Note 279 — Chapter XVIII · ON THE COMMERCE OF THE SEA OF AZOF.

The importation of Russian woollens into China must be very large to supply the extensive demand which exists for them in the north and centre of China. The thick heavy kinds, which the Chinese call “hala,” after the Russian name for wrappers or outside coverings, which are often made from cloths of this description, are chiefly in request, and are much used for cloaks and travelling dresses: those of red and green hues are much esteemed, on account of the superior depth and brightness of the Russian colours. These cloths are from 20 to 30 yards long, and from 62 to 64 inches broad. Belgian and Saxon cloths are also received through Russia. Small parcels of Russian woollens are brought to Canton, where they enter into competition with English goods, to the disadvantage of the latter. Russian blue cloth may be bought at 2½ dollars per yard, and in the interior it is a dollar cheaper: other kinds, except scarlet, are cheaper. The Chinese could not sell at these prices, unless they obtained them at rates even lower than the cost of production; and there is little doubt that the Russians part with them at a loss, but are eventually remunerated by the high profits they are able to realise on teas. Kiachta and Mae-mae-Chin are the well known towns on the Russian and Chinese borders respectively, where the trade between the two countries is carried on. It is purely a barter trade; no money is allowed by the Chinese to pass. The measure of value is bricks of tea, averaging about 3 lbs. in weight; and the chief staple of exchange on the side of the Russians is cloth. Tea is the principal article given by the Chinese, of which it is calculated that 18,000,000 lbs., of the value of 5,300,000 dollars, are taken by the Russians. The Russians have of late begun to ship teas from the eastern part of China, and taking in the tea sent through Europe, they receive about 2,000,000 lbs. by water; so that their total consumption may be put at about 20 millions of lbs., and is rapidly increasing. It is a disputed point whether the Russian caravan tea is the same kind as that we drink, or whether its undoubtedly superior quality arises from the land journey. Mr. Parkes thinks that the tea is the same, but Mr. Hill was told at Kiachta that it came from different provinces. (Hill’s ‘Siberia,’ vol. i. 1854.) Kiachta is 4000 miles from Moscow, and 1000 from Pekin. The cost of transport of tea from Kiachta to Moscow is computed at 40l. a ton, or 4¼d. per lb.; Chinese transport is 3¼d. per lb.; total cost of transport per lb., 7½d.; cost of water transport from China to Russia, 2½d. Price of best tea in Russia, 2l. 2s. per lb., which appears enormous to us in England.—(See Parkes’ Rep., Journal of R. Geog. Soc., vol. xxiv. p. 306.) The Russian estimate of the value of the cloth exported to China is about 400,000l., and total exports to China, 850,177l.—See Blue Book, p. 57.