I have no reliable information of the amount of oil exported at the present; but I do not think I shall be far from the point of accuracy, if I put it down at 60,000 tons, which, at the probable value of £45 per ton, equals £2,700,000.
Cotton.—Next to palm oil, cotton is now commanding more attention than any other article. The interesting fact with regard to this staple is that it excites as much interest in Africa as it does in England and America. There are few things in the history of trade more important, more interesting, morally as well as commercially, than the impetus which has recently been given to the growth of cotton. In 185—, Mr. Consul Campbell made a statement of the probable amount of cotton exported from West Africa. I have to rely upon my memory for the items of that statement and, if I mistake not, he stated that the people of Abbeokuta exported nigh 200,000 country cloths annually. These cloths are purchased for transportation to Brazil, where there are thousands of African slaves who still dress in the same style as when at their homes. He supposed that full 200,000 country cloths were manufactured for home use, which would make the probable number manufactured in Africa, 400,000. And lie calculated 2½ lbs. as the average weight of each country cloth;—and 400,000 x 2½ = 1,000,000 lbs. of cotton manufactured by the natives of interior Africa, in one locality, that is, Yoruba. Doubtless as much more is allowed to grow and run to waste unused.
Now these facts, to a partial extent, were well
