beer, in bottles, the dozen, 80 cents; do., in other vessels, arroba, 50 cents; brooms, of all sorts, the dozen, 50 cents; pepper, the quintal, $3 00; slates, each, 6 cents; tallow, in lump, the quintal, $2 00; do., manufactured, do., $4 00; cider, in bottles, the dozen, 80 cents; do., in other vessels, arroba, 50 cents; white pine boards, the 1000 feet, $400; pitch pine boards, do., $6 00; shoes for men, the pair, 30 cents; do., for women, do., 20 cents; do., for children, do., 6 cents.

NEW COMMERCIAL REGULATION OF PERU.

The department of state at Washington, (July 7, 1841,) publish officially a decree, of which the following is a translation, which has been issued by the government of Peru, taking effect from and after the 1st of February, 1841 :

“All vessels, whether national or foreign, coming from a foreign country, are absolutely prohibited from touching at any of the minor ports or coves of the republic, under a pain of a fine of one thousand dollars, payable by the captain in favor of the inform ants; for which the vessel is liable, whether belonging to the captain or to others. If, moreover, it be proved that any person, or goods, or letters, have been landed from the vessel at any port at which she may have thus touched contrary to law, the vessel shall be confiscated, and the captain will, in addition, become liable to a criminal prosecution." It is important that this regulation should be made known to our vessels, particularly to those employed in whaling, which have been in the habit of touching at many of the minor ports and coves, (including all places on the coast which are not regular ports of entry,) for the purpose of obtaining refreshments. Revenue cutters have been fitted out at Callao for the enforcement of the decree.

COTTON-PRESSING IN NEW ORLEANS.

The abuses of this system have reached such a height, that the shipmasters in New Orleans have addressed a circular to planters, merchants, shipowners, and others interested in the cotton trade, complaining loudly of the evils of the system, and calling for a remedy; recommending the abolishment of pressing, and the shipping of cotton just as it is turned out from the planters' presses.

The delay occasioned by the present pressing system more than counterbalances any benefits derived from it. In order to bring about a change, the following plan is recommended by the circular :

1. That all owners of vessels, engaged in the trade, instruct their captains not to have their cotton repressed, and that this measure be acted on in concert in the United States and Great Britain, from the 1st October, 1841.

2. They advise planters not to consign cotton to any house that will not receive it when landed, and put it into safe sheds and stores where it will be free from wet, damage, and stealage.

MASTERS OF VESSELS AND NON-RESIDENTS.

By a law of the last legislature of the state of New York, it is made lawful for the owners or masters of any vessel on board of which the goods of any non-resident, concealed, or absconding debtor shall have been shipped in good faith, for the purpose of transportation, without reshipment or transhipment in this state, to any port or place out of this state, to transport and deliver such goods according to their destination, notwithstanding the issuing of any attachment against such debtor, unless the attaching creditor, his agent, or attorney, shall execute a bond, with sufficient sureties, to any or either of the owners or masters of the vessel on board of which such goods shall be shipped, conditioned to pay such owner or master all expenses, damages, and charges which may be incurred by such owners or master, or to which they may be subjected for unlading said goods from said vessel, and for all necessary detention of said vessel for that purpose.

This act is not extended to any case where such owner or master, either before or at the time of the shipment of such goods, shall have received actual information of the issuing of such attachment, nor where the owner or the master of any vessel have in any wise connived at or been privy to the shipment of such goods, for the purpose of screening them from legal process, or for the purpose of hindering, delaying, or defrauding creditors.

NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE.

STATISTICS OF ENGLISH NAVIGATION.

We gather from an article in an English publication, that in the year 1821, the total number of foreign ships which entered the ports of Great Britain was 3,216, with a burden of 396,256 tons, and a complement of 26,043 men; and this number in 1838 had increased to 10,286 ships, 1,331,765 tons, and 79,550 men. The most rapid increase of foreign shipping is among the Baltic powers, the commercial marine of Prussia employed in British commerce having increased in eighteen years from 159 ships and 1,662 men to 1,283 ships and 10,729 men; that of Denmark from 46 ships and 203 men to 1,532 ships and 7,552 men; and that of Hamburg and the other Hanseatic towns, from 36 ships and 249 men to 325 ships and 2,695 men. The increase in the shipping of France, the United States, Russia, and Holland, employed in the trade with England, seems to have been less rapid, though still very considerable. In the same period of eighteen years, the American shipping thus employed had increased from 450 ships worked by 6,216 seamen to 558 ships and 10,533 seamen; the Russian from 45 ships worked by 586 seamen to 293 ships worked by 3,381 seamen; and the Dutch and Belgian from 456 ships worked by 2,560 seamen to 1,017 ships worked by 8,927 seamen.

A comparison between the amount of British shipping and the number of men employed in the trade with foreign countries and the British colonies, gives the following result, which exhibits a vast idea of the value of the colonial trade to Great Britain as a nursery for seamen. In 1838, the shipping employed in trade with foreign countries amounted to 11,035 vessels, 1,750,333 tons, 99,685 men. Shipping employed in the trade with the British colonies, 6,600 vessels, 1,351,317 tons, 10,854 men.

CAUTION TO WHALEMEN BOUND TO THE INDIAN OCEAN. The New London Advocate, good authority on all matters concerning the whale fishery, cautions all whalemen who, during their voyage to the Indian Ocean, intend to call at Swan River, on the west coast of New Holland, for refreshments or other purposes, not to attempt an entrance at either of the southern passages, they being so intricate and difficult of access, that the pilot is now expressly forbid attempting them with ships. Although the directions in Owen's charts, which are in general use with whalemen about that coast, have the southern channels all so distinctly put down, that they are, apparently, a sure guide, having buoys represented at practicable distances on the verges of the channels, several whaling ships have miraculously escaped from being lost in attempting to enter them during the year past. They are literally surrounded with coral rocks, reefs, and shoals, and no buoys or guides of any description are to be found on any of them.

The only safe passage for strangers, "and this clear and spacious," is between Rot. tenset Island and the main land, passing the island on the side or of a mile distant. You then have no obstacles, when steering for the anchorage, but the would-be pilot or harbor-master, Capt. G. C. Garret, and at first sight of him, stand by your anchor; you surely will be near the anchoring ground, when, forsooth, he may be on board in time to say "let go,” for which the sum of $20 is demanded, and $20 more on your weighing

anchor, when he leaves your ship and the master to go out as he came in his own pilot. The high price of $40, as pilotage, has now become a law, and must be paid before you receive a clearance, whether this functionary has or has not offered his services as such. Other expenses at Swan River are in due ratio. In the line of recruits :-potatoes, $150 per ton; onions, $8 per 100; fresh beef, 30 cents per lb., and very little at that; mutton, 28 cents, to be had semi-weekly.

PLYMOUTH BREAKWATER.

The Plymouth (Eng.) Breakwater is nearly a mile in length, is fifteen yards wide at top, and six feet above high-water mark. It has been twenty-eight years in progress, has consumed 3,362,727 tons of stone, and cost £1,200,000.

BANK STATISTICS.

THE BANK OF FRANCE.

REPORT PRESENTED TO THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE PROPRIETORS, BY COUNT D'ARGOUT, GOVERNOR OF THE BANK.

In a commercial point of view, the year 1840 was not free from vicissitudes. During the last six months, some uneasiness prevailed; the transactions became less active, the discount on commercial effects diminished, but other operations assumed a greater extension. Taken together, however, the years 1839 and 1840 present nearly the same results :

In 1839 the mass of operations realized by the central bank and its branches amounted to........................

In 1840 they were......................

Total for the two years,..

Differences,..

The dividend paid in 1839 was 144f., and in 1840 139f.

Francs. .1,454,000,000 ..1,461,000,000

.2,915,000,000 7,000,000

In 1840 the advances on canal shares, loans on rentes, the discount on mint bonds, and the advance on ingots, exhibit a more or less considerable increase.

The discount on commercial paper, obligations of the city of Paris, and bonds secured by the produce of forests, underwent, on the other hand, some diminution. These fluc tuations will be seen by the annexed comparative returns:

The advances on canal shares rose from......

Loans on rentes, from.......

Discount of mint bonds, from......

Advance on ingots, from.

Total,.....

1840. Francs.

1839. Francs. 13,227,000 to 16,395,000

19,850,000 to 46,356,000

32,826,000 to 45,130,000

..195,975,000 to 241,786,000

..261,878,000 to 349,667,000

These united augmentations form a sum of 87,789,000f.

Total, from............ ..1,053,697,000 to 932,280,000 These reductions amounted together to 121,417,000f., which exhibit a falling off in the operations of the central bank, in 1840, of 33,634,000f.

The greatest amount of bills en porte feuille was 201,000,000f. on the 31st of January, and the minimum 130,000,000f. on the 8th of June; on the 31st December it again rose to 154,000,000f.

600,600 commercial effects were discounted in 1840 by the central bank; that is, 27,800 less than in 1839. Their average amount declined from 1,639f. to 1,517f.; and the average of the periods at which they became due from 57 days two thirds to 56 days four fifths. In this number 266,024 bills of from 1000f. to 200f., and 63,247 of 199f. and under, were admitted.

The bills due at the end of the different months varied from 34,200f. to 40,600f. Those payable on demand amounted to 891,000,000f., or 16,000,000f. more than in 1839. The various current accounts underwent great fluctuations. From the month of January to that of October they rose from 54,000,000f. to 90,000,000f. In December they had fallen to 61,000,000f.

On the 6.h of January, 1840, the treasury was creditor to the amount of 170,000,000f., and on the 21st March, of 193,000,000f. From March to the 6th of November, this account progressively decreased to 105,000,000f. On the 30th of December, it again rose to 114,000,000f.

The 6th of January, 1840, was the date of the minimum of the reserve, which was then 206,000,000f.; on the 21st of March it had reached 248,000,000f.; on the 17th of April, 249,600,000f.; on the 6th of November, it still offered the sum of 237,000,000f.; and on the 30th of December it had fallen to 225,000,000f.

In comparing the movements of the reserve with those of the Treasury account, it will be found that between the 6th of January and the 21st of March, the Treasury account increased by 23,000,000f., and the reserves augmented in a nearly double proportion, having risen to 42,000,000f.; that between the 21st of March and the 6th of November the treasury withdrew 88,000,000f., and the reserves declined only 11,000,000f.; that, finally, on the 30th of December, the cash on hand exceeded nearly by 20,000,000f. that existing on the 6th of January, 1840, although at the first of those periods the treasury was creditor of 170,000,000f., and at the second its credit only amounted to 114,000,000f. The average of the reserve of the year was 258,900,000f., and that of the circulation 221,900,000f. The circulation of 1840 exceeded by 9,000,000f. that of 1839. From the 19th day of March to the 31st day of October, it fluctuated between a minimum of 201,000,000f. and a maximum of 251,000,000f.

The commercial bills unpaid in 1840 amounted to 48,493f.; 32,707f. were reimbursed in the course of the year, and on the 1st of January last there remained due 15,785f. The movement of the shares was more considerable than during the previous years. In 1839, 6,454 shares changed masters. In 1840, the number transferred to new owners was 16,805.

The ordinary administrative expenditures in 1839 rose to 1,020,000f.; in 1840 they were reduced to 971,000f. The diminution was 48,500f.; but, on the other hand, the administration in 1840 had to support an extraordinary expense of 101,800f., owing principally to the license duty, which the bank had to pay for the first time; to the stamp duty, imposed on the circulation of bills by the law of the 30th of June last; and some indispensable repairs.

The branch banks in the departments were progressing satisfactorily. The operations of those established at Rheims, St. Etienne, St. Quentin, and Montpelier, had amounted, in 1838, to 83,000,000f., and to 138,000,000f. in 1839. They reached 179,000,000f. in 1840, having more than doubled in the space of three years. The gross produce of those four branches was 1,099,000f.; their expenses amounted to 253,000f., including 112,000f. for the cost of carriage of specie. The nett produce was 836,000f., representing a dividend of 12f. 30c. per share.

The other branch banks were opened in 1840, at Grenoble and Angouleme, but hav. ing commenced at a late period of the year, their operations had not covered the expenses of their establishment, the total loss having been 44,936f.

280

Statement of the condition of the banks in the state of New York from 1819 to 1841.

Jan. 1, '30 30 Jan. 1, '31 78 Jan. 1, 35 +84 Jan. 1, '36 86 Jan. 1, 37 98 June 1, 37 194 July 1, 37 194 Aug. 1, 37 194 Sept. 1, 37 194 Oct. 1, 37 194 Nov. 1, '37 194 Dec. 1, 37 194 Jan. 1, 38 95 Feb. 1, 38 94 Mar. 1, '38 94 April 1, 38 94 May 1, 38 94 Jan'ary, '39 96 Jan'ary, '40 96 Jan'ary, '40 $63 Jan'ary, '41 95

2,657,503 17,820,402 19,119,338 10,590,265 2 6,805,045 670,363 7,169,949 16,199,505 20,088,685 16,551,841 2 10,237,574 1,277,886 6,224,646 21,127,927 29,532,616 19,783,482 12,487,610 3,268,648 6,557,020 24,198,000 30,883,179 20,462,823 5,413,877 1,492,768 3,033,209 15,422,127 23,440,374 12,019,034 5,888,127 1,459,623 3,018,173 15,278,300 22,072,094 14,186,056 6,323,062 1,356,203 2,972,570 15,471,667 20,463,992 15,990,813 5,115,376 1,158,669 2,937,581 14,190,516 19,508,295 15,875,624 5,980,366 1,390,509 3,103,950 15,531,288 20,250,039 13,763,906 5,957,629 1,040,960 3,292,084 15,468,565 18,729,039 14,018,002 5,990,771 1,170,187 3,722,083 14,154,119 18,287,588 14,169,811 3,616,918 618,277 4,139,732 12,432,478 15,895,684 15,221,487 5,730,929 774,434 4,191,289 11,664,355 17,102,966 14,181,717 5,758,550 940,013 4,359,813 11,220,450 16,533,444 13,228,860 6,175,645 794,636 5,117,063 11,057,935 16,503,123 13,812,266 7,327,834 960,037 9,355,495 12,960,652 18,411,860 14,307,517 3,907,137 2,838,694 6,602,708 19,373,149 18,370,044 15,344,098 4,401,400 2,310,161 5,864,634 10,629,514 16,473,235 7,055,584 1,135,895 3,590,790 3,587,999 3,119,582

24,922,764 2,188,565 5,429,622 15,235,056 17,053,279/10,374,682

+ Exclusive of Fulton Bank, and Delaware & Hudson Canal Company.

All the banks in the state, except the Dry Dock Bank, the Brooklyn Bank, the Sackett's Harbor Bank, and the Lockport Bank.