H. Ex. Doc. 63-38

Destination.

Statement showing the exports of Tripoli during the year ending December 31, 1861.

LATAKIA.-SPERIDIEN VITALE, Vice-Consul.

OCTOBER 3, 1862.

Statement showing the description, quantity, and value of the exports from the port of Latakia, Syria, during the year ending October 3, 1862, together with the description, nationality, and destination.

Statement showing the description and value of the imports at the port of Latakia to October 3, 1862, together with the description and nationality of vessels employed and the ports whence they sailed.

I have the honor to transmit herewith my annual report of the resources and commerce of the island of Scio for the year ending September 30, 1862. As far as possible I have endeavored to inform myself on the different subjects required by the general instructions to consular officers; but the fact that there are scarcely any official records kept by the authorities of the island of commercial transactions, renders the acquisition of correct information difficult, especially in the short time in which I have been in charge of the duties of this consulate.

POPULATION.

This island has not yet recovered from the terrible destruction of 1822, when the Turks massacred and drove away three-fourths of the entire population.

At that time Scio had a population of one hundred and fifty thousand souls; at present there are not more than half that number. Of these, about four-fifths are Greeks, the remainder being Turks and Levantines.

CHARACTER OF THE ISLAND.

The island is very mountainous; not more than one-third of its surface is favorable to cultivation. This portion, however, is exceedingly fertile, being chiefly confined to the valleys, and yields the greatest variety of agricultural productions, and which are of the finest quality.

PRODUCTIONS.

The principal productions are gum mastic, almonds, oranges, citrons, silks, cereals, oil, wine, cotton, spirits, a large quantity of vegetables and fruits of all kinds, such as grapes, locust, walnuts, figs, apricots, plums, peaches, pistachios, &c. Gum mastic. The gum mastic tree grows only in the southern part of the island; all efforts to cultivate it in any other part having failed. There are about twenty thousand of the inhabitants engaged in the culture of this plant. Before the winter of 1850 the crop of gum averaged from forty-five to fifty thousand okes; but the unusually cold weather of that year destroyed so many of the trees that the ensuing year it hardly reached a third of that quantity. But in the year 1861 the crop again rose to about thirty thousand okes, valued at about $50,000. The tree that produces the gum mastic never exceeds nine feet in height, and the gum which flows from it is obtained by incisions made in the upper part of the trunk.

Oranges and citrons.-Prior to the severe winter before mentioned, which destroyed many of the orange and citron trees, the value of this crop exceeded two million of piasters. In 1861 the quantity exported amounted in value to $80,625.

Almonds.-The produce of almonds, which are more highly esteemed than any in Turkey, varies annually, and sometimes has amounted to 400,000 okes. The value of this crop, exported in 1861, amounted to $56,845.

Cereals.-There are about 80,000 kilos of cereals produced on the island, which forms but a third part of that consumed by the inhabitants, the remainder being imported from the Danube, Roumelia, Egypt, and Caramania. vessels employed in transporting these grains mostly belong to the island itself.

The

Peas. The peas and lentils of the island are remarkable for their excellent quality, and are largely exported to the market of Constantinople.

Oil.-There are about 30,000 okes of olive oil exported, which is reputed to be the finest in quality of any produced in the east.

Wine. The wine of the island has lost much of its historic reputation, owing in a great measure to the careless mode in which it is manufactured, and to a disease which has affected the vines of late years, and thereby greatly injuring the quality of the grape.

Cotton.-From 600 to 800 quintals of cotton are grown on the island, most of which is inferior, and converted into sails for the use of the shipping. Seed from America has been introduced into this country the past summer, and this crop is destined to be the most important the coming year.

Spirit.-Scio spirit has a wide reputation, on account of the mastic which is mixed with it, and which imparts to it a peculiar and pleasant taste. The value of this spirit exported to Constantinople in 1861 amounted to over a million of piasters.

Madder.-Since 1853 the culture of the madder root has been introduced