|1888 ..| 5,592 | 7,882| 6,174 | 2,607| 6,280| 2,368 | 2,158 | 32,961|
|1884 | | | | | | | | |
|(1st | | | | | | | | |
|quar.) | 1,367 | 2,261| 2,942 | 908| 2,186| 429 | 677 | 10,670|
| +-------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+--------+-------+
| |35,741 |39,679|23,867 |14,440| 52,930| 4,591 | 6,544 |177,795|
+-------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+--------+-------+

But the chart resources of the British Admiralty, great as they are,
do not suffice to meet the requirements of the smaller class ships of
the mercantile marine of Great Britain. There are three commercial
firms in London who publish special charts, based, however, on
admiralty documents, to satisfy this demand. On inquiry I found that
these firms publish 640 charts, which, from their large size, require
about 930 copper plates. I am not able to furnish the number of charts
sold by these firms, but it is large.

Supplementary to the Admiralty Charts, there are 51 volumes of Sailing
Directions. Several of these volumes exceed 500 pages, and have passed
through several editions. Private commercial firms also, in addition
to their charts, publish directions for many parts of the globe. These
include regions with which the Admiralty have not yet, notwithstanding
great diligence, been able to deal.

The annual sales of nautical almanacs for the past seven years have
been:

1877................................18,439
1878................................16,408
1879................................16,290