AMSTERDAM.-Since the establishment of the kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, two distinct kinds of money became current; viz. money of the State,—and money for the use of Commerce. The government money, or money of the state, consists of 3. Copper. Cent. 100th part of a florin. Such are the monies coined by the government of the United Netherlands for the purposes of the whole state; but nevertheless, under the same authority, the old coins current in the respective provinces are not only allowed to continue current, but also to be coined for the private use of merchants and the purposes of commerce, viz. 1. Gold. The ducat 2. Silver. The silver ducat, or ducatoon The ryder, or reyer = = 5 florins, subject to some variations in value. 3 florins, 3 stivers. = 14 florins. Accounts still continue to be kept by many in the old Dutch currency, by others in the old Flemish imaginary money; which is divided, like the English currency, into grotes 1d.; shillings 12d.; and pounds 20s. There are also certain trades in which accounts are kept after a particular manner, and in monies specially adapted for them; as for example the corn trade. = The chief articles of natural produce and manufactures, and therefore primary articles of export, from Amsterdam and the northern provinces of this kingdom of the Netherlands, are wheat, beans, peas, of corn; clover, rape, hemp, and line, of seeds; butter, cheese, linen, woollen and cotton stuffs of inferior qualities, oils of rape, hemp, and whale, and the spirit called Geneva, of manufactures. Besides these, which may be denominated staple commodities, madder, oak bark, tallow, &c. may be added. Amsterdam imports most kinds of West India and American goods, especially coffee, sugar, tobacco, cocoa, cotton, and dye woods: from the East Indies, spices, raw silk and cotton, and goods manufactured of both these articles: from Spain, wool, indigo, cochineal, and Peruvian bark: from France, wine and brandies; and from Great Britain all kinds of colonial produce, hard-ware, rock salt, tin plates, and printed calicoes. For the exports and imports of the southern provinces of the kingdom of the Netherlands, see article ANTWERP.* * In 1830 the Netherlands was separated from Holland, which caused changes in their commercial relations. See the article Netherlands. The stoop contains 54 pints English wine measure. 100 mingles are equal to 32 English wine gallons, or 261 English beer gallons, or 26 Imperial gallons. French wine is sold per hogshead of.. Spanish and Portuguese wine, per pipe, of.. Beer, per barrel, (equal to the aam, or aume,) of.... Vegetable oils, per aume, of...... 180 mingles. 340 ditto. 30 viertels. Whale oil, per ditto... Rum is sold per anker, of 2 steckan. The Rhineland foot... = 12} The ell, cloth measure. = 271 The foot of Amsterdam = 114 English inches. ditto. ditto. Rock salt is sold per hondert of 404 maaten, making 20 tons, or 4000 lb. Dutch. Pit coal is sold per hoed of 38 maaten; nine hoeds are five chaldrons of Newcastle, or six hoeds are five chaldrons of London. Butter is sold per barrel; the barrel of Leyden is 320 lb. net.—that of Friesland 328 lb. net-and the common Dutch barrel 336 lb. gross. A last of herrings is reckoned at 12, 13, or 14 barrels. A last of pitch is 12 barrels. A last of tar, 13 barrels. 100 skins are 104 skins. 100 planks from Westerwyk are 124. From Christiana, 126; And from other parts of Norway, 132 planks. A last of freight is reckoned 4000 lb. equal to two English tons. Eight hogsheads of wine, Twelve barrels of pitch, Thirteen barrels of tar, Twenty chests of lemons, &c. 4000 lb. of iron, copper, and colonial produce, 4000 lb. of almonds, 2000 lb. of wool or feathers, are reckoned as one last. A last of wheat is considered ten per cent. higher than one of rye, and the latter twenty and a half per cent. higher than oats, and ten per cent. higher than seed. A last of ballast is only 2000 lb. ANTWERP.-The imports here are pretty much the same as at Amsterdam, and its advantages from ships of the largest burthen being able to come up to the town, and the extraordinary facility with which goods destined for the interior are circulated again by canals, gives it a great preponderance of advantage. Nearly all the trade of the Belgic provinces passes through the hands of the Antwerp merchants, the articles of import being landed there, and those of export being sent thither to be shipped. The exports, besides what these southern provinces have in common with the northern ones; viz. corn, seeds, and linens, are chiefly lace, carpets, hair cloth, and tapestry from the capital, BRUSSELS; flax of a fine quality, and hops of superior flavour, tallow, and hides. The monies current, and of account, are sufficiently noticed under the articles AMSTERDAM and NETHERLANDS. OLD WEIGHTS. A shippound is three quintals, or 300 lb. A charge is two balles, or 400 lb. A chariot is 165 lb. A stone 8-lb. The quintal of 100 lb. is equal to 1034 lb. avoirdupois; and therefore 100 lb. avoirdupois equals 96.8 lb. of Antwerp. An aume of liquids is 50 stoops, or 100 pots, and is equal to 19 viertels of Amsterdam, or 36 English wine gallons. A both is 152 stoops. LONG MEASURE. 100 Brabant ells (used all over the Low Countries) are 76 English yards; but 100 ells of Antwerp (for woollens) are 743 English yards; 100 feet of Antwerp are 93 English feet, and 100 feet of Brussels are 92 English feet. The Brabant ell, used in various other parts of the continent, is per cent. less than the Brabant ell above mentioned. Salt is sold per raziere of 360 lb. weight; pitch and tar, per barrel ; oils, (fish and vegetable,) per aume of 96 pots. AUSTRALASIA, recently called Australia, comprehending New South Wales, Norfolk Island, Van Diemen's Land, Swan River, and other settlements in the vicinity of this fifth continent. Purchases are generally made by barter; dollars, however, valued at five shillings, are the chief money current in the colony, and a bank has been recently established, which issues small notes. The jurisdiction of the governor of New South Wales extends from 10° 37' to 43° 49' S. lat. and from the sea-coast westward, to 135° E. long, and thence proceeding in an easterly direction, including all the islands in the Pacific Ocean within the before-mentioned latitude. All the functions of government (except arbitrary taxation*) are vested solely in the Governor, who is responsible to the government of the mother country alone for the exercise of his discretionary power. With the internal regulations promulgated from time to time, to suit the improving state of the colony, it is not necessary to meddle here; but some regulations which attach upon vessels arriving in the harbour of these regions will be found on reference to 4 Geo. IV. c. 80. See EAST INDIA TRADE. At Port Jackson, which was the first, and still remains the chief harbour in this government, the following, among other regulations, have been promulgated by the colonial government: "No person but the pilot, or other person specially authorized, to board any vessel arriving, until a union or ensign is hoisted at the mast-head. * See 59 Geo. III. c. 114. "The commander of every vessel is to report himself and ship at the naval officer's office, and enter the ship agreeably to form, and produce a manifest of his cargo; to give bond in £200, not to open the vessel's hatches for the sale of any article, till he receive a general perinit for the purpose; and not to send any spirits, wine, beer, or other strong drink, even after such general permit, without a special permit in writing, properly signed and countersigned, specifying the quantities and qualities, with the name of each purchaser; nor to sell or send from the vessel any arms or ammunition to any person without special permit. "Liquors only to be landed at particular places, and not to be removed until security be given for payment of the assessments. "Forfeitures to be determined according to the British laws respecting manifests and smuggling. "No trade permitted with the inhabitants till the securities required be received; and no convict to be received on board any vessel without a proper pass from the governor or other officiating magistrate; no boats to go on shore after dark; no seaman to go into the country without a pass; no clothing or bedding to be purchased from convicts, under specific penalties annexed to these different offences. "Persons dying on board any vessel in harbour, to be buried on shore; and no stone, ballast, or iron hoops, to be thrown overboard below high-water mark, under penalty of £5, two-thirds to the informer. No merchant-vessel to leave the harbour without naval officer's certificate, countersigned by the governor, of compliance with the preceding regulations, on pain of being fired at and detained. The natives of the whole region before described, with all the neighbouring islands, being under the protection of Great Britain, all violations of their persons and property to be punished according to the laws adopted, or made, by the colonial government." BREMEN is one of the free Hanseatic cities situated on the river Weser, and forty-five miles from the sea; as HAMBURG, the other great member of the Hanseatic community, is on the river Elbe. It has not indeed so much facility of internal communication with Germany by its particular river, as its great rival has by the Elbe; but as a balance to those natural advantages, the charges of receiving, forwarding, and selling, as well as of purchasing and shipping goods, are kept so moderate at Bremen, as to give it no inconsiderable advantage over other places in many instances. Wheat is considered not so good here as that from the Baltic, but freight to Great Britain is so much less from Bremen, that it is frequently obtained from the latter place in preference to the other. The imports are principally all sorts of manufactured goods from Great Britain, for the use of the interior of Germany; all kinds of West India and American produce; teas, tobacco, rums and brandies, tin plates, tallow, tar, oil, and tropical fruits. The exports are chiefly bark, bristles, glass, grain, hams, hides, rags, smalts, wines, and yarn, and linens of all kinds; table linen, shirting, ginghams, bed-ticking, raven-duck, sail-cloth, flaxen Osnaburghs, and hempen Techlenburghs. Monies of most countries are in circulation, but those of the place are more particularly the following: |