Page 52 - 1 Persian Trade rep Bahrain 1_Neat

A representative of Messrs. Victor Rosenthal ct Frftrcs of Paris was also
in Bahrein for 13 weeks, buying pearls.
An attempt has been made this year, as promised in the last report, to
denote correctly the true countries of origin of the various imports arriving in
vessels of the British India Steam Navigation Company, Bombay Persian Steam
Navigation Company and the Hamburg-America Line. The latter line sent 11
vessels during the year to Bahrein, on the voyage to Basrah, with an average
cargo of 3,225 packages per steamer as against the average of 738 for the 4
vessels appearing in 1900.
The trade with the United Kingdom and British India combined has
amounted 1049*99 per cent of the total imports and 85 09 per cent, of the total
exports.
The trade with Turkish Arabia comes next in volume, as Bahrein is natur­
ally the entrepot for commodities passing partially in steamers between the
outer world and the Turkish districts of Hasa and Katif. The imports from
Turkish Arabia, which consist mainly of pearls, oyster-shells, dates, ghee, live­
stock, wheat and ' abas ’ amount to 31*24 per cent, of the total imports, and
the exports in the shape of coffee, ship-building materials, piece-goods and
silk, gold thread, kerosinc oil, tea, tobacco and specie—all transit goods—amount
to 8 03 per cent, of total exports.
The trade with Persia amounts to 7*12 per cent of the imports and 3.53 per
cent, of the exports. Amongst the former the chief commodities are practically
all agricultural products such as opium and other drugs and medicines, charcoal
and firewood, wheat and barley, ghee and carpets. A considerable quantity of
pearls are also imported. Of the exports, the chief are piece-goods, dates and
date juice, rice, kerosine oil, sugar and tea. All these arc transit goods.
South America (Brazil) supplies only coffee, 1*71 per cent, of the import
trade, and takes nothing directly in return.
Austria’s chief articles of supply are specie (Maria Theresa dollars), sugar
and kerosine oil, with small quantities of glass-* are, iron-ware, gold thread and
matches.
The total amounts to 1*43 per cent, of the import trade. She, like South
America, took nothing directly in return.
Germany’s imports consist mainly of glass-ware, china-ware, gold thread,
hardware, lamps, perfumery, soft sugar, watches and clocks, and woollen-goods.
These amount to *94 per cent, of the import trade- In the exports she takes
only shells, of the various classes, and intestines, and of these she practically
has the monopoly, valued at Rs. 1,42,291, or *86 of the total export trade.
France has taken Rs. 3,50,000 worth of pearls, but her imports were in­
significant except for vermicelli, valued at Rs. 64,000.
The meagre imports of other European countries—Belgium (glass-ware,
iron-ware, piece-goods and loaf-sugar), Sweden (matches), Holland (cotton and
woollen piece-goods), and Italy (vermicelli) do not require special remark.
None of these, like the United States of America which imported a little machi­
nery and some piece-goods, had any concern in the export trade.
The chief imports from Trucial Oman were dry limes, firewood, tobacco,
and oyster-shells, value Rs. 3,46,354 or 2-26 per cent, of the whole import trade,
1 he exports amounted only to Rs. 11,10a
The imports from Maskat were insignificant except for the item ot Rs.
5,50.920 on account of specie, an abnormally large transaction. The export*
amounted only to Rs. 29,000.
The petty trade with Zanzibar, Mukalla, and Egypt requires no comment.
Slaughter cattle.—The increased import of goats and sheep was due to
the fodder famine in Southern Persia where the rains had failed.