TRANS-HIMALAYAN TRADE. 587 India are Amritsar and Jálandhar, from which latter place the route runs northwards past Kángra and Pálampur to Leh, where a British official has been stationed since 1867, in which year also a fair was established at Pálampur to attract the Yarkandí merchants. Merchandise is usually conveyed across Himalayan the Himalayan passes on the backs of sheep and yaks; but traffic; British enterprise has successfully taken mules as far as Leh. In 1875-76, the total imports from Kashmir were valued at £484,000, chiefly pashmina or shawl-wool, charas, raw silk, gold-dust and silver ingots, and borax ; the exports were valued at £342,000, chiefly cotton goods, food-grains, metals, salt, tea, and indigo. In 1882-83, the imports from Kashmir into. the Punjab amounted to £505,335, and the exports to £349,477; total, £854,812. The whole trans-frontier landward trade of the Punjab in 1882-83 was-imports, £981,167, and exports, £1,083,920; grand total, £2,065,087. Farther east, the Independent State of Nepál cuts off direct with intercourse with Tibet for a total length of nearly 700 miles, Nepal. bordering the North-Western Provinces, Oudh, and Behar. Little trade is allowed to filter through Nepál, to and from Tibet (amounting in value in 1882-83 to £82,519 for both imports and exports); yet a very large traffic is everywhere carried on along the frontier between the Nepális and British subjects. The Nepál Government levies transit duties impartially on all commodities; but it is asserted that their fiscal tariff is not intended to be protective, and does not in fact operate as such. Markets are held at countless villages Frontier along the boundary, for the exchange of rural produce and marts. articles of daily consumption; and many cart tracks cross the line from our side, to lose themselves in the Nepál tarái. The principal trade route is that which starts from Patná, and proceeds nearly due north through Champáran District to the capital of Khatmandu; but even this is not passable throughout for wheeled traffic. From Khatmandu, two routes branch Nepál off over the central range of the Himalayas, which both trade ultimately come down into the valley of the Tsanpu, or great river of Tibet. routes. In 1877-78, the registered trade with Nepál (which Nepál is doubtless below the truth) amounted to a total of trade values. £1,687,000, of which more than two-thirds was conducted by Bengal. The imports from Nepál were valued at £1,054,000, the principal items being food-grains and oil-seeds, cattle, timber, and horns. Other articles of import which do not figure prominently in the returns are musk, borax, chireta, madder, 1877 Trade with cardamoms, chauris or yak-tails, ginger, balchar or scented Nepál; grass, furs, and hawks. The Indian exports to Nepál in 1877-78 were valued at £633,000, chiefly European and native piece-goods (of cotton, wool, and silk), salt, metals, raw cotton, sugar, and spices. To these may be added the miscellaneous articles which may be usually found in a pedlar's pack. In and 1882. 1882-83, the total imports from Nepál into the North-Western Provinces, Oudh, and Bengal amounted to £1,378,175, and the exports from British India to £855,346; grand total, £2,233,521. The trade with Sikkim and Bhután is at present too insignificant to require notice, although it is possible that our future entry into Tibet may lie through these States. Bhután. North-east frontier trade; 1877 and 1882. dent Burma ; 1877-78. Imports. A certain amount of traffic is conducted with the hill tribes on the north-east frontier, who almost surround the Province of Assam from Bhután to Manipur. According to the returns for 1877-78, the total frontier trade of Assam amounts to about £100,000 a year. In 1882-83 it amounted to £115,206, £83,318 being imports, and £31,888 exports. It consists chiefly of the bartering of rice, cotton cloth, salt, and metais, for the raw cotton grown by the hill tribes, and for the caoutchouc, lac, beeswax, and other jungle produce which they collect. Trade with The trade with Independent Burma has a special character, Indepen- and it has for some years past been subject to a fairly accurate system of registration. The main route is by the Irawadi river, which is navigable by large steamers. The trade on the Sittang (Tsit-taung) is chiefly confined to the import of timber. Regis tration is also attempted at six land stations. The total trade in 1877-78 was valued at £3,426,000, almost equally divided between exports and imports. The principal imports from Independent Burma into British Burma were timber (£213,000), raw cotton (£163,000), sesamum oil (£130,000), manufactured silk (£107,000), jaggery sugar (£98,000), cattle (£88,000) and ponies (£20,000), cotton goods woven from European yarn (£46,000), earth-oil (£65,000), and cutch (£41,000). Many of these articles are liable to be declared royal monopolies (although these monopolies were abolished in 1882), and consequently the figures fluctuate greatly year by year. Other imports of interest, though of smaller value, are pickled tea (£19,000) and jade (£18,000). Exports; The exports from British to Independent Burma in 1877, were 1877-78. rice (£435,000), cotton piece-goods (£207,000) and cotton TRANS-FRONTIER TRADE. 589 twist and yarn (£188,000), manufactured silk (£173,000), Trade with Upper ngá-pi or salted fish (£159,000), raw silk (£84,000), woollen Burma, goods (£43,000), salt (£33,000), etc. Many of these goods 1877-78. were formerly the subjects of royal monopoly, or they competed with the products of manufactories started by the king at Mandalay. Salt is exempted from the ordinary customs duties at Rangoon, and pays only a transit duty of 1 per cent. if declared for Independent Burma.1 trade, Full details of the import and export trade between British Burmese Burma and Independent Burma and the Shan States for 1882-83. 1882-83 are not available. As regards totals, the imports amounted to £2,504,135 in value, and the exports to 1,752,299; total, £4,256,434. The trade between British Burma and Siam was estimated Siam trade. in 1877-78 at the total value of £126,000, being £69,000 for imports from Siam, and £57,000 for exports. In 1882-83, the trade between British Burma and Siam amounted toimports from Siam, £40,349, and exports, £141,958; total, £182,307. The following tables exhibit the total trans-frontier land trade of India (1) with the different border countries and tribes, and (2) the extent to which it is participated in by the neighbouring British Provinces :— TRANS-FRONTIER LANDWARD TRADE OF INDIA WITH EXTERNAL TRANS-FRONTIER LANDWARD TRADE OF INDIA—(continued), TRANS-FRONTIER LANDWARD TRADE OF INDIA FOR THE BRITISH BORDER PROVINCES FOR THE FIVE YEARS 1878-79 TO 1882-83 INTERNAL TRADE OF INDIA. 591 On trade of THE INTERNAL TRADE of India greatly exceeds her foreign Internal commerce; but it is impossible to estimate its amount. the one hand, there is the wholesale business, connected with the foreign commerce, in all its stages-the collection of agricultural produce from a hundred thousand villages, its accumulation at a few great central marts, and its despatch to the seaboard. The sea-imports and manufactured articles are distributed by the same channels, but in the reverse direction. On the other hand, there is the interchange of commodities of native growth and manufacture, sometimes between neighbouring Districts, but also between distant Provinces. With unimportant exceptions, free trade is the rule throughout the vast peninsula of India, by land as well as by sea. The Hindus possess a natural genius for commerce, as is shown by the daring with which they have penetrated into the heart of Central Asia, and to the east coast of Africa. Among the benefits which British rule has conferred upon them, is the removal of the internal duties and other restraints which native despotism had imposed upon trading energies. native Broadly speaking, the greater part of the internal trade Internal remains in the hands of the natives. Europeans control the trade in shipping business, and have a share in the collection of some hands. of the more valuable staples of export, such as cotton, jute, oil-seeds, and wheat. But the work of distribution, and the adaptation of the supply to the demand of the consumer, naturally fall to those who are best acquainted with native. wants. Even in the Presidency towns, most of the retail shops are owned by natives. The Vaisya, or trading caste of Manu, has now scarcely Trading a separate existence; but its place is occupied by offshoots castes: and well- marked classes. On the western coast the Pársís, by the boldness and extent of their operations, tread close upon the heels of the great English houses. In the interior of the Bombay Presidency, business is mainly divided between two classes, the Baniyás of Gujarát and the Márwárís from Rájputána. Each of these profess a peculiar form of religion, the former being Vishnuites of the Vallabháchárya sect, the latter Jains. In the Deccan, their place is in taken by Lingayats from the south, who again follow their India own form of Hinduism, which is a species of Siva-worship. Throughout Mysore, and in the north of Madras, Lingayats are also found, but along the eastern seaboard the predominating classes of traders are the castes named Chetties and Komatis. Many of these trading castes still claim Vaisya descent. Southern |