Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1871.djvu/559

 TRADE AND INDUSTRY.

523

The navy of Chili consisted, at the commencement of 1868, of the screw-corvette 'Esmeralda,' of 16 guns; the steamer ' Covadonga,' of four guns ; the steamer ' Maipu,' of two guns, and several smaller vessels. In attempting the defence of the coast against the Spanish fleet, which included the iron-clad ' Numancia,' of 43 guns, the naval force of Chili incurred great losses.

The area of the republic is estimated at 249,952 English square miles, with a population, according to the census of 1862, of 1,676,243 souls. Included in the territory of the republic, since 1862, is the land of the Araucanians, on the southern frontier, governed, for some years, by a native of France, M. de Tonnens, who styled himself King Aurelius Antonius I. He was made a prisoner by the Chilian troops in February 1862.

Trade and Industry.

The foreign commerce of Chili is carried on mainly with Great Britain, to which three-fourths of the exports are sent. Among the importing countries France stands next in the list, followed by Germany, the United States, and Peru. The following table gives the value of the total exports and imports of the republic in each of the five years 1863 to 1867 :—

Years

Total Exports

Total Imports

Pesos

£

Pesos

£

1863

23,772,646

4,754,529

25,307,0*45

5,061,409

1864

31,818,214

6,363,643

24,374,351

4,874,870

1865

30.865,015

6,173,003

26,129,526

5,225,905

1866

29,089,891

5,817,978

20.856,465

4,171,293

1867

30,690,132

6,131,026

24,861,095

4,987,325

The commercial intercourse between Chili and the United King- dom is shown in the subjoined tabular statement, which gives the value of the total exports to Great Britain and Ireland, and of the total imports of British and Irish produce and manufactures into Chili, in each of the five years 1865 to 1869 :^>

Exports from Chili

Imports of

Years

to

British Home Produce

Great Britain

into Chili

£

£

1865

3,798,543

1,601,987

1868

2,943,112

1,852,436

1867

4,417,568 -

2,524,438

1868

4,366,598

1,962,714

1869

3,634,717

1,989,794

Copper and silver ore, the former of the value of 2,782,901/.,