attraction of gold to India appears yet more marked. Of the total imports of gold, only 7 per cent. was re-exported, while for silver the corresponding portion was 19 per cent. Roughly speaking, it may be concluded that India then absorbed annually about 3 millions sterling of gold, and 5 millions of silver; say a total hoard of 7 to 8 millions sterling of the precious metals each year. The depreciation of silver which has since taken place has caused an enormous increase in the import of silver, and a corresponding increase in the export of gold. The figures since 1876 do not show the normal state of things. But even in 1877-78, when the value of silver in terms of gold was at its lowest, although India drew upon its hoards of gold for export to the amount of more than 1 million sterling, she at the same time imported 1 million, showing a net import of half a million of gold. It has been estimated that the gold circulation of India amounts to about 1,620,000 of gold mohars (16s. to 18s. each), as compared with £158,000,000 of silver and £2,960,000 of copper. In addition, 10 million sovereigns are said to be hoarded in India, mainly in the Bombay Presidency, where the stamp of St. George and the Dragon is valued as a religious symbol.

of Indian

EXPORTS.-Turning to the exports, the changes in relative Analysis magnitude demand detailed notice. In 1877-78, raw cotton exports. for the first time for many years falls into the second place, being surpassed by the aggregate total of food grains. Oil-seeds show as a formidable competitor to cotton, jute surpasses indigo, and tea comes close behind; while cotton manufactures are nearly as valuable as coffee. The imports of sugar, in value although not in quantity, exceed the exports; the trade in raw silk is about equally balanced; while spices, once the glory of Eastern trade, were exported to the value of only £226,515, as compared with imports of spices of twice that value (£488,884).

The export of raw cotton has been subject to excessive Export of variations. At the close of the last century, cotton was sent to raw cotton. England in small quantities, chiefly the produce of the Central Provinces, collected at Mírzápur and shipped at Calcutta ; or the produce of Guzerat, despatched from Surat. In 1805, Its history, the cotton from Surat was valued at £108,000. In the same year, only 2000 bales of East Indian cotton were imported into Great Britain. But this figure fails to show the average; for by 1810, the corresponding number of bales had risen

1805-34.

to 79,000, to sink again to 2000 in 1813, and to rise to 248,000 in 1818. Bombay did not begin to participate in this trade until 1825, but has now acquired the practical monopoly, since the railway has diverted to the west the produce of the Central Provinces. In 1834, when the commerce of India was first thrown open, 33,000,000 lbs. were exported. Export of Analyzing the exports of cotton during the forty years since raw cotton 1840, we find that in the first quinquennial period they averaged since 1840. 2 millions sterling in value, and did not rise perceptibly until 1858, when they first touched 4 millions. From that date the increase was steady, even before the American exports were cut off by war in 1861. India then made the most of her opportunity, although the quantity and quality did not keep pace with the enhanced price. The export of raw cotton reached its highest value at 37 millions sterling in 1865, and its highest quantity at 803,000,000 lbs. in 1866. Thenceforth the decline has been constant, although somewhat irregular ; the lowest figures both of quantity and value being those of 1878-79, when the exports amounted to 2,966,569 cwts., valued at £7,914,091. The most recent feature of the trade is the comparatively small amount shipped to the United Kingdom, and the even distribution of the rest among continental ports. In 1877-78, out of a total of nearly 3 million cwts., less than 1 million cwts. was consigned to England; of the remainder, France took 611,000 cwts. ; Italy, 434,000; Austria, 407,000; China, 209,000; and Germany, 109,000. The export of raw cotton in 1878-79 amounted in value to £7,914,091, and of twist and cotton goods, to £2,581,823. Indian cotton has a short staple, which is ill suited for the finer counts of yarn spun in the Lancashire mills.

Export of

jute;

in 1828;

in 1848;

Second in importance to cotton as a raw material of British manufacture comes jute. At the time of the London Exhibition of 1851, jute fibre was almost unknown, while attention was even then actively drawn to rhea or China grass, which remains to the present day unmanageable by any cheap process. From time immemorial, jute has been grown in the swamps of Eastern Bengal, and has been woven into coarse fabrics for bags and even clothing. As early as 1795, Dr. Roxburgh called attention to the commercial value of the plant, which he grew in the Botanical Gardens of Calcutta, and named 'jute,' after the language of his Orissa gardeners, the Bengali word being pát or koshta. In 1828-29, the total exports of jute were only 364 cwts., valued at £62. From that date the trade steadily grew, until in the quinquennial period ending 1847-48

the exports averaged 234,055 cwts. The Crimean war, which cut off the supplies of Russian flax and hemp from the Forfarshire weavers, made the reputation of jute. Dundee forthwith adopted the new fibre as her speciality, and the Bengal cultivators as readily set themselves to meet the demand. Taking Later quinquennial periods, the export of jute rose from an average of history, 1858-78. 969,724 cwts. in 1858-63 to 2,628,100 cwts. in 1863-68, and 4,858,162 cwts. in 1868-73. The highest figures reached were in the year 1872-73, with 7,080,912 cwts., valued at £4,330,759. There has since been a falling off, partly owing to the competition of the weaving-mills in the neighbourhood of Calcutta ; but the trade continues on a permanent basis. By far the greater bulk of the exports is consigned to the United Kingdom, and a large proportion direct to Dundee. In 1877-78, out of a total of 5,450,276 cwts., 4,493,483 were sent to the United Kingdom, 845,810 to the United States, and 110,983 to other countries,' chiefly France, which has prosperous weaving-mills at Dunquerque. The exports from India are almost monopolized by Calcutta, although Chittagong, which is nearer the producing Districts, is beginning to take a share.

The export of grain, as already noticed, reached in 1878 a Export of higher total than that of cotton. The two staple cereals are food grains. rice and wheat. Rice is exported from British Burma, from Rice. Bengal, and from Madras. The latter Presidency usually despatches about 2 million cwts. a year, chiefly to its own coolies in Ceylon; but in 1877-78, this trade was almost entirely checked by the famine. In that year, besides supplying the necessities of Madras, Bengal was able to send nearly 6 million cwts. to foreign ports. As compared with Burmese rice, the Bengal exports are chiefly intended for food, whether in Ceylon, the Mauritius, the Straits Settlements, the West Indies, or Europe. From the point of view of the English produce Burmese market, rice means only Burmese rice, which is annually ex- rice. ported to the large amount of about 13 million cwts., valued at 3 millions sterling. In the Indian tables, this is all entered as consigned to the United Kingdom; although, as a matter of fact, the rice fleets from Burma only call for orders at Falmouth, and are there diverted to various continental ports. Burmese rice is known in the trade as 'five parts cargo rice,' being but imperfectly husked before shipment, so that it contains about one part in five of paddy or unhusked rice. It has a thick, coarse grain, and is almost entirely utilized either for distillation or for conversion into starch. In

Rice trade 1877-78, the exports of rice to the United Kingdom amounted in 1878. to 10,488,198 cwts., being slightly less than the average,—but about half of this total is known to be re-exported to foreign countries; the direct exports to the Continent were only 68,839 cwts. to Germany, and 20,117 to France. Siam and Cochin China supply the wants of China and the Straits Settlement, but India has a practical monopoly of the European market. In 1878-79, after India had begun to recover from the famine, the total export of rice was 21 million tons, valued at 9 millions sterling (£8,978,951). An export duty is levied on rice in India at the rate of 3 ánnás per maund, or about 6d. per cwt. A similar duty on wheat was repealed in 1873, and that trade has since conspicuously advanced.

Export duty on rice.

Export of wheat.

Wheat

trade in 1878.

Exports of oil-seeds.

In

In 1874-75, the export of wheat was about 1 million cwts. Forthwith it increased year by year, until in 1877-78 it exceeded 6 million cwts., valued at nearly 3 millions sterling. 1878-79, the quantity fell to 1 million cwts., valued at £520,138, owing to the general failure of the harvest in the producing Districts. But as railways open up the country, and the cultivators find a steady market in England, India may, as already mentioned, some day become a rival to America and Russia in the wheat trade of the world. The Punjab is a great wheat-growing tract in India, but hitherto the chief supplies have chiefly come from the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, being collected at Cawnpore and thence despatched by rail to Calcutta. In 1877-78, out of the total of 6,340, 150 cwts., Bengal exported 4,546,062 cwts., Bombay 1,159,443, and Sind 607,470. The chief countries of destination were-the United Kingdom, 5,731,349 cwts. ; the Mauritius, 154,888; and France, 116,674. It is said that Italy is beginning to utilize the hard, white Indian wheat for making macaroni. Oil-seeds were freed in 1875 from their former export duty of 3 per cent. ad valorem. During the ten previous years, the average annual export was only about 4 million cwts.; but the fiscal change, coinciding with an augmented demand in Europe, has since trebled the trade. In 1877-78, the total export amounted to 12,187,020 cwts., valued at more than 7 millions sterling. Of this, Bengal contributed 7,799,220 cwts., and Bombay 3,179,475 cwts. Linseed and rape are consigned mainly to the United Kingdom, while France takes almost the entire quantity of til or gingelly. In 1879, the export of oil-seeds fell to 7 million cwts., valued at £4,682,512.

In actual amount, although not in relative importance, indigo

destina

holds its own in the face of competition from aniline dyes. Exports of indigo; The export of 1877-78 amounted to 120,605 cwts., valued at £3,494,334, being the highest figures on record. Of this total, Bengal yielded 99,402 cwts., and Madras 16,899 cwts. In 1878-79, the export of indigo amounted to 105,051 cwts., valued at £2,960,463. The most noticeable feature in this trade is the diminishing proportion sent direct to England, and the wide distribution of the remainder. In 1877-78, only 51,641 cwts. their were consigned direct to the United Kingdom, as compared tion, with 72,494 cwts. two years previously; 29,999 cwts., or just 1877-78. one-fourth, to France; 12,417 cwts. to Egypt, and thence probably reshipped to England; 9832 to the United States; 6618 to Austria; 4148 to Persia; and 1392 cwts. to Italy. Of other dyes, the export of safflower has fallen off, being only in demand Safflower. for a rouge in China and Japan; the export in 1877-78 was 3698 cwts., valued at £14,881. The export of myrobalams, on Myrothe other hand, was greatly stimulated by the Russo-Turkish balams. War, which interrupted the supply of valonia and galls from Asia Minor. The quantity rose from 286,350 cwts. in 1875-76 to 537,055 cwts. in 1877-78, valued in the latter year at £230,526. Practically the whole is sent to the United Kingdom. Tur- Turmeric. meric, also, exhibits an increase to 146,865 cwts. in 1877-78, valued at £123,766, of which the United Kingdom took about one-half. Lac-dye, like other kinds of lac, shows a Lac. depressed trade, the exports in 1877-78 having been 9570 cwts., valued at £29,009.

tea.

No Indian export has made such steady progress as tea, Exports of which has multiplied more than fourfold in the space of ten years. In 1867-68, the amount was only 7,811,429 lbs. ; by 1872-73, it had reached 17,920,439 lbs.; and in 1878-79, without a single step of retrogression, it had further risen to 34,800,027 lbs., valued at £3,170,118. It is estimated that the crop of 1880, available for export, will be 42,000,000 lbs. Indian tea has now a recognised position in the London market, generally averaging about 4d. per lb. higher in value than Chinese tea; but it has failed to win acceptance in most other countries, excepting Australia. Its growing importance as compared with Chinese tea appears from the following figures. In 1872, the imports of Indian tea into England were to those of Chinese tea as 1 to 97; in 1874, as 1 to 75; in 1876, as 1 to 5'6; and in 1878, as I to 4'7. The exports of coffee from India Coffee. are stationary, if not declining. The highest amount during the past ten years was 507,296 cwts. in 1871-72, the lowest amount 298,587 cwts. in 1877-78, valued at £1,338,499. In