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The fact is, the siege as far as regards the Parisians has been as yet like hunting all the pleasure of war, with one per cent. of the danger; and so long as they can help it they have no intention to increase that per-centage. As for the 1,500 cannon, they have not yet been made; but many of them have already been named.

Although these rates of duty may be considered high enough, they are in reality very much more than that per-centage, because the duty is charged by the authorities on a very high fixed valuation, or on the ad valorem principle, which actually is equivalent to increasing the rates of duty, were that only charged upon the actual market price.

The comprador has no fixed salary, but receives a stated per-centage upon all business transactions: his per-centage upon the household expenses is not fixed, but is not on that account less certain. On the whole, these compradors are very trustworthy. They pay down a certain sum, as caution-money, to some mandarin, and the latter answers for them.

Ten yards of cloth will purchase in Germany a quantity of linen greater than in England by a per-centage equal to the entire cost of conveyance both of the cloth to Germany and of the linen to England. The money-price of linen will be higher in England than in Germany, by the cost of carriage of the linen.

The shipper pays the master a per-centage on the sum transmitted; and instances of fraud on the part of the latter are extremely rare. A boy about fourteen years of age whom I had as a servant in my house at Singapore, used to ask me for a month's wages in advance, to send to his mother in Macao. Hundreds of similar instances might be adduced.

There are three chief considerations which affect the force with which the attraction of a large city acts upon rural districts. The first is distance. By far the largest quantity of new-comers into London are natives of Middlesex, Kent, Bucks, and what are known as "the home counties." As we pass further North and West, the per-centage gradually though not quite regularly declines.

The main attraction of the town is the plaza, where all the business, such as marketing, etc., is carried on. It is here that the stores are located; and, on a fête day, or in business hours, it is thronged with Mexicans, Americans, and Indians. Among these there is a large per-centage of idlers. The houses are mostly covered with a white material, which is either chalk or lime.

If linen is sold in England at a higher price than in Germany, by a per-centage equal to the cost of carriage of the linen, it appears obvious that England pays for the carriage of the linen, and Germany, by parity of reason, for that of the cloth.

On the contrary, between 1871 and 1901 we lost considerably by emigration. Even London, the centre of attraction to foreigners, does not contain nearly so large a per-centage of foreigners as any other great capital. The census gave 3 per cent. as the proportion of foreigners, excluding those born in England of foreign parents.

But what is really the per-centage of pure sulphur on the rough masses of the mines is not ascertained; nor is the quality precisely known, except that of the Harouj mountain. Accurate information could only be procured by despatching a trustworthy Sicilian miner to make a report.