A table (Table 1) is placed at the end of this report giving, as far as is yet known, the quantities and values of some of the chief commodities imported to Bergen in the years 1907-09 with the names of the countries whence some of them were shipped. The names of the countries of origin cannot be stated. The figures are taken partly from official sources and partly from the local press.

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Coal. The following table shows the number of tons of coal imported to the principal towns in this district in 1907, 1908 and, where known, in 1909. It came almost entirely from the United Kingdom:

It will be observed that there was a considerable increase in the coal imports in 1908 at Narvik, the western terminus of the Ofoten Railway. During the year 1909 two cargoes of American coal have been shipped from Philadelphia to Narvik-chiefly bituminous coal, with a small consignment of anthracite, which has hitherto not been much in demand. The freight to Narvik is given as 5s. per ton. The bituminous coal is reported to burn well, but to require much attention in stoking, being otherwise liable to cake. Spitzbergen coal is also used in the north of Norway, both by the State railways and also by yachts and other steamers and is favourably spoken of. It has been described as "superior to the best Hartlepool coal." It seems at present impossible to fix precisely at how low a price Spitzbergen coal can be supplied at a profit. Doubtless its price has hitherto been influenced by British prices. About 5,000 tons of it were imported in 1908 to Norway. In 1909 the output was restricted by cessation of work at the British company's mines, and the quantity shipped by the American Arctic Coal Company from Spitzbergen is not yet known. I can only at present state that about 2,000 tons were landed at Trondhjem.

Import of raw materials for local trade.-The local manufactories and industries of Bergen are largely dependent on the importation of foreign raw materials. The breweries obtain their hops from Germany, British hops not being considered suitable for the descriptions of beer brewed in Bergen. The canned goods factories and other industries import tin plates, oil, &c. The fish curers procure salt from the Mediterranean countries. The shipbuilding yards, iron

foundries, shipping companies and mill owners import plates, pig iron, coal and grain for their respective industries, while the raw textiles landed at Bergen amount in value to about 200,000l. per annum.

Distribution of imports.--Bergen serves as an important distributing centre, sending supplies almost daily northwards to the North Cape, eastwards inland, southwards towards Christianssand and even to ports on the Christiania Fjord.

Connections bringing imports.-Bergen is the meeting place where frequent steamship lines from Newcastle, Hull, the Mediterranean, Rotterdam, Stettin, Hamburg, Christiania and the north of Norway may be said to converge with the railway from Christiania. Probably over half of the import trade is borne by the lines from the United Kingdom and Germany, but there would appear to be little of a reliable nature to add to my remarks above (under "Imports "), and which may be taken to illustrate further the proportion of the trade arriving by each route. The railway from Christiania is yet in its infancy, but it has already been the route for the transport from Vienna of two truck-loads of electrodes for some works to the south of Bergen as well as heavy machinery.

Exports. The following table shows the total estimated value of exports from the four ports in the district for which returns are available during the years 1906-08. The total quantities exported cannot be stated in tons. Similar returns for the year 1909 are not yet available :—

The above values do not, however, represent the exportation of Norwegian goods only. They include in the year 1908 foreign goods to the approximate value of 60,4001. from Bergen, 31,650l. from Christianssund and 105,000l. from Trondhjem, besides about 203,8301. worth of transit goods from Sweden exported via Trondhjem and already mentioned under imports. Special mention should perhaps also here be made of the exportation of iron ore from Sweden by rail via Narvik, which has been as follows in the years 1906-08

In 1908 about half this iron ore was shipped from Narvik to the Netherlands, while Germany took 375,642 tons, the United Kingdom 228,086 tons and Belgium 87,145 tons. About half the remainder went to France, the other half being divided between Sweden (re

importation) and Canada. In 1909 ore shipments from Narvik were stopped for about a month owing to strikes in Sweden.

Reverting from transit goods to the exportation of purely Norwegian articles, the countries of destination of the exports from Bergen, Christianssund, Trondhjem and Bodö cannot in all cases be stated. Of the total exports from Norway in 1908, amounting to about 13,337,7007. in value, over 38 per cent. (about 5,096,000l.) was sent to British ports and about 15 per cent. (some 2,082,000l.) to Germany, as compared with about 37 and 15 per cent. in 1907. It may, therefore, perhaps be safely assumed that in the case of Bergen no less than of the rest of Norway a predominant share of the exports was shipped to British ports.

The total values of the principal classes of Norwegian goods exported from Bergen were :

The greater part of these exports, amounting in value in 1908 to over 1,000,000l., consisted of fish or products derived from the fisheries. Fish (salted and dried), the so-called "klipfisk," form also the chief article of export from Christianssund, principally for the Spanish market. Trondhjem has a rapidly growing export trade of fish, large quantities of fresh herring being sent by rail to Germany and also in raw minerals from the adjacent copper mining districts. Copper pyrites also form the chief export from Bodö, which affords an outlet from the Sulitjelma copper district.

A table (Table 2) is placed at the end of this report giving, as far as is yet known, the quantities and values of some of the principal commodities exported from Bergen in the years 1907-09, with the names of the countries to which some of them were shipped. The actual destinations cannot be given for 1907 or 1908. For 1909, however, what is believed to be the actual countries of destination are given, owing to a new method of compiling the returns. The result is apparent in several cases. For instance, it would appear that much of the stockfish hitherto shipped to the United Kingdom was destined for re-exportation, and the tinned goods destined for the United States have seemingly hitherto been entered under Germany" or "Netherlands." The greatest change is, however, apparent under "Cod oil," where there is a large diminution in the shipments to the Netherlands, the destinations under "Other countries' in 1909 including considerable amounts to France (some 9,000 barrels),

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the United Kingdom (3,600 barrels), Belgium (4,000 barrels), the Netherlands (3,500 barrels) and Italy (3,500 barrels) instead. A new feature in the statistics is the separate mention of certain British colonies, but the amounts (chiefly tinned goods and stockfish) hardly seem large enough to be worth individual reference in this report.

Shipping. General remarks.-In Bergen, where a considerable proportion of the population is more or less directly interested in shipping, the rise or fall of this industry forms a very fair barometer to indicate the prosperity and purchasing power of the public. A declining tendency is recorded in 1909. Freights are described as having been "miserable" and the conditions demanded by charterers are said to threaten additional burdens on shipowners. The greater part of the mercantile fleet of Bergen consists of "tramp" steamers and the general over-supply of tonnage was keenly felt. There has been but little increase in Bergen-owned tonnage in 1909, but the first Norwegian tank boat for the transport of oil was acquired during the year, chiefly by Bergen capital.

British shipping.-A table (Table 3) is annexed to this report showing the number and tonnage of British vessels which entered and cleared at the port of Bergen during the year 1909.

General shipping.-Attempts have been made to obtain a reliable return showing the number and tonnage of vessels of all nationalities entered and cleared in cargo and ballast at Bergen during the year 1909. The official return of the Bergen harbour authorities, given below in the form in which it is issued, is, however, liable to be misunderstood without the explanations which follow it.

The official return runs thus:-"The port of Bergen was visited in 1909 by 16,716 vessels in all, with a total displacement of 3,440,648 tons, distributed as follows:

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Total

"Day tons."

† Register tons.

It will, however, be observed that day tons," register tons and displacement are all added up under one column. The expression day tons is explained to me thus:-Suppose a steamer of 2,000 tons has been lying at the quay for three days, the tonnage is multiplied by the number of days and the result is recorded as being a visit of three steamers, with a tonnage of 6,000 tons. The official returns are, therefore, useless for the purpose of compiling the usual Consular return of the shipping of all nationalities, and the totals given are, as they stand, apt to be misleading. Bearing in mind, however, the foregoing explanation, the following additional particulars may be given. Of the 16,562 merchant vessels figuring in the official

return, 15,579, with a tonnage of 2,550,365 tons, are described to me as having been coasting ships and 983 vessels (617,258 tons) as having been foreign ships these terms presumably meaning ships engaged in the coasting and foreign trades respectively. The latter are stated to have included :

Besides a few others. It will, however, be observed that the number of British vessels, as furnished to me in the above table, does not agree with the records of the Vice-Consulate-a discrepancy for which I am not here prepared to offer an explanation.

Grain trade. The number of vessels arriving at Bergen in the grain trade in 1909 from the Black Sea and Sea of Azov was 28 as compared with 32 in 1908 and 37 in 1907, thus showing a steady decline for the past three years. In 1909 13 of these vessels bore the British flag, while Norway, Greece and Austria-Hungary were each represented by four vessels.

Shipbuilding. Shipbuilding was dull and there was a reduction of hands employed during the summer months. Contracts were at low prices and profits accordingly small, the output being somewhat less than in 1908. At the Laxevaags Maskinværksted og Jernskibsbyggeri four vessels, totalling about 5,500 tons D.W., were built as compared with five vessels and 9,650 tons in 1908, and four others were reported as under construction at the end of 1909. The Bergens Mekaniske Værksted constructed six vessels (4,677 tons) in 1909, four other vessels being under construction there at the turn of the year.

Bergen mercantile fleet.-The net increase of the Bergen mercantile fleet of steam vessels over 400 register tons capable of employment in the foreign trade was three steamships, representing 11,575 register tons, made up by the construction or purchase of 11 vessels (24,942 tons) and the loss or sale of eight vessels (13,367 tons). At the end of the year 1909 the number and tonnage of such vessels registered in Bergen was altogether 226 steamships, representing 378,979 register tons, exclusive of seven other steamships, over 400 tons, and amounting together to 3,229 register tons, belonging to local companies. At the end of 1909 there were eight steamships under construction for Bergen owners, representing about 13,250 register tons, including two vessels in the United Kingdom, of about 1,500 and 5,320 tons respectively. Of smaller steamers (between 200 and 400 tons), 23, representing 6,070 register tons, are registered in Bergen, about half of them being fjord steamers. The Bergen sailing fleet of vessels over 500 tons consists of only five ships, amounting to 7,239 register tons, besides a three-masted motor schooner, of 208 register tons, built in 1908. Freights. The total number of Norwegian vessels employed in foreign trade in 1908 is stated to have been 969 steamships of 809,754 tons net and 1,010 sailing vessels of 638,166 tons net, together 1,979 vessels of 1,447,920 tons. Their net freight earned is estimated at

T