COMMERCE
751
include 91 boats of 299 tons engaged in coral fishing. At the same date there were 77,109 fishermen, of whom 6,648 were engaged in deep-sea or foreign fishing. In 1896 there went to the deei>-sea fishing 1,788 boats of 18,857 tons. Of these. 91 of 1,352 tons were employed in coral-fishing, and 101 of 2,173 tons in fishing for sponges. The value of the fish caught in 1896 (ex- cluding foreign fishing) was estimated at 14,948,884 lire, probably too low an estimate ; the value obtained from tunney-fishing was 1,780,985 lire and from coral-fishing 1,013,700 lire, the quantity (much less than the average) being estimated at 299,000 kilogrammes.
Commerce.
The following table shows the total special imports and exports (excluding gold, coined silver, and goods in transit), and the imports and exports of the precious metals (excluding un- coined silver) in each of the last five years : —
Year
Special trade
Precious Metals
Imports
Ex])orts
Imports
Exports
1893 1894 1895 1896 1897
Lire 1,191,227,553 1,094,649,101 1,187,288,208 1,173,233,425 1,192,138,168
Lire 964,188,135 1,026,506,040 1,037,707,599 1,052,097,943 1,092,719,241
Lire
43,014,800
108,135,700
7,293,400
10,280,800
8,676,200
Lire 94,173,900 31,517,700 21,302,100 19,916,900 23,096,400
The following table shows the value of the leading imports and exports in 1897 : —
Imports
Exports
Lire
Lire
Grain, wheat .
78,680,520
Silk, raw and thrown
270,376,300
Cotton, raw .
110,628,804
,, waste
24,290,050
Coal
97,971,789
,, cocoons .
3,027,030
Timber for building .
35,090,513
1 Wine in casks
^8,479,100
Sugar, raw
21,038,836
, Oil, olive.
57,859,944
,, refined ,
164,206
Fruit (fresh) .
39,761,242
"Wool, raw
31,151,690
1 Eggs
32,558,900
Machinery
33,519,782
Coral, manufactured.
23,849,160
Silk, unbleaclicd, raw,
, Hemp and flax, raw
44,156,233
or twisted .
68,318,100
Sulphur, unrefined
Fish, of all sorts
31,556,200
j and refined .
34,098,568
Iron in bars, &c.
11,103,885
i Rice
7,639,045
Coffee
19,481.353
' Cotton raw
1,698,680
Linen and hejnp varn
11,660,760
Marble .
14,344,114
Hides, raw and dried
42,290,140
Meat, fresh and salted
15,398,440
Cheese .
7,664,990
Skins, raw
15,09.^280
Tobacco leaf .
21,404,740
' Straw plaiting.
6,179,640
Cotton, unbleached .
791,594
1 Dyeing and tanning
Cotton bleached
1,212,530
stuffs .
12,191,043
,, coloured & dyed
1,513,266
Animals, cattle
14,816,940
,, printed .
3,558,060
1 ,, horses
1,184,150
