48,808,401 12,063 41,481,551 707 2,495,077 9,329 7,421 804 2,889,216

Total number of commercial houses in the state of New York, engaged in foreign trade, 459; of which 417 are in the city of New York.

Total number of commission houses in the state of New York, 1049; of which 918 are in the city of New York.

COMMERCIAL RESOURCES OF OHIO.

The wheat crops of Ohio appear to be very large. The crop of 1839 is estimated at 18 millions of bushels. Estimating the home consumption at 7 bushels for each person, which is a fair allowance, considering the quantity of Indian consumed in the state, and 8 millions remain for exportation. The production of wheat, then, yields to the state of Ohio not less than six millions of dollars per annum, exclusive of its entire bread consumption. The production of Indian corn is not less than 30 millions of bushels! An amount which may give an idea of the vast number of hogs, cattle, and horses, which are raised in the west.

NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE.-NAVIGATION.

PASSAGES OF THE STEAMSHIP GREAT WESTERN, IN 1840.

The passages from England have averaged fifteen days and a half; and the whole time occupied in six western passages has been 92 days.

The passages hence to England have averaged thirteen days and a half; these six passages having been made in 81 days.

The Great Western, at the termination of her last voyage, had completed 2 years and 8 months since she first put to sea. Four months and a half of that time she was laid up overhauling, leaving 2 years and 4 months employed in actual navigation. During that time, she has crossed the Atlantic 34 times, without accident, and with as much regularity as any conveyance by sea or land, in proportion to the distance, has ever attained. Her 17 passages from New York to Bristol have averaged 13 days and about 9 hours; and those from Bristol to New York 15 days and 20 hours, from port to port.

PASSAGES OF THE STEAMSHIP BRITISH QUEEN, IN 1840.

The passages from England have averaged 15 days, 8 hours; the time occupied in

the 5 passages west, 764 days.

The passages to England have averaged 14 days, 22 hours; the time occupied in the 5 passages east, 744 days.

It should be observed, that the difference of distance between the ports of Bristol and Portsmouth is 12 hours sail in favor of the former.

Agency for the Great Western-Richard Irvin & Co., 98 Front street.

British Queen and President-Wadsworth & Smith, 4 Jones' lane.

A Table, showing the number and description of vessels which passed the lightboat stationed on Burtlett's Reef, near New London, exclusive of many which probably passed in the night, at such distance as not to have been seen, for the year 1840, as furnished for publication by Capt. Young.

Ships. Brigs. Schooners. Sloops. Steamboats.

January,

The deputies of navigation of Hamburgh, published on the 23d of February, 1841, the following notice :-"On the part of the navigation and harbor deputies an arrangement has been made, that upon re-opening the navigation a small craft shall be placed beneath Schulaw, between the black buoys Nos. 9 and 10, on the southern side of the river, where some time ago two ships have been lost; and that the said craft during the day time shall carry a signal, and during the night a lantern; and that she shall remain there until the many vessels which are at present lying at Cuxhaven have come up to town, and sufficient warnings will have been fastened to the wrecks, which is hereby notified.

FLOATING RAFTS ON THE HUDSON.

The legislature of New York passed a law on the 20th of March, 1841, regulating the floating of rafts on the Hudson river. It provides, 1st, That all rafts of timber or lumber which shall be floated on the Hudson river at night, shall show two red lights, one on each end of such raft; the height of such light shall not be less than ten feet from the upper logs or plank of said raft. 2d, The penalty for violating the foregoing section shall be the same as is provided for in section twelfth, title ten, chapter twenty, part first, of the Revised Statutes, and shall be sued for and recovered in the manner therein provided.

PILOTS OF THE PORT OF BOSTON.

The pilots of the port of Boston give notice to all masters of the class of vessels under two hundred tons burden, that are now exempt, by a late act of the legislature of Massachusetts, from paying pilotage fees, that by the letter of the said law, the pilots are also exempt from any obligation of rendering their service to that class of vessels, when called on in stress of weather. Consequently, the pilots feel at liberty to state, that they shall charge such compensation as they may think a remuneration for services rendered at such times.

BAY OF ST. JOSEPH'S, FLORIDA.

It is stated in the St. Joseph's Times that the lighthouse at the entrance of the Bay of St. Joseph's, Fla., agreeably to the survey of Capt. J. Hill, of the ship Lexington, is lat. 29 deg. 52 min. 37 sec. N., lon. 85 deg. 16 min. 1 sec. W. Being 30 miles east of the direction laid down in the latest books and charts.

ORIEL SHOAL, NEW ZEALAND.

The following notice of a dangerous shoal off Poverty Bay is published over the signature of E. M. Chaffers, harbor-master at Port Nicholas, New Zealand :-" A reef, even with the water's edge, and about twelve miles off the nearest point of land near Poyerty Bay, has lately been discovered by the master of the Ariel, with the following bearings from the vessel-Middle of the reef, E. & N., 13 miles distance, Gable End Foreland N. W., Toto Muta, W. S.

SHOAL NEAR THE EQUATOR.

The London Nautical Magazine says "Capt. Sprowle, of the Circassian, is stated to have seen a sand bank in the hollow of the sea, in lat. 1 deg. S., lon. 19 deg. W., in the direct track of vessels to and from the South Atlantic. There are strong grounds in addition to this for concluding that there is some bank thereabouts."

NOTE TO THE ARTICLE ON THE COTTON TRADE.

We have received the subjoined communication from a citizen of Charleston, S. C., in correction of a statement made in an article on the " American Cotton Trade,” in the March number of this magazine. It is our design at all times to do justice to every topic we discuss, by correcting the errors which may occasionally occur in the exhibition of the various subjects falling within the province of our journal. The improvements made within the last few years in the matter alluded to, render the statement of our correspondent, Mr. Lanman, inaccurate.

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"CHARLESTON, S. C., March 26, 1841. "James H. Lanman, Esq., in an article on the American cotton trade, in the March number of the Merchants' Magazine, speaking of the cotton-growing region of the United States, draws a pretty picture of the magnificent vegetation with which it is adorned; "groves of palmetto, forests of magnolia, and flowers of varied hue," he says, are to be found over this extent of country;" and goes on to say, "the turbid and sluggish streams which serve to enrich their banks, roll up a miasmatic vapor which bears death upon its wing, and harbor uncouth reptiles and swarms of noxious insects. Even in its refined and intelligent metropolis, the city of Charleston, the turkey-buzzard is made a scavenger, and is permitted to fly through the streets, and to prey upon the garbage which even the negro is too much occupied to clear away." The gentleman who wrote the above article could never have visited the city of Charleston, and should have been extremely careful, before penning the sentence and putting it forth to the world, to be certain that such was the case. I beg to contradict the assertion there made, and to assure him that the city does not stand in need of the scavengers he mentions, which are now very rarely seen, the streets being kept clean daily by persons employed for that purpose, and which duty is performed with more fidelity than in the metropolis from which the article is dated."

NEW DIRECTORY OF NEW YORK.-We are gratified to learn that Mr. Tremayn, manager of the New York Penny Post, is preparing for the press a city directory, to be called the "New York Penny Post Directory, for 1841-2." It is to be got up on an improved plan, and will be published as soon as practicable after the 1st of May-the principal feature to consist of an alphabetical list of all housekeepers, traders, &c., south of Fortieth street; with a complete classification of bankers, merchants, manufacturers, mechanics, traders, &c., of this city. Much other additional matter is promised. We have no doubt it will prove highly acceptable to our mercantile community at large. It is, we are informed, to comprise double the quantity of matter contained in any former New York directory, and will be furnished at a moderate price. Messrs. David Felt & Co. are the publishers.

BLACK WRITING FLUID.-David Felt & Co. manufacture, at their extensive establishment in Brooklyn, an excellent article of writing fluid. It flows as free as the blue fluids, is very durable, and is perfectly free from the corrosive properties of the blue.

HUNT'S

MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE.

JUNE, 1841.

ART. 1. THE MERCHANTS OF THE TIME OF ELIZABETH.*

THE reign of Queen Elizabeth is very commonly referred to as the most glorious and interesting period of English history. Its long and uninterrupted prosperity, the illustrious names with which it is associated, and the coloring of romance which gallantry, and chivalry, and poetry have left upon its pages, are so familiar to the reader, that we think of the virgin queen, her statesmen, heroes, and poets, as of familiar friends. With the names of Sidney and Raleigh, we recall our earliest longings after fame and adventure; to Spenser and Shakspeare we owe our first glimpses of the countless treasures of imagination.

These favorite themes for the present, however reluctantly, we will leave for more unpoetical, yet I think not less useful, considerations. And if an imperfect sketch of the origin and progress of that profession, which has since been called the strength and security of christendom, and to which science, art, civilization, and refinement owe existence and influence, leave but little scope to fancy, I indulge a hope that it may not be altogether devoid of interest with those who take pleasure in observing the gradual improvement and amelioration of our species; particularly with that portion of my audience who are to constitute the future merchants of what may be the emporium of the world.

The time during which Elizabeth occupied the British throne, embrac ing a period of some forty-three years, was certainly an era in the history of modern commerce. Comparing the condition of trade as it existed previously to that time, with the principles upon which it is at present conducted-considering the changes it has undergone in its various rela tions, and the causes to which those changes may be attributed-I cannot

* A lecture delivered by T. W. TUCKER, before the Mercantile Library Association, at Clinton Hall, New York, and published in the Merchants' Magazine by request of the Board of Directors.