following table will show at a glance how this aggregate of our mercantile marine is made up, and we add a like account of vessels registered in the colonies also at the end of the year 1859:

Comparing ports with reference to the vessels registered here, of sailing vessels not above 50 tons 678 (23,216 tons) belong to the port of London, and 276 (9,804 tons) to Liverpool; but of those above 50 tons only 1,825 (687,407 tons) belong to London, and 1,928 (950,531 tons) to Liverpool. Of the steamers 516 (188,220 tons) belong to London, and only 204 (58,786 tons) to Liverpool. London is ahead in number of vessels, Liverpool in amount of tonnage.

MILK TRADE.

In addition to the supply from domestic swill fed manufacture, the city of New York receives, by railroad, 180,000 quarts of milk per day; paying for the same, at seven cents per quart, a yearly aggregate of nearly $5,000,000. This supply is divided among the different roads as follows:

The Harlem Railroad derives an annual revenue of $250,000 from this source.

IMPORTS OF HAMBURG.

The following is the total value in mark banco of the trade of Hamburg for the undermentioned years :

The decrease of 1858 shows the effect of the crisis of 1857.

GUTTA PERCHA.

Gutta percha differs from caoutchouc in its external characters, being very solid and unyielding at common temperatures, having something of the character of horn, but being quite plastic at two hundred and twelve degrees, at which temperature it can be pressed and moulded into any required form. from the simplest form of a tumbler or plate to the richest carving of a picture frame, and the minute lines of a medal.

TRADE IN BREADSTUFFS OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.

MONTHLY TABLE OF EXPORTS TO ALL FOREIGN PORTS, FROM SEPT. 1 TO AUG. 31, FOR

Total..... 4,946,346 487,288 5,696,876 7,772,495

Export, from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31, in 1847–48..

66

1846-47....

3,085,134

NAUTICAL INTELLIGENCE.

SALES OF SHIPS.

The Ship Owners' Circular gives the following sales of vessels in the past month. Speculative operations in ship property have been less than during the previous month, consequently the values have been more regular. At the close, there is less disposition to pay the increased rates for tonnage :

An a 1 N. York built ship, 1,200 tons register; 10 years old, in order for sea $45,000

1

Maine

66

A first-class Connecticut built bark, 700 tons register, for $34,000.
A first-class Massachusetts built schooner, 200 tons; $50 per ton complete.

THE SHIPPING INTEREST.

The shipping of the United States in 1840, according to official reports, amounted to 2,180,764; in 1845 it was only 2,417,002, an increase of only 236,238 tons, showing an average annual gain of only 47,247 tons. In 1850 the aggregate had increased to 3,535,454, showing a gain in five years of active employment of 1,118,452; an annual average of 133,690 tons. Here it will be seen that the annual gain during these five years was nearly equal to the total gain for the previous five years. This was owing to the increase of the carrying trade which had grown out of the war, the heavy exports to Great Britain during the season of crop failures, and the rush to the Pacific in consequence of the gold discovery. This was followed by the advantage given to our ships under the neutral flag during the Crimean war, which commenced actively in 1854, and terminated towards the close of 1856. At the latter date the tonnage of the United States stood at its highest point, the total being 5,212,001 tons, a gain for five years of 1,676,546, even on the large total of 1850, showing an annual average increase of 335,309 tons. In 1856 began the period of de

pression, which has been one of the most disastrous the trade has ever known. The finest ships owned in the country were unprofitably employed at sea, or rotted idly at our wharves. Many shipowners, who had large investments in this floating property, were compelled to suspend, and some were involved in financial ruin. The ship-yards were deserted, and all along our seaboard, from the far Eastern line to the Gulf, ship-building was mostly suspended, and the grass grew rank and green over the mouldering chips. There was no remedy for this, in any description of legislation. The supply of ships, stimulated by the causes we have mentioned, had run ahead of the ordinary uses for this class of property, and the reaction was inevitable. The financial revulsion of 1857 was partly owing to this want of employment for our ships, and it also in turn contributed very much to complete the depression. The tonnage stricken off from the list the next year, part of it from previous losses not supplied by subsequent production, left the official total at 4,871,652; and during the five years which have since elapsed, the building in all the United States, instead of showing a gain of over one-and-a-half millions, as during the previous five years, had not, at latest official accounts, brought us up to the standard of 1855. The revival of the carrying trade in breadstuffs to Great Britain finds the list of available ships greatly reduced-the losses of the sea and the natural decay having more than counterbalanced the supply; and now the tide of prosperity has once more set in toward the flood. How long the profitable employment will continue, it is, of course, impossible to determine; but the prospect is certainly encouraging, and we may hope that the years of plenty will at least be as many as the years of famine.

NEW YORK SHIPPING.

The arrivals and clearances at New York for the quarter ending September 30th have been as follows::

NAVAL CHANGE.

Commodore PENDERGAST relieved Flag-officer JARVIS, and assumed command of the Gulf squadron on the 20th October, at Aspinwall. As the organization of the fleet has been altogether changed within a few weeks, we subjoin a correct exhibit of its strength under the new arrangement :—

The Cincinnati Price Current gives the rates of freights to New Orleans as follows:-