Besides tea, the
exports from China are porcelain, silk, nankeens, &c.; the imports are the
woollen goods, and tin and copper of England; cotton, tin, pepper, &c. from
the British settlements in India; edible birds' nests, furs, &c.
The trade of Japan is principally with China: the exports are copper,
lackered ware, &c.; the imports are raw silk, sugar, turpentine, drugs, &c.
The trade of the Birman empire is also principally with China, importing
into it cotton, amber, ivory, precious stones, betel nuts, &c., and
receiving in return raw and wrought silk, gold leaf, preserves, paper, &c.
European broad cloth and hardware, Bengal muslins, glass, &c. are also
imported into this country.
But by far the most important commerce that is carried on in the eastern
parts of Asia, consists in that which flows from and to Calcutta, Bombay,
and Madras. In fact, the English country trade there, as it is called, is
of great value, and embraces a very great variety of articles. Bombay is
the grand emporium of the west of India, Persia, and Arabia; here the
productions of those countries are exchanged against each other, and for
the manufactures, &c. of England. The principal articles of export from
Bombay to these places, as well as to England, are cotton piece goods,
sugar, and saltpetre, received from Bengal; pepper from Sumatra; coffee
from the Red Sea.
Pages:
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896