The sale of Admiralty charts to the public through an authorized agent, both in London and at other commercial ports in the kingdom, has been for the last seven years as follows: 

1877................................104,562
1878................................109,881
1879................................103,943
1880................................114,430
1881................................118,542
1882................................131,801
1883................................157,325

Of these numbers, about one-fifth have been purchased by the governments or agents of Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Turkey, and the United States.  The appended list, which was furnished to me by the Admiralty Chart agent during the present year, gives the more precise particulars.

+-------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+

--------+-------+
|       |       |Ger-  |United |      |       |       |        |       |
|Years. |France.|many. |States.|Italy.|Russia.|Turkey.|Austria.|Total. |
+-------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+-------+-----

---+-------+
|1877 ..| 2,039 | 5,184| 2,067 | 1,518| 11,763|       |        | 22,561|
|1878 ..| 5,741 | 3,381| 2,641 | 2,645|  5,651|       |   600  | 20,529|
|1879 ..| 3,340 | 6,425| 5,185 |   802|  9,354|       |   641  | 25,747|
|1880 ..| 5,793 | 5,280| 1,879 |   797| 10,145|   519 |   376  | 24,788|
|1881 ..| 4,418 | 3,640| 1,273 | 2,694|  3,406| 1,160 |   996  | 17,587|
|1882 ..| 7,454 | 5,656| 1,716 | 2,569|  4,245|   115 | 1,197  | 22,952|
|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.