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490 and the proportion of that trade which was then enjoyed by Great Britain. Subsequent information which I have obtained on these points, has induced me to think that statement as near to the truth as in subjects of so complicated a nature it is reasonable to expect.

It is supposed, and not improperly, that about one half of the merchandize imported into Guatemala is British, and it consists chiefly of broad cloth, all kinds of cotton goods, hard ware and other dry goods. The Spanish as well as the French have the principal trade in silks, glass, and trinkets; also in wines and spirits; but the latter are imported very sparingly, on account of the expense of bringing them up from the coast, which raises the price of them nearly fifty per cent. There are also introduced, by the port of Sonsonate, great quantities of crapes and other China goods, which are, in fact, so common amongst the middle orders as to lose all pretensions to the estimation in which they