Α DICTIONARY, PRACTICAL, THEORETICAL, AND HISTORICAL, OF COMMERCE AND COMMERCIAL NAVIGATION: ILLUSTRATED WITH MAPS AND PLANS. BY J. R. McCULLOCH, ESQ. A NEW EDITION, WITH AN ENLARGED SUPPLEMENT, CONTAINING MANY NEW ARTICLES, AND BRINGING DOWN THE INFORMATION JANUARY, 1839. Tutte le invenzioni le più benemerite del genere umano, e che hanno svillupato l'ingegno LONDON: PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS. MDCCCXXXIX. "Though immediately and primarily written for the merchants, this Commercial Dictionary will be of use to every man of business or of curiosity. There is no man who is not in some degree a merchant; who has not something to buy and something to sell, and who does not therefore want such instructions as may teach him the true value of possessions or commodities, The descriptions of the productions of the earth and water which this volume contains, may be equally pleasing and useful to the speculatist with any other Natural History. The descriptions of ports and cities may instruct the geographer as well as if they were found in books appropriated only to his own science; and the doctrines of funds, insurances, currency, monopolies, exchanges, and duties, is so necessary to the politician, that without it he can be of no use either in the council or the senate, nor can speak or think justly either on war or trade. "We, therefore, hope that we shall not repent the labour of compiling this work, nor flatter ourselves unreasonably, in predicting a favourable reception to a book which no condition of life can render useless, which may contribute to the advantage of all that make or receive laws, of all that buy or sell, of all that wish to keep or improve their possessions, of all that desire to be rich, and all that desire to be wise." JOHNSON, Preface to Rolt's Dict. LONDON! Printed by A. SPOTTISWOODE, M. ROE June 23, 25 M13 ADVERTISEMENT TO THIS EDITION. In this edition all the more important returns and accounts as to the TRADE, NAVIGATION, and CONSUMPTION of Great Britain and other countries, have been brought down to the latest period. In some instances, too, the form of the returns has been changed, and new ones, drawn up on a more comprehensive plan, and embracing various additional particulars, have been substituted for those previously embodied in the work. In illustration of this, the reader is referred to the tables now given under the article IMPORTS and EXPORTS; they will, it is believed, be found to contain, within a brief space, the completest view hitherto laid before the public o. the recent trade of the empire. A few articles have also been rewritten, among which may be specified those on LIGHTHOUSES, BOMBAY, MALTA, SYDNEY, &c. The SUPPLEMENT given with this edition has been greatly enlarged, and, it is hoped, materially improved. It contains as much matter as would fill, i. printed with types of medium size, a large octavo volume, and embraces a good deal of important information not elsewhere to be met with. Neither labour nor expense has been spared to render it instructive and trustworthy. It embodies the principal part of the Supplement issued in December, 1836, and has, among others, articles on the following subjects; viz. AUSTRIAN TARIFF, and CoмMERCIAL TREATY with AUSTRIA; JOINT-STOCK BANKS, embracing a complete list of these establishments, with an examination of the principles on which they should be founded; NEW CUSTOMS ACT for BENGAL; NEW COINAGE of AMERICA and INDIA; State of the BRITISH COTTON MANUFACTURE from 1816 to 1838, both inclusive; Tables showing the extent of the FOREIGN TRADE of the Country during each of the ten years ending with 1838, with remarks; TRADE with PRUSSIA, PRUSSIAN COMMERCIAL LEAGUE and TARIFF; RAILWAYS and RAILWAY LEGISLATION; CLASSIFICATION of SHIPS; State of the SUGAR TRADE; ALTERATIONS in the BRITISH and RUSSIAN TARIFFS; COMMERCIAL TREATY with TURKEY; with notices of CIVITA VECCHIA, GALACZ, GUAYAQUIL, PORT LAMAR, MONTEvideo, Moulmein, Rostock, &c. The author has been able to avail himself, in preparing this edition, of some very valuable communications. In this respect, he is under especial obligations to the government of Prussia. With a liberality of which there are few (if any) examples, it has not merely taken pains to supply him with ample and authentic details as to the Commerce, Population, Finances, &c., of that flourishing kingdom, but has authorised him to make any use he pleased of the information so communicated, without stipulation or condition of any kind. We have also been indebted to various private and official gentlemen, at home and arboad, for many useful hints and valuable statements. Mr. Porter, of the Board of Trade, allowed us the use of several unpublished returns belonging to his department; Mr. Wood, Chairman of the Board of Excise, and Mr. Mayer, of the Colonial Office, gave us every assistance in their power; the intervention A 2 436337 of Mr. Hall, late vice-consul for the republic of Uruguay, at Liverpool, and of Mr. Kreeft, consul for Mecklenburg, has enabled us to furnish the commercial world with accurate details as to the ports of Montevideo, Rostock, &c.; and gentlemen resident in Bombay, Calcutta, Malta, Singapore, &c., have supplied important information. We are sorry that our limits will not permit of our specifying the different parties to whom we have been indebted ; but we beg them to accept our best thanks for their attentions. We are most anxious to have the means of correcting the errors into which we may have fallen, and of rendering our book as accurate as possible. This, however, can only be effected by gentlemen apprising us of the changes that are constantly taking place in the regulations under which commerce is conducted, and in the channels in which it is carried on. This information, so important to the mercantile world, might, sometimes, be communicated without much trouble, and will always be most gratefully received by us. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. THE first impression of this Dictionary, consisting of 2,000 copies, was entirely sold off in less than nine months from the date of its publication. We feel very deeply indebted to the public for this unequivocal proof of its approbation; and we have endeavoured to evince our gratitude, by labouring to render the work less undeserving a continuance of the favour with which it has been honoured. In the prosecution of this object, we can truly affirm we have grudged neither labour nor expense. We have subjected every part of the work to a careful revision; have endeavoured to eradicate the errors that had crept into it; to improve those parts that were incomplete or defective; and to supply such articles as had been omitted. We dare not flatter ourselves with the idea that we have fully succeeded in these objects. The want of recent and accurate details as to several important subjects, has been an obstacle we have not, in all cases, been able to overcome; but those in any degree familiar with such investigations will not, perhaps, be disposed severely to censure our deficiencies in this respect. The changes in the law bearing upon commercial transactions have been carefully specified. Copious abstracts of all the late Customs Acts are contained in the articles COLONIES AND COLONY TRADE, IMPORTATION AND EXPORTATION, NAVIGATION LAWS, REGISTRY, SMUGGLING, WAREHOUSING, &c. The abolition of the East India Company's commercial monopoly, and the great and growing interest that has in consequence been excited amongst all classes as to the commercial capabilities and practices of India, China, and other Eastern countries, have made us bestow peculiar attention to this department. The articles BANGKOK, BATAVIA, BOMBAY, BUSHIRE*, BUSSORAH*, CALcutta, Canton, COLUMBO, EAST INDIA COMPANY AND EAST INDIES, INDIGO, MACAO*, MADRAS, MANILLA, MOCHA, MUSCAT, NANGASACKI*, RANGOON*, SINGAPORE, TATTA*, TEA, &c. contain, it is believed, a greater mass of recent and well-authenticated details as to the commerce of the vast countries stretching from the Arabic Gulf to the Chinese Sea, than is to be found in any other English publication. In compiling these and other articles, we derived much valuable assistance from John Crawfurd, Esq. The article BANKING is mostly new. Besides embodying the late act prolonging the charter of the Bank of England, and the more important details given in the Report of the Select Committee on the Renewal of the Bank Charter, this article contains some novel and important information not elsewhere to be met with. No account of the issues of the Bank of England has hitherto been pub * The articles marked with an asterisk were not in the former edition. |