BRITISH AND FRENCH VESSELS.

Admiralty, June 12, 1854. SIR,-I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to transmit to you, for the information of the committee of Lloyd's, a copy of a despatch from Vice-Admiral Dundas reporting that the Russian government had permitted all British and French vessels to leave Odessa.

Capt. G. A. HALSTED, R.N.,
Secretary, Lloyd's.

W. A. B. HAMILTON.

THEODOSIA, OR KAFFA.

Feb. 22, 1854.

Theodosia, or Kaffa, is a maritime town of the Crimea, situate in a bay of the Black Sea. Its port is large and much frequented. It is situate at about 100 kilometres east of Simferopol, chief town of the government of that country. The Russians are now placing the town in a state of defence as to war.-Cor.

GRAIN.

Odessa, Mar. 3, 1854. SIR,-It is officially announced this morning that the exportation of grain of all kinds from all the ports of the Black and Azoff Seas is prohibited until the 1st Sept. next. It is expected that cargoes in loading will be exempted from this prohibition.

EDWD. MOBERLY,
Agent to Lloyd's.

The total amount of the foreign trade of Odessa last year was 34,605,076 silver roubles, viz.,-exports, 24,777,717 silver roubles; imports, 9,827,359 silver roubles. Large as the exports are in comparison with the imports, we must not forget that corn, the principal production of the country, forms here the greatest item of export. Thus, wheat was exported to the amount of 14,066,031 roubles; rye, 1,884,179 roubles; barley, 212,059 roubles; maize, 1,594,324 roubles; flour and meal, 150,808 roubles. Among the other items are, linseed, 1,644,302 roubles; wool, 4,268,144 roubles; tallow, 439,732 roubles; cordage, 126,002 roubles. The export of tallow has diminished for the last few years. England, which formerly imported thence the whole of her demand in that article, now draws her supply from South America, her colonies, as also from the Baltic, at prices which put competition out of question, considering the high price of cattle in Southern Russia.-Hamburg Correspondent.

The following comparative statement of exports, during the last five years, shows the gradual increase of the trade of Azoff, viz. :—

In the year 1821 the Greek navy amounted to only 61,449 tons, divided among fourteen ports. The Greek navy in the year 1834 consisted of only 2,891 ships, and at the close of 1852 of 4,230 ships and of 247,751 tons. These vessels are distributed among twenty-two ports, of which Syra possesses the greatest number, amounting to 83,501 tons.-Spectateur de L'Orient, published at Athens.

STAPLE PRODUCE.

The principal revenue of His Greek Majesty is derived from an impost on currants exported. The amount is vague,-so much per cent. on the price of the currants; and His Greek Majesty undertakes to fix the price. When I was at Patras a steamer arrived from England to carry off a cargo of currants, and calculated, of course, the price in the London market to sell them. The real price was soon fixed, at which the cargo was purchased, but the official price had not yet been promulgated. However, the steamer proceeded to load and was soon full; but the regal authorities of Athens could not be moved to say what was the royal price, or what would be the amount of duty, so that the steamer was in detention day after day waiting till King Otho-for he does the thing himself should decide in his Bavarian wisdom what should be the price of currants per pound at Patras that season!

England and Western Peloponnesus seem made for each other; we are the greatest consumers of currants in the world, our avidity for puddings and their condiments knowing no bounds. And the Greek is equally extravagant in the use of our staple produce, for every Greek wears an incalculable number of yards of white calico in the petticoat that covers his loins. If a sudden tear, or a stitch giving way suddenly unfold this garment, a Greek hurrying on will leave a flag nearly a quarter of a mile long fluttering behind him. Nor is the use of cotton confined to the person; his bed, blankets, furniture, his covering by day and by night, is of the same material. No wonder that we find Englishmen in Patras, and Greeks in Manchester.-The Greek, &c. By E. E. Crowe. 1853.

EXPORT OF GRAIN.

By B. T. N., April 28, 1854, and copy of a Despatch from Her Majesty's Consul at the Piræus, report the passing of a law prohibiting the exportation from Greece of all kinds of grain.

Notification from the Governor-General of Candia to the Consul of France, June, 1854.

It is useless to tell you that the island is without corn, and that the annual production of the country is far from supplying the wants of the inhabitants. Every year there is brought here from Brailow the corn necessary for the subsistence of the inhabitants and soldiers; but this year, on account of the war, the ports of the Black Sea are closed. We can expect nothing from that place, and it was not long since that the public was in dread of a scarcity. A great number of persons have been obliged to eat oats. We wrote to you sometime ago to beg of you to warn the people at Candia and Retimo that the exportation of corn and grain was forbidden; and we wrote to Bengaze and Derna to make known the wants of the island, and to beg that corn might be sent. Our prohibition to export from the island wheat, barley, oats, rice, and other farinaceous articles still subsists, and will be maintained so long as the war may last. Will you be kind enough to write to inform your agents of this, in order that they may know that exportation is interdicted for all the duration of the war?

MONEYS.

Athens. The money of account is stated in drachmas of 100 centimes or leptas. The drachma is of silver, equal to 8 d. sterling. The copper coinage is in 1, 2, 5 and 10 centimes.

PART THE ELEVENTH.

ASIA.

ARABIA.

Principal Ports.-Beetlefackie, Bussorah or Basra, Hodeida, Judda, Loheia, Mocha, Muscat.

MUSCAT.

Convention of Commerce between Her Majesty and His Highness the Imaum of Muscat, signed, in the English and Arabic languages, at Zanzibar, May 31,

1839.

Article 1. Reciprocity of Commerce granted in the dominions of either of the high contracting parties on the footing of the most favoured nations.

2. Liberty to Buy and Sell-Warehouses not to be forcibly opened, searched, &c.

3. Consuls and other Public Functionaries on both sides to be appointed on the footing of the most favoured nations.

4. Subjects of Muscat in service of British subjects to have the same protection as British subjects themselves.

5. Disputes to be decided by British Consul—or by the highest authority of Muscat as case may be.

6. Security of property of persons who may die.

7. Bankruptcy-If a British subject shall become bankrupt in the dominions of His Highness the Sultan of Muscat, the British consul or resident agent shall take possession of all the property of such bankrupt, and shall give it up to his creditors, to be divided amongst them. This having been done, the bankrupt shall be entitled to a full discharge from his creditors, and he shall not at any time afterwards be required to make up his deficiency, nor shall any property he may afterwards acquire be considered liable for that purpose. But the British consul or resident agent shall use his endeavours to obtain for the benefit of the creditors, any property of the bankrupt in another country, and to ascertain that everything possessed by the bankrupt, at the time when he became insolvent, has been given up without reserve.

8. Payment of Debts.-If a subject of His Highness the Sultan of Muscat should resist or evade payment of his just debts to a British subject, the authorities of His Highness shall afford to the British subject every aid and facility in recovering the amount due; and, in like manner, the British consul or resident agent shall afford every aid and facility to subjects of His Highness the Sultan of Muscat, in recovering debts justly due to them from a British subject.

9. Duties. No duty exceeding 5 per cent. shall be levied at the place of entry in the dominioas of His Highness the Sultan of Muscat, on any goods, the growth, produce, or manufacture of the dominions of Her Britannic Majesty, imported by British vessels; and this duty shall be deemed to be full payment of all import, and export, and tonnage duties, of licence to trade, of pilotage and anchorage, and of any other charge by government whatever, upon the vessels or upon the goods so imported or exported. Nor shall any charge be made on that part of the cargo which may remain on board unsold; and no additional or higher duty shall be levied upon these goods when afterwards transported from one place to another in the dominions of His Highness; but the above-men

See Declaration at the end of this Treaty.

tioned duty having once been paid, the goods may be sold by wholesale or retail, without any further duty. No charge whatever shall be made on British vessels which may enter any of the ports of His Highness for the purpose of refitting, or for refreshments, or to inquire about the state of the market.

10. Prohibitions, Monopolies, &c., Exceptions.-No article whatever shall be prohibited from being imported into, or exported from, the territories of His Highness the Sultan of Muscat; but the trade between the dominions of Her Britannic Majesty and those of His Highness the Sultan of Muscat shall be perfectly free, subject to the above-mentioned duty upon goods imported, and to no other. And His Highness the Sultan of Muscat hereby engages not to permit the establishment of any monopoly or exclusive privilege of sale within his dominions, except in the articles of ivory and gum copal, on that part of the east coast of Africa, from the port of Tangate, situate in about five and a half degrees of south latitude, to the Port of Quila, lying in about seven degrees south of the equator, both ports inclusive; but in all other ports and places in His Highness's dominions there shall be no monopoly whatever; but the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty shall be at liberty to buy and sell with perfect freedom from whomsoever and to whomsoever they choose, subject to no other duty by government than that before mentioned. 11. Value of Goods.-If any dispute should arise in the dominions of His Highness the Sultan of Muscat as to the value of goods which shall be imported by British merchants, and on which the duty of 5 per cent. is to be levied, the Custom-master, or other authorized officer, acting on the part of the government of His Highness the Sultan of Muscat, shall be entitled to demand one-twentieth part of the goods in lieu of the payment of 5 per cent., and the merchant shall be bound to surrender the twentieth part so demanded whenever, from the nature of the articles, it may be practicable to do so; but the merchant having done so, shall be subject to no further demand on account of the customs on the other nineteen-twentieths of those goods, in any part of the dominions of His Highness the Sultan of Muscat, to which he may transport them. But if the Custommaster should object to levy the duty in the manner aforesaid, by taking one-twentieth part of the goods, or if the goods should not admit of being so divided, then the point in dispute shall be referred to two competent persons-one chosen by the Custom-master, and the other by the importer; and a valuation of the goods shall be made, and if the referees shall differ in opinion, they shall appoint an arbitrator, whose decision shall be final; and the duty shall be levied according to the value thus established.

12. When Goods may be exposed for Sale.-It shall not be lawful for any British merchant to expose his goods for sale for the space of three days after the arrival of such goods, unless before the expiration of such three days the importer and Custom-master shall have agreed as to the value of such goods. If the Custom-master shall not, within three days, have accepted one of the two modes proposed for ascertaining the value of the goods, the authorities of His Highness the Sultan of Muscat, on application being made to them to that effect, shall compel the Custom-master to choose one of the two modes by which the amount of the customs to be levied is to be determined.

13. War. If it shall happen that either the Queen of England or His Highness the Sultan of Muscat should be at war with another country, the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty, and the subjects of His Highness the Sultan of Muscat, shall nevertheless be allowed to pass to such country, through the dominions of either Power, with merchandise of every description except warlike stores; but they shall not be allowed to enter any port or place actually blockaded or besieged.

14. Vessels in Distress or Wrecked - Should a vessel under the British flag enter a port in the dominions of His Highness the Sultan of Muscat in distress, the local authorities at such port shall afford all necessary aid, to enable the vessel to refit and to prosecute her voyage; and if any such vessel should be wrecked on the coast of the dominions of His Highness the Sultan of Muscat, the authorities of His Highness shall give all the assistance in their power to recover and to deliver over to the owners all the property that can be saved from such vessel. The same assistance and protection shall be afforded to vessels of the dominions of His Highness the Sultan of Muscat, and property saved therefrom under similar circumstances, in the ports and on the coasts of the British dominions.

15. Slave Trade.- His Highness the Sultan of Muscat hereby renews and confirms the engagements entered into by His Highness with Great Britain, on the 10th of September, 1822, for the entire suppression of slave trade between his dominions and all Christian countries; and His Highness further engages that the vessels of war belonging to the East India Company, shall be allowed to give full force and effect to the stipulations of the said treaty, agreeably with the conditions prescribed therein, and in the same manner as the ships and vessels of Her Britannic Majesty.

16. East India Company's Charter. It is further acknowledged and declared by the high contracting parties, that nothing in this convention is intended in any way to interfere with, or rescind any of, the rights or privileges now enjoyed by the subjects of His Highness the Sultan of Muscat, in respect to commerce and navigation, within the limits of the East India Company's charter.

17. Ratification.- The present convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications thereof shall be exchanged at Muscat or Zanzibar, as soon as possible; and, in any case, within the space of fifteen months from the date hereof.

Done on the island, and at the town of Zanzibar, this thirty-first day of May, in the year of Christ eighteen hundred and thirty-nine, corresponding with the seventeenth of the month Rebeal Owal, of the ul Hujra, twelve hundred and fifty-five.