Geography of the British Colonies and Foreign Possessions ... Designed as a handbook to Philips' Atlas of the British Empire ... Fifth edition ... enlarged

Front matter

GEOGRAPHY OF THE BRITISH COLONIES AND FOREIGN POSSESSIONS roil THE USE OF STUDENTS IN TRAINING COLLEGES, PUPIL TEACHERS, MIDDLE-CLASS SCHOOLS, AND FOR CANDIDATES PREPARING FOR THE CIVIL SERVICE, ARMY AND NAVY, &c. DESIGNED AS A HANDBOOK TO PHILIPS' ATLAS OF THE BRITISH EMPIKE. BI REV. JOHN P. FAUNTHORPE, M.A., F.R.G.S. PRINCIPAL OF WHITELANDS COLLEGE, CHELSEA ; Author of an "Elementary Physical Atlas for Map Drawing," <4c. -fifth (Khilton, JUbistb anb Snlargcb. LONDON: GEORGE PHILIP & SON, 32 FLEET STREET LIVERPOOL: CAXTON BUILDINGS, SOUTH .IOHN STREET, AM) 45 TO 51 SOUTH CASTLE STREET. I8S6, [Entered at Stationers' HaU.J ** Colonial Empire, whose is it to be ? " asks Carlyle, writing of 17 %l. *' Shall half the world be England's, for industrial purposes, which is innocent, laudable, conformable to the Christian table at least, and other plain laws t Or shall it be Spain's, for arrogant-torpid, sham devotional purposes, contradictory to every law V — Frederick the Great, iv. 294.

" Nor should we forget the overwhelming advantages which our colonies give us in another particular. Not only were the troops of our Mediterranean stations nearer to Egypt than those of any other Power ; not only is our fleet superior to that of any other nation ; but we have also the enormous advantage of possessing all over the world depdts of coals, stores, and provisions, and rallying points in case of difficulty. When comparisons are made between the power of England and that of any other nation for war, this fact should not be lost sight of. A force despatched by us does not need to spend months in forming depdts on its lines of communication wilh the mother country ; tlie depdts exist already. The web of England is spread over the surface of the world. Wherever its tracery exists an English force can move safely, while that of a foreign enemy attempting to do so woultl soon find itself caught in the toils.

It is this and the great wet ditch surrounding our islands, which enable U3 to dispense with entangling alliances, with conscription, and with a disproportionately large army. The present successful action of England at Alexandria and on the Suez Canal shows amon<j other things the great value of our colonial empire in time of war.''* Times, August 1882. DEDICATED TO JOHN RUSKIN, MASTER OF ST. GEORGE'S GUILH, THE GREATEST TEACHER OF TO-DAY, AS A MARK OF THE A U T H 0 R's AF F ECT I 0 N".

Preface

TO FIRST EDITION. This little work is intended to serve as a handbook to thp " Atlas of the British Empire," published by Messrs. Philip & Son. It has been written with especial reference to the wants of students in training colleges, pupil teachers, the upper classes in middle-class, commercial, and other good schools, as well as those of candidates preparing for the Army and Navy, Civil Service, Oxford and Cambridge middle-class and other examinations. Some knowledge of our vast Colonial Empire is an essential of a liberal education. That Geography needs more attention than it has yet received in many schools is evident from the prize medals now offered by the Royal Geographical Society to the best prepared boys from public schools ; from the certificates offered by the Society of Arts, &c. The student will do wisely to keep the atlas constantly open before him.

The best way to master Geography is to study the map, and use the book for explanation. An Appendix of questions set at the annual Government examinations in Training Colleges is added. J. P. F.

PREFACE.

TO SECOND EDITION. That a book of this kind was needed is proved by the rapid sale of the first impression. The spread of accurate knowledge about our Colonial Empire among our working population, and the advantageous terms many parts of it offer to emigrants, will, we hope, tend to keep them under the British flag — tend to build up a mighty Federated Empire. To make the book more useful to pupil teachers, a selection of questions on the Colonies, set at the Christmas Examinations for admission into Training Colleges, has been added. A few necessary corrections have been made The Commercial Statistics and the Questions for 1873 have been added. With these exceptions, the book is mainly a reprint of the first edition. J. P. F. Battersea, 1874. VI

PREFACE.

TO THIRD EDITION. Particulars on Pocotra, Fiji, Indian Canals, Commercial Statistics to the end of 1874, &c, have been added to this edition, and the Examination Questions for 1874-6. J. P. F. Whitelands, 1877.

PREFACE.

TO FOURTH EDITION. Particulars on Cyprus, the Transvaal, &c, have been added, the Com mercial Statistics brought down to the latest possible period, and the Examination Questions for 1877-80. J. P. F. }Vhitelands, 1881.

PREFACE.

TO FIFTH EDITION. Pains have been taken to bring the information up to date, so that tbe book may continue worthy the support it has already had. By the addition of a Report on Indian Railways, a full account of the Dominion Railways, an account of the various Government Stocks from the Times, definite particulars on commerce, and the newest information on the Protectorates in Africa and New Guinea, an attempt has been made to shew the student how wide-reaching and important is a knowledge of the Colonial Empire of his Queen. J. P. F. Whitelands, 1886. TABLF OF CONTENTS. PAOB PllEFACES ......... y Introduction ........ 1 I. British Possessions in Europe — 1. Heligoland ....... 8 2. Gibraltar ....... 9 3. Maltese Islands ....... 10 4. Channel Islands . . . . . . .11 5. Cyprus .... . ... 12 II.

British Possessions in Asia 1. India or Hindostan ... . 16 1. Bengal ..... .48 2. North-West Provinces . 48 3. Central Provinces ... ■ . . 49 4. Oude ....... 50 5. Punjaub . ...... 51 6. British Burmah ... . . . .52 7. Madras ....... 53 8. Bombay ....... 54 9. Assam ...... .55 a. Berars . . ..... 56 b. Mysore ....... 57 c. Rajpootana ..... 57 d. Central India ...... 57 e. Hyderabad . ..... 58 /. Foreign Possessions in India .... 58 2. Other Possessions— 1. Ceylon ....... 65 2. Aden .67 3. Hong-Kong, &e. ...... 67 4. Labuan ....... 68 5. Straits Settlements ..... 69 III. British Colonies and Possessions in Africa — 1. Cape Colony ....... 71 2. Natal 82 3. Griqua Land (West) 87 4. Transvaal ....... 88 5. Basutoland ....... 89 6. Territories in Kaffrari-i, &c. . . . . .89 7. The Bechuana Land Protectorate .... 90 8.

West African Settlements— j a. Sierra Leone . ... 90 \b. Gambia 91 c. Gold Coast Colony, Lagos, and adjacent Protectorates . 92 d. The Niger Protectorate ..... CONTENTS. Sa. Islands West of Africa — a. S. Helena . . . . . . 94 b. A*censiou ....... y5 9. Islands east ol Africa — a. Mauritius and its Dependencies— ... 96 1 1. Seychelles ...... !'7 J 2. Amirantes . . . . . ,97 ) 3. Detached Islands ..... 97 (.4- Oil Islands ..... 97 5. Socotra ...... 97 IV. British Colonies and Possessions in America — A. Dominion of Canada . . . . . .100 1. Nova Scotia and Cape Breton . . . .119 2. New Brunswick . . . . . .120 3. Quebec ....... 121 4. Ontario . . . . . . .122 5. Manitoba ....... 123 6. North-West Territory . . . . .IJl 7. Britisli Columbia and Vancouver Island . . . 124 8. Prince Edward Island ..... 125 Newfoundland ...... 127 B. Other Possessions in ob near North America — 1, Bermudas . . . . . . .131 2.

Honduras ....... 132 C. West Indies — 1. Jamaica (Greater Antilles) ..... 136 2. Leeward Islands . . . . . .138 1. Antigua and Barbuda ..... 138 2. Montserrat . . . , . .139 3. S. Kitts and Anguilla ..... 139 4. Nevis . . . . .. . .140 5. Dominica . . . . . . .140 6. Virgin Islands . . . . . 1 10 3. Windward Islands . .... 141 1. Barbadoes ...... 141 2. S. Lucia . . . . , . .142 3. S. Vincent .... .143 4. Grenada . . . . . . .144 5. Tobago ..... 1 14 4. Trinidad . . . . . , .145 5. Bahamas . . . , . f .116 D. Possessions in or hear South America— 1. British Guiana . . . . . .147 2. Falkland Islands ...... 150 V. British Colonies in Australasia — I. Australia ........ 152 1. Position, &c. , . . , . . .152 2. Physical Features ...... 154 3. Rivers and Lakes . . . . . .156 4. Climate and Productions ..... 159 Vegetable Productions , , . . .162 Animal Productions . ... 165 Mineral Productions ....

CONTENTS. IX PAOS 5. Population and Industry ..... 169 6. Political Geography ...... 175 a. Queensland . . . . . .175 b. New South Wales ..... 177 c Victoria ....... 179 d. South Australia ...... 181 e. West Australia ...... 182 7. Historical Geography ...... 183 1. General History ...... 183 2i Colonial History ...... 183 3. Explorers ...... 185 4. Gold Discoveries ...... 188 II. New Zealand — 1. Situation, Area, &c. ..... 191 2. Physical Facts ....... 191 3. Climate and Productions ...... 196 4. Population and Industry . . ... . . 198 5. Political Geography ... ... 199 6. History . . . . . . .201 III. Tasmania ........ 203 IV. Fiji ......... 207 V. New Guinea (Protectorate) ..... 209

Appendix

. Appendix L Abstract of the British Empire, 18S5 . . . 210 Appendix II. * A, List of British Colonies, with dates, &c, from the Government " Colonisation Circular " .... 211 B. List of British Colonies, with Area and Population in 1861 and 1881 from " Statistical Abstract " . . .213 C. List of British Colonies, with latest Returns on Reveuue, Expenditure, and Debt ...... 214 D. List of British Colonies, with latest Returns on Import and Export "Values ....... 216 Appendix III. (a) A complete set of Questions set at the various Government second year certificate Examinations held in the Training Colleges at Christmas, from 1858 to 1885. When the first year's paper contained questions on the Colonies belonging to the special Continent, these questions have also been given . , 218 (b) Selection of Questions set at the Entrance Examinations . . 235 Appendix IV.

Colonies that once belonged to Britain . . . 236 Appendix V. Progress of Woollen Industry, from "Times" Aug. 31, 1880 237 Appendix VI. Our Colonial Possessions .... 238 Appendix VII. A Year's Import of Bread Stuffs, and Note from the Times on the Indian and Colonial Exhibition, May, 1886 . . 239 Appendix VIII. Dioceses in Colonial Church .... 241 * These lists are not compiled from the particulars given on each colony, but from (Government documents, so that the particulars must not be expected always to Bb^because different years may be taken, ic. The lists are not to be learned, but WPIM^ for comparison. ' If two accounts are given, the sUulent will be able to whether the colony is progressing, &c. THE BKITISH COLONIES.

Chapter I. Introductory

1. The British Empire consists of Great Britain, Ireland, and the adjacent islands, together with numerous Colonies and Foreign Possessions in various parts of the globe. 2. A Colony is a settlement of people in another country, partly under the government of the mother country, and often having a subject native population — e.g., Canada, Australia, rJew Zealand. 3. A Foreign Possession, or Dependency, is a portion of a foreign country subject to the Home Government, but having few or no colonists — e.g., Gibraltar, Aden, India. 4. In the Tudor and Stuart period of our history, colonies were called Plantations. Thus Bacon has an essay "Of Plantations " (1625). After the battle of Sedgemoor (1685), numerous prisoners who escaped death in Jeffrey's Bloody Assize were transported and sold to the sugar and cotton plantations. 5.

Colonists or Emigrants. One of the best remedies for over-population is emigration, which is and has been in all time characteristic not only of every active family, but of every great nation. Emigrants become colonists when they settle down and till or cultivate the soil of their adopted country. What was true in Bacon's time is true now: "The people with whom you plant ought to be gardeners, ploughmen, labourers, smiths, carpenters, joiners, fishermen, fowlers, with some few apothecaries, surgeons, cooks, and bakers." The whole essay is well worthy the attention not only of students, but also of colonists and the governors of colonies, whether at home or abroad. In 1855, about 177,000 persons emigrated from the United Kingdom, of whom 1S,000 went to Canada and other North American Colonies, 103,000 to the United States, 53,000 to Australia and New Zealand, and the remainder elsewhere.

Various causes, such as depression of trade, strikes, &c, have contributed to increase the number ; and in 1870 about 257,000 persons emigrated — i.e., as many as the whole county of Wilts contained at the last census. Of these, 35,000 went to Canada, &c, 196,000 to the United States, 17,000 to Australia, &c, and the rest to other places. This latter number to Australia is small when compared with those who went in 1857 (62,000) and 1863 (53,000). It ought to be more generally known and acted upon, that, by the Poor-law Act of 1834, the guardians are empowered to expend any sum not exceeding £10 in aiding the emigra tion of any poor person having a settlement in any parish in the Union. A The Home Government has appointed a Board of Emigration Commissioners to look after this important duty.

The Crown Agent for the Colonies, Downing Street, will furnish, gratis, any infor mation that may be required. The most recent information on our Colonial Empire, in the most accessible form, is to be found in Whittaker's Almanack, which is published annually for a shilling. There are also officers at most of the large ports. These Commissioners issue a Colonisation Circular (Stanford), containing valuable information for intending emigrants on rates of passage, aided and other land grants, cost of food, wages, &c. Most of the Colonial Governments also maintain agencies in London, and bid high in the shape of assisted passages and land grants for industrious and respectable emigrants. Convicts are not now transported to any colony, although our noble Australian Colonies have arisen from Captain Cook's statement that Botany Bay was a suitable place for a convict establishment.

The Dutch on one occasion exported every able-bodied or young pauper, male or female, to the Cape, which was one way of solving the increasingly difficult problem of pauper ism. But, to quote Bacon again, " It is a shameful and unblessed thing to take the scum of the people to be the people with whom you plant." There is an indisposition on the part of some people to be active, and move away from their homes to better themselves, which is a French rather than an English characteristic, and probably, more general education will remove it. In the upper ranks of society it is scarcely felt. Emigration to the colonies is but removal to another part of England, as it were ; for although the sky be changed, the language, laws, literature, weights and measures, coins, &c, are not. And surely, for this reason alone, it is worth while to retain our colonies, although they cost the mother country between one and two millions sterling a year, and notwith standing that professional agitators may adduce what they consider good arguments for abandoning them. 6.

Colonisation is not a voluntary but a necessary condition of human advancement. The Greeks colonised the shores of Asia Minor, Turkey, South Italy, and even France, Spain, and Africa, before the Christian era. These colonies were, as a rule, independent of the government of the mother city that sent them forth. The Romans colonised first Italy, and then more or less the whole of the known world. We have traces of the Latin Colonia in many names, such as Cologne, Lincoln, &c. These colonies were, as a rule, planted in order to secure the subjection of con quered provinces, and they may be considered as the origin of the Feudal System, for land grants were made to colonists on condition of military service, road-making, &c. In the Middle Ages, Spain, Portugal, Holland, and France had vast colonial possessions, improperly so called ; for although they conquered various portions of the Americas, Africa, or Asia, they rarely sent out many colonists to settle, if we except the French colonists in Canada and the Dutch at the Cape.

The conquests of Spain in America, of Portugal in Brazil, Africa, and India, were mostly undertaken for the sake of the gold and silver which those countries yielded, the prosecution of the slave trade, or the monopoly of their commerce. 7, Colonisation from England may be regarded as one of the results of the Reformation. An adventurous spirit was awakened in men like Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, &c, which led them to plant colonies in America. The first permanent colony was founded at James' Town early in the seventeenth century. INTRODUCTORY. 3 After this colonising went on rapidly, and from different motives. It was almost a chance that prevented Oliver Cromwell from being one of the New England colonists or Puritan Fathers. Puritans went to escape the persecutions of James I., Laud, &c, and settled in the Northern States ; royalists and aristocrats when Cromwell held sway, and settled in Carolina, &c. ; Jacobites because they hated Hanoverians ; the Irish to escape from a land liable to potato famine, &C. S. Colonies have been obtained in various ways, as in or after war, by capture, capitulation, cession, treaty, &c. ; by actual colonisation or settlement ; by right of discovery, by purchase, &c. 9.

The uses of colonies are numerous. Those that are anxious to receive emigrants from the mother country, like the Australasian and Dominion Colonies, have uses co-extensive with emigration in its benefits on tho working-class. (1.) They afford a good home, where the surplus population of the mother country may five plentifully under the same laws, manners, customs, language, and religion, as in England. A colonist may regard him self as still a subject of the Queen. (2.) They furnish an extended market for British manufactures. To British Possessions the exports from the United Kingdom rose from £60,555,997 in 1872 to £66,441,237 in 1873, or nearly ten per cent. ; while to foreign countries they fell offZl per cent, in the same time. Total imports, mcluding bullion and specie from United Kingdom in 1882 to India, about £44,000,000 ; produce of United Kingdom £29,000,000.

Total export of produce of United Kingdom to all colonies, 1SS2, £85,000,000 ; in 1883, £S3,500,000. Total to all foreign countries, 1SS2, £156.500,000. (3.) They produce raw material — cotton, sugar, wool, preserved beef and mutton — for the home market. Others, Possessions rather than Colonies, such as Gibraltar, Malta, &c, axe of value in a naval, military, and commercial point of view. The smaller Asiatic Possessions are valuable chiefly in a commercial point of view. They afford safe harbours, coaling stations, &c, for our frigates that look after the safety of our commercial marine, keep down piracy, check slavery, &c. They may be compared to " sentry-boxes " scattered over the ocean. 10. Some are of opinion that colonies like the Australias, the Dominion, &c, having served their apprenticeship, ought now to "take their free dom."

The colonists as a rule do not think so. They are proud to remain under the British crown ; and, indeed, it is better to be a citizen of a powerful empire, able to protect its subjects anywhere, rather than of a petty state that exists on sufferance. Wise men advocate a Federated British Empire. The "Dominion" is already a Federation. The day may not be far distant when the South African Colonies — and then Aus tralia, Tasmania, and New Zealand — shall see the wisdom of forming a central Government ; after which the grand idea of a Greater Britain may be realisable. 11. Men suitable for colonists are such as know how to work hard, whether at farming, cattle-rearing, mining, &c. ; prudent men that know how to save money when they have earned it ; men of a somewhat adven turous turn of mind, able to rough it, and to turn their hand to the nearest employment.

Nearly every colony publishes a valuable Year Book,* and a ♦ The 1SSU Year Book of Victoria, pp. C95, (Trllbner.) Handbook for Intending Emigrants, which may be had on application from the agents for the colony in London, whose names, addresses, &c, and many other particulars, are given in the Colonisation Circular, issued annually by Her Majesty^ Emigration Commissioners. That for 1877 contains 581 pages, price 5s. 6d. ; that for 1884 contains 109 pages, several maps, and is sold for 6d. by Mr. Stanford, Charing Cross. See also Colonial Office List, Harrison, Pall-Mall. The great obstacle to the more rapid prosperity of many of our Colonial Possessions is want of population, especially labourers, maid-servants, and men with capital. Many of the colonies give Free or assisted passages to such emigrants, and free grants of land from twenty acres to such as pay their own passage. 12.

If the student will compare the number and extent of the British Colonies with those of every other nation, he will see that Britain has been of all nations the most successful in colonising. This may be attri buted to the greater pluck and energy of our race. But it is also to be remembered that, after the fatal attempt to tax the American Colonies, the Imperial Government never attempted to obtain any revenue from its dependencies, as Holland does now, for example, from Java. English law was introduced. Property and life were protected. Christianity has been spread by bishops, clergy, schoolmasters, &c. The colonies nave been allowed to govern themselves, and have representative institutions on the model of tho English, almost as soon as they requested them. These are some of the reasons which account for our success.

It is not contended that no mistakes have been made in British colonial government, but that, on the whole, a policy favourable to the success and development of the colonies has been pursued. " The pohey of giving each colony complete control over its own fiscal regulations, even to the extent of establishing hostile tariffs against the mother country, has already led to serious evil consequences, and may lead towards active disruption." 13. The colonies have received increasing attention as they increased in importance. In 1768 a Secretary of State for the American or Colonial Department was appointed, but the office was abolished in 1782. In 1782 the affairs of the colonies devolved on the Secretary of State for the Home Department. In 1794 a principal Secretary for War was appointed, and colonial affairs were transferred to his department in 1801.

In 1854 a fourth principal Secretary of State was added for the colonies alone. In 1858 a fifth principal Secretary was appointed for India. 14. The following is a list of Secretaries of State for the colonies :— 1854. Sir George Grey. 1855. Right Hon. Sidney Herbert. „ Lord John (afterwards Earl) Russell. „ Right Hon. Sir William Molesworth. „ Right. Hon. Henry Labouchere (Lord Taunton). 1859. Lord Stanley (Earl Derby). „ Right Hon. Sir E. B. (afterwards Lord) Lytton. „ Duke of Newcastle. 1864. Right Hon. Edward (now Viscount) Cardwell. 1866. Earl of Carnarvon. 1867. Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. INTRODUCTORY. 5 186S. Earl Granville. 1S70. Earl of Kimberly. 1873. Earl of Carnarvon. 1878. Sir M. Hicks Beach, Bart. 1S80. Earl of Kimberley. 1S85. Colonel Stanley. The office for the Emigration Commissioners is distinct from the Colonial Office. 15.

It may probably be of service to the student if the Colonial Posses sions be arranged under the reigns in wiiich they were obtained. (Cf. Map 1.) Reigns of Henry VIL, VIII., and Edward VL. 1485-1553 :— Discoveries of Cabot on Eastern shores, in right of which England claimed Newfoundland, Labrador, &c. Reign of Elizabeth, 1558-1603 :— Virginia partly settled by Raleigh. James I., 1603-1625 :— 1605, Barbadoes. 1609, Bermuda settled. 1623, New Brunswick settled. 1623, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island settled. „ S. Kitts (again in 1650). Reign of Charles I., 1625-1649 :— 1628, Nevis. 1629, Bahamas. „ Turk's Island. 1631, Gambia. 1632, Antigua and Montserrat. Reign of Commonwealth, 1649-1660 :— 1651, S. Helena. I 1655, Jamaica. Reign of Charles IL, 1660-16S5 :— 1661, Gold Coast. 1665, Virgin Islands. 1670, Honduras.

Reign of James II., 1685-16S8 :— None. „ William and Mary, 16S8-1702 :— Nona. „ Anne, 1702-1714 :— 1704, Gibraltar. „ George I., 1714-1727 :— None. George IL, 1727-1760 :— 1759, Canada capitulated. George III., 1760-1820 :— 1763, Canada ceded. „ Dominica, Tobago, Grenada, and S. Vincent. 17S7, Sierra Leone. „ New South Wales. 1796, Ceylon. 1797, Trinidad. ISOO, Malta and Gozo. 1S03, Guiana, S. Lucia, Tasmania. 1806, Cape of Good Hope. 1S10, Mauritius. 1S14, Heligoland, New Zealand. Reign of George IV., 1 820-1 S30 :— 1829, West Australia. William IV., 1830-1S37 :— 1836, South Australia, Falkland Islands. TOE BRITISH COLONIES. Reign of VICTORIA, 1S37 :— 1838, Natal. 1839, Aden. 1843, Hong-Kong, Straits Settlements. 1S46, Labuan. 1851, Victoria separated. 1859, Queensland separated. 1860, Kowloon & Lema Islands. „ British Columbia. 1861, Lagos. 1S70, Elmina and Dutch Guinea. 1871, West Griqua Land. 1875, Socotra and the Fiji Islands. 1877, The Transvaal. 1878, Cyprus. 1883, New Guinea annexed by Queensland.

Annexation disallowed by Home Government. 1S85, Bechuana Land, S. Africa, and part of New Guinea — both Protectorates. ,, Burmah conquered. England is now united by means of ocean telegraphs with all the prin cipal colonies. From the above the United States and British India aro omitted. A full account of the latter is given in its proper place. 16. The following notes on treaties having special reference to our colonies will help the student to classify colonial acquisitions : — 1667. Breda, — between England, France, Netherlands, and Denmark. The English conquests of Albany and New York were recognised. Antigua, Montserrat, and part of S. Kitts were ceded. Nova Scotia was given up to France. 1713. Utrecht, — between England, France, and Netherlands, and after ward Spain. Hudson Bay Territory, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Gib raltar, and Minorca ceded. 1748.

Aix la Chapelle, — England, France, Netherlands, Spain, and Austria. All conquests made during the war to be restored. 1763. Paris, — England, France, and Spain : — Europe. — England to have Minorca. Asia. — France to recover Pondicherry and other Indian territories. Africa. — England to acquire Senegal, and restore Goree to France. America. — England to keep Tobago, Dominica, S. Vincent, and Grenada!, but to restore S. Lucia and other islands to France, which renounced all claim to Canada, Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton. Spain to receive Florida in return for Cuba. 1783. Versailles, — England, France, Spain, and America :— Independence op United States. Europe. — England restored Minorca to Spain. Asia. — Chandernagore, Pondicherry, and Mahe to be restored to France. Holland ceded Nagapatam to England.

Africa.— England to give up Senegal, Goree, &c, but to retain Gambia and Fort James. America.— England to retain Dominica, Grenada, S. Vincent, S. Kitts, Nevis, and Montserrat, but to cede S. Lucia and Tobago to France. 1802. A miens,— England, French Empire, and Batavian Republic :— England to restore to France and her allies all conquests except Ceylon and Trinidad. Malta to be restored to the Knights of S. John. England finding that Malta was to be given to Russia, refused to evacuate the island, and war was again declared. INTRODUCTORY. 7 1814. Paris,— England, Russia, Prussia, and France : — Malta ceded to England. England to restore all the conquests she had made from France during the war, except Tobago, S. Lucia, and Mauritius. There have been several subsequent treaties affecting the British Colo nies in America made with the United States, as to boundary lines, fishing, and other rights.

It is perhaps not possible to shew the importance of our Colonial Possessions in a more satisfactory way than by giving the price of their Stock (constituting their national debt). And the student who will patiently master these few details from the Times money article of October I, 1S85, will know a good deal about British Colonies. As a standard of comparison, let it be remembered that Three per cent. Consols were at par. For the amount of the debts, see Appendix C. COLONIAL AND PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT SECURITIES. Registered and Inscribed Stocks. Authorised Issue. Securities. Closing Quotations. Business done. £4,000,000 7,407,700 3,102,300 6,000,000 3,500,000 500,000 10,267,399 7,776,700 946,650 4,500,000 971,500 Canada, Dom. of, 4 per c. ) Loan, reduced 1901-1935 f C. of Good Hope, reduced } by annual draw of 1 p. c. j Do. 5 per cent. - New Zealand, 5-30, 1879-1904 Do., 10-40, 1888-1918 Quebec, Stl.

Chapter II

I. POSSESSIONS IN EUKOPE. (Map 3.) Thus the British Possessions in Europe, other than Great Britain, Ire land, and the adjacent islands, are few in number and of small extent, although for warlike and commercial purposes of vast importance. The student will not forget that the Ionian Islands — viz., Corfu, Paxo, Santa Maura, Cephalonia, and Ithaca, Zante, and Cerigo— were under British protection from the treaty of Vienna in 1814 to 1863, when they were ceded to the new King of Greece, the brother of our Princess of Wales. Calais was lost in the reign of Mary. Dunkirk was sold by Charles II. The Balearic Islands (Minorca) were lost by Admiral Byng, who, for his lack of courage, was unjustly condemned and shot. The Channel Islands are all that remain to us, not only of the appanage of our Norman duke-kings, but also of the vast conquests aud kings' marriage claims in France of our earlier Henrys and Edwards.