AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, Cape Town, W. J. Anderson; PERU, Port Elizabeth, J. C. Kemsley. An island situated in the Indian Ocean, off the southern extremity of Hindostan; lying between 5° 55′ and 9° 51' N. lat., and 79° 41' and 81° 54' E. long. its extreme length from north to south, i.e., from Point Palmyra to Dondera Head, is 266 miles; its greatest width 140 miles, from Colombo on the west coast, to Sangemankande on the east. The climate for a tropical country is comparatively healthy; the heat in the plains, which is nearly the same throughout the year, being much less oppressive than in Hindostan. Along the coast the annual mean temperature is about 80° Fahr.; at Kandy, 1,665 feet above sea level, it is 76° (average of ten years); at Colombo the annual variation is from 76° to 86°; at Galle 70° to 90°, and at Trincomalee 74° to 91°. In the mountain ranges there is of course a great variety of climate, the thermometer at the hill station, Nuwara Eliya, which is some 6,000 feet above the level of the sea, falling at night as low as 32°. The great Indian epic, the Ramayana, has a chapter describing Ceylon at least ten centuries before the Christian era, but the authentic history of the island begins at the fifth century B.C., when an Aryan invasion from the Valley of the Ganges established the Sinhalese dynasty. Buddhism was introduced 306 B.C., and from that date the faith has been preserved in comparative purity, exempt from the Hindu persecutions which drove it from India. The island abounds in interesting relics of antiquity and inscriptions, which, with the written annals left by the Sinhalese kings, are of peculiar value in revising Indian chronology. The ancient government, from not having been subject to Mussulman inroads, offers at this day the most perfect example to be met with of the ancient system of Hindu Government. Ceylon was visited in early days by the Greeks, Romans, and Venetians: in 1505 the Portuguese formed settlements on the west and south of the island: in the next century they were dispossessed by the Dutch. In 1795-6 the British took possession of the Dutch settlements in the island, which were then annexed to the Presidency of Madras, but five years later, in 1801, Ceylon was constituted a separate Colony. In 1815 war was declared against the native Government of the interior; the Kandyan King was taken prisoner, and the whole island fell under the rule of the British. The Cocos or Keeling Islands were transferred to the Colony by letters patent under the Great PORTUGAL, Cape Town, E. A. de Carvalho; Port Seal of the United Kingdom. They have now, by Elizabeth, Vice-Consul, J. Simpson. RUSSIA, Cape Town, W. C. Knight. SPAIN, Cape Town, Vice-Consul, W. C. Knight. SWEDEN AND NORWAY, Cape Town, Consul-General (vacant), Vice-Consul, H. V. Lithman; East London, Vice-Consul, W. C. Jackson: Mossel Bay, Vice-Consul, J. F. Hudson; Port Elizabeth, Vice-Consul, A. L. Blackburn. TURKEY, Cape Town, H. C. Myburgh, Consul General. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Cape Town, J. W. Siler, Vice-Consul G. A. Walter; East London, Consular Agent, W. H Fuller; Grahmstown and Letters Patent dated the 1st of February, 1886, been placed under the Government of the Straits Settlement They lie between lat. 11° 50' to 12° 45' long. 96° 50' E., and contain very few inhabitants. The Maldive Archipelago, which is sparsely inhabited by a race of Sinhalese origin, speaking a broken dialect of Sinhalese, is tributary to Ceylon, to which the Sultan sends an embassy annually. The inhabitants of the Archipelago are now all followers of the Mohammedan religion, Government. By letters patent under the Great Sea', April, G 1831, a Council of Government was appointed, and by a supplementary commission to the then Governor (March, 1833) the form of Government almost as now existing was established. The Government is administered by a Governor, aided by an Executive Council of five members, viz., the Lieutenant-Governor and Colonial Secretary, the Officer Commanding the Troops, the Attorney-General, the Treasurer, and the AuditorGeneral: and a Legislative Council of 15 members, including the members of the Executive Council, four other office-holders, and six unofficial members. In the Legislative Council no vote or resolution can be passed, and no question be admitted to debate, when the object of such ordinance, resolution, or question is to dispose of or charge any part of the revenue of the Island, unless the Governor shall have first proposed such vote. For purposes of general administration, the Island is divided into seven Provinces, presided over by Government Agents, who protect the rights of the Crown and promote the welfare of the people, and, with their Assistants and subordinate Headmen, are the channel of communication between the Government and the natives. Rs.1,000,000 per annum are paid to the Imperial Government as the cost of the European garrison, the nominal strength of which is 1,092 men. The volunteer force of the Colony at the end of Dec., 1884, consisted of 760 of all ranks. Population, Area, and Statistics. The population of Ceylon was ascertained by the Census taken in 1881 to be 2,763,984, being an increase of 14.67 per cent. on the population of 1871. The number of Indian coolies on coffee estates is about 125,000. They are under no indentures, and are free to quit on giving a month's notice. The total number of plantation labourers, including coolies born and settled in Ceylon, as well as of other races, is estimated at 210,000. The area of the Colony is 24,702 square miles, or 16,233,600 acres; and rather more than one-fifth of this, after deducting backwaters, &c., is under cultivation. About 4,000 square miles in the centre form the mountain zone at an altitude of from 1,500 to 6.000 feet above the sea level. The most important productions are:- Rice, 605,000 acres; other Grain, roughly estimated at about 109,000 acres; Coffee, 122,000 acres; Tea, 93,000 acres; Cinchona, 44,000 acres ; Cocoanuts, 456,000 acres; Cinnamon, 35,000 acres ; Tobacco, 10,000 acres; Areka, Palmyrah, and other Palms, 100,000 acres. : Cacao, 12,500 acres. The upset price of Crown land is ten rupecs an acre, and forest land suitable for coffee cultivation has fetched as much as 230 rupees. The revenue is principally derived from Customs duties, land sales, a land revenue (usually onetenth of the production of grain), Licences (under which head is entered the amount realised by the sale of Arrack Rents), Salt (which is a Government monopoly), Stamps, and Railway Receipts. The statement of revenue for 1884 shows the following amounts under these heads: Customs, 2,800,270 rupees; Land Sales, 424,838; Grain Revenue, &c., 938.790; Licences, 1,464,237; Salt, 819,540; Stamps, 741,707; Railway Receipts, 2,543,166-against which should be set off Interest on Debentures, 626,006 rupees, and Working Expenses, &c., 1,881,781 rupees. The grand total-12,402,365, rupees-is exclusive of the local revenues raised by the Municipalities of Colombo, Kandy, and Galle, by the Provincial Road Committees. and by the Local Boards of Health and Improvement which have been established in the towns of Kalutara, Negombo, Matara, Puttalam, Gampola, Nuwara Eliya, Kurunégala, and Badulla. The total amount of local taxation averages 1,500,000 rupees per annum. The imports (including specie) were valued at 51,322,142 rupees, and the exports (deducting specie, 211,845 rupees) at 33,508,289 rupees, of which 32,255,216 rupees is returned for Ceylon produce, and 1,253,072 rupees for imports exported. Coffee to the value of 11,797,545 rupees, or about one-third of the total exports, passed through the Customs; the bulk of it, to the value of 9,462,4397., being shipped to England. Cinchona and tea, rated at 4,025,454 rupees and 1,435,783 rupees respectively, were exported. The aggregate tonnage of the shipping entered inwards and cleared outwards during the year was 1,758,445 and 1,752,121 tons respectively. A steady increase has manifested itself since the effect of the large Breakwater constructed at Colombo has been felt. Justice. Justice is administered by the Supreme Court, decides appeals from the inferior Courts both in which has an original criminal jurisdiction and civil and criminal cases; the Police Courts and Courts of Requests, which dispose, respectively, of trivial criminal and civil suits; and the District Courts, which have a criminal jurisdiction intermediate between that of the Supreme Court and the police Courts, and a civil jurisdiction in all cases whatsoever. In addition to these there are the Gan saháwas, or Village Councils, instituted under the Ordinance No. 26 of 1871, with powers to deal with petty offences and trifling claims. They have worked admirably, being thoroughly adapted to the genius of the people, and, besides settling a considerable amount of litigation, have provided a valuable machinery for carrying out local improvements. They are empowered to make rules, subject to the approval of the Governor and the Executive Council, relating to their village economy, and it is noticeable that in many instances they have rot only voluntarily provided school buildings and undertaken the cost of the current expenses and repairs, but have made elementary education compulsory. Education. Satisfactory progress is being made in education. The number of scholars at the end of 1884 in Government schools was 27,677, and in schools aided and inspected by Government was 59,776, and the cost 488,657 rupees, as compared with 1868, when the number was 6,879, and the expenditure 161,660 rupees. The improvement is due to the institution of a Department of public Instruction, and the adoption of the system of payments for results. Public Works. The Colombo breakwater was commenced in 1875 and is now almost complete. A single arm composed of large concrete blocks on a rubble foundation running from the shore, a distance of 4,200 feet, in a northerly direction, terminates with a slight curve. The work has cost nearly 650,0007., and has been most satisfactorily executed under the directions of Sir J. Coode, C.E. Works are being constructed for the storage and supply of water to Colombo, the estimated cost of which is 291,0007. The Government maintains 64 hospitals, 2 asylums, and 45 outdoor dispensaries, and a medi cal staff of 56 qualified medical officers, equally distributed throughout the island, at an annual cost amounting in 1884 to Rs. 496,388. In the matter of communication, great efforts have been made to keep pace with the growing requirements of the Colony. The telephone has been introduced in Colombo and the principal towns are connected by the telegraph, which is connected with the Indian telegraph system-1,151 miles are open in Ceylon. There is a railway from Colombo to Kandy (74 miles) and a branch line of 17 miles into the coffee districts. Southwards, the railway has been extended to Kalutara (27 miles from Colombo.) A railway from Kandy to Matale (17 miles) was opened for traffic on the 1st October, 1880, and the contractors have completed the construction of a line through the mountains from Nawalapitiya to Nanu Oya (42 miles.) Of metalled roads, there are 1,300 miles; of gravelled and natural roads, 885 and 622 miles; of canals, 167 miles. This is exclusive of roads within Municipal limits, and of minor roads which are not in the charge of the Department of Public Works. The cost of construction is great, and the expenses of upkeep very great owing to the heavy traffic constantly passing over the roads where railway carriage is not available, but as a rule the roads are maintained in extremely good order. Every male between the ages of 18 and 55 is bound to perform six days labour in the year on the roads, or to contribute a rupee and-a-half (two rupees in the town of Colombo) by way of commutation. The Road Committees who collect the commutation received during 1884 a revenue of 720,585 rupees; but the amount derived from this source is inconsiderable as compared with the outlay. The total expenditure on public works (not including the railway) in 1884 was 1,979,687 rupees. Miscellaneous. A department for meeting the medical wants of labourers on estates has recently been formed consisting of 21 qualified medical officers at an annual cost in 1884 of Rs. 118,614. The criminal laws of the colony have been codified on the Indian model. An ordinance has received Royal Assent by which the connection between the Government and the Ecclesiastical establishment will cease in 1886. The disastrous failure of the Oriental Bank in 1884 has led the Government to take into its own hands the issue of paper curreney. The daily average number of criminals in jail during the year 1884 was 2,673. The strength of the Police was 1,641; and the charges 582,369 rupees. Mail Communications. A fortnightly mail service is carried on by the steamers of the P. and O. Company between Ceylon and Brindisi, Venice, and intermediate ports and Bombay on one side, and Madras, Calcutta, Straits, and China on the other; also a monthly service between Ceylon and Australia. There is also a fortnightly mail service by the steamers of the M. M. Company between Ceylon, Naples, and Marseilles, and between Ceylon and Calcutta, Straits and China. The passage to Brindisi or Marseilles generally occupies from 18 to 21 days, and to Bombay, Madras, Calcutta, Singapore, and China 4 2, 6, 7, and 15 days respectively. Further facilities are afforded for communication by the British India Steam Navigation Company. Their steamers leave Colombo weekly for Bombay and Calcutta, calling at intermediate ports in India, and their fortnightly service between Calcutta and London calls at Colombo. † Ordinances No. 17 of 1869, and No. 14 of 1871. Proclamation of 10th November, 1877, and Proclamation of 9th January, 1880. § Ordinances No. 17 of 1869, and No. 14 of 1871. Cigars and snuff, the lb. Manufactured Unmanufactured and hooka, the lb. Wine, claret in bottle, the gallon ginger claret in wood Wines in bottles, except claret and ginger, sparkling, the gallon Other wines 3100 12 25 0 50 50 2 50 Wines in wood, except claret, the gallon 1 Goods, including methylated spirits and kerosine oil, at present paying 5 per cent, ad valorem duty, shall pay 6 per cent., except cotton goods, the duty on which shall remain untouched. An ad valorem duty of 6 per cent. shall be charged on the following articles:-Acid, bees-wax, blacking, boats and canoes, bran, brimstone, brushes, candles, cutch, fuller's earth, ground nuts, images and statuettes, musical instruments, mats, palmyrah, rush, and rattan matting, oils, linseed and vegetable, pitch and tar, sago, stationery, excluding paper and envelopes. Table of Exemptions.-Animals, viz., horses, mules, asses, neat cattle, and all other live stock; arecanuts, arrowroot, books and maps printed, bricks and tiles, bullion, coin, pearl oysters, pearls, and precious stones unset, *Ordinances No. 17 of 1869, and No. 14 of 1871. + Ordinance No. 39 of 1884. Ordinances No. 17 of 1869, No. 14 of 1871, and Notification of 23rd May, 1879, and Ordinance No. 8 of 1885. cardamoms, casks (empty), shooks and stave castor-seed poonac, coal, coke, and patent fuel, cocoanuts and cocoanut oil, coffee, coir yarn, rope, junks, fibre, twine, and strands, copperah, cotton wool, cowries and shells (not tortoise-shell), dammer, drawings, and drawing materials, felt, fruits (fresh, and not in any way preserved), grindstones, gunnies and gunny cloth, hay, straw, hoop-iron, hops, horns, ice, instruments (scientific), instruments (surgical), &c., jute, lime, and clay. lever cam presses, cranes, derricks, crabwinches, screw and other jacks. Forge and Foundry Machinery-Steam, tilt, lift, and pneumatic hammers; forging machines; smithy or foundry fans, blowing machines, and ironwork for reverberatory furnaces, and cupolas. Gas.-Retorts, gas mains, hydraulic mains, purifiers, condensers, gas holders, hydraulic valves, gas meters, pressure gauges. Machinery for Fibrous Substances and Textile Fabrics.-Cotton gins, openers, scutchers, lap machines, carding engines, drawingframes, slubbing-frames, rovers, throstles, self-acting mules, spinning jennies, burring machines, teazing, condensing, fibre machines, hackling machines. balling engines, spreaders, towlap or cop-winding machines, rope-machines, silk-winding, spinning, sizing, doubling, throwing, fibre machines; hand, power, and jacquard looms, knitting machines; calendars. Mill Work.-All shafting, drums, machinepulleys and belting, wall-boxes, hangers, brackets, plummer - blocks, brasses and bushes, spur, mitre, bevel, and friction gearing; geared horseworks either for horses or adapted to other animals, with all fittings and connections for transmitting power to machinery. Mining, &c.-Ore-crushing, stamping, washing and separating machinery; stone-breaking machines, and machinery for tunnels or perforating rock. Paper and Printing.-Printing and lithographic presses; type and type machinery: machinery used in the preparation and manufacture of paper. Prime Morers. Windmills, water-wheels, water-pressure engines, turbines, and other hydraulic motors; all descriptions of marine, locomotive, stationary, and portable steam engines, pneumatic, atmospheric, and magneto-electric engines, their boilers, connections, and generators, fittings, *Ordinances No. 17 of 1869, No. 14 of 1871, and Notification of 23rd May, 1879, and Ordinance No. 8 of 1885. |