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For the Literary Magazine.

particulars of the mediter-
ranean trade.

THE following hints respecting
the trade of the Mediterranean,
though originally suggested by an
English merchant, may gratify the
curiosity, if not promote the advan-
tage of the merchants of America.

The commerce of the Mediterra-
nean in general could occupy a much
greater capital than is at present
embarked in it, by English mer-
chants. This is evident from the
high rate of the profits which this
trade now yields. The gain is fre-
quently thirty and forty per cent.
from port to port, along the coasts
of the sea, and for very short voy-
ages. The different nations which

surround it, prefer English mer-
chants, and British manufactures
and colonial produce, to those of
France. The superior excellence
of British wrought commodities, as
well as the greater proportional
cheapness of their freight, counter-
balance the greater length of the
voyage; and the scale would be
weighed still lower by the high cha-
racter of the nation in its mercantile
dealings. Yet, notwithstanding these
advantages, it is common to see the
whole ports of a nation filled with
French shipping, and scarcely to
meet with a single English flag. Such
facts can only be explained by the
profits of some other employments
of stock being higher, or by some
check to the interference of English
traders in the Mediterranean com-
merce, which does not operate
against France.

The coasting trade of the Medi-
terranean seems to be less consider-
ed than it deserves, since vessels
will frequently lie in port waiting
for their cargoes several months, at
an expence of four or five hundred
pounds, when so great a profit as
thirty or forty per cent. might be
obtained, by the transport of goods
from port to port, while the assort-
ments are making up. Leghorn is
a proof of this.

What must be the extent of the
French commerce with the Medi-
terranean states, when in one year
(1797), the merchants of Marseilles
alone, loaded in the different ports
of Tunis, above three hundred sail
of vessels, from eighty to threee hun-
dred tons burthen.

When the trade of the Mediter-
ranean shall have received the at-
tention which it deserves from the
merchants of Great Britain, and the
encouragement which the govern-
ment ought to give it, it will rival
the commerce of the West Indian
colonies, in the amount of shipping
which it can employ. Above two
hundred ships, of more than two
hundred tons, may find employment
in the direct trade between Britain
and the Mediterranean, without in-
cluding the fish-trade. A great

―351―

number of smaller vessels, perhaps
not less than a thousand, might be
employed in the carrying or coast-
ing trade of that sea, and in collect-
ing cargoes for the larger ships to
bring home. The trade of the Black
Sea opens a wide field of speculation,
hitherto scarcely attempted. The
profits of a voyage from thence to
the Mediterranean, are almost in-
credible; and the number of vessels
required for the whole of this ex-
tensive commerce, would exceed
two thousand of all sizes.

The faithlessness of the nations or
sects who have no flag, or whose
flag is not respected by others, is a
point, which merchants trading in
the Mediterranean cannot too care-
fully attend to. The chicaneries
practised by the subjects of its petty
states, and by the tribes which be-
long to no particular government,
are not generally known.

In the Barbary states the Jews
are very numerous. However so-
lemnly they may have bound them-
selves in any contract with a Euro-
pean, they will not abide by it, if the
smallest gain can be made by break-
ing it, unless the particulars of the
agreement have been previously re-
gistered in one of the European
consular offices, and samples depo-
sited. In most other places they are
bound by agreement in the presence
of a broker. The Greeks are still
more faithless than the Jews. Being
oppressed, rather than neglected by
their own government, and finding
all representations in vain, which
they can make for redress against
injuries or insults of foreigners, they
take the law into their own hands.
When a Greek vessel is insulted by
a stronger ship of any other nation,
the crew submit in patience; but
the first vessel of inferior force be-
longing to that nation, which they
meet, is sure to suffer for the insult.
They will destroy all on board, and
then plunder and sink it: so that
meeting a Greek and an Algerine
may be almost equally dangerous.
Though the Armenians are much
more trust-worthy than the Greeks,
in the countries where they chiefly

abound, no man can travel from
one province to another without a
passport; and the Turks, employ-
ing them in almost all their com-
mercial transactions, protect them
in their traffic, and even treat them
with some respect. The inhabitants,
in general, of the hereditary domi-
nions of Austria, are the most vir-
tuous people in Europe.

Some material changes, not gene-
rally known, have of late years
taken place in the political situation
of the Barbary states. Tunis, the
most considerable, has been rapidly
improving since the administration
of Sidi Mustapha, the late prime
minister. He encouraged the culti-
vation of corn and olives, which now
form the principal articles of expor-
tation. This has served much to
civilize the inhabitants, who, from
a state of perpetual warfare with
the christians, and often among
themselves, begin now to feel the
advantages of commerce; and the
duties on exports at present form
the greatest part of the bey's reve-
nues. The beneficial effects of this
improvement are, however, disclo-
sing themselves slowly and parti-
ally; for the bey still collects his
annual revenue by means of a large
army: every thing must be done
by force, without it, the tribes of the
interior would pay no tribute, and
in consequence, very little commer-
cial intercourse can be carried on
between the provinces. A company
has obtained from the bey the mo-
nopoly of hides and wax, two con-
siderable articles of exportation.
For a yearly sum, and for under-
taking to clothe the troops, they
have the privilege of buying all the
wax and bullocks’ hides produced in
the kingdom, at a stipulated price.
It is strange, that in many parts of
Italy, the governments should, in
some degree, have adopted this Af-
rican custom, and claimed the hides
of the oxen slaughtered within their
jurisdiction.

No part of Europe, except, per-
haps, some parts of Turkey, is so
little known as Sardinia, though its
name is as familiar to us as that of

―352―

France or Italy, and it is placed in
the neighbourhood of the most civi-
lized portions of the globe. It is
naturally extremely fertile, produ-
cing wine and grain, the latter in
such perfection, that the Sardinian
bread is equal to any in the world.
There is an internal navigation
from the north-west to the south-
east corner, fit for small craft. The
inhabitants of the country are sa-
vages, who dress themselves in
goat-skins with the hair outward,
and never shave the beard; they go
always armed, and are all robbers;
they scruple not, for the smallest
booty, to murder any stranger that
falls in their way; and no one can
travel with safety, unless he is not
only well armed, but accompanied
by guides and guards of the country.
It is even unsafe for a ship to wood
and water on the eastern coast of
the island, without arming its crew.
The contrast between the natives of
the country, and those of Cagliari,
its capital, is very striking. The
latter scarcely ever venture beyond
their walls, and live in a style of ab-
surd pomp and affectation. Every
one above the lower ranks wears a
court dress upon all occasions, and
this fashion extends even to the in-
ferior orders, on holidays. The fa-
cilities of this island for commerce,
both with the rest of the Mediter-
ranean, and beyond the Streights,
are great and numerous, but totally
neglected.