The cargoes of the two vessels just arrived were divided between the state and the governor, by a very just process.  The governor had one-half the proceeds for his own private use, as owner of the Rancocus, without which vessel nothing could have been done; while the state received the other moiety, in virtue of the labour of its citizens as well as in that of its right to impose duties on imports and exports.  Of the portion which went to the state, certain parts were equally divided between the colonists, for immediate use, while other parts of the cargo were placed in store, and held as a stock, to be drawn upon as occasion might arise.

The voyage, like most adventures in sandal-wood, teas, &c., in that day, had been exceedingly advantageous, and produced a most beneficent influence on the fortunes and comforts of the settlement.  A well-selected cargo of the coarse, low-priced articles most needed in such a colony, could easily have been purchased with far less than the proceeds of the cargo of tea that had been obtained at Canton, in exchange for the sandal-wood carried out; and Saunders, accordingly, had filled the holds of both vessels with such articles, besides bringing home with him a considerable amount in specie, half of which went into the public coffers, and half into the private purse of governor Woolston.  Money had been in circulation in the colony for the last twelve months; though a good deal of caution was used in suffering it to pass from hand to hand.  The disposition was to hoard; but this fresh arrival of specie gave a certain degree of confidence, and the silver circulated a great deal more freely after it was known that so considerable an amount had been brought in.

It would scarcely be in our power to enumerate the articles that were received by these arrivals; they included everything in common use among civilized men, from a grind-stone to a cart.  Groceries, too, had been brought in reasonable quantities, including teas, sugars, &c.; though these articles were not so much considered necessaries in America fifty years ago as they are to-day.  The groceries of the state as well as many other articles, were put into the hands of the merchants, who either purchased them out and out, to dispose of at retail, or who took them on commission with the same object.  From this time, therefore, regular shops existed, there being three on the Reef and one on the Peak, where nearly everything in use could be bought, and that, too, at prices that were far from being exorbitant.  The absence of import duties had a great influence on the cost of things, the state getting its receipts in kind, directly through the labour of its citizens, instead of looking to a customhouse in quest of its share for the general prosperity.