on like terms to the citizens and subjects of every other State which is willing to grant thereto such protection as the United States and Great Britain engage to afford.

ART. 9. The ratification of this convention shall be exchanged at Washington within six month from this day, or sooner, if possible.

In faith, whereof, we, the respective plenipotentiaries, have signed this convention,

and have hereunto affixed our seals.

Done at Washington, the 19th April, 1850.

OF FALSELY PACKED AND UNMERCHANTABLE COTTON.

The following report of the Committee of Arbitration, of the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce, was originally published in the New Orleans Price Current, by the request of the Secretary of the Chamber, it being the desire of cotton-planters and purchasers of cotton that it be made public, as similar cases frequently arise:—

NEW ORLEANS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, Dec. 13, 1849.

Schwidt & Holland vs. Maunsel White & Co. Before the Committee of Arbitration-present: Messrs. Geo. Arnold Holt, Charles Briggs, C. L. Frost, C. Green, J. A. Amelung, Fred. Frey, and John M. Bell.

The claim made by plaintiffs (acting for W. H. Haynes & Co.) upon defendants is $192 04, being for loss alleged to have been sustained upon a parcel of 69 bales of cotton, in consequence of the same proving in Liverpool to be falsely packed and un

merchantable.

The plaintiffs state that the list of cotton, of which these 69 bales formed a portion, was purchased by them from defendants, with the usual and customary understanding and implied warranty, that the whole of the list was sound and merchantable in every respect. They further state that it is their invariable custom, when they purchase any mixed cotton, to make a specific note of that fact in their contract book, and that no such note was made in this case.

Their contract book has been examined by the committee and no such remark exists on the entry of this purchase.

They prove by the evidence of Mr. S. J. B. Degruy, that he took a list of this cotton to the press; that it corresponded in every respect with the entry in their contract book, and that there was no remark against any of the marks indicating any of them to be mixed in the bale.

To this the defendants reply, that they decline paying the claim:

1st. Because the list, of which the above 69 bales formed a portion, was composed of various marks, amongst which was one mark of J. R. 32 bales "mixed cotton," and sold by them as such, as per entry in their day-book. That the A. B. 69 bales was the purchaser's classification and was composed of portions of four different planter's marks, namely, C. Mulhollan 43, Farrar 3, J. T. H. 1., and J. R. 17.

2d. Because in consequence of the marks, Mulhollan 43, Farrar 3 and J. T. H., being classed and shipped in the same mark with the J. R. 17 bales mixed, and the whole parcel was condemned solely because the 17 mixed bales were in the lot, and not because each and every bale was falsely packed.

3d. Because it is evident from the fact that other 59 bales of the same mark, namely, C. Mulhollan 40, Farrar 7, and J. T. H. 12, not being classed with any of the J. R. marks are not objected to, and consequently are presumed to have been found good and merchantable; and

4th. Because the certificate of false packing are not made out in a regular and proper form, no original marks or shipping numbers being given, and that this would be absolutely necessasy for them, who are only agents in the matter, to establish any claims against the planters.

As evidence in the support of the above Mr. J. G. Wakefield states that he was in the employ of defendants at the time this sale was made; that each paper of samples of this cotton was ticketed by him, and that the ticket on the sample of J. R. 32 bales was marked "mixed;" that he was present when Mr. Holland examined these samples prior to making the purchase, and that he heard Mr. Bulht distinctly state to Mr. Holland that the mark J. R. was mixed cotton, and to be sold as such.

The Committee have examined defendants' day-book and account sales-book, and the words "mixed cotton" is written opposite the mark J. R. in the day-book, apparently

in the same hand-writing, and with the same ink as the original entry. The copy of the account sale in that book shows the sale to have been rendered by them for this parcel as mixed cotton.

The Committee consider the evidence of Mr. Wakefield conclusive as to the fact of the J. R. 32 bales having been sold as mixed, and attach no importance to the evidence of Mr. Degruy, that no such remark was made upon the the list taken by him to the press, for it is not even proved that that was the original list obtained from the defendants.

The mark A. B. 69 bales appears from the classification book of the plaintiffs to have been a selection from the whole list, namely, the 4th or most inferior quality, and it is known by the committee, that in this market, if any portion of a crop of cotton be found falsely packed it is very customary for the purchaser to reject the whole mark, and it is supposed that the same custom exists in Liverpool.

But although here this may be done with perfect safety, as a mark applies to one crop, it is evident that where several crops are embodied by the purchaser under one general shipping mark for his own convenience, it would be unjust that his so doing should subject an honest and careful planter to condemnation and loss, simply because his crop should happen to be found in a foreign market classed and marked along with that of a dishonest or less careful neighbor, and evidence intended to condemn a whole mark of cotton, composed as this was of various crops, should be clear and distinct as to each and every bale.

It is clear to the committee that as regards the 17 bales, J. R., they were sold as mixed cotton, and under no circumstances could the plaintiffs' have any claims for loss upon them; and as regards the remaining 52 bales, the documentary evidence produced by the plaintiffs' is of a very vague and unsatisfactory nature.

Neither of the certificates states that the whole of the 69 bales were falsely packed; that of Messrs Thos. Haight & Co. says "principally falsely packed," that of Messrs. Jones, Mann & Foster "as well as for the most part falsely packed."

That the whole of them were not falsely packed, the committee think may fairly be presumed from the result of the resale.

A comparison of the Liverpool Price Current of the 4th and 18th August shows there to have been a decline in that market during the fortnight of a full d. per lb; consequently, if, on the first of August, the sound and merchantable value of the 69 bales was 34d., (the price at which it was sold,) on the 19th of August the value would have been 3 d., and yet, on that day, under all the disadvantages created by a sale by public auction, "all faults," we find that 30 bales realized 34d. per lb., or within 4d. per lb. of their full value, if sold under ordinary circumstances, and the remaining 39 bales 34d. per lb.

It has been shown also that the 69 bales were composed of portions of various crops, and yet, in the certificates and returns of the resales, no original marks, or shipping numbers, or weight, are given, so that it is impossible to say which crops or portions of crops sold at 34d., or which at 34d., and, therefore, the defendants would be utterly at a loss how to apportion a claim against their principals, as they could not tell what proportion of the resale they had to place to the credit of each party respectively, nor could it be ascertained which were the J. R. 17 bales, purchased by the plaintiffs as mixed cotton.

Hence the Committee are of opinion, that, upon the J. R. 17 bales, the plaintiffs cannot possibly have any claim whatsoever, and that they have not produced evidence sufficiently satisfactory to entitle them to any award in consequence of loss upon the remaining 52 bales.

They, therefore, unanimously award, that plaintiffs' claim be dismissed, with the costs of this arbitration. (A true copy.)

INSPECTION OF FLOUR IN ALBANY.

C. J. MANSONI.

At a meeting of the Board of Trade, 18th April, two important measures, which have long been under consideration, and which will be found, when carried out, alike beneficial to the public and those engaged in the flour and produce business, were agreed upon. The most important is the raising of the standard of inspection of flour. The Board unanimously adopted the New York standard of extra, superfine, and superfine No. 2, and recommended that the three inspectors, Cornelius Vosburgh, Richard Updike, William Dowd, be requested to take the samples in the possession of the Board as the standard, and to procure a suitable brand for the superfine No. 2, with the word and figure No. 2, and the inspector's name with the month from the 1st

of May to the 1st of November, on the same brand, and directed that the same be branded upon the head instead of the side of the barrel. The same to take effect on the 1st of May.

This is as it should be, and we trust that it will be kept there. It only requires a strict adherence to this standard on the part of the inspectors to have our inspection pass as current in the sea coast towns and the Eastern markets as that of any other place, and we have no doubt that the inspectors will strictly adhere to this standard.

MEASUREMENT OF GRAIN.

The Board also took up the subject of the measurement of grain, and finally agreed upon a plan, which was unanimously adopted. They selected from those whose business has heretofore been that of weighers and measurers the names of twenty per sons, to be recognized by the Board of Trade as weighers and measures for this city.

1

FREEDOM OF THE COASTING TRADE OF INDIA.

An extract of a letter to Frederick Tudor, Esq., of Boston, received by the last India mail, from Messrs. Binney & Co., dated Madras, April 12, 1850:-" In pursuance of this opening of the ports in India to entire freedom, the bark Brothers, of Boston, was, at last accounts, taking in cargo of salt at Bombay for Calcutta, on freight."

FORT WILLIAM, HOME DEPARTMENT, March 8, 1850. The following act, passed by the Governor General of India, in council, on the 8th of March, 1850, is hereby promulgated for general information :—

AN ACT FOR FREEDOM OF THE COASTING TRADE OF INDIA,

Whereas, by an act of Parliament passed in the thirteenth year of the reign of Her Majesty, entitled an Act to Amend the Laws in Force for the Encouragement of British Shipping and Navigation, it is enacted with regard to the coasting trade of India that it shall be lawful for the Governor General of India in Council, to make any regulations authorizing or permitting the conveyance of goods or passengers from one part of the possessions of the East India Company to another part thereof, in other than British ships, subject to such restrictions or regulations as he may think necessary.

It is enacted as follows:

1. Goods and passengers may be conveyed from one part of the territories under the government of the East India Company to another part thereof, in other than British ships, without any restriction other than is or shall be equally imposed on British ships for securing the payment of duties of customs, or otherwise.

FRED. JAS. HALLIDAY, Secretary to the Governor of India.

PORT OF REALIJO, NICARAGUA.

The Supreme Director of the State of Nicaragua, being informed that on or before the first of May next the American lines of steamers in the Pacific Ocean propose to establish depots in the port of Realijo, and to touch there in their voyages to obtain supplies of coals and provisions, therefore, and in virtue of the powers conferred by the law of the 4th October last, he does

DECREE.

ART. 1. The said lines of steamers shall have the right to enter and depart from the said port free of all anchorage or tonnage duties.

ART. 2. All vessels exclusively carrying coal for said steamers shall be allowed to enter said port and discharge their cargoes upon the same terms.

ART. 3. Each of the said lines of steamers shall have the privilege of erecting such wharfs or docks as may be necessary for the objects above indicated, under such regulations as may be agreed upon with the government.

ART. 4. All regulations conflicting with the provisions of this decree are hereby suspended.

Dated in Leon, this 7th day of March, 1850.

NORBERTO RAMIREZ.

NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE.

MAURY'S SAILING DIRECTIONS.

We are indebted to George Manning, Esq., of New York, for a copy of Lieutenant M. F. Maury's Sailing Directions, which have been approved by the Secretary of the Navy, and published by authority of Commodore Warrington, Chief of the Bureau of Ordinance and Hydrography, a most valuable addition to the science and practice of navigation. This publication embraces tabular statements of the best average routes from New York to clear Cape St. Roque, in Brazil, for December, January, February, and March; general remarks on the passage from the United States to ports beyond the Equator, with comparisons of actual passages by the new and by the old routes to the Line. It also embraces directions and tables in regard to the best average routes to and fro, between New York, Cape Clear, and the English Channel, for Januuary, February, March, and April. Lieutenant Maury, who is at the head of the National Observatory, Washington, has prepared and published, under the auspices of our Government, a series of well-executed "Pilot-charts," and navigators who are disposed to try these routes are furnished with them on application, either at the National Observatory, at Washington, or to George Manning, No. 90 Wall-street, New York, or to W. H. C. Riggs, Philadelphia; provided the applicant will agree to furnish Lieutenant Maury, of the National Observatory, an abstract of his log according to form, with which he will also be gratuitously supplied. The form referred to is given in the present document. Lieutenant Maury deserves the lasting gratitude of navigators, as well for his useful discoveries as for his untiring efforts and learned labors in this department of science. Although we are not particularly well informed on the topics connected with this subject, we are intuitively impressed with the untiring industry and great skill he has brought to bear upon the important interest of navigation:

WINDS AND CURRENTS OF THE OCEAN.

COPY OF A LETTER ADDRESSED BY THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE NATIONAL OBSERVATORY TO THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.

NATIONAL OBSERVATORY, May 13th, 1850. SIR-The investigations carried on at this office with regard to the winds and currents of the ocean, have led me to the discovery of a new route hence to the Equator, by which the passage of all vessels trading under canvass, whether to South America, China, India, or Australasia; to California, Polynesia, or the markets of the Pacific, has been shortened several days.

This discovery has been duly made known to navigators, many of whom have availed themselves of it.

In order to enable the Department to judge of the importance of this discovery, and to compare the passages by the new route with passages made by the old, I submit herewith a tabular statement showing the passage of eighty-eight vessels by the new and of seventy-three by the old or usual route.

These passages were taken at random from those that have been returned to the office, and are believed to afford a fair average.

The average passage by the old route to the Equator is forty-one days.

You will observe by the tabular statement that the passage by the new route has frequently been made in about half that time, and even in less, as by the "St. Helena," the Houqua," and the "Memnon," which three ships made the passage from New York in March and April, 1849, in nineteen, twenty, and nineteen days respectively by this route.

You will observe, also, that the vessels which have taken it in February and March have had, on the average, a passage of fourteen or fifteen days less than those which have taken the old route at the same season, and that, consequently, during the period

of each year the markets of Brazil, China, and the Indies, and of all those countries beyond the Equator, have been practically brought by these investigations, charts, and discoveries, two weeks nearer to our own doors than they were before.

The route by sea to all these places is the same until you cross the Equator, and these charts have shortened that part of the route during these two months by more than one-third of the time hitherto required for its performance.

It will be further observed by this tabular statement that the average passage to the Equator during the half-year, which comprises the winter and spring months, has been shortened ten days by the new route, and by more than a week, on the average, the year round.

In view of these important and practical results I beg leave to call the attention of the Departments to the fact that the vast amount of observations, data, and materials which it was necessary to collect and discuss, in order to arrive at such valuable conclusions, have been obtained without cost to the Government.

American ship-owners and masters, in the broad spirit of those enlarged and enlightened views for which they are celebrated. have, at my solicitation, not only furnished me gratuitously with abstracts and copies of old sea-journals, from which the materials of the wind and current charts have been gathered, but they have agreed also to co-operate with me in the undertaking, and to make daily, and in all parts of the ocean, wherever an American ship may go, a series of observations for the completion and perfection of these charts. More than a thousand private ships are now engaged daily in this important undertaking.

The only expense entailed by it upon the Government so far is the expense of making this information available after it has been obtained, by the publication thereof in a cheap and convenient form.

The charts that have been published hitherto relate principally to the North Atlantic Ocean; but similar charts and investigations, with the view to like improvements in the navigation of the South Atlantic, the Pacific, and Indian Oceans, are also in progress.

Many important subjects, such as the existence of rocks, shoals, and vigias; the true character and locality of dangers, of obstructions and facilities to navigation, with many other subjects of practical interest to commerce, and which relate to the winds and currents of the sea, require more careful and tedious investigation or examination than these private ships, which are aiding me, have the time to give.

In view of this fact, of what has already been accomplished, and in consideration of the very great value of such service, I beg leave again to call your attention to the act of Congress which authorizes the employment of three small vessels of the navy to assist me with these investigations,

Hoping that the exigencies of the other branches of the public service are no longer such as to prevent suitable vessels from being detailed on this important work, I have the honor to be, respectfully, &c.

Hon. WILLIAM BALLARD PRESTON, Secretary of the Navy, Washington.

PASSAGE OVER THE BAR OF THE TOBACCO RIVER

M. F. MAURY.

MEMORANDUM FROM THE NOTE BOOK OF GEORGE M. TOTTON, LIEUTENANT COMMANDER OF THE UNITED STATES STEAMER "WATER WITCH."

The bar of the Tobacco River may be considered passable at all seasons of the year for vessels drawing ten (10) feet water, though there are times, immediately after a norther, when there is as little as eight (8) feet; but in one or two days the current of the river wears the channel to its usual depth.

I surveyed the bar in the early part of March, 1848, and have since crossed it many times, never with less than ten feet, sometimes with eleven, and once with thirteen, in September, 1848.

The water will be found deepest during the months immediately preceding the sea son of north winds, when the current of the river has had a long time to act in clearing out the channel on the bar.

The water in the river is highest, and the current more rapid, during the rainy season, when I have known a single norther to bank the bar up from eight to ten feet. No vessel should load inside deeper than to ten feet draught, or they may have to wait a month before getting out.

The pilots are good and keep a good lookout for vessels approaching-getting on board in good time.