The trade of Cornwall is mostly confined to the exportation of _Pilchards_, _Tin_, _and Copper_, the three great staple commodities of the county. The imports chiefly consist in groceries and bale goods, from London, Bristol, and Manchester, and coals from Wales. Large quantities of flour are also imported at Falmouth and Penryn, chiefly for the miners.—The manufactures in Cornwall are but trifling, compared with other counties. Some coarse woollen, a paper mill or two, and a carpet manufactory, is all that can be enumerated. The most important objects connected with the History of Cornwall, are its numerous _Mines_ and _Fisheries_, and which for centuries past, have given employment to nearly one half of its inhabitants, and yielded a considerable revenue to government. The _Pilchard Fisheries_, which are mostly confined to _East and West Looe_, _Polparrow_, _Fowey_, _Charles Town_, near St. Austell, _Mevagissey_, the _Creeks_ of _Falmouth Harbour_, _Mount’s Bay_, on the southern coast, and _St. Ives_, on the northern coast, generally commence in July and end in November. The Pilchard, in form and size, very much resembles the Herring, except that it is smaller, and not so flat sided. “The dorsal fin of the Pilchard,” says Dr. Maton, “is placed exactly in the centre of gravity, so that the ordinary mode of distinguishing it from the Herring, is to try whether, when taken up by the fin, it preserves an equilibrium, or not. The body of the Herring dips towards the head, and the scales are also observed to drop off, whereas those of the Pilchard adhere very closely.” They mostly arrive from the North Seas at the Islands of Scilly and Land’s End, about July, and shift their situation as the season prompts and the food allures them; but unfortunately the fish have for the last two seasons been exceedingly scarce, which has been a great loss to the fishermen. They are generally caught in large nets of a peculiar make, called _seans_, and the fishermen are directed to the shoals of fish by persons stationed on the high lands near the shore, who discover them by the colour of the water. The nets in general, are managed by _three boats_, containing 18 persons. The seans are about 220 fathoms long, 16 fathoms deep in the middle, and 14 at each end, with lead weights at the bottom and corks at the top. The cost of these seans is very great, sometimes as high as £300 each; and a _track sean_ of about 108 fathoms long and 10 deep, costs £120. The _boats_ for carrying the seans, cost about £60, and the expenses incident to the first out-fit, (including every thing that is necessary,) may be estimated from £1000 to £1200, exclusive of salt.