dear, 60 paras per rottolo; wheat, 75 piastres per shimbul ; mutton, 4 piastres per oke; fowls, 3 piastres each; eggs, 4 paras each; and rice, 3 piastres per oke; oil, 8, soap, 61, butter 8 piastres per oke; milk, 30 paras per rottolo; grapes 50, apples, apricots, &c. 40 to 60 paras per rottolo; shoes, 15 to 22 piastres per pair; wine, 3 piastres per oke; ar rack, 7 piastres per oke. Shops rent for 100 to 1,000 piastres per annum; houses, 100 to 5,000 piastres.

Of the exports of Aleppo, there is no possibility of getting a correct account, because they are made on Aleppo account from Tarsous, Latakia, and Scanderoon, and much of the produce never enters Aleppo. The trade between Aleppo and these places is carried on by natives chiefly, who purchase from importers, sell the goods to the producers against the coming crops of silk, cotton, wool, &c.; and, receiving payment in these articles, resell them to the importers, for shipment at the nearest port.

The products of Syria, and those brought into Syria from the interior, exported on Aleppo account, are:-Cotton, grown on the plains of Tarsous and Adana, and in Caramania, and from Edlip, in all 2,650,000 lbs., for the three years 1835, 6, 7: 1,400 cantars of this were shipped to Britain, 11,200 to Marseilles, and 3,000 to Greece. More is sent to France than elsewhere, because it is there made use of for wicking, being too seedy and short for English use. Average price, 1,000 piastres per cantar; average export 27,000 cantars.-Silk, raised at Antioch, 9,000,000 drams, three fourths of which goes to Marseilles and Leghorn, none to Britain, and the rest is consumed in the country; average price, 400 piastres per 1,000 drams, average exports 6,750,000 drams. Of Amasia silk, from Tocat, there came in 1830 to 1837, respectively, 180, 165, 190, 60, 80, 12, 40, 60 bales, each containing 25,000 drams: giving an annual importation of 2,487,500 drams, averaging 450 piastres per 1,000 drams; of this, one third was shipped, and two thirds are retained for use in the city.-Wool, from Tarsous and Adana, 1,500 cantars; from Aleppo, and the Arabs, 850 cantars; 200 cantars were shipped to England, and the rest, except 600 for home consumption, is sent to Marseilles and Leghorn; average price (for 1835, 6, and 7) 600 piastres per cantar; average export 1,750 cantars.-Galls, from Killis 150, Merdin and Diarbekir 500, Mosul and Bagdad 700, in all 1,350 cantars; average price for 1835, 6, 7, 1,700 piastres per cantar; average exports, 1,050 cantars.

Not a fifteenth part of the imports from England are paid in exports: but about 20,000,000 piastres per annum, in old Turkish coins, were exported in 1836 and '37. Cotton is of too short staple, and too seedy, and silk is reeled too long (8 feet in diameter) for English use; but the quality of the silk is 5 to 10 per cent better than the Persian: but sometimes a considerable part of the exports.to Leghorn and Marseilles are for account of the importers of British goods. Wool is adapted to British manufactures, but its price has been too high for shipment. Galls, alone, are sent in any considerable quantity to Britain, and these not produced in Syria. It is therefore highly important to foreign trade that the products of Syria should be increased, as the supply of old coin is daily becoming shorter, and must soon be exhausted. The country is capable of producing tenfold its present produce, but its increase requires better communications, better security of property, in fine, a better government; and thus the riches of the people being increased, the benefits would extend to all who traded with them, as they would of course require more imports and pay

better for them at present the Syrians are retrenching, leaving off their ornaments, &c., and becoming discouraged in exertion.

Of the seaports of Syria, the chief are-Tarsous, with its port, Mersin, Scanderoon, or Alexandretta, Latakia, Tripoli, and Beyroot, or

Beirut.

Tarsus (Tersoos) is on a river navigable for small boats, and within 12 miles of the sea. Its port or roadstead is Mersin, about four hours to the westward, where the anchorage is perfectly safe all the year round, according to the testimony of intelligent captains, who declare it preferable to Scanderoon. The produce of the country consists principally in cotton, wool, grain of all kinds, sesam, beeswax, old copper, goats' hair, goat skins, ox and buffalo skins, and hair sacks. The consumption of European exports is small at present, but might be made considerable by attracting towards Tarsus the commerce of the interior, which would offer on this market the following valuable articles in any quantities, and take in return various sorts of European produce and manufacture: galls, madder roots, yellow berries, valonia, scammony, gum tragacanth, jalap, harekins, and fox-skins, which might be more easily brought here than to Smyrna, and at a cheaper rate, from the distance overland being less.

Adana is situated to the northeast of Tarsus, about six hours further inland, and has 20,000 inhabitants. Its means of maintaining an active commerce are still greater than those of Tarsus, and its produce of the same kind, but in greater abundance. This most flourishing portion of the Ottoman empire, where the people are not so debased as in Syria, offers a great promise of the finest opening for European trade, provided sufficient encouragement be given to the inhabitants of the interior to bring their goods to the Tarsus market, which port would soon rival Smyrna. Adana offers, as it is, a great field for speculations of every kind.

Latakia is a very indifferent port, small, with a dangerous entrance, and it contains about 10,000 inhabitants, and receives some thirty or forty European vessels annually, in the following proportion: 8 or 10 French, 8 or 10 Sardinian, 5 or 6 Austrian, and 3 or 4 English. There are four European establishments, chiefly acting as agents for the merchants of Aleppo. It produces oil, grain, and much tobacco. Its port is unsafe except in the summer months, and so incumbered with falling ruins that not more than two or three vessels at a time can anchor in it.

The port of Tripoli is very small-in fact cannot be considered a harbor for vessels of a moderate tonnage. The anchorage is a roadstead which can only be made use of in the summer, but which is very dangerous in the winter, and particularly at the equinoxes. Tripoli has 15,000 inhabitants. There arrived here in 1835, 6 and 7-British vessels, none; French, 27; Sardinian, 2; Tuscan, 5; Greek, 12; Arab, 53.

The bay of Akka, or St. Jean d'Acre is large, but much exposed. It is frequented by French, Italian, and Austrian vessels. The British seldom go there. There is anchorage under the southernmost point, which affords a little protection. The harbors of Jaffa, (Joppa,) Tour, (Soor or Tyre,) and Sayda, (Sidon,) which existed in ancient times, are now all choked up, and offer no security to shipping. The destruction and aban donment of so many of the most distinguished ports of Syria is one of the most melancholy examples of commercial vicissitudes. Not to speak of Tyre and Sidon, whose ruins lie on an open and unprotected shore, where scarcely a fisherman's skiff can roll in safety, even such ports as Tripoli

and Latakia have ceased to be much frequented. Beirut and Scanderoon are now the two principal harbors of export and import.

Beirut (the ancient Berytus, and perhaps Berothai of Scripture) is the most flourishing port in Syria, and though in 1840 its fortifications and much of the town were destroyed, it will soon recover. One obvious evi

dence of prosperity was to be seen in the greatly increased value of houses and warehouse room. In four years from 1835, rental had doubled. In fact, of all the ports of Syria, it has received the most attention. It cannot be considered a healthy position, as, like all the low district between the range of Lebanon and the Mediterranean, it is much exposed to pernicious miasmatic influences; and fevers and agues are complaints to which the inhabitants are much subjected. Yet it is far more healthy than Scanderoon, and considered, indeed, the healthiest town on the coast; its population was gradually increasing, and its neighborhood is rapidly improving in cultivation and fertility. The port is much frequented, but it is, more strictly speaking, a dangerous roadstead; in the winter vessels anchor at the mouth of the river Nahr el-Kelb, (the ancient Lycus.) Still they are exposed, and frequently the northerly gales do much mischief to the shipping. This port supplies Damascus, Lebanon, and Palestine; it has 12,000 inhabitants.

There arrived at Beirut, in 1835, 13 British vessels, 4 Maltese, 9 Ionian, 124 Egyptian, 26 French, 20 Austrian, 10 Russian, 31 Sardinian, and 104 Greek. In 1836, respectively, 13, 6, 3, 134, 36, 19, 3, 34, 108, of each of these nations. In 1837, 13, 2, 1, 340, 49, 9, 2, 8, 48, of each, respectively. In all in 1835, 341 of 21,247 tons, with cargoes whose invoice value was, for the French, Sardinian, and Greek, 125,449 pounds sterling; 210 left the port, with cargoes (of the Egyptian, Sardinian, and Greek) worth £134,976. In 1836, 356 arrived, of 44,251 tons, and 342 departed; in 1837, 472 arrived and departed. The commerce of Beirut and Damascus chiefly depend on that of Bagdad, so that the free navigation of the Euphrates by steam would greatly increase it. The British cargoes were, in 1835, bales of cambric, 65; cotton twist, 967; calico, 151; long-cloths, 229; imitation Italian shawls, 130; prints, 82; muslin, 230; shirting, 45; madapolans, 327; handkerchiefs, 81; small shawls, 23; cloth, 1 bale; Indigo, 54 cases. The export cargoes were made up of inferior silk, 20 bales; cotton, 160; sheep's wool, 10; sheep skins, 15; goat skins, 2,230; hare skins, 1; hides, 862; carpets, 1 bale; madder roots, 75 barrels; gum tragacanth, 45; gum caliline, 1; galls, 279; oil, 4; tobacco, 8; sponges, 8 barrels; soap, 37 cases; fruit, 12 cases; clay, 221 barrels.

In 1836, British vessels brought 675 bales of cotton twist, 429 of madapolans, 160 of muslin, 128 of cambric, 493 of calico, 121 of handkerchiefs, 240 of imitation shaws, 372 of prints, 11 of nankeens, 7 of cochineal, 3 of cloth, 86 cases of indigo, 63 barrels of sugar, 447 bags of rice, 81 barrels of earthenware. And they carried away 2 bales of inferior silk, 224 of wool, 156 of madder roots, 5 of tobacco, 12 of saffron, 2 cases of gum, 40 of coloquintida, 35 of figs, 1 sack aniseed, 12,000 killows sesame, and 66 sacks of galls.

In 1837, British vessels brought goods conjectured to be of the invoice value of 312,000 pounds sterling; viz. 32,752 bundles of cotton twist, 14,672 pieces of calico, 840 of cambric, 1,886 imitation shawls, 25,049 pieces of muslin, 40,416 handkerchiefs, 15,601 pieces of prints, 925 of

nankeen, 100 of cloth, 2,700 bundles of false pearls, 178 sacks of rice, 13 casks of salt, 14 cases of locks, 6 cases of hardware. These vessels took away 38,460 pounds of aniseed, 55 cases of coloquintida, 32 sacks of galls, and 15 cases of gum.

Of silk, there was exported from Beirut, in the four years, from 1833 to 1836, inclusive, to France, 1,968 bales, valued at 3,505,134 francs, counting 4 piastres to the franc; to Egypt, 2,112 bales, value 3,686,205 francs; to England, 47 bales, 93,220 francs; to Greece, 2 bales, value 4,000 francs; to Tuscany, 596 bales, value 1,054,352 francs; to Turkey, 41 bales, value 67,350 francs; to Austria, 45 bales, value 83,272 francs; total in four years, 4,811 bales, weighing from 195 to 210 pounds each. None but a few bales of waste, has been sent to England since 1834. About 1,650,000 pounds of silk are produced annually.

The fluctuations and clipping of the currency are much complained of, also the abuse of consular protections to shield debtors.

Scanderoon is to become the chief port of Aleppo, and if the Euphrates navigation succeeds, the chief port of transit for Syria. It has been thought that the Orontes river (el-Aasy) might be used, but it is found that "the rapidity of the stream in many parts of its course, its sudden and numer ous wanderings, its frequent shallows, its various bridges, and the many changes to which it is subjected in the vicissitudes of the seasons, appear to be insuperable obstacles to any plan for making the river navigable, or for using it to any considerable extent for trading purposes, and must altogether thwart any project for employing it as a means of easier communication with the Euphrates. In fact, the Orontes is scarcely available at all, even for small craft; and to reach Antioch in a steamer, though Antioch is at so short a distance from the Mediterranean, would be a work of consummate difficulty, and when accomplished, by no means worthy of the trouble and expense incurred."

Scanderoon is the only port entitled to the name; it is an extensive natural harbor, and safe for any number of vessels of any size, but it is unimproved by art; nothing has been done in the erection of wharves or quays to aid in the landing or shipping of goods. The number of English vessels that visit it is much increased of late. In 1837 they amounted to eighteen; ten or twelve French, and a few Sardinian and Austrian vessels frequent it. The place produces but little grain, but its chief produce is in firewood, and wood for building, monopolized by Ibrahim's government, who obtained yearly from 12,000 to 15,000 trees of first quality, thirty feet long by two square, which were shipped off for the use of the Alexandria arsenal; there is an inexhaustible supply in the forests of the adjoining mountains of Arsus, the ancient Mons Rhossus.

The climate, which, from the miasmata of neighboring swamps, confined to the neighborhood by close mountains, was very unhealthy, has been much improved of late, by the drying up of the surrounding marshes, effected by a canal being cut to the sea at the expense of the Egyptian government. The plain is exceedingly fertile, and the soil, being free from stones, is easily worked.

This port is the gate of all northern Syria, and eventually, perhaps, is to be the point of communication between Europe and Asia. In 1837, it imported from Britain alone, goods to the amount of 165,177 pounds sterling. The great drawback, however, to its commerce, as to that of the rest of the country, is the want of returns. Many of these might, too, be

more available, besides being vastly increased, if the communication to Aleppo, the Euphrates, Bagdad, &c., could be improved; but at present The road the roads are, in unfavorable weather, in a deplorable state. to Aleppo goes through the town and pass of Birlan. The carriage of goods by camels may be estimated at three to four pounds for every 100 miles per ton English, each camel carrying about a quarter of a ton, at the rate of about ten miles per day. Ten bags of galls weigh on an average a ton. The importations for the immediate consumption of Scanderoon and its neighborhood, are annually about 1,500 to 1,950 bushels of wheat, and half as much barley; 200 baskets (40,000 lbs.) of rice, 50 to 60 of which it consumes; 50 tons of salt; both rice and salt are from Damietta. The only staple article of export of the district is dips, dibs, or beshmet, made from grapes into a consistence resembling honey; its mountains produce 350 to 400 cantars per annum, of which 200 to 250 are exported to Tarsus and Caramania. It is much eaten, and sells at 350 to 400 piastres for 504 pounds. Ibrahim felled some 40,000 trees here in 1835 for ship-building; they are generally a mountain pine, very tough and close grained, with a few oaks of rather an inferior quality, but closer grained than the American, appearing fit for very good staves, excepting perhaps for oil casks. Eight to ten cantars of silk are yearly produced.

There arrived at Scanderoon, of British vessels, in 1835, 11, in 1836, 14, in 1837, 13; of French, in these years respectively, 9, 2, 7; of Austria, 1, 0, 1; of Sardinian, 7, 0, 2; of Greek, 2 in 1835; of Tuscan, 1 in 1837. In the three ports of Scanderoon, Latakia, and Tripoli, there arrived in 1835, 6, and 7, respectively, British, 14, 16, 13; French, 27, 28, 25; Austrian, 6, 5, 3; Sardinian, 17, 9, 6; Tuscan, 5, 9, 6; Greek, 12, 73, 5; Arab, 84, 162, 76; Egyptian, 0, 16, 10; divers, 0, 8, 0; Ottoman, 0, 0, 3; in all in 1835, 165, of 17,5933 tons; in 1836, 324 of 32,166 tons; in 1837, 147, of 17,604 tons.

ART. II.-THE IRON TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES.

THERE is no substance of greater importance to the several branches of human enterprise than that of iron. From its ductility and strength it is used with great advantage in almost every department of agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and the mechanic arts, and without it they could not advance with any considerable degree of success. In agriculture, we behold it in the axe clearing the forest, and in the plough turning over the soil, through the successive steps of husbandry, down to the reaping of the harvest and the bolting of the grain; it forms the machinery of almost every branch of manufacture, and the implements of almost all the trades; it comprises the nails, anchors, and chains of the rigged vessel, and the engine of the steamship, the weapons of war and the instruments of peace, the harpoon and the needle, the spear and the pruning-hook, the water-pipe and the hair-spring of the watch, the sword and the harrow; and indeed we can scarcely enter upon any department of modern mer