528
COLOMBIA.
from east to west is about 360 geographical miles, but the sinuosities of the coast give about 400 miles on the Atlantic and 600 on the Pacific Ocean.
Trade and Industry.
The foreign trade of Colombia is carried on mainly through the two ports of Panama and of Colon, or Aspinwall, and is of consi- derable importance, owing to the geographical situation of these places, which, united by railway, connect the Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean. The transit trade across the Isthmus of Panama in the year 1867 was of the estimated total value of 18,438,396/., divided as follows: — 12,592,637/. imported at Panama and exported at Colon, and 5,845,759/. imported at Colon and exported at Panama. The traffic across the isthmus by the Panama Railroad in 1867 comprised 35,076 passengers ; gold to the value of 30,366,076 dollars; silver, 14,830,727 dollars ; and jewelry, 793,428 dollars. The American mails carried 923,5211b., and English and French mails, 149,2731b., both items larger than in 1866. Of the treasure forwarded across the isthmus, the amount shipped to Great Britain was of the value of 3,873,134/.
The value of the imports and exports of Colombia, exclusive of the transit trade, averaged one million sterling each in the five years 1863-67. The total imports in the year 1866 amounted to 1,579,441/., and in 1867 to 1,104,498/., while the exports were of the value of 1,354,403/. in 1866, and of 1,098,851/. in 1867. • The value of the exports of Colombia to Great Britain, and of the imports of British home produce into Colombia, in each of the five years 1865-69, was as follows : —
Years
Exports of Colombia to Great Britain
Imports of British
Home Produce into
Colombia
1865 1866 1867 1868 1869
& 1,566,973 1,542,664 983,511 1,096,032 1,116,118
£ 2,371,333 2,947,778 2,390,931 2,515,170 2,109,758
Of the exports of Colombia to Great Britain the most important in 1869 were raw cotton, of the value of 419,492/.; skins, of the value of 109,524/. ; and tobacco, of the value of 103,424/. At the head of the articles of British home produce imported into Colombia in 1869 were manufactured cotton goods, of the value of 1,314,348/. In the
