seem to offer a lucrative and improv-
ing trade m ith the Spanish colonies, together with
the means of curbing their ambition should they
become young, independent, and enterprizing states,
and of ciiccking the piracy of their marine, should

857

that be made desperate tlirougli their reduction
and defeat. With respect to New Albion, the
next tract of country to the Spanish colonies, the
prospect afforded by it is that of a lucrative and
convenient market to the fur traders, who have
now only one port to which they can repair, (Can-
ton,) while even that they enter under i)eculiar dis-
advantages, owing to the exclusive privileges en-
joyed there by the East India Company j as also
the hope of being able to confer on Canada a new
and lucrative branch of commerce altogether de^.
pendent on our will, and which would consequent-
ly still further bind it to our side. Passing on in
the review of the resources of the Pacific, it would
now further promise, or seem at least to promise,
the opportunity of acquiring on important share in
the speculations of ihe Russians alike in America
and in Asia ; of opening the out ports of China
and Japan to our trade ; of improving the morals
and encouraging the industry of our fellow subjects
in New South Wales, should we still continue that
settlement cm its j)resent footing, and of de\ elop-
ing its various commercial resources, should we be
induced to alter its destination, and to confer on
it the usual privileges and constitution of a British
colony; of civilizing and most essentially benefit-
ing the islanders of the Pacific; of encouraging the
whale fisheries j promoting the interests of science ;

358

and, finally, for why follow it through all its minor
points, of conferring on us an ample revenue, the
produce of the transit duty which would most na-
turally be imposed on all merchandise alike pass-
ing through the warehouses of our free port, and
which levied on foreign as well as domestic specula-
tion, and neither subject to any very heavy expenses
of collection, nor to drawback, would necessarily
be even from the first considerable, while the pro-
gressive improvement of the whole trade would un-
questionably in time giv*i it a very great im])ort-
ance in our calculations, an importance to which
now perhaps it cannot altogether pretend. Thus
far, then, in the Pacific, and certainly even the
most cursory review of these several topics must
satisfy the reader, that the list contains nearly all
that can be devised of most interesting, as yet, in
that sea, and that a measure bearing accordingly
beneficially on all of them, may be said to be even
of universal application within its sphere. The view,
however, in the Atlantic, is ever still more bril-
liant and seducing. Tlie first step of our progress
there is to improve most essentially the means of
comn'iunication with India, and generally the whole
southern hemisphere j and an immediate but minor
consequence of this improvement is then coupled
under the same head with it, that special encou-
ragement, niimely, which it is calculated to bestow

V »:

359

minor
ue, the
ost na-
e pass-
rt, and
K'cula-
penses
ssarily
e pro-
Id uri'
nj)oit-
vvliich
TJius
1 the
must
•ly all
et, in
ingly

even
aew,
bril-

("ress
IS of

loJe
nor
•ied
ou-

OVf

©n our manufactures, by fav^ilitating their exchange
against the crude produce of these remote coun-
tries. Certainly, few objects of a domestic nature
can possibly be more interesting than this antici-
pated encouragement; but important and interest-
ing as it may be, it is yet eclipsed by those which
almost immediately dawn on our contemplation,
when we, in the next place, consider the general
resort of all merchants to this our medium of com-
munication, which its striking improvement and su-
periority over all others, together with the freedom
and security of trade which, if organized in all res-
pects as proposed, it would enjoy, necessarily and
inevitably entail. On this general resort, indeed,
hinge now further all the anticipated consequences
of the proposed measure, and to the recapitula-
tion of these then I now finally proceed. The
first is the acquisition of an even immense re-
venue, levied, as in the Pacific, alike on foreign and
domestic speculation, and further, illustrating the
operation of a new principle in financial adminis-
tration, which I presume to think might advan-
tageously be extended to many more of its details.
Next follow in succession, the power acquired
through its medium, of guiding the whole course of
trade as may suit our purj)oses, by means of mere
financial regulations, a power which I acknowledge
to be of difficult and delicate administration, but

SCO

of which I endeavour to illustrate the application,
by pointing out the support which we might con-
fer, through its exercise, on our East India Com-
pany's Chinese trade ; the means, further, which it
would bestow on us of encouraging Continental
shipping to the exclusion and proscription of that
Cairying Trade which once made the Dutch so
powerful, and to which the Americans now again
openly aspire ; of interrupting, without violence
and without offence, that direct communication
with India, whicii wo were desirous, it was nnder-
stootl, to refuse these latter at the late j)eace,
which they would not however resign, but which
they abuse as much as lies in their power, by the
acrimonious and malignant representations which
they every where make of us, where the opportu-
nity presents; of giving thus additional security to
India, whether we choose to colonize it or not ;
and, finally, of acquiring a general power and in-
fluence in both hemispheres, exactly ])ro})ortioned
to the approach which oiu' particular channel or
medium may make to the mono})oly of the v. hole
communication between both, and to the value of
the thing monopolized, that is to say, oi' the whole
trade, by whomsoever conducted. At this point,
accordingly, I endeavour to illustrate the operation
of the proposed measure, in diminishing the occa-
sions of hostile feeling between nations, and also of

301

mitigating tlie inflictions witli wliicli war, when it
is exciteil, is necessarily snrcliargecl ; and having
thus connected it, as it ap))eared to nie, with every
thing most interesting in policy, with wealth, with
conunercial prosperity, with political aggrandize-
ment, and thus, too, finally, with the feelings of
humanity and benevolence, which will e\er I trust
beat high in the Hritish bosom, I have been sen-
sible that to multij)ly much further images and il-
lustrations, would |)iit weaken, not strengthen my
argument ; and I have sought, therefore, to }ri\c it
but one more association, that, \i/.. with the ])ro))ar
gation of our religious faith among the as yet ido-
latrous nations of the southern world. That ob-
ject has long been even the exclusive ])urpose of
numerous Societies, whose zeal has been constant-
ly kept alive, it is true, by some partial success,
but with whose means, if left entirely to themselves,
it would almost appear ridiculous — I speak it in
perfect respect tor their conduct and motixes — to
associate any idea of its final or comj)lete attain-
ment. Connected, however, with a minute and
permanent commercial intercourse, such as this
proposed measure would seem calculated to })ro-
duce, and increased, too, as these particular re-
sources would then undoubtedly be, by the liberal
contributions of many who now only deriile the
exertions which they are de\ otcd to sustain, they

562

would, in trutli, assume an entirely new character,
and might most reasonably be anticipated as be-
conuug, in time, commensurate, in some degree at
least, in magnitude with the object which they
would pursue. In descanting on this particular por-
tion of my subject, 1 have refrained, as much aspos*
sible, in the body at least of this work, from using my
own words, fearful as I have been of betraying either
enthusiasm or apathy in my reasonings concerning
a point which is so differently apjjreciated by dif-
ferent readers — appreciated too by them all on such
different grounds — it is scarcely possible so to speak
of it at all, as to avoid offence. I cannot consent
to part with it here, however, with an expression
altogether so subdued ; for who so cold in heart
as not, on some principle or other, to warm at its
contemplation ? I will say then, that these two
last associations, in my own estimation, give a
grace and dignity to the whole, of which the ex-
clusive political aggrandisement which it otherwise
contemplates would seem in some measure to de-
prive it ; and that it is their consideration alone
which harmonizes the darker shades of that, and
gives uniform beauty and softness to the whole pros-
pect on which they are thus brought to act. For
be it remarked, that inordinate power is in itself
but a dangerous acquisition — an acquisition which
almost always excites bitterness and repining on

363

the part of those excluded from its participa-
tion, while it is but too oflcn also the fruitfid
source of weakness and degeneracy in those who
attain its height, and who thus, from being the^
agents of its decrees, become themselves, in turn,
but the victims of its caprice. But if our j)ower,
my countrymen, is to be thus crowned, if these
are even to be the concluding tasks of our high ca-
reer, then let us even immolate ourselves, I will
say, if need be, in their pursuit and discharge ;
and let us deem the anticipated memory of such
functions in after times, equivalent, aye more than
equivalent, with even the highest jjitch of success
consequent on a dark and blood-stained ambition
such as that, the sun of which we have just extin-
guished, and caused to set in the darkness and in
the night of disappointment and of remorse. Such
ought to be our conduct, I say, if assured that
these were to be even the concluding tasks in our
high destiny, preparatory, accordingly, for our de-
cline and fall : I will not allow, howe\er, that
our alternative is so strongly couched ; on the con-
trary, I will most strenuously maintain, that in the
very elements of a system such as that we have
now contemplated, in even the political part of
which, a due regard for the individual interests
of our competitors is mixed up and blended with
our pursuit of our own, and which is further

3()l

crowned by relifijious consiilenitions, in the very
elements of sucli a system, I sa}', a consisteney
anil stability will be found, which, with the further
blessing of the IJeing who has most graciously
vouchsafed us the opportunity of applying it, may
be dcemetl even assured pledges of the durability
of the power which it would build up. Let us sei/^e,
then, I would rather now finally say, friends and
fellow countrymen, let us seize this proud, tins per-
manent pre-eminence, and with that aziue scep-
tre by which alone it can l)e maintained, and aroimd
which we have hitherto entwined only the laiuels
of conquest and of defiance, let us thus also asso-
ciate every idea of beneficence and of peace. Let
us thus seize, 1 say again, this pre-eminence ; let us
thus jewel that sceptre ; and then, if it be indeed
still too much to hoj)e, in this «ubhuiary state of be-
ing, that tlie ancient rivals of our power, whom we
shall have cast at our feet, should regard the lustre
thus reflected on our lmj)erial Diadem with un-
mingled sentiments of reverence and love, let this
be our proud, our consoling thought, that to the
administration at least of the high authority con-
fided to us they can attach no blame ; that it might
be dearer to them certainly were it entrusted to
themselves, but that even then it could not, by their
own confession, be more beneticently, more right-
eously exercised.

.3f;.>

May the. future dostiuios of this country, hy
wlioinsocver tliey iiuiy l)e j-iiidt'd, prove no worsu
than what are here deh'neated ! Lon^s very Ioul;-,
may she rei,<ru the arhitress of a worKI paeilied
Ihroun-h her •rcnerous exertions; and when tlie
hoiu- Nhall eoine, as eonic it lnu^t, when iier iiders
shall he sueeessively ralK-d to their last and i-reat
aeeounl, may the means hy whieli thev mav have
earned their sneeess, prove to ha\e been as .>uile-
less as these, whieh are tinis earnestly, hut most
respeetfully, submitted to tJieir dispassionate eoji-
slileration.

rivis.

Printed l)y llalfour .'ind fla'-lc

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

t-
,%>/£

1.0 If"- i

I.I

1.25

«.,. I

2.5
2.2

- li£ IIIIIM

1.8

U 11.6

-iumc

ScieDcej

23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580

(716) 873-4503

ERRATA.

Page 46, line 12, for Nortlicrn, read Western.

64, — If), — on, _ along.

138, — 13, — Southern, — interior.

165, — 13, — 40,000, — 60,000.

179, — 20, — being, _ is.

186, — 7, — at, — as.

28?, — 34, — collection, .— expense of collection.

295, .— 6, — on, — in.

» . « • « t

XXI •; •.

. . ■■ - t

as the present, really in no degree at all depend on ;:i.
the very slender portion of ability which will be:"'
found to characterize its own composition, provid- •'.".'
ed only that the intrinsic interest of its subject ■• •'
matter succeed in procuring for it such a portion • :
of public notice, as may fix superior talents atten- : ;;
tively on the consideration of the great objects •' \
of national ambition, towards which it would in- "."
distinctly point. With regard to these, my parti- •.':
culai- views may very possibly be all erroneous ; of . :
the facts themselves stated in support of them, !'"l
some of the minuter shades may be incorrectly
traced ; bi^t above all, the measures by which I
would propo.-e that they be pursued, may every one
of them be liable to insuperable objection. But
even this is comparatively immaterial, so that at-
tention be but awakened, and investigation eli-
cited; and I therefore now finally cast my at-
tempt on public judgment with no ordinary deo-ree
ot confidence in its indulgent reception, since its
grossest errors may thus more essentially conduce
to the attainment of its object, than could even
its most unqualified success.