Glass. Book E .:he BRITISH EMPIRE: A SKETCH OF THE GEOGRAPHY, GROWTH, NATURAL AND POLITICAL FEATUEES OF THE UNITED KINGDOM, ITS COLONIES AND DEPENDENCIES. CAROLINE BRAY, ATTTHOB OF ' PHYSIOLOGY FOE SCHOOLS.' Such is the world's great harmony, that springs From order, union, full consent of things ; Where small and great, where weak and mighty, made To serve, not suffer ; strengthen, not invade ; ilore powerful each as needful to the rest, And, in proportion as it blesses, blest; Draw to one point, and to one centre bring Beast, man, or angel, servant, lord, or king. Pope's Essay on Man, LONDON: LONGMAN, GREEN, LONGMAN, EOBERTS, & GEEEN. 1863. The right of translation is reserved. 1 a PREFACE. A few years ago it was suggested to me that a geographical -k was needed, which should give a more practical and miliar acquaintance with our country and its foreign pos- itions than is usually gained in English education, and .o~*\ F , simply and briefly, the connection between our political ' id social conditions and their natural causes — the origin of our laws and instit. ' Ions — of our home trades and commercial relations — and especially the process of growth by which England has made homes for her people in every quarter of the globe. Since this suggestion was made many excellent works have appeared, tending to make Geography an attractive study, by combining it largely with natural science and the history of man. The present volume is one more attempt to render instruction in this direction food for the mind, and not mere stuffing for the memory : its aim being to give true ideas with respect to the country we live in and the relations of England with her colonies and dependencies, unbiassed by mere conventional opinion or exaggerated national sentiment. A secondary aim has been to furnish for general use a book of easy reference, containing particulars hitherto dis- persed in histories, cyclopaedias, official reports, and various works not usually accessible. The works to which I have been chiefly indebted are mentioned in the course of the VI PREFACE. volume, although scarcely sufficient reference has been made to the assistance derived from Knight's English Cyclopaedia of Geography. With regard to one or two of the sections, I have received aid from friends in the collection of materials, which I gratefully acknowledge. In compressing so wide a range of subjects into limits so narrow, it has been necessary to avoid lingering over details : consequently only such lists of names and places have been given as were essential to render the work adequate as a ' Geography,' while the plan throughout has been to adhere strictly to chro- nological order in the narration of events, and to select those which stand forth most distinctly as causes of change or pro- gress. I am fully aware how bare and imperfect these brief histories and descriptive notices are, and how slight is the information given compared with the extent of the subject; but there has been satisfaction in the conviction that knowledge is seldom • dry ' when it is clear knowledge, and that there needs little garnish in the telling to render interesting the wonderful means by which an overruli / Power raises up races and nations, — nurturing their fac ties as well as their bodies from the very soil ; and peo ; es remote lands with civilised races, by stimulating the energies of man to encounter extremest peril and difficulty through the influence of motives, some merely self-interested and narrow, others the noblest that can belong to humanity, but which nevertheless unite in promoting beneficial results, wide as the world. Coventry: October 1863. CONTENTS. PAET I. PAGE GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE . . 1 PAET II. THE BRITISH ISLES. # CHAP. I. First Facts of British Geography : Latitude — Climate — Longitude — Size — Position .... 36-40 II. Physical Geography of the British Isles : Geological Character — Minerals — Nature of the Surface — Vegetation — Animals 41-73 III. Geography of the Adjacent Islands .... 74-87 IV. Eaces of Men — Languages — Eeligious Beliefs . 88-113 V. Political Divisions: Counties and County Govern- ment — Towns and Municipal Government — Ca- pital Towns — Ecclesiastical Centres — Educational Centres — Manufacturing Centres — Trading Ports — Naval Ports — Coast Towns — Spas . . 114-179 » Internal Communication : Eoads — Eailways — Canals — Post— Telegraph 180-191 VII. Constitution and Government — Eevenue — Coinage — Population 192-199 PAET III. POSSESSIONS IN EUROPE. I. Gibraltar . . . . . . .'".,. 200 II. Malta and Gozo 206 III. Heligoland 212 IV. Ionian Islands 214 a Vlll CONTENTS. PAET IV. POSSESSIONS IN ASIA. CHAP. PAGE I. India: Early History 217 II. Natural Features of India 225 III. Inhabitants of India : Languages — Keligion and Literature . 235-249 IV. British Dominion in India „ 250-262 V. Political Divisions of British India : Bengal — Bombay — Madras — Punjaub — North-West Provinces — Oude — Central Provinces — British Burmah — Native States 263-298 VI. Government, &c. of British India . . . 299 VII. Ceylon . . . . . . . ". . 302 VIII. Eastern Straits Settlements : Labuan — Aden . . 314 IX. Possessions in China: Hong-Kong and Kowtoon . 318 PAET V. POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA ... 324 I. West African Colonies: Gambia — Sierra Leone — Gold Coast — Lagos 327-339 II. South African Colonies : Cape Colony — Natal — British Kaflraria 340-351 III. St. Helena — Ascension — Mauritius — Seychelles . 352-358 PART VI. POSSESSIONS IN AMERICA. I. British North America 359-364 II. Canada 365-393 III. Nova Scotia — Cape Breton — Sable, Magdalen, Brion, and Bird Isles — New Brunswick — Prince Edward Island — Newfoundland — Bermudas . . . 394-417 IV. Hudson Bay Territory: British Columbia — Van- couver Island 418-428 CONTENTS. IX CHAP. PAGE V. West Indian Colonies : Jamaica, and the Caymanas — The Bahamas — Virgin Isles — Barbuda — St. Christopher's — Antigua — Montserrat — Dominica — Nevis — Angnilla — St. Vincent — Barbados — St. Lucia — Grenada — Tobago — Trinidad . . 429-468 VI. Settlements in Central and South America : British Honduras — British Guiana — Falkland Isles . 469-477 PAET VII. POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. I. Australia 478-486 II. Australian Colonies : New South Wales — Victoria — South Australia — West Australia — Queensland 487-509 III. Tasmania 510 IV. New Zealand 517 V. Islands in the Southern Seas : Norfolk, Chatham, and Auckland Isles — Lands of Victoria beyond the Polar Circles 529-535 Index 537-552 THE BKITISH EMPIEE. PART I. GEOWTH OF THE EMPIEE. An empire may extend itself either by conquest, by colonisa- tion, by annexation, or by treaty. Although it is by the first of these means, that of conquest, that Britain has gained many of her most important possessions, it cannot be said that the love of conquest for its own sake has made the nation great, and has caused our islands to become the centre of an empire, the largest, the most powerful, and, with the exception of the Chinese, the most populous on the face of the earth : it may rather be broadly stated, that the growth of the British Empire has been the natural consequence of the growth of the commercial spirit, and of the ever-increasing wants of an energetic people confined to a comparatively small island home. The love of adventure and the love of conquest and fresh acquisition for their own sake have doubtless had a powerful influence ; but the main impelling causes which have led to the building of our ships, and have urged our naviga- tors beyond seas, have been the increasing civilisation which has introduced more and more wants into the common life of the people, the increasing intelligence which has compassed B 2 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. the means of satisfying those wants, and the increase of the population which has made the adoption of those means a necessity. Considering, therefore, the comparatively short period in the world's history since our forefathers emerged from barbarism, we should expect to find that our acquirement of foreign territory was of recent date ; and, accordingly, such is the case ; for the whole of that which constitutes the British possessions in the other quarters of the globe has been gained within the last 300 years. Our ancestors appear to have been remarkably deficient in the roving propensities which characterise contemporary bar- barous tribes in Europe. Probably the natural advantages of the island contributed to make the Englishman specially love his home, even in those early days. ' O fortunate Britannia ! ' exclaims Eumenius, the orator of Constantine the Great, ' thee hath nature deservedly enriched with the choicest blessings of heaven and earth. Thou neither feelest the ex- cessive colds of winter, nor the scorching heats of summer. The harvests reward thy labours with so vast an increase as to supply thy tables with bread, and thy cellars with liquor. Thy woods have no savage beasts ; no serpents harbour there to hurt the traveller. Innumerable are thy herds of cattle, and the flocks of sheep which feed thee plentifully, and clothe thee richly. And as to the comforts of life, the days are long, and no night passes without some glimpse of light. 7 It is no wonder that these natural advantages which made our native isle so attractive to its Roman conquerors, although accustomed to an Italian clime, should have led to constant invasion from tribes in its closer neighbourhood ; but it is nevertheless remark- able that although England was peopled by three races of sea- rovers and pirates^ Saxons, Danes, and Normans, who brought with them old maritime habits, and a thorough familiarity with the sea, no sooner had they gained a footing in the land than they abandoned once and for ever their seafaring pro- pensities, and the mere possession of the soil seemed to convert them into Englishmen, with their proverbial love of home and country, and jealousy of foreigners. So little was the art BEGINNINGS OF COMMERCE. 3 of navigation cultivated by the Anglo-Saxons, that it is doubted whether until the time of Alfred they had constructed a single ship of war, or possessed any trading- vessels of their own. Foreign trading-vessels had sought our coasts from very remote ages, and the treasures of our tin mines had attracted hither the Phoenicians at least 1,000 years before the beginning of the present era ; but there is no dis- tinct record of foreign trade on the part of England herself until the close of the eighth century ; and the trading transactions then mentioned as being the subject mercial of a treaty between Charlemagne and OfFa, King rea y * of Mercia — the first commercial treaty on record — seem small and insignificant enough. Some English pilgrims tra- velling to Rome to visit the shrines of the apostles carried with them some articles of home manufacture, supposed to be works in gold and silver, and probably brought home in exchange commodities from the Continent. Other monks, apparently, followed their example, until so much of a trade was formed that Charlemagne found it expedient to stipulate by the above treaty that c whereas holy pilgrims bent on piety alone should be free to pass without paying toll, holy pilgrims bent on worldly profit should pay the established duties at the proper places/ The good fathers, however, found means of making their piety protect their profits^ by using their long cloaks to smuggle their goods under, and so avoided paying toll at the proper places; and the pilgrim's vocation forthwith came into much favour from this new and convenient use of the long cloak. The merit of being the first to build English ships is due to England's greatest monarch, Alfred the Great (a.d. 871), and by the time of King Athelstan, about merchant fifty years later, so much progress had been made sMps ' in navigation, and so much honour was attached to the mer- chants' trade, that it was enacted ■ that every merchant who should have made three voyages over the sea with a ship and cargo of his own, should have the rank of a thane or noble- 4 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. man.' From this time a flourishing continental commerce appears to have been established, and the wool and metals, and, it is said also, the horses and slaves of Britain, began to be largely exchanged for the silks and skins, wines, oil, ivory, and gems of the south of Europe, and probably of the far East. About this period, England was becoming a united kingdom, and instead of being a cluster of separate states, of governed by a number of independent chieftains, as had been the case since the Saxon invasion, was ren- dered subject to one crown under the strong hand of Egbert, King of Wessex (a.d. 820), and was still more consolidated under the powerful rule of Alfred and Athelstan. The Danish supremacy of Canute and his successors was again a dis- turbing element, but under William of Normandy (1066) the kingdom of England was finally based upon a firm foundation. The advent of the Norman kings added the Duchy of Nor- Channei mandy to the English crown, including the Channel isles. Isles, which have never since been alienated, and are now the only portion remaining to us of the old Norman inheritance. Ireland was the first great acquisition of the English ; and its conquest by Henry II. in 1172 was rendered Conquest + J J of Ireland, easy from its state of disunion in consequence of the warfare between the monarch and provincial rulers, and the frequent invasions of Norwegians and Danes. Hebrides, ^ n ^%§& the Hebrides were ceded to Scotland by 1266. the Norwegians. Wales had retained a kind of independence until the year Wales, 1283, when Edward I. annexed it as a principality 1283. ' to England. In 1340 the Isle of Man was finally wrested from Scotland isle of hy the Earl of Shaftesbury, in the reign of Edward Man, 1340. jjj . ^ n g] an( j an( j Scotland having possessed the island by turns since it ceased to be governed by Norwegian kings in 1264. GROWTH OF FOREIGN TRADE. 5 In 1468 the Orkney and Shetland Isles were given by Chris- tian L, King of Denmark, to James III. of Scotland, as a pledge for the payment of 50,000 florins, the a ^a eys dowry of his daughter Margaret ; but as the money ^gg lands ' was never paid, the islands have belonged to Scotland ever since. The advent of the Norman kings, which had brought an accession of French territory to the crown of England, brought also, unfortunately, a disputed claim to the French throne, which involved the two countries in a long and disastrous struggle directly adverse to the growing spirit of commerce. Meanwhile, however, the commercial spirit was receiving indirectly a new impetus by means of the Crusades ; and it is singular that the religious zeal, which, it would seem, through the trading speculations of the long-cloaked monks, had opened for us the path to continental trade, now again opened for us the path to the much richer treasures of the East. Through the intercourse between the Crusaders and the Turks and Saracens, the products of the East Indies were more exten- sively made known to the Northern Christians than they had ever been before, and their eagerness to obtain these new lux- uries soon encouraged Venetian vessels to make their appear- ance in the English Channel, bearing the spices, balms, and silks of India to our shores : in later days, the intense desire of the English to possess themselves of these treasures without the intervention of the merchants of the Mediterranean, led to that indomitable spirit of enterprise which was rewarded at last by the discovery of the south-east passage to India, and thence to our vast dominions there. The English claim to a portion of France through our Norman sovereigns lasted for nearly 500 years, and attained its maximum after the victories of Henry V., when more than half the area of modern France belonged to England : but after the siege of Orleans in 1428, we were forced step by step to relinquish our hold until the last remnant of our tenure on the continent was torn from us at the siege of Calais in 1558 ; and the British dominions were then limited to Great Britain 6 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. and Ireland, t and the Channel Isles. But the path had been . already opened to new worlds. The ardent desire discovered, of the nations of Western Europe to reach and 1492. . possess the treasures of India by some other way than the tedious and expensive overland routes which had been monopolised by the Turks, Greeks, and Italian mer- chants, had already urged forth into unknown seas such bold adventurers as Columbus, Bartolomeo Diaz, and De Gama, and at last excited a true maritime spirit in the more tardy English, to whom the credit belongs of following vigorously in the wake of others, rather than of being first discoverers and colonisers. Christopher Columbus paved the way for future discovery, not only by his own success in finding the new world of America in 1492, but by being the first to bring into prac- tical use the mariner's compass, an invention which had been introduced from the East, in 1229. Before this magical little needle was made to serve as a guide to the mariner, his method of traversing unknown seas was to keep within sight of shore, steering from headland to headland, and taking ad- vantage occasionally of a regular trade wind, the direction of which was known, in order to make a launch across the ocean ; and, considering the uncertainty of this kind of navi- gation, it is not surprising that little progress was made in the discovery of new lands. But no sooner was the trustworthi- ness of the compass fairly proved, than adventurers were found crossing the seas in all directions, with India for their bait and goal, and the rich success of Columbus for their encouragement. The object of Columbus had been to find a south-west South-east passage to the Indies ; this he failed to do, but he india ge t0 trace( i its direction, and became aware of the great 1498. barrier of land, the continent of South America, which lay between. Six years before, Bartolomeo Diaz, a Portuguese, while cruising along the west coast of Africa, for the object principally of i finding out, if possible, the land where those spices came from which the Venetians sold,' accidentally discovered the south-east passage, and doubled the Cape of PROGEESS OF DISCOVERY : SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 7 Good Hope unawares, by being driven round it during a storm ; the line of coast, which before the storm he had perceived on his left hand, having changed its direction when the storm abated. Afterwards another Portuguese, Vasco de Gama, followed in his track, and effected the first landing of the Portuguese in India, in 1498. That same year a Venetian, John Cabot, obtained J^^ ^" a grant from Henry VII. of England to make voy- ages of discovery in his name, to which Henry was liberal enough to agree, on condition that Cabot should bear all the risk and expense, and he, Henry, should have a fifth of the profit. Profits there were none to satisfy the niggardly king, but Cabot immortalised his expedition by the discovery of Newfoundland and the west coast of America. In 1517, his son, Sebastian Cabot, attempted, under Henry VIII., to find a north-west passage to India, on the supposition that the northern extremity of America formed a headland with an open sea beyond. Of course he failed; but thirty years afterwards Edward VI. made this same Sebastian Cabot governor of a company to discover a north-east passage ; and this was attempted in 1553, under the direction of Sir Hugh Willoughby, who is the first native Englishman who appears as a competitor in this field of enterprise. This north-east scheme was planned and supported by London merchants, described as ' men of great wisdom and gravity ; ' but their wisdom proved not sufficient to foresee the impracticable nature of the undertaking, and Sir Hugh Willoughby and his companions, after penetrating beyond Nova Zembla into the Arctic Ocean, perished miserably on the coast of Lapland. Through this voyage Russia, or Muscovy, first became known to England, and Queen Mary chartered a Eussian company, the agents of which made their way down the Volga to Astrakan and Bokhara, and other cities of the East.* Notwithstanding this unfortunate beginning, both English and Dutch persevered in their attempts to find the north-east * Hughes's Geography of British History. 8 GROWTH OF THE EMHKE. passage, and were encouraged to do so by the mistaken notion of the great cosmographer, ^Gerard Mercator, who believed that the north-eastern extremity of Asia formed a headland only a little beyond the point that navigators had already reached, and having rounded which they could steer direct south for Japan and China. After many failures, the north- east scheme was finally abandoned, and there then remained but two possible oceanic routes, the one round South America to the west, and the other round Africa to the east; which last had already become the beaten track of the Portuguese. In 1519, the south-west passage was also discovered by the South-west P° rtu g ues e- Fernando de Magellan, under the passage, patronage of Charles V., fitted out an expedition with the idea of reaching the Moluccas, where the finest spices grew, by sailing west. He succeeded in passing through the strait, which afterwards bore his name, entered the Pacific, and arrived at the Philippine Islands ; but here he died, and left to the commander of the vessel who succeeded him the glory of returning home by the Cape of Good Hope, and of thus being the first to accomplish the feat of sailing round the globe. In 1577, Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe by the same route in a cruising expedition, undertaken, with the connivance of Elizabeth, for the sake of intercepting and pillaging the Spanish vessels on their return home laden with Indian produce, and Sir Thomas Cavendish in 1586 per- formed the same achievement ; thus proving the practicability of the passage, and by the rich plunder they brought home from Spanish and Portuguese ships, inflaming still more the desire of the English to obtain their balms and spices, silks and precious stones, at first hand. For many hundred years past the English had been depend- ent for the products of India upon the Genoese, Venetians, and other merchants of the Mediterranean, who obtained them from the Turks, and in Elizabeth's time, the cargo of a single Venetian vessel was sufficient to supply all England for a twelvemonth : a fact less to be wondered at when it is con si- FIRST INTERCOURSE BETWEEN ENGLAND AND INDIA. 9 dered that the population of England and Wales was at that time about five millions, only about two-fifths more than that of London at the present day. But Elizabeth had the good sense to enter into a commercial treaty herself with the Turks, and so to obtain Indian goods for her subjects on more advantageous terms. To carry on this trade with Turkey, she granted, in 1581, a charter to a society of merchants called the Levant Company, who became active agents, not only for supplying England with Indian produce, but also for gaining information relative to the overland route and traffic ; two of its merchants, Fitch and Newbury, having actually visited India by the way of the Persian Gulf. Soon, however, there were symptoms of the Turkish trade declining, on account of the increasing commerce carried on by Portuguese and Spaniards by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and Elizabeth saw that, to be even with her neighbours, she too must open communication with India by the same route. Already she had entered into correspondence with the Great Mogul, and had sent a letter to the Emperor Akbar by one Leedes, a tra- veller, who made his way to the court at Delhi, and accepted service under the Mahommedan prince ; and this letter of Queen Elizabeth's was the first official communication between England and India. No sooner, however, had her intention of following in the sea-track of the Portuguese been made public than the Portuguese raised a violent opposition, claim- ing for themselves, as first comers, sole right to traffic in that direction. Elizabeth made reply ' that the sea and air are common to all men,' and, regardless of their complaints, sent out in 1582 an expedition to the East Indies under the com- mand of Mr. Edward Fenton, with these excellent instructions : ' We do straightly enjoin you that neither going, tarrying abroad, nor returning, you doe spoyle or take anything from any of the queen's majestie's friends or allies, or any Christians, without paying justly for the same ; nor that you use any manner of violence or force against any such, except in your owne defence if you shall be set upon, or otherwise be forced 10 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. for your owne safeguard to do it.' Fenton proved unequal to his task, and instead of doubling the Cape of Good Hope, floundered about in the Straits of Magellan, and, fearing an encounter with the Spaniards, returned home without any success. In 1591, a second expedition of three ships was sent out, but the scurvy attacked the crews; and one of the ships was sent home with the sick, while another was lost in a hurricane, so that only one, under James Lancaster, proceeded on the voyage. He succeeded in doubling Cape Comorin, the south point of India, and visited the Nicobar Isles, Sumatra, and the Straits of Malacca ; but unmindful of the instructions of Elizabeth, Lancaster made no effort towards lawful traffic, but established himself as a pirate and plunderer in the Indian Archipelago, cruising about or lying in wait to capture and spoil the richly-laden trading vessels from the peninsula, whether Portuguese or native. These buccaneering practices caused the English to be so hated and feared that Lancaster soon found it dangerous to stay in those seas, and no doubt they prepared the way for the opposition and difficulty experienced by the English in effecting a first settlement in India. In 1595, the Dutch entered upon the field, and conducted their first expedi- tion to India with an honesty and prudence which made them far more successful than the English. They introduced them- selves to the Portuguese and natives as peaceful and regular traders, and acted as such, and accordingly soon succeeded in establishing a Dutch East Indian trade. Their good fortune seems to have stimulated the English to try again, since in 1599 an association of London merchants presented a petition to the queen, in which it was stated that ' divers merchants induced by the successe of the viage performed by the Duche nacion, and being informed that the Dutchemen prepare for a new viage, and to that ende have bough te divers ships here in Englande, were stirred with noe lesse affecion to advaunce the trade of their native countrie than the Duche merchaunts were to benefit their commonwealthe, and upon that affecion have resolved to make a viage to the East Indies,' and pray, therefore, to be incorporated into a Company, i for that the FIRST SETTLEMENT IN THE EAST. 11 trade of the Indies being so remote, conld not be traded on but on a jointe and united stocke.' * After some delay occasioned by the fear of giving offence to Spain, Queen Elizabeth yielded her consent, and on the last day of the sixteenth century, December Company, 31st, 1599, the English East India Company re- ceived its charter, by which they were empowered to traffic with ' all the islands, ports, havens, cities, creeks, towns, and places of Asia, Africa, and America, or any of them beyond the Cape of Bono Esperanza to the Streights of Magellan, where any trade or traffic of merchandize maybe used or had,' provided that such places were not in lawful possession of any other Christian prince or state, at the time being in league and amity with the British Crown, who were not willing to ' accept of such trade.' The following year the Company started four ships on their own account, appointing Lancaster as one of the Bantam commanders. As might be expected from this choice, 1601 - their first exploit was little creditable, being the plunder of a Portuguese vessel on the coast of Guinea ; and although on their arrival at the East India islands they met with a most friendly reception from the native princes, the opposition and hostility of the Portuguese settlers were increased to the ut- most degree by Lancaster taking to his old trade of pillage amongst their merchant-vessels. Nevertheless, this first voy- age was a success, and the English established their two first factories in the East, at Bantam in Sumatra, for the pepper trade. Succeeding voyages were still more fortunate, and in 1611 the Company obtained permission from the Great gurat &c Mogul to plant their first factories f on the continent 16n - of India itself, at Surat, Ohmedabad, Cambaya, and Goza. * The meaning of company was, that the members of it alone had a right to the traffic of the prescribed territories, to the exclusion of all other traders, upon payment of certain money to the crown. f The word factory, applied in its original meaning to these East Indian establishments, signified a community of merchants or factors who had settled in a foreign country and bound themselves by certain regulations for mutual protection and defence. 12 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. Such was the first and small germ of our dominion in India, which has since grown to such amazing proportions. Our first African colonies were planted on the coast of Gambia Guinea, in the reign of James I. ; a Company hav- 1615. j n g "been chartered by Elizabeth for obtaining the tropical produce in the neighbourhood of the Gambia river. In 1641, the East India Company established their first Madras, factory on the east coast of India at Madras, and built 1641. F or t gfc # George for its defence. The island of St. Helena fell into the possession of the East St. Helena, India Company in 1651 ; the Dutch, who had pre- 1651. viously held it, having abandoned it and taken up their quarters at the Cape of Good Hope instead. The island of Bombay, which had been in the possession of Bombay, tne Portuguese, was ceded to Charles II. on his 1668 - marriage with the Infanta, Catharine of Braganza, in 1661, as part of her dowry. In 1668, Charles transferred the island to the Company in exchange for an annual rental, and Bombay thence became the chief English trading settlement on the west coast. In 1652, the English had planted a factory at the town of Calcutta H°°ghry> in Bengal, and in 1698 removed it to a 1698. small village on the bank of the Hooghly river, called Calicotta or Kallighattee, where they were permitted to buy a small piece of land, which became the site of the future capital of Calcutta, and where they erected fortifications named Fort William, after the reigning king, "William III. By the end of the seventeenth century, an event had occurred which was of no small importance in the progress of the empire. A new luxury had been introduced into English homes, and the way prepared for an enormous traffic which affords one of the most remarkable illustrations of commercial enterprise. Pepys writes in his * Diary,' Sept. 25, 1661, 'I sent for a cup of tea (a Chinese drink), of which I have never drank before ; ' and at that time tea appears to have been brought to London in small quantities from Amsterdam, through the Dutch East India Company. In 1664, the SETTLEMENT IN THE WEST. 13 English Company procured, with much difficulty, from Ban- tam, as a present for Charles II. , as large a quantity as two pounds two ounces, for which they paid 405. ; and in 1667, the first public order for its purchase was given, and the Bantam agent was ' desired to send home 100 pounds of the best tey that you can gett.' Queen Elizabeth had made a first attempt to open a direct trade with China, by sending out, in 1596, three ships with letters from herself; but the vessels were wrecked, and no commercial footing was gained in China until the Company, by slow degrees, established trade at the ports of Amoy and Ningpo, and the islands of Chusan and Formosa, and finally at Canton. In 1678, the Company imported 4,713 pounds of tea, and the leaf then first began to be an important branch of their trade. The quantity now imported, chiefly from China, is 70,000,000 pounds annually. The beginning of the seventeenth century, which saw the first growth of our empire in the East, was made memorable at home by the union of England and Scotland under one crown, through the accession of James L, in 1603. It is in the reign of James I. that the first traces begin to be visible of our empire in the West, and England's first mark upon the Western hemisphere, of which we have any record, was a rude cross of wood in the island of Barbadoes, Barbadoes, driven into the soil by some English sailors belonging 16 ° 0, to a merchant-vessel, who touched upon the then bare and uninhabited island on their way from Guinea, in 1605, and who took possession of it in the name of the king by planting this impromptu standard, and by carving upon the bark of a tree — t James, king of England, and of this island.' In the preceding reign, in 1584, Sir Walter Ealeigh had sent out, at his own expense, two small ships to explore the coast of America, and thus discovered the land that lay between the Spanish settlement of Florida (so called because it was discovered on Pasqua Florida, Palm Sunday) and the district afterwards called North Carolina. This newly-found land Queen Elizabeth named Virginia, in commemoration of 14 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. herself. Kaleigh failed in his attempt to colonise this region, although he left a few settlers — the first English settlers in America — in the isle of Eoanoke ; who, however, left it two years afterwards in Sir Francis Drake's ship. The reported excellence of the soil and climate of Virginia induced James L, in 1606, to authorise two companies, the London Adventurers, and the Plymouth and Bristol Adventurers, to plant all the American coast included between the 34th and 45th degrees of north latitude, and subsequently these two companies were united under the name of ' The Adventurers and Planters of the City of London for the first colony of Virginia ;' the whole of the territory being then divided into North and South Virginia. These Virginian plantations were thus the first of those English settlements which spread by degrees over the vast region that afterwards constituted the United States of America, and which, as they for the most part formed part of the British dominions until the year 1776, must be noticed in this sketch of the growth of the empire. The Virginian Company made but little progress with their Virginia, plantations until the government of the new province 1607, was accepted by Lord Delaware ; whose son, toge- ther with Sir George Somers and a few other noblemen, built the first town in the New World, and called it James Town, after the reigning monarch. In 1612 the English made their first settlement in the Bermudas, Bermudas. These islands had been discovered about 1612, twenty years before by Henry May, who had been wrecked on their coast, and Sir George Somers having also been wrecked upon them on his way to Virginia, gave his own name to the group, which was forthwith taken possession of by the Company. It was during the reign of James L, in 1619, that our American colonies were first used as convict settlements. The necessity for the transportation of criminals had been accumu- lating since the abolition of the monasteries in the time of Henry VIII. , when the want of all organised means for the relief of the poor, which those religious institutions had SETTLEMENT IN THE WEST. 15 formerly supplied, caused an immense increase of the criminal and vagabond classes. The first law for the punishment of criminals by banishment was passed in Elizabeth's reign, but no place was specified. In 1620 there arrived from England into the unoccupied and unplanted region north of the Virginian settle- New ments that noble band of Puritans, called the Pil- England, grim Fathers, who fled from the persecutions of Arch- bishop Laud to a free soil where they might worship in peace according to their consciences-. These 150 brethren purchased the land belonging to the Plymouth Company, and their little colony was continually reinforced by exiles who joined them from England. In ten years they had built five towns, and their territory gradually included the northern States which constitute New England, viz. Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Ehode Island, and Connecticut. In 1621 Nova Scotia was colonised by English planters. The first grant of land in it was made by James I. to his Scotch secretary, Sir William Alexander, who Scotia, gave it the name of New Scotland, or Nova Scotia. This region included the district afterwards called New Brunswick. In 1623 a settlement was first made on Newfoundland by Sir George Calvert, afterwards Lord Baltimore, and Newfound- a few Roman Catholics. Since its discovery by land ' 1623, Cabot, in 1498, the island had been merely visited for the sake of its fishery, and had been formally attached to the Crown of England by Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1583. But the French settling upon it soon after the English, the island remained disputed territory until it was finally ceded to the English by the treaty of Utrecht. Within the next ten years the islands of Nevis, the Bahamas^ Antigua, Montserrat, and St. Christopher's were acquired. In 1632 another tract of land in the New World became a refuge for a religious party who had been subjected to perse- cution at home. Charles I., who, disregarding the charter given by his father to the Virginian Company, took upon 16 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. himself to dispose of the lands included in the grant, bestowed Maryland, a large territory upon Lord Baltimore, calling it 1632, Maryland, after his queen Henrietta Maria; and accordingly Lord Baltimore took out with him to his new possession 200 papist families, and, having paid an easy price for the land to the native Indians, soon made of it a flourish- ing colony ; chiefly because his fair and honourable treatment of the natives gained their good-will and co-operation. In 1655 our most valuable possession in the West Indies, the Jamaica, island of Jamaica, was taken from the Spaniards by 3655 * a squadron of Oliver Cromwell, commanded by Admiral Penn, father of the celebrated William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania. In 1662 the Earl of Clarendon and seven other noblemen Carolina, obtained from Charles II. a grant of all the land 1662 ' lying between 31° and 36° north latitude, which had been named Carolina by some Huguenot settlers in honour of Charles IX. of France. The land was parcelled out by these proprietors amongst all who were willing to emigrate with them, and it is said that they employed the great John Locke to compose a system of laws for the govern- ment of the colony. Charles Town was built by these settlers ; but in spite of their excellent code of laws, the affairs of the colony soon fell into total confusion, owing to the disputes between the Church of England men and the Dis- senters, and constant incursions from the Indians, whom they irritated by oppression and insolence ; and the colonists were soon glad to abandon the government of the settlement, and to place it under the protection of the Crown. This territory , was in after years called South Carolina, in consequence of another colony being placed under its government, and dis- tinguished from it by the name of North Carolina. In 1664 Charles II. bestowed upon his brother James a N w Y k l ar & e re gi° n which he had obtained by conquest New from the Dutch, who, together with the Swedes, Jersey . Delaware, had first colonised it, and named it New Nether- 1664# lands. Part of this region was called New York, PKOGRESS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 17 after the Duke of York, to whom it was granted ; another part received the name of New Jersey from Sir George Cartaret who bought it of the Duke, and thus called it because he had already estates in Jersey ; another part retained its name of Delaware, which was derived from Lord Delaware, Governor of Virginia, who had first entered the bay in 1610. In 1670 a British settlement was made in Honduras, a tract of land in Central America ; and the same year Honduras the immense northern region of New Britain, com- 16 ' ' prising the countries lying around Hudson's Bay, viz. La- brador, New North and South Wales, was made a Hudson's grant of by Charles II. to a small company of nine Territories or ten persons, called the Hudson's Bay Company, 167 °* with exclusive right to trade in the furs and skins of the animals, such as beavers, otters, moose-deer, and seals, with which the land and coasts abounded. In consideration of Admiral Penn's services in the Jamaica enterprise, a grant of land in America was awarded to Pennsyi- his son by Charles II. in 1681, and accordingly Wil- vailia > 1681 - liam Penn, followed by numbers of his religious brethren of the Society of Friends, founded there the colony of Pennsylvania on the most enlightened principles of justice and benevolence ;• principles which respected the rights of the native Indians, and offered to Christians of all denominations an equal share of privileges. The name of the capital, Philadelphia, or brotherhood, which was built according to a plan of the founder, is a lasting memento of the rare and admirable policy under which this province became a flourishing State. At the beginning of the eighteenth century our affairs at home and abroad were not in so prosperous a condition as to favour the growth of the empire. The Revolution in England, which placed William, Prince of Orange, upon the throne, while it allied us with the Dutch, plunged us into a war with France, on account of the recognition by Louis XIV. of the claims of the Stuarts; and at the same time, our advocacy of the claim of the Austrian Archduke Charles to the throne of c 18 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. Spain, in opposition to the reigning monarch, Philip V., grand- son of Louis, had also arrayed against us the arms of Spain. While, therefore, the Duke of Marlborough and his Austrian ally, Prince Eugene, were keeping in check the Bourbon power on the Continent', our great naval commanders, Sir Cloudesley Shovel, Sir George Tiooke, and i Old Benbow,' were occupied in defending our coasts and maintaining the preeminence of the British flag upon the neighbouring seas. It was during the operations of a Dutch arid English expedition to assist the Arch- duke Charles in his invasion of Spain, that Sir George Eooke Gibraltar, captured the rock of Gibraltar in 1704, which pos- session was confirmed to the English at the Peace of Utrecht, in 1713. As a counterbalance to the evils xyf war near home, our American plantations were now rapidly increasing in value and importance, and the trade with these dependencies and the West India Islands already employed about 500 ships. Before we had plantations of our own, we had depended upon Spain for the 'produce of America, and Portugal Supplied us with sugar ; but now the exports from England of provisions, apparel, and household furniture, were exchanged for immense annual shipments of tobacco, sugar, ginger, cotton, indigo, cocoa, furs, wood, pitch, &c, from the American colonies, together with fish from Newfoundland, sufficient not only for our own but for continental markets. Indeed, the extent to which one of these articles, namely, tobacco, was imported from King James's pet colony of Virginia, and the readiness with which his subjects learned the use of the weed,* so alarmed the sapient monarch, that, like the fisherman in the Arabian Nights, who removed unawares the stopper from the jar, and let out the monstrous smoky genie whom he found it impossible to shut up again, he tried in vain to prevent the cultivation and importation of the seductive plant, and to save his people from a practice which ' tended to a new and general * The practice of smoking was learned by the Spaniards bf the native Americans, and thus became introduced into Europe* PROGRESS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 19 corruption of men's bodies and manners.' First, he issued his famous ' Counterblast to Tobacco,' in which he declares that 1 persons of mean and base condition do spend most of their time and consume their wages in that idle vanity, and some gentlemen bestow upon it three or four hundred pounds a year;' next he laid heavy duties on the article itself, and tried to limit its production ; but the smoking and chewing continuing, James finally made the best of it by securing the benefit of the traffic to his own revenue, and forbidding the importation of the evil drug from anywhere but his own plantations* Another plant was now beginning to be grown in the American settlements for the home market, which was destined to play a much more important part in the history of the nation ; and the low sandy islands scattered along the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida came to be the great cotton-garden of the world. Connected with the sugar pro- duce, another traffic, not so legitimate— the African slave-trade — which had first been made legal by Act of Parliament in 1698, was now in the beginning of the next century flourishing only too well ; ' much to the benefit of the nation, and of our sugar colonies/ said a writer of the time. In consequence of the formal union by Act of Parliament of England and Scotland as one kingdom of Great TJnionof Britain, in the reign of Anne, 1707, Scotland, England . . and who had no colonies nor dependencies of her own, Scotland, was made a sharer in the benefits of our foreign ' ' trade as well as in the home trade with England ; and, writes Adam Anderson, the commercial chronicler of the day, i her coarse woollen stuffs and stockings, and her more valuable linen manufactures now of many various, beautiful, and ingenious kinds, have now a prodigious vent, not only in England, but for the American plantations;' But not only with regard to trade, but also for emigration, the New World was becoming of immense advantage to us, and both the destitute and the persecuted found a refuge beyond the Atlantic. In the year 1729, more than 6^000 persons, c2 20 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. chiefly Irish, driven from their homes by scarcity and ' rack- rents,' emigrated to Pennsylvania ; and in 1732, a benevolent gentleman, General Oglethorpe, joined with some others to establish a new colony for the benefit of destitute debtors, and of foreign Protestants who sought a land of religious freedom. Georgia, This district they named Georgia, after the reigning 1782, monarch, George II. To return to the East, the war with France, besides weakening our resources and leaving little to spend on com- mercial enterprise, laid open our colonies to the harassing attacks of the French, who thus became national enemies as well as rival settlers. On the Coromandel coast a fierce struggle arose between the French and English factories for supremacy in India, in which the* native chiefs joined for the sake of courting the favour of the Europeans to whom they were respectively attached ; while the Europeans in return took up the quarrels of the native states, and thus became partisans of rival princes, as well as foes on their own account. A general state of feud ensued, which, little favourable as it was to the merchant interest at the time, aroused and deve- loped the military spirit of the English, gave them a new prestige in the eyes of the natives, and ultimately, through the genius of a Clive, introduced a new era into the history of India, by transforming a trading society of 'Adventurers,' such as the East India Company had hitherto been, into conquerors and rulers of an empire. Hitherto the British settlements in India had been held subject to the native princes on payment of custom fees, and the only territory the English actually possessed was the island of Bombay, a small strip of coast at Madras, and in Bengal the ground on which | Calcutta stood, with ten miles of land below the town on both j sides of the river Hooghly ; which last possession had been . granted by charter in 1717 by a descendant of Aurungzebe, ] the last great Mogul ruler. But now, in 1744, arrived in « Madras, as a writer in the Civil Service, a poor sickly, ! gloomy- tempered youth, named Eobert Clive, who, up to his j EMPIRE IN THE EAST. 21 present age of seventeen, had distinguished himself only as having been a boy full of mischief at school, refusing to learn with unusual pertinacity, sitting on a spout at the top of the tall spire of Market Drayton church, where no one else dared climb, and heading a rabble of vagabond boys, who were the terror and detestation of all the respectable tradespeople of the Shropshire village. This unpromising youth, who succeeded at first so ill in India, and was so wretched in himself that he twice attempted to take away his own life, was destined in after years to become the mainstay and hope of the British in India, to annihilate the power of the French, and to con- solidate our empire in the East. Eight years after he had gone out to India an obscure servant of the Company, he returned to England covered with laurels, a military hero who had captured Arcot, the capital of the Carnatic, dislodged the French, and established British supremacy in the Deccan. In 1755 he returned to India as governor of Fort St. David, .near Madras, and lieutenant-colonel in the British army. The fol- lowing year Surajah Dowla, viceroy of Bengal, attacked the fort of Calcutta for the sake of possessing himself of the trea- sures which he imagined to be concealed in the factory, and took captive a number of English who had been deserted by their governor and commander-in-chief. Then followed the hideous tragedy of the Black Hole of Calcutta; for the Surajah, in hopes of extorting information concerning the treasures, shut up the whole of his 146 prisoners in a room eighteen feet square, and in the course of that summer night all but twenty-three perished of suffocation. The avenger, how- ever, was at hand. No sooner had tidings of this deed reached Clive at Madras than he mustered his forces and set off north-eastward with the determination of deposing the viceroy and humbling his allies, the French. In this expedi- tion he was joined by a young man of twenty, named Warren Hastings, the son of a poor clergyman in Worcestershire, who had, like Clive, come out as a writer for the Company. The armies met at Plassey, Clive's army being 3,200 strong, and the viceroy's 68,000, and on June 23, 1757, Clive gained a 22 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. decisive victory, which proved to be in effect the conquest c of Bengal ; Surajah Dowla fled, and was shortly Bengal, afterwards murdered by the nabob whom Clive 1757 . . appointed in his place, and the north-east of Hin- dostan became from that time subject to the English. While hostilities between the French and English were leading to the extension of our empire in India, disputes between the rival French and English settlers in the northern States of America resulted in an immense addition to our territory in the New World. The region of Canada had belonged exclusively to the French since their first settlement there in 1608, and the vicinity of this territory to the English plantations led to such perpetual encroachments and jealousies, that at last government took up the quarrel, and war was Canada, declared. Quebec, the chief town in Canada, and 176 °* the strongest fortress in America, fell before the assault of General Wolfe, and Canada became ours in 1760. In the course of the war, Prince Edward's Island, in the Gulf prince of St. Lawrence, had been taken from the French, mlX'L and was formall y ceded to the English in 1763. 1763. This island had been discovered by Cabot in 1497, on St. John's Day, and was therefore at first called St. John's Island ; but it received its present name in 1799, in honour of her present Majesty's father, Edward, Duke of Kent. The same year of 1763 the islands of St. Vincent, Grenada, Tobago, and Dominica were added to our possessions. Sixteen years after the conquest of Canada, the old American colonies were lost to the British crown; and on June 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed by the representa- tives of the thirteen States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Ehode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Vir- ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, by which these States withdrew from their allegiance to Great Britain, and constituted themselves the free and independent United States of America. As a counterbalance to this loss, British dominion was fast EMPIEE IN THE EAST. 23 extending in the East. In India, after the retirement of Lord Clive, in 1772, Warren Hastings was appointed the first Governor -General of Bengal, and during his administration strengthened and consolidated the empire that Clive had originated. In 1775 the Benares province in Allahabad was ceded to the Company by the Yizier of Oude in Benares, return for aid rendered him against the chief of the m5m Eohillas ; but the most notable events during the government of Mr. Hastings were the expulsion of the French from their presidency of Pondicherry and remaining settlements, and the subjugation of the usurping Moslem ruler of the Mysore, Hyder Ali ; who, although at one time an ally of the English, had become their most formidable and troublesome enemy, in consequence of their having broken faith with him, and refused him the military aid which they had promised. A long struggle between this prince and his French supporters on the one side, and Warren Hastings with his British troops and Bengal sepoys on the other, at last terminated fortunately for the English by the death of Hyder Ali and the G-untoor retreat of his son Tippoo Saib ; and the actual ^ cars additions to the territories of the Company were 1778 - Guntoor and the Circars in Southern India. In 1786, the East India Company purchased, for the sake of its excellent harbour, the island of Pulo-Penang on Penang the Malay Peninsula. It was in the possession of 1786 - an Englishman, Captain Lighte, who had married the daughter of the King of Keddah, and received the island as a marriage- portion. The island afterwards became important as the seat of British government in the Malaccas. And now fresh regions were about to open before us, and those mysterious unexplored lands on the opposite side of the globe — the Terra Australis of the old navigators — were soon to be closely linked with our island, and peopled by our coun- trymen, across a distance of 15,000 miles. The year 1770 is memorable as being that in which Captain Cook first planted the British flag upon this largest island in the w^orld, or rather 24 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE, the fifth great division of land on the globe — the New Holland of its first discoverers, the Dutch — the Australia of the pre- sent day ; and took possession of the eastern coast Wales, in the name of the king, George III., calling it New South Wales. The spot on which Captain Cook first landed so abounded with new species of wild flowers that he named it Botany Bay, and sailing a little farther northwards he passed by a small port, which he named Port Jackson, after the sailor who was on the look-out at the time, and first noticed it. Seventeen years afterwards the spot was selected as a suitable one for a penal settlement, since, by the separation of the United States, the American plantations had been lost as a place of transportation for English convicts ; and accord- ingly, in 1787, Captain Arthur Phillip, first governor of New South Wales, took out with him 800 convicts, who, from being the refuse of our gaols and worse than useless at home, be- came in that new land, under compulsion and necessity, culti- vators of the stubborn soil, and clearers of the thick untrodden forest, and thus prepared the way for the future prosperous settlement of Sydney, which has now superseded the old penal colony. The following year a first detachment of con- t victs from Port Jackson was sent by Governor Phil- isiand, lip to Norfolk Island, an uninhabited island about 500 miles east of Australia, in the South Pacific Ocean, discovered by Captain Cook in 1774. This island became the severest penal colony of Great Britain. In 1787, an interesting experiment at colonisation was made Sierra on the west coast of Africa, by a society of London 1787. ' philanthropists, who wished to prove that colonial produce could be obtained without slave labour, and who se- lected the Cape of Sierra Leone for their benevolent enterprise. In 1797, the island of Trinidad, off the north coast of Trinidad South America, was taken by the English from the 1797 - Spaniards, who had colonised it ten years after its discovery by Columbus in 1498. In India, Lord Cornwallis had succeeded Warren Hastings as Governor- General in 1786, and under his administration PROGKESS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 25 Tippoo Saib was subdued, and nearly half of his dominions in the Mysore ceded to the British. Lord Wellesley, who became Governor- General in 1799, completed the conquest Mysore> in the Mysore that Lord Corn wa] lis had begun, by 1799 - the capture of the chief town, the fortress of Seringapatam. During the siege, Tippoo, or the ' Tiger,' was killed, and in this action a young colonel distinguished himself as commander of a native troop, namely, Arthur Wellesley, brother of the Governor-General, and the future Duke of Wellington. The first acquisition of this nineteenth century was the island of Malta. On his way to Egypt, Buonaparte Malta> had seized the place and left it under guard of a 18u0 - French garrison ; but the Maltese solicited the aid of Lord Nelson and the Neapolitans to release them from the French yoke, and the garrison surrendered to the British troops in 1800. Possession of the island, together with the adjacent rock of Gozo, was confirmed to us at the Peace of Paris, 1814. In 1803, the first British settlement was made in Van Die- men's Land, or Tasmania. The island was dis- Tasman i a covered, in 1642, by Abel Janssen Tasman, a 1803 - Dutchman, who was employed by Anthony Yan Diemen, go- vernor of the Dutch East India Company, to ascertain the extent of the Australian continent, and it was supposed to form part of the mainland until 1798, when Mr. Bass, a ship sur- geon, and Lieutenant Flinders, discovered its insularity, and reported so favourably of the climate and produce that the Governor of New South Wales determined to draft off there some of the convicts from Sydney Cove, where provisions were scarce. Accordingly, Lieutenant Bowen, with a guard of sol- diers, conveyed a band of convicts to the south-east coast, in 1803, and the following year a penal colony was established at Hobart Town ; so named in honour of Lord Ilobart, Secretary of State for the Colonies. In the same year, the small island of St. Lucia, one of the Caribbean group in the West Indies, was finally taken gt Lucia from the French, after the possession of it had been 1803 - 26 GBOWTH OF THE EMPIRE. disputed between French and English for more than a century and a half; and also in this year the English obtained permanent B iti h possession of their only settlement in South America, Guiana, viz. the Dutch colonies of Demerara, Berbice, and Essequibo in Guiana. With regard to India, the opening century found the Eng- lish in the midst of warfare with the Mahrattas, a wild and predatory race of uncertain origin, who had risen into import- ance from having received a grant of land in the Carnatic from the Eajah of Bejapore, and who disturbed the peace of Central India by the constant feuds they originated. These Mahratta chiefs were by turns the allies of French and English, or the foes of either, as best served their purpose, and at this time they were in league with the French, and their regiments were commanded by French officers. After a severe struggle, the war with these tribes was brought to a favourable termi- nation, owing to the political sagacity of the Marquis Wellesley Delhi &c. an ^ the generalship of Sir Arthur Wellesley, and the 1803. whole region was conquered from the Ganges to the Jumna, including the ancient imperial city of Delhi, the seat of the Mogul sovereigns; who henceforth became subject to, and under the protection of, the British, under the title of kings of Delhi. Besides this territory in the north, Cuttack, Juggernaut, Balasore in Southern India, and several Mahratta districts, were acquired between the years 1803 and 1805. In 1806, the Cape of Good Hope was taken by the English Cape of from the Dutch, who had first colonised it and founded 1806. ° Pe the capital, Cape Town, about the year 1640. In 1807 the English took from the Danes the rock of Heli- 1807. goland at the mouth of the Elbe, and during the continental war, when Buonaparte attempted to exclude British goods from the continent, it became serviceable to England as a depot for merchandise. It is now useful to us as a naval station, and summer bathing-place. The Dutch had made a settlement in the Indian Ocean Mauritius, upon an island which they named Mauritius, after 1810 ' Maurice, the stadtholder of the Netherlands. This AUSTRALIAN SETTLEMENT. 27 island fell into the hands of the French in 1715, and was taken from them by the English in 1810. In 1810, the Ionian Islands, which had been in possession of the French, were taken by the English, with the Ionian exception of Corfu, which was afterwards ceded to sles ' ns at the Peace of Paris, 1814. In 1815, the British took possession of the island of Ceylon, at the invitation of the Candian chiefs, who were Ceylon, suffering under the intolerable tyranny of their 181 °' native king. A portion of the coast, Trineomalee, had already belonged to the English, having been taken by them from the Dutch in 1795. In 1819, the British made a settlement upon the island of Singapore, which lies to the south of the Malay Singapore, Peninsula, and was part of the kingdom of Jahore, 1 ' and in 1824 they purchased the sovereignty of the whole island, and placed it under the provincial government at Penang. In 1824, the town and fort of Malacca were ceded to the British by a treaty between the Governments of Malacca, Britain and the Netherlands. 1824, After a long contest with the Burmese King of Ava, the East India Company acquired, in 1827, the country of , # r J * 1 7 J Aracanand Aracan, lying on the eastern shore of the Bay of Tenasse- Bengal, and the Tenasserim Provinces, which form part of the peninsula without the Ganges, and lie on the east side of the Gulf of Martaban. Early in the year 1829, the British flag was planted on the western coast of Australia, near the entrance of w . 7 • Western Swan River, so called from the number of black Australia, swans seen there by its Dutch discoverer, Ylaming, and possession was taken in the name of King George IV. The spot being judged a favourable one for settlement by the first governor of the territory, Captain Stirling, numbers of emigrants were induced to go out, tempted by the offer of fertile land to be had in an excellent climate for little or nothing but the cost of cultivating it. The dreadful sufferings 28 GROWTH OP THE EMPIRE. of those Swan Kiver settlers, landing with their wives and children on a coast inhabited only by savages, with not a hut to shelter them, or any means of subsistence provided, have caused the Swan Eiver settlement to be remembered as one of the most unfortunate attempts at colonisation on record.. The colony, however, worked through its difficulties, and the map of Western Australia will show how rapidly since then the tide of British emigration has flowed over the surrounding districts. A few years after the settlement of the Swan River colony, attention was turned to the south of Australia, which had been officially pronounced as i barren and useless for colonisation.' A three years' drought in the neighbourhood ' of Sydney led the settlers there to consider whether the land exposed to the south winds of the Pacific might not be better supplied with rain than their own east coast, and several bold adventurers started on exploring expeditions, to ascertain the course of the streams and the nature of the country inland. One brave officer, Captain Sturt, starting from Sydney in 1829, made his way across to Encounter Bay, navigating for nearly a thousand miles in a frail boat the then unknown stream of the Murray, exposed to bands of hostile savages on the banks, and his course obstructed and imperilled continually by rapids, sand-pits, and sunken trees ; but through the severest hardships and sufferings he completed the survey he had undertaken, and reported that his ' eye had never fallen on regions of more promising aspect.' In 1835, Sir Thomas Mitchell examined the country in the same direction, and found, between the river Murray and the sea, a ' fine, open, and well- watered district ; ' and upon this the colony PMiiip, of Port Phillip, or Victoria, was established. The evidence of Captain Sturt and others, as to the rich soil and fine pasture of these new regions, led in England to the formation of a South Australian Company, under whose direction ships were despatched in 1836, conveying a large body of settlers, and also the means for colonising and sur- veying the district ; and in the course of the same year, Adelaide, the capital of the province of South Australia, SETTLEMENT IN NEW ZEALAND. 29 l| began to rise on the banks of the river Torrens, in a sheltered ! spot about seven miles inland, the rich woods and gouth : luxuriant grass of which reminded the English Australia, I emigrants of the park scenery of their own country. In 1839, Aden, an Arabian seaport on the coast of the Indian Ocean, came into British possession. The Aden, Sultan Mahmud II. had promised the place to the 1889, English, in compensation for the plunder of one of their vessels, ! which had been wrecked on the coast ; but upon his death, his son, Abdul Medjid, refusing to fulfil the compact, an English military force was forthwith despatched to the town, and captured it in January 1839. The place is chiefly useful to the English as a coal depot for Indian steamers. In 1840, Queen Victoria was formally recognised as sove- reign of New Zealand, in accordance with the L de- NewZea- liberate act and cession of the native chiefs.' The land ' 1840# island, originally discovered and named by Tasman, had been visited by Captain Cook in 1770, and taken possession of in the name of Great Britain ; and afterwards many settlers from New South Wales had frequented its shores, for the sake chiefly of the whale-fishery : but the first British settlement was formed by missionaries and their wives, who were sent out by the Church Missionary Society at the instance of the Eev. Mr. Marsden, a South Wales missionary, and of his friend and convert, Duaterra, a powerful New Zealand chief. This Duaterra, when young, had been, seized with an ardent desire to visit England and see King George, and had worked his way to the Thames in an English ship as a common sailor. The master of the vessel used him cruelly, and did not allow him even to land, and Mr. Marsden, happening to be at Spit- head, found the chief lying dangerously ill from ill-treatment and disappointment. The missionary befriended him, and took him back with him to Sydney ; and, in return, Duaterra befriended the missionaries, and enabled them to form a settlement in the Bay of Islands, on the east coast of New Zealand, in 1815. The missionaries, however, were much annoyed by the crews of the English, American, and French 30 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. whalers who visited the coast, as well as by runaway convicts from Sydney and Van Diemen's Land ; and what they regarded more, the natives were molested in the most atrocious manner by these Europeans of the lowest class who thus infested the island ; they, therefore, induced thfe New Zealand chiefs to seek the protection of the King of England ; an additional motive for this step being the fear lest the French or any other foreign power should assume the sovereignty of the island. Accordingly, thirteen chiefs signed an address to the ' great chief on the other side of the water,' King William IV., praying him i to be angry with any of his own people who should be troublesome or vicious towards them,' and i to be the friend and guardian of our island, lest the teasing of other tribes come near to us, and lest strangers (alluding to the French) should come and take away our land.' The response to their petition was that a British Resident was appointed for the protection of the natives and the administration of justice, at the same time that the independence of the New Zealand chiefs was to be respected and preserved* In 1840, a confederation of chiefs, assembled in congress at Waitangi, yielded to the Queen of England absolute dominion over their territories, with the right of first purchase over any lands that they might wish to dispose of; in return for her royal protec- tion, the undisturbed possession of their estates, their forests, and their fisheries, and a participation in all the rights and privileges of British subjects. In the same year, a charter was granted for the erection of the Colony of New Zealand, and the principal islands of the group were declared to be henceforth designated as New Ulster, New Munster, and New Leinster. In 1842;, the Falkland Isles, a group in the South Atlantic, Falkland were first colonised by the British. The British flag isles, 1842. nac [ been first hoisted there by Commodore Byron in 1764, and in 1842 a regular colony was formed thereby order of the Government. During the years 1842-43, our first and only possession was Hon gained in the Celestial Empire, and the island of kong, 1843. Hong-kohg or Victoria, long the seat of British trade PKOGRESS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 31 with China, became ours by treaty after a series of hostilities connected with the opium trade. In 1843, the province of Sinde, in the north-west of India, was annexed to the territory of the East India Com- sinde pany. The province had been made a dependency 1843 - of the British by treaty with its princes, or Ameers, but the Ameers having broken some of its conditions, the subjugation of the province was intrusted to Sir Charles Napier, who accomplished it by the conquest of Hyderabad, the capital, in 1843. In 1845, the colony of Natal, on the south-east coast of Africa, was established by the British Government. Natal The settlement owed its origin to some Dutch farm- 1843 - ers who had emigrated from the Cape in 1836, and who, after bravely defending their position against the treachery and attacks of the native Zulus, proclaimed themselves an inde- pendent republic. The British Government, however, refused to acknowledge their claim-, and troops were sent by Sir George Napier, the Governor of the Cape, who, after a hard contest, compelled the Dutch to surrender the place and submit to British rule. In 1846, the small island of Labuan, on the north-west coast of Borneo, was formally ceded to Britain by a L < abuan treaty with the Sultan of Borneo, obtained through the 1846 - influence of His Excellency James Brooke, Eajah of Sarawak. The island is valuable as possessing coal, and being important, therefore, to our steam- navigation in the eastern seas. In 1846, Vancouver's Island, lying off the west coast of North America, was ceded to England by the treaty vancou- of Oregon, which determined the boundary of the J^Ad- United States and British North America. The 1846 - island was first discovered in 1790, by Captain Vancouver, a midshipman of Captain Cook's. In 1849, the Government consigned the island to the Hudson's Bay Company, on con- dition that they should colonise it. The Auckland Isles, an uninhabited group in the South Pacific, about 500 miles south-east of Van Diemen's Au^a^ Land, were granted by Government in 1847 to the 1847 - 32 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. Messrs. Enderly in compensation for services rendered, by whom a settlement was made for the sake of the whale-fishery. In India, during the governor-generalship of Sir Henry Punjaub, Hardinge, a hostile movement on the part of the 1849. Sikhs, a tribe inhabiting the Punjaub or i country of the five rivers,' in the extreme north of India, and who had been in alliance with England since 1809, led to a series of battles which ended in the conquest and annexation of the Punjaub in 1849. p In 1852, Pegu, a province of the Burman Empire, 1852. was conquered and added to our Indian possessions. The province of Oude, a large and rich district in North India, which long had been a dependency of the British, was 0ude annexed to British territory by Lord Dalhousie in 1856. 1856, in consequence of the misgovernment of its kings. Under this and previous administrations, several minor states in India had also been annexed on various grounds, which will be noticed in their respective places. In 1859, the charter of the Hudson's Bay Company expired, and that portion of the territory called British Colum- Coiumbia, bia, which lies beyond the Rocky Mountains on the west coast of America, having become suddenly of importance through the discovery of gold-diggings on the Frazer River in 1858, was erected into a separate colony, to- gether with the neighbouring island of Vancouver. A large district on the south-east coast of Africa, inhabited by Kafir tribes, and which had been for some years Kaffraria, under the protection of England, was erected into a British colony in 1860, under the government of Cape Colony. In 1862, the King of Lagos, a small island off the Slave Lagos Coast on the west of Africa, made a voluntary cession 1862. f his kingdom to Queen Victoria in return for a pension of 1,000/. per annum ; and an English settlement has been planted there, chiefly for the prevention of the slave- trade on the adjacent coast. EXTENT OF THE EMPIRE. 33 It will be seen from the foregoing sketch that by far the greater part of our foreign possessions have been gained by conquest and cession, and that comparatively few have been, 1 strictly speaking, colonised from Great Britain — that is, planted and occupied by British settlers in the first instance. Thus, I Lower Canada, Malta, Mauritius, and several of the West India isles, were taken from the French ; Jamaica, Trinidad, and Gibraltar, from the Spaniards ; Ceylon, the Cape of Good I Hope, and Guiana, from the Dutch ; while New Zealand, Australia, Upper Canada, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Bermudas, and several of the West Indies, were j colonised direct from England. With regard to our Indian Empire, the vast subject territories are properly dependencies , ; of Great Britain, rather than colonies ; but recent official acts will probably have the effect of throwing open to English colo- nisation large tracts of land belonging to the Government, which have never yet been peopled, and thus one day English emigrants may be found even in India breaking the virgin soil and cultivating plantations of their own, in the tea-growing districts of Assam, or on the rich slopes of the Himalaya. The area of the British Empire is 4,369,729 square miles : its population (1861) is 224,389,000. Hence our queen reigns over nearly one-third of the land of the earth, and about a fifth of its population. Scarcely fewer than thirty native languages are spoken by her subjects : for instance — English, French, Italian, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, Greek, Persian, Arabic, Maltese, Chinese, Armenian, Hindostanee, Bengalee, Mahratti, Tamil, Telugu, Carnatica, Ooria, Sin- galese, Malay, Burmese, Hottentot, Kaffre, Negro, Maori, besides many barbarous tongues which have not been formed into written languages. In her Majesty's realm there are four great established religions, the Christian, the Brahman, the Mohammedan, the Buddhist. Of these the Christians number, at a rough estimate, 34,031,164 ; the disciples of Brahma, 50,000,000; the Mahommedans 20,000,000; the Buddhists 10,000,000. In form, feature, habits of life, and modes of thought, the British subjects exhibit as many diversities D 34 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. as can possibly exist in the members of the human family. Place side by side an Englishman, a Hindoo from British India, an Arab from Aden, a Chinese from Hong Kong, a Negro from South Africa, an Indian from North America, and a native Australian, and we shall have specimens of each of the great types of the human race. Assemble together an edu- cated Englishman and a heavy untutored Hottentot ; a lively French Canadian and a grave and bellicose red Indian ; a rice- eating Hindoo and a man-eating New Zealander ; a graceful Ionian and a lumpish Esquimaux ; and between all these subjects of one sovereign there would be as little in common as could possibly exist between inhabitants of the same planet. The Empire of Victoria is one on which the sun never sets ; and at intervals throughout the whole of our day and night the orb of light and heat is appearing above the horizon successively to societies of our countrymen on British soil. And although the dispersion of the English race among these widely differing tribes has not been an unmixed good, — oppression, corruption, and even destruction having been in many cases the consequence to the savage races of the approach of the whites, and the selfish policy of the dominant power towards the dependent nations having been the great drawback to the advantages of civilisation : yet still the great aggregate influence from the progress of England's dominion has been sun-like ; fertilising and productive to the earth itself, and diffusing the light of a higher intelligence, and the glow of a truer humanity to its inhabitants. The great value of the colonies to England herself is in the enormous impulse given by them to the commerce of the country. The exports of manufactured goods from the British Isles to the colonies are almost equal to the whole of our exports to every other part of the globe ; while, on the other hand, the colonies yield us a sure supply of luxuries and necessaries which no foreign wars or tariffs can interfere with. But, perhaps, the colonies are still more deserving of consideration as a stimulus and outlet to emigration. Our manufacturing system has created a large population in great VALUE OF THE COLONIES. 35 I towns, divorced entirely from the land, and whose occupation has induced a large predominance of the nervous at the expense j of the muscular system. A serious deterioration of the race I is the consequence, for which emigration or employment upon ; land is the direct remedy ; at war with the laws of nature, as ! the Titans of old were with the gods, they require again to be thrown upon their mother earth for the renewal of their strength. The reciprocal benefit between England and the colonies is not likely to diminish because the policy of the parent state with regard to its dependencies is less and less one of interfe- rence ; and because, while our convicts no longer crowd their shores, the constant immigration of a higher class of settlers renders them increasingly capable of governing themselves. d2 PART II. THE BRITISH ISLES. CHAPTER I. FIRST FACTS OF BRITISH GEOGRAPHY. Great Britain and Ireland are two large islands in the North Atlantic, separated from the western shores of Europe by the straits of Dover, twenty-one miles across. Dunnet Head, the most northerly point of Scotland, is in lat. 58° 42' N. ; Lizard Point in Cornwall, the most southerly headland of England, is in lat, 49° 58' N. We shall have some rational idea of what these figures mean if we observe that the south of England is thus shown to be on a level, in Europe, with the south of Belgium and the extreme north of the province of Champagne, with the finest vineyards of the Rhine, with the centre of Bohemia, and the south of Poland ; in Asia, with the cold northern slope of its central mountains; and in America, with the chilly region of Labrador and the northern extremity of Newfound- land. On the other hand, Dunnet Head in Scotland is about one degree south of Stockholm and St. Petersburg, and about one degree north of Tobolsk ; while in British America, on the banks of Lake Athabasca, in the same latitude, the mean annual temperature does not rise so high as the freezing point. But we should have a wrong idea of the comparative tern- Tempera- perature of Great Britain and Ireland if we estimated ture * it simply by the latitude. We are virtually nearer the tropics. The isothermal line, or line of average heat, winter and summer together, which passes through the south of England, traverses the northern border of the Crimea — a FIRST FACTS OF BRITISH GEOGRAPHY. 37 land of vines and camels. Nor is North Britain proportionately colder than south. The gulf-stream, with its genial warmth, approaches Scotland nearer than England, and mitigates the severity of the winter to the dwellers on both sides of the Tweed. We may be said, indeed, to occupy the most temperate part of the temperate zone. Rarely does a day, or even part of a day, occur in which outdoor or indoor work — farming or studying, for instance — is seriously hindered by the state of the temperature. The weather is very seldom an impediment to travelling at home, and our ports are never blocked up with ice so as to prevent our voyaging abroad. A slight difference in our position eastward would have increased the cold of our winter more than the same change northwards. The snowy mountains or plains of a continent to our north would, in all probability, have greatly impeded our industry, lessened our resources, and embarrassed the administration of our empire. It has been estimated that from the Orkneys down to Corn- wall, there is an increase of 1° of temperature for every 111 miles, the mean of the year being 46° in the north, and 52° at Penzance; while from east to west the increase is 1° for every 66 miles, so that while the winter temperature of Greenwich is 35°, that of Penzance is 42°.* Excepting in the spring months, the prevailing winds are westerly and loaded with vapour from the Atlantic, Climate. and on this account there are more rainy days on the west coast than on the east. In the course of the year, the average num- ber of rainy days on the west is 208, on the east 165. It is essentially a moist climate, since the annual average fall of rain over the two islands is 42 inches, being 5 inches more than the general average of the temperate zones. Thus our crops often suffer from too much wet, but seldom from drought, and our fields are usually green at the end of the summer, while those in the same latitude on the continent are parched and brown. In the south-west counties the air is so damp that fruits, * White's Walk to the Land's End. 38 THE BRITISH ISLES. such as the apricot, which will ripen farther north, will not ripen there, while the temperature is so mild that plants of warmer latitudes, such as the myrtle, will bear the winter in the open air. The difference in the degree of moisture between the east and west sides of the island is one reason why tillage prevails in the east and pasture on the west ; why more than the average of wheat is supplied from the east counties, and more than the average proportion of cattle from the west. The same cause which produces the abundance of rain, viz. the prevalence of westerly winds from the Atlantic, leads also to the formation of our numerous rivers, which for the most part originate from the warm moist winds striking against the mountain ranges on the west, and condensing against their colder surface. In longitude, England extends nearly 2° to the east of the .. , meridian of Greenwich, Ireland nearly 10° to the Longitude. 7 J m west ; the length of a degree of longitude at the latitude of London being about forty miles. Since the sun traverses 15° of longitude in the space of an hour, there is 49 minutes 27 seconds difference in the time of day at the extreme east and extreme west of the two islands. Great Britain is the largest island in Europe, and the seventh largest in the world. It measures 608 miles in Dimen- extreme length from Dunnet Head to Lizard Point ; S10ns * and in greatest breadth, from the Land's End in Cornwall to Lowestoff Ness in Suffolk, about 360 miles. Its extent of coast, including the principal openings, is more than 4,000 miles, of which Scotland has the larger share. Its area is 89,644 square miles. The area of Ireland is rather more than one-third that of Britain, viz. 32,508 square miles ; its greatest length, from Malin Head to Mizen Head, is 290 miles; its greatest breadth 175 miles. The British Isles are washed on the north and west by the Surround- Atlantic Ocean, which off the north coast of Ireland ingseas. reaches a depth of about 600 feet. Great Britain is divided from Ireland on the west by the Irish Sea, the North FIRST FACTS OF BRITISH GEOGRAPHY. 39 Channel, and St. George's Channel. It has the English Channel on the south, with a depth on the western side of about 360 feet, and the North Sea or German Ocean on the east, which is generally so shallow, that were its waters drained off, we should be at some loss to see where they could have found room to be. Except in some deep holes or i pits,' the main depth of the German Ocean is only 30 fathoms, or 180 feet — a depth attained by many lakes of moderate size. To these first facts of British geography may be traced the greater part of British wealth, vigour, and empire ; and the political importance of its mixed races has been attributable as much to geographical position as to origin. Perhaps few have duly considered the advantages of inhabit- ing an island. Some of these are, of course, obvious island enough. We are safer from our enemies ; we have structure - a large sea-coast, and are more induced, or rather obliged, to turn our attention to navigation, and thence to open commu- nication with distant lands. But there is much more in an insular position than this. If an island were merely a piece of land surrounded by water, — any chance piece of land, say part of the great flat of Holland or of Russia, put into the sea and left to its fate, — little more would have to be said about it. Indeed, little more would probably be said about it ; for, unless provided at the outset with a most industrious and intelligent and wealthy set of inhabitants, it would be no more lasting than those mimic islands which some of us may have made with sand on the sea-shore among the waves of the advancing tide. But an island is not merely a piece of land planted somewhere in the ocean ; islands are, indeed, the mountains of the sea. They must have risen above a level or depression of the surrounding bed of the ocean, or they would not be islands at all ; and being mountains, they will have a mountainous character. The rocks and soils of the earth will not lie levelly or horizontally on their surface, but will be tilted up so as to display at least some of earth's hidden trea- sures beneath ; hence even small islands are comparatively rich in variety of rocks and soils. Geologists tell us that the 40 THE BRITISH ISLES. little isle of Arran in Scotland exhibits two-thirds of all the kinds of rocks of which the earth's crust is composed ; while it is possible to travel in Russia for two thousand miles over one unvarying rock — the old red sandstone. An island, then, must possess mineral wealth. Now for this Britain was first famed, for this it was first visited, and this is still the chief source of its prosperity, influence, and empire. But in a conside- rable island, such as Britain, especially when sheltered on one side by a continent, there will probably be other features besides those of the mountains. Perhaps on the side which the ocean washes there will be only rugged rocks to resist it ; but towards the more protected quarter, softer soils will stand their ground ; and this is exactly the case with Britain. No one needs tell us on which side the islands have a fast anchorage of rocks. The very outline of Cornwall and the west of Ireland and Scot- land, with its rugged indented edges, shows as clearly a mountain district, as if we had a raised model to study instead of a flat map. On the other side, the rounded shores of Norfolk and Lincoln bespeak a less rocky and storm-beaten coast. The geographical position of the British Isles, no less than „ , J .. their island structure and climate, is favourable to Position. , . . wealth and empire. Our latitude and longitude place us in the midst of the world of men, as traders in the centre of our customers, as governors and colonists in the natural metropolis of our empire. Falmouth in Cornwall is as near as possible to the centre of the hemisphere of prevailing land, while our antipodes in New Zealand are as near to the centre of the hemisphere of prevailing sea. In future chapters it will be more fully shown how far the nature of the island itself has created that variety of wealth, occupation, modes of living and thinking, activity of mind and body, which makes our country what it is ; and how it is that this geological and geographical microcosm, or ' world in little,' has embraced in its interests and dominion a world at large. 41 CHAPTER K PHYSICAL GEOGBAPHY OF THE BRITISH ISLES. GEOLOGICAL CHARACTER. England and Wales. — The small portion of the earth's crust which forms the British Isles has this peculiar interest belong- ing to it, that nearly all the different kinds of rocks which mark the great epochs of the world's formation may be found within its boundaries. If we could lay bare the entire struc- ture of England and Wales, and take a bird's-eye view of it, we should see a curious medley of grey, red, green, black, white, and brown, in shades and patches more various, though not so beautiful, as those of the greens and browns on its surface ; and if Ave were to look at those diversified rocks with some geological knowledge, we should find that very few of them belong to that oldest class of rocks, called igneous, because they are supposed to have been cooled down into their present granite form from a melted state ; but that nearly the whole of the country is composed of the other class of rocks, called aqueous or sedimentary, because they consist of broken fragments of the older rocks which have been deposited in the ocean and have settled down, layer upon layer of sedi- ment, until by heat or pressure they have been re-formed into solid rock, and have thus always a stratified composition. And what adds to the interest of these formations in our own land is, that in one direction, west and east, from Pembroke- shire to Norfolk, they are found ranged in the same order in which they are classified by geologists, that is, in a regular series, from the oldest to the more recent deposits. In this direction, therefore, we will begin our survey of the geology of these islands. The lowest amongst the sedimentary rocks are those which are called the Older Paleozoic, from the Greek words palaios, ancient, and zoon, an animal, because they abound with fossil 42 THE BRITISH ISLES. remains : almost the whole of Wales is composed of these rocks together with beds of limestone, clay slate, and a mixed rock of a dark brown or purplish colour, called graywache ; Silurian a ^ which associated rocks form what is termed the rocks. Silurian System, from their occurring chiefly in the district inhabited in ancient times by the Silures. In these rocks are found the remains of molluscous shells, petrified fish, and marine plants. The visitor to the Welsh or Cambrian mountains knows well the mixture of slate, limestone, and composite graywacke stone which distinguishes them ; and the noble height to which some of these mountains rise, is evidence of the mighty up-heaving force which tilted them up from their ocean-bed. In Herefordshire and Monmouthshire we find the next _i . oldest sedimentary deposit, viz. the Old Red Sand- Devonian. . stone, called also the Devonian System from its being extensively developed in Devonshire. It is composed of fragments of quartz and decomposed felspar, tinted red from a large admixture of the oxide of iron, and contains fossils of crustaceous animals and fish. This rock abounds also in Cornwall. Proceeding eastward, we arrive at those rocks from which England derives her chief wealth, her coal and iron. These Carbonifer- belong to the Newer Paleozoic Period, and are called ous * the Carboniferous System from the vast amount of vegetable matter, that is, carbon, which enters into their com- position. They consist of limestone, millstone-grit, and coal- seams, and mostly abound in iron and lead. Coal, which is a chemical compound formed from vegetable matter under great pressure, is usually found lying in hollows above the limestone, and iron is generally found beneath the coal-beds. The fossil remains in these strata are tropical plants, such as enormous ferns, palms, and pine trees, with insects of the cockroach species, beetles, scorpions, and reptiles ; and these remains are of the utmost importance as a guide to the coal-miner, as it is only by their imbedded fossils that those rocks can be recognised with certainty under which coal is sure to be found. GEOLOGICAL CHAEACTEE. 43 The name of coal-formation is usually given to the whole of this series, consisting of coal, mountain limestone, and mill- stone grit, together with the old red sandstone on which it rests ; but coal is sometimes found independently of the car- boniferous strata, and reposing immediately upon the old red sandstone. This is the case at Coalbrook Dale and Dudley. The coal districts of England and Wales have been divided into, 1. The great northern district, including all the coal- fields north of the Trent, extending through Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Derbyshire. 2. The central district, including Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, and Shropshire. 3. The western district, sub- divided into north-western, including North Wales ; and south-western, including South Wales, Gloucestershire, and Somersetshire. The limestone and millstone grit belonging to this carboniferous system are useful as marble and building- stones, and the more beautiful specimens of the former may be seen in the spars and variegated marbles of Derbyshire, which are intermixed with the toadstone formations, supposed to have had an igneous origin. After the carboniferous series we approach the great middle division of Sedimentary rocks, called the Secondary Secondary strata. The epoch to which they belong has been rocks. named the 'Age of Eeptiles,' and here are found the fossil remains of those strange sea and land reptiles which have no representation in the existing world. The New New Eed Eed Sandstone is the first of this series, and it Sandstone, occupies a large portion of the midland counties, where it expands itself into an immense tract of almost level country, and stretches north and south from Durham to Devonshire. Next to this is the Lias formation, which is still more . Lias. remarkable for its fossil remains of extinct species of giant lizards and reptiles, the Ichthyosauri and Plesiosauri. The word lias means flat-layer, and the lias in England con- sists of thin strata of blue and grey limestones separated by dark clayey divisions, so that the quarries of this rock, as may be seen especially in Yorkshire, have a peculiar striped- 44 THE BRITISH ISLES. ribbon appearance. The Wold Hills on the borders of Not- tinghamshire and Leicestershire are formed of a variety of this lias, called lias- shale. After the lias come the Oolitic limestones, so called because they are constituted of small globules of stone, oon being the Greek for egg, and lithos for stone. There is a marked difference in the character of the country where this oolite prevails from that which is formed of the level sandstone and lias. The range of it extends from the coast of Dorsetshire up to Scarborough, and at Clevedown Hill, near Cheltenham, it reaches the height of 1,200 feet above the sea-level. Fuller's- earth and Portland stone are varieties of this formation. Those singular fossil skeletons of flying lizards, Pterodactyl, with enormous bills and teeth, are found in these oolitic rocks, and in these strata there is the first appearance of animals of the mammalian class. The western edge of this deposit laps over the great lias plains, and its eastern edge inclines beneath the next great deposit, the last of the Secondary series, the Chalk and Greensand. These chalk strata occupy an im- mense range in England, extending from Dorsetshire to Norfolk, stretching south and east to Brighton and Dover, composing the North and South Downs, the cliffs of Dover, Beachy Head, the back of the Isle of Wight, and the Needles. Chalk is found under the microscope to be entirely composed of broken shells and corals, and contains fossils of fish, sponges, sea-weeds, and the gigantic Mosasaurus. On entering the Tertiary period which succeeds to the Tertiary Chalk or Cretaceous System, we seem to approach a rocks. new era< i With the chalk,' says Professor Ansted, i we close, as it were, one great volume of animated creation. Everything up to this time belongs to the past ; everything on this side of it may be ranked among indications of the present.' Hence the lowest of this Tertiary series is called the Eocene, from eos, dawn, and Jcainos, new. Beds of this eocene period exist in what is called the basin of the Thames, in Hampshire, Southampton, and the Isle of Wight, and the fossil shells GEOLOGICAL CHARACTER. 45 found in them are, for the first time, allied to existing species. The London clay, which forms the Thames basin, is a variety of this rock, and the beautifully- coloured sands and clays, and limestones, called fresh-water beds, which may be seen at Alum Bay, and White Cliff Bay, are specimens of these eocene formations, and belong to what is called the Hampshire basin. On the coasts of Sussex, Essex, and Norfolk are found rocks belonging to a still later period, the Pleiocene (from pleion, major, and kainos, recent). This rock is the Red Crag, and is a deep ferruginous-coloured gravel abounding with fossil shells which approach still more to those of our own period. To the north of these coasts, in the extreme north of Cam- bridgeshire, and to the east of Lincolnshire, and part of Yorkshire, we find the Norwich Crag, a deposit Drift abounding with remains of mammalia, and belong- formations, ing to that epoch which forms the last of the geological series, viz. the Pleistocene or Drift period. And with this era we seem, indeed, to open a new volume in the history of the ancient earth. For it is in these pleistocene strata, — in gravel beds, and caverns which lie often beneath more recent deposits, — that human implements have been found, intermingled with the bones of extinct animals. Near Wells, in Somersetshire, a cave has been opened in which are found arrow-heads made of bone, side by side with fossil bones of animals now unknown. In the gravel-pits at Biddenham, near Bedford, flint tools are found mingled with bones of the elephant and deer. Lance-heads and other flint instruments have been dug up from the gravel-beds beneath London and Suffolk, and in Glamorganshire the remains of rhinoceroses have been lately discovered lying above some flint knives. But at present no human bones have been found in formations that belong to the geological ages. We have thus traversed the almost regular series of sedi- mentary rocks from west to east which constitute nearly the whole of England and Wales. But in smaller proportions occur rocks of a still older date, and of special value, as they 46 THE BRITISH ISLES. are for the most part the receptacles of our tin and copper, and, in small quantities, of gold and silver, besides one of their forms composing the common or roofing slate, which is quarried to a great extent in North Wales. These rocks are Metamor- older than the Paleozoic, and are called the Meta- phic rocks. mQ-qphic or Altered Eocks, because they are sup- posed to have been changed by heat from an original sedimentary form. They have a stratified structure, but no organic remains whatever. Gneiss, mica slate, and quartz rock are their varieties, and they are found in Cornwall, Cum- berland, Westmoreland, and North Wales. And in still smaller igneous proportions we find those oldest rocks of all — the rocks. granite and the trap varieties — which have no strata, but are supposed to owe their present conglomerate form entirely to the action of fire. The granite in England is chiefly confined to Cornwall, and the trap-rocks are found permeating the secondary strata in various directions through- out the north, midland, and western districts. Scotland. — Although a part of the same island, Scotland presents geological features very different to England, and abounds most in those formations in which England is defi- cient. Thus, the bare, rugged, mountainous Highland districts belong almost exclusively to the igneous and meta- morphic periods, together with the newer paleozoic ; and the granite and trap rocks, the gneiss and mica slate, and the old red sandstone, almost divide Northern Scotland between them. In the Lowlands, however, appears a totally different character of surface. An immense coal-field extends, though not quite continuously, through the Mid-Lothian and East- Lothian districts, over a distance of about 100 miles, with a breadth of from 30 to 40 miles. South of this stretch vast areas of mountain limestone and Silurian strata, intermixed with the old red sandstone, trap, and granite. Thus, in Scot- land, there is almost an entire absence of the secondary and tertiary strata, and the history which its geology reveals to us of the past, stops short midway. MINERALS. 47 Ireland. — Ireland differs essentially from the sister king- doms in this respect, that while carboniferous limestone extends nearly over the whole of the interior, the coal-seams are few and insignificant. Paleozoic formations, both of the older and newer series, occupy the whole of the island, with the exception of large tracts of granite and trap on the coast, especially the north-east ; the Giant's Causeway at the north point of the county of Antrim affording a splendid illustration of the peculiar composition of the plutonic and trap rocks, and of the step-like appearance at a distance which suggested their name, from a Swedish word, trappa, a flight of steps. Here, then, again in Ireland, we have none of those tertiary deposits which characterise the east of England, and which, from the fossil remains contained in them of animals which could only have lived under water, point to a comparatively recent geo- logical period when that portion of England was under the ocean, while the rest of the two islands rose above it. The paleozoic portions, however, of Ireland, are largely covered over with deposits from the most recent period of all, the drift or pleistocene. MINERAL WEALTH OF THE KINGDOM. The mineral treasures of our islands are far more in quantity, variety, and commercial value, than those of any other country ; and when it is considered to what an extent the prosperity of Britain, and her existence as a first-rate power and nation, are due to the coal and iron which the old rocks have hoarded up for us, it is with a feeling of wonder, and almost of awe, that we seem to trace a connection between these dusky mementos of primeval ages and the energetic genius of the race of men who were destined to appropriate them to the needs of their daily life, and to the higher requirements of their inventive faculties ; more especially if the theory is to be admitted that the process of their formation must have taken place during long cycles when this portion of the globe was subject to a tropical temperature, whereas the sturdy race who needed the coal, and were capable of moulding the iron to 48 THE BRITISH ISLES. all its various uses, required to be reared in a comparatively cold and bracing climate. The chief minerals of the United Kingdom are coal, iron, salt, Gold and limestone, copper, lead, tin, silver, and zinc. To these, Silver. probably, ought at one time to have been added gold, since there is evidence that in early days there was an extraor- dinary abundance of gold as well as silver in this country. Long before the Conquest, the English were eminent for their manu- factures in gold and silver, and it was the gold and silver spoils from England, which the Conqueror displayed on his first visit to Normandy, that so excited the admiration of the strangers on the continent. In the Irish annals occur very often the payments of ecclesiastical duties and rents in gold and silver ; for instance, at the consecration of a church in the year 1157, 1 Murha O'Lochlin, King of Ireland, gave a town, 150 cows, and 60 ounces of gold, to God and the clergy.' It is supposed that our chief supply of gold was from Ireland, and, although there is a little doubt as to how far it was yielded by native mines, or obtained from the East and the northern pirates, it seems difficult to believe that a regular and extensive manu- facture depended for its materials mainly upon so uncertain a source as was foreign intercourse in those days. At present our gold is limited to exceedingly small quantities, found occa- sionally in the stream tin-works at Cornwall, in the lead-hills of Scotland, and in Wicklow in. Ireland. Silver is met with in the Cornish copper-mines, and sometimes is extracted from lead-ore, but the amount is quite inconsiderable. A silver- mine was worked in Linlithgowshire, in 1607, and in the last century a vein of silver-ore was worked in Stirlingshire. It is through their tin productions that we gain a glimpse of our isles long before their historical period commences, and the traffic of the old Phoenician colonists with the tin islands which lay i beyond seas north of the Pillars of Hercules ' was, even in the time of Caesar, a dim tradition of the past. In whatever way the British Isles can be identified with the famous Cassiterides, or tin islands of the ancients (from Cassiteron, the Greek for tin), — whether or not they were MINERALS. 49 in reality the Scilly Isles, which, at that period, there is some reason to believe formed a continuation of the mainland of Cornwall, — it is certain that Albion, before the invasion of Caesar, was chiefly known to Greeks and Romans through these treasures of her Cornish mines ; and Strabo records that the historian Polybius, the friend of Scipio, had composed a trea- tise on the subject of ' The British Isles, and the mode of preparing Tin.' Although comparatively a scarce metal, tin is one most likely to have attracted the notice of the ancients, since it is readily found from lying generally near the surface, and the ore is easily reduced to metal by a moderate degree of heat. The Phoenicians are supposed to have used it in pre- paring dyes, and probably it had an especial value in the eyes of our combative predecessors, because, when mixed with copper, it was capable of taking a sharper edge as a sword or spear than even iron itself. Cornwall and Devonshire alone supply tin, and although these mines have been worked for ages, their yield forms now about twelve-thirteenths of all the tin produced in Europe. There is evidence that our lead-mines also were worked by the Romans, from masses or pigs of British lead having been found with the names of the Emperors Domitian and Adrian inscribed on them. The object of these royal marks upon the lead is supposed to have been to limit the quantity taken from the mines claimed by the Emperors as their own property. Pigs so inscribed are pre- served in the British Museum. The lead-producing counties in Great Britain are, Cornwall, Devonshire, Somersetshire, Derbyshire, Durham, Lancashire, Cumberland, Westmoreland, Shropshire, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Merionethshire, Mont- gomeryshire, Dumfriesshire, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire, Argyle- shire; and in Ireland, Armagh, Wexford, Wicklow, Water- ford, Clare, and Down, and it is supposed that in ancient times as now, the amount supplied by our mines of this mineral was more than that of all the rest of Europe. It is only recently that the copper-mines of the British Isles have been worked to any great extent. They occur Copper. E 50 THE BRITISH ISLES. > in Cornwall, Staffordshire, Anglesea, Waterford, Cork, and zinc. Kerr j. Zinc is found in Derbyshire. Iron is exceedingly plentiful in England. Of all the metals it is the most useful and the most universally diffused Iron. . . , J in nature, being found in all the three kingdoms of animal, mineral, and vegetable, and even of air also, since it forms a large proportion in the composition of meteoric stones. It is seldom, if ever, found in a ' native ' or metallic state, excepting in these meteoric stones, and the ores from which it is extracted are very various. That from which we obtain the chief supply is the clay iron-stone, an impure carbonate of iron, which occurs in coal deposits ; the ore, which is associated with the coal and mountain limestone, having an immense advantage in the working, since both of them are ne- cessary in the process of fusing. There is no doubt of our iron mines having been worked by the Romans, since Roman coins have been found in the refuse and cinder heaps of ancient iron-works, and we know that long before the Conquest the art of manufacturing iron and steel was much advanced. Remains of old iron furnaces have been found in Lancashire, Staffordshire, and Yorkshire, but the principal ancient seats of the iron manufacture appear to have been in Sussex and the Forest of Dean or Arden, in Gloucestershire. South Wales furnishes an immense supply of iron, and in 1836 it was ascertained by a French engineer, who visited every iron- work in the United Kingdom, that the year's aggregate supply amounted to one million of tons. Coal is by far the most important of our mineral treasures. In money value, the amount ' of coal supplied by the United Kingdom is more than two-thirds that of the whole mineral produce. The total area of the coal- fields in the British Isles is about 8,000 square miles, and the average thickness of the coal-seams about 15 feet. The deepest coal-mines are in Lancashire and Cheshire ; at Duckinfield, coal is worked 2,504 feet below the surface ; and in Cumberland, near Whitehaven, the mines extend far under the bed of the ocean. The total number of collieries at present MINERALS. 5 1 in Great Britain is estimated at 2,654 ; of these, 1,943 are in England, 235 in Wales, 405 in Scotland, and 71 in Ireland. Considering that nearly 70,000,000 tons of coals are dug annually from our mines, it has become a question of some anxiety how long the old rocks will bear, without exhaustion, this enormous drain upon their buried treasures ; and how soon it may be expected that the future inhabitants of these isles will be destitute of their home-stores of fuel. Geologists differ much in their reckoning. Professor Ansted computes that in 600 years we shall have exhausted our stock ; while, according to Dr. Buckland, the supply may last 1,050 years ; and Mr. Bakewell states that the South Wales coal-fields alone will suffice for the consumption, at its present rate, of 2,000 years. It was not until about the year 1400 that coal came into general domestic use. Before that time it had been employed for manufacturing purposes ; and it was evidently known to the aboriginal British, since old relics of that period, such as hammer heads, wedges, and flint axes, have been found mingled with coal fragments. At the end of the thirteenth century it began to be used by the soap-boilers, smiths, and brewers of London ; but it seems that an outcry was raised against the practice, on the ground that it was injurious to the health, and in 1316 Parliament petitioned Edward I. to pro- hibit the burning of coal. Notwithstanding this, however, the consumption of coal seems steadily to have increased, and some idea of the extent of the demand and supply may be gained from the fact that about a quarter of a century ago, before railways had superseded water conveyance, nearly 8,000 ships were employed to supply London alone with coal from the native ports. This sea conveyance of coal to the metropolis is said to have had an important bearing on the efficiency of the British navy ; and some of our best seamen, who maintained England's renown in naval warfare, are said to have been trained in these coal vessels. No less than seventy different kinds of coals are imported into London, and forty-five of these are from Newcastle. All these varieties. e2 52 THE BRITISH ISLES. have been ranged under the following principal heads : 1 . Caking -coal, a Newcastle variety, so called from its tendency to fuse together and form one mass, unless constantly stirred. 2. Splint or hard coal, common in the Glasgow coal-fields, difficult both to break and to kindle, but making a clear and lasting fire. 3. Cherry or soft coal, forming the principal variety of the Staffordshire mines; burns and breaks readily, requires little stirring, and leaves few cinders ; has a velvet black colour, mingled with grey, and a resinous lustre. 4. Cannel or parrot coal, called cannel in Lancashire, because it burns with a clear, candle-like flame ; and parrot in Scot- land, because while burning it makes a cracking and chatter- ing noise. There are many varieties of this cannel coal, some being bright and shining, and others dull and earthy. It will often take a good polish, and, being clean and compact, can be made into boxes and other articles. Jet is an extreme variety of cannel coal. Although British salt is confined principally to one district, that of Cheshire, the supply is very abundant, and the sources of it are said to be inexhaustible. More than a million tons are annually supplied from the Weaver Valley, in the neighbourhood of Northwick, alone. Common salt, muriate of soda, is either quarried from beds of rock- salt, or procured by evaporation from brine springs or sea- water. The rock-salt is usually in beds of about forty yards thick from about thirty to fifty yards beneath the surface. Immense deposits of rock-salt exist in the New Red Sandstone of Cheshire, and in smaller proportions in Worcestershire, Staf- fordshire, Gloucestershire, and Durham, and there appears to be a saltiferous belt running diagonally through the kingdom from north-east to south-west, partly connected with the coal- fields, in the line of which salt is more or less found in the form of rock-salt or brine-springs. The brine-springs also of Cheshire are very productive. In Scotland, Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight, salt is procured from sea- water. The salt used for common domestic purposes in England is obtained from the brine- springs, and strengthened with the rock-salt. SURFACE OF ENGLAND AND WALES. 53 There are two sorts of slate in the British Isles. The true slate is that which belongs to the metamorphic _ x . , i . i . -. • Slate - period, and reposes upon the mica-schist and gneiss, and is covered by old red sandstone or mountain limestone. This slate is found in Scotland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, Yorkshire, Charnwood Forest, North and South Wales, Devonshire, Cornwall, and also in Ireland, and is split by wedges from the solid rock. The other kind of slate belongs to the carboniferous series, and is either the flagstone of the coal formation, or a sort of sandy limestone. It lies naturally in thin strata, and is used chiefly for roofing purposes. As would be seen by the geological sketch, limestone and building-stone abound in almost every part of England and Ireland ; granite and sandstone in Scotland ; while various other minerals, such as fuller's earth, antimony, manganese, and arsenic, are found in different parts of the kingdom, and recently the new clay-metal, aluminium, has been added to our mineral productions. CHARACTER OF THE SURFACE. England and Wales, — Upon the surface, as well as beneath it, our islands are distinguished by variety; and there is no similar extent of country in Europe which presents so many different kinds of scenery, such a diversity of mountain and valley, hill and plain, woodland and pasture-land, fertile regions and barren. This variety naturally extends itself to the condition and occupation of the inhabitants ; so that Dr. Buckland, in his Bridgwater Treatise, makes the remark, that if three travellers were to traverse England and Wales in three different directions and were to report upon the country, the one would describe it 'as a thinly-peopled region of barren hills and mountains ; the second, as a land of rich pastures, crowded with a flourishing population of manufacturers ; the third, as a great corn-field, occupied by persons almost exclu- sively engaged in the pursuits of husbandry.' The first would traverse the mountain district of Cornwall, Wales, and the north-west of England : the second, the vast undulated plains 54 THE BRITISH ISLES. of those Midland districts which rest upon the new red sand- stone, extending from Devonshire to Newcastle, where lie the rich treasures of coal and iron beneath, and on the surface are the busiest of England's population, the great working-hives of Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby, and Birmingham, together with the country villages, the farms, the fertile pastures, the hedge-rows and oaks which make the peculiar charm of our inland scenery ; the third would pursue his route over the great oolitic and chalk region, reaching from Dorsetshire to Yorkshire, where there are the largest and finest farms in the world, and where corn-fields and agriculturists abound. And thus it is that the hard, dark rocks underneath have impressed a certain character upon the fair and smiling surface ; and it is exceedingly interesting to trace from their foundation the causes in nature which have led to this variety in our surrounding influences, our culture, and our modes of life, and which have helped to make us what we are as a people. We have glanced at the underground causes, we will now look at some of those on the surface. To begin with the mountains and rivers. Although we Mountains have no mountains of any great height, Snowdon, and Eivers. 357^ feet, being the culminating point of England and Wales., yet we have every variety of mountain aspect, from the bold and lofty granite peak to the gently undulating hill and sloping down ; and, although England is reckoned comparatively a level country, it is pleasantly divided into vales rather than plains, and all the towns and villages in England and Wales of any size or importance are situated in hollows or river-basins, and thus lie in the vicinity of streams and are bounded by rising ground. The name of river basins is given to the whole series of brooks and rivulets which con- tribute to form a river from its source to its termination, and to the surface of the country which is drained by it ; and since rivers are formed from mountain-streams finding their lowest level in these valleys or basins, and so uniting, we must look to our mountains and hills for the sources, size, and, for the most part, direction of our rivers. The principal mountain SURFACE OF ENGLAND AND WALES. 55 range of England and Wales runs north and south, in accord- ance with the law that ' mountain ranges follow the direction of the greatest length of land in which they are situated ' (or, to speak more correctly, the greatest length of land follows the direction of the line of mountains), and extends with some interruptions five hundred miles from the Scottish border to the Land's End. In consequence of these highest mountains lying more to the west than the east, the whole slope of the country is towards the east, and thus the chief rivers, which have their origin in these mountains, flow eastward into the German ocean. The Severn, which rises in Plynlimmon, is the only large river which empties itself west, but this river would apparently have joined the Thames and thus also flowed east, if it had not been deflected by the Cotswold Hills, and so turned aside into the Bristol Channel. This principal line of mountains is divided into three ranges : — 1st, the Northern EaDge, reaching from the extreme north of England to the Peak of Derbyshire, and including three different chains, the Cheviot Hills, the Pennine Chain, and the Cumbrian Moun- tains ; 2nd, the Cambrian Eange, comprising the Welsh Mountains and extending to the Malvern Hills, in Hereford- shire ; 3rd, the Devonian Eange, which extends from Wor- cestershire to Cornwall. Branches of hills from these mountains proceed eastward into the great Midland Flat, and there form the watersheds * of the rivers, and determine the size and direction of the river basins. The central plains are thus divided by these hills into four chief river basins, those of the Humber, the Wash, the Thames, and the Severn. Of these, the basin of the Humber and Trent is the largest, being one- sixth of the entire kingdom. The Humber itself is an estuary rather than a river, and receives many tributary streams, which have their source in the Yorkshire hills, such as : the York- shire Ouse, the Yorkshire Derwent, the Aire, the Don ; and also the Trent, which rises in Staffordshire and receives the * A watershed (from scheidc, division) is the place whence flowing waters begin to descend in opposite directions. — Johnston. 56 THE BRITISH ISLES. Dove and the Derbyshire Derwent. The river-basin which these streams occupy consists of the space lying between the Tees and the Wash on the east, and extending on the west from within twenty miles of the coast at Morecambe Bay to a branch of the Cotswold Hills, a little below Birmingham. These hills separate it from the next large basin, that of the Wash, which receives the streams of the Great Ouse, Nen, Welland, and Witham. South of this is the Thames-basin, which again is divided on the west from the Severn-basin, which extends from Plynlimmon to the Devonian Mountains. The three first of these basins slope towards the North Sea, and the Severn towards the Atlantic ; their combined area is more than half the entire surface, and twenty-eight of our capital-towns are situated in them.* By the minor undulations of the surface, these larger basins are subdivided into numerous smaller ones, and in these sheltered and fertile vales all our larger towns and villages have sprung up : in this respect the more modern English showing a marked difference to the very early inhabitants, who, there is evidence to prove, almost uni- formly chose the highlands for their residence ; probably be- cause in those days the valleys were too much choked by forests and swamped with marshes to be fit for habitation or pasturage. No rivers of any size or importance flow south into the English Channel ; as might be expected from the cha- racter of the coast, which consists of high chalk downs reach- ing from Dover to Salisbury plain, and of a broken series of hills and elevated lands, which branch off from the Devonian Eange. The same may be said of the mountainous west coast, where, with the exception of the Severn, the Mersey, and the Dee, the rivers are insignificant. The lakes in England are more distinguished for their exceed- ing beauty than for their size or number. With the ex- ception of two in Huntingdonshire, viz. : Whittlesea- mere and Ramseymere, all the English lakes are congregated in the northern counties of Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lanca- * Mackay's Manual of Geography. SURFACE OF SCOTLAND. 57 shire. Five of them are in Westmoreland, viz. : Windermere, the largest of the whole group, 10 miles long, Grassmere, Eydal, Ulleswater, and Haweswater. Eight of them are in Cumberland, viz. : Derwentwater, the second largest, Bassen- thwaite, Thirlemere, Buttermere, Loweswater, Crummock- water, Ennerdale Water, Wastwater ; and one is in Lancashire, viz. : Coniston Water. These lakes all lie in the basins of small rivers which flow into the Irish Sea. The largest lake in Wales is Bala, in Merionethshire, 8 miles loag, which is drained bj the Dee. Scotland. — In Scotland we find a very different distribution of mountains and river-basins. The lofty Gram- Scotch pians, the highest ridge in the kingdom, stretch Mountains. for about 100 miles across the country from south-west to north-east, from Loch Linnhe, in Argyll, to near Aberdeen, and nearly form the boundary between the Highlands and the Lowlands. Connected with these mountains by a low ridge of hills, Ben Nevis, in Inverness- shire, raises its flat summit of porphyry 4,368 feet above the sea-level, and is supposed to be the highest point of Great Britain. Branches from the Gram- pians occupy nearly the whole of Scotland north of the Forth and Clyde ; but the peculiarity of the Scotch mountain system is that the principal ranges lie nearly parallel to one another in the direction of NE. and SW., stretching for the most part across the country from coast to coast ; the valleys and river- basins, which lie between, following the same direction as the mountains. There are five of these principal ranges : 1st, the Northern Highlands, which extend, in detached groups, over Caithness, Sutherland, Eoss, and Inverness ; 2nd, the Gram- pians; 3rd, the Ochil and Sidlaw Eange, consisting of three small chains stretching from Forfarshire to Stirlingshire, and separated from the Grampians by the vale of Strathmore ; 4th, the Lammermoor and Pentland Eange, divided by the Firth of Forth from the Ochil Eange, and consisting of the Lammermoor Hills, the Moorfoot Hills, the Pentland Hills, and Tinto Hill ; 5th, the Cheviot and Lowther Eange, or the 58 THE BRITISH ISLES. Southern Highlands, extending from Wigtownshire to the English Cheviots. The principal river-basins which lie between these mountain- River ranges are eight in number. Three of them lie north Basins. f the Grampians, viz. : the basins of the Dee and Don on the east, and the Linnhe on the west ; and these basins include nearly the whole of the district of the High- lands. South of the Grampians are the three basins of the Tay and the Forth on the east, and the Clyde on the west. The basins of the Tweed and the Solway are on the north of the Lammermoor Eange, and are separated from England by the Cheviot Hills. The Scotch rivers are of no great size (the largest of them Rivers * s ^ e •^ ortn > 180 miles), but are remarkable for the Lochs, large bays or firths by which they empty them- selves into the sea, and for the multitude of small lakes or lochs which are threaded upon them, and which give a singular beauty to Scotch scenery. Sometimes, these lochs are merely arms of the sea, running for miles into the recesses of the mountains; sometimes they are collections of inland water, supplied and drained by the rivers, the names of which they generally bear. There are about forty-two of these lochs. The largest of them is Loch Lomond, 24 miles long and 8 broad ; the deepest of them is said to be Loch Ness, in Inver- ness, 810 feet, the waters of which consequently never freeze. The different aspects of Scotland vary from the extreme barren to the most beautiful and highly cultivated. The north and west counties of Caithness, Sutherland, Eoss, and part of Inverness, consist of little else than one immense mass of rocky plains lying from 500 to 1,500 feet above the level of the sea, from which plains other rocks rise, many hundreds of feet higher still. Two bold, rocky promontories, Dunnet Head on the west, and Duncansby Head on the east, in the county of Caithness, form the most northerly points of the kingdom, and oppose a strong barrier to the impetuous currents of the Pentland Firth. East of Duncansby Head is the piece of green turf called John o' Groat's House, although tradition SURFACE OF IRELAND. 59 refuses to say whether any house ever really stood here, and who the eccentric person was who preferred this bleak situa- tion. A flat and almost treeless* moorland forms the greater part of Caithness, and the tempestuous climate adds to the dreariness of the aspect. Thunder is rarely heard in this district, and the aurora-borealis is said to be almost constantly visible. The cultivated portions of these northern counties is limited to the sides of the plains, and the level lands along the water-courses ; but agriculture has lately made rapid progress. On the coast, the herring-fishery is the chief occupation. The long and narrow valley of Glenmore separates this sterile region from other regions of mountain, moorland, and plain, which extend to the foot of the Grampians. This highest mountain region being passed, the land becomes more arable and fertile. The great vale of Strathmore, eighty miles long, extends through the counties of Perth and Forfar, and is richly cultivated. South of this vale, the country assumes its most industrial aspect in consequence of its mineral treasures, the coal and iron in the valley of the Clyde and in the Mid- lothian district in the basin of the Forth. Here important manufacturing towns begin to abound ; and chief of them, Glasgow, the largest town in Scotland, and almost in the same line of latitude, the capital of Edinburgh, or Midlothian. It is estimated that only about one-fourth of the country is under cultivation. The whole country is comparatively bare of trees, and not one large forest is to be found in Scotland. The most fertile districts are in Strathmore, Fifeshire, Teviot- dale, Berwickshire and Tynedale. Ireland. — In Ireland, a third variety of mountain arrange- ment presents itself. We have no longer the one-sided elevation of surface as in England, nor the parallel ranges as in Scotland, but here the mountains, in detached groups, range themselves all round the coast, and enclose, as in a vast ring, the great limestone plain in the centre. This central basin extends from Dublin on the east, to Galway on the west, and from Lough Neagh on the north, to Waterford on 60 THE BRITISH ISLES. the south, and is gently undulated by a few low ranges of hills. The mountains are of no great height. The highest of them is Curran Fual, 3,404 feet, belonging to the Macgillicuddy Keeks, in Kerry ; and beginning from this culminating point, the principal groups round the country are as follows. In Cork, the Muskerry, Bogragh and Neagh mountains : in Tipperary and Waterford, the Salty, Knockmeledown, and Commaragh mountains : in Wexford, the Blackstairs : in Wicklow, Lugnaquilla and Kippur : in Down, the Mourne mountains : in Antrim, the Glenocum mountains : in Lon- donderry, the Carntogher mountains : in Donegal, Mount Errigal : in Mayo, the Nephin-Beg : south of Clew Bay in Connaught, the Connemara mountains : in Clare, Mount Callan : and south of the Shannon, Mount Brandon, the second highest mountain in Ireland. The shores of Ireland are precipitous and lofty, excepting on the east coast, which is generally low and flat ; all that is most rugged and grand and wild in its scenery belongs to the coasts which are opposed to the storms of the Atlantic. The river-basins in Ireland follow an extremely orderly arrangement. The principal ones are twelve in Basins. number, and are divided in the middle by the main axis of the country ; that is, the line which marks the greatest length of land, taken from Mizen Head, in Cork, to Fair Head, in Antrim. Six of these river-basins are thus on one side of this line, and incline east to the Irish Sea, and six are on the other side, and incline west to the Atlantic. Those rivers which flow into the St. George's Channel are, the Boyne, the Liffey, the Slaney, the Barrow and Suir, the Blackwater, and the Lee ; those which flow into the Atlantic are, the Shannon, the Corrib, the Moy, the Erne, the Foyle, and the Bann. Of these, the Shannon, 220 miles long, is the largest, and is navigable through nearly the whole of its course. As in Scotland, the country abounds with lakes or loughs, and in Ulster is the largest lake in the United King- dom, Lough Neagh, 17 miles long and 10 broad ; while the extreme beauty of the Killarney Lakes, at the foot of the SURFACE OF IRELAND. 61 highest mountains, the Macgillicuddy Reeks, makes Kerry a chosen county for tourists. And also as in Scotland, these loughs, especially on the coast exposed to the western ocean, often consist of arms of the sea, running deeply inland, and forming the estuaries of the rivers. The general character of the surface is more undulated and varied than that of England, and less wild and rugged than that of Scotland. The bare statement of the fact that nearly three million acres of its surface consist of ° gs ' bogs, might give a dreary impression of the Emerald Isle ; but it must be remembered that the Irish bogs are not mere quagmire, as the word commonly imports, but, although with a soft, quagmire foundation, are composed on the surface of peat to the average depth of twenty-five feet, solid enough to bear considerable weight, and most valuable for fuel, and which forms the soil for innumerable mosses, and that a large proportion of the bog district is now under cultivation. A million and a half acres of flat bogs He in the central plain, to the east and west of the Shannon ; those in King's County and Kildare going collectively by the name of the Bog of Allen : these bogs, however, are not in a continuous mass, but are separated by ridges of dry country, and the bogs which occur in the upland districts nearer the coast are in themselves un- dulated, and swell into hills, and descend in valleys. Indeed, none of the Irish bogs are upon a low level ; and this circum- stance led to the opinion that they were formed from ancient decayed forests. But many facts seem to prove that peat must have been formed previously to the growth of trees, and the more likely supposition is, that these turf-bogs have grown from successive layers, first of aquatic plants in shallow pools, and then of mosses ; the decaying mass of one layer forming a soil for a fresh layer of vegetation, and so gradually increas- ing in height and compactness. With a rich soil, and a moist climate which is less liable to severe cold and sudden changes than that of either England or Scotland, the natural characteristics of Green Erin are fertility, freshness, and verdure ; although the clouds from 62 % THE BRITISH ISLES. the Atlantic which thus fertilise the land, render it by nature a vast grazing-ground, rather than one adapted for cultivation and tillage. VEGETATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES. Our islands have no trees or plants peculiar to themselves, and Supposed the fact that th e whole of our flora or vegetation is similar, British^ w * tn one or two exceptions, to that of the neighbouring Flora. continent, has led to the conclusion that the British Isles were planted by successive migrations from the continent at that remote period before the sea had separated us from the main land, and when one unbroken continent extended from our shores to the Mediterranean ; that is to say, the plants on the continent found a congenial soil in the direction of Britain, and slowly, in the course of ages, before there was any sea to intercept their progress, spread themselves thither by the wafting of seeds, and other natural means of transplantation ; different races of plants spreading themselves, according to the nature of the soil, at different epochs. The period in which these vegetable migrations are supposed to have taken place is about the middle of the tertiary epoch, and, according to Professor Forbes, there are five different groups of plants in our islands which seem to have belonged to successive migrations. The first and most ancient group consists of about twelve species of plants, common to the west and south mountain districts of Ireland, and also to the mountain dis- tricts of Spain, and are found nowhere else in the British Isles. These species consist of some heaths, St. Patrick's cabbage, and the strawberry tree, Arbutus unedo (the Arbutus of Virgil), which forms groves of exceeding beauty at the Lakes of Killarney, and is well known amongst the evergreen shrubs of our nurseries, with its greenish-yellow blossoms and its red berries with their rough strawberry-like surface. The second group is peculiar to the south-east of Ireland and south-west of England, and also to the Channel Isles, and the French coast of Brittany and Normandy. The third group is on the south-west of England, where the chalk-plants VEGETATION. 63 abound, and the vegetation resembles that of the opposite French coast. The fourth group comprises those lichens, mosses, grasses, and berry-bearing shrubs, such as the cran- berry, bilberry, and cloudberry, which are abundant in the Scotch Highlands and Scandinavian Alps, and are found more sparingly in the mountains of Cumberland, Wales, and Ireland. The fifth group is supposed to be the most recent, and to belong to a migration from Germany, while still no English Channel divided us from the continent. The flora peculiar to it spreads over the whole of the islands, and includes all our common trees and shrubs, weeds and wild-flowers, our buttercups and daisies, our primroses and celandines. So far as is at present known, we appear to possess only about three native plants, which are not equally possessed by our neigh- bours. These are the jointed pipewort (Eriocaulon septan- gular e), found in the Hebrides and west of Ireland ; the three-toothed cinque-foil (Potentilla tridentata), found on a mountain in Forfarshire; and a troublesome water-weed without a root (Anacharsis alsinastrum), noticed lately in the Trent and midland canals, where it at one time grew so rapidly as to obstruct navigation. The second of these, the cinque- foil, abounds in the Eocky mountains and Arctic regions, and it is thought probable that a gulf- stream may have wafted hither the seeds of the pipe-wort. A luxuriant vegetation would naturally follow from our moist climate and soil, and before man had encroached Forest to any great extent upon nature, our old forest trees Tree3, held lordly sway far and wide over the land. Traces are still seen of those vast oak forests which flourished abundantly in the damp clay of the valleys, and in whose thick recesses the ancient Britons found shelter from invading legions ; and also on high grounds, such as the Wiltshire Downs, remnants of the old giant forests are still existing. Near Hatfield, in York- shire, there is a singular moorland of boggy peat, several feet higher than the adjoining land, where, tradition says, there was once an immense forest, into which the Eomans, under Astorius, drove the Britons, and then set fire to the trees, 64 THE BRITISH ISLES. destroying the whole forest, with the exception of some larger trees, which, being thence exposed to the wind, fell into the rivers and intercepted their currents, causing the waters to rise and flood the whole country; hence the origin of the mossy and moory bogs of the district. In Ireland, bogs may possibly in some cases have succeeded to forests, and it is a little con- firmatory of this supposition that in the counties of Tipperary and Kilkenny bogs are popularly called derries, which mean a place of oaks, and which name may point to some tradi- tional remembrance of their forest state. Dean Forest, on the borders of Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire, is a remnant of what is supposed to have been the most extensive forest in England, and which furnished timber for most of our former ships of war. It seems to have stretched from the Trent and Avon on the north, to the Severn on the west, to the borders of Warwickshire and Leicestershire on the east, and to have included the famous Sherwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire, which Eobin Hood and his merry men once made the scene of their robberies and revelries. The name of Arden, by which this immense forest was once known, is supposed to have been the Celtic for forest, since Ardennes occurs as the name of a forest in the north of France. The Forest of Dean, even in the last century, was twenty miles long and ten in breadth. New Forest, in Hampshire, although partially cleared, still remains as valuable property of the crown for supplying oak for the navy, and was first appropriated as a vast hunting- ground by William the Conqueror, who for the sake of it dispeopled thirty miles of country, pulled down thirty-six churches, and destroyed thirty-six parishes. Up to the sixteenth century we appear to have had timber enough in our own country for fuel and building purposes ; but in the time of Henry VIII. complaints begin to be made that i the woods become scant,' and endless acts and prohibi- tions were passed in this and succeeding reigns to save the woods and prevent the felling of trees ; for instance, that brewers should not be allowed to export beer, without import- ing enough wood or ' clapboards J to replace the barrels, and VEGETATION. 65 the exportation of wine in casks was altogether prohibited. The employment of coal as fuel more effectually saved the wood, and the use of pit-coal in iron foundries seems actually to have prevented the iron manufacture from being transferred to the American colonies from the want of sufficient fuel at home to carry it on. Our supply of timber is now chiefly from abroad, and the increase of population and manufactures have made most of the old British forests little else than traditional — solitary giant trees and ' gospel oaks ' standing as mementos of their destruction. In the last century there were as many as sixty-eight forests remaining in England ; at the present time the principal are — Windsor Forest, in Berkshire ; Epping Forest, in Essex ; Dean Forest, in Gloucestershire ; New Forest, Alice Holt, Woolmer Forest and Bere Forest, in Hampshire ; Sherwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire ; Which - wood Forest,, in Oxfordshire ; the forests of Whittlebury, Salcey, and Eockingham, in Northamptonshire. Our native forest trees are mostly deciduous ; that is, their leaves fall in autumn. Such are the oak, elm, poplar, birch, beech, alder, ash, willow, maple, mountain-ash, blackthorn, and dog-rose ; but we have a few also that are not deciduous, viz., pines, firs, yews, and holly. The whole of our trees are exogenous; that is, their stems are composed of successive layers of wood and pith within the bark, a fresh layer forming each year outside the last year's layer, and the bark continually expanding to admit of the increased growth. Thus the age of our trees can be readily reckoned by counting the layers, the thick layers being supposed to represent the warm summers, and the thin layers the cold ones. The oldest existing trees whose age has been reckoned are said to be a yew at Braburu, in Kent, 3,000 years old, which, according to this measure- ment, must have been a sapling about the time of King David ; and also one in Tortingal, in Scotland, about 2,600 years old. Next to the yews, the oaks are the longest livers, and one in Welbeck Lane was computed to be 1,400 years old ; that is, it 66 THE BRITISH ISLES. would be beginning to sprout about the time when the Romans were finally quitting Britain. Amongst the more common of the trees that have been Foreign imported from abroad and have become native to Trees. ^q so il, are the lime, cedar, walnut, chestnut, mulberry, larch, weeping-willow, spruce, and common or Lombardy poplar, and several varieties of oaks. FRUITS. Our principal native fruits are the apple, the pear, plum, Native currant, gooseberry, hazel-nut, the small black Fruits. cherry, found wild chiefly in Suffolk, the raspberry, beech -nut, strawberry, blackberry, bilberry, cranberry, and other wild berries of the class. But our common apples, pears, cherries, &c, are only in a few cases the offspring of the native varieties, and are in reality as much foreign fruits as grapes and peaches, having been introduced from abroad in their cultivated state. Thus the common hautbois strawberry is a native of North America ; the pine strawberry, of Surinam ; and we have other species from Chili, Virginia, Switzerland, and Flanders. The first cultivated cherries are said to have been introduced from Italy about 100 a.d. Lucullus brought them with other spoil from Armenia, and first planted cherry- trees in Italy, and from these trees, says Pliny, ' Italy was so well stocked, that in less than twenty years after they had spread to other lands, even as far as Britain beyond the ocean.' About 1415, Dr. Kitchener says that cherries were first planted in Ireland by Sir Walter Ealeigh, and it was his rela- tion Sir Hugh Piatt, who, wishing to compliment Queen Elizabeth ' with a conceit worthy of so delicate a knight,' managed with great art to keep back the fruit of his cherry- tree from ripening for a whole month, till just the time when the queen paid him a visit : a proof of the rarity of the cherry at that time. Of the other common fruits, apples were brought from Syria and North America, and many of those in general use at various times from the continent. The orchards in Kent are VEGETATION. 67 said to have been planted by the gardener of Henry VIII., and many of those in Herefordshire by Lord Scudarnore, in the reign of Charles I. Gooseberries came from Flanders, currants from Canada, plums from Italy, raspberries from North America. Of the fruits that have been less com- pletely naturalised in our climate, the grape came from, Por- tugal, and the first vine was planted at Bloxhall, in Suffolk, in 1552 ; peaches came from Persia, the apricot from Epirus, the almond from Barbary, the fig from the south of Europe. The pine-apple was brought, it is said, from Brazil, in Charles II.'s reign, and christened by him ' King Pine.' The first specimen of the fruit was presented in great state to the monarch as he sat at table, and slices of it were gra- ciously handed round by himself to his courtiers; but, as King Pine had had a long journey, and had become stale, the courtiers did not think so highly of it. A picture that belonged to Plorace WaJpole, of Charles II. being presented with the first pine grown in England by Kose, his gardener, shews that the fruit was quickly in high esteem. VEGETABLES. Our native vegetables appear to be scarcely any besides carrots and parsnips, and some varieties of the Native cruciform genus Brassica, such as cabbages, cauli- Vegetables. flowers, brocoli, turnips, kales. The original wild cabbage, Brassica oleracea, grows on the coasts of Kent, Yorkshire, Corn- wall and "Wales ; brocoli and other varieties have been probably derived from this root by cultivation. Carrots, Daucus Carota, are still found wild in some sandy districts, and turnips, Brassica Bapa, in waste places and the borders of fields. But our foreign vegetables are of the most importance to us. Chief of these is the potato, brought from Virginia by Sir Walter Raleigh, and planted first in his own garden. His gardener, it is said, was rather disappointed at the Foreio . n flavour of the i new American fruit ' when he came Vegetables. to taste the potato apple, and accidentally noticed the tubers f2 68 THE BRITISH ISLES. as he was clearing the ground in indignation at the worthless foreigner which his master had charged him to cultivate. A few years after its introduction we find the herbalist, Potato. J 7 Gerarde, recommending that potatos ' be eaten sopped in wine ' to make them wholesome, or boiled with prunes, and that they i be used as a fine basis of delicate conserves and sweetmeats.' On better acquaintance with its more homely properties, the potato was sedulously cultivated, and so soon did the hardy root establish itself amongst us, that not long since it was the staple food of Ireland, and its use in England and Scotland is now second only to wheat, over which plant it has this advantage, that it will endure cold better and grow still farther north. Peas were probably introduced by the Eomans ; beans came from the east ; spinach is a native of Persia, but has been cultivated from time immemorial in our islands. Celery is said to have been introduced in 1704 by the French Mar- shal, Count Tallard, after his defeat at Blenheim, during his captivity in England. Artichokes are from the south of Europe ; lettuce from Flanders ; the common onion is thought to have an Egyptian origin ; asparagus grows wild in maritime and sandy places in the middle and south of Europe ; the radish is a native of China, and was introduced about 300 years ago. Of the foreign vegetables important for cattle, clover was introduced from the Low Countries in the sixteenth century ; mangold wurzel, or field-beet, was introduced from Germany at the end of the last century, it is believed by Dr. Lettsom, a physician belonging to the Society of Friends. The Ger- mans call it mangold wurzel, which means scarcity-root, while the French often name it ratine oVabondance, root of plenty. Of our foreign plants used in manufactures, flax and hops are probably the most important. Flax was first planted in England in 1533, for the purpose of making fishing-nets. It is cultivated largely in Scotland, and in Ireland almost enough is grown to supply the immense linen manufacture there. The chief English counties in which it is cultivated are Somerset- ANIMALS. 69 shire, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. Hops came from Flanders, in 1524. Kent, Sussex, and Herefordshire are the chief hop- growing counties. CEREALS. Our cereals are wheat, oats, barley, and rye, all of which have been cultivated from such remote ages in most parts of the world that their wild originals and first localities can hardly be traced. Tartary and Persia are presumed to have been the original countries of wheat and rye, and the Caucasus of oats. Wheat is said to have been introduced into Britain in the sixth century. The largest proportion of it is grown in the south of England, but it is cultivated to advantage as far north as the Moray Firth, in Scotland. Oats are grown chiefly in the marshy districts of the north, and so abundantly in Scotland that it is said one-half of the arable land is employed in their cultivation ; oatmeal, either in the form of oat-cakes or porridge, being the principal food of the poorer classes. Wheat, however, is becoming more and more culti- vated both in Scotland and Ireland. Barley is grown chiefly in the north, midland, and mountainous districts. Eye is the least cultivated of the cereals in Great Britain. ANIMALS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. At the same geological period when our flora, or vegetation, was planted from the continent, that is, between the last of the tertiary epochs and the era of man's creation, and while our islands were as yet undivided by the sea from the conti- nent, our animal tribes are supposed to have also migrated hither. Judging from the remains of them found m the old strata, our fauna, that is, whole series of animals, consisted at one time of a far greater variety of species than it does now. At present, our wild quadrupeds and other mammalia are limited to about sixty species, belonging to the four orders of flesh-eating, (cnrnivora^) gnawing, (rodentia,) ru- minating, (ruminantia,) and whale-like (cetacea) ; but fossil-bones are found, not only of these, but of extinct 70 THE BEITISH ISLES. pachyderms, or thick-skinned animals, — the mammoth, or fossil elephant, the gigantic hippopotamus of the north, some species of rhinoceroses, and some extinct ruminants, such as the gigantic deer, and the enormous elk of the Irish bogs. Coeval with these monsters lived the probable ancestors of the British horse, ass, hog, goat, deer, beaver and other well- known animals ; and together with these familiar acquaintance are found the bones of the tiger, bear, wolf and hyaena ; the remains of all these extinct and existing animals being found in a similar state in Germany ; thus indicating a migration from thence. But the fact that many of our lesser quadrupeds, such as the dormouse, mole, squirrel, pole-cat, do not belong also to Ireland, seems to shew that the course of migration was suddenly stopped short, — it is conjectured, by the rushing between of the ocean, and formation of the Irish Sea. Of the more familiar tribes that coexisted with the extinct monsters, some have never been known to live here in a natural condition, some have been extinguished by man, and comparatively few remain. Thus there is no record of wild horses and asses in our islands, although Professor Owen proves the fossil bones of these animals to be identical with existing species ; and with regard to the introduction or origin of our most common and useful domestic animals, the dog, the cow and the sheep, we have no distinct knowledge. In the time of Caesar, the British dogs were widely known for their fierceness and strength, and the Gauls are said to have used them in battle ; but whether they inherited their unusual fierceness from native wolfish progenitors, is only matter of conjecture. Cuvier inclines to the opinion that the common ox of Britain is a descendant of the formidable Urus of the ancients, the wild bull of the Hercynean forest, which Caesar describes as 'little inferior to the elephant in size, but a bull in its instincts, colour and figure.' Large fossil skulls of oxen found in recent formations in this country, seem to be identical with this species, while a living specimen of it is seen in the wild bull of Scotland, a savage and perfectly untameable animal, with a mane two feet long. Herds of what are called ANIMALS. 71 wild cattle roam at large in some of our parks, but it is doubted if these can be regarded as original types, or whether they are not merely domesticated cattle returned to a com- paratively wild state. Of the origin of our sheep, we are still more ignorant. There is no tradition of the sheep existing here in a wild condition, or of its being brought hither by man, and it appears to have been domesticated here from the beginning of our historical era. The bears, wild boars, wolves, small wild oxen, and beavers, have been all exterminated by the chase, the cutting down of forests, and the cultivation of the soil ; and the few remaining wild quadrupeds are becoming more and more rare from the same causes ; foxes are now scarce, and wild cats are only occasionally found in the woods of Ireland and of the north of Scotland. Our wild carnivora or flesh- eating mammals at present consist of the fox, weasel, polecat, ermine, marten, foumart, hedgehog, mole, shrew, badger, otter, walrus and seal, and of nine kinds of bats. Our rodents or gnawing animals are the hare, rabbit, squirrel, dormouse, two kinds of rats, three of mice, and four of moles. Our wild ruminants are the goat, and three kinds of deer, the red, roe, and fallow. Our cetacea are very rare, but comprise whales and dolphins, porpoises, grampuses, and sea-cows. Birds abound in the British Isles. Of the 490 species which belong to Europe, there are 274 species in England and Scotland, and 230 in Ireland. They are supposed to have migrated from the continent during the same epoch as the plants and mammals ; and here again we have evidence of some obstruction to the progress of migration before it reached Ireland ; since many birds of short flight that are indigenous in Great Britain, are not found in the sister country. The British birds belong to all the six orders : of the Birds of Prey there are the golden eagle, earne, kite, falcon, hawk, goshawk, sparrow -hrwk, merlin, kestrel, buzzard, and owl. Of the Climbers there are the cuckoo, woodpecker, kingfisher, hoopoo, goatsucker. Of the Songsters, there are the lark, nightingale, thrush, bullfinch, linnet, redbreast, 72 THE BRITISH ISLES. hedge sparrow, wren, nut-hatch, white-throat, titling, bunting, and cross-bill. Our Gallinaceous, or game birds, are so nu- merous, that the atrocity of eating the singing birds is not perpetrated so generally here as in southern Europe, where game is more scarce ; they include the partridge, pigeon, quail, blackcock, ptarmigan, and red grouse, which last is peculiar to the country. Our turkeys and peacocks and pheasants, common fowl and guinea fowl, are all foreigners. Of the Waders there are the plover, snipe, heron, crane, crake, bustard, and stork. Of the Swimmers, the duck, goose, gull, gannet, petrel, cormorant, puffin, auk, widgeon, teal, tern, and guillemot. Some of our commonest birds are migratory, such as the cuckoo and swallow, which visit us in summer, and the snipe, fieldfare, woodcock, redwing, and a few water- birds, which come to us from still colder climates in winter time. Reptiles do not much favour these islands, and we have but fourteen species out of the seventy-three European ones. Notwithstanding the giants of the Saurian or lizard race that inhabited the soil in pre-adamite ages, our saurian specimens now are very insigniiicant,and consist only of two kinds of lizards, and one scinque. Of the serpent tribe, we have only three : the blind-worm, snake, and common viper. Of the Batrachians there are seven specimens, two of toads, two of frogs, and three of newts. Ireland has but fire species of reptiles, a lizard, a toad, a frog, and two tritons ; but the common toad and viper are absent. Entomologists have already made acquaintance with 10,000 Articulated species of British insects, and their new discoveries Animals. are ra p^jy increasing. Of moths and butterflies alone there are 2,000 species, and the other 8,000 comprise the varieties of the bee, fly, dragon-fly, gnat, beetle, earwig, bug, flea, louse, and centipede. Of the Arachnids we have two kinds — the spider and the ±3.te; two of the Cirrhopoda — the barnacle and balanus ; two of the Crustacea — the lobster and crab ; two of the Annulata — the leech and the earth-worm. ANIMALS. 73 There. are 263 species of fish in our seas, rivers, and lakes. These are divided into two kinds — the osseous and Fishes. the cartilaginous. Of the osseous order there are a vast number, comprising the salmon, cod, trout, sole, turbot, eel, mackerel, herring — of which the herrings, probably, are the most numerous, since they inhabit the deep waters all round the British coast. Of the cartilaginous order there are but few — such as the sturgeon, skate, dog-fish,, lamprey, shark. Three hundred and ninety- two kinds of shell- fish are found in the British seas; 282 univalves and 160 bi- Molluscs. valves. The naked molluscs are also very numerous. 74 THE BRITISH ISLES. CHAPTEE III. GEOGKAPHY OF THE ADJACENT ISLES. On looking at a map of the British Isles, two circumstances at once strike us with regard to the small adjacent islands — first, their almost entire absence from the east coast of all three countries ; and secondly, their distribution along the whole line of the north and west, from the Shetlands to the south of Ireland ; thus producing, by the distance of the Shetlands from Scotland, one side of the scalene triangular figure, which the British Isles may be said to represent. The peculiar distribution of these islands, especially in Scotland, would seem to suggest that some mighty blow or convulsion had shattered the whole west coast, scattering some of the frag- ments to a distance, merely splitting off others, and leaving others only half detached ; but the more philosophical view is that these islands are but the highest points appearing above the ocean of what was once part of the main land, and now partially submerged : and accordingly it is found that the geological character of the islands generally corresponds to that of the portion of coast to which they are nearest. The number of these islands is computed at about 5,500, of which 500* belong to Great Britain, and 5,000 to Ireland. But a large proportion are mere rocks, and only about 420 are inhabited — 245 of these being adjacent to Ireland, and 175 to Great Britain. ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND. Of the larger islands, by far the greater number belong to Scotland, where the islands are arranged into three groups — the Shetlands, the Orkneys, and the Hebrides, or Western Isles. The Shetlands are the most northerly and remote of the adjacent isles, extending to 60° 50' * Mackay's Manual of Geography. According to a late census, how- ever, Scotland alone has 787. ADJACENT ISLES. 75 north latitude. The cluster consists of about 90 islands, 25 of which are inhabited — the others being mere masses of rock or patches of land, on which cattle are pastured. The Main- land is the largest, about 60 miles long, and from 3 to 10 broad ; the next largest are Yell and Unst, and the most considerable of the islets are Fetlar, Whalsey, Bressay, Papa- Stour, Meikle-Koe, Burra, Foula, and Fair Isle ; the whole archipelago being so connected as to give the appearance, when seen from the sea, of one continuous line of jagged coast. One island alone is situated far from the group — the island of Foula, which, from its high hills, is a prominent object in the northern seas ; and this isle is supposed to have been the Ultima Thule of the ancients, mentioned by Tacitus in his Life of Agricola. Perhaps Sir Walter Scott's story of the ' Pirate ' has given to English readers their most distinct idea of Shetland — where in summer i the sun rises so early as hardly to think it worth while to go to bed ; ' and where the winter lasts from October to April ; and has made visible to us its grand and towering cliffs and headlands, its dark and lofty caverns, its almost treeless but still beautiful interior, and the wild aspect of the country corresponding to the wild storms that lash its coasts. The climate is variable, damp, cold, and healthy. Primary rocks, gneiss interspersed with granite and trap, compose the northern portion of the group, and De- vonian strata the southern. Chromate of iron is the only mineral of much value. The surface is healthy and moun- tainous, and with difficulty the soil has been made suitable for agriculture. Wheat does not flourish there, and only the commonest kinds of barley and oats. All the domestic animals are exceedingly diminutive, but they seem to make up in strength for their want of size. The little Shetland ponies are turned loose upon the hill pastures to find a living, and are never provided with shelter. The little native sheep have a degree of alertness and intelligence not found generally to belong to the sheep nature. They weigh only about 30 lbs* each ; and the long-horned Shetland cow, which weighs at the utmost 3 cwt., never yields more than three quarts of milk per day. But the prosperity of Shetland depends 76 THE BRITISH ISLES. mainly on its fisheries. Cod, ling, and tusk abound in the open seas ; and coal-fish and herrings swarm about the shore ; great numbers of seals are caught in the deep caverns of the coast, and a species of whale called ' Bottle-noses f approach near enough to the islands in pursuit of the herrings to afford sport to the inhabitants, as well as abundance of oil. The Orkneys, the ancient Orcades, are separated from the north point of Scotland by the stormy strait of Pentland Firth ; and, from the similarity of their geological formation to that of the neighbouring coast, seem to be a broken continuation of the county of Caithness. The group consists of 67 islands, 27 of which are inhabited, and the rest are either holms, that is, mere pasture grounds, or else barren rocks, called skerries. The chief island, Pomona / or Main- land, is about 18 miles long, and divides the islets to the north, called the North Isles, from those on the south, called the South Isles. The whole group is composed of the old red sandstone formations, with the exception of one small granite district in Pomona; and one of the mountains in the island of Hoy, called Wart Hill, or, as some of the country people call it, the Enchanted Carbuncle, is an object of curiosity, from its summit, 1,620 feet high, shining and sparkling in a singular manner, owing to some unexplained cause, when seen from a distance. From exposure to the Atlantic, the climate of the Orkneys is wet rather than cold, and the soil better adapted to the rearing of cattle than to agriculture ; and, like Shetland, the fisheries, especially the cod and herring, are the most valuable branch of industry. A great source of profit on these shores used to be the kelp manufacture, or produc- tion of a coarse alkali from burnt sea-weed, used in the manu- facture of soap and common glass ; but the duty having been taken off a foreign alkali better suited to the purpose, this trade has been abandoned. The Hebrides, or Western Isles, called by Pliny Hehudes, consist of two groups of islands, the Outer Hebrides, or Long Island, situated on the north-west of Scot- land, between 55° 35' and 59° north latitude ; and the Inner ADJACENT ISLES. 77 Hebrides, a scattered series of islands lying close along the west coast. Long Island is divided from Scotland and the Inner Hebrides by a wide strait, called The Minsh ; but there is sufficient evidence of its having formed at some remote period a part of the mainland, from the primary gneiss rocks of which it is composed, and from its position, which corres- ponds with the direction of the mountain chains in the north of Scotland. The chief islands in this group are Lewis and Harris, the largest island in Scotland, sixty miles long ; North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Barra, and St. Kilda. The principal islands of the Inner Hebrides are Skye, Raasay, Eona, Rum, Eig, in Inverness-shire ; and Mull, Coll, Tiree, lona, Colonsay, Islay, Jura, Scarba, Arran, and Bute, off the coast of Argyllshire. These are more mountainous in their character than Long Island, and lying west of the trap- rocks of Mull is the basaltic islet of Staffa, with its splendid specimens of Nature's architecture, its arched columns and caverns, its erect pillars and angular pavements, displaying with marvellous effect the regular crystal-like structure of the old igneous rocks. Fingal's cave, the most picturesque of these caverns, measures in length 370 feet, while the height of the arch at its entrance is 117 feet. The Hebrides are about 160 in number, 70 of which are inhabited. They are naturally destitute of trees, and the greater part of their surface consists of mountains, lakes, and morasses. Agriculture is consequently not flourishing, and, as the chief subsistence is gained by fishing and kelp-burning, most of the population reside within a mile of the shore. There are a few detached islands not included in these three groups. For instance, Stroma, between Caithness and the Orkneys ; Handa, a small and rarely accessible islet off the coast of Sutherland, the cliff scenery of which is said to surpass in magnificence all other in Great Britain ; Fair Isle, lying east between the Shetlands and Orkneys ; and Bell Rock, a dangerous ridge of rocks in the Firth of Tay, notable now for its lighthouse, and formerly for the bell, which tradition says 78 THE BRITISH ISLES. the monks of Aberbrothock placed there for the waves to rino- as they dashed upon it, to warn the mariner of his danger. ISLANDS OF ENGLAND. There are but few islands belonging to England, and, with the isle of exception of the Scilly and Channel Isles, no clusters Man ' of importance. The largest and most prominent is the Isle of Man, which lies in the middle of the Irish Sea, at nearly an equal distance from the three kingdoms, and gives the unavoidable impression of being the last visible spot of submerged land that once joined Great Britain with Ireland. This impression is confirmed by its slaty formation, which is similar to that of the English and Irish portions of coast which lie nearest to it. The distance of Man from the nearest point of England is twenty-eight miles, from Ireland thirty-two, and from Scotland sixteen. Its length is thirty-four miles, and its breadth from eight to thirteen. Three chains of moun- tains, composed entirely of mica slate and clay slate, run north-east and south-west nearly the whole length of the isle, from the tops of which, on a clear day, all the three Britannic kingdoms may be seen. The climate is mild, but changeable, stormy and damp, and harvests late. The valleys are fertile, but the hilly parts fit only for pasturage. Of late years, the state of agriculture and husbandry has been much improved ; but formerly the herring-fisheries so occupied the men that the labours of the field were left entirely to the women. To the south of Man is a small island called the Calf of Man, about three miles in circumference. It is doubted whether the name Man be derived from the Saxon mang, among, or from the name of Mona, which the ancients seem to have given to it in common with the Isle of Anglesea. The chief town is Castle ton. Anglesey, or Anglesea, the Mona of the Eomans, the Yuys- y-Cedeirn, or Island of Heroes of the Celts, the g esey. ^g^'g £y ? Englishman's Island of the Angle -Saxon, is separated by the narrow strait of the Menai from the north- ADJACENT ISLES. 79 west point of Wales. At Pwll Ceris, traces are thought to be discovered of an isthmus that once united the island with the mainland, and there is evidence that the channel itself is now wider than formerly. Connected with Anglesey by a narrow sandy strait is the Isle of Holyhead, which projects from the west-coast in a north-west direction. The sea breezes render the climate milder in Anglesey than in the rest of Wales, although the air is damp and misty. The surface is flat ; the soil mostly a stiff loam, which produces excellent crops of potatoes, oats and barley, but less of wheat. In the lower lands the soil is a kind of black peat, used as fuel, in which are found hard and black trunks of old forest trees ; and one of its old Celtic names, Ynys Dowell, the Shady or Dark Island, shews that forest trees abounded once, and we are told that the Druids consecrated its many groves to the observance of their peculiar rites. Anglesey is rich in minerals. Copper mines are worked in the Parys Mountain, and also lead ore and silver are found ; and in various parts marbles, limestone, millstone, and coal. The position of the coal-measures are unusual, and large boulders of it, of more than a ton weight, are found in one place lying about the surface, and are supposed to have been carried there by the action of water. Fish are plentiful on the coasts. The Anglesey sheep, which have white faces and legs, and no horns, are the largest native breed in North Wales. Cattle are reared very extensively. The chief towns are Holyhead, Beaumaris, Amlwch, AberfTraw, and Llangefni. Some smaller islands stud the sea above Anglesey and Holy- head ; the largest of them is Priestholm, or Puffin Island, so called from its principal inhabitants. The Scilly Isles are a compact group of islands, 140 in number, lying about thirty miles south-west of the Land's End, Cornwall. They now chiefly consist of uninhabited rocks, but there is reason to believe that the sea has encroached considerably upon them, even within the period of history, reducing their size, and separating them from the mainland. A writer of the sixteenth century says : c It doth appear yet by good record, that whereas now there is 80 THE BRITISH ISLES. great distance between the Scyllan Isles and point of the Land's End, there was of late years to speak of scarcely a brooke or drain of one fathom water between them, if so much, as by those evidences appeareth that are yet to be seen in the lands of the lord and chief owner of those isles ; ' and Diodorus Siculus, in explaining the manner in which the inhabitants of Corn- wall prepared their tin for exportation, says that they con- veyed it in wheeled carriages over a space which is dry at low water, to the neighbouring isle of Ictis; referring with every probability to one of the Scilly Isles. This opinion is confirmed by the circumstance, that although the islands themselves are composed of granite, there appears to be a softer limestone stratum between them and the Land's End, from the occurrence of a limestone rock in the passage called the Wolf; and the islands are even now gradually lessening, from the decomposition and washing away of the granite. That they are the relics of a once connected tract of land is also probable from the fact that the sea, although deep around the group, is but shallow between the isles. Only six of these islands are inhabited : St. Mary's, the largest, about eight miles in circumference ; Fresco, St. Martin's, St. Agnes, Bryher, and Sampson. The climate is mild, but very liable to fogs and storms. The soil is mostly a black peat, mixed with particles of granite ; but corn and potatoes thrive in it, and most English vegetables. Timber- trees there are none, and only a few fruit-trees in one sheltered spot in St. Mary's. Horses, cattle, and sheep are small, and of inferior quality, probably owing to the poverty of the pasture, which consists of thin, short grass, mixed with heath and furze ; the cattle having to make up the deficiency by eating sea-weed. Small sharks and porpoises occasionally visit the coasts. Hugh Town, in St. Mary's, is the capital of the group. The islands belong to the duchy of Cornwall, and have been held on lease by different owners. The Isle of Wight, the Vectis of the Romans, forms part isle of wight, of the county of Hampshire, from which it is separated by a narrow channel, the Solent, the average width ADJACENT ISLES. 81 of which is less than four miles. The greatest length of the island, from the Foreland on the east to the Needles' Cliff on the west, is scarcely twenty-three miles ; and its shortest diameter, from W est Cowes on the north to St. Catherine's Point on the south, about thirteen miles. This pleasant little garden of England, with its green valleys, wooded slopes, and magnificent cliffs, perhaps tells more, in a short space, of primeval convulsion and geological changes than any other portion of Britain, owing to some remarkable peculiarities in its structure. The island itself is at an unusual height above the level of the sea, giving height and grandeur to its precipi- tous cliffs ; and its structure mainly consists of a high ridge of chalk running east and west, and forming, as it were, the backbone of the island from Culver Cliff to the east of the Needles. These detached masses of chalk are supposed to have been at one time a continuous portion of the central ridge, and to have been broken up by the action of the elements ; and the name of Needles was given to them from the form of one of the group, a spiral rock 120 feet high, which was undermined by the waves and fell into the sea in 1764. The peculiarity of this chalk ridge is the almost vertical position of its strata, which can be well seen at their broken section at Culver Cliff and White Cliff Bay, and at the Needles' Cliff and Alum Bay. The disturbing force which originally upheaved these strata into their upright position has been traced as far as Abbotsbury in Dorsetshire. This unusual position of the chalk exhibits admirably the two series of rocks belonging to the secondary and tertiary epochs, between which the chalk is the intermediate link. Thus, the lower part of the south and south-east sides of the island is composed of the rocks which lie below the chalk, viz. green- sandstone, marl, and iron-sands ; while the north side consists of eocene strata lying above the chalk, viz. the London clays and series of formations which belong to what is called the chalk basin of the Isle of Wight. And what is remark- able about these eocene strata is that they lie horizontally upon the broken edges of the perpendicular chalk strata, thus 82 THE BEITISH ISLES. showing that they were deposited after the convulsion that uplifted the chalk. At Headon Hill, on the north side of Alum Bay, there are sections of three strata, lying close together, which bear record of strange geological changes : these are, two fresh water deposits on each side of a marine deposit, which appear to indicate that this part of the island was once the bottom of a lake, then that it was covered with the sea, and then again became a freshwater lake. On the south side, the beautiful natural terraces of the UnderclhT have been caused by the different degrees of solidity in the secondary rocks underlying the chalk. The strata here are in a horizontal position, and the marl being dissolved into mud by the land-springs, leaves unsupported the chalk and greensands above it, which consequently fall and transform the steep cliffs into broken slopes. The north side of the island is lower than the south, and the highest point is St. Catherine's Hill, 830 feet above the sea- level. The rivers are the Medina, which rises near St. Catherine's, and runs north into the Solent, forming a wide estuary between East and West Cowes ; the Eastern Yar, which rises in the same hills and flows into the English Channel through Brading Haven ; and the Western Yar, which is an estuary nearly its whole length of three miles, and which rising near Freshwater Gate, and emptying into the sea at Yarmouth, almost severs the land, and forms a peninsula of the western point of the island. The basins of these rivers form the three principal depressions in the chalk range, the valley of the Eastern Yar being the most extensive. The north is the most wooded side, the clayey soil being favourable to the growth of trees, especially the oak; and large forests existed here formerly. The rich red loam of the south is better adapted for cultivation and pasture, and the yield of wheat is larger than in any other part of the king- dom. Sheep are fed upon the downs in great numbers, but oxen are not extensively reared. The seas abound in shell- fish, but not much in other kinds. ADJACENT ISLES. 83 The Norman or Channel Islands lie in St. Michael's Bay, on the north-west coast of France. The principal are Channel Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark. Isles - Jersey, the Caesar ea of the Eomans, is eighty-four miles distant from Portland, and eighteen from the coast of Normandy, and measures about twelve miles from east to west, and about seven in breadth. The island slopes from north to south, and consequently the rivers flow and the valleys lie in this direc- tion. The high rocks to the north are composed of a kind of granite called Syenite, because identical with the granite of Syene in Egypt ; but the southern side has a schistose or slaty structure. The climate is warmer than that of other places in the same latitude, Xho, mean temperature being 52° 5'. Wheat and potatoes thrive abundantly, and fruits of all kinds, especi- ally apples and pears. Of the animals, the horses are small, and the sheep few, but the breeding of cows, principally of the Alderney kind, is the great source of profit. About eighteen miles north-west of Jersey is Guernsey, an island of granitic formation, of about thirty miles in circum- ference. The highest part of the island is in the south, where the cliffs are lofty and precipitous; in the north, the shore is low, and the land level. Valleys and glens intersect the higher grounds, and the surface is well watered with rivulets and springs. The produce of the soil is much the same as in Jersey, but trees are more scarce, and cultivation less advanced. The cows are larger here than in Jersey, and are as important to the wealth of the islanders. Swine also grow to an unusual size, and are very numerous. The coasts abound in fish, and here is caught the ormer, a shell-fish peculiar to these Channel Isles, resembling, when cooked, a veal-cutlet. The mean temperature of Guernsey is about two degrees lower than Jersey. Alderney, or Aurigny, the Arinea of the Eomans, lies fifteen miles north-east of Guernsey, and about seven from the French coast of Normandy. The island is about four miles long and about one and a quarter broad, and slopes to the north-east. It is difficult of approach on account of G 2 84 THE BRITISH ISLES. the many rocks encircling it, and the violent sea-currents about its shores. Indeed, it is supposed that its ancient Latin name might denote ' Isle of the Kace,' or Current, the Eace of Alderney being now a dangerous strait that separates it from France. The land of Alderney for the most part stands high. In fertility it is superior to Guern- sey and Jersey ; and the renown of its superior breed of cows has made the name of their native island familiar in every farm in Britain. Sark, Serk, or Sercq, is a dependency of Guernsey, and lies about seven miles east of that island. The length is only three miles, and its greatest width only one and a half; but near the centre it is so narrow as almost to be cut in two, the smaller portion being called Little Sark. From the sea it has the appearance of an elevated rock with a flat summit, and it is so entirely begirt with high cliffs, that the only means of entering the island is either by clambering up the rocks, or by mounting up through a tunnel cut in the cliff at the north- east. The east of the island is granite, the west, trap and slate. The slope is towards the east. The interior is diver- sified with woods, valleys, and streams ; the soil is fertile, and the climate unusually healthy. Cattle and hogs are a size larger here than in Guernsey. Fishing is a chief occupation of the inhabitants, who are said to be more flourishing than those of the other islands. Many lesser isles and rocks belong to this group. Herm and Jethon are very small but inhabited islands belonging to Guernsey, and a cluster of rocks called the Caskets, including St. Peter, St. Thomas, and Donjon, lie west of Alderney, and have each a light-house. The impor- tations into the United Kingdom from the Channel Islands are on the increase as regards wine, tobacco, eggs, chestnuts, and butter ; and on the decrease as regards apples, cider, and potatoes. Holy Isle, or Lindisfarne, the 7ms Medicante of the Britons, is Holy a small island of less than two square miles in area, in island. t j ie Q erman Ocean, off the north-east coast of Nor-* thumb erland, A large sand-bank, called Fenham Flats, joins it ADJACENT ISLES. 85 to the mainland at low water, and a narrow strip of land, overrun with rabbits, projects into the sea at the north-east of the island, from which may be seen the tide flowing on one side and ebbing on the other. The island was once the seat of a bishopric, and afterwards of a monastery belonging to the Benedictines of Durham, the ruins of which remain, and which are made memorable by the old legend of St. Cuthbert's Holy Corpse, which Scott has woven into his romance of ' Marmion.' * Small as it is, the island has its village or town, its harbour, and ancient castle. About half the surface is cultivated, the rest is mere sand. Sheppy and Thanet form part of Kent, and are scarcely to be regarded as islands in the usual sense of the term, sheppyand since they are divided from the mainland merely by Thanet - rivers ; Sheppy by a branch of the Medway, and Thanet by the meeting of two arms of the Stour. Sheppy is situated in the estuary of the Thames, and is about six miles long by four in breadth. The south is low and marshy, but on the north are clay cliffs about eighty feet high, which afford an interesting illustration of the rapid encroachment of the sea upon the land. A church at Minter, which half a century ago was said to be in the centre of the island, is now close upon the coast ; and Sir Charles Lyell states that as much as fifty acres had been lost by the decay of the cliff during that time ; it being computed that at the present rate of destruction the whole island would be annihilated in another fifty years. The *coast which lies intermediate between Sheppy and Thanet also shows the work of the waves, Heme Bay having lost its two headlands, and being now no longer a bay, but a straight surface ; and east of Thanet still stands the old church of Eeculver, now on the edge of the steep cliff, protected from the waves by stones and wooden piles ; while so late as 1781, it stood so far away from the shore that an ancient chapel, a graveyard, and a cottage were between it and the cliff. The average waste on the coast of Thanet has been reckoned at * Cantos II. XIV. 86 THE BRITISH ISLES. two feet per annum. The marshy channel which now sepa- rates Thanet from the mainland, was navigable in the time of the Romans, and their fleets sailed along it to and from London. About the time of the Conquest it appears to have become shallower, but so late as the time of Henry VIII. it floated ships of considerable burthen. High chalk cliffs bound the north and north-east of Thanet, and extend from the North Foreland through Margate, Broadstairs, and Ramsgate to Pegwell Bay, the south-east boundary of the island. The area of Thanet is about forty square miles. There seems a probability that the Goodwin Sands, which Goodwin lie about seven miles east of Kent, are the remains Sands. Q j> ^^^ was once an island or continuation of the land, and not merely banks of sand ; since in boring through the sand to attempt the erection of a lighthouse, a bed of solid blue clay was found at the depth of fifteen feet. Tradition says that here resided Earl Goodwin, father of King Harold, but that a flood overwhelmed and washed away his estates in 1099. There are several detached pieces of land about the coast of England which are generally included amongst its islands, although some are so little separated from the mainland as to be connected with it by causeways ; such as the marshy flat islands of Canvey, Foulness, Mersey, and some others, off the coast of Essex. Others are very small, or mere lighthouse stations, the chief of which are, the Feme Isles and Coquet Isles, off Northumberland ; the Eddy stone Rock, in the Eng- lish Channel, about twelve miles from Plymouth Sound, where stands the most celebrated lighthouse of modern times, from its wonderful power of resistance to the swells of the Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay ; Lundy Isle, in the Bristol Channel ; Caldy, Skomer, and Ramsey, off Pembrokeshire ; Bardsey, in Carnarvonshire ; and Walney Isle, in Lancashire. ISLANDS OF IRELAND. A characteristic of the Irish islands is that they are less frequently congregated in clusters than is the case with those ADJACENT ISLES. 87 of Britain. The largest is Acliil (signifying Eagle), situated west of Mayo. It is. a mass of mica slate, of an angular form; the surface boggy, barren, and wild in the extreme, with mountains at the north 2,000 feet high, and at one point on the west the cliff descends abruptly from the highest part of the island down to a depth of 2,208 feet : only a small part is cultivated. Of the other islands, the principal are Clare Isles, Innisbofin, Garomna, west of Connaught; the South Arran Isles, in Galway Bay ; Blasket Isles, and Valencia, west of Kerry, notable as having been the eastern terminus of the American submarine telegraph ; Great Bear Isle and Cape Clear, south-west of Cork ; Eathlin Isle, north of Antrim ; Tory Isle, where are said to live the most primitive people in the United Kingdom ; and the North Isles of Arran, west of 88 THE BRITISH ISLES. CHAPTER IV. RACES OF MEN — LANGUAGES RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. The best evidence as to the origin of a people is that which is afforded by the earliest traces of them which are visible and existing ; by the relics they have left us, the features of their descendants, or the derivation of their language. The next most reliable evidence is that derived from the records of con- temporaries who had no motive for mis-statement — neither the vanity of native historians, nor the jealousy of foreign ones. For instance, when Raphael Holinshed, the English annalist of the sixteenth century, tells us in his i History of England ' that our island received its name of Albion from the giant Albion, the son of Neptune, who took the island from Origin of the Celts, after they had occupied it above 300 years the people. imc [er ^he sovereignty of five kings, the first of whom was Samothes, the eldest son of Japhet, whom Moses calls Meshech — we see only an indifferent fairy-tale, and a species of patriotic vanity very common to chroniclers in un- enlightened times ; and we gather less from his account than from the word Albion itself, which, meaning White Island, at least tells us that it was probably so named by those who saw it first from the south-east, and to whom the chalk cliffs of Kent would appear glistening white on the horizon of the sea. Again, when Geoffrey ap Arthur, Bishop of St. Asaph in the twelfth century, makes Brutus and his Trojans to have been the first inhabitants of Britain, after the giants over whom Gog Magog was king — which chronicle we find Edward L, in a letter to Pope Boniface', adducing as an argument for the supremacy of England over Scotland — we see only here the ambitious wish of the English to trace their origin to the same source as that of their Roman conquerors, and especially the wish of the bishop to connect his nation with the ecclesiastical RACES OF MEN. 89 centre of Eome. Very different to these are the matter-of- fact statements of the Greek and Eoman writers, who, by recording what they actually saw and heard in their own day, have so far left the field of research clear of fable. Thus the Greek historian Herodotus, in the fifth century B.C., makes the first plain reference extant to these islands, although but a dim and negative one : — l Nor am I acquainted with the islands Cassiterides, from which tin is brought to us.' And next Aristotle, a hundred years later, speaks of two large islands in the west, Albion and Ierne ; and after the coming of an eye-witness in Julius Cassar, we gain the first distinct impressions of the islands and their inhabitants. With respect to the best sort of evidence of origin — that which exists in a nation itself — our country presents peculiar difficul- ties. It is comparatively easy to describe the general character- istics of races who have inhabited from remote periods the same localities, and been subject to the same influences, and have ming]ed little with other nations. Thus, if we were to say of the Negro that his hair was woolly, his skin black, his nose fiat, and his lips thick ; or of the Chinese, that his eyes were small, black and slanting, his cheek-bones prominent, his hair black and lank, and his chin beardless ; these definitions would apply with tolerable accuracy to the mass of the two people. But how should we define an Englishman ? His eyes may be black, blue, brown, or grey ; his nose all shapes from the Eoman to the snub ; his hair all shades from black to flaxen ; his proportions all styles from the Adonis to the John Bull; his temperament all degrees from the extreme of excitable to the utmost phlegmatic; and in mental qualities he is still more difficult to define in general terms. So many races have poured into these islands, bringing with them the most opposite tendencies, features, and influences, and have so crossed and mingled and transformed one another, that scarcely anywhere could \ a true Briton ' be found — if, indeed, the riddle were ever completely solved what a true Briton is. Uncertain as are all sources of information with respect to the real aborigines of Britain, the following seems to be the 90 THE BEITISH ISLES. most accredited account of the peopling of these islands. Two branches of the great Indo-European family — the Celtic and the Teutonic — gradually overspread Europe from the East. The general characteristics of these two types of men, as given in l Johnston's Physical Atlas,' are as follows : — Celtic : dark, sallow complexion ; dark eyes and black hair ; skull elongated from front to back ; forehead, oval ; temperament, bilious ner- vous ; stature, moderate ; make, slender, with small hands and feet; disposition, brave, romantic, superstitious, temperate, sociable, improvident and impulsive, quick in apprehension, but deficient in depth. Teutonic : fair complexion, light hair, large bluish eyes ; skull, large and round ; forehead, broad ; make, strong, tall, and often clumsy, with a tendency to cor- pulence ; temperament, sanguine and phlegmatic prevailing, slow, reasoning, intellectual, overbearing, enterprising, inde- pendent, patriotic, cleanly, inclined to gourmandise and intemperance. Of these two races, the Teutons being the stronger both bodily and mentally, their destiny seems to have been to prevail and increase, while that of the Celts has been to yield before them and decrease ; and, as will be seen, such has been the law with respect to Teuton and Celt in our own islands as well as in the rest of Europe. In the course of migration westward, two hostile sections of the Celts — the Gael and the Cymri — successively swarmed into these islands ; the Gael spreading themselves, or perhaps being driven by the stronger Cymri, into Ireland, the north of Scotland, the Hebrides, and the Isle of Man; the Cymri settling in all Britain south of the Grampians. The Gaelic was thus the original stock of the native Highland, the native Irish or Erse, and the Manx. It is true that in Ireland there exist dim traces of a civilisation long prior to this arrival of the Celts, and there are various theories as to the original peopling of Ireland by the Phoeni- cians, or Milesians, or Iberians ; but, however this may have been, there seems no evidence that within the period of authentic history the Irish were in any more advanced state of civilisation than the British. RACES OF MEN. 91 Evidence of the early occupation of these islands by Celtic tribes is found in the language, since the oldest names of places and natural objects are all Celtic ; and it is found also in the most ancient monuments and remains, such as the relics of the Celtic worship of the Druids, the cromlechs or sepulchral chambers, the Druidical circles of which Stone- henge is a specimen ; all which mementos are found most abundantly in Wiltshire, Cornwall, Anglesea, and the Channel Isles. The purest specimens of the Celtic race exist in Corn- wall, Wales, the Scilly Isles, the Isle of Man, and Ireland. While Celtic tribes peopled the country from the south and south-east, Teuton emigrants appear to have m x . 7 ° Jrx Teutonic. thronged in from the north-east and east — Norwe- gians and Danes from Scandinavia, and Skyths from Scythia — who, mixing largely with the Highland Gaels, added the Teuton element now visible in the blue eyes and reddish hair prevalent in the Highlands, and especially planted themselves in Ulster in the north of Ireland, where their powerful nature so gave them the predominance over the Celts, that they imposed their own name for a time over the whole island, and Ireland for a long period was called Scotia, after these Skyths or Scots. (The name of Scotia was transferred to Scotland when the Irish Scots established themselves there in the eleventh century.) About 200 or 300 b. c, another Teutonic race — the Picts — probably from Denmark or Germany, settled themselves in the north and north-east, and finally in the south of Scotland. These Picts appear to have been on friendly terms with the Irish Scots, and obtained wives from them, since the Celtic Britons refused them their daughters ; and these two races were the progenitors of the Scotch Lowlanders, who are almost purely Teutonic. About 300 b. c, another Teutonic variety — the Belgse — probably from Germany, settled themselves in the south of Britain, occupying the district from the south coast to the Bristol Channel ; and it is supposed that many other parts of the coast became colonised about this period by different 92 THE BRITISH ISLES. German tribes. Caesar remarks that the Belgae, who were the last to give way before the Eoman arms, were a civilised people compared to the aborigines of the interior, the Celtic Cymri ; and that the farther he got inland from the coast, the more fierce and barbarous he found the people. In Hamp- shire, Sussex, and Wiltshire, traces of the old Belgic popula- tion are imagined to be visible in the features of some of the present country-people, who are dark-complexioned, hard, morose, and angular-looking ; and in Hampshire, especially, are different from any to be met with eke where in England. Wansditch, in Wiltshire, a vast earthen rampart, nineteen miles long, is supposed to have been a Belgic work. Caesar, it is supposed, first landed on our shore August 25th, 55 b. a, somewhere on the east coast of Kent, probably between Walmer Castle and Sandwich ; and with the coming of intelli- gent invaders who could write down and preserve a record of what they saw, the true history of our island begins, and the Britons begin to be a visible people. Diodorus Siculus, the Greek historian, who wrote his i Historical Library ' soon after the death of Caesar, describes the aboriginal Britons as tall in stature, corpulent, and not well made; as storing up their corn in the stalk in thatched houses, and plucking the ears out from day to day as they wanted them for food ; as making their huts of reeds and logs within an inclosure of felled trees. Caesar says that the Britons of the interior sowed no corn, clothed in skins, and lived on flesh and milk; that all the Britons stained their bodies with a blue dye from woad, to give them a more terrible appearance in battle; that they wore their hair long, and left the upper lip un shaved. The Britons are elsewhere described as wearing breeches (braccce), like the Gauls and Germans. Writing about the time of Tiberius, the Greek geographer, Strabo, says of the inhabitants of the Tin Islands (probably the Scilly Isles), that they were much more polished in manners, from their intercourse with foreigners ; that they led a pastoral and wandering life, wore black cloaks, which were girt about the waist and reached the ankle ; walked about with sticks in their hands, and had beards as KACES OF MEN. 93 long as goats. These were probably the Celtic tribes from Spain, of whom Festus Avienus, a Latin writer of the fourth century, says that they were high-spirited and active, and eagerly devoted to trade ; had no ships built of timber, but made their way in a wonderful manner through the water in boats constructed merely of skins sewed together. Britain was under Eoman dominion for 400 years, and as a Eoman province became duly noticed in the writ- ten records of the Empire : its roads and military stations are detailed in the Antonine Itinerary, a work variously attributed to Julius Caesar, Antoninus Augustus, and other Eoman writers of the three first centuries ; and its government and military affairs are described in the Notitia Imperii, a Eoman work, probably of the fifth century. The occupancy of the Eomans being a military one, they seem to have mingled too little with the Britons to leave much trace of themselves upon the race, although the visible traces of them in the remains of works of art are more numerous than those of any other of the early tribes. These Eoman antiquities consist principally of the fragments of walls, roads, camps, forts, amphitheatres, tombs, baths, furnaces, a vast quantity of pottery, coins, arms, and trinkets, and altars to their various deities ; and there are few localities where there are not some mementos of their presence. Tacitus tells us that the Eomans endeavoured to civilise and instruct the Britons in their own arts ; but, however this may be, all signs of the Eoman civilisation seem to have been erased by the barbarous tribes who succeeded them, and all the Eoman buildings that were capable of destruction to have been destroyed, in most cases, by fire. While yet the Eomans held possession of the land, pirates from Scandinavia and Germany infested our coasts, „ Scixons while Picts from Caledonia and Scots from Ireland pressed upon the interior of the country from the north. But the power of Eome was now fast decaying, and the distresses of the Empire rendering the protection of its distant provinces too burdensome, the Eoman troops were finally withdrawn 94 THE BRITISH ISLES. from Britain, and the country left to the mercy of its barbarian invaders, about the middle of the fifth century. After the abandonment of the Romans, the history of Britain seems again to become confused by fable, and the next recorders cf events were English monks and ecclesiastics of different periods, who wrote the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles from which the Vener- able Bede compiled his ' Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation' about the year 617. These Chronicles related chiefly to church affairs, and made but small allusion to civil events ; but, gathered from this scanty source, the popular story runs, that the Britons, after the departure of the Romans, sought protection from some adventurers from the shores of the North Sea, who, headed by the brother chiefs, Hengist and Horsa, routed for them the Scots and Picts, and received for their re- ward, in 449, the Isle of Thanet for their residence ; this being the first introduction of that powerful Saxon race, who were destined to become the founders of the English nation. It is most probable, however, that the settlement of the Saxons was a gradual one. That it had begun before the Romans left is proved by Roman and Saxon graves being found in the same cemetery,* and it is certain that arrivals of Saxon tribes continued to take place throughout a long period. In King Alfred's translation from the Latin of Bede, there is this toler- ably distinct statement : ' Came they of three folk tlie strongest 4 of Germany ; that of the Saxons, of the Angles, and of the c Greats (Jutes). Of the Geats originally are the Kent people ' and the Wiht settlers ; that is, the people which Wiht the * island live on.' These ' three folk ' afterwards went under the general name of Anglo-Saxon, and it is supposed, from the affinities of our language, that Frisian tribes from Denmark also extensively settled in England about the same period, and were included in the common Saxon name. The Saxons became in their turn the conquerors and oppres- sors of the British, and in alliance with the Picts gained posses- sion of the land, after a violent struggle of about 150 years. The * Wright, The Celt, the JRoman, and the Saxon. RACES OF MEN. 95 native chiefs, warriors, and priests took refuge in the moun- tain-fastnesses of Wales and Cornwall, but the common people remained and mingled with the Saxons, either as slaves or wives. In the midland districts, the Celts, who were left behind, are supposed at least to have equalled in number the Saxons, and at the present day the old British type is believed to predominate in the midland counties, and to account for the much greater similarity among the country-people there than exists among those of the border districts, where the vast number of Saxon and Scandinavian settlers gave early a pre- dominance to the Teuton element. The country from this time became known to foreigners as Anglia — probably because the Angles were the most numerous of the settlers — and by the Saxons themselves was called Angla or Engla-lond (lond being Saxon for country), and in 829, by order of Egbert, king of the West Saxons, the name was finally changed to England. It is chiefly by looking into their graves that relics and mementos have been found of the Saxons of the early pagan period. These graves were called beorh or barrows, and differ from the British cromlechs in being pits dug in the ground covered over with a mound, and being generally found in large groups; indeed, very like our graves and graveyards. In these graves lie sometimes the Saxon war- riors, buried in full dress, with arms and shield, and the long iron sword peculiar to their warfare ; sometimes the Saxon ladies, with combs, and hair-pins, and rings and trinkets about them ; and in other graves the bones are found mingled with buckets, boxes, pairs of scales, drinking-cups, and household utensils of many kinds. One reason why few remains of early Saxon structures are left to us, is said to be that most of their buildings were of wood ; an opinion which is confirmed by the Saxon word for a building being tymbre, and their verb to build being derived from bytla, a hammer. After their con- version to Christianity, about the end of the seventh century, they became ambitious of building churches of stone, ' after the Eoman manner ; ' but still the absence of walls, castles, or any other edifices, is a characteristic of the Saxon period. The 96 THE BRITISH ISLES. old Saxon charters, many of them preserved in the British Museum, are interesting relics of the mother-tongue, while the crosses that stand as the signatures of king and nobles are not the least curious of autographs. The Saxon rule lasted for about 605 years, but their possession V -, became divided with other Teutonic tribes from Scan- Danes and . -i'i--!i Norwe- dmavia; the Danes during the eighth century making settlements in the east of Scotland, the north-east and south of England, the south and east of Ireland ; and the Nor- wegians occupying the Orkneys, Hebrides, and Shetlands, and holding sway over the northern districts both of Scotland and Ireland. The Danes mixed to a great extent with the popu- lation in England, especially to the north of the Humber, which retained long the name of the Danelagh ; they have left many traces of themselves in the names of places, in dykes, churches, and structures of various sorts, and the Danish type is said to be very distinguishable in some of the large-boned, energetic inhabitants of the north and east counties. In Scotland and Ireland traces of the Scandinavian are equally discernible ; for instance, in Caithness, where nearly all the names of places are Norwegian. In 1066, by the issue of the battle of Hastings, was intro- duced into our race its last important Teutonic element, the Norman. Although the Normans had much the same origin as the Anglo-Saxons, being a mixed race of Scandinavians, Frisians, and other tribes from the German coast, yet, from their having adopted the French language, and French habits and customs, their naturalisation in England changed essentially both language and people ; and the firm and sometimes tyrannical rule of our Norman kings had the effect of welding together the discordant elements of Celtic, Saxon, Dane and Norman. ' Do you take me for an Englishman ? ' was the usual form of indignant denial of a Norman gentleman in the time of Eichard I. ; but by the time of Edward III. the distinction between Norman and Saxon no longer existed. Ferocious despots as they were over the Saxon sons of the soil, it is to RACES OF MEN. 97 the Anglo-Normans that we owe the refining elements which made the English noble a gentleman as well as a warrior, and which introduced into the rude land of the Anglo-Saxon the spirit of chivalry, the love of the arts, and the taste for polite luxury. Unlike his Saxon neighbour, the Norman l loved to display his magnificence, not in huge piles of food and hogsheads of strong drink, but in large and stately edifices, rich armour, gallant horses, choice falcons, well-ordered tour- naments, banquets delicate rather than abundant, wines remarkable rather for their exquisite flavour than their intox- icating qualities.'* Castles and fortresses especially belong to the Norman period. Hume states that more than 1,100 Norman castles existed in England in the thirteenth century, these being chiefly border fortresses, built for protection against Welsh incursions. Among the minor relics of Norman art is the Bayeux tapestry, descriptive of the Conquest, and supposed to have been worked by Matilda, the Conqueror's wife, and her maidens. In almost all parts of England is thought to be discerned the Norman type in the tall, slender forms and striking features of many of the population. As trade and intercourse with foreigners increased, many fresh types were introduced among our already varied p oreiRn races. Nearly all our manufacturing towns have elements. mainly derived their population from vast numbers of foreign operatives, who have planted themselves there for the sake of the special trade in which they were skilled ; and this, it is said, accounts for the fact that dark complexions are mostly found in manufacturing towns, while in the agricultural dis- tricts, the light, native Saxon complexions chiefly prevail. For instance, in Spitalfields and other silk-manufacturing dis- tricts, the Huguenot variety is frequent (that is, the descend- ants of the early French Protestants), characterised as ' rather under middle size ; flat face and small features, with nose bevilled at the point ; industrious, economical, and temperate, but fond of dress and show ; temperament, nervous-phlegmatic : ' * Macaulay. H 98 THE BRITISH ISLES. and in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Flemings o introduced themselves and their manufactures into many of our towns ; their type being distinguished as ■ stout and phlegmatic, plodding and ingenious, dark- complexioned and bad-looking.' Of course, from many causes, the large towns show a greater variety of types than the country districts, and also a more constant change in the elements of the population. In London, where the Teutonic character decidedly predomi- nates, the types are exceedingly numerous, but, nevertheless, it is said, well-marked and distinct from each other. In Edinburgh the Teutonic population is scarcely two -thirds ; in Dublin the Celtic prevails. In Liverpool the Teutonic pre- dominates in the higher classes, but, owing to the influx of the Irish, the Teutonic and Celtic about balance one another among the lower. In Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow the Celtic is also on the increase, owing to the constant immigration of the Irish. In Scotland, besides the two great divisions of Gaelic High- Types in landers and Scotch Lowlanders, there are few varieties Scotland. f type. The formation of the Scotch character may be attributed to the mixture of the Celtic and Teutonic ingredients in different proportions and in a different mode from that which took place in England. More of the Celtic sentiment remained in the people after the strength and life of the nation became Teutonic, and the character of the race was greatly influenced by the Norwegian colonies on the north, the immigration of Normans from England, and the extensive trade of Scotland on the east coast with the Han se towns of the north and west of Europe during the middle ages. In Ireland, the mixture of race from the immigration of T in Teutonic tribes- — the Scandinavian Scots in the north, Ireland. the Picts in the east, the Norwegians and the Danes in the east and south, the Belgse in the south, the Anglo- Norman in the east and north, the Lowland Scots in Ulster, and the English in Londonderry — renders it probable that there is far more of mixed Teutonic than of Celtic blood in the country. BACES OF MEN. 99 Original types often become consider ably altered, even in a comparatively short time, by locality, occupation, and other constantly acting influences. For instance, an old Wiltshire chronicler explains to us how the mere fact of living on high or low ground may act upon the character of the inhabitants : ' In North Wiltshire (a dirty clayey county) the indiginas or aborigines speake drawlinge ; they are phlegmatique ; skins pale and livid, slow and dull, heavy of spirit; hereabout is but little tillage or hard labour, they only milk the cows and make the cheese. They feed chiefly on milk meates, which cools their brains too much, and hurts their inventions. These circumstances makes them melancholy, contemplative, and malicious ; by consequence many law-suits, and by the same reason they are apt to be fanatiques; their persons are plump and feggy ; gallipot eyes, some black ; but they are gene- rally handsome enough. The county abounds with soure and austere plants, which makes their humours soure and fixes their spirits. In all changes of religion they are more zealous than any other. In Malmsbury Hundred (the west clayey part) there have even been reputed witches. Contrariwise on the Downes, the south part, where 'tis all upon tillage, and where the shepherds labour hard, their flesh is hard, their bodies strong ; being wearie after hard labour, they have not leisure to read or contemplate of religion, but goe to bed to their rest to rise betime the next morning to their labour.' Although at this distance of time all is very dim and con- fused as to the first peopling of the land, and the localities that each tribe selected, there is, nevertheless, evidence in the people themselves of distinct classes or types which bear witness to the variety of the original settlers. Overlooking, however, minor sources of diversity, it may be said that three main streams enter into the current of pur blood : the Celtic, the Saxon, and the Norse or Scandinavian ; which latter includes the Danish, Norwegian, and Norman. To the Saxon element has been attributed that practical patient industry which has ploughed our fields, woven our garments, made our machinery, and manages our affairs in times of peace; to the h2 100 THE BRITISH ISLES. Celtic, that poetical imagination, that venerative faculty, and worship of the past, which both softens and exalts us ; to the Norse, that intelligent force which guides a nation's destinies, and makes our captains triumphant and our adventurers successful ; which makes ' onwards ' the watchword both in civilisation and power. LANGUAGES. There are three languages at present spoken in the British Isles : the Cambrian or Ancient British, the Gaelic, and the English. The two first, the Cambrian and the Gaelic, are the old Celtic Celtic languages of the first known inhabitants of the island, languages. an d are so allied to the other members of the great Indo-European family of languages supposed to have been native to Asia, that in tracing their origin we are led back to the remote time, before the dawn of history, when the continent of Europe, and afterwards the British Isles, were peopled by migrations from the East. The Cambrian is the common language of Wales ; the Irish Gaelic, or Erse, is the language of the common people in most parts of Ireland ; the Scottish Gaelic is the language of the Highlands, the west of Scotland, and the Hebrides ; and another dialect of the Gaelic is the Manx, or language of the Isle of Man. Naturally the most ancient names of the coun- tries where these languages were spoken are Celtic ; for instance, Erin, ancient Ireland; Caledonia, ancient Scotland, from Caoill-daoin, the people of the woods ; and Cymro, ancient Wales ; by which name the Welshman still calls his country ; the name of Wales, meaning foreign, being a Saxon appellation. The name of Britannia is also Celtic, with a Latin termination, supposed to be derived either from Brit daoine, painted people — the wild natives having been in the habit of painting their bodies — or from Bruit, tin, and tan, country. The English and Lowland Scotch are Teutonic languages, LANGUAGES. 101 belonging, it is supposed, to that same great Indo-European stock from which the Celtic was derived, but of more Teutonic recent date. languages. The English is of German origin, the mother-tongue being the Anglo-Saxon, or Old English ; a language formed by a union of the dialects of the Saxons, Angles, Jutes, Frisians, and other tribes who occupied Britain, and which in its gradual transformation into English went through three prin- cipal stages, viz. the Anglo-Saxon, which lasted from the arrival of the Saxons to the invasion of the Danes, a period of about 330 years ; the Dano- Saxon, which lasted till the Nor- man invasion ; and the Norman- Saxon, which lasted till about the time of Henry II.* One of the earliest specimens of the Anglo-Saxon is a copy of the Lord's Prayer, written by Eadfrith, bishop of Lindisfarne, about the year 700 : — 1 Fader uren thu arth in heofnum sie gehalgud noma thin ; to cymeth ric thin; sie willo thin susels inheofne & in eortho; hlaf usenne ofer wistlic sel us to daeg ; & forgef us scylda usna suse use forgefon scyldgum usum ; & ne inland usih in costunge all gefrig usich from yfle.' The earliest specimen remaining of what can, strictly speaking, be called English, is The Chronicle of Eobert of Gloucester, of the time of Edward I., 1280, being a history of England in verse, ' from the landing of Brutus to the accession of Edward.' The following is one of the verses in the account of the battle of Evesham, in 1265, at which the writer was present : — c Ac the Welsse fot men, that ther were mani on Ac the beginninge of the bataile bigonne to fie ech one. And com thorn Teukesburi, and there men of the toune Slowe horn al to grounde, that there hii leie ther doune So thicke histrete, that reuthe it was to se, And grace hadde non of horn, to fitze ne to fie.' It was several centuries before the English language could be said to be fixed, as is shown by the ad-libitum spelling of old . * Knight's Pictorial History of England. 102 THE BRITISH ISLES. documents; and even in the time of Elizabeth, the orthog- raphy was so unsettled that the same word was often spelled two or three different ways in the same page. The Lowland or Broad Scotch is derived from much the same stock as the Anglo-Saxon, namely, from the Low-Ger- man. While the old Celtic dialects seem to be fast disap- pearing, the Manx being nearly extinct, and the Gaelic declining, the English is becoming more and more the common language throughout the kingdom. ELEMENTS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. The Anglo-Saxon seems entirely to have superseded the old Celtic British dialects in England, with the exception of a elements. f ew Celtic words that still linger in the language to tell of the dwelling here of the ancient races. These Celtic words are chiefly names of persons and places, such as Kent, Thames, Avon ; and a large proportion of the names of places in Wales and Ireland, and parts of Scotland, such as those formed from aber, ben, caer, glen, kill, tin, strath. Also the names of common things are frequently Celtic ; for instance, the following from the Cambrian, or Welsh : * — Welsh English. Welsh. English. Basqawd . . Basket, Grual . . . Gruel. Berfa . . Barrow. Gwieed . . ♦ Wicket. Botwm . . . Button. Gwn .... Gown. Bran . . . . Bran. Gwyfr . . . Wire. Clwt . . . . Clout Masg . . . . Mesh. Crockan . . . Crockery. Mattoq . . . Mattock. Croq . . . . Crook. Mop . . . . Mop. Cwysed . . . Gusset. Khail . . . Kail. Cyl, Cyln . . Kiln, kill (pro- Rhashq (slice) . Rasher. vincial). Rhuwch . . . Rug.^ Dantaith . . Dainty. Sawduriaw . . Soldier. Darn . . Darn. Syth(glue). . Size. Fynnell . . . Funnel. Tael . . . . Tackle. Celtic elements have also been introduced through the medium of other languages, at a more recent date. * Dr. Latham's Handbook of the English Language. LANGUAGES. 103 The Bomans, during their occupation of the land, introduced several words relating chiefly to military affairs, and Latin many more relating to ecclesiastical matters were elements, borrowed from the Latin, during the period of the Saxon kings who had been converted to Christianity ; such as candel, a candle, from the Latin candela ; bisceop, a bishop, episcopas ; calic, a chalice, calix ; pall, a pall, pallium. Names of arti- cles of foreign origin, and of foreign plants and animals, were taken from the Latin of this period ; such as, dish, discus ; cook, coquus', pound, pondus ; camell, camelus; yip, elephant, elephas ; pipor, pepper, piper ; purpur, purple, purpura ; caivl, or cabbage, caulis ; radish, radix. At a later period much Latin was introduced into the schools, cloisters, and courts of law; and still more recently, the Latin has been largely used to express scientific terms ; for instance, focus, axis, basis, index, apparatus ; and the mother-tongue has been still further latinised by admixture with the French and Italian, which are themselves languages derived from the Latin. Danish or Norse was, about a thousand years ago, the tongue spoken in at least five or six counties in the Danish north and east of England, and until the seventeenth elements - century it was the language of the Orkneys and Shetlands. The syllable by, which forms the termination of many names of places in these counties, is Danish. The two words, ale and beer, make a curious index of the prevalence of the Danish or Anglo-Saxon element in the population. c Wherever ale, which is Danish, is counted the stronger beverage, the Danish element is said to prevail ; wherever beer, which is Anglo- Saxon, is the stronger, the Anglo-Saxon predominates.' * The words borrowed from the Norman relate chiefly to warfare, and chivalry, and the administration of the Norman law ; such as esquire, count, baron, villain, service, elements - warrant, domain, challenge. The name Norman means, man of the north ; and the Norman language was a mixture of the French of the original inhabitants of the province with the * Blackwood's Magazine, March 1862. 104 THE BRITISH ISLES. Norse of the Scandinavians, who overran it. Macaulay states that even before the Conquest, the French of Normandy was familiarly spoken in the palace of Westminster, since the English princes were educated in Normandy, and Norman nobles possessed English estates. Greek words have been introduced chiefly since the period of Greek the revival of learning after the dark ages, and have elements. servec [ t ] ie use f fan learned rather than of the common people ; for instance, phenomenon, criterion. Intercourse with other nations has naturally introduced many foreign words into the language, which, neous although in common use, do not form constituents of the English tongue. Of these miscellaneous elements the French is the most important ; but we have also words borrowed from the Italian, Hebrew, and Eastern nations, and indeed from most quarters where Englishmen have traded or visited. The following are a few of these newly imported words : — Arabic. — Alcohol, alcove, algebra, alkali, assassin, alchemy, admiral. Turkish. — Coffee, scimitar, divan. Persian. — Turban, caravan, balcony. Hindoo. — Calico, chintz, muslin, curry. Chinese. — Tea, bohea, and all the tea varieties. Malay. — Bantam, sago, gamboge. Tungusian. — Mammoth . Caribbean. — Hammock* RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. 1 If,' says Seneca, ' you come to a grove thick planted with Celtic ancient trees, which have outgrown the usual alti- worsmp. tude, and which shut out the view of the heaven with their interwoven boughs ; the vast height of the wood, and the retired secrecy of the place, and the wonder and awe inspired by so dense a gloom in the midst of the open day, impress you with the conviction of a present deity.' These sentiments of natural devotion, inspired by the thick shade of RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. 105 trees, seem especially to have blended with the worship of oiir forefathers ; and the first form of religion of which there is any record in these isles, Druidisrn, takes its name from the Celtic word for oak, dmi, and was associated in all its rites with the shade and the leaf of this tree. Pliny tells us that 'the Druids believed that God loved the oak above all the other trees, and that everything growing upon the tree came from heaven, and consequently there was nothing they held more sacred than the misletoe.' The objects of their worship, or rather emblems of deity, in the earliest form of their faith, appear to have been the heavenly bodies, and chief of all, the sun or fire, under the name of Beli, supposed to be the same name as the Baal or Bel of the Orientals ; and consequently sacrifice by fire was the usual mode of adoration. Druidism was not a religion peculiar to the British isles ; Greece, Eome, Assyria, and Egypt, all had religious teachers who were wont to assemble their disciples under some aged oak (drus in the Greek), and to worship the Invisible Being in the shady woods or under the open arch of heaven ; and the similarity of the reli- gion of the west with the paganism of the east, affords additional evidence of the connection of our earliest races with the people of Asia. Apparently it was no unimportant part that these priests of nature performed in the education of those rude races. According to Caesar, the Druids held office in three capacities, as priests, magistrates, and instructors of the young. The connection of their worship with the sun and planets naturally made them the astronomers of their day, and observatories or watch-towers were provided for them from which they could observe the heavens, and especially note the first appearance of the new moon ; and this affords a probable explanation of the mysterious round towers found through- out Ireland, Scotland, Europe, and the East, wmich have long puzzled antiquaries from their singular height and structure, and the absence of any obvious purpose for their erection. These towers are usually found adjoining churches which have been built on the site of old temples, and this union of the watch-tower with the temple is supposed to have been the 106 THE BRITISH ISLES. origin of the church and steeple. The druidical circles, such as Stonehenge, also are explained by this connection of astronomy with the Druid worship ; the circles of stone symbolising the revolutions of the sun and moon, and the stones marking the months and years ; each separate stone probably forming the altar for the season on which the holy fire was kept burning. Frequently the sacrifices upon these altar-stones were human victims ; and we are accustomed to picture the Druid priest, with knife in hand, as the rigid, bloodthirsty minister of a hideous superstition. But it has been suggested that the victims might have been criminals whom the Druid, in his double capacity of priest and magis- trate, condemned and executed with religious rites in expiation of his crime or offence against the gods. As teachers of the young, Csesar, in his ' Commentaries,' represents the Druids as keeping schools in which the pupils stayed for twenty years to complete their education; teaching them chiefly to repeat by rote, ' for it is unlawful to commit their doctrines to writing.' He adds, that in writing the Druids made use of the Greek characters, thus confirming the idea of their connection with Greece and the East. Diogenes Laertes relates that the substance of their faith, practice, and instruction was com- prised in these three precepts — to worship the gods, to do no evil, and to be brave ; and that they taught the doctrine of immortality chiefly for the encouragement of valour. Either jealousy of so powerful a body of priests, or, as was pretended, horror at the atrocities they practised, gave occa- sion to the Eoman edict for the total overthrow of Druid- ism, issued either by the Emperor Claudius or Tiberius ; and accordingly the Druids were driven from their head- quarters in Anglesea, the sacred groves were cut down, and the faith was either extirpated or forced to become a hidden worship in the south about the year 61 A. D. After this time Druidism is supposed to have taken refuge in some parts of Scotland, and to have flourished in Ireland until the abolition of it by the Christian saint, Patrick, about the middle of the fifth century. Supposed relics of Druidism remain to us all RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. 107 the country over, in the round towers, the druidical circles, the cromlechs or sepulchral chambers ; and perhaps some vestige of the religion of the fire- worshippers is to be traced in a few of our familiar village customs, for instance, the ceremonies of All-Hallowmass, the holly and misletoe at Christinas, and the bonfires of May-Day and Midsummer Eve; in Ireland and the north of Scotland the 1st of May or June being scill called Bel- June, or the day of Bel-Fire.* As the stern deities of the Druids retired into obscurity, the classic gods of Ronie took their place; and temples Roman and altars rose to Jupiter under vaiious Latin dimities, designations, to the Apollo, Minerva, Diana, Neptune, and Her- cules of the Greek mythology, and even to the Egyptian god Serapis ; while our dark oak forests and our northern skies became peopled with the wood-nymphs and the bright genii loci of the sunny Italian clime. Tradition says that almost every road and station had its temple ; and although the temples were nearly entirely destroyed in the dark ages, numerous altars have been found dedicated to the Eoman deities, consisting usually of a square block of stone, with an inscription in front. Of these by far the greater number are dedicated to Jupiter, and next to him, to Mars ; but only a very few are found to the female divinities, although London is believed to have had its temple to Diana, and Bath its temple to Minerva. While the Romans were planting their religion in the land, Teutonic tribes appear to have been introducing Teut0I1 i C their forms of belief, which blended in some cases divinities. with the Roman. Thus, from an altar found at Chester, date, 154 a.d., it would appear that Jupiter was worshipped as the great Scandinavian god Thor ; and in districts where the Teu- tonic race predominated, especially in York, Durham, and Westmoreland, altars have been found with Roman inscriptions to the Dece Matres of the Germans ; the three goddesses of the woods and fields, who dispensed the blessings of Providence to mankind, supposed to be identical with the three Fates or * Pictorial History of England. 108 THE BRITISH ISLES. Norni of the north, and with the three wceleyrian or weird sisters of the Anglo-Saxons, whom Shakspeare has transformed into three witches. The English names for the days of the week are examples of the Saxon mythology being grafted on to the Roman. According to the notion of the eastern astrologers, that the planets presided over the different hours in succession, the Romans assigned the seven days of the week to the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Yenus, and Saturn. The Anglo- Saxons adopted the Roman names for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, merely changing the Dies Saturni, the Dies Solis, and the Dies Lunse into Anglo-Saxon ; but for the other days they substituted the names of those divinities of their own who most resembled the Roman : thus for Mars they put their god Tin or Tiw, and thus made Tiwes-daeg or Tuesday ; for Mer- cury, Woden, making Wodnes-daeg, Wednesday ; for Jupiter, Thor, making Thor's-daeg, Thursday ; and for Yenus, Friga, Friday. Gradually Saxon paganism took the place of Roman, and it is only here and there that a Roman inscription, found in a Saxon cemetery, gives evidence that the classic gods still had a few worshippers left in the land. The two books of the Edda, first compiled in the eleventh Saxon and twelfth centuries from the sacred poems of the belief. ancient bards or skalds, contain the Saxon belief, the religion of Odin. Much wild grandeur and even beauty mingle with the savage conception of this mythology. The universe was symbolised as the World Tree, Tggdrasil, the tree of Time and Existence ; its roots are in the dark, cold mist-country, Niflheim-, its branches pass through Midgard, the dwelling- place of men ; its top ascends to the realms of bliss, Asgard, the seat of the gods. The three Fates, Norna, sit ever by its side, watching and watering it. Odin (Scandinavian), or Woden (Saxon), was the presiding deity — whose true history appears to be, that he was chief of a Scythian tribe in North Persia, who, being oppressed by Pompey after the Mithridatic war, fled with his followers to Scandinavia, where he became a conqueror and benefactor, and on his death was deified for KELIGIOUS BELIEFS. 109 his valour and superior intelligence. The seat of Odin is Valhal, Hall of the Chosen, where dwell with him the heroes who have died the death of the brave ;■ whose felicity consists in spending the day in furious battle, and supping in the evening on the exhaustless flesh of the boar, Scrinmer, and drinking mead out of the skulls of their enemies. The wife of Odin is Frigga, the divine mother, or Freia, the beautiful, the Teutonic Venus ; his sons are, Balder, the best-beloved, who represents light, sun, and summer, benevolence, justice, and goodness ; Thor, the Strong, who represents thunder, and has a hammer, Miollner, l the Smasher,' which Odin allows him to use for only four months in the year — the other eight months it lies buried under ground ; Kiord, god of the waters ; Tyr, god of champions ; Brage, of orators and poets ; and Heimdal, guard of the rainbow, the lofty bridge that connected world with world. Loki was the principle of Evil, who contrives the death of Balder, who therewith descends to the region of Hel, to Niflheim, the Mist-land. All nature is troubled at Balder's death, and Frigga, the divine mother, sends Hermo- dur, the Swift, down Hel way to entreat Hel for his restoration. Hel consents ; for does not the tree Yggdrasil join hell with heaven, so that there is sympathy between them ? but Hel consents only on condition that all things weep for Balder. All things obey ; and men, and beasts, and plants, and mine- rals, all weep for Balder the Good. Loki only refuses to weep, so Balder remains in Niflheim till the coming of the Eagvarok, or Eclipse of the Gods, when Odin himself shall be swallowed up by the serpent of Hel, the offspring of Loki ; and the tree Yggdrasil shall be consumed by fire. But out of that chaos of destruction will arise a better cosmos ; Balder will return, and then will reign for ever supreme 'that Mighty One, the Strong One from above, He who guides all things, rides to the councils of the gods, bringing judgment, and establishing laws for ever.' Many fierce and savage elements mingled with this superstition, especially among the Danes, to whom Odin was chiefly the Avenger, and ' the sacred duty of blood revenge 5 was the prominent principle. Even among the Anglo-Saxons, 110 THE BKITISH ISLES. who adopted the religion in its mildest form, human sacrifices seem to have been allowed ; and in its later days, as it lost its hold over the minds of the higher class, the Odin worship appears to have lost its spiritual elements, and to have become a mere savage idolatry. In the old Saxon Christian profession of faith, the long venerated names of Thunar and Woden are perhaps with reason classed amongst the diabola?. Q. Forsachistu diobolae ? i?. Ec forsacho allum diobolgeldse, end allu dioboles unercum, and- uuordum, Thunar, ende AVoden, ende Saxnote, ende allem them unholdum, the hiro genotas sint. In English : Q. Eenouncest thou the devil ? A. I renounce all devil-guilds, and all the devil's works and words ; Thunar, and Woden, and Saxnote, and all the unholy ones who are their fellows. It is uncertain at what period Christianity first found its Christi- wa 7 ^ n ^° tnese islands. Possibly Eoman converts anity. mav have introduced some knowledge of it before the close even of the first century, and by the end of the second it would appear to have made much progress from the remark of Tertullian, in 209, that ■ even those places in Britain Wtherto inaccessible to the Eoman arms have been subdued by the gospel of Christ.' Legend and miracle so abound in the monastic records of these early days of the Church, that it is difficult to discern the facts of its progress, and the Christianity of that barbarous age would seem sometimes to have been strangely blended with the existing idolatries. Eedwald, king of East Anglia, for instance, kept in his sanctuary one altar to Christ, and a smaller one to Jupiter behind it. In the midst, however, of the obscurity, one or two names of Chris- tian heroes and martyrs stand out that do not seem wholly legendary, and indicate that a religion of self-sacrifice and holiness had begun to shed its light upon our land. About the year 3Q0 a.d., Alban, a citizen of the town of Verulam, according to tradition, died for his faith under the general persecution of the Christians by the Emperor Diocletian, and BELIGIOUS BELIEFS. Ill was thus the first Christian martyr in England. About the year 412, the Picts south of the Grampians were converted by Ninian, bishop of Whithern ; and in 422, St. Patrick swept away the heathenism of Ireland, and, by his own account, established Christianity as the national religion. At the coming of the Saxons in 449, a barbarous form of Christianity appears to have been the religion of most of the south of Eng- land, and the Picts and Scots were ' put to flighte with shouts of Hallelujah.' About 563, St. Columba, revered as the national saint of Scotland until that honour was awarded to the skeleton of St. Andrew, converted the Picts north of the Grampians, and in the barren isle of Iona founded a system of monastic discipline and an order of clergy, called Culdees, who, from the purity of their lives and doctrine and their rejection of the authority of Eome, became important in their influence over the religious thought of Scotland. The Romish religion is said to have been introduced into Scotland by Palladino, a priest sent over by the Bishop of Rome, and throughout the dark ages it was the established faith. The first organised attempt for the conversion of England was made by St. Augustine, a monk of the order of St. Andrews at Rome, in the year 569 ; and thus, about 650 years after Csesar had landed his soldiers on the coast of Kent to subdue the island by the sword, St. Austin landed his forty monks on the same coast on a mission from Pope Gregory I. to i snatch the Angles from the wrath to come, and to bring them to the mercy of Christ.' The mis- sionaries were received with noble courtesy by King Ethelbert of Kent, were provided with habitation and sustenance, and allowed to take solemn possession of Canterbury, of which St. Austin was forthwith installed first bishop by Gregory. King Ethelbert shortly after accepted the new faith, and his example was followed by many of the petty sovereigns and by multitudes of their subjects ; and on account of the special success of Augustine in Kent, the Pope constituted Canterbury the seat of primacy in England. In less than ninety years after the coming of Augustine, Catholic Christianity became 112 THE BRITISH ISLES. the established religion of England, and continued to be so until the era of the Eeformation in the sixteenth century. In 1337, John Wickliffe, Professor of Divinity in the Protestant- University of Oxford, and rector of Lutterworth in lsm * Leicestershire, laid the foundation of the Reforma- tion in England by opposing the authority of the Pope, and openly avowing his disbelief in the doctrines peculiar to the Church of Rome. Through the preaching of the great apostle of the Reformation in Germany, Martin Luther, 1517, and the rapid spread of the reformed belief on the continent, the cause of free thought became greatly advanced in England ; the dissenters from the Church of Rome taking the name of Protestants from the followers of Luther, who at a diet of Spires in 1530 had solemnly protested against the authority of Rome. But the most decisive blow to the authority of the Pope in England was given by Henry VIII. , whose son Edward VI. was the first Protestant king ; and although the reign of the Catholic Mary intervened, the Reformed Pro- testant Church became the religion of the state when Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1558. In Scotland, in 1529, a young Scot of noble birth, Patrick Hamilton, had become acquainted abroad with the doctrines of Luther and Melancthon, and preaching them at home, was burnt at the stake ; and his martyrdom, together with that of Wishart in 1545, gave the first movement to the Reformation in Scotland. The Calvinistic Reformer, John Knox, aided subsequently the downfall of the Catholic Church, and the Protestant Church gained the ascendency in 1560. The Reformed Church was established in Ireland in 1535, but the bulk of the native Irish still continue attached to the Roman Catholic faith. As the Protestant reformers dissented from the Church of Protestant Rome, so there arose many, even in the early days Dissenters. £ ^e Reformation, who dissented from the Church of England, and desired to carry still farther the departure from Romish observances and discipline. These first dis- senters were called Puritans, from the purity and simplicity KELIGIOUS BELIEFS. 113 they endeavoured to introduce into their religion and con- duct, and they suffered grievous persecutions under the first Protestant reigns. The spirit of free inquiry, characteristic of the English and of all Teutonic races, and the increasing toleration of the government, have led to the formation of a greater number of dissenting sects in this than in any other Christian country, there being no less than thirty-five deno- minations in England and Wales, and about forty in the entire kingdom. The right of nonconformity to the Established Church was, after many struggles, formally conceded in the settlement of the Constitution under William III., after the Eevolution of 1688, and subsequent securities for freedom of conscience were also gradually made law ; the most important being the repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts in 1828, and the political emancipation of the Catholics in 1829* 114 THE BKITISH ISLES. CHAPTER V. POLITICAL DIVISIONS. The division of the country in the time of the ancient Britons British was merely into the districts inhabited by the Divisions. vai .j ous tribes who colonised it, such as the country of the Brigantes, of the Trinobantes, Silures, Iceni, Belgse, &c, and Ptolemy, the Alexandrian geographer of the second century, to whom we are indebted for the names of these tribes, enumerates no less than thirty-five. After the Romans took possession they divided the whole of Boman England and a part of the lowlands of Scotland into Divisions, provinces, the names of which are found in the 1 Notitia Imperii, 7 and the limits of which are assumed from a work of the fourteenth century, said to have been compiled by a monk, Richard of Cirencester, from the papers of a Roman general.* According to these two sources, the provinces were : 1. Britannia Prima, the southern district. 2. Britannia Secunda, west parts, including Wales. 3. Flatca C^sariensis, midland counties. 4. Maxima C^esareensis, northern counties, as far north as Ha- drian's Wall. 5. Valentia, greater part of Northumberland, and Scotland as far north as the Forth and Clyde, and the Wall of Antoninus. 6. Vespasiana, north of the Wall of Antoninus. When the Saxons established themselves, each leader pro- Saxon bably took to himself the district which he had been Divisions. mos t instrumental in conquering ; and by the be- ginning of the seventh century these districts formed the * Hughes's Geography of British History. COUNTIES OF ENGLAND. 115 Heptarchy, or seven kingdoms, which, according to the popular idea, were : COUNTIES. 1. Kent, founded "by Hengist, Kent. or his son Eric. 2. Sussex, or South Saxons, Sussex and Surrey. by Ella. 3. Wessex, or West Saxons, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Berks, by Cerdic. Dorset, Wilts, Devon. 4. Essex, or East Saxons, by Essex, Middlesex, part of Herts. Ercenwine. 5. Northumbria, Angles, by Lancaster, York, Durham, Cumber- Ella, land, Westmoreland, Northumber- land, Scotland to Firth of Edin- burgh. 6. East Anglia, Angles, by Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge. Uffa. 7. Mercia, Angles, by Crida. Midland Districts from the Thames to the Humber, and as far west as Wales. The house of Wessex having gained the ascendency under Egbert, a.d. 820, the Heptarchy became in a measure united under his crown, and by the time of William of Normandy, the kingdom of England was firmly established under one sceptre. But either for the convenience of go- n , , p.. i t -i Counties. vernment, or for the sake ot giving land and dignity to some noble or bishop, the country had become sub- divided into lesser portions, called shires, from the Saxon shetran, to divide, or counties, from being governed by a count or earl. It is uncertain at what precise period England was thus divided into counties; the process was probably a gradual one, but the county system appears to have been well established by the time of Edward the Confessor, 1041, and its origin dates from before the time of Alfred. In some cases the old Saxon states formed the shires, such as Kent, Sussex, Essex, &c. ; in other cases the shire was a piece of church property, such as Worcestershire ; and in many cases, accord- ing to Teutonic usage, the Saxon leaders or kings rewarded their chieftains witb allotments of land, upon which they i2 116 THE BRITISH ISLES. settled with their families and followers, and which descended to their children as a freehold. These landowners, although acknowledging a kind of subjection to their sovereign chief, were accustomed to associate themselves together to administer justice in their own domains, and to settle the affairs of their joint districts ; and these associations gave rise to the regular system of small local governments into which the shires were converted by about the time of Edgar, 950. These govern- ments comprehended many smaller subdivisions, most of which remain to the present day. The most universal of these were the hundreds and tithings ; the tithings consisting of ten families, presided over by a tithing-man ; and the hun- dreds of twelve tithings presided over by a headborough or hundred man ; the whole being under the jurisdiction of the earl, or bishop, or sheriff of the county. In the northern counties of Northumberland, Durham, Westmoreland, and Cumberland, the subdivision was into wards instead of hun- dreds, because it is said the people of these border lands had to keep ' watch and ward ' against the northern invaders ; Yorkshire and part of Lincolnshire were divided into ivapen- takes, and Yorkshire had also a threefold division into ridings or thrithings. Kent was divided into lathes, and Sussex into rapes, the Isle of Man into sheadings, and the Isle of Anglesea into cantrefs and comots. The further subdivision into parishes is an ecclesiastical one. The County-courts or Schy remotes were in the time of the County Go- Saxons the most important tribunals in the country ; vernment. anc [ ? although their creation is usually attributed to Alfred, there is evidence that they were part of the English judicial system long before his reign. The present county system is founded upon the old usages, and the principal offi- cers of a county now are : — 1. The Lord Lieutenant. — An officer appointed by the Crown, and strictly speaking, a representative of the Crown to keep the county in military order. But besides this primary duty of raising the militia and attending to the military array of the county, other offices have been intrusted to him ; for COUNTY GOVERNMENT. 117 instance, he is keeper of the rolls or archives, he appoints the clerk of the peace, and the county magistrates. The office was first instituted in the reign of Edward VI., 1549. 2. The High Sheriff — (from shire reve, governor of a shire). Annually appointed for the effectual administration of the laws. In most cases the Crown appoints the sheriff, but some corporations of cities have power to elect their own sheriffs. The sheriff derives his authority from two patents : one commits the county to his custody ; the other commands the inhabitants to aid him in the exercise of his office ; and to this end he may summon all the people of his county to attend him, which assembling is called the posse comitatus, or power of the county. During his period of office the sheriff stands first in the county, and is superior in rank to any noble- man. He is assisted in the discharge of his function by the Under- Sheriff, whom he himself appoints ; and his subordi- nates are the constables, gaolers, beadles, &c. Sheriffs are said to have been first appointed by William the Conqueror in 1079. 3. The Eeceiver General oe Taxes. — Appointed by the Crown, to which he accounts for the taxes in his district. He receives also the county- rates, and accounts for them to the magistrates at quarter sessions. 4. Coroner — (from Corona, as it was formerly an office of the Crown). Appointed chiefly to - take inquisitions of death,' that is, to inquire by a jury of neighbours how or by whom any person came to a violent death, and to enter it on record ; and also occasionally to take the sheriff's office when he is incapable of acting. Elected for life by the free- holders in the county-court, but removable by writ, if found incompetent for the office. First appointed by Edward L, 1276. 5. Justices of the Peace — or County magistrates, ap- pointed by the lord lieutenant, and who, assembled in quarter sessions, put the statute law into execution against offenders and disturbers of the peace, according to the verdict of the grand jury, or council of at least twelve men, who inquire into 118 THE BRITISH ISLES. the case of all delinquents. They have the control also of the county funds. First nominated by William the Conqueror in 1076. 6. Clerk of the Peace. — Usually an attorney, appointed by the justices of the peace or the lord lieutenant, to act as their officer at quarter sessions in preparing indictments, filing and producing recognizances, &c. 7. Knights of the Shire — or representatives of the county in Parliament. Chosen on the king's writ by the free- holders of every county ; that is, by such as hold property in the county, the annual rental of which is not less than forty shillings, or by occupiers of property to the value of not less than 50Z. The office is said to have originated with Simon de Montford, Earl of Leicester, in the reign of Henry III., who ordered returns to be made of two knights from every shire. The knights are still girded with a sword when elected, according to the ancient usage. The judicial tribunals in each county are the Sessions Court and the Assize Court. The sessions courts are held quarterly and presided over by the county magistrates, and mostly are limited to the trying of minor offences. Established in the reign of Edward III. Assize courts (from assideo 1 I sit) are much more ancient institutions, although the present form of these courts is derived from the statute of Westminster, Edward I., 1282. The assizes are held two or three times a year, and are presided over by judges, who make the circuit of the counties in order to administer justice in civil and criminal cases. The general or ordinary circuits take place in the spring and summer, and recently it has been found convenient in most counties to hold a third or winter assize. Special assizes are sometimes held, when a commission is issued to take cognizance of some particular cause. The judges' cir- cuits are eight in number, viz : Home Circuit ; Oxford ; Midland ; Norfolk ; Northern ; Western ; South Wales and Chester ; and North Wales and Chester. Although the divisions into counties is a political one, there are often features, natural and otherwise, which distinguish COUNTIES OF ENGLAND. 119 one county from another : thus, Yorkshire has its wolds, Westmoreland its lakes and mountains, Lincolnshire its fens, Lancashire its factories, Cheshire its dairies and salt-works, Derbyshire its peak, Cornwall its mines, Hereford its cider- orchards, Kent its hops, Wiltshire its downs and antiquities ; and, as may be seen from the following list, something of their history and natural characteristics may be gathered from the names of the counties themselves. England is divided into 40 counties ; each of which has its county town or centre, where the general business of the county is transacted. Seven Eastern Counties* Northumberland, land north of the Humber. Durham, from Anglo Saxon deor, wild animal, and ham, abode. Yorkshire, perhaps from the river Ure, part of the Ouse. Lincolnshire, from Celtic llyn, lake or pool, and Latin colonia. Norfolk, north, and Anglo-Saxon folc, people. Suffolk, south folc Essex, east seaxe, Saxons CAPITALS. Newcastle, on the Tyne. Durham, on the Wear. York, on the Ouse. Lincoln, on the Witham. Norwich, on the Yare. Ipswich, on the Orwell. Chelmsford, on the Chelmer. Ten Southern Counties. Kent, from a Celtic word, meaning Maidstone, on the Medway. projection. Sussex, suth, south; seaxe, Saxons. . Surrey, suth and ea, land near water; or rica, a kingdom. Berkshire, bare-oak-shire, from the polled oaks in Windsor Forest. Hampshire (including Isle of Wight), ham-ton-shire, from ham, abode, and ton, town. Chichester, on the Levant. Guildford, on the Wey. Beading, on the Kennet. Winchester. * The derivation of these names has been mostly copied from Corn- well's School Geography. 120 THE BRITISH ISLES. Wiltshire, from Wilton, a town on the Wily. Dorsetshire, contraction of Dorches- tershire, from Celtic dwr, water. Somersetshire .... Devonshire Cornwall (including the Scilly Isles), from Celtic cernyw, horn, and Anglo-Saxon walli, foreign. The first part of the name was given by the Britons from its shape ; the second by the Saxons, because the Britons were foreigners to them. CAPITALS. Salisbury, on the Avon. Dorchester, on the Frome. Bath, on the Lower Avon. Exeter, on the Ex. Launceston, on the Tamar, Seven Western Counties. Monmouth ..... Hereford, from Anglo-Saxon here, an army, and ford, where the army crossed the river. Shropshire, contraction of Shrews- bury, Anglo-Saxon scrobb, a shrub, and burk, town, i. e. the town amongst shrubs. Cheshire, formerly Chestershire, from Anglo-Saxon ceaster, a forti- fication. ■ Lancashire, from lune and ceaster . Westmoreland, Anglo-Saxon mor, a moor, Cumberland, comb, valley. Part of the Cumbria of the Britons. Monmouth, on the Wye. Hereford, on the Wye. Shrewsbury, on the Severn. Chester, on the Dee. Lancaster, on the Lune. y, on the Eden. Carlisle, on the Eden. Sixteen Midland Counties. Derby, from deor, wild animal, and Derby, on the Derwent. by, Danish for dwelling. Nottingham, ham, home ; rest of the derivation uncertain. Stafford, Anglo-Saxon staef, staff or pole, and ford. Leicester, from Leir, the old name of the Soar, and ceaster. Nottingham, on the Trent. Stafford, on the Sow. Leicester, on the Soan. COUNTIES OF WALES. 121 Butland, Anglo-Saxon rude, red, and land, some parts of the soil being reddish. Worcester, ceaster, the rest doubtful. Warwick, Anglo-Saxon waering, a bulwark, and wic, dwelling. Northampton, north-ham-ton . Huntingdon, Anglo-Saxon hunt, and dun, a hill ; i. e. hunter's hill. Cambridge, bridge over the Cam Gloucester, perhaps from Celtic glow, strong, and ceaster. Oxford, the ford of oxen Buckingham, Anglo-Saxon hoc, a beech- tree, and ham, a dwelling among the beech-trees. Bedford, Anglo-Saxon bedician, to fortify, -and ford. Hertford, Anglo-Saxon heart, sl stag, and ford. Middlesex, middle-seaxe, or Saxons. CAPITALS. Oakham, on the Wreak. Worcester, on the Severn. Warwick, on the Avon. Northampton, on the Nene. Huntingdon, on the Great Ouse. Cambridge, on the Cam. Gloucester, on the Severn. Oxford, on the Thames or Isis, Buckingham, on the Great Ouse. Bedford, on the Great Ouse. Hertford, on the Ware. London, on the Thames. WALES. Wales has twelve counties : six in North Wales, and six in South Wales. North Wales. Flint Flint, on the Dee. Denbigh Denbigh. *C^rnarvon, from caer, a fort . Caernarvon, on the Menai Strait. Anglesea, Angle's ey, or English- Beaumaris, on the Menai Strait. man's island. Merioneth . . " . . . Dolgelly, on the Maw. Montgomery ..... Montgomery, South Wales. Cardigan Pembroke Cardigan, on the Teify. Pembroke, * The car, which occurs in many Welch names, is the same as the Saxon ceaster and the Latin castrum. 122 THE BRITISH ISLES. CAPITALS. Caermartheist, formerly Caer-Mard- Caermarthen, on the Towy. dyn. Glamorgan Cardiff, on the Severn. Brecknock Brecknock, on the Usk. Eadnor . . . . . . Badnor, on the Somerjah. DIVISIONS OF SCOTLAND. The colony of Scots who came over from Ireland into Scot- land at the beginning of the sixth century, took possession of Earl the district now forming Argyleshire, and called it Divisions. Dalraida, which they occupied for 300 years ; while the rest of the country north of the Forth and Clyde was the kingdom of the Highland and Lowland Picts. In 843, Kenneth MacAlpin, king of Dalraida, gained possession of the whole of this territory, which was from that time called Albania, until about the middle of the tenth century, when the name was changed to that of Scotland, while the country south of the Forth and Clyde was divided into three districts, inhabited by different tribes : 1. Lodonia, comprising the Lothians and other south counties, inhabited by Angles ; 2. Strathclyde, including Lanark, Eenfrew, and North Ayrshire, inhabited by Cymri ; 3. Galloway, including Kirkcudbright, Wigton, and South Ayrshire, supposed to have been inhabited by Picts. In 1085, the whole of Scotland, with the exception of the extreme north, was brought under subjection to one king, Malcolm Canmore, and in 1493, the last Lords of the Isles, the Macdonalds of the north, were finally subjugated by James I., and from that time the whole of Scotland was nomi- nally ruled by one sceptre until its union with England. The division of Scotland into counties or earldoms, and the establishment of sheriffs and county-courts, are supposed to have existed as early as the twelfth century. Scotland has three criminal circuits, viz : South, West, and North, which take place in spring and autumn, and an additional court is held at Glasgow at Christmas. COUNTIES OF SCOTLAND. 123 Scotland is divided into 33 counties : they differ much in size, Inverness, the largest, being 91 times larger than Clackmannan, the smallest. Some of them, such as Cromarty, are made up of several detached portions. Ten Highland Counties. Aberdeen, from aber, mouth, and Dee. Banff ..... Moray, or Elgin Nairn Inverness, including part of the Hebrides. Eoss, including the north portion of the Hebrides. Cromarty Sutherland .... Caithness ..... Orkney and Shetland CHIEF TOWNS. Aberdeen, on the Dee. Banff, on the D ever on. Elgin, on the Lossie. Nairn, on the Nairn. Inverness, on the Ness. Dingwall. Cromarty. Dornoch. Wick. Kirkwall and Lerwick. TJiirteen Lowland Counties. Edinburgh, or Mid -Lothian Haddington, or East Lothian Linlithgow, or West Lothian Berwick . Roxburgh Selkirk Peebles Dumfries . Ejrkcudbright Wigtown . Ayr . Renfrew . Lanark Edinburgh, on the Frith of Forth. Haddington, on the Tyne. Linlithgow, on the Avon. Dunse, on the White Adden. Jedburgh, on the Jed. Selkirk, on the Ettrick. Peebles, on the Tweed. Dumfries, on the Nith. Kirkcudbright, on the Dee, Wigtown. Ayr, on the Ayr. Benfrew. Lanark. ■ Ten Central Counties. Fife . Ejnross Clackmannan Bute Cupar. Kinross, on the Leven. Clackmannan. Bothsay. 124 THE BRITISH ISLES. Argyll Stirling Dumbarton- Perth Angus, or Forfar Kincardine CHIEF TOWNS. Inverary. Stirling, on the Forth. Dumbarton. Perth, on the Tay. Forfar, on the Dean. Stonehaven. DIVISIONS OF IKELAND. Before its conquest by the English in 1172, Ireland had Early been a monarchy ; but it was also divided into king- Divisions, doms, each ruled by its own petty prince, although all were tributary and subject to the sovereign. These king- doms or provinces were five in number, and formed what is called the Irish Pentarchy : they were, Connaught, Munster, Ulster, Leinster, and Meath. Afterwards, Leinster and Meath became merged in the province of Leinster. In the twelfth year of King John's reign, almost the whole of Ireland was divided into shires ; but Connaught maintained long a kind of independence, and did not become permanently shire land until the reign of Elizabeth in 1562. Ireland is divided into 4 provinces : Ulster, Leinster, Con- naught, and Munster, and into 32 counties. Ulster, 9 Counties, Antrim Belfast, on the Lagan. Londonderry Londonderry, on the Foyle Donegal Lifford, on the Foyle. Tyrone Omagh, on the Mourne. Fermanagh EnnisJcillen, on the Erne. Cavan Cavan, on the Erne. MONAGHAN . Monaghan. Armagh Armagh, on the Callen. Down Downjpatrick, Leinster, 12 Counties. Louth LundalTc. Meath Trim, on the Boyne. Westmeath Mullingar. GOVEKNMENT OF ADJACENT ISLES. 125 CHIEF TOWNS. Longford . Longford, on the Camliru King's County . Tullamore. Queen's County . Maryborough. KlLDARE Kildare. Dublin Dublin. Wicklow JVicklow. "Wexford Wexford. Carlow Carlow. Kilkenny . Kilkenny. Munster, 6 Counties, TlPPERARY . Clonmel. "Waterford Waterford, on the Suir. Cork .... Cork, on the Lee. Kerry Tralee, on the Lee. Limerick Limerick, on the Shannon, Clare .... Ennis. Connaught, 5 Counties. Galway Galway, on the Corrib. Mayo .... Castlebar, on the Castleton Sligo . Sligo, on the Grarvogue. Leitrim Car rick on Shannon. EOSCOMMON . Boscommon, on the Suck. CONSTITUTION OF THE ADJACENT ISLANDS. The islands lying near the coast, such as Bute, Wight, Anglesey, are within the judges' circuits, and either form counties in themselves, or are part of adjoining counties ; but the more distant islands, although under imperial jurisdiction, have local legislatures peculiar to each. Thus the Isle of Man (capital, Castletown), is still nomi- nally a distinct kingdom, although the sovereignty of the island has been ceded to the Crown by its last owners, the Dukes of Athol ; and like the colonies, it has its lieutenant- governor, appointed by the Crown, and its local parliament^ The House of Keys, composed of 24 of the leading land- owners. The island is divided into 6 sheadings. 126 THE BKITISH ISLES. In the Scilly Isles (capital, St. Mary), civil jurisdiction has been usually administered by a council of 12, nominated by the lessee of the islands ; capital offenders only being tried at Penzance. Guernsey (capital, St. Peter Port), is divided only into parishes. Its legislative body is the l States of Deliberation,' composed of the bailiff of the royal court, appointed by the Crown, and 12 jurats appointed by the islanders. The royal court is the chief court of justice in the island. Jersey (capital, St. Helier), is also divided into parishes, and the * States of Jersey ' form a local legislature similar to that of Guernsey. Alderney and SarJc are dependencies of Guernsey, but Alderney has a sort of local assembly of 12 douzainiers, or representatives of the people, who have the power of delibe- rating but not of voting ; and in Sark, the power of making local laws is vested in a little parliament composed of the lord of the manor and 40 copyholders. The political constitutions of the whole group are generally under the superintendence of the Secretary of State for the Home Department, and final appeal may be made to the Crown from all their courts. TOWNS. The word town is from the Anglo-Saxon tun, which again is from the verb tynan, to enclose, and means chief resi- . dence ; and this tun or ton, forming as it does the last Names of syllable of an immense number of English names of towns, points to the time when such places were the township or chief residence of early Saxon settlers, to whom they had probably been allotted by the sovereign chieftain. Most of the towns of England are as old as the Saxon period, and the name of the settlers is generally contained in the first part of the name of the town : thus, Warrington was the family seat of the Wirings ; Ardington of the Ardings ; Bletchington of Bleccingas ; Harlington of the Harlings. Sometimes mem- bers of the same family or tribe seem to have settled in different TOWNS. 127 places : thus, the Hannings have given their name to three Hanningtons, in Northamptonshire, Hampshire, and Wilt- shire, and two villages in Essex are named after them. Often the clan or family name is joined to the termination of ham, which is Anglo-Saxon for residence or home, being the same as the German heim ; as in Birmingham, the residence of the Beormingas, the descendants or clan of Beorm ; Buckingham, the residence of the Bucingas. Sometimes the same family name ends in ton in one place, and in ham in another : thus, the Bossingas are found at Bossingham in Kent, and Bossing- ton in Hampshire and Somersetshire ; the Wselsings, who were apparently a branch of the old Volsungars of the Edda, are found at Walsinghani in Durham and Norfolk, and at Woolsington in Northumberland ; and several other names met with in Scandinavian romance may be traced in our fami- liar English appellations : thus, the Scyldings and the Brent- ings are found in Skillington in Dorset, and Brantingham in Yorkshire. Sometimes many different terminations are met with to the same name, which is supposed to indicate that the various settlers, although belonging to the same clan, were of different races and spoke a different dialect. Thus, the Bil- lingas and their followers appear to have spread themselves all the country over, for we find them at Billingham in Dur- ham, at Billington in Lancashire, Bedford and many other places, at BiDingley in Yorkshire, at Billinghay in Lincoln- shire, at Billinghurst in Sussex, and at Billingsgate in London. Wic or wich, forming the ending of many names of towns, also means dwelling or town, as in Warwick, Sandwich, Nantwich, and even London is called sometimes Lunden-wic in old phraseology. In many cases, the Saxons seem to have anglicised the former Latin name, as in Stratford, Streatham, Stretton, which are all composed of the Eoman strata, way or street, and a Saxon termination. Towns that were once Eoman stations may be known by the cester, caster, Chester, in England, or caer in Wales, and are all derived from the Latin castrum, a fortified place, as in Lancaster, Dorchester, Caernarvon. 128 THE BKITISH ISLES. Often the name is merely Roman anglicised, as Manchester, the ancient Mancunium of the Eomans ; Lincoln, the Latin Lindum-Colonia. Many names have evidently reference to the natural features of the place ; as Lewes, pastures, Beverly, a place of beavers, and also the vast variety that end in dale, field, ford or bridge ; and still more often the town is named from the river on which it stands, as Cambridge. Those names ending in by, bye, or high, show a Danish occu- pation, and are the most prevalent in Lincolnshire ; by being also a common termination in Denmark. Bury or borough, also a common termination, is from the Anglo-Saxon by rig or bwrli, and means a fortification by walls or mounds ; and the boroughs up to the time of the Conquest . consisted mostly of the towns that were enclosed by the Eoman towers and walls. The term was also applied to such towns as were governed by an officer of their own election, called a borough-reve or port-reve. At the time of the Con- quest London was called London-burgh, from its having received the right of such government. Since the time of Henry III., the word borough became affixed to such towns as sent burgesses as representatives to Parliament. A town at the present day means a large assemblage of houses, to which a market is generally attached. tionof I owns that are governed by their own elected officers are called corporate towns ; those which are also the seat of a bishop's see and have a cathedral church are called cities — a term that has only been in use since the Con- quest ; those which send members to Parliament are called boroughs; those which have none of these privileges are called country-towns. Charters that gave the right of self- government were first granted to towns by Edward the Con- fessor. Burgesses, or free citizens (from the French bourgeois), were first admitted into Parliament, in England, in the reign of Henry III., a.d. 1265; in Scotland, 1326; in Ireland, about 1365 ; and the term burgess was originally applied MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 129 only to those who possessed land within the boundaries of the town. Since the Municipal Act of 1835, the local legislature, or governing council of such towns as are under the Act, con- sists of a mayor, aldermen, and councillors, to be elected as follows : the mayor to be elected annually by the council from amongst the aldermen or councillors ; the aldermen to be elected every third year by the council for the time from amongst the councillors ; the councillors to be elected by the burgesses of the borough, one third going out of office every year, and one third of the number elected annually. Mayors are the chief magistrates of corporate towns, and the office dates from the time of Richard I., 1189, when Henry Fitz Alwyhn, the first Lord Mayor of London, remained in office 24 years. The Norman title of maire was applied to the governor of a town in the previous reign of Henry II. , before which time they were usually called port-reeves. Mayors retain their office as borough- magistrates for one year after their mayoralty expires. Aldermen (from the Saxon Ealdorman, a senior) were until the year 882 governors of provinces or districts ; but Henry III. is said to have created the office of city-alderman, next in dignity to that of mayor. Many of our municipal institutions are traced back to those privileges of self-government which were granted by the Romans to the large fortified British towns, called by them Colonia and Municipia, and which were made by these means centres of civilisation, and strongholds for the defence of the country. The present names of some of our municipal offi- cers are said to be clearly derived from this old Eoman source. Afterwards, in Saxon times, these important municipal centres often gave their names to the county in which they were situ- ated, and were called by distinction County Towns, and most of them contain some ancient edifice, some castle, or fortress, or cathedral, which tells of their origin and position in past ages. But as the industrial age succeeded to the chivalrous and feudal, and England became more and more a commer- 130 THE BRITISH ISLES. cial country, other towns, more convenient for trading and manufacturing purposes, sprang into still higher importance, and have eclipsed in many cases the old county-towns ; hence a capital town and a county town are not always the same. By the last census (1861) it is found that the county-towns are generally on the decline. Out of the 40 ancient English county-towns, in only one, Newcastle, which is a trading as well as county-town, has the increase been equal to that of other provincial towns ; while in several, such as Warwick, Gloucester, Cambridge, Caernarvon, Lancaster, the population has positively decreased. CAPITAL TOWNS. LONDON: METROPOLIS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. The history of London dates as far back as any authentic Ancient history of our island itself. Before the coming of London, the Romans, there stood on the banks of the Thames the capital of the kingdom of the Trinobantes, the old British town of Llyn-din, or ' town on the lake ; ' marshes to the north of it, the river to the south, and impenetrable forests to the west. By the Romans this town of Llyn-din was enlarged so as to extend to both sides of the Thames, was enclosed by a Roman wa ^ excepting on the river side, and became Lon- London. dinium, or Augusta Colonia ; first mentioned by Tacitus as a great mart of commerce and residence of mer- chants. This Roman wall, beginning near the Tower, and running along the Minories, Cripplegate, Newgate, and Lud- gate, enclosed a space three miles round, and had fifteen towers. Antiquarians tell us that the prsetorium, or seat of the Roman governor, stood where Cornhill and the Poultry now are ; that a Roman cemetery lies under Spitalfields ; and that in the centre of the city, on the site of St. Paul's, was erected a temple to Diana. Often in digging from twelve to twenty feet below the surface in the city, traces of Roman floors and pavements lie revealed, shewing that the general level of the streets was by so much lower in those days. In the sixth century, under the Saxon rule, London became CAPITAL TOWNS: LONDON. 131 the capital of the kingdom of Essex, and at this time we find the name sometimes anglicised into Lundiniumceaster, or Saxon Lunden-wic. In this century also London was made London. a bishop's see, and in 604, Sebert, king of Essex, built a cathe- dral to St. Paul, on the site of the present church, and an abbey to St. Peter, on the site of Westminster abbey; while the palace of the Anglo-Saxon kings stood on the river-bank near the cathedral. Under Alfred the Great, 804, London became the metropolis of England; but the old town of Winchester, or TheE lish Witanceaster, which had been the capital of the Capital. West Saxons, was long a rival for the honour of this title, and did not finally yield it to London till after the reign of Henry II. Together with other towns, London was made a corporate town by Edward the Confessor, and their corpo- rate and other privileges were confirmed to the citizens by William the Conqueror, who was the first to grant them a charter of rights ; * and the special immunities and privileges inherited by the citizens through this and subsequent charters rendered the corporation of London a powerful body in the state, and greatly advanced its interest as a free commercial town. The extent to which trade, in all its branches, was promoted in London from early times is shewn by the number of Guilds, or corporate bodies, that were formed to protect the interests of special trades and commercial undertakings, and which held so honourable a position that nobles and even kings were often amongst their members. Among the most an- cient of these city companies was the Steel- Yard Company, a so- ciety of German and Flemish merchants, to whom Henry III. * - This charter is written in beautiful Saxon characters on a slip of parchment six inches long and one broad, and is in English as follows : " William the king greeteth William the bishop, and Godfrey the port- reve, and all the burgesses within London, friendly. And I acquaint you that I will that ye be all there law- worthy, as ye were in King Edward's days. And I will that every child be his father's heir after his father's days. And I will not suffer that any man do you any wrong. God preserve you." ' — Hadyn's Dictionary. k2 132 THE BRITISH ISLES, granted permission to establish a factory in the Steel-yard, near Dowgate, between Thames Street and the river, and who for many years were the only exporters of the produce of England. At the present time no less than ninetj^-one of these guilds exist, twelve of which, established between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, are styled, for distinction, c Honourable.' These are, the Grocers, Mercers, Goldsmiths, Skinners, Drapers, Fishmongers, Merchant Tailors, Haber- dashers, Salters, Ironmongers, Vintners, and Clothworkers. Of these trades, the Grocers is one of the most ancient, and takes its name from the guild, meaning originally ' engrosser, or monopoliser.' The Mercers' Company was founded in 1393, a few years before Sir Richard Whittington of story-book celebrity, a rich citizen and mercer of London and a munifi- cent benefactor to the metropolis, was ' thrice lord mayor.' During his lifetime, Guildhall was built for the use of the various companies, and on its completion in 1419, Whitting- ton entertained there Henry V., and report says, gave proof of his immense wealth by munificently throwing into a fire made of sjDices, bonds of the gallant monarch for moneys lent him to the value of ^60,000. The Merchant Tailors' Company is noticeable as having numbered among its members no less than seven kings, beginning at Eichard II. and ending with Henry VII. Only three of these guilds are actual trading companies at the present day — the Goldsmiths, Apothecaries, and Stationers ; all of which have their special jurisdiction over the trade : but all the great companies of London have their corresponding halls. The two cities of London and Westminster were for many years separate and distinct cities, London being inhabited chiefly by Scots, and Westminster by English. The union of the crowns tended to unite the two; after which the Scots greatly multiplied about the suburbs, so that an old writer, Howell, remarks that ' London was like a Jesuit's hat, wider in the brim than in the block.' One or two facts and dates will show something of the progress and improvement in the aspect of London. In LONDON. 133 Henry III.'s reign, the town was first guarded by a watch, who perambulated the dark and narrow streets through the night, and struck the hours upon a bell, there being no public clocks. In Henry Y.'s reign, the streets were lighted with lanterns. In 1533, they were first paved ; and not, it seems, before it was needed, since the paving Act described the streets as - very foul, and full of pits and sloughs, very perilous and noyous, as well for all the king's subjects on horseback as on foot.' Holinshed, writing about this time, speaks of London as having a very mean appearance in comparison with foreign cities ; and the foreigners who came over with Philip II. describe the houses as being built with i sticks and dirt.' In 1588, the Thames water was first conveyed into the town by leaden pipes. Hackney coaches were first used in Charles I.'s reign. The streets were first lighted by oil-lamps in 1681, and gas was first used for that purpose in 1809. In 1829, the new police system was established in the metropolis. Modern London is the largest and wealthiest city in the world. Although other cities may equal or surpass Modern it in individual respects, no other city combines in London, such variety the elements of greatness ; and, regarded as the great emporium of trade and commerce, the central point where congregate merchants from all parts of the world, and as the seat of civilization and intelligence the most advanced in the world, it is doubtful if there could be another metro- polis equal to it on the face of the earth. The importance of London has necessarily kept pace with the growth of the empire, and it is now the mighty heart of a giant system, the pulsations of which correspond with exactness to each throb of its innumerable members, even though the space of half the globe may intervene. London is ten miles long and seven miles broad, and covers thirty-two square miles. The portion of the metropolis called the City lies in the centre, and includes those districts into which the municipal franchises and privileges extend, and is divided into two parts, ' London within the Walls,' and i Lon- don without the Walls ; ' although the old walls which once 134 THE BRITISH ISLES. made this division no longer exist. The old boundaries of the city, and its numerous gates and entrances, are still to be discerned in the names of certain localities; for instance, Aldgate or (Eldgate, where stood the oldest gate probably in the whole city, defending the approach by the highway from Essex ; Newgate, opened in the time of Henry I., to enable persons to pass out westward, there being then only three other gates, Aldgate, Aldersgate, and Ludgate ; Bishopsgate, built about the reign of Henry II., to guard the road from Cambridge ; Cripplegate, l so called of cripples begging there ; ' and Moorgate, built on the moor side, in Henry V.'s reign, ' for the ease of citizens that way to pass upon causeys (cause- ways) into the fields for their recreation.'* Other gates, such as Billingsgate and Dowgate, were only landing-places on the river side, and the bars of Temple Bar, Holborn, and Smith- field, were smaller barriers to the City without the walls. The only one of the city boundaries now remaining is Temple Bar, so called from the ancient dwelling-house of the Knights- Templars situated there. The City is divided into twenty-six wards, which are under the jurisdiction of the lord maj^or, twenty-five aldermen, two sheriffs, and the common councilmen. The whole metropolis consists of seven divisions, viz. the city of London, the city of Westminster, and the boroughs of Marylebone, Finsbury, the Tower Hamlets, Southwark, and Lambeth. It returns sixteen members to the House of Commons, four for the city, and two for each of the boroughs, and Westminster. London is not regarded as a manufacturing town only Mann- because it is so far greater in its other aspects ; factnres. otherwise its manufactures are of the highest order. Here are the largest breweries, distilleries, and sugar-refineries, and some of the most considerable shipyards in the kingdom ; and as the great workshop of all connected with science, litera- ture, and the arts, it is unrivalled. It was formerly the only seat of the broad silk manufacture in England, which trade is * Chambers' Popular Antiquities. EDINBURGH. 135 now carried on at Spitalfields and Bethnal Green. Clerken- well is the chief watch-making district, Bermondsey the chief district of tanneries, and Lambeth of soap-making and foundries. The population of London at the last census (1861) was 2,803,034, being as many as that of the three largest capitals in Europe together, viz. Paris, Constantinople, and St. Peters- burgh. EDINBURGH : CAPITAL OF SCOTLAND. The Old Town of Edinburgh, standing nobly in the midst of a group of hills to the south of the Firth of Forth, is said to have been named after a King Edwin of Northumbria in the time of the Heptarchy, and is first men- tioned in the eighth century as the town of ' Edwinesburc.' As early as the twelfth century it is spoken of as a royal burgh, that is, a town governed by bailiffs who were appointed by the king ; but it does not appear to have been a fortified town until the fifteenth century, when King James II. of Scotland granted the citizens i full license and leiff to fosse, bulwark, wall, tour, turale, and other ways to strength the burgh, in quhat maner of wise or degree that beis sene maist spedeful to thaim.' In 1437 Edinburgh became the acknowledged capital of Scotland. The Old Town is chiefly remarkable for its picturesqueness, its narrow, ill-drained streets, its many-storied houses, and its inconvenient situation ; being built upon the slope of a hill, which ascends from the palace of Ho:yrood on the east, to the castle on the summit. The old castle of Edinburgh, supposed to have been built by the Saxon King Edwin before the town itself, and before the district came into the possession of the Scots, stands on its rock, 434 feet above the sea level, the most ancient monument of the past, and fitting companion of the noble heights in its neighbourhood — Pentland Hills on the west, and Calton Hill, Arthur's Seat, and Salisbury Craigs on the east. To the north of the Old Town, on a rising ground, the 136 THE BRITISH ISLES. highest point of which is Calton Hill, stands the New Town,— ^ the modern Athens, as it has been called, on account New Town. . . _ '. oi the beauty of its architecture, — and which commu- nicates with the Old Town over the mounds of rubbish that have been cast up in laying its foundation, and which have bridged over the morass that formerly divided the two sites. These two towns, and what is called the Southern Districts, constitute the capital of Edinburgh. Edinburgh ranks far higher as a seat of learning than as a manufacturing or commercial town, and owes chiefly its renown in modern times to its university. The government of the town is vested in a magistracy and town-council, the chief magistrate being the lord provost, elected every three years. The city returns two members to Parliament. The population of Edinburgh in 1861 was 168,121. DUBLIN: CAPITAL OF IRELAND. One tradition says that Dublin was built, a.d. 150, by Alpi- nus, an Irish chieftain, who i brought the then rude rock into the form of a town, and called it Auliana, in memory of his daughter who was drowned in the ford, which name Auliana was changed into Eblana by Ptolemy, and became transformed into Dublana.' A more probable account is that Dublin is a variety of the Irish Dubh-lim, or black-pool, and in old documents it is written Dyfiin or Dyvelin. During the first centuries Dublin was occupied first by Norwegians, and then by Danes, who carried on constant warfare with the native Irish. Under the Anglo-Norman rule the city began to increase in importance. The town stands on each side of the river Liffey at its entrance into Dublin Bay, and in the thirteenth century the stone bridge was built which connects the divided por- tions. About the same time the town was fortified and the castle built. As a trading port Dublin has a better and more central position than either London or Edinburgh ; but as a manufacturing town it is unimportant. It is an archbishopric, a university town, and the residence of the vice-regal ECCLESIASTICAL CENTRES. 137 governor, the lord-lieutenant of Ireland. The borough of Dublin returns two members to the imperial parliament, and its local government consists of fifteen aldermen and forty-five councillors, one of whom is annually elected lord mayor. Population in 1861, 295,964. ECCLESIASTICAL CENTEES. CHURCH OF ENGLAND AND WALES. Since the Eeformation the sovereign of England has taken the place of the Pope as head of the Church ; but only with regard to its temporal affairs. The Church of England is an Episcopacy ; that is, it is governed by bishops ; the word ' bishop' being from the Anglo-Saxon piscop, derived from the Eoman episcopus, which again was a corruption of the Greek F.TrLaKOTroc, the title given by the Athenians to their city inspectors. This form of church government dates from the second century in England and Ireland, and from the fourth century in Scotland ; that is, it is about coeval with the establishment of Christianity in the kingdom. The principle of episcopacy is, that Holy Orders, that is, the divine right to minister in the church, are conferred by the laying on of hands in apostolic succession, bishop consecrating bishop in a regular series from the Apostles. Archbishops and bishops are appointed by the crown through the ministry. The district over which the bishop presides is called a see or diocese, from the Eoman name of diocese given to the divisions of the empire in the time of Constantine. The diocese is divided into parishes, and the centre of the diocese is the cathedral, the see or secies of the bishop ; and the town in which the cathedral is situated gives its name to the bishopric. All the bishops are, to a certain extent, under the jurisdiction, or suffragan.) to the archbishops ; but the archbishop has also his own special diocese. Subordinate to the bishops are the deans, archdeacons, precentors, chancellors, canons, priest- vicars, and other officers who belong to the cathedral, and form what is called the Chapter, and who in former times used 138 THE BKITISH ISLES. to reside with the bishop in the cathedral or chapter-house ; and also the incumbents, the rectors, vicars, and curates, whose duties lie in the parishes. The general government of the church is administered by Convocations of the Clergy, or assemblies of the clergy of the kingdom, convened by the crown at the meeting of every new parliament. The archbishops each summon the clergy of their own province, and the assembly meets in parliamentary form, the bishops forming an upper house and the inferior clergy a lower house, presided over by a prolocutor or speaker. ARCHBISHOPRICS. There are two archbishoprics of England, viz. Canterbury and York. Canterbury, the Caer-Cant, or city of Kent, of the Saxons, and the Cantuaria of the Romans, was first made the eccle- siastical capital of England by Pope Gregory 1. a.d. 597, and his missionary, St. Augustin, was its first archbishop. In 1073 a dispute for precedence arose between Canterbury and York, York claiming to have been the metropolitan see from a still earlier period ; but the court of Rome decided in favour of Canterbury, and, by way of pacifying York, allowed its archbishop to style himself Primate of England, while Canterbury was distinguished as Primate of all England. As Primate of all England, the Archbishop of Canterbury holds rank as the first peer of the realm after the royal family, and has the title of Grace. His income is 15,000Z. per annum. His ecclesiastical province extends over twenty-one dioceses, viz. Canterbury, London, Winchester, Ely, Lincoln, Rochester, Lichfield and Coventry, Hereford, Worcester, Bath and Wells, Salisbury, Exeter, Chichester, Norwich, Gloucester and Bristol, Oxford, Peterborough, in England ; and Bangor, LlandafF, St. David's, St. Asaph's, in Wales. The jurisdic- tion formerly extended to Ireland, and then the archbishop was styled patriarch. York, the Eboracum of the Romans, and their chief station ECCLESIASTICAL CENTRES. 139 in the north, and afterwards the capital of the Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, was constituted an archbishopric by Pope Gregory I. a.d. 622. It was also the metropolitan see of Scotland till the year 1464, when the Scottish bishops re- fused their allegiance, and forthwith had archbishops of their own. The ecclesiastical province of York consists of seven dioceses, viz. York, Manchester, Carlisle, Chester, Durham, Ripon, Sodor and Man. Income, 10,000Z. BISHOPRICS. There are 26 bishoprics in England and Wales, and about 17,000 clergy. The Bishops of London, Winchester, and Durham have precedence of all bishops ; the others rank ac- cording to priority of consecration. The spiritual title of bishops is Right Reverend Father in God ; their secular title is lord, since William the Conqueror converted their benefices into baronies ; and by statute of Henry VII. their rank was settled to be that of barons of the realm, and next to viscounts. By this right the bishops have a seat in the House of Lords. The dioceses are as follow : Province of Canterbury. Canterbury.— This diocese comprises part of Kent and part of Surrey. Number of its benefices, 352. Canterbury cathedral was founded in the time of Henry L, 1130, and was built in the early Norman style. At one time it was called St. Thomas, from the murder of Thomas-a-Becket before its altar. London. — Middlesex, part of Essex, Kent and Surrey. In- come, 10,000Z. Benefices, 324. London was first made a bishop's see in the sixth century, Eestitutus being the first bishop ; and in 604, Sebert, King of Essex, built a cathedral to St. Paul, on the site, it is supposed, of an old Christian church built in the time of the Eomans ; and also an abbey to St. Peter at Westminster. Sebert's church of St. Paul was burnt down in 1086, and a second was erected which was 140 THE BKITISH ISLES. burnt down in the great fire of London, in 1666. The present church was built by Sir Christopher Wren in 1710. The church of Westminster was rebuilt by Edward the Confessor for a Benedictine monastery, and became an episcopal see under Henry VIII. The present edifice was gradually raised under its successive abbots, chiefly in the reigns of Henry III. and Henry VII., and Sir Christopher Wren put the finishing touch by adding the two western towers. These churches of St. Paul's and Westminster are the two cathedral centres of the London diocese. Winchester. — Hampshire, part of Surrey, the Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands. Benefices, 523. Income, 10,000/. The present cathedral was begun by Walkin, 34th bishop, in 1073, and was dedicated once to St. S within, one of its bishops. The see is of great antiquity, being founded by Kenegilsus, first Christian king of the West Saxons. Ely. — Cambridge, Bedford, Huntingdon, part of Suffolk. Benefices, 529. Income, 5,500/. Made a bishopric by Henry L, 1107. Cathedral begun in the reign of William Rufus. Lincoln. — Lincoln and Nottingham. Benefices, 796. The largest diocese in the kingdom. The present cathedral was completed by Hugh of Burgundy, 25th bishop, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary and All the Saints. Bath and Wells. — Part of Somerset. Benefices, 462. Income, 5,000/. The bishopric of Wells (so called from St. Andrew's Well, which flows through part of .the town), was erected oj Edward the Elder, in 905. John de Villula, the 16th bishop, having purchased Bath of Henry L, transferred his seat to that town ; hence disputes arose afterwards as to which place should elect the bishop, which were settled in 1136 by the union of the two places; giving Bath the prece- dency. Salisbury. — Dorset, part of Wilts and Berks. Benefices, 471. Income, 5,000/. Bishopric founded at Sherborn in 705, and removed to Old Sarum in 1056. The first Salisbury cathedral was built by the nephew of the Conqueror, on the earthworks of Old Sarum, where the outlines of the founda- ECCLESIASTICAL CENTRES. 141 tion are still visible. But in that high and bleak situation, i when the wind did blow, they could not hear the priest say masse,' — as old Aubrey tells us, the Wiltshire chronicler of the seventeenth century — so the present cathedral was built in 1220, in the sheltered valley of the Avon ; Bishop Poore and William Longspee, son of Henry II. and Fair Eosamond, laying the first stone. Tradition says that the church was built upon wool- packs ; probably because the tolls paid for the wool in the market, which was the chief source of the wealth of the county at that time, helped to defray the expense. Edward III. added the spire, 406 feet high. After the transfer of the cathedral, the whole population seem to have followed down into the valley ; so that in the reign of Henry VIII. , not a single inhabitant was left in Old Sarum, which, nevertheless, until lately, has returned two members to parliament to repre- sent the deserted lump of earth. Exeter. — Devon, Cornwall, and the Scilly Isles. Benefices, 694. Income, 5,000/. The bishopric originally consisted of two sees, the church of Devonshire being at Crediton, and that of Cornwall at Bodmin. The see was united and removed to Exeter in 1032, and Edward the Confessor gave for the cathedral a monastery founded by Athelstan. Chichester. — The county of Sussex. Benefices, 311. In- come, 4,200Z. Bishopric founded in the Isle of Selsey, 681 ; removed in 1071 to Chichester, or Cissan-ceaster (castle or city of Cissa, an Anglo-Saxon chief) ; cathedral built, 1115. Eochester.— Hertford, part of Essex and part of Kent. Benefices, 564. Income, 5,000Z. The most ancient bishopric in England next to Canterbury, and founded by St. Augustin. The cathedral church first erected by Ethelbert, King of Kent. Oxford. — Oxford, Bucks, Berks. Benefices, 609. Income, 5,000Z. Formerly part of the diocese of Lincoln, but made into a bishopric by Henry VIII., who endowed it from the dissolved monasteries of Abingdon and Osney. The cathedral 142 THE BRITISH ISLES. was originally dedicated to St. Frideswide, and named Christ Church when the see was transferred. Gloucester and Bristol. — Gloucester, part of Wilts, and part of Somerset, Benefices, 443. Income, 5,000/. Formerly part of the diocese of Worcester, and erected into a bishop's see by Henry VIII. Worcester. — Worcestershire and Warwickshire. Benefices, 417. Income, 5,000/. Founded by Ethelred, King of the Mercians, in 679. Originally part of the see of Lichfield. Hereford. — Hereford, part of Shropshire and Radnor. Benefices, 358. Income, 4,200/. The cathedral founded by Milfride, a nobleman in the time of King Ethelbert. Peterborough. — Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Eutland. Benefices, 536. Income, 4,500/. Made into a bishop's see by Henry VIII. , who converted its monastery into a cathedral. Received its name from an ancient abbey dedi- cated to St. Peter, and built by one of the kings of Mercia. Lichfield. — Derbyshire, Staffordshire, part of Shropshire. Benefices, 625. Income, 4,500/. Formerly the see of Lich- field and Coventry. Founded in 656, and became so wealthy that in the time of Pope Adrian it was made an Archbishopric. In 1074 the see was removed to Chester, in 1102 to Coventry, and then back again to Lichfield. Dr. Samuel Butler in 1840 was the first bishop of Lichfield only. The cathedral was begun by Roger de Clinton, 37th bishop, in 1148 ; the chapel of St. Mary was added by Walter de Langton, bishop in 1296, and the structure was completed by Bishop Heyworth, in 1420. Norwich.— Norfolk and part of Suffolk. Benefices, 910. Income, 4,500/. At one time two distinct bishoprics, Elmham in Norfolk, and Dunwich in Suffolk, because Bifus, the third bishop, was unable from his extreme age to bear the burden of the whole see, which was founded in 630 by Felix, a Bur- gundian, who converted the East Angles. The see was after- wards re-united and removed to Norwich in 1088, when the cathedral was begun by Bishop Herbert Losinga, and com- pleted by Bishop Middleton, 30th prelate, in 1278. ECCLESIASTICAL CENTRES. 143 St. David's. — Brecon, Cardigan, Carmarthen, Pembroke, part of Glamorgan, part of Eadnor. Benefices, 411. Income, 4,500Z. Once the metropolitan see of Wales, and one of the three archbishoprics that were originally planted in Britain. Called St. David's, after its first archbishop, whose memory is honoured by the Welsh custom of wearing a leek in the hat on the 1st of March, the day on which St. David gained a great victory over the Saxons, and ordered his soldiers to dis- tinguish tli em selves by fixing a leek in their caps before the battle. In the reign of Henry I. the bishops of St. David were compelled to submit to the see of Canterbury. Llandaff. — Monmouth, and part of Glamorgan. Benefices, 230. Income, 4,200/. A very ancient bishopric, taking its name from the situation of its church, close to the river Taff y llan, in Welsh, signifying church. St. Asaph. — Part of Carnarvon and Denbigh, Flint, part of Merioneth, Montgomery and Shropshire. Benefices, 173. Income, 4,200Z. Founded in 560 by Kentijern, bishop of Glasgow, and called St. Asaph after his successor. Bangor. — Anglesea, parts of Carnarvon, Denbigh, Merio- neth, and Montgomery. Benefices, 134. Income, 4,200/. An ancient see. The church is dedicated to St. Daniel, one of its bishops in 516. Province of York. York. — Part of Yorkshire. Benefices, 534. For a long time York and Durham were the only sees in the north of England, until Henry I. created a bishopric at Carlisle, and Henry VIII. one at Chester. King Edwin of Northumbria, about the year 630, built the first Christian church here, on the site, it is supposed, of a Eoman temple. Many times the church has been destroyed by fire, and rebuilt at different periods, until its completion in the fourteenth century; and in 1829 the majestic fabric was set on fire by Jonathan Martin, a lunatic, and again it was partially destroyed by an accidental fire in 1840. 144 THE BRITISH ISLES. Durham. — Durham, Northumberland, part of Cumberland. Benefices, 245. Income, 8,000/. The bishopric was first fixed in Heligoland in 635, but forced from there by the Danes, and finally removed to Durham. It is considered the richest see in England. Carlisle. — Part of Cumberland and part of Westmoreland. Benefices, 264. Income, 4,500Z. Founded by Henry I. in 1133 ; cathedral erected in the time of William Eufus. Ripon. — Part of Yorkshire. Benefices, 430. Income, 4,500/. The diocese was formed in 1836, from those of York and Chester. Manchester. — Part of Lancashire. Benefices. 358. In- come, 4,200Z. Diocese created in 1849 ; Dr. Prince Lee being the first bishop. Chester. — Cheshire, parts of Lancashire, Cumberland, and Westmoreland. Benefices, 363. Income, 4,500Z. Formerly part of the diocese of Lichfield ; erected into a see by Henry VII., who gave it for a cathedral the abbey of St. Werburgh. Sodor and Man. — Isle of Man. Benefices, 31. Income, 2,000Z. Erected by Pope Gregory IV. The Southern He- brides used to be included in the diocese ; but, when the Isle of Man became subject to England, they were separated from it, and had a bishop of their own. The bishopric has still, however, retained its name of Sodor, which is believed to be an abbreviation of ' Soderoys,' the old name of the Southern Hebrides. The bishop is nominated by the Duke of Athol, and is consequently not a lord of parliament, since he does not hold his see from the sovereign. CHURCH OF IRELAND. The Protestant Church of Ireland is called, in connection with England, the United Church of England and Ireland. It maintains two archbishoprics, viz. Dublin and Armagh ; and ten bishoprics, viz. Meath, Killaloe, Cashel, Cork, Down, Deny, Limerick, Kilmore, Ossory, Tuam. Clergy, about 2,200. ECCLESIASTICAL CENTRES. 145 The Koman Catholic Church of Ireland consists of four archbishoprics and twenty-five bishoprics. CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. In 1689, the episcopal form of government was abolished in Scotland ; and, in conformity with the principles of John Knox, Presbyterianism was established, which vested all authority in councils of elders and ministers, called presbyters. These ministers are all of equal rank, and there are four species of courts or councils by which the affairs of the kirk or church are managed, viz. the General Assembly, the Synod, the Presbytery, and the Kirk Session. The minister of each " parish, with one or two elders or leading men, form the kirk session, which manages the affairs of that parish ; several kirk sessions constitute a presbytery ; several presbyteries a synod ; and the general assembly is a gathering of the representa- tives of the several synods, which meets in Edinburgh once a year. There are sixteen synods and eighty -four presbyteries. In 1843, nearly half the National Kirk decided on the prin- ciple that parishioners ought to be allowed a voice in the choice of ministers ; and these seceders called themselves the Free Kirk of Scotland. Episcopacy is still maintained in Scotland under a reduced form, although the Scotch Episcopal Church has held no po- sition in the State since the Eevolution in 1688. The Scotch bishoprics are seven : viz. Edinburgh, Brechin, Moray and Eoss, Argyle, Aberdeen, Glasgow, St. Andrews. The clergy number about 161. The bishops are appointed by the crown, and one of them is elected by the other six to act as presiding bishop or Primus, DISSENTING CONGEEGATIONS. The first dissenting place of worship in England was a Pres- byterian chapel opened at Wandsworth, Nov. 20, 1572. The following table will show the proportion which dissenting places of worship bore ten years ago to those of the Estab- lished Church, in England and Wales : — L 146 THE BEITISE ISLES. PLACES OF WORSHIP PLACES OF WORSHIP. Church, of England . 14,077 Swedenborgians . . . 50 Boman Catholics 570 Moravians .... 32 "Wesleyan Methodists 6,579 Irvingites (Catholic and Independents . 3,244 Apostolic Church) 32 Baptists .... 2,789 Greek Church 3 Society of Friends . 371 Countess of Huntingdon's Unitarians 229 Connection 109 Latter-day Saints (Mor- Welsh Calvinistic Methodists 828 nionites) 222 Various small bodies, some Scotch Presbyterians 160 without names 546 Plymouth Brethren 132? Jews 53 It is estimated that there is about one Christian minister to every 900 inhabitants in the British Isles. EDUCATIONAL CENTRES. UNIVERSITIES. Oxford. There are fonr Universities in England : Oxford, Cambridge, London, and Durham. It is not known when Oxford University was first founded. As early as the time of Edward the Confessor it appears to have been a place of study, and its schools were either attached to the convents and monasteries, or the scholars were lodged at the inns or in hired houses. When many of these scholars were congregated in one house, it was called a hall or hostel, and was presided over by a governor. To save students the expense of this lodging out, and for the convenience of study, persons have from time to time erected and endowed colleges (from colligo, to bring together), or charitable institutions, where scholars are lodged and educated according to the statutes of the founder ; such colleges having received by charter of the king the right to be corporate bodies, subject to their own jurisdic- tion only. William, archdeacon of Durham, was the first who founded a college at Oxford, now called University College, a.d. 1232; but no regular plan of college education can be traced before the time of Walter de Merton, bishop of Roches- ter, who founded Merton College in 1264. Oxford University consists of nineteen colleges, viz. University, Balliol, Merton, EDUCATIONAL CENTRES. 147 Exeter, Oriel, Queen's, New College, Lincoln, All Souls', Magdalen, Brazenose, Corpus Christi, Christ Church, Trinity, St. John's, Jesus, Wadham, Pembroke, Worcester ; and of six halls, which differ from colleges in not being corporate bodies, viz. St. Edmund's, St. Mary's, New Inn Hall, St. Mary Mag- dalene, St. Alban, and Charsley. By diploma of James L, the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge send two representatives to Parliament. Cambridge Is supposed to have been a seat of learning from the seventh century, when Bede says that Sigebert, king of the East Angles, instituted a school in imita- tion of those in France. The university is said to have had its origin in a number of learned monks being appointed by the abbot of Croyland to deliver lectures on science and philo- sophy at the town of Cambridge, near his residence, in 1109; and the students who nocked to hear them formed themselves into an academy, after the model of the university at Orleans. The first charter granted to Cambridge as a university was by Henry III. ; and the first endowed college was Peter House College, founded by the bishop of Ely, in 1257. Cambridge University has seventeen colleges, viz. St. Peter's, Clare, Pem- broke, Gonville and Caius, Trinity Hall, Corpus Christi, King's, Christ's, Queens', St. Catherine's, Jesus, St. John's, Magdalene, Trinity, Emmanuel, Sidney- Sussex, Downing. London University was chartered in 1836. It differs from other universities by being wholly of a secular r a . . . J , ., London. character. It is an examining, and not educational institution, and confers degrees in arts, laws, and medicine. Durham University was opened for students in 1833, and owes its existence to the efforts of Dr. Thorp, Arch- _, , Durham. deacon of Durham. Scotland has 5 Universities : Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aber- deen, Old Aberdeen, and St. Andrews. Edinburgh University was founded by James VI., scotch rjni- affcerwards James I. of England, in 1582. versities. Glasgow University had its origin about 1458, when land was bequeathed by a member of the House of Hamilton l2' 148 THE BEITISH ISLES. for its erection. James VI. granted it new estates, and a charter. The University of Old Aberdeen, or King's College, was founded by James IV. in 1494. Marischal College and Uni- versity, in Aberdeen, was founded by George Keith, Earl Marischal in 1593. St. Andrew's University is the oldest in Scotland, and was founded by Henry Wardlaw, bishop of St. Andrews, in 1411. Dublin University was founded by Queen Elizabeth, 1591, Irish Uni- and was first called Trinity College ; it is exclusively versities. p rotestant# j n ^q Q uee n Victoria founded the * Queen's University in Ireland,' with power to grant degrees to students who have completed their course in any one of the Queen's Colleges of Belfast, Galway, or Cork ; which colleges are open equally to Roman Catholics and Protestants. May- nooth College, in Kildare, was founded in 1795, by Act of the Irish Parliament, for the education of candidates for orders in the Roman Catholic Church. COLLEGES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Unlike our two principal Universities, the greater part of our large public schools have had a Protestant origin, and perhaps "Winchester and Eton are the only colleges of note in England that have been Roman Catholic at their formation. Imme- diately after the Reformation, education seems to have received a great impetus, and a great many of our grammar-schools were founded by Edward VI., out of the revenues of the old religious houses. It is observable, that whereas before that period, learning owed its chief patronage to kings and ecclesi- astics ; under the influence of Protestantism laymen of all degrees devoted their means to its promotion. Thus, Rugby School owes its foundation to a London grocer ; Dulwich College to a comedian ; Harrow School to a wealthy yeoman ; and conspicuous amongst these lay benefactors is Sir Thomas Gresham, founder of the Royal Exchange and of Gresham EDUCATIONAL CENTRES. 149 College. The following are the principal colleges and public schools in the order in which they were founded : — Winchester College, founded by "William of Wykeham Bishop of Winchester Eton College, founded by Henry VI. Westminster School, founded by Queen Elizabeth Highgate Grammar School, founded by Chief- Justice Cholmley . Rugby Grammar School, founded by Laurence Sheriff Gresham College, founded by Sir Thomas Gresham Harrow School, founded by John Lyons Dulwich College, founded by Edward Alleyne Sion College ... - * Grey Coat School, Westminster,, founded by Queen Anne Naval College, Portsmouth Cheshunt College Maynooth College, Ireland, founded by Act of Parlia- ment, for the education of students designed for the Roman Catholic priesthood Military College, Sandhurst Highbury College University College, London Icing's College, London Queen's College, Birmingham A.D. 1387 1440 1560 1564 1567 1581 1585 1619 1630 1698 1722 1792 1795 1799 1826 1827 1829 1858 SCHOOLS FOR THE PEOPLE. Charity Schools were first instituted in James II.'s reign, with a view chiefly to prevent the children of the poor from being brought up in Roman Catholic schools ; and the first opened was at St. Margaret's, Westminster, 1688. By 1741 nearly 2,000 parochial charity-schools had been set up in Eng- land and Ireland, principally through the ' Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge.' Sunday Schools were originated by Mr. Eobert Raikes, of Gloucester, 1784, in con- junction with the Rev. Mr. Stock, curate. National Schools owed their origin to Dr. Andrew Bell, of St. Andrews, Scot- land ; Lancastrian Schools, on the monitorial system, to Joseph Lancaster, of the Society of Friends, who began to instruct on this plan, 1796, and through his efforts the British 150 THE BRITISH ISLES. and Foreign School Society was established, 1808. Infant Schools were established first in Scotland by Eobert Owen, about 1818 ; and about the year 1839, a city missionary, Andrew Walker, who had been a Scotch gardener, began the experiment of Ragged Schools in London, in one of the worst districts near Westminster, commonly called ' Devil's Acre.' John Pounds, the Portsmouth cobbler, and Thomas Cranfield, of Southwark, had been the first to open schools of a similar character ; but these were private attempts, and probably the first regularly- organised Eagged school was the one instituted at Bristol under the active agency of Miss Carpenter. The passing of the Eeforrnatory Act, by which juvenile offenders, after being sent to prison, may be sent by magistrates to reformatories which have been certified by a Government Inspector, has given rise to a great number of Reformatories and Industrial Schools within the last few years, of which that of the Philanthropic Society at Eed Hill, in Surrey, is on the largest scale. MANUFACTUEING- CENTEES. The staple merchandise of primitive England consisted of wool, sheepskins, leather, lead, and tin. These articles were called staple, from the French word estape, or mart ; because, for the convenience of foreign buyers, and to insure the pay- ment of the duties, a staple or mart used to be appointed by the king, where all goods of one species were collected and weighed and fined, previous to selling or exportation. Thus each commodity had its own staple depot, and in time the term came to be transferred to the goods themselves, so that staple articles were those of which the commerce was established. Of these native productions, wool seems to have been the most important as an article of merchandise and source of wealth ; and indeed our word mutton points to the time when a sheep was the representative of money ; the word mutton being de- rived from the Latin mulcta or multa, a fine, in the same way, inversely, as pecuniar?/ is derived from pecus, cattle. British MANUFACTURING CENTEES. 151 wool was considered the finest in the world, and in the four- teenth century the exports of wool were thirteen-fourteenths of the exports of the whole kingdom. The Woollen manufacture is the oldest in England; and in the second cen- wool manu- tury there is mention of a manufacture of woollen facture - cloth established at Winchester, for the exclusive use of the Eoman Emperors. The wool-combers themselves have a tra- dition that they are indebted for the art of combing wool to St. Blazius, a bishop of Sebastia in Armenia, who suffered martyrdom in the year 316 ; and consequently in some old towns where the trade flourishes, a septennial fete is held in honour of Bishop Blaize, in which the bishop walks in full canonicals side by side with Jason and the Golden Fleece, fol- lowed by dyers and wool-combers in woollen wigs, and bon- fires are lighted as appropriate to the name of the patron saint ; although there is no reason for believing that St. Blazius had any connection with the combing process, besides having his own flesh torn by iron combs at his martyrdom. Edward III., upon his marriage with the daughter of the Earl of Hainault, invited the Flemish weavers to settle in the country, and in 1527, John Kempe, a Fleming, intro- duced the art of weaving woollens into Yorkshire, ' which,' says King Edward, l may prove of great benefit to us and our subjects ; ' and afterwards, in the same reign, woollen factories were established at Bolton and Manchester. But so little did the English understand the process of dyeing, that for long afterwards their cloths were sent to Holland to be dipped, and were returned to be sold. The art of dyeing woollens and many other manufacturing processes were introduced at the latter end of Elizabeth's reign by Flemish refugees, who fled from the atrocities of the Duke of Alva and the Spaniards in the Netherlands, and found a refuge in the east counties ; and the value that was jealously attached to the art of woollen -dyeing is indicated by the fact that two dyers were flogged for teaching it in the north of England. The woollen manufacture is chiefly carried on in Yorkshire, Wilts, Gloucestershire, and Somersetshire in England, and 152 THE BKITISH ISLES. in Aberdeen, Galashiels, Stirling, and Bannockburn in Scotland. Broadcloth is made principally at Leeds, Bradford, Hudders- field, and Halifax in Yorkshire ; Trowbridge and Bradford in Wilts ; Frome in Somersetshire ; and Stroud, which is the centre of the Gloucester woollen manufacture. The river Stroud, on which it stands, is peculiarly adapted for dyeing scarlet. Flannels. — Eochdale and Halifax, and Welshpool and Dol- gelly in Wales. Blankets. — Witney, Oxfordshire. Worsted used to be made at Worsted in Norfolk ; it is now made chiefly at Bradford. Carpets. — Kidderminster (Worcestershire), Axminster (Devon), Kilmarnock (Scotland). Mixed goods of worsted and silk; Norwich. Tartans. — Stirling and Bannockburn. Coarse woollens, Aberdeen in Galashiels. Besides our home produce of 175,000,000 lbs. of wool, we import more than 100,000,000 lbs. annually to supply the ma- nufacture, nearly one half of which comes from the Australian colonies. We are indebted to the Flemish for the art of weaving linen, and in 1253 some weavers from the Low Linen . manufac- Countries first manufactured linen cloths in England under the protection of Henry III. From that time linen shirts began to take the place of the woollen ones that had hitherto been worn. In 1368 a company of linen weavers established the manufacture in London; but the chief seat of the trade is now in Ireland, where it was introduced in the reign of James I. by some Scottish Presby- terians, who fled from persecution in their own country, and it is carried on extensively at Belfast, Dublin, Louth, Newry, and Drogheda. In Scotland, Dundee is the centre of the trade, and fine linens, such as damasks and shirtings, are made at Dunfermline. The little made in England is principally at Barnsley in Yorkshire. The supply of flax is chiefly from Eussia and the Baltic. MANUFACTURING CENTRES. 153 There are some towns in England, especially those on the Lancashire and Cheshire coal-fields, which owe all _, „ . . Cotton their importance and almost their existence to the manufac- Cotton trade, which, since the application of steam power to machinery has rendered the ready means of obtain- ing coal in large quantities indispensable to the manufacture, has taken root and spread to an amazing extent in the coal districts of Manchester, Blackburn, Bolton, Preston, Wigan, Bury, Oldham, Chorley, Eochdale, Ashton-under-Lyne, and Stockport. Indeed, Manchester owes its preeminence as the first manufacturing town in England to the facilities which its natural position affords to the cotton trade ; standing as it does on the river Irwell, by which it communicates with the great seaport of Liverpool, and also upon the best coal strata in the kingdom. Four-fifths of the cotton goods made in England are produced within ten miles of tjie town. The history of Manchester affords a striking example of the transition from a barbarous to a scientific and industrial age ; and even the 2,000 years would not seem to be more than sufficient to transform this ancient station of the Druids, the place of groves and altar-stones, into the busy, crowded, smoky, cotton mart of the world. The name of Manchester tells its ancient history. The Druid priests called it Meyne, signifying an altar stone, to which the privilege of sanctuary was attached. Next, the Brigantes made it their stronghold, and called it Mancenion, a place of tents ; and the castle they built still gives its name to Castle-Field. Then came the Romans, who made it the station of their Cohors Prima Frisiorum, and changed Mancenion into Mancunium. Then under the Saxons it became the residence of a Thane, and was called Manceaster ; hence Manchester. It was chiefly for its woollen trade that Manchester was important during the middle ages, and the first mention of the cotton manufacture is found in Roberts' \ Treasure of Traffic,' published in 1641, in which it is said, ' The town of Man- chester buys cotton wool from London that comes from Cyprus and Smyrna, and works the same into fustians, ver- 154 THE BEITISH ISLES. millians, and dimities.' Twenty years before, from the. same quarter, Smyrna, the first cotton seeds had been conveyed to the United States and planted as an experiment, and in 1770 three bales of cotton were brought from New York, four from Virginia, and three barrels full from North Carolina. Mean- while James Hargreaves of Blackburn had invented in 1767 the spinning jenny with eight spindles to supersede the slow process of spinning by hand ; for which discovery the Black- burn people drove him from the county, although it was only by making use of his discovery afterwards that the town pro- spered. Shortly afterwards Arkwright and Crompton made further inventions and improvements, and in 1771 the first cotton mill in England was erected in Matlock Dale by Messrs. Arkwright & Strutt; which mill is still worked. The oldest cotton mill in Manchester, that on Shude Hill, was also built by* Arkwright about 1780. In 1785 steam- power was first applied to cotton spinning at Sapplewick in Northamptonshire ; and the introduction of the power-loom into Manchester in 1807, and the enormous supply of raw cotton from the United States, made this town and the neigh- bouring districts the chief source of the supply of cotton fabrics throughout the world. The present stoppage of the supply of slave-grown cotton from the Southern States of America has partially closed our mills, and for the future prosperity of the trade we are again turning to those oldest sources of the cotton supply, India and Egypt, and also to our colonies of Queensland, Natal, and Jamaica. In Scotland, Glasgow and Paisley are the chief seats of the cotton trade ; in Ireland, the manufacture is inconsiderable, and chiefly carried on at Belfast. The Silk manufacture has existed in England since the fifteenth century, but at first it was only an insignifi- manufac- cant branch of industry, being confined chiefly to the making of ribbons and small silk articles by hand weaving. James I. endeavoured to promote the trade by attempting the cultivation of the silkworm in England, but the only result remaining from his experiment are the old MANUFACTURING CENTRES. 155 mulberry trees planted by his order, and now found in the neighbourhood of Sion House and of some ancient mansions. The first effectual establishment of the manufacture was in 1688 by the French Protestants, or Huguenots, who sought refuge in England from the persecution of Louis XIV., to the number of about 70,000, and settled themselves in Spitalfields and several of the large towns, where they introduced and carried on the broad silk manufacture ; — affording another of the many illustrations of the fact that England's generous protection of the oppressed has tended to her own advancement. The first silk mill in England was Lombe's Mill, built in 1720 on the Derwent at Derby ; and early in the last century ribbon weaving was introduced into Coventry by Mr. Bird, aided probably by the French emigrants ; Coventry before that time having derived its wealth from the woollen and camlet trade. Spitalfields, Coventry, Manchester, and Macclesfield are at present the chief silk -weaving districts ; while the principal spinning mills are in Derby and the neighbourhood. It is not an important manufacture either in Scotland or Ireland. Our supply of raw silk is from India, China, Italy, and France. The Iron manufacture has naturally planted itself in the iron districts, and on the great coal-fields of the kingdom, viz. in South Wales, South Staffordshire, Shropshire, Yorkshire and Derbyshire. The remains of ancient furnaces in many of these districts show that the smelting of iron was carried on in the time of the Romans. Of the enormous quantity of iron produced, more than one- third is smelted in Merthyr Tydvil, South Wales, and the surrounding districts ; another third in South Staffordshire ; and the rest chiefly in Yorkshire, Shropshire and Derbyshire. The Hardware manufacture, that of iron goods generally, belongs especially to Birmingham and Sheffield and some of the neighbouring towns. The town of Birmingham, or Bromwycham, or Brumwyche- ham — for the name is said to have the advantage of being spelled in 150 different ways — lying nearly in the centre of England in the county of Warwickshire, was a town in the time 156 THE BRITISH ISLES. of Alfred, and being situated near the iron of the Staffordshire mines as well as the coal of the forest of Arden, was early known for its iron manufacture. Its central situation and the consequent difficulty of transit were unfavourable to its progress for many centuries ; but at the Restoration of Charles II., 1649, the Birmingham artisans succeeded in imi- tating the glittering metal ornaments of France, for which the king had imbibed a taste during his exile, and so great was the demand, that the love of his Sacred Majesty for spangles made the fortune of the town until the end of the last century. The reputation of Birmingham continued to rest chiefly upon ' its excellent and ingenious hardware manufactures, particularly snuff and tobacco-boxes, buttons and buckles,' and so it earned the name that Burke gave it, of i the great toy-shop of the world.' But its toy-shop reputation has now been eclipsed by its vast iron-foundries, its production of machinery and implements of labour and manufacture and of fire-arms, and the extent of its glass-works. At Soho, in the neighbourhood, was the greatest steam-engine manufactory in the world, con- ducted by a firm of which James Watt was once a partner. Birmingham is now reckoned the second manufacturing town in England ; and from building steam-engines to making pins, almost every kind of work in metal may be found done there that human fingers, guided by the human brain, can accom- plish. The town has of late years gained immensely by being made, in a manner, the centre of the canal and railway- system of England. Sheffield, a town in the West Riding of Yorkshire, shares with Birmingham the advantage of being a chief seat of the hardware trade, principally in the cutlery department, and the hardware manufacture extends to the towns of Wolverhamp- ton, Walsall, Dudley, and Bilstow. In Scotland, iron is manufactured principally in Lanarkshire ; also in Renfrew- shire, Stirlingshire, and Ayrshire. The coal-fields of Staffordshire, which supply fuel for the iron trade about Birmingham on the south, supply it also to the region of the Potteries in the north of MANUFACTURINGS CENTRES. 157 Staffordshire. Before the time of Josiah Wedgwood in 1762 all our finer porcelains came from France ; but since the in- vention of the Wedgwood ware, the manufacture has become an important one in England. Besides the Potteries of North Staffordshire, of which the town of Burslem is the centre, there are large china-works at Worcester and Derby for the finer sorts of porcelain. Devonshire and [ Cornwall supply the fine clay which, mingled with flint, is used for the superior china. About the first mention of the use of glass in England was, that foreign artists were brought over to glaze the church windows at Weremouth in Durham in 674 : and nearly a thousand years after this we are told that the glass casements in noble residences were so precious that they were taken out whenever the family were absent to preserve them from injury ; and in the royal palaces in Scotland, glass was only used in the upper rooms, the lower rooms being merely supplied with shutters. The earliest manufacture of flint glass in England was begun in 1557, and in 1760 crown glass was first made for looking-glasses and coach-windows, at Lambeth. About 1773 the first great glass company of ' British Cast Plate- Glass Manufacturers,' erected works at Eavenhead, near Liverpool. The chief seats of the trade now are Newcastle, Stourbridge, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol, and London. Among the various other trades, ship-building is principally carried on at London, Liverpool, Portsmouth, Plymouth, and Sunderland ; and in a less degree at most of the other ports. Distilleries are chiefly in Ireland and Scotland. The boot and shoe manufacture belongs chiefly to Northampton and Stafford ; tanning to Bermondsey in South wark ; gloves to Worcester; furs to London. Stocking -weaving belongs to Leicester, Loughborough, Hinckley, and Nottingham; stocking-frames were invented by an Englishman, William Lee, in 1589. Clocks and watches are chiefly made at Coventry, London, and Liverpool. Paper is principally manufactured in the counties near London, the great centre of the book trade. 158 THE BRITISH ISLES. TEADING POETS OF ENGLAND. The British shipping trade far exceeds that of any other country, and the bare numerals in which its amount is expressed become full of interest when connected with all the life and bustle of our trading ports, and with all the wonderful appliances of art and industrial skill by which it is carried on. Taking one year as a sample, in 1861, 29,357 British ships, and 26,697 foreign ones, cleared outwards from our ports, while 29,907 British and 25,356 foreign vessels entered inwards, freighted with exports of the declared value of 125,115,133/., and with imports of the computed value of 217,315,881/. Besides which, in the coasting trade between our own ports and those of Scotland, Ireland, and the ad- jacent islands, 153,591 vessels were inward, and 157,389 were outward bound. The principal trading ports in England are London, Liverpool, Bristol, Newcastle, Stockton, Hull, Plymouth, Yarmouth, Southampton, Gloucester, Sunderland, and Whitehaven. About a quarter of the whole British shipping trade is Port of conducted through the port of London, and ships London. f r0 m every region of the globe find their way into its harbours. Until the end of the last century, there were no wet-docks where vessels could be received into port and kept afloat while loading and unloading, excepting one which had been made for the use of the Greenland whalers, and furnished with apparatus for boiling the bladder ; consequently the foreign ships had to empty their cargoes into boats or lighters in the river. During the American War, when numbers of West India vessels crowded in at the same time under convoy, this want of accommodation was exceedingly inconvenient, and the West India Docks at Blackwall and Limehouse were accordingly projected, and were constructed in 1800. These docks are capable of accommodating 500 sail of large merchant vessels. In 1805, the London Docks at Wapping were opened. Below the West India Docks at Blackwall were constructed the East India Docks, at first reserved for the use of the East TEADING PORTS. 159 India Company, but now open to vessels from all parts. Also on the north side, between the London Docks and the Tower, are the St. Katherine's Docks, opened in 1828, to supply the want of space in the London Docks. On the south side of the Thames are the Commercial Docks, the Grand Surrey Canal Docks, and the East County Docks. Next to London, Liverpool, at the mouth of the Mersey in Lancashire, is the most important commercial port in Port of the world. In early times, Liverpool was only a small Liverpool, fishing-place ; deriving its name either from an unknown bird, called a lever or liver, that frequented a marshy pool once lying at the lower part of the town, and which is supposed to be represented by the species of ibis forming part of the seal of the corporation ; or from the Welsh Ller-pwll, i place of the pool.' Henry II. first gave an importance to the town by making it the port of embarkation for his troops for the conquest of Ireland, and by granting the citizens their first charter. In 1708, the first wet-dock constructed in England for trading purposes was made at Liverpool, chiefly for the accommodation of African and West Indian vessels. So late as 1674, above half the African slave-trade was carried on by Liverpool merchants ; but since its abolition, the commerce of the town has much increased in other directions. Liverpool now owes its great importance to the enormous cotton trade of Lancashire ; to the importing of the raw material from America and India, and to the exporting of the manufactured goods. Its exports of British produce and manufactures are double those of London, and nearly half the exports of the whole kingdom. It is the ^packet station to Canada and the United States. The port extends three miles across the shore and one mile inland, and the quays are nine miles in length. The oldest name of Bristol was Caer-Oden, or City of the Gap, or chasm through which the Avon flows into the sea. The name of Bristol is either derived from the Saxon Brighstowe^ pleasant place, or from brieg, bridge, and stowe, place. Before the Conquest, Bristol was used as a convenient port for exporting slaves, chiefly to Ireland ; and at 160 THE BKITISH ISLES. the date of the Domesday Book, 1050, it was a walled town and royal borough. Between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries, its manufactories almost supplied England with cloth, glass, and soap, and it became a wool-staple in the time of Edward III. The Bristol merchants are memorable for the spirited aid they afforded Sebastian Cabot in his exploring expedition to America, and Newfoundland was colonised from Bristol in 1609. The docks were opened in 1809, when the old channel of the Avon was transformed into one immense floating harbour, three miles long. The tide rises so high in the Avon that ships of all but the largest size can come up to the town. Bristol trades largely with Ireland. Hull, or Kingston-upon-Hull, in the East Eiding of York- shire, is the fourth commercial port of England. The town stands on the river Hull, twenty miles from the mouth of the river Humber. In the twelfth century it was called Wyke-upon-Hull, and was an important port for the export of wools and leather, and for the import of wines. In 1296, Edward I. bought the place, built a harbour, made it a free borough, and gave it the royal name of Kyngeston- super-Hull. In the last century the Greenland fishery was revived by the enterprise of the Hull merchants, but now the traffic has almost ceased at this port, although Hull supplies nearly all the ships belonging to the northern fishery. The chief commerce of the port is with the north of Europe and the ports of the Baltic. Hull is now an important steam- packet station. Stockton-upon-Tees, in Durham, was in early times the residence of the bishops of Durham. Its foreign exports are chiefly lead ; its coasting exports chiefly coal. Newcastle-upon-Tyne is the fifth commercial city of Eng- land, and the first coal-port in the world. For 500 years the chief trade of the place has been the ship- ment of coal from the pits in the neighbourhood, of which there are no less than fifty, occupying a coal-field estimated at forty-four miles long and twenty-one broad, and yielding TKADINa POETS. 161 annually above three million tons. The riyer Tyne forms the haven, and is lined with extensive quays and warehouses, and the coal is brought down the river in broad vessels called keels. The trade of Newcastle is chiefly with the English ports, and with the countries around the Baltic. Plymouth, in Devonshire, at the mouth of the river Plym, was originally a small fishing-place. The Saxons called it Tameorworth ;- after the Conquest it was called Sutton (South-Town), and Henry YI. gave it its present name, and made it a corporate town. The commerce of the port is mostly with the West Indies, the Baltic, and the Mediterranean, besides a coasting trade and a large fishery. The glory of Plymouth is the stupendous Breakwater, begun in 1812, and finished in 1841, formed of hugh loose granite blocks laid upon one another, extending to nearly a mile (1,700 yards) across the middle of the Sound, and which effectually break the swell of the Atlantic. Sunderland, in Durham, on the river Wear, is one of the chief ports for the shipment of coal, and began to n -i t i -i /. tit i i-i Sunderland. nourish as a town towards the end of Elizabeth s reign. Over the Wear at Sunderland is an enormous cast- iron bridge, 237 feet in span. Whitehaven, in Cumberland, was a small fishing village, containing six houses in the time of Elizabeth. It is wh^. now a considerable town, with extensive ship-build- haven. ing yards and rope-walks. The exports are chiefly coals to Ireland. Yarmouth, in Norfolk, on the river Yare, is the chief port for the eastern counties, Norfolk, Suffolk, and part . x Yarmoutn. of Essex. It used to be a royal demesne, and was fortified in the reign of Henry III. with a wall having 10 gates and 16 towers. The chief business of the place is the herring-fishery, which is the first in England. Southampton, in Hampshire, was of old an important port for the wool and tin trade. It is called in the Saxon South . Chronicle Suth-Hamtun, and the foundation of the ampton. town is ascribed to the South Saxons. It is the largest packet- M 162 THE BRITISH ISLES. port in the kingdom, and here the mails are made up and despatched to China, the Indies, and the Mediterranean. Gloucester, on the Severn, is supposed to have been a British town, called Caer-gloew. By the Saxons the Gloucester name was changed to Glean-ceaster, hence Glou- cester. The port has water communication with most parts of England. In 1861, 19,817 sailing-vessels were registered in the various ports of England and Wales, and 1,617 steamers. TRADING PORTS OF SCOTLAND. The chief trading-ports of Scotland are Glasgow, Leith, Greenock, Dundee, Aberdeen, and Montrose. Glasgow, on the river Clyde, in Lanarkshire, is the largest city in Scotland, and the third largest in Britain. In Glasgow. . J . . ' °. ... its origin Glasgow was little more than a religious establishment, supposed to have been founded by St. Mungo in 560. It was made a borough in 1180, and its first com- merce was in salmon, in the fifteenth century. The commercial importance of the place dates from the union of the two king- doms in 1707, when its rude manufactures greatly improved, and trade was opened with the British colonies of America. In 1718 a Glasgow vessel first crossed the Atlantic, and it is attributed to the tobacco trade alone, that after this time the town began to assume a creditable appearance ; stone man- sions took the place of thatched wooden houses, carriages rolled along the streets, and assembly-rooms and theatres began to appear. The admirable position of Glasgow as a sea- port, and as lying near the rich coal and iron beds of Lanark- shire, together with the use of steam-power, and growth of the cotton trade, have now made the city the great commercial centre of Scotland, and ships and steam-engines, iron, coal, and cotton are the chief elements of her wealth. The first steam-boat used in Europe was one tried on the Clyde, in 1789. The trade of Glasgow is chiefly with England, but, nevertheless, the ships of the Clyde find their way to all parts of the world. TRADING PORTS, 163 Dundee, in Forfarshire, on the Firth of Tay, is the centre of the linen trade in Scotland. It is a place of great antiquity, and used to be the residence of the Scottish kings. In the last century its chief export trade was shoes ; now it is mostly sheetings, canvas, and other linen goods of a coarse descrip- tion. Leith is the port of Edinburgh. Greenock, on the Clyde, inEenfrewshire, 22 miles from Glasgow, is a large sea- port, and is memorable as the birthplace of James Watt, 1736. Aberdeen, on the Dee, ships principally granite to London. It has large salmon fisheries. Montrose is a port in Forfarshire, on the riv^er Esk. The principal commerce of all the Scotch ports is with England, to which are sent cattle, sheep, salmon, coarse linen, and fine cotton goods, in exchange for woollen goods, hard- ware and tea, &c. To Ireland, coal, fish, and iron are sent in exchange for cattle and oats. Linens and cottons are exported to America and the West Indies. The merchant vessels registered in the Scotch ports in 1861 were 3,080 sailers, and 330 steamers. TRADING PORTS OF IKELAND. The chief ports of Ireland are Belfast, Dublin, Cork, Waterford, Londonderry, Newry, Limerick, Drogheda, Wex- ford, Dundalk, Sligo, Galway. Hitherto the trade of Ireland has been chiefly with England, consisting of exports of linen and agricultural produce, and imports of British manufacture and colonial produce. The annual exportation of Irish butter alone into this country is valued at about 3,500,000Z. The yearly export of eggs is more than 52,000,000. The chief jDrovision ports are Cork, Dublin, Belfast, Newry, and Limerick, which trade princi- pally with Liverpool, Bristol, and Glasgow. The trade of Ireland with other countries is on the increase. Belfast, the capital of Antrim, in Ulster, on the river Lagan, is the first port and first manufacturing town in Ireland, and is especially the seat of the cotton and linen manufacture. The town first began to rise in importance in 1601, when it m 2 164 THE BRITISH ISLES. was made a municipal and parliamentary borough ; and its vicinity to woods made it a convenient site for manufactures which required fuel. Kingstown is the port of Dublin, and is the second port in Ireland. Mail packet-station to Liverpool and Holyhead. Cork, in Munster, built on an island in the Lee, is the third port. Cork harbour is one of the finest in the world, and the best protected from the weather. The victualling of the navy belongs to this port. Limerick, on the Shannon, is, next to Cork, the chief sea- port of Munster, and the fourth largest town in Ireland. Trade : lace, glove, iron manufactures. Water ford, on the Suir, exports chiefly agricultural produce and cod-fish. Cod-fish imported from Newfoundland. G alio ay, in Connaught, is the port for the New- York steamers. Wexford, in Leinster, for cattle and dairy produce. Sligo, in Connaught ; trade, foreign and colonial. Drogheda, on the Boyne, and Dundalk, in Louth ; trade with Liverpool. Newry, in Down, trades chiefly in grain, butter, and other pro- visions. Londonderry, in Londonderry, has a large salmon trade. The Irish merchant-vessels registered in 1861 were 2,123 sailers, and 175 steamers. NAVAL PORTS. England has seven chief naval ports and royal dock -yards, viz. : Portsmouth, Plymouth, including Devonport, on the Eng- lish Channel; Chatham, on the Medway ; Sheerness, Woolwich, and Deptford, on the Thames ; and Pembroke, on Milford Haven, in South Wales. Portsmouth, in Hampshire, is the head-quarters of the Eng- lish royal navy, and the most strongly fortified place in Eng- land. The harbour is formed by the western end of an inlet of the British Channel, divided into three parts by Portsea island on the west and Hayling island on the east. The natural excellence of the harbour was discovered by the Eomans, who founded a station at Porchester, on the north shore, and left evidence of their occupation of these parts by the ' port,' from portus, entrance, which forms part of the NATAL PORTS. 165 names of Portsmouth, Portsea (Port's ' ey,' island of the port), Portsdown, and Gosport. There are still Soman remains at Porchester, or Portchester ; and it is said that the retiring of the sea rendering this port useless as a harbour, Portsmouth was built instead. In the reign of Henry VIII. it became the chief station of the royal navy, and the dock -yards, arsenal, and storehouses were established. Plymouth and Devonport, in Devonshire, is the next prin- cipal royal port. Here the fleet was stationed that was destined to oppose the Spanish Armada. Chatham, in Kent, possesses a fine arsenal. The naval and military establishments are at Brompton, near the town. Queen Elizabeth founded the dock -yard, before the Spanish invasion. Sheerness, in the Isle of Sheppy, in Kent. When the Dutch under De Suyter, in 1667, burnt our men of war at Chatham, Charles II. strengthened Sheerness and fortified it, in order to defend the passage up the Medway. Woolwich, in Kent, is the most ancient naval and military arsenal in the kingdom, having been an extensive establish- ment in 1501. The dock-yard was founded by Henry VIII. ; the present arsenal was formed about 1720, on the site of a rabbit-warren ; the royal military academy was erected in the arsenal in the reign of George II. Deptford, in Kent, about a mile west of Greenwich. The dockyard was established by Henry VIII. It was here that Queen Elizabeth dined on board the Pelican, the ship in which Sir Francis Drake had sailed round the globe. Pembroke. — The dockyard and arsenal are on the shore of Milford Haven, about 2 miles from Pembroke, and, until 1814, were situated at Milford. COAST AND KECREATION TOWNS. The increased facilities for travelling and the progress of enlightenment have caused a very visible change in our English ideas of pleasure-taking. In fashionable life, the days of Sanelagh and Vauxhall are gone by ; Bath and Tunbridge are no longer the lounges of the idle and dissipated, and the 166 THE BRITISH ISLES. ideal of an English watering-place is no longer a combination of pump-room and spa, gambling and gaiety ; while in un- fashionable life the bull-baiting and cock-fighting, which were the chief amusements of the mass of the population during the greater part of the reign of George III., are almost extinct, and even the sports extolled by the Berkshire farmer are fast losing their fascination : There '11 be backsword play and climmin the powl, And a race for a peg and a cheese, And us thenks as his'n 's a dummel zowl As dwont care for zich spwoorts as theze. The number of those who do care for such sports as these is becoming rapidly more select, and among all classes plea- sure is coming more and more to signify healthy recreation. The periodical rush to the sides of the island by means of the excursion trains, shews to what an extent the smiling, spark- ling sea is the holiday goal of thousands of the toilers in cities ; * while the expansion of the old watering-places, and the growth of new ones, are evidence that there is a vast increase of the richer classes who seek health, rest, or enjoyment from the neighbourhood of the ocean. And thus it is that the towns in England, which may be specially classed as recrea- tive, are, with few exceptions, coast towns. To the ordinary seaside visitor all these watering-places have very much in common, that is to say, the sea, the bath- ing machines, the sandy or shingly beach, the pier or pro- menade, the donkeys, the bath-chairs, the German bands. But to the intelligent the coast towns are very differ en tly classified, and, while some are of merely modern growth, sprung up to meet the demand, others are rich in historical recollections, and, naturally more than the inland towns, tell of the first beginnings of communication with foreign nations. The most ancient historical interest belongs to the Cinque Ports ; or towns which being nearest the Continent, were made * During the year 1860 the number of passengers along the Brighton line was 9,545,000 ; that is, a million more than treble the population of London and its suburbs. CINQUE POETS. 167 responsible by Edward the Confessor, in return for certain charters and privileges, for keeping the east coast of Kent in a state of suitable defence ; since that line of coast was the most open to invasion. These five ports were Dover, Sandwich, Komney, Hythe, and Hastings ; to which were afterwards added Eye and Winchelsea, although the group of towns still retained the name of Cinque Ports. Dovee, the Dubrae of the Eomans, is chief of these ports, and from the earliest times Dover Castle was considered, as an old chronicler says, l ye verie locke and keye of ye whole realme of England upon whiche both ye safetie and daunger of ye whole realme consisted.' The establishment of our naval force has superseded the original object of the Cinque Ports, but still Dover, as the principal pilot and packet station, and the nearest point of communication with the Continent, retains some of its old importance, besides its modern repute as a watering-place. Margate, on the Kent coast, in the Isle of Thanet, lies at the mouth of the Thames, facing the German Ocean, a little to the west of the North Foreland. It is 65 miles E. of London direct distance, and 101 miles by South Eastern Eailway. Its name is probably derived from Mere-gate, or opening into the sea. Until the end of the last century it was a poor fishing town, one dirty narrow lane, called King Street, being the chief street ; but as it was one of the nearest coast-towns to London, and suitable for bathing purposes, the place became of more importance as travelling became easier, and was much resorted to, we are told, ' by the esteemed gentry, ' until the means of easy access by railway to other watering -places on the south coast diminished its popularity and caused the town to decline. The stone pier at Margate is 900 feet long, and was built by Messrs. Eennie & Jessop, at a cost of 100,000Z. Margate is a member of the Cinque Port of Dover. Eamsgate, in the Isle of Thanet, facing the Straits of Dover, is 73 miles from London direct, and 97 miles by railway. Until the revolution of 1688, Eamsgate was a small fishing- place, with a wooden pier ; but after that time a trade with Russia was opened, which added greatly to the wealth and 168 THE BRITISH ISLES. importance of the town, and at the end of the last century the harbour was improved and the present splendid pier erected. The harbour encloses an area of forty-eight acres, and affords shelter to vessels driven by heavy gales from the Downs. The pier is built of Cornish granite and Portland stone, and extends 2,000 feet on the east side and about half that length on the west; it is one of the longest in the kingdom. The old town of Eamsgate stands in a hollow in the chalk cliff, called in Thanet a ' gate ' or ' stair ; ' but the new town is built on the heights, and commands a wide sea view. Eamsgate is a member of the Cinque Port of Sand- wich. Folkestone, in Kent, is 75 miles from London direct, and 83 miles by railway. From early times it has been a place of some note. Eemains of a Eoman entrenchment are still visible on a neighbouring height, and a Saxon castle once stood on the cliff, but it has almost been swept away by the encroachment of the sea. Folkestone is a member of the Cinque Port of Dover, and owes its chief importance to its being the custom- house and packet-station from Boulogne, on the French coast. Hastings, in Sussex, is next in importance to Dover as a Cinque-port town. It is 64 miles south-east of London, and 74 by South Eastern Eailway, and stands at the base of cliffs from 300 to 600 feet high, which almost enclose it, leaving it open only to the south. The town lies so close upon the sea that its atmosphere is more entirely marine than that of almost any other part of the coast. Hastings consists of an old and new town. The old town is one of the most ancient in England, and is supposed to have derived its name from a Saxon tribe', called the Hsestingas. The battle of Hastings was fought seven miles distant, at a small town, called thence Battle ; and here William the Conqueror, in com- memoration of the event, built Battle Abbey, the ruins of which remain. A church in a wood, with a pretty legend at- tached to it, is one of the curiosities of Hastings. A church was designed on a height, but every morning the workmen found that their materials had been carried away ; till one bright COAST TOWNS. 169 Sunday morning the sound of church bells issued from Hol- lington Wood, and on following a tiny footpath through the trees, the people found, to their amazement, the neat little church of Hollington, ' which the angels had built.' The new town of Hastings merges into the quite modern town of St. Leonards, which was begun in 1828, for the accommodation of visitors who could find no lodging at Hastings. Eastbourne, in Sussex, is a small bathing-place, lying east of the great promontory of Beachy Head, in the west corner of Pevensey Bay, and is distant from London 63 miles by road, and 65 by railway. Eastbourne is supposed to have been the site of the Eoman station, Portus Anderida. The place is fortified. At Holywell, in the neighbourhood, there are chalybeate springs. Brighton, or Brighthelmstone, in Sussex, the queen of English watering-places, lies in the middle of the curved line of coast which is bounded on the east by Beachy Head, and on the west by Selsea Bill. It is 52 miles from London 'by road, and 50^- by rail. A little more than a century ago, Brighton was merely a fishing-place, and the town stood formerly under the high chalk-cliffs which the South Downs form on the east ; but storms and hurricanes and irruptions of the sea swept all the houses away, and part of one of the old streets, called South Street, was found, in 1818, fifteen feet below the surface of the beach. About the middle of the last century, a Dr. Russell pronounced Brighton to be suitable for a watering-place, and in 1782 the fortune of the town was made by George IV., then Prince of Wales, selecting it for his summer and autumn residence, and building his Marine Pavilion, which became the centre of modern Brighton. The town now occupies a shore-line three miles long, facing the English Channel, and is built on a slope protected on the north by the South Downs. Worthing, in Sussex, 61 miles from London, began to be re- sorted to as a watering-place at the end of the last century. The situation is low and flat, no part of the town being more than twenty feet above the sea level ; but its proximity to the 170 THE BRITISH ISLES. Downs, and the richness of the surrounding country, render it attractive. Bournemouth, in Hampshire, so called from the brook or bourne on which it stands, has only lately sprung into existence as a watering-place, and, according to Dr. Granville, is one of those sea nooks that seem specially made for invalids. It lies in a valley chine, in the centre of a curved sweep of coast facing the English Channel, and is thus open only to the south sea-breezes, and sheltered inland by two banks of cliffs, which divide the valley just enough to allow of free ventila- tion, and yet maintain the atmosphere warm and equal throughout the year. Weymouth, in Dorset, on the river Wey, is a very ancient town, and was important as a trading port in the fourteenth century. A Mr. Ealph Allen, of Bath, first brought it into repute as a bathing-place in 1763, and George III. increased its popularity by frequently visiting it, and having a royal lodge erected. Facing the east, the air is bracing and invigorating, and for a blow of pure sea-air, the Esplanade is scarcely inferior to a quarter-deck! The example of George III. contributed much towards the practice of regularly visiting the south coast for health. For consumptives, especially, the fine mild air of Devonshire was prescribed by London physicians, and consequently the old fishing- stations and ports on its coast have of late years been converted into watering-places ; and no less than five, viz. Sidmouth, Exmouth, Dawlish, Teignmouth, and Torquay, lie tolerably close together, on the eastern sweep of its curved shore. Of these, Exmouth, on the Ex, is the oldest ; it was one of the chief ports on this coast in the time of King John, and, as a watering-place, dates from the beginning of the last century. It has declined in popularity of late years, owing to the exposed situation of the town and the defects of the sea- bathing, and the rising importance of Torquay. Sidmouth, in the valley of the Sid, was formerly one of the principal fishing- towns of Devonshire. The fishery has declined, and it has recently become a bathing-place. Dawlish, about midway COAST TOWNS. 171 between the Ex and the Teign, has made but little progress as a watering-place, but is a favourite retreat for its pleasant cottage residences, the shady lanes, and fine open roads over healthy downs in the neighbourhood, and especially for its fine sea-air, entirely free from the effluvia of a harbour. Teignmouth stands on the left bank at the mouth of the river Teign. The bridge over the Teign is the most striking feature of the place; it was opened in 1827, and is 1,671 feet long. Torquay, on the north side of Tor Bay, although not a bathing-town, is the most frequented of the Devonshire watering-places, from the reputation its climate enjoys of being warm and equable, and from the picturesqueness of its situation. Torquay is a very small bay within the larger one of Torbay, inclosed seawards by two piers and quays, and terminating in two headlands, Eockwalk Hill and Park Hill. A screen of richly -wooded hills shelters the town, and on the declivities are whole lines of terraces, villas, and cottages, mostly used as winter quarters for invalids. On the Somersetshire coast, facing the Bristol Channel and the entrance to the Severn, there are almost as many bathing- places as there are towns and hamlets on the beach. The two principal are Clevedon and Weston-super-Mare, where the sea recedes to such a length in ebbing, that at one part of the day it nearly washes the basements of the houses, and at another it is scarely visible as a distant line beyond an immense tract of sand. South Wales has two watering-places, Tenby and Aberyst- with ; both of them old and important seaports, and only of late years used as bathing-places. Tenby, in Pembrokeshire, on the west shore of Carmarthen Bay, is a large fishing-place, and was originally built in the time of Henry I. by the Flemish colonists, who brought here the woollen manufacture, and dealt largely with the continent. The town was fortified with a castle and bastioned walls, which were strengthened additionally on the approach of the Spanish Armada. After the civil wars, the place fell into decay, and was revived only recently as a summer watering-place. Aberystwith (on the 172 THE BEITISH' ISLES. Ystwith), in Cardiganshire, facing St. George's Channel, near the junction of the Eheidol and Ystwith rivers, has also its ancient walls and castle, and is the largest town in the county. It has a harbour, and regular traders to London, Liverpool, and Bristol. Near the town are chalybeate springs. North Wales is rich in watering-places, owing to the attractiveness of its beautiful mountain scenery. There are three in Merionethshire facing Cardigan Bay, viz. Aberdovey, Towyn, and Barmouth. The chief of these is Barmouth, on the Man or Mowddach ; hence its name of Aberman, cor- rupted into Berman, and thence anglicised into Barmouth. It was formerly a place of considerable trade in woollens. Caernarvon has three bathing -places — Bangor, Llandudno, and Penmaenmaur. Bangor is an old cathedral town, near the northern entrance of the Menai Strait, in the slate- quarrying district. It has increased in importance since the opening of the Chester and Holyhead railway. Llandudno was, until lately, a village in a wild and sequestered spot on the eastern side of the promontory forming the Great Orme's Head, and is now a much-visited watering-place. Penmaen- maur, a village on the north coast, lies close to the shore at the foot of the mountain of the same name ; and, although it has at present no regular facilities for bathing, it is becoming a favourite resort. Abergele in Denbighshire, and Ehyl in Flintshire, on the shore of the Irish Sea, have both risen into importance as watering-places since the opening of the Chester and Holyhead railway. On the north-west coast of England several bathing-places have been formed, which are to the great commercial capitals of the North what Brighton, Eamsgate, and Margate are to London. Thus Liverpool has its New Brighton, Manchester its Southport, and Preston its Blackpool. New Brighton had its origin about forty years ago in the enterprise of a private individual, who bought some land for a trifling sum among a desolate waste of sandhills on the Cheshire coast, near the mouth of the Mersey, and planted there a bathing settlement, which has now become a flourishing town, and its soft delicious COAST TOWNS. 173 sands a favourite resort of the more wealthy classes in Lanca- shire. The sea-village of Crosby Waterloo, on the same low sands, is more frequented by the middle classes and wealthy shopkeepers of Liverpool. Southport, to the south of the en- trance into the Kibble, is buried in sandhills, and so sheltered by them that its climate is suited for invalids all the year round. Blackpool, to the north of the Eibble, so called from a dark-looking ' pool,' or stream, at the south of the village, is characterised by its extent of fine hard sands, its absence of all rocks, and bracing air. On the north-east coast, Northumberland has one bathing- place, Tynemouth, on the Tyne, where the inhabitants of New- castle and the neighbourhood may enjoy the luxury of wash- ing off the sooty deposit from the coal districts in the waves of the North Sea. Durham has one provincial bathing-place, viz. Hartlepool, named by the Normans Hart-le-pol, or the Pool of Hart. It stands on a small peninsula near the mouth of the Tees. The principal watering-place on the east coast is Scar- borough, in the North Eiding of Yorkshire, 253 J miles from London. It stands on a semicircular bay, open towards the south and south-west, and protected on the north and north- east by a steep promontory, with an old castle on the summit, built in the time of King Stephen. Its name of Scarborough, meaning a ' fortified rock,' is Saxon, but the place is believed to have been originally a Eoman station. It possesses unusual advantages as a watering-place ; the sands are smooth and slope gently to the sea; the water is perfectly pure and marine, having no large river near to influence it, and on the margin of the sea are two excellent chalybeate springs. North of Scarborough, also in the North Eiding, the old seaport of Whitby has lately been converted into a bathing- place. The town is believed to have arisen from the founda- tion of an abbey, built in 658, and was long a considerable fishing-place, and rose into commercial importance in the time of Elizabeth, from its vicinity to the alum mines. The jet found in the neighbouring cliffs has given rise to a manufac- 174 THE BRITISH ISLES. ture of jet ornaments in the place. In the East Hiding are two bathing-places, Bridlington and Filey, which last pos- sesses the finest sands on the coast, extending three miles. Cromer, on the north coast of Norfolk, has recently "become a watering-place. The sea here has made visible encroachments on the land ; houses have been destroyed on the coast within the last century, and in the fifteenth century a whole village, called Shipden, was washed away. SPAS. The medical virtue of certain mineral springs dispersed throughout the country, has caused a class of towns, or places of more or less resort, to spring up in their neighbourhood, called Spas, from Spaa, a small town in Belgium, celebrated for its chalybeate waters. Most of these spas are inland, but some being on the coast, combine the advantage of sea-bathing with that of their medicinal waters. Chalybeate springs (from chalybs, steel) are mineral waters in which iron predominates, and are useful, therefore, as a rule, to persons who require tonics; and there are hundreds of these simple chalybeate springs in the country, especially in the North. But in many springs the iron is combined with other ingredients, such as carbonic acid, sulphuric acid, alumina, or hydrochloric acid, which render the springs essentially different as to their me- dical properties, and to the taste either saltish, bitter, soapy, astringent, or nauseous. The temperature of these springs also varies, and especially affects their value for bathing purposes; they seldom exceed the usual temperature of spring water, and generally are lower ; Buxton, Matlock, and Clifton Wells being the only tepid spas in England, and the springs at Bath the only hot ones. The principal English spas are as follows : Aldfield. Askerne. Northern Spas. Croft. Dinsdale. Butterby. G-uisborough. Calverley. Grilsland. SPASa 175 Harrogate. Scarborough. Horley Green. Shotley Bridge. Knaresborough. Slaithwaite. Lockwood. Shapwells. New Malton. Thorpe Arch. Midland Spas. Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Leamington. Bath. Malvern. Buxton. Matlock. Cheltenham. Tenbury. Clifton Wells. Tunbridge Wells. Gloucester Spa. Victoria Spa. Hockley Spa. Woodhall Spa. The chief spas in Scotland are Hartfell, Peterhead, Dun- blane, and Bonnington ; and Sandrcck Spa is in the Isle of Wight. Many of these spas are mere villages, or assemblages of dwellings built for the convenience of visitors to the wells ; but others are places of considerable note and importance. Bath, the capital of Somersetshire, was long the most fashionable watering-place in England, and considered one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. It stands on the Lower Avon ; the ground on which it is built belongs to the great west- ern oolitic range, and rises from the river's bank in a series of terraces. Originally Bath was a Roman station and bathing- place, mentioned by Ptolemy as Aquas Calidse, and in the Antonine Itinerary as Aquas Solis. Extensive remains of Eoman baths were discovered here in 1755, and on the site of these a monastery had been built by the monks, who also erected baths where the great pump-room now stands. The volcanic springs rise near the centre of the town, and are four in number ; three of them belonging to the corporation, and one to the lord of the manor, Lord Manvers. On first flowing from the earth the water is transparent, but it soon loses its brilliancy and yields a precipitate ; the temperature of the springs ranges from 109° to 117°, and the use of the water is 176 THE BRITISH ISLES. most serviceable in cases of rheumatism, gout, palsy, sciatica, and skin disease. Cheltenham, in Gloucestershire, on the river Chelt, lies in a vale at the foot of the Cotswold Hills. It was a mere country village until the discovery of its saline springs in 1716, and suddenly rose into competition with Bath as a fashionable watering-place, in 1788, when George III. was advised to try the waters, and found benefit from them. It has four spas, all of them saline, and chiefly useful in dyspeptic cases ; but the air of Cheltenham is so mild, from its sheltered position, that the place is also a great resort for consumptives. Clifton, in Gloucestershire, a suburb of Bristol — so named from the precipitous heights on which it stands overhanging the Avon — owed all its early importance to its slightly saline waters, miscalled Hotwells, since the temperature never rises above 76°. The springs are now but little used, but the place is still much resorted to for its pure and bracing air. Tunbridge Wells, in Kent, is six miles from the old town of Tonbridge or Tunbridge, so called from its having a bridge over the river Tun, a branch of the Medway. The chalybeate spring was discovered in the time of James L, and the wells were visited by Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I., who, however, was obliged to live with her suite under tents during her stay, since there was no accommodation nearer than at the town of Tunbridge. Her visit gave notoriety to the place, and after the Restoration the new town sprang up rapidly. The waters are strongly impregnated with iron, and show a red precipitate ; but the wells are not much used at present, and the place owes far more of its popularity to its healthy climate, pleasant locality, and excellent accommodation for visitors. Great Malvern, in Worcestershire, lies on the east of the Malvern Hills ; about three miles to the south is the village of Little Malvern, and between the two Malverns are the wells, St. Ann's and Holy Well. The virtue of the water consists in its extreme purity, and used as common water it is simply an aid to the pure air and medical appliances of the place in the restoration of invalids. spas. 177 Leamington Pkiors, in Warwickshire, stands in the valley of the Learn, which river divides the old town from the new, and joins the Avon about a mile distant. The town is of modern date, and within the memory of some of its inhabitants Leamington was a small picturesque village, beautifully situated in pleasant vicinity to the old oak and park scenery of War- wickshire. More than a century ago, mineral springs were found there, which physicians from Coventry, Birmingham, and Northampton endeavoured to bring into notoriety, and it is. mentioned in the early history of the place, that one aristocratic visitor had been attracted to the spa, ' an Honourable Mistress Leigh.' In 1794 Dr. Lambe spoke favourably of the Leaming- ton waters in the ' Memoirs . of the Manchester Philosophical Society,' and his recommendation is said to have attracted no less than i three duchesses in one season,' * who resolved to bring Leamington to a par with Cheltenham ; and it is mentioned as a singular fact, that as rapidly as new springs were discovered at Cheltenham, new springs were found in equal number at Leamington. The springs are chalybeate, sulphurous, and saline. There are five wells now in use, four of which are nearly clustered together in the original village to the south of the Learn, now called Old Town ; but one spring more lately discovered to the north, forms now the Royal Spa in the pump-room, and about this site a new town has been rapidly forming within the last thirty years. The waters, when drunk, are useful chiefly as an alterative in cases of debility, and when bathed in, their saline properties give them the strengthening effect of a sea- water bath. Besides its great natural attractions as a place of residence and resort, Learning"- ton has owed its rise and popularity of late years as much to a resident physician, Dr. Jephson, as to its mineral waters, and is indebted to him for public gardens well laid out, in which is a marble statue of the donor. Buxton, in Derbyshire, lies in a deep valley near the Wye } almost surrounded by hills. Its springs appear to have been * Dr. Granville's Spas of England. N 178 THE BRITISH ISLES. known to the Romans, and it was a watering-place in the six- teenth century, the baths being connected with a shrine, on which the visitors laid offerings as payment for their use. The water has a natural heat of about 86° ; its efficacy seems chiefly owing to its temperature, since it has very few chemical ingre- dients and is perfectly insipid. It is used principally for bathing purposes, and is beneficial in cases of rheumatism, gout, and paralysis. Buxton owes its modern expansion in great measure to the patronage of the late Dukes of Devonshire. Matlock Bath, in Derbyshire, is on the left bank of the Derwent, two miles from the old village of Matlock. The exceeding beauty of the region with its green dales and shel- tering heights, the healthiness of the air, the caves and petri- factions, contribute much more to the attraction of the place than its mineral springs. The tepid waters have a tempera- ture of only 68°, and are chiefly beneficial in dyspepsia. Ashby de la Zouch, in Leicestershire, stands on the river Mease, a branch of the Trent. The addition of de la Zouch was made to its former name of Ashby in compliment to the family of Zouches, who were lords of the manor. The Ivanhoe Wells is a bitter saline spring, discovered in 1805, at the bottom of the Moira colliery, about three miles from the town, and seems, like many other salt springs, to belong to the great saltiferous belt partly connected with the coal-fields which crosses England diagonally from north-east to south- west. The water is chiefly used for bathing, but the presence in it of muriate of magnesia renders it a successful medicine in complaints of the digestive organs. Harrogate, in a healthy district in the West Riding of York- shire, is one of the principal watering-places in the north of Eng- land ; but, although it is more than 300 years since its springs were first discovered, by a Captain William Slingsby, it still remains scarcely more than a village. Chalybeate springs were first found at High Harrogate, but the spas which give the place its chief celebrity are the genuine sulphureted, fetid waters of the Old Well at Low Harrogate, discovered a century and a half later. Still more recently pure saline springs have spas. 179 been found, and thus the waters at Harrogate are serviceable in a variety of cases, but chiefly in liver complaints., glandular and cutaneous disease, and rheumatism. Low Harrogate is the most genuine spa in England in this respect, that the waters cf the Old Well are drawn direct from the soil without any intervention of pipes and pumps. In the Montpelier Gardens the water is pumped up in the usual fashion, and saline and sulphur waters are tapped side by side ; and as the saline of Harrogate contains a large proportion of oxide of iron, the two waters are so incompatible, that when a tumbler is half filled from one pipe and then filled up from the other, the mixture is converted into a liquid something like ink. Guisborough, at the foot of the Cleveland Hills, in the North Eiding of Yorkshire, is interesting from being the birth-place of Captain Cook, and also from having been the site of the first alum-manufacture in England, during Elizabeth's reign. The alum-works are now abandoned, but from the alum-shale strata issues the slightly sulphureted spring which has made of Guisborough a watering-place of a humble and primitive kind, Sandrock Spring, at the south of the Isle of Wight, is the most powerful chalybeate known in the country. The spring was first found in 1808, by Mr. Waterworth, a surgeon of Newport, who enclosed it in the present building ; but its water was first thoroughly analysed by Dr. Marcet. The large amount of sulphate of iron and alum in its composition renders it a most powerful tonic, and it is beneficial in diseases which arise from prostration of the nervous system, in hypochondria- sis, and cases of extreme debility. The spring rises 150 feet above the sea level, in the midst of the romantic scenery of the Undercliff, half way between Niton and the village of Chale. n2 180 THE BRITISH ISLES. CHAPTER VI. Internal Communication. roads. Roads are among the first signs of human settlement in a land; feet of men and beasts of burthen soon trample out paths in the shortest and easiest direction between the places where people have congregated, and soon art is employed to make these paths more level and convenient, and more specially- adapted to various purposes ; until, as men multiply, and the need of intercourse increases, the lines of communication inter- sect the whole country, and, like the arteries and veins of a living body, keep up the constant circulation of human affairs and interests. The state and nature of roads is a ready indication of the British condition of a people. The old ridge-ways and Roads. track- ways of the Britons, traces of which are still visible in Wiltshire and Berkshire, were apparently little more than first rude attempts at road-making, and formed a remark- able contrast to the Roman roads, which it seems, that the Britons were compelled to aid in constructing, since they complained bitterly that the Romans ' put their hands and bodies to the drudgery of clearing woods and paving fens.' ' It marks strongly,' says the Rev. C. Kingsley, the ' difference between the two races — that difference between the Roman paved road, with its established common way for all passengers, its regular stations and milestones, and the Celtic trackway, winding irresolutely along in innumerable ruts, parting to meet again, as if each savage had taken his own fresh path when he found the next line of ruts too heavy for his cattle.' The roads or streets (strata) of the Romans have been the Roman most durable monuments of their stay in the island, Roads. anc [ i n many cases have formed the foundation of our ROADS. 181 present highways. They were constructed after a bold and simple plan, which established military communication with all the principal stations of the country, and consisted of four or five main lines which crossed the island from sea to sea : one point of junction being the colossal British mound of Old Sarum, in Wiltshire. Thus, Watling Street began at Dover, passed through London, and ended at Chester; and Watling Street, still in the heart of London, and the road to Henton across Hampstead Heath, are supposed to be remains of this via strata, or paved way of the Romans, which is imagined to have derived its name either from Vitellianus, who directed the work, or to have been connected by the Saxons with some mythic legend, and dedicated to the ' sons of Waetla.' The Saxons afterwards either paid homage to the road or to the King Waetla of their mythology, by naming the Milky Way also Waetlinga Straet. Ikeneld Street ran from Norfolk to Cornwall ; Eyknield Street, from the Tyne to Gloucester, and thence to St. David's ; Ermyn Street crossed through Watling Street, and ran from Suffolk through London to Lincoln. This road the Saxons named after the Mercury of their mytho- logy, Eormen, or Heimdal, keeper of the rainbow and the paths of heaven. The Fosse Way ran from Devonshire to Lincoln ; and, besides these main lines there were other special roads, such as the Salt Ways, starting from the salt- works at Droitwich, and Akeman Street, leading to Bath — Bath being named by the Saxons, Akemannes-Ceaster, or the City of Invalids. The period of fierce strife between Saxons, Danes, and Normans, which succeeded the Roman occupation, tended rather to the demolition of the Roman roads than to any improvement of the public ways ; and it is not until the reign of Edward I., in 1285, that there is any law extant relating to roads, and then it was enjoined that i those ways be enlarged where bushes, woods, or dykes be, where men may lurk ; so that there be neither dyke, tree, nor bush within 200 yards of those roads, great trees excepted ; ' shewing that the clearing 182 THE BRITISH ISLES. away was more for the sake of expelling the robbers, than be- cause the peaceful traffic of the day required wider highways.* The first toll for the repair of the public roads appears to have been levied in Edward III.'s reign, 1346 ; but for many succeeding reigns there seems to have been remarkable economy practised with respect to using the public funds for this purpose, and every encouragement offered to induce pri- vate persons to undertake the business. Thus in Henry VIII.'s time, the highways are described as having * become so deep and noyous by the wearing of water, that people cannot pass but to their great pains, perils, and jeopardy ; ' and by a special Act, any person w r ho should make a new road was offered the old road for his pains. In 1663, Charles II.'s reign, the first Turnpike Act was Turnpike passed, and from that time were issued Acts regu- Act, 1663. lating the weight of vehicles drawn along the road ; but according to Ogilby's i Itinerarium Anglias,' a Road Guide published from 1675 to 1717, the progress of improvement was still very limited, and there was scarcely a road in Eng- land • commendable for its goodness ; ' or, it may be added, commendable for its pleasantness either, since the gibbet was the almost unfailing ornament of the w T ay-side, ano! was seldom to be seen without its dangling appendage. Indeed, the gallows seems to have served the purpose of sign- post, and directions commonly run in this fashion — ' By the Gallows and three Windmills enter the suburbs of York.' ' From Bristol you go up a steep ascent, leaving the Gibbet on your right.' Travellers, either on business or pleasure, had in those days the best opportunities for seeing the country as they passed along, since journeys, especially by the nobility and gentry, were mostly performed on horseback ; the men being well booted, spurred, and armed, and ready to encounter the perils of the way, and the women strapped behind them ; or else, in pannier and pillion fashion, the ladies were strapped down in * Philp's History of Progress in Great Britain. ROADS. 183 baskets on each side of the horse, with a cavalier on the saddle in the middle. The traffic of the country was chiefly carried on by means of pack-horses, often linked together in a line of forty or fifty, with tinkling bells suspended to the head-gear of the leader. Coaches had been introduced in Elizabeth's reign, 1564, by William Boomen, a Dutchman : but we are told by Coaches a writer in 1623, that 'the sight of one put both introduced, horse and man to amazement. Some said it was a 162 °' great crab -shell brought out of China, and some imagined it to be one of the Pagan temples, in which the cannibals adore the devil.' And the same writer adds : * the mischiefs that have been done by them are not to be numbered, as breaking of legges and armes, overthrowing down hills, over bridges, run- ning over children, lame and old people.' Invalid ladies did indeed sometimes ride in their whirlicotes, and on great occa- sions the royalty and nobility went out in their l cartes ; ' but against public conveyances the prejudice was so great, that in 1672 an agitation was organised against stage-coaches as a national evil, on the ground that c it would destroy the breed of good horses, and make men neglect horsemanship,' as well as c render many valuable people useless to themselves and families by broken limbs ; ' that it would ruin the road- side inns and injure the revenue, ' because, instead of people riding their journeys on horseback, and having to alight and take drink at the inns, they reclined lazily in the coaches, and went a long way without spending money ; ' that it would ruin the trade of the watermen, the boot-makers, the saddle and pillion- makers, &c, &c. ; and lastly, on moral grounds, coaches were highly objectionable, inasmuch as ' passage to London being so easy, gentlemen came to London ofbener than they need,' and their ladies were sure to ' quickly follow them ; and when they were there, they must have all the new fashions, buy all their clothes there, go to plays, balls, and treats, where they get such a habit of jollity, that nothing afterwards in the country will serve them.' Besides the objection to stage coaches on national and 184 THE BEITISH ISLES. moral grounds, there must have been some drawback to the benefit to the passengers themselves in the days when the ruts on a turnpike road were sometimes ' four feet deep, and filled with mud in the summer-time.' * It was a common practice for the great folks who went out to dinner in their carriages, to send men before them to smooth down the ruts, and to make the roads safe at night, by laying down great lumps of chalk, through which the coachman — who had been dining out too — might keep the carriage in a straight course. Moreover, it was not until after the year 1808 that springs were generally applied to carriages, and one can quite sympathise with a Mr. Edward Parker when he writes to his ' honoured father ' in 1663, after a journey in 'ye boote ' to London, that l this travel hath soe indisposed mee, yt I am resolved never to ride up againe in ye coatch.' What the passengers endured may be inferred from the damage to the luggage, since before springs were invented, ' a trunk could not be sent fifty miles without being knocked to pieces,' and the proprietor of the Shrewsbury coach is reported to have had to pay 6001. in one year for the damage done to goods by the jostling of his coach. Considering also that so late as 1752, the fast coach from London to Exeter took four days to the journey, and in 1763, the one coach from London to Edinburgh took from twelve to fourteen days, there does not seem to have been much reason for the alarm of one of the above agitators lest ' the gad-about spirit of the age should ruin the community.' From more constant wear, the roads of London were worse than those of remoter places, and from the testimony of large coach proprietors, eight horses on the more distant roads would accomplish more than ten nearer London. The state of the bye roads near London may be gathered from this account of a journey from London to Guildford, made in 1703 by George, Prince of Denmark, in order to meet the King of Spain at the Duke of Somerset's house at Petworth. It is written by one of the attendants, and the distance to be ac- * Mr. Arthur Young's Tour in the North of England, 1770. ROADS. 185 complished was about thirty miles : — i We set out at six o'clock in the morning to go to Petwortli, and did not get out of the coaches (save only when we were overturned or stuck fast in the mire) till we arrived at our journey's end. 'Twas hard service for the prince to sit fourteen hours in the coach that day without eating anything, and passing through the worst ways that I ever saw in my life : we were thrown but once, indeed, in going, but both our coach and his highness' s body coach, would have suffered very often, if the nimble boors of Sussex had not frequently poised it or supported it with their shoulders from Godalming almost to Petworth ; and the nearer we approached the Duke's house, the more inaccessible it seemed to be. The last nine miles of the way cost us six hours' time to conquer them, and indeed we had never done it if our good master had not several times lent his pair of horses out of his own coach, whereby we were enabled to trace out the way for him.' The c long poles and Ian thorns ' which we are told the Duke kept for his own use, when he travelled that way, do not appear to have been at the service of the Prince. In the lanes the ruts were so deep that waggons and carts were seldom expected to pass along them without extra help ; only it was customary, in order to save time, to wait till a whole line of waggons had got stuck fast, and then to lash together twenty or thirty horses to draw them out one by one. But notwithstanding the need for improvement, no sooner had turnpike gates been set up, than riots broke out in con- sequence, and mobs assembled to pull them down, and to resist the l tyrannical imposition ' of turnpike tolls. Various vested interests cried out loudly, that to repair the highways would bring ruin upon themselves, and be of no possible use to the public. The farmers of the counties about London petitioned that turnpike roads should only extend to their own district, because, if by any means hay and corn were to be brought to the London market from the remoter and cheaper counties, prices would fall, and they should lose the monopoly. The coachmen complained that if the roads were made too good, the horses were sure to trip, because the drivers became 186 THE BRITISH ISLES. careless. One old Marlborough coachman could never be brought to use the new highway, but persisted in jolting and jumbling his coach along the old waggon track ; and a certain Blandford waggoner expressed the sentiments of his class, when he declared that i roads on'y be good for wun thing — for waggon- drivin. I on'y wunt vour voot width in a leane, an arl the rest may goo to the devil. The gentry ought to steay at whoam, rot-em, and not run gossippin oop an deown the country.' The Rebecca riots in Wales in 1842-3, have been the last outbreak of mob-excitement against the repair of roads. At the beginning of the present century, the genius of Loudon M'Adam, born 1756, and of Thomas Telford, born 1757, was applied with such success to the repair and con- struction of highways, that they have since been rendered safe and durable at an enormous reduction of cost. The old method of making roads was to throw down the stones that most abounded in the neighbourhood, large and small together, just as they were found or dug from the quarry ; and thus there were flint roads in Essex, Kent and Sussex, limestone roads in Gloucester, Somerset and Wilts, and great round pebble roads in many of the middle counties. M'Adam's improve- ment consisted in breaking up the stones into fragments of a size and shape that would consolidate and form a smooth, hard surface, and thus his plan was specially adapted to the repair of roads the old displaced materials of which could be broken up and re-laid. Telford's system applied more exclusively to the construc- tion of roads, and chiefly consisted in making a rough pave- ment of hand-laid stones on the bed of the road, to serve as a foundation for the small broken stones of the surface. Mac- adamized pavements were first introduced about the year 1818, and the Highland roads begun in 1803, and the Holyhead road begun in 1815, were the first highways constructed upon Telford's plan, and for the purposes of a great traffic were con- sidered as nearly perfect in principle as roads could be, until they were superseded by railways. RAILWAYS. 187 RAILWAYS. The wooden tramways laid down by Mr. Beaumont in the collieries about Newcastle in 1602 may be considered the first rough approach to the railway system of England. These tramways, at first, were merely made by pieces of wood being embedded in the common road, so as to form smooth wheel- tracks for the coal- waggons to run along to and from the mouth of the pit, and they were in use in various mining districts for about a century and a half. Gradually, however, this rude design became improved upon. First, the road was prepared by levelling, and pieces of wood called sleepers were laid cross-ways upon the line as a support to the upper ones that formed the wheel-tracks. Next, difficult places in the ascent from the pit's mouth were made easier to the horse by thin plates of malleable iron being nailed over the wood to render the surface smoother. Next, at the Colebrook Dale iron works, cast-iron plates were fastened all along the wooden rails; then, at the Sheffield collieries, the cast-iron rails were made with an upright flange, or j)rotecting edge, to prevent the wheels slipping off. In 1793, blocks of stone were used for sleepers instead of wooden ones; in 1801 edge rails were first used at the slate quarries of Lord Penryhn in Wales, upon which plan the carriage wheels were grooved in the tire and dove-tailed on to a raised block in the rail. The first iron railway sanctioned by Parliament was one laid down from the Thames at Wandsworth to Croydon in 1801 ; but as yet horses were the only locomotive force em- ployed, although the idea of applying steam power to carriages was beginning to be entertained by Watt and other inventors, who had already applied it to machinery. In 1805 Messrs. Trevithick & Vivian proved its practicability by experiments on the Merthyr-Tydvil tramways, and in 1816 George Stephenson contrived steam locomotives, which worked suc- cessfully on the Newcastle collieries. 188 THE BKITISH ISLES. In 1825 the Stockton and Darlington Kail way, worked by First Bail- engines, and constructed by George Stephenson and way, 1825. Edward Pease, was opened for passengers. The fol- lowing year was begun the Manchester and Liverpool Railway ; and this important line, connecting the two great trading towns of the empire, was opened in 1830 in the presence of the Duke of Wellington and the illustrious of the land ; the event being made painfully memorable by the death of Mr. Huskisson, who was knocked down by one of the engines. In 1837 the Liverpool and Birmingham, or Grand Junction Eailway, was opened its whole length, and the railway from Birmingham to London in 1838. The great lines that now divide the largest amount of traffic between them are the London and North Western 1,062 miles, Great Western 964, North Eastern 867, Great Eastern 644, Midland 614, London and South-Western 401. Even in 1859 there were as many as fifty-eight main lines open, and the whole country, with the exception of a small part of the south of England and the centre of Wales, is one enormous network of branch lines, which yearly increases. In Scotland, the railways chiefly radiate from the two centres of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and are most numerous in the central portion. In Ireland, Dublin is the main centre. CANALS. England is traversed by about 2,800 miles of canals, besides about 2,500 miles of rivers that have been made navigable by artificial means. It is believed that the Romans dug canals in this country ; but the first of which there is any record was one made by Henry L, 1134, to join the river Trent to the Witham . To the Duke of Bridgewater England is indebted for the first great navigable canal of modern times, called after him the Bridgewater Canal, and begun at his expense in 1758, under the direction of the architect Brindley, in order to convey coals from the Duke's pits at Worsley to Manchester, a distance of about seven miles, but afterwards extended so as to place THE POST. 189 Manchester and Liverpool in convenient communication by water, and so to supersede the old pack-horses, which used to be the means of conveying the Lancashire merchandize. By this great private enterprise the staple trade of the country was im- mensely benefited, and Watt's new steam engine obtained a timely supply of the fuel it required from the coal-mines of Worsley. The oldest canal in England is the Sankey Brook Canal in Lancashire, begun in 1755, to convey coals from the pits of St. Helen's to the Mersey. The longest canal in England is the Leeds and Liverpool, 127 miles, which connects the Irish Sea with the German Ocean. The longest canal in Scotland is the Caledonian, 60 miles, which connects the Moray Firth with the Atlantic. The longest in Ireland is the Grand Canal, 87 miles, which connects the Irish Sea with the Atlantic by running from Dublin to Banagher, on the Shannon. POSTAL COMMUNICATION. No post office existed before the seventeenth century. When kings and nobles were wont to sign their names with a cross, and the art of expressing thought by written words was con- fined to the monks and the learned few, there was little need for postal arrangements, and the correspondence of the kingdom was chiefly that connected with state affairs. Kings and the more powerful of the nobles kept their own establishments of Nuncii, who had charge of the conveyance of letters. About the time of King John, the Nuncius seems to have had to pro- vide his own horses and riders ; but in the reign of Edward II. relays of horses and riders were kept at fixed posts or stations, and Edward IV. during the Scottish wars in 1481 is stated to have sent letters by this means 200 miles in two days. The superscription of ' Haste, post haste,' found on letters of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, shews that the post was then recognised as the speediest means of transmission. In order to meet the exigencies of his troubled reign, Charles I. attempted, but without success, to esta- First Post blish a letter office for England and Scotland, and in 0ffice > 1649 - 190 THE BEITISH ISLES. the year of his execution, 1649, the first post office for the weekly conveyance of letters to all parts of the kingdom was started by the Commonwealth, and afterwards much improved upon by Cromwell. Despatch and safety, however, were not the characteristics of even Cromwell's improved post-office ; for the mails were intrusted to boys on horseback, or else were sent by carts made for the purpose, which were distin- guished by being the slowest conveyances going, for while the London and Bath coach managed the distance in seventeen hours, the post accomplished it in forty. In 1784, Mr. John Palmer, manager of the Bath Theatre, suggested the plan of sending the mail by coaches, which should be bound to per- form the journey in a specified time, and the scheme being supported by Mr. Pitt, was carried into operation, in spite of violent opposition from the post-office functionaries. The first mail coach was started between London, Bath, and Bristol. The last mail coach, the old Derby mail, the ' Derby Dilly,' finished its course in 1858, its unrivalled four-in-hand having stoutly kept up the old coaching glory amidst the hills and peaks of Derbyshire, until finally it was swept off the road, like all its brethren, by the iron horse of the railway. In 1840 Mr. Eowland Hill's system of penny postage came into operation, and in 1861 the deliveries were estimated at 593,240,000, making an average of 24 letters to each person in England, 18 in Scotland, and 9 in Ireland. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION. Telegraphs (from rrjXe, distant, and ypcKpio, write), or con- trivances for giving signals at a distance, have been common from the earliest times ; but before electricity was employed, the intelligence was always conveyed by means of visible objects, within the range of the eye or telescope. Beacon lights and fires were the most primitive methods of signalling ; then various machines became invented, which hoisted figures that stood for alphabetical characters or numerals. French signal-posts, or semaphores, with movable arms, represented THE TELEGRAPH. 191 the numerals by turning upon pivots in different positions ; shutter-posts gave signs by means of different degrees of opening between coloured boards or shutters. Mr. E. L. Edgeworthmade experiments with windmill sails in 1767, and official conversation was for long carried on between the top- masts at Spithead and the ramparts at Portsmouth by means of nags, white handkerchiefs, and black hats. The idea of using electricity as a medium for conveying messages had been long entertained before it was Fi rs t practically carried out, and this was first done by Telegraph Messrs. Wheatstone & Cooke, who contrived a 1837 - simple apparatus for working the trains on the Blackwall railway in 1837, consisting of voltaic batteries and conducting wires, by means of which the signals ' stop ' and * go on ' were communicated to each station. By the year 1854, the system had reached to such a degree of completeness, that a central telegraph station at Lothbury, behind the Bank of England, had been established, from which office, at all hours by clay and night, despatches were trans- mitted to and received from every seaport and considerable toAvn in England, Scotland, and Wales, from all parts of Ireland by submarine wires, and from all parts of the conti- nent of Europe where electric telegraphs had been constructed, by the Dover submarine cable. At the present time, more than 30,000 miles of telegraph wires are in operation. Each town, port, and almost every village station, has now its telegraph office, and is thus in instantaneous communication with all the rest of the kingdom; and even houses in some of onr largest towns are now beginning to be connected by telegraph. 192 THE BRITISH ISLES. CHAPTER VII. CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT. The Constitution of England is the whole assemblage of laws by which the people have agreed to be governed; the Government is the power that frames the laws and puts them in operation : thus it has been said that £ the Constitution is the rule by which the king ought to govern at all times; the Government is that by which he does govern at any par- ticular time.' Although the British Constitution has been the gradual growth of time and progress, in its fundamental principle of representative government it is about 600 years old, and dates from the reign of Henry III., when in 1258, as it appears from the writs that are extant, the Commons of England for the first time were represented in the great council, or parler- la-ment of the nation. But the actual origin of our Constitu- tion dates much farther back than this, and must be looked for, partly in the old Teutonic institutions brought by the Saxons from ancient Germany, and partly in those which were introduced by imperial Rome. To the Saxon belonged the principle of aristocracy and allegiance to the heads of clans or tribes ; to the Roman the principle of centralisation, or allegiance to one supreme ruler, together with the principle of republicanism, or the right of the people to free citizen- ship ; and so ready an acceptance did the republican spirit find in the English mind, that in very early days it was said that every man born in the land seemed to consider it as much his natural right to have a vote as to have a weapon to defend himself. It is not known, however, whether the people were admitted Saxon into the legislature in the Saxon and early Norman Councils, times, although great councils of the nation were held in England, in common with all the northern Teutonic GOVERNMENT. 193 nations of that period, called by the Saxons michel-synoth, great council, michel- gemote, great meeting, or wittena-g emote, meeting of wise men ; and there is no distinct blending of the three estates of the realm — of king, lords, and commons — which marks the British Constitution, until the seventeenth year of King John, a.d. 1215, when, in the Great Charter that he was compelled to grant, he promises to summon personally 'all archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons,' and to summon through the sheriff and bailiffs all other i tenants in chief under the Crown, to meet at a certain place to assess aids and rentages when necessary ; ' which Consti- Eirst tution was carried into effect in the next reign, when Parliament, knights, citizens, and burgesses assembled for the first time in parliament, together with the king, prelates, and nobles. The leading principles of the Government, as it exists at the present day, are as follows : — The Government of the United Kingdom is a limited monarchy ; the legislative au- The r^^ thority being vested in three powers — king, lords, Estates. and commons. All these powers are professedly equal, and no laws can be made, or repealed, or altered, without the consent of all three. The Crown is hereditary, and descends to either male or female. The king (from koenig, Saxon for leader) or queen (from cqen, Saxon for woman or wife) is the sole executive power, and possesses the right of appointing the members of the administration, of nominating the great officers of state, of the army and navy, of appointing bishops, ambassadors, and judges, of conferring all degrees of nobility and knighthood, of treating with foreign nations, of making war and peace, of dis- solving and proroguing parliament. But although the sovereign has these powers, he executes them through his ministers, upon whom rests the responsibility of his acts ; and thus it is said that ' the king can do no wrong/ And he is moreover checked in the undue exercise of these powers by the exclusive right of the parliament to vote him supplies. The king may declare war, but the representatives of the people may deny him the means of levying or paying his armies. o 194 THE BRITISH ISLES. The king's ministers, or Chief Officers of State who form the Executive, compose what is called the Cabinet ; the term . cabinet, from the French, having first been applied to the king's privy councils in the reign of Charles I. The present Cabinet consists of fifteen members, viz. : First Lord of the Treasury. Secretary of State, War Depart- Lord High Chancellor. ment. Chancellor of the Exchequer. Secretary of State for India. Lord President of the Council. First Lord of the Admiralty. Lord Privy Seal. Postmaster General. Secretary of State, Home Depart- President of Board of Trade. ment. Chief Commissioner of Poor Law Secretary of State, Foreign Affairs. Board. Secretary of State for the Colonies. Chancellor of Duchy of Lancaster. Also included among the Chief Officers of State are, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the Commander in Chief, and the Com- mander of the Forces of Scotland and Ireland. The House of Peers, or Upper House of Parliament, is the highest judicial court in the kingdom, and appeals may be made to it, in all cases not criminal, from the lower courts. It is composed of lords spiritual and temporal ; peers of the realm sit by hereditary right ; representative peers by election ; and bishops by virtue of their temporal rank as barons. At the present time (1863) the House consists of the following mem- bers: 3 peers of the blood royal; 18 dukes; 18 marquises; 95 earls ; 17 viscounts; 135 barons; 30 Scotch peers, and 48 Irish peers, who sit for the United Kingdom; 16 Scotch representative peers, who are chosen every Parliament by the Scotch peers ; and 28 Irish representative peers, who are chosen for life by the Irish peers ; 2 archbishops and 24 bishops for England and Wales, the bishops of Gloucester and of Sodor and Man being the only two at present who are not appointed a seat in the House ; 1 archbishop and 3 bishops for Ireland, who sit by sessional rotation. The House of Commons, or Lower House of Parliament, is representative, that is, it is elected by the votes of the people. It has the command of the public purse ; the exclusive right INCOME OF THE KINGDOM. 195 of originating money-bills, and of voting money out of the revenue. It is composed at present of 656 members, viz., 145 English county members, 4 University members, 320 city and borough members ; 64 Irish county members, 2 University, 39 city and borough ; 30 Scotch county members, 23 city and borough ; 15 Welsh county members, 14 city and borough. Parliaments are septennial, but they generally expire sooner by dissolution. INCOME OF THE KINGDOM. The chief sources of the public revenue are : Customs, Ex- cise, Stamps, Land and Assessed Taxes, Property and Income Tax, and Post Office. The total Eevenue for the year ending June 1863 was 70,683,861/., shewing an increase of a million over the previous year. This increase, in the face of the Ame- rican war and considerable reductions in taxation, is attributed to the free-trade policy which the nation has been steadily pursuing of late years. The largest item in the public Expenditure is the Interest on the National Debt, which debt at the end of March 1863 was 799,898,000/. The next most important items are the cost of Army and Navy, and Civil Services. Nearly a million a year is expended on the government of the colonies. The estimated expenditure for the year (1863) by the Chancellor of the Exchequer is 67,749,000/. The average pressure of taxation in England is fifty shillings a head. ARMY AND NAVY. The standing army of England is less than that of any other European nation of equal population, and at the present time (1863) numbers 145,450 men. The Crimean war having ex- posed the inefficiency of our armed force, and a French inva- sion appearing possible in consequence of the application of steam navigation to purposes of warfare, a Volunteer Force has been organised throughout the kingdom, which now num- bers at least 160,000 men. The navy consists of 76,000 men and boys. O 2 196 THE BRITISH ISLES. COINAGE OF THE REALM. Elide, shapless coins of gold, silver, and other metals, have been found in various parts of England, and attributed to the early British period ; one of these, bearing the name of Sego, is supposed to belong to the reign of one of the Kentish kings who opposed Caesar. The first coinage in Britain of which there is any record was by the Romans at Colchester (Cama- lodunum)) and the coins struck were of iron and tin, and of different shapes, round, square, or oblong. The earliest figure of Britannia is on a Roman copper coin of Antoninus Pius, and is in the British Museum. It was not until the end of the twelfth century that coins became the recognised medium of exchange : before that time they were seldom seen, exeejDt in the coffers of the nobles, and trade was carried on by the exchange of commodities. It was in the twelfth century also that the word sterling began to be generally applied throughout Europe to English money, and is supposed to have been derived from the Esterlings, a family of artists from the north-east of Europe, who were employed in the coinage. The first gold coins on record were struck by Henry III. in 1257, and gold coins were regularly introduced by Gold Coins. ^ ., ' -, TTT & ^ nn „ ., b n i . , . J Edward III., 1337, m the shape of florins, worth six shillings. Afterwards gold nobles were struck, worth 6s. Sd., which became the usual lawyer's fee. Edward IV. coined golden angels, stamped with Michael and the Dragon, the ori- ginal of George and the Dragon. Sovereigns and half-sove- reigns were introduced by Henry VIII. In 1673 (Charles II.'s reign), guineas were first coined of the same size as the sovereign, but, being made of the fine African gold from the coast of Guinea, were valued at 30s., and afterwards reduced to 21s. by Act of Parliament in 1717. Guineas at first bore the figure of an elephant, to indicate the African source of the metal. Groats, or fourpenny pieces, so named after the Dutch groat, FACTS OF THE CENSUS. 197 were the largest silver coins in England till after 1351. The shilling was first coined in 1503 ; crowns and Silver half-crowns in 1553; the silver florin in 1849; Coins - the modern silver fourpence in the reign of William IV. ; and the silver threepence in the present reign (of Victoria). Crowns and half-crowns are no longer coined. Copper, or rather bronze, money is comparatively modern in England, and is said to date 1,000 years later than Bronze the silver. The need for small change began to be Coins - pressingly felt in the time of Elizabeth, but the queen had an aversion to copper money, and would only allow small pledges for a half penny to be struck in copper. The first extensive copper coinage was in James I.'s reign, when copper pieces were substituted for the private leaden ones then in use ; and halfpence and farthings were first made authorized public money in 1672 (Charles II.). Penny and twopenny pieces were first coined in the reign of George III. (1797), but the twopenny pieces were soon withdrawn. FACTS OF THE CENSUS. The Census of 1861 is the seventh that has been taken in Great Britain, and the fifth in Ireland, the first organised census being in 1801, according to the measure of Mr. Pitt. Population of the United Kingdom in 1861. England and Wales Scotland Ireland Islands in the British Seas 20,061,725 3,061,329 5,792,055 143,779 29,058,888 At home . Out of the Country. Army, about . . . 137,000" Navy . . . . 42,900 \ 275,900 Merchant seamen . . 96,000 ;, ;} 29,334,788 198 THE BRITISH ISLES. These numbers shew an increase of six per cent, in the last ten years, or an addition of a million and a half to the whole population ; the increase in England and Wales being twelve per cent., in Scotland six per cent., and there being a decrease in Ireland of twelve per cent, in consequence of emigration and the failure of the potato crop, which began in 1846. The female population outnumbered the male by 573,530 ; that is, to every 100 males there were 106 females in the British Isles : 105 boys are born to 100 girls, and males preponderate until the seventeenth year, and at all subsequent ages females are in excess. In metropolitan districts and fashionable towns, women preponderate ; in London, for in- stance, there are 113 women to 100 men; in Clifton, sixteen women to nine men. In agricultural districts, women pre- ponderate ; in mining districts, the men. Resident in Great Britain, there were 3,500 persons who had been born at sea, 76,000 born abroad, and 62,000 foreigners by nationality. The average density of the population is about 237 to the square mile, and if the inhabitants were dispersed equally throughout the island, they would stand a little more than 100 yards apart. The most populous counties are Middlesex, Surrey, and Lancashire ; the average density in Middlesex being 7,822 to the square mile ; Lancashire, 1,275 ; and Surrey, 1,110 ; while Westmoreland is the least populous in England, having only eighty to the square mile, and Eadnor in Wales has but fifty-nine. It was seen, in the sketch of the manufacturing districts, that the great manufactures are principally in the north and north-west, in the region of the coal-fields. And since, on account of the higher rate of wages, the tendency is for labour to be constantly drawn to the manufacturing districts, it is also found that in that direction the population is the most dense, and perpetually on the increase, while in the agricul- tural parts it is often stationary, or even on the decrease. Thus, the largest actual increase of population during the last ten years had been in Lancashire and West Derby, while FACTS OF THE CENSUS. 199 diminution of the rate of increase had been the rule in the agricultural counties of Cambridgeshire, Wiltshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk. Emigration reached its maximum in 1852, when an average of 1,000 persons per day left our shores. This drain upon the population has been chiefly in Ireland, and, together with the potato disease, has cleared the way for progress of late years. Pauperism and crime have strikingly diminished, and although the population is less, schools for the people have immensely increased. Through the working of the Encumbered Estates Act, the lands have been transferred to capable owners, who have introduced improved methods of agriculture, and the barren swamps of Ireland are rapidly giving way to corn- fields and pastures, and the potato is being exchanged for wheaten bread. 200 PART II r. POSSESSIONS IN EUEOPE The British possessions in Europe have been acquired during the Continental wars since the beginning of the last century, and consist of the island of Heligoland in the North Sea, and of the fortress of Gibraltar 'and the Maltese Islands in the Mediterranean. CHAPTER I. GIBRALTAR. Gibraltar was the first acquired of our European dependen- cies. It consists of an English-built town, and strongly -forti- fied rock. The rock is a bold headland promontory, running into the sea nearly due north and south from the coast of Spain, and forming almost an island in the Mediterranean, being joined to the mainland only by an isthmus of red sand. It is chiefly a mass of grey marble or free-stone, which rises to the height of 1,600 feet, and is intersected with caves and fissures. One of these caves, 1,000 feet above the sea-level, forms a spacious hall, supported apparently by pillars of stalactite, and in some of the perpendicular fissures human bones as well as the bones of animals have been found. On the north and east sides, the rock is nearly perpendicular, and quite inaccessible ; on the west it slopes to the sea, and on the south it terminates in Europa Point, N. latitude 36° 2' 3 /; , GIBEALTAE. 201 W. longitude 50° 15' 12", which is the southernmost point of the Continent. The town of Gibraltar is built on the north- west side, on a bed of red sand. The climate of Gibraltar is more temperate and equable than that of most of the adjacent districts; snow is rarely seen, and soon disappears, and the refreshing sea-breezes temper the summer heat. The average of rainy days is only sixty-eight per annum. Although the aspect of the rock from the sea is entirely barren, many trees and plants, such as the fig, orange, and acacia, flourish upon it, and it abounds not only with game and wild rabbits, but the tailless monkeys from Africa have chosen the place for their residence, and it is the only spot in Europe where the Barbary ape is found. The Eock of Gibraltar was the Mons Calpe of the ancients, and together with Mount Abyla, the present Ceuta, which also projects into the sea from the opposite African coast, seemed in remote ages to the dwellers on the east to form a vast portal through which the waters of the Mediterranean joined the great ocean beyond, and to constitute the extreme boundary of the western world. These two rocks were named by the Greeks the Pillars of Hercules, the tradition being that the two once formed a solid rock which Hercules split asunder with his club in order to allow a passage for the sea ; and those were bold adventurers, such as the Phoenicians, who dared to steer through them, and trust themselves and their vessels to the unknown expanse of ocean which lay towards the setting sun. From its prominent and important position Gibraltar has been from the earliest times the scene of attack and assault. In the eighth century it was seized by an army of Saracens from Africa on their way to dethrone the King of Spain. These Saracens built the castle on the rock, the ruins of which still remain, and named the place Gibel-Tarif, the Mountain of Tarif, in honour of their leader Tarif or Tarek, and this is supposed to be the origin of its name. The Moors retained possession of Gibraltar until the fourteenth century, when it again fell into the hands of the kings of Spain, one of whom, 202 POSSESSIONS IN EUROPE. Henry IV., King of Castile, gave it in 1462 the arms it still bears, viz. a castle with a key hanging to the gate, significant of its being the key of the Mediterranean. Under the Spaniards the rock was made an almost impregnable fortress ; on the western and sloping side, the only one exposed to attack, fortifications were constructed of unusual strength, and in the bold front of perpendicular rock overlooking the bay, galleries were cut with immense labour, two or three miles in length, and wide enough for carriages to pass along, with port-holes about every twelve yards. But although so strong for military defence both by nature and art, Gibraltar nevertheless fell before the united attack of English and Dutch in 1704. This was during the reign of Queen Anne, when England, Austria, and Holland formed a coalition to support the claims of the Archduke Charles to the crown of Spain in opposition to the reigning King of Spain, Philip Y. of Anjou, and his grandfather Louis XIV. of France. This was called the ' War of the Succession,' the real purpose of which was to avert the danger arising from the Franco- Spanish alliance. Sir George Eooke, Vice-Admiral of England, and the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt, had undertaken to convey the Archduke to Lisbon, in expectation that there would be an immediate rising of the people in his favour. But they were disappointed ; the Archduke was landed, but none of the populace seemed inclined to receive him as their king, and Eooke, having failed to accomplish the capture of Barcelona, was obliged to sail away up the Mediterranean and save him- self as he best could from the French squadrons, which fol- lowed upon his track. Slipping through them he was joined by Sir Cloudesley Shovel with a strong fleet near the Strait of Gibraltar, and, finding that Gibraltar was at that moment but weakly garrisoned, the two commanders resolved to turn their united force against it and carry the rock by a sudden assault. Two thousand marines under the Prince Hesse Darmstadt were forthwith landed on the narrow isthmus, or neutral ground, while, under Admirals Byng and Vanderhussen, the GIBRALTAK. 203 whole fleet was ranged with its broadsides to the rock, pouring shot into it at the rate of fifteen thousand every five or six hours. But the old rock bade them defiance. No attack was pos- sible from the isthmus, owing to the steepness of the ascent, and the fire from the ships made no impression whatever on the fortifications. At last, on August 4, 1704, when the attacking squadron had taken up a new station along the New and Old Mole, a party of sailors in the bay, rather over-merry with grog, rowed their boats close under the New Mole on the west side, and seeing that the garrison, which was only about 100 men strong, took no notice of them, clambered up the mole and hoisted the British flag on the top. This signal of pos- session was no sooner seen from the fleet than more boats were sent out, and crowds of sailors, swinging themselves up the steep rocks like the native monkeys, seized the battery, and compelled the astonished garrison to surrender, six hours only after the commencement of the siege. Prince George of Hesse immediately entered Gibraltar in the name of the Arch- duke and floated the Austrian banner from the citadel ; but by Eooke's orders it was speedily hauled down and replaced by the flag of England. The fortress was then occupied by British and Dutch troops in the name of Queen Anne, and Prince George was appointed the first Governor. Having thus once gained this most important station, English troops have since held possession of it against the united strength of France and Spain. Many attempts have been made to wrest it from England, the last and most memorable of which was the siege of 1779, when General Eliot, afterwards Lord Heathfield, held the place for three years against an overwhelming force of Spaniards and French, and finally compelled them to beat a retreat in 1782. The value of Gibraltar to England arises from its position and amazing strength as a fortress. It stands between the ports of the Mediterranean and the ports of the Atlantic, and the roll of its evening gun, heard both in Africa and Europe, is a signal that the British power is present on that great rock 204 POSSESSIONS IN EUROPE. to protect the shores of both continents. The fortifications are maintained in great strength and readiness. The garrison is of 5,600 men ; the guns number about 700. ' Wandering/ says Captain Sayer,* ' through the geranium-hedged paths on the hill-side, or clambering up the rugged cliffs to the east- ward, one stumbles unexpectedly upon a gun of the heaviest metal lodged in a secluded nook, with its ammunition — round shot, canister, and case — piled around it, ready in an instant. The shrubs and flowers that grow on the cultivated places, and are preserved from injury with so much solicitude, are often but the masks of guns which lie crouched beneath, con- cealed within the leaves, ready for the port-fire. Everywhere all stands ready for attack.' Gibraltar is cut off from the mainland of Spain by the neutral ground of the isthmus, at the northern extremity of which are the ruins of the old Spanish lines, which were drawn across the isthmus to prevent the garrison from having any intercourse with the country behind them ; this, however, has not prevented a great deal of clandestine traffic, and the English habitually smuggle into the Spanish border tobacco and cotton goods, in defiance of the Spanish officers, who resist the practice, even to the extent of sometimes firing upon the smugglers. The town is little more than a single street about a mile long, one end of which is South Port, and the other Water Port. The chief buildings are the Governor's house, formerly a convent, the Protestant cathedral, and the Spanish church, the Exchange, the naval hospital, the gaol, formerly a Moorish castle, and the garrison library ; besides schools, chapels, and almshouses, such as are found in most English towns. The dwelling-houses are built in the English style, but not of the best description as regards neatness, ventilation, &c. The population, about 18,000, consists of the garrison, 5,600 men, and a few English residents ; Spaniards of all sorts, Moors, and Genoese ; and Jews especially congregate in Gibraltar, since they are not allowed to reside in Spain. Spanish is * History of Gibraltar. GIBRALTAR. 205 the common language. The Governor is the military com- mander for the time being (salary, 5,000Z.), and Gibraltar has a charter by which all criminal cases are decided according to the laws of England. It is the only town in Europe in which the old custom remains of locking the gates at night. They are closed half an hour after sunset, and opened in the morn- ing at sunrise. The bishopric of Gibraltar was founded in 1842, and includes Malta. Bishop's income, 1,200Z. Gibraltar is a free jDort with respect to all articles but spirits, and the revenue, which about covers the cost of the Civil Service of the place, is mainly derived from the sale of public- house licenses : a circumstance damaging to the credit of the English Government, which thus gains by the intemperance of its soldiers. Gibraltar is valuable as a depot of British trade. It sends but few exports of its own to England, and its own imports are chiefly for the supply of the garrison. 206 POSSESSIONS IN EUROPE, CHAPTEE II. MALTA AND GOZO. Malta, the Melita or Melite of the ancients, is an island in the Mediterranean, lying 60 miles south-west of the most southerly point of Sicily. The British possession comprises a small group of islands situated between 35° 43' and 36° 5' N. lat., 14° 10' and 14° 35' E. long. ; and which consists of Malta, Gozo, and the small isle of Commo, together with the two uninhabited islets of Cominotto and Filfola. The whole group is composed of limestone rock, which rises at Monte Bengemma, in Malta, to a height of 590 feet. Malta is of an oval figure, about 15 miles long and 10 broad, and contains 98 square miles, one-third of which are mostly bare rock and uncultivated, while the rest is covered with a thin surface of soil, which the fine warm climate and the industry and skill of the inhabitants have made exceedingly productive, and two crops are often raised in the course of the year. A ridge of rock divides the island into two portions ; on the western side is chiefly the white bare rock, dotted with villages, and partially cultivated, where grow principally the wild thyme and sweet- smelling plants which attract the bees that produce the cele- brated Maltese honey ; on the eastern side are towns and villages, and the valleys where the precious and scanty soil has been carefully scraped together from the crevices of the rock, and protected by innumerable low stone walls from being washed away by the rains. In order to supply this deficiency of soil, a law was made, and for a time enforced, that every boat from Sicily and elsewhere that took out fruits from Malta should bring in a ballast of earth, and carry away a ballast of stones. The climate of Malta is healthy, although excessively hot in summer. The light reflected from the bare rocks and stone walls gives an oppressive glare to the place, unrelieved MALTA AND GOZO. 207 by any forest-trees or hedge-rows, and the absorption of the sun's rays by the rocks keeps up the temperature during the night. Sometimes in the autumn months, especially in Sep- tember, the heat is increased by the sirocco blasts from the Mediterranean on the south and east; otherwise no regular winds, or even breezes, visit Malta. The winters, from Octo- ber to May, are delightfully mild ; snow is never seen, and the temperature seldom falls below 46°. So clear is the atmosphere, that often at sunset or sunrise the summit of Etna can be seen, although distant 128 miles. The island slopes from the south to the north, but there are no rivers in Malta, and but few springs. The water that supplies the island is chiefly rain-water, collected in tanks cut in the rocks, and the capital town, Valetta, is supplied by means of an immense aqueduct, about eight miles long, made by the Knights of Malta, in 1635, which conveys water from the springs on the south side. Malta has naturally no forest-trees ; but the present Governor, Sir Gaspard Le Marchant, has succeeded in intro- ducing a few trees, by cutting holes for them in the rocks and filling them with soil. Owing to the scarcity of pasture, few animals are reared for domestic purposes besides asses and goats, and there are no wild animals. Horses are imported, and meat is obtained chiefly from Barbary. Barley is cut while green, to supply the place of grass for the draught ani- mals, and the barley-straw is used instead of hay, and an excellent fodder is supplied by the plant called Sulla, known to us as the French honeysuckle. Cotton and corn are the staple produce. Fruits and vegetables abound ; the Maltese orange is superior to all others, and the grapes, figs, and melons are especially fine. In the western side of the island there are large salt-works, the property of the Government. A channel about 4 miles wide, in the middle of which lie Comino and Cominotto, separates Malta from the small oval- shaped island of Gozo, on the north-west. Gozo is about 10 miles long and 5 broad, and has an area of 16 square miles. It excels Malta in the productiveness of its soil. Game is 208 POSSESSIONS IN EUROPE. abundant, and goats are remarkable for the quantity of milk they yield. As in Malta, fish forms a principal portion of the common food, and the cray-fish found on the rocks of Gozo are of unusual size. The Maltese Islands have passed successively into the pos- session of many different races, but it is still uncertain to what race the natives themselves belong. They are a healthy, handsome, dark-skinned people, with an Arabic dialect, but with none of the features of the Arab. The men are robust, active, and well formed ; the women graceful, with delicately- formed limbs and regular features ; and, as a people, they are characterised to a remarkable degree by industry and fru- gality. Some writers have attributed to them an African origin, since their language, an unwritten one, bears so much resemblance to the Arabic that a Maltese has no difficulty in making himself understood all along the north coast of Africa ; but Diodorus states that the island was first occupied by a colony of Phoenicians : it was afterwards held successively by Greeks, Carthaginians, Eomans, and Arabs, and it is possible that the Saracens, during their long occupation, may have introduced the Arabic elements into the language. In the twelfth century, the Norman conqueror of Sicily, Count Eoger, expelled the Arabs, and united Malta to the Sicilian government, during which union the Italian language was introduced among the upper classes ; and this continues to be the language in common use with the educated, while the mother-tongue, the Maltese, is still spoken at Gozo, and by the poorer classes in town and country. In 1516, both Sicily and the Maltese group came into the possession of Charles V. as heir to the crown of Aragon, and in 1530, the Emperor gave the entire sovereignty of the islands to the Grand Master and religious fraternity of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, who had been expelled from their seat at Ehodes by the Turks; which sovereign right they were to exercise on condi- tion of their acknowledgment of Spain and Sicily as their protectors, and the payment of the yearly tribute of a falcon to the king or viceroy of Sicily. These Knights of St. John were MALTA. 209 a military and religious order, founded in the eleventh century at Jerusalem for the sake of protecting and receiving pilgrims from Europe who visited the Holy Sepulchre ; the hospice being attached to a chapel dedicated to St. John, and at first kept by Benedictine monks. After the conquest of Jerusalem by the Crusaders under Godfrey of Bouillon, in 1099, many of his followers joined the fraternity at the hospice, and devoted their lives to the service of the poor pilgrims, while Godirey and other princes endowed the institution with lands and lord- ships; and thus the order became one of wealthy knights instead of poor monks, and possessed territory in almost every part of Europe. The Knights only admitted into their Society such as were of noble birth for four descents, both on the father's and mother's side, They were pledged to celibacy and per- petual war with the infidel, and the costume which the new Hospitallers adopted was black, with a white cross on the breast having eight points or arms — typical, probably, of the eight languages or countries to which the Knights belonged, viz. Provence, Auvergne, France, Italy, Aragon, Germany, Castile, and England. The Knights of St. John found Malta an almost shelterless rock, the land uncultivated, and the people a constant prey to the pirates on the coast ; but under their rule the place im- proved rapidly, and every part of the island, where a landing was possible, was strongly fortified. After a successful resist- ance against an invasion by the Turkish Sultan, Solyman, in 1565, the Grand Master, La Yalette, aided by the contributions of all Christendom, built the capital city of Yaletta upon a tongue of land which projects into the sea, sheltered by a rising ground 200 feet high, and rendered it an almost impregnable citadel by the most stupendous fortifications. The capital of Malta before this time had been Citta Yecchia, or Citta Nota- bile, called by the Maltese Medina, built on the highest ground and nearly in the centre of the island. In proportion as the Knights became secure against the attacks of the infidel, the discipline of their order relaxed, and Malta became rather a place of recreation and luxury than of religious austerity ; and p 210 POSSESSIONS IN EUKOPE. at the close of the last century, the fraternity became still further weakened from disunion among themselves consequent upon the influence of the agents of the French Republic in the island. In 1798, the French portion "of the Knights, fore- seeing the decline of their order, and fearing that the island might fall into the power of Eussia, connived with a French expedition to betray Malta into the hands of Buonaparte. Accordingly, General Buonaparte, who was then on his way to Egypt, made a pretext for an attack by demanding of the Grand Master that his whole fleet should be allowed to enter the port of Malta for water ; and on the courteous reply that only two or four ships at a time could be admitted, cried out with feigned indignation, ' The Grand Master refuses us water ! ' and immediately ordered the siege. The French Knights treacherously opened the gates of the citadel, 15,000 troops took possession of Valetta, and in a few hours the French were masters of Malta. From this time, the order of Knights was extinct; the members either returned to their respective countries, or were allowed to remain upon their private estates in Malta. But the French rule did not last many months. Under the names of liberty and equality, the govern- ment at Malta was so odious and despotic that the people revolted, and a general insurrection taking place, the garrison which Buonaparte had left in charge of the place under General Yaubois, soon found themselves closely blockaded within Valetta, and the three adjoining cities. The ' wretched peasantry,' as Yaubois called the Maltese, managed to keep up the blockade for two whole years, but in the end applied for aid; to Lord Nelson, who was then on his return from the battle of Aboukir, and this being freely granted, and famine having reduced the French garrison to the last extremity, General Yaubois surrendered to the English in September 1800 ; the French troops were conveyed back to France in English ships, and forthwith the island was transferred to the military possession of England. From that time, Malta became the head-quarters of the British army in the Mediterranean, and before the peace of 1814, while the war closed the conti- MALTA. 211 nental ports to the English, it was the chief seat of commerce in the south of Europe. There are few scenes of the kind more strikingly beautiful than the entrance to the port of Malta. The magnificent harbour is surrounded by bastions, over which appear on one side the towers of the churches and other stone edifices of the city of Valetta, and on the other side the three cities of Vittoriosa, Cospicua, and Genglea, which in fact form one continuous town extending over the two projections of land from the eastern side of the harbour. The old capital, Civita Vecchia, is the seat of the Catholic bishop, and contains the cathedral. Malta is a Crown colony, and the local government is con- ducted by a Governor appointed by the Crown at a salary of 5,000Z. assisted by a council of six also nominated by the Crown. The island is mainly supported by raising supplies for the garrison and fleet, and for the mail steamers which frequently touch at the port. The specimens of Maltese manufacture which find their way into foreign markets are chiefly lace, carved stone ornaments, and silver filigree. The population of Malta and Gozo in 1860 was 136,000, of whom about 1,100 were British residents. About 100,000^. a year is expended by Government in the military protection of Malta and its maintenance as a military depot. 212 POSSESSIONS IN EUKOPE. CHAPTER III. HELIGOLAND. Heligoland, or Helgoland, now an English naval station, was a dependency of Denmark until 1807. It is a small island in the German Ocean, about forty miles distant from each of the three estuaries of the Eyder, the Elbe, and the Weser, and thus, although not visible from either shore, seems to keep watch over the coasts of Denmark and Hanover. The name of Helgoland or Holy-land it is supposed to have received from having been in remote times consecrated to the worship of a Saxon divinity, Hertha, or the Earth. The island appears to have been formerly larger than it is at present, and the process of its destruction by the waves has been well marked. In the year 800, the sea apparently began to encroach, and by the next 800 years, the island was reduced to little more than a rock of red marl. Since 1770, the sea has cut its way through the island, dividing it into two parts, Heligoland and Sandy Isle ; but now Sandy Isle is almost washed away, and Heligoland is fast diminishing, and only consists of a cliff, about 190 feet high, and a sandy lowland united to it by a rocky isthmus, and is less than 2^- miles in circumference. The cliff is ascended by a flight of 180 steps, and upon it stand the village, the lighthouse, and the British batteries. The inhabitants are descended from the Frieslanders, and maintain themselves chiefly by serving as pilots, and catching lobsters and haddocks. Heligoland fell into the hands of the English in the course of the war with Buonaparte. During the wars of the Revo- lution, England had regarded Denmark with a jealous eye, although that power had observed a strict neutrality, and had HELIGOLAND. 213 insisted on the right of searching its mercantile shipping ; and when it was found that the peace of Tilsit in 1807 contained secret articles which stipulated for the deliverance of the whole Danish navy into the power of Buonaparte, Lord Cathcart and Lord Gambier led a formidable force to the coast of Zealand, bombarded Copenhagen, and carried off the fleet to England ; and in the course of this campaign with Denmark, Heligoland was captured by Admiral Eussel. The island was useful as a smuggling depot during the war, when Buonaparte interfered with the importation of British goods into the continent ; but now it is of no commercial and scarcely any political importance to England, although its maintenance costs the Government nearly 1,000Z. per annum, 500Z. of which is the Governor's salary, and 50Z. is expended on the education of the young Heligolanders. The population is about 2,000, but many visitors from the northern countries frequent the place for the sake of summer bathing. The island is governed by a Lieutenant-Governor appointed by the Crown, and its municipal affairs are transacted by local 214 POSSESSIONS IN EUROPE. CHAPTEE IV. IONIAN ISLES. The Ionian Islands are merely under the protection of Great Britain, and are therefore not properly to be classed among its dependencies. They form a group lying near the west coast of Albania and Greece, consisting of the seven principal islands of Cephalonia, Corfu, Zante, Santa Maura, Cerigo, Ithaca, and Paxo, with some small islets. They are chiefly com- posed of limestone rock, and rise abruptly out of the sea. The largest, Cephalonia, has an area of 348 square miles, the smallest, Paxo, 26, and the whole group comprises 1,041 square miles. The climate in all is healthy and temperate, the summer heat being moderated by the north-west sea breezes, and only rendered occasionally oppressive by the sirocco. The vine flourishes in every island, the olive is the chief produce of the northern isles of Corfu and Paxo, and the,.;; vine which produces the small grapes known as currants - corinths, flourishes chiefly in the southern isles of Cephalonia and Zante. No less than 30,250, 8971bs. of these currants were produced in these islands in 1860, and they probably form the most important article of export. Cotton grows chiefly in Cephalonia, and flax in Corfu, and most of the islands produce oranges, lemons, melons, figs, and honey. The name of Ionia was, according to Herodotus, derived from Ion, a leader of the Athenian forces, who thence gave it to a Greek tribe which settled in the north of the peninsula. The islands have been from an early period a dependency of foreign powers. They belonged to Borne until the division of the empire in 395 a.d., and then to the Byzantine Emperors until the dismemberment of the eastern empire by the Franks IONIAN ISLES. 215 in the twelfth century ; after which they fell into the hands of Neapolitan despots or princes, to escape from whose tyranny Corfu, the ancient Corcyra, placed itself under the protection of Venice, and the whole group subsequently became subject to the Venetian Eepublic for the space of 400 years. At the overthrow of the Venetian Senate by Buonaparte, the demo- cratic party at Venice delivered up Corfu to the French, but •n 1799, Corfu was taken by the Eussians and Turks, and in the following year the Eepublic of the Seven United Ionian Isles was formed under the protection of Eussia. By the peace of Tilsit in 1809, the republic was transferred to France, but in the course of the war against Buonaparte, the English took all the islands excepting Corfu, which also was delivered up to them at the peace of Paris, 1814. The islands were then restored to their independence, and have since formed a republic under the protection of England. Since 1850, the G-overnment has consisted of a Lord High Commissioner, who is the representative of the British Crown, of a senate of six members, and of a local parliament of forty members, some of whom are permanent, while the others are chosen by free election from the nobles in the different islands. Each island has also a municipal council for the regulation of , ^ own affairs ; and all elections are conducted by ballot. A press was established in 1850. The town of Corfu in the island of Corfu, is the capital of he republic and the seat of government, and contains the alace or rather castle of the Lord High Commissioner, several lurches, a university, barracks, and arsenal. The town is crongly fortified and surrounded by walls and ramparts, and he citadel stands separated from it by a ditch and drawbridge on high and precipitous rocks, and forms the most prominent 3bject of the place. The population of the islands in 1860 was 232,426. The mdition of the people is said to be much influenced by the ifference in the natural products of the islands. Thus in Corfu id the northern isles, where the main produce is the olive- ree, which requires but little labour or skill in its cultivation, 216 POSSESSIONS IN EUKOPE. agriculture languishes, because the Ionian peasant, not naturally provident, trusts to this uncertain support ; but the currant- vines require much vigilance to make them profitable, and hence in Cephalonia and Zante improvement is more rapid. The language of the islands is modern Greek. The religion is that of the Greek-Latin church, the Ionian branch of which is under the government of an exarch or primate, who is chosen from the three bishops of Corfu, Cephalonia, and Santa Maura in rotation. The revenue from the islands is very fluctuating, since it is mainly derived from the export duty on the olive-trade, which is uncertain and speculative, and only twice within the last twelve years has the revenue exceeded the expenditure. The chief articles of export are currants, olives and olive-oil, and wine. The soil being less favourable to corn than to grape cultivation, corn is largely imported. By an agreement of 1850, the Septinsular Eepublic was to pay the British Government 25,000Z. a year, from which was defrayed the cost of the military establishment for the pro- tection of the islands, amounting to about 3,000 British troops. In the Queen's Speech at the termination of the session of parliament in 1863, it is stated that i steps are being taken with a view to the union of the Ionian Islands to the kingdom of Greece/ ~ I N I) I \ "3 ■ - • IK r EL . Nj i B t v - ■ ■* > FURTHER INDIA 8 i t s 1 aads 217 PART IV. POSSESSIONS IN ASIA. The British possessions in Asia consist of British India, the Eastern Straits Settlements, Ceylon, Labuan, Hong-Kong, and Aden. With regard to the great mass of our dependencies in Asia, English settlement there stands alone in this respect, that while in the other great divisions of the earth — in America, Africa, and Australasia — we have come into contact with races who have either never emerged from the savage state, or, as in New Zealand, have become only semi- civilised through our influence : in Asia our countrymen have planted themselves among tribes who were rulers in a civilised world probably before England was peopled at all, or at least was in the depths of barbarism, but who, nevertheless, are related to us by some identity of origin nearer than that which is common to the whole family of man. Here the Caucasian of the north has met face to face the Caucasian of the south ; and hence settle- ment in Asia has not, in the main, been a displacement or ex- termination of original races, as in the countries of inferior tribes, but an introduction of English laws, customs, and language into lands where organised governments and institu- tions already existed, older than any that England can boast. CHAPTER I. INDIA. The Queen of England is in effect the Empress of India. From the triple chain of the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, the 218 INDIA. whole gigantic peninsula — with all its ancient cities, its sacred shrines, its monuments of the past and venerable traditions, its races and dialects more than are yet known, its unrivalled scenery and natural wealth — is under her immediate sway or influence ; a hundred despotic sceptres are now united in hers, and her subjects there, with those under the protection of her crown, amount to nearly one-fifth of the whole human race. So large a dependency has never before belonged to .any nation in the history of the world. British India, in fact, bears so large a proportion to India itself, that the history of one is all but identical with the history of the whole, and in order to understand the nature of our Indian empire, and the character and position of our fellow-subjects there, it will be necessary to begin by glancing back at the general history of the country. First, through the dim vista of ages, India is made visible to us as a land of wealth and abundance, sought by the earliest nations of whom we have any historical record, from much the same motives that induced our English navigators to seek it about two centuries and a half ago ; that is, for the sake of obtaining its spices and balms, its silks, gems, and gold. The spices employed by the Egyptians in the embalming of their dead, the cinnamon, cassia, and various perfumes described in the thirtieth chapter of Exodus as being employed in the Hebrew worship, could only have come from India or the neighbouring islands, and were most probably obtained by the agency, partly of Phoenicians, and partly of the Arab merchants or ' Ishmaelites ' alluded to in Genesis xxxvii. 25. The town of Ophir (supposed to have been where Malabar now is), from which the ships of David brought c gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks,' would appear to have been a place that served for the emporium of this traffic, which extended to the shores of Africa as well as to those of India, and in which it is a strong evidence of the Greeks having also had a share, that the names in the Greek language for pepper, emerald, muslin, cotton, tin, are all words derived from the Sanscrit. The aborigines of India were a race totally different from the EAKLY HISTOKY. 219 Hindoos, and are described as low in stature, dark-coloured, with high cheek-bones, flattish noses, wide lips, scanty beard, long shaggy hair, and without any system of caste or rigid forms of worship enjoining abstinence from animal food and intoxicating drinks ; and, in fact, so alien to the Hindoo that their descendants, now scattered over various parts of India under the names of Ghonds, Bheels, Domes, &c, are regarded as impure races, and are allowed no residence in the Hindoo cities. It is the received opinion that this people were conquered, enslaved, and driven southwards by the Hindoos, a fine olive- complexioned race from Central Asia, who bore, nevertheless, more affinity to the European than the Asiatic type. But the Hindoos themselves deny this foreign and northern origin, and hold that their ' Holy Land,' that is, Hindostan Proper — the country lying between the Himalaya and the Vindhya Mountains — has been theirs from time immemorial. From the c Institutes of Menu,' regarded by the Hindoos as their most ancient and sacred books next to the Yedas, it appears that in the ninth century B.C. the Hindoos had not passed southward into the peninsula of India below the twenty-second parallel, and that, at a period when the history of our own island is lost in utter darkness, they had made a marvellous progress in civilisation and even in refinement. Astronomy, chemistry and metallurgy, architecture, sculpture, music and medicine were far advanced ; inoculation for the small-pox and couching for cataract were practised, the country was traversed by roads marked by milestones, and there are traces in the code of Menu of an efficient existing system of police, and even of bills of exchange and life insurance.* As the centuries approach the Christian era, a more vivid light is thrown upon this singular race from foreign quarters, and in the same way that we are indebted to Julius Caesar and the Eoman historians for the earliest account of our own country, so Europeans have been indebted for their first information * Martin's British India. 220 INDIA. respecting India to Alexander the Great and the Greek historians. Passing over the little-authenticated account of invasions of India by Semiramis, Sesostris, Hercules, and Cyrus, we come to an attempt at conquest by Darius Hystaspes, in the year 521 B.C., which resulted in the formation of part of the north of India into a Persian satrapy. But it was the famous expe- dition of Alexander the Great, in 326 B.C., which first opens to us an acquaintance with the country itself. The object of Alexander appears to have been as much that of extending knowledge as of dominion. His army was accompanied by an appointed historian ; his generals were instructed to use every means of obtaining local information; and Alexander himself sought out with eagerness the Brahmin sages, with the rumour of whose philosophy his own education had made him aware. His success fell far short of his desires, because what he had actually accomplished served to shew him the immense fields of knowledge and wealth which lay beyond his reach. He completed the conquest of the whole of the Punjaub, finding the country as much weakened then as it has been in our own day by the dissensions among the multitudes of native princes ; and then discovering that there was an immeasurable tract of land before the boundary of the ocean could be reached, he passionately besought his soldiers to push onwards, and, ' adding the rest of Asia to their empire, to descend the Ganges, and sail round Africa to the Pillars of Hercules,' according to the geographical notion of the period. But the well- disciplined armies of the Hindoos, with their war-chariots and thousands of elephants, so scared the Macedonian phalanxes, that the conqueror failed in his appeal, and was obliged to limit himself to the tracing of the course of the Indus down to the sea, and thence, leaving a number of fortified colonies . behind him, to effect his return by way of the Persian Gulf, embarking a portion of his troops for the sake of exploring the coast by sea as well as by land. Unfortunately, the works of j the Macedonian historian are lost, and of all the colonisations established by Alexander, little remained after his own death; TRADE WITH ROME. 221 and the only lasting result of his expedition was that the road to India was thus once for all opened to the western world. It was probably about this period that the classic name of India was applied to all those countries through which the Indus flowed. The name of Hindostan is supposed to have been derived later from the same source, Indus, and sta?i, country ; or else to have been given by the Persians from Hindoo, swarthy, and stan, country, because the natives were a shade darker than themselves. Alexander's successor, Seleucus, to whose share India fell in the division of the empire, made another expedition in the year 303, in which he penetrated farther to the east, and after- wards sent as his ambassador to the king of the Prasii, the Grecian writer Megasthenes, who has preserved for posterity the fruits of a long residence in the country. The only imme- diate result of these expeditions, however, was the large increase of the commerce with India ; and this was immensely assisted when, in the first century a.d., there came to be made the discovery of the monsoons by Hippalus, by means of which the Alexandrian merchants were henceforth able duly to regulate their passage from the Eed Sea to the western coast of India. The Romans, now becoming masters of Alexandria, entered extensively into the same traffic ; and at a time when the ancestors of the present rulers of India were dyeing their skins with woad in lieu of garments, or transferring the woolly clothing of the sheep to their own shoulders in a primitive state, the Hindoos were manufacturing gold and silver brocades that adorned the courts of Imperial Rome, weaving the Cashmere shawls which enchanted the Roman dames for their lightness and beauty — as they do now our English ladies — producing the muslins of Dacca, compared to ' woven wind,' from the translucence of their tissue, and providing for the ancient civilised world unrivalled porcelain, spices and scents, pearls and diamonds. It was for the sake of these luxuries, and not for conquest, that Roman ships touched upon the shores of Malabar; and, according to Pliny, 50,000,000 sesterces, or 222 INDIA. about 400,000Z., were drained out of the empire every year for the purchase of Indian commodities. From the glimpses we are able to gain into the interior con- dition of India, it would appear that the period just preceding the Alexandrian invasion was that in which the glory of the native dominion was at its highest. But although the Hindoos had possessed the country sufficiently long for the ripening of a national character and national institutions of a most marked peculiarity, it is evident that the result of this venerable civilisation was not political strength, from the easiness with which, both then and afterwards, they became the prey of every successive invading force that was brought to bear upon them. Nevertheless, there had come out from the Holy Land of the Hindoos a conquering power which is most important to be estimated in judging of the weight of India among the nations of the world ; and that was, an indigenous religion which has ended by diffusing itself among a larger number of adherents than any other form of religion in existence. Buddhism took its rise out of Brahminism in the sixth cen- tury before Christ ; and by the merely peaceful zeal of its mis- sionaries and its own native strength, such as it was, spread itself first into the neighbouring island of Ceylon, 307 B.C. ; then into China, about 65 a.d. ; into Cashmere and Nepaul ; into Thibet, 407 a.d. ; into Java and Farther India ; and lastly, into the northern shores of even Europe itself: taking in all these places so firm a root that there seems little doubt of its having been a form of worship naturally congenial to nations of Mongolian race. In Hindostan itself, it would seem that while Buddhism was in its first prime, it had the power of effecting even something of that political condensation in which the country was defi- cient. For while the Greek Megasthenes tells us that he found there no less than 118 independent states, we are told by native authorities that the illustrious Buddhist, Asoka, who played the part of a Constantine in forming the religion he had adopted into the state-worship of the country (250 B.C.), had THE MOGUL EMPIRE. 223 by means of it, in the hyperbolic language of their poets, brought together ' the whole earth under one umbrella.' Buddhism, however, took no lasting hold upon its native soil. Having given it forth to conquer the western half of Asia, Hindostan itself was to become the subject of another religious propagandism of a species far more vigorous than its own. The warlike successors of Mahomet rushed with the fire and sword of their prophet down upon the sacred ground of the Hindoos, just in that eleventh century which also wit- nessed the current of Christian fanaticism directed upon the Holy Land of Syria in the first Crusade. Sultan Mahmoud, the ruler of the small state of Ghuznee, in the Suliman moun- tains, after twelve murderous expeditions, captured the ancient town of Delu, or Delhi, and other chief cities, destroying the temples and breaking the idols ; and carried off to his capital of Ghuznee the famous sandal-wood gates from the temple of Somnauth in Guzerat, which eight centuries afterwards were restored to their old position at the entrance of the temple by Lord Ellenborough. But the Hindoo faith was too deeply rooted for conversion to follow so directly upon conquest as was generally the case with Mohammedan invasions, and the Hindoos returned to their temples, and preserved their old institutions even while the new dynasty was gradually extending itself over the empire. First, the Punjaub, from its vicinity to Ghuznee, was placed under Mohammedan rule, and the capital, Lahore, became the seat of government ; then, one by one, the Hindoo principalities fell, with the exception of a few which still preserved their independence, until, in 1193, the ' Holy Land ' was finally conquered, and Mohammed II. became the first king of Delhi, and founder of the Moslem empire in India. But the empire was for a long series of years disturbed by other Tartar invasions. About 1211 a.d., the Mongol chief, Genghis Khan, ravaged the frontiers of Sinde and Mooltan. An Afghan dynasty succeeded in 1289, and one of its princes conquered the chief part of the Deccan. Timur the Tartar, or Tamerlane, took possession of the Punjaub in 1397, and 224 INDIA. made a wholesale plunder and massacre of the city of Delhi ; and in 1526, one of his descendants, Baber, founded the last and most brilliant Tartar monarchy in India, called the Mogul Empire ; which was rather erroneously so called, since Baber, although a successor of the great Mogul chief, was himself of immediate Turkish descent. Under Akbar, the most illustrious sovereign of the Mogul dynasty, or of any other in India, the Mohammedan dominion was first strengthened into peaceful organisation, and began to extend firmly over the Deccan, the subjugation of which was nearly completed by Aurungzebe, about 1670 ; and the reign of Akbar, which lasted fifty years, is the most notable to ourselves, because with it opens the era of our own connection with the country. The letter which Queen Elizabeth sent by Leedes and his fellow-adventurers to the Emperor Akbar, about the year 1593, was the beginning of English intercourse with India ; and since with the establish- ment of the East India Company in 1600, the history of British India begins, the remainder of this historical sketch of the country will be given under that section. 225 CHAPTER n. NATURAL FEATURES OF INDIA. The richness of the productions of India is at once ac- counted for when we consider its natural position _ 1 Character and conformation. The country lies between 8 of the and 35° N. lat. and consequently the southern half is within the torrid zone. Its northern boundary, the Hima- laya mountains, forms the culminating portion of the series of parallel chains which He across the whole middle of Asia, spanning it east and west, and constituting a succession of ridges, with high intervening plains of table-land. The Kinchinjunga, or highest point of the Himalayas (Abode of Snow), is 28,176 feet above the level of the sea, and even the valleys between the mountain ridges are for the greater part of the year covered with snow. From this lofty range, 1,500 miles in length, the land descends southward in one magnificent sweep facing the sun, until it sinks into an enormous valley which drains the multitude of waters flowing down its sides into the one broad stream of the Ganges. Another portion of its liquid collection has, however, been diverted at the outset towards the west, and chiefly distributed into the five great rivers which give the name of Punjaub to the land they comprise, and which, restrained by the bor- dering mountains of Cabul, unite themselves under the name of the Indus ; from the mouth of which to that of the Ganges, is a distance of about 1,500 miles. To the east of the mouth of the Indus lies, first, a great sandy desert in the provinces of Sinde and Bajpootana ; beyond this, again, rise the mountain ridges of Aravalli, sepa- rating the water-courses of the tributary streams, and which, as they bend west and east across the peninsula from the Gult Q 226 INDIA. of Cambay to Bengal under the name of the Vindhya moun- tains, afford a secondary chain to the continent, rising in the manner of a broadbacked wall of table-land, to the height of 2,200 feet. Steep below this wall lies the river Nerbudda, flowing westward into the Gulf of Cambay. And beyond the valley of the Nerbudda succeeds, first, an inferior range of mountains, and the valley of the river Tapty, and then a series of plateaus of table-land, bounded by the converging chains of transverse mountains named the Eastern and Western Ghauts ; which, as they meet at the southern end of the peninsula in the Nilgherry mountains, again rise into a plateau of the height of 7,364 feet, and are crowned with snow, notwithstanding their vicinity to the equator. Beyond the Nilgherries is a declivity known as the Gap of Coimbatore, through which the monsoons make themselves a path from one shore to another ; and thence rises the final point of Cape Comorin at the distance of nearly 2,000 miles from the northern extremity of the Himalayas. In accordance with similar distributions of land in more perfectly examined countries, it appears that the central mass upheaved to the highest point in the Himalayan chain, consists of the granite which lies the deepest in the known structure of the earth ; while the lower ranges to the south of it consist of strata higher in order. Thus, the mountains in the centre of India are of the metamorphic character, in which occur the de- posits of precious metals ; and the diamonds, rubies, Minerals. . . -, cornelians, and other gems of India were known from the earliest times, as well as the pearls that abounded in the Indian Ocean. Many districts are similar in formation to the gold regions of California. Quartz -reefs have been found at Dharwar, which are said to promise a gold return equal to that of Australia ; and on the Malabar coast alluvial gold- dust has lately been discovered in the streams. Silver, tin, copper, and lead are also found, but far more important is the wealth of iron and coal which recent diggings and cuttings for railway operations have done much towards bringing to light. At the base of the Himalaya, an iron region extends for CLIMATE AND VEGETATION. 227 60 miles ; at Dechowree and Hurdwar there are deposits of ore from 50 to 100 feet deep ; and near Kundrelah, 7,000 feet above the sea-level, there is a tract 200 square miles in extent, in which a dark fine iron, superior to that of Glasgow and Merthyr Tydvil, lies in veins throughout the mica- schist, and can be readily obtained by merely washing away the schist by a stream of water. With regard to coal, it is expected that the supply will in time prove equal to the needs of the country, although in 1860 the quantity yielded was only 370,000 tons, being about a two-hundredth part of the yield of the United Kingdom. An ample supply of water-power and timber, added to this prospect of coal and iron, promise well for the introduction of all kinds of machinery into the manufactures of India ; but it is in the rich fertility of its soil, and the abundance of valuable vegetable and animal products, that the wealth of India chiefly consists, and its commercial importance is always likely to depend more on its exports of raw materials than on its manufactures. In a country of such vast extent and irregular surface, temperature and soil and other conditions vary greatly, and consequently the nature of the productions. In the high northern regions the climate is temperate ; but in the central and southern the heat is very great, and, generally speaking, there are three distinct seasons : the hot and dry season, from March to June ; the rainy season, coming in with the south- west monsoon, from June to September ; and the temperate season, from September to the end of February. The weather is delightful on the table-lands in autumn and winter, and throughout the whole country, the mornings and evenings in spring-time are pleasant. The rain- fall and temperature vary greatly at different altitudes in the mountains, and „ /v. n Vegetation. are affected on the coasts by the two monsoons, from the north-east and south-west. Rain seldom falls on the higher regions of the Himalayas ; but, even at an elevation of 12,000 feet, a soil of exceeding richness is formed by the alluvial deposits from the northern mountain ridges, mixed with q2 228 INDIA. decayed vegetable matter, in which not only flourish magni- ficent forests of the Deodar and other pines, but also our own little English meadow flowers, the primrose, cowslip, anemone, and sweet violet ; besides gooseberries, raspberries, straw- berries, asparagus, celery and rhubarb, and other products of our gardens. The Ehododendron tribes are so abundant in these high lands, that they have been named the Eegion of Khododendra. In the plains of Cashmere at the foot of these mountains, flourish in luxuriance the roses from which the Hindoos extract the ' attar ; ' and indeed, the roses of India, with their exquisite perfume, seem to have monopolised more than their share of sweetness, since most of the other flowers, especially in the sultry lowlands, are destitute of scent. On the slopes of the Himalayas abound wheat and all the European grains, and in the north-west provinces wheat is largely consumed by the common people. In Assam, and mostly on the hill-sides and valleys of the region between 29° and 30° N. lat., tea is cultivated. In the great swamps at the mouth of the Ganges and other rivers, and all along the coasts that are liable to inundation, rice-fields abound ; and the plant is cultivated more or less wherever there is sufficient water-supply, and even on the declivities of the northern hills where the descending streams aflbrd facilities for watering the fields. In the Deccan, where rice is less grown, the peasantry subsist chiefly on a small poor grain called raggi. The Indian silk, which is so much prized in Europe for its superior strength, is produced upon the highlands ; the low- lands being too hot for rearing the worms. Indigo is chiefly cultivated in the north-west provinces and Bengal ; poppies, for the sake of their opium, chiefly in Berar and Benares. Tobacco grows all the country over, and also the bamboo-cane, with which the Hindoo peasant builds his hut. Of fruits, apples and pears abound in the northern districts, and oranges, grapes, pine-apples, and lemons, everywhere ; and descending southward, the pines and oaks of the north give place to the palms and mangoes and banyans and other rich fruit-bearing COTTON FIELDS. 229 trees of the tropics. Sandal- wood is the special produce of the Western Ghauts, and the middle of this range is occupied by forests of teak. But vegetation is the most luxuriant in the hot regions still lower south, where the fruit-trees of England are fre- quently seen covered with blossoms and fruits in all stages at the same time, and where the vegetable mould of Mysore, 100 feet in depth, is a more inexhaustible source of wealth than the mines of Golconda in the same district. On the Malabar coast, cocoa-palms cover immense tracts of land, and in these southern districts abound coffee, the sugar-cane, and all the spices. One of the most curious geographical features of India is the rich black soil, especially favourable to the growth of cotton, which covers all the great plains of the Deccan. This soil varies in depth from 2 to 30 feet, and is of such amazing fertility, that, without manuring, it is said to have yielded abundant crops in succession of cotton, wheat, and other grain, for two or three thousand years. India is probably the birth-place of cotton. The first mention of the plant in history is by Herodotus, who calls it * a wool- bearing tree of India.' From the earliest times the people clothed in cotton, and now, besides using it for clothing, they employ it for the manufacture of those articles for which hemp and flax are used in England, such as ropes, sails, table- cloths, and bedding. The best cotton is grown in the Doab, or the tract between the Ganges and the Jumna, but the most extensive cotton districts are those of Nagpore and Berar in Central India. No sooner had the news reached India of the supply of American cotton being likely to cease, than an English resident at Nagpore resolved to try the extent to which cotton could be produced in these districts. He bought a field in which the cotton plants were just break- ing through the earth, and while his neighbours left their plants to grow of themselves, he had his carefully weeded and watered, the soil well loosened about the roots to enable the stems to expand, and the ends of the branches nipped off to 230 INDIA. encourage the growth of lateral shoots. The first year his produce was treble that of his neighbours' fields, and the staple far stronger. From the seeds of his plants he selected the most promising, and the cotton produced from these the second year equalled the best New Orleans. In Bombay the cotton fields lie on the coast, or just inland of the Ghauts, and at Dharwar the late experiments have been made of introducing the cultivation of New Orleans cotton into India ; but it has hitherto been found that better cotton is produced in India by carefully tending the indigenous plants than by importing New Orleans seed. In 1859 the Secretary of State for India made an attempt to introduce a new and most valuable product into India. The Cinchona forests of South America, which have hitherto supplied the world with Peruvian bark and quinine, are now nearly exhausted in consequence of the enormous demand for this invaluable medicine ; and now, through the agency of Mr. Markham, there are flourishing cinchona plantations in the Nilgherry Hills, Darjeeling, and Ceylon, which it is trusted may yield a sufficient produce by the time that the supply fails in America. Together with so luxuriant a vegetation, animal life flourishes to its utmost extent in India, and the thick woods, forests, and jungles are the homes of myriads of wild tribes — elephants, rhinoceroses, bufFalos, bears, tigers, leopards, panthers, jackals, hyaenas, wolves, por- cupines, deer, and monkeys. The lion is comparatively rare^ and is found chiefly in Guzerat and Eajpootana ; but the tiger is the great pest of Bengal, and makes its home especially in the hot swamps of the Sunderbunds, where it is a serious impediment to the improvement of the district. Crocodiles, too, infest the dividing channels of the Delta of the Ganges. Monkeys and apes without number live in the woods of Bengal, and occasionally leave their retreats to pay a visit to the villages, where they enjoy the privileges of being held sacred animals by the Hindoos, and are always fed and received with attention and respect. The sacred Brahminy bull roams animals: rivebs. 231 the country with impunity, and is everywhere greeted with reverence. BufTalos graze in immense herds on the banks of the Indus, or they may be seen luxuriously wallowing in the mud with their heads only above water. The buffalo is domesticated for its milk, which makes better ghee or clarified butter than the milk of the cow. In most other places common cattle abound. The diminutive sheep is bred for its excellent wool, and in some districts for its flesh ; but as the Hindoos do not eat meat, a single cow or sheep is often not killed in their villages for many centuries, and a man who whips or treats his cattle brutally is outcasted by his neighbours, and, as a worst term of reproach, is called a koshie, or butcher. The horse is used comparatively little as a draught animal in India. Dromedaries, asses, and oxen are the common beasts of burden, and elephants and camels were the chief means of land conveyance among the wealthier classes before the period of railways ; even sheep were used until lately as beasts of burthen for carrying the manufactured goods of Cashmere over the high mountain passes of the north. In Cashmere and the plains at the foot of the Hima- layas, called the Shawl Plateaux, are the breed of goats whose fine hair has been, for centuries before our era, woven into the many-hued shawls of Cashmere, and of which about 80,000 are annually manufactured at the present time. Of birds, 450 species have been classified in India, of every variety of plumage, and game is plentiful everywhere. While England has only 12 species of reptiles, India has 179. The waters teem with fish ; and alligators, otters, and badgers are the most common among the amphibious tribes. RIVERS OF INDIA. India has the reputation of being the best watered land on the face of the earth, and nowhere are traffic and agriculture better aided by large navigable rivers. No less than fifty great rivers discharge their waters into the ocean, and tribu- taries branch from many of these, which are themselves 232 INDIA. important streams. The chief rivers are : the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmapootra ; and the Irawaddy in Farther India. The Indus (Nilab or Blue river) runs 1,800 miles from its source in the Himalayas, to its outlet at Kurrachee in the Arabian Sea, and waters with its tributaries a region in the north-east, estimated at 400,000 square miles. It is navigable for steamers for about 1,000 miles, from Kurrachee to Attock on the north frontier. The Ganges rises in the highest elevation of the Himalayas in the Gurhwal territory. It runs eastward 1,500 miles, joins the Jumna at Allahabad, and drains the great valley of the Ganges, estimated at 500,000 square miles. It is . navigable for nearly 1,000 miles from Calcutta. The enormous volume and rush of its waters towards their outlet in the Bay of Bengal, are said to carry away daily from the soil of India and deliver into the sea as much solid substance as is con- tained in the Great Pyramid of Egypt. Ten miles above Eajmahal, where the river begins to turn southward, the great Delta of the Ganges begins, by the branching out of arms which enclose and spread over a large triangular district — called delta from the form of the Greek letter. One of these channels, the Hooghly river, on which Calcutta stands, is 160 miles in length ; and the immense deposit of earth left by the stream at the mouth of the river is formed by these dividing channels into marshy islands called Sunderbunds. What the Ganges loses in volume by its dis- persion into these many streams is made up by fresh supplies from the Himalayas and from the Brahmapootra. The Brahmapootea (son of Brahma) rises in Thibet, but its exact source is uncertain. It is a prodigious stream, skirting the Himalayas on the northern side for about a thousand miles, under the name of the Sanpoo ; then winding round the base of the mountains at the eastern end of the range, and rushing through a gorge into Assam, where it receives the contents of sixty rivers, and flows 900 miles to the Bay of Bengal, where its channels mingle with those of the Ganges. It is navigable for steam-boats for several hundred miles. LAKES AND TANKS. 233 The Irawaddy is the great stream which waters Burmah. It rises in the heights of the Langtan mountains, which divide Burmah from Assam, and runs southward for 1,000 miles, past Ava and through Pegu, until it enters the Bay of Bengal at Eangoon ; sweeping off from the soil of Burmah in its course downwards an average of sixty- two cubic feet of earth in every second. The river divides into- many channels at its mouth. The chief of them, the Bassein, is navigable for 60 miles for vessels of the largest size, and steamboats can ply along the Irawaddy for some hundred miles. On the east coast of the Indian peninsula, below the Ganges, there are eighteen large rivers running eastwards from the Malabar Ghauts into the Bay of Bengal, and draining the country south of the Nerbudda. The chief of these are the Byeturnee, 340 miles ; Brahminy, 400 ; Mahanuddy, 520 ; Godavery, 830 ; Kistna, 800 ; North Pennar, 350 ; South Pennar, 240 ; Cauvery, 470. On the western side about twenty rivers flow into the Indian Ocean ; but, excepting the Nerbudda, 800 miles, and the Tapty, 400, few are of any magnitude. India has very few lakes, and these are chiefly confined to the basin of the Indus. But there are some remark- able inlets of the sea; for instance, the Eunn of Cutch, a long flat tract of 6,000 square miles, which, when covered with water, changes Cutch into an island, and in the dry season becomes a barren sandy desert, dotted with small salt lakes. In speaking of the water supply of India, mention must be made of the Tanks, which throughout the whole Taiiks. country are so many national benefactions, bestowed from time to time upon the people by the native rulers, at an enormous expense. These tanks are to be met with near every town, village, and high-road. Some of them cover a space of more than two acres, and the water, supplied by the periodical rains, is often 25 to 30 feet deep, and is descended to by a flight of stone steps. All of these reservoirs are well stored with fish, which prevent the water stagnating. 234 INDIA. India is deficient in good harbours. Bombay is the only one fitted for a first- class fleet. The entrance of the ' Hooghly, leading to Calcutta, is too much obstructed by shoals and sand-banks for the passage of large merchant vessels ; but there are upwards of forty small or barred har- bours round the coasts, suitable for coasting traffic. Goa is a fine port, but this belongs to the Portuguese, and the Man- chester Cotton Agency have fixed upon Seedashevaghur, a little farther south, and near Dharwar and the cotton fields of the Deccan, as the future haven and depot of the cotton trade. 235 CHAPTER III. INHABITANTS OF INDIA: LANGUAGES, RELIGION, AND LITERATURE. There are many persons who have a vague idea of India as a vast country, partly peopled by Europeans, and partly by the native Hindoos — a handsome, dark, and bearded race, who speak a language derived from the Sanscrit, and whose history and traditions count back to very remote ages. * But English- men should understand,' said Sir Henry Lawrence, in one of his essays, ' that between the Hindoo of Tanjore, Mysore, Bengal, Oude, and Kajpootana, there is quite as much differ- ence in language, customs, forms, and features, as obtains between Russians, Germans, French, Spaniards, and English- men.' The Hindoos proper constitute about three-fourths of the native population. Those of the purest type are, generally speaking, of moderate height, olive com- plexion, slender and agile figure, with well-proportioned head, delicate hands and feet, bright eyes and aquiline nose, and with some affinity to the Arab in face and form. They are domestic in their habits, although polygamists ; hospitable to strangers, and charitable to the poor. They are considered to bear a resemblance to the ancient Greeks in their contempt of death, their allegiance to individual chiefs rather than to any forms of government, their sublime and mythical creeds and degrad- ing worship, their taste for music and the arts, for eloquence and poetry. They are unrivalled in the skill of working in gold and precious stones, and in some species of textile fabrics; but, as one of their own writers says of them, c their knowledge of art, science, and civilisation is not progressive but limited ; they feel satisfied to live, move, and die within the boundaries of their own acquirements, and hardly desire to add to or vary 236 INDIA. from the prescribed institutions of their forefathers.' As a coun- terbalance to this torpidity, they possess remarkable genius in imitating almost everything put before them, provided their caste and religion do not interfere. The Hindoos are divided by their law into four castes : the Brahmins, or sacerdotal ; the Kshatriya, or military ; the Vaisya, or industrial ; and the Soodra, or servile. Since inter- marriage between the higher and lower castes is forbidden, the offspring of all such marriages, which in spite of the law are very frequent, are adjudged outcast, or pariah ; and this over- increasing multitude of pariahs, excluded from all social privileges, are forced to seek occupations of the lowest sort, and can never rise above the most degraded condition. Differences in food and climate have produced remarkable diversities in the Hindoo type ; for instance, the indolent Hindoo of the low sultry plains of Bengal is quite distinct from the native of the cooler heights of the Deccan ; and the Hindoos of the north-west provinces, who feed on wheat and pulse and some kinds of animal food, and live in elevated and dry regions, are a far stronger, braver, and more independent people than the rice-eaters of the lowlands. Besides which, there are Hindoo tribes who have become distinct races under special conditions. Such, for instance, are the Seiks Sikhs . or Sikhs, numbering now about 2,000,000, who had their origin as a peaceful religious Hindoo sect, founded by one Nanuk, in the fifteenth century. Driven from their ori- ginal seat at Lahore, they took refuge in the mountains, and, strengthened by persecution, became a military community under their tenth spiritual leader, Guru Govind, who seems to have liberalised their religion and institutions, by abolishing caste, and placing all converts upon an equality. He endea- voured to blend the doctrines of Brahminism with those of the Koran, by making the unity of God the foundation of the new creed, which was expounded in the writings called \ Grunths.' He allowed the use of animal food and spirituous liquors, forbidding only the slaughter of oxen. All converts were pledged to fight for the cause, to wear blue clothes, to carry INHABITANTS. 237 arms constantly in some shape, and never to shave a hair of their bodies. These Sikhs became a scourge to the Mohammedans in the Punjaub. They destroyed their temples and towns, and under one of their chiefs, Evmjeet Sing, aided by European officers, established themselves as a powerful military nation on the banks of the Sutlej ; until, as we have seen, their dominions in the Punjaub were finally annexed to the British Crown. The Mohammedans bear but a small proportion to the Hin- doos — about one to six — and number, it is believed, Moham . from twelve to fifteen millions. The Asiatic Moham- medans. medans, chiefly Afghans, who entered India by land, settled for the most part in the plains of the Indus and the Ganges ; but a large portion of their so-called descendants are really of Hindoo origin, since it was the custom of the Mohammedans, in time of need, to strengthen themselves by purchasing native children, and educating them in their own creed. In addition to these more recent settlements, there is a considerable Mus- sulman population remaining from the colonisation of Arabs on the Malabar coast in the times of the primitive commerce. With respect to the native converts to Islam, there is only one province in Hindostan where the Mohammedans outnumber the Hindoos. This is Sinde ; where the natives held with little tenacity to their own faith, and were easily converted by force or otherwise. Naturally there has been much blending of habits and customs among the two races where the rigid principles of their faith have not kept them apart. Even in the days of Akbar, the Mussulmans were beginning to adopt Hindoo usages, and the Hindoo would sometimes wear the tur- ban, and plant a garden round his bamboo dwelling, after the fashion of his Moslem neighbours.* The west coast is largely populated by an important mer- cantile class, the Parsees, who are perhaps the wealthiest and most highly- educated people in India. They are descended from Persian fire- worshippers, who were * Martineau's British Bide in India. 238 INDIA. driven from their native country by the Mussulmans, and took refuge at Surat and the neighbourhood. Like the Mussul- mans, the Parsees mostly abound in the towns ; and their business reputation is so great that the people say that wherever a Parsee shopkeeper settles himself, there is sure to spring up a profitable trade in the district. The first Indian baronet, Sir Jamsetjee Jeegeeboye, was a Parsee merchant. The Par- sees are a handsomer race than the Hindoos, and although they wear the Asiatic costume, adapt themselves more readily than other eastern races to European customs. Next to be mentioned are the Hill Tribes, supposed to Hm number about twenty millions, many of whom seem Tribes. indubitably and purely to represent the real abori- gines — the old Turanian race who peopled India before the coming of the Hindoos, and who are now dispersed among the mountain districts. Thus in the Nilgherry and Ghauts moun- tains are still found a number of small wild tribes, existing chiefly in the tract of country extending east between the river Godavery and the plain of the Ganges, and in the heights which enclose the valleys of the Tapty and Nerbudda. The most widely dispersed of these tribes are the Gonds, who occupy nearly the whole of the mountainous central region between the Circars on the one side and the Tapty on the other, named after them, the Gondwarra. They are in a very low state of civilisation compared to the Hindoos, and live in a manner isolated from the different governments of the countries they inhabit, and rarely permit the entrance of foreigners within their bounds. Infanticide prevails among them ; and it is one of their oldest customs to propitiate their evil deities by human sacrifices, in order to ward off disease and procure abundant harvests. These sacrifices are unusually cruel, and one invariable part of them consists in sprinkling the fields with the blood, and in tearing the flesh of the victim, dead or alive, into shreds, of which each chief appropriates one to hang up or bury as a charm. The British Government has done much to suppress this usage ; and it is singular how amenable to reason these savages INHABITANTS. 239 have been found, and how ready to abandon a long-cherished custom when it is plainly proved to them that scarcity and dis- ease do not follow upon its discontinuance. General Campbell * was so successful among the Gonds, or Khonds, of Orissa, that between 1837 and 1854, more than 1,500 mariahs, or pre- pared victims, were voluntarily given up. The chiefs readily took the oath to obey the i Great Government,' when they found that General Campbell neither ' stole their fowls nor injured their fences ; ' and seated on tiger-skins, and holding in their hands a little earth, rice, and water, they swore as follows : ' May the earth refuse its produce, rice choke me, water drown me, and tiger devour me and my children, if I ever break the oath which I now take for myself and my people to abstain for ever from the sacrifice of human beings ! ' But being puzzled how to excuse themselves to the goddess, one of the chiefs suggested the propriety of adding the following formula : l Do not be angry with us, O Qopldess ! for giving you the blood of beasts instead of human blood, but vent your wrath on this gentleman (General Campbell), who is well able to bear it.' Many of the rescued victims were sent to the missionary schools, or settled among the peasants in the villages ; but it is curious that although the Gond chiefs reli- giously kept their oath, and even besought the English to keep away the mariahs from them, lest the sight of them should tempt them to relapse, the English authorities had great difficulty in preventing many of the victims themselves from escaping to the hills to be sacrificed ; one of them saying, f It is better to be sacrificed as a mariah among my own people, and give them pleasure, than live on the plains.' Of similar character to the Gonds, though less independent and more intermixed with the Hindoos, are the Bhils, who occupy the northern Ghauts and the Vindhya range. But the best known to Europeans is the tribe of Coolies, inhabiting the Western Ghauts in the neighbourhood of Bombay, and who * Narrative of Major- General John Campbell, C.B. of his Operations in the Hill Tracts of Orissa for the Suppression of Human Sacrifices and Infanticide. 240 INDIA. are so habitually employed there as labourers, that labourers throughout Hindostan are commonly called by the name of Coolies. The aboriginal Coolies are a brave and hardy race, professing Brahminism, but not abstaining from flesh or spirituous liquors. Many other wild tribes, such as the Katties, the Bhats, the Koombies, and the Hughs, belong to this aboriginal class, most of them entirely disconnected in language and religion from the Hindoos by whom they are surrounded, and some of them so degraded as to be scarcely human. They give much trouble to the English Government in consequence of their lawless, predatory habits, and the extreme danger there often is in interfering with their prejudices and practices. Among the hill tribes may perhaps be classed the powerful nation of the Mahrattas, who form the bulk of the population in the Bombay Presidency, and whose position in India has been a far more important one than that of any other of the wild races. The origin of the Mahrattas is obscure. The first mention known of them was in the Eastern Chronicles of 1306 a.d., where they were spoken of as a con- quered hill people inhabiting the district of Mherut or Mharat, formerly part of the sovereignty of the Deccan, and from which they probably derived their name. In the seventeenth century, in the reign of Aurungzebe, the Mahrattas became an organised people under Sevajee, a Hindoo chieftain in the service of the King of Bejapore, who granted Sevajee a district in the Carnatic with the command of a troop of 10,000 horse. With this force Sevajee seized upon the zemindary of Poonah on the west coast, which afterwards became the Mahratta seat of empire and residence of their peshwas or governors. Succeeding chiefs took advantage of the nature of the country around them, which abounded in defiles and mountains, to make sudden onslaughts and plundering incursions into the neighbouring districts, and by this means acquired so much wealth, power, and territory, that they became a most formidable foe or important ally to the Europeans, and especially a scourge to the Mohammedans, INHABITANTS. 241 against whom they cherished an inherited animosity. Their empire lasted until 1819, when the last of the peishwas, Bajee Kao, was defeated by the English under Lord Hastings, and renounced his sovereignty in return for a pension of 80,000Z. a year, and the greater part of the Poonah territory passed into the possession of the English. An obelisk, with an inscription in Mahratta and English, commemorates this overthrow, and the Peishwa's palace, a large mass of building divided into courts, is now the Eecord Office. Many of the Mahratta sirdars, or nobles, have similar houses in Poonah, which they use on special occasions, living otherwise on their estates in distant provinces. The Mahratta valleys consist of groups of clay-terraced houses, generally surrounded by a mud wall with gates and bastions. Slaves are very numerous in India, especially among the wild hill tribes. A proclamation was issued in . i . . Slaves. 1853 for their protection, forbidding the traffic, and declaring the children of slaves to be henceforth free born. But it is believed this measure has been unavailing, and in Bengal the number of slaves is estimated at 4,000,000, and they exist largely at Madras, although all those on Govern- ment lands have been set free. The Thugs, or secret murderers of India (from Hindustani, fhagua, to deceive), are a set of worshippers of the Hindoo goddess Kali. Their origin is uncertain as to date, but India has certainly been infested by their bands for more than a thousand years, and the society is composed of men from all castes and religions, who have joined together to maintain themselves by plunder, and to propitiate the goddess Kali by human sacrifices without the shedding of blood. The Thugs themselves claim great antiquity, and maintain that their worship is represented in the caves of Ellora. Their practice has uniformly been to strangle their victims and to share the plunder ; the immense jungles giving every facility for burying the bodies in secrecy, and the natural apathy of the Hindoos preventing much outcry or search on the part of relatives. The Thugs generally R 242 INDIA. assume the appearance of merchants, and so win the confi- dence of travellers, and when they have beguiled a solitary victim to some convenient spot, the Bhuttotes, or stranglers, arrange themselves with rope or handkerchief ready, while the Lughaees, or gravediggers, dig the hole, and at a given signal the noose is cast so suddenly round the victim's neck that he is incapable of resistance. The body is then thrown into the hole, large incisions are made in it to prevent it swelling, and the grave, when hTled up, is covered with bushes to avoid discovery. After every murder a sacrifice is offered to Kali of a consecrated pickaxe, a piece of silver, and some coarse sugar, while the stranglers sit in a row on a clean sheet laid on the ground, and eat sugar in solemn silence. The English Government first took measures for the suppression of the Thugs in 1810 ; Lord William Bentinck carried on their extermination vigorously in 1882 ; and now a special agency is established in the Punjaub for their destruction. Thirty Thugs were seized in 1860, and their numbers are rapidly diminishing. LANGUAGES OF INDIA. The languages spoken in India are as various as the tribes of people, and, indeed, form our best method of distinguishing the latter. The dialects, which amount to above thirty in num- ber, may, in fact, all be classed under the large division of those which are derived from the Sanscrit — the ancient language of the Hindoos — and those which are not. The languages spoken in the Deccan, including even the barbarous speech of the mountaineers, have all been ascertained to bear a fundamental resemblance to the general type of Mongolian or Turanian languages, notwithstanding the large admixture of Sanscrit and other foreign words which has taken place with regard to the more civilised districts. This mixture is very apparent in the Telinga dialect, spoken on the Coromandel coast, in Hy- derabad, and the eastern part of the Mysore, and the softest and most polished of all the languages of Southern India. Nearly akin are the Canara, the Tulu, and the Malayalim LANGUAGES. 243 dialects, spoken on the Carnatic and Malabar coasts ; while the Tamil, which is spoken in the entire south- eastern portion of the peninsula, and is considered to afford the foundation for all the other dialects, is the one farthest removed of all from the Sanscrit. Spreading also over the northern part of Ceylon, Tamil is the language of above 7,000,000 people. It has a considerable literature of its own, with treatises on grammar, history, medicine, and moral and didactic poems, dating back to very ancient times, and a college for its cultivation established by native princes at Madura. Of the languages derived from the Sanscrit, viz. the Ben- galee, the Assamese, the Orissan, the Guzerati, the Mahratee, and many others, the one most familiar to us is the Hindus- Hindustani : being the one which is adopted by the taui - British Government as the general means of communication with the natives. It is also employed by the Mahometans in every part of India, and was apparently originally constructed by the Mussulman invaders as a kind of camp language, into which were introduced a large number of words from the Persian and Arabic. The Arabic character is used by the Mahomet- ans in the writing of it, although the Hindoos themselves generally write it in an alphabet of their own.* The Hindus- tani is still so near in resemblance to the original tongue, * The multiplicity of different alphabets employed in India appears to be a greater obstacle to communication than the different dialects themselves, and therefore Professor Max Midler, in his efforts to establish an universal Missionary Alphabet, has suggested the great desirableness of the British Government constantly aiming to promote the general use of the English character in writing, and that only. It would be im~ possible to induce authoritatively the natives of a country like India to change their language, but they might easily be led to see the advantage of educating their youth to the uniform use of English letters, instead of there being perpetuated, as at present, the use of six different alphabets for the Tamulian dialects in the Deccan, and for as many distinct and mutually unintelligible corruptions of the Sanscrit alphabet as there are Sanscritic dialects in the northern provinces. e2 244 INDIA. that it is said by Prof. M. Muller, ' an officer who goes out to India with a knowledge of Sanscrit knows more of Hindustani than a cadet who has learned Hindustani in this country, but is ignorant of Sanscrit. 7 The Sanscrit, or language of the sacred writings of the Hindoos, is never now employed as a living tongue in actual use, except occasionally by the Brahmins. In very ancient times the sacred language itself was fixed into a classical form and confined to religious purposes, while the vernacular, or Prakrit, dialects, derived from it in ordinary use, have degenerated, in course of time, farther and farther apart from it and from one another ; the most ancient of these dialects, the Pali, or religious language of the Buddhists, having again become a fixed and dead language in its turn, although originally employed by the Buddhists as a means of popularising their preaching. The fixed character of the venerable Sanscrit is of the utmost interest in the history of the world, not only for the stamp of early antiquity which it conveys to us, but yet more from its revealing to us in the most authentic manner the relationship which we ourselves bear to the Hindoo race. By means of the resemblance in primitive grammatical forms, it is now ascertained that the Teutonic, Celtic, and Slavonic races of Europe, together with the classical Greek and Latin, are of the same stock as the Hindoos and Persians of Asia ; altoge- ther constituting the great Indo-European family of nations, whose languages are classed under the common name of Aryan (as distinguished from the two other classes, the Semitic and the Turanian). l What authority,' says Prof. Miiller, ' could have been strong enough to persuade the Grecian army that their gods and their hero ancestors were the same as those of King Porus, or to convince the English soldier that the same blood was running in his veins as in the veins of the dark Bengalese ? And yet there is not an English jury now-a-days which, after examining the hoary documents of language, would reject the claim of a common descent and a legitimate relationship between Hindoo, Greek, RELIGION AND LITERATURE. 245 and Teuton.' This relationship, he explains, is such as makes the Sanscrit stand in the p]ace, not of a parent, but rather of an elder sister to the other tongues, although from its antiquity it necessarily bears more of the primitive character than any of the rest. So much light was thrown upon the history of language in general, when Sanscrit first began to be systematically studied by Sir William Jones and others r that its introduction to European acquaintance has been called i the discovery of a new world.' Not only was there given by it the strongest interest to the study of language, but the thought of students was turned upon an entirely new track, by finding the unexpected relationship which was proved by the meeting again, on this strange and distant soil, with their own most ancient and familiar words. It has been noticed that ' the terms for God, for house, for father, mother, son, daughter, for dog and cow, for heart and tears, for axe and tree, are identical in all the Indo-European idioms.' RELIGION AND LITERATURE. The Sanscrit literature is rich in every department of human culture, but the basis of the whole is the Sacred Yedas, regarded by the Hindoos themselves in the light of a Divine revelation. The first and most important of these books, the Kia;-Veda, is the earliest of all writings & _ / . ., . 1 , & The Yedas. extant amongst the Aryan nations, dating back, ap- parently, as far as 1500 B.C. ; and it exhibits a religion of the purest natural kind, such as might belong to a thoughtful people of simple and probably pastoral habits, striving to penetrate the hidden meaning of the mighty forces of Nature around them. The collection of hymns (or mantras), of which this book consists, display, indeed, the worship of the different elements ; — as of Agni, or fire, Indra, the atmosphere or fir- mament, Varuna, water, and many others ; but beneath these material forms there is manifestly recognised the existence of the One incomprehensible Being, to discover whom is the great aim of human thought. The continuation of the life 246 INDIA. of the soul after death is dimly surmised, but as yet without any intimation of the doctrine of transmigration afterwards devised respecting it ; and in general (if we except the doubt- ful allusion to human sacrifices), there is the utmost freedom from all the burdensome superstition of ceremonial observ- ances which were heaped up around the religion when once the era of Brahminism commenced with the institution of a Brahmin- formal priesthood, about the tenth century B.C. ; ism. anc [ w hich since that time have continually multi- plied, until there is notoriously no nation on earth so entirely crushed under the power of the priests as the Hindoos. The three later Yeclas, which are commentaries upon the first, shew the manner in which these corruptions were prepared, by the kind of discussions raised, and of ceremonies devised, in supposed explanation of the original mysteries. In the Rig- Veda is promulgated the highly metaphysical conception, that in the beginning, the One Being, or Universal Self, ' was alone. He said — May I be many ! — and then sprang the world into existence.' In later times, the idea was dwelt upon, and wrought out into coarser and coarser images, until there came to be built up the whole mass of Indian mythology. From the dismemberment of the Divine Whole into parts, was supposed to proceed, first, the different elements personified into distinct deities; thence the different kinds of creatures adapted to the several elements ; and eminently, as the last result, the division of human beings so important in its effect upon the Hindoo social life, namely, that of caste. From the head of Brahm, it is said, proceeded the Brahmins, or Svstem of P r i ests • from his arms, the Ksha+riyas, or military Caste. class ; from his thighs, the Yaisyas, or agricultur- ists ; from his feet, the contemned Sudras, restricted to servile occupations. Accordingly, again, as the Deity is regarded in his relation towards men, of severally their Creator, Preserver, or De- stroyer, is he named Brahma, Vishnu, or Siva. To each of this divine triad became assigned peculiar attributes, sym- bolized by the wildest grotesqueness of form under which RELIGION AND LITERATURE. 247 their images could be presented to the idolatry of the people ; and each member of the triad has a mythological history of his own, representing, in the manner of supposed incarnations, notable events in the course of human affairs, which the priests and poets chose in this manner to record for the instruction of posterity. Thus, in the two great epic poems, the Eamayana and the Mahabharata, are supposed to be painted the original conquest of the Aryan tribes over the aboriginal barbarians (figured in the former as apes), while the conquerors are as- sisted, in the one poem by an incarnation under the name of Vishnu or Kama, in the other by Krishna. The number of deities in this manner came to be increased, in the course of a few centuries, to such an extent, , , ,. . , , . . Buddhism. and the amount 01 ceremonial worship required tor each of them multiplied to such an intolerable degree, that in the sixth century b. c. was started that great reaction against Brahminism known as Buddhism, the object of which was boldly to sweep away the whole accumulation of superstition, and place the mind of man in firm reliance upon its own moral strength, and upon that alone. All along, the Brahmins had ad- mitted the freest discussion of theological matters amongst them- selves; the Buddhist Reformer (Sakya-mouni, or Gotama,) determined to make the freedom popular. He called upon the people to shake off, not only the entire impositions of the priests, but the entire belief in the deities upheld by the priests. He banished utterly the artificial notion of caste, and asserted the equality and brotherhood of all men. The principle of fear, whether of gods or men, which is the real nourish er of all superstition, he set himself to attack at its foundation in the heart of man. Instead of spending his powers in the attempt to placate the angry deities, or to win a reward by bribes, he counselled men to subdue within them- selves their principles of fear and hope, and thus by extinction attain their exemption. By merely dying, the Brahmins had taught, they would pass into new bodies, to undergo the retribution destined for them, before they should be fit to return into the Divine essence, whence they sprung ; by self- 248 INDIA. extinction, the Buddhists proclaimed, they might immediately- pass into the Divine non-existence. And self- extinction was only obtainable through the exercise of all the moral virtues, opposed in their nature to self-indulgence. With this view, the Buddhists practised self-denial to themselves, and charity towards others, to a fanatical extent. Buddha himself, it is said, offered his own flesh to feed the hungry cubs of a tigress. His followers, or such of them as aspired to perfection, were enjoined to clothe themselves in rags, to live only upon alms, to refrain almost entirely from natural rest. The doctrine spread widely as soon as it was uttered, but, as was inevitable, speedily degenerated from all that was excellent in its beginning. The asceticism disfigured the morality, the bold antagonism to superstition became a new superstition in its turn ; and the relics of the founder, who had denied all gods to worship, were erected into the most debasing kind of idols themselves, en- shrined in temples, and maintained by priest-ridden homage. In India, Brahminism once more succeeded in regaining its sway, continually becoming more and more degraded as it has gone on spreading its requisitions into all the minutest trans- actions of daily life, so that at the present time the Hindoo groans under the tyranny of a ceremonial which embraces every moment from his birth till his death. The priest alone can tell him what food may properly be eaten, what air may properly be breathed, what dress may properly be worn ; which of all the multitude of gods is to be invoked at each particular occasion, and with what sacrifice propitiated ; while ' the slightest mistake of pronunciation, the slightest neglect about clarified butter, or the length of the ladle with which it is to be offered,' is supposed capable of bringing ' destruction on the head of the unassisted worshipper.' And yet, all along, there have been philosophic-minded Brahmins, who have carried on their researches for natural truth with a freedom and moral purpose quite distinct from the ordinary superstition ; and under the truly great sovereign Akbar, this spirit was encouraged to such an extent, that there was even a deliberate effort made to promulgate a new religion that should be free RELIGION AND LITERATURE. 249 from every kind of superstition. Although brought up him- self as a Mahometan, Akbar had entirely discarded the faith of the prophet, and had given himself up to the discovery of truth. ' He called Brahmins and fire-worshippers to his court, and ordered them to discuss in his presence the merits of their religions with the Mohammedan doctors. When he heard of the Jesuits at Goa, he invited them to his capital, and he was for many years looked upon as a secret convert to Christianity. The religion which he founded, the so-called Ilahi religion, was pure deism mixed up with the worship of the sun, as the purest and highest emblem of the Deity. '* He had the New Testament translated into Persian ; and endea- voured to extort from the Brahmins a translation of their Yedas, although, as appears, without success. * Miiller, p. 143. 250 CHAPTER IV. ENGLISH DOMINION IN INDIA. The history of British India may be said to date from the year 1600, when the East India Company received its charter from Queen Elizabeth. By the beginning of the next century, the ' Merchant Adventurers ' had gained a firm footing in India; but all they had of territory were three trading settlements on the seaboard, viz. Bombay on the west, and Fort St. George and Fort William on the east. But from these small centres branched forth a dominion which in little more than another hundred years had spread over nearly the whole of the vast continent. In the introductory sketch were shown the several stages of this growth, and it remains here to give a more general survey of the causes which converted in so short a time an eastern continent into an English empire. The Mogul empire had reached the height of its greatness during the long reign of Aurungzebe ; but at his death, in 1707, the empire may be said to have ended. The whole State fell into disunion, and the provinces either became appropriated by their hereditary local rulers, or fell a prey to conquering tribes, and the Court of Delhi from henceforth retained only a nominal supremacy. Chief of these conquering tribes were the Mahrattas, a war- like race of freebooters, who, more intent on booty than glory, swooped down like birds of prey upon the rich plains under Moslem rule, and fired the villages and devastated the fields from the Carnatic to Guzerat. These people had formed themselves into a powerful State in Southern India, under their chief, Sevajee ; while the Persians, under Nadir Shah, ravaged Hindostan from the north, and for a time reigned in Delhi. .Naturally, the European settlers became involved in the SEPOYS. 251 disturbances of the empire. In 1745, war was declared between England and France, and hostilities then _ o ' ^ Supremacy- first broke out between the French and English com- on the East panies in the Madras Presidency ; and although, in 1748, the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle restored tranquillity at home, these rivals in India were plunging deeper into warfare from having taken opposite sides in the contest of native princes for the sovereignty of the Carnatic. A struggle for supremacy followed, which ended by the English becoming the dominant military as well as commercial power in India ; and also, as a consequence of the growth of the English power in the East, by the transference of the seat of empire from the Mohammedan centre of Delhi, in the north-west Provinces, to the English centre of Calcutta, on the east coast. No sooner had the East India Company, under Clive, begun its military career in India, than the want of soldiers was felt. The troops sent out from home were at first but few, and inefficient in that new climate and country ; hence the English adopted the expedient of the French, who at their head-quarters at Pondicherry trained native soldiers, or Sepoys, after the European fashion. These Sepoys were first accoutred after the manner of their country, clad in tur- ban, vest, and drawers, and armed with bows and arrows ; but soon they were trained to the use of the musket, and placed under English drill and command, and having proved their courage and fidelity, became the chief safeguards of the British forts. But naturally this dependence of the English on the troops of a country in which they were intruders became a source of the greatest anxiety and insecurity. At the siege of Arcot, 1751, the Sepoys first exhibited their valour and devo- tion as British auxiliaries, and many of their officers subse- quently became distinguished heroes in the English service ; but it depended much on the tact of their British commanders to keep down mutinies, and want of judgment in trifles often led to serious tumults. It will be seen how, a century later, this want of tact was one of the causes which spread the flames of war over the whole continent, 252 BRITISH INDIA. In 1773, the English Government first began to take a direct Home Oo- P art m tne management of Indian affairs. This was vernment. { n consequence of the Company being in a most em- barrassed state as to finances, and an appeal to Parliament to save them from bankruptcy gave rise to the Regulation Act, by which a Governor-General was appointed to preside over Bengal, and, to a certain degree, over Madras and Bombay ; while the affairs of the Company in London were administered by a Court of Directors and Proprietors. The first Governor-General, Warren Hastings, strengthened by his vigorous policy the position of the Company in India, and satisfied the constant demand of the Directors for 6 remit- tances ; ' but the means by which he attained both these ends laid him open to impeachment in the House of Commons : hence his celebrated trial, which lasted seven years, and ended in acquittal ; and hence also, in 1784, Mr. Pitt judged it necessary to add a Board of Control to the Court of Directors, as a further check upon the East India Company. This ■ Double Government,' as it was called, lasted until the mutiny and convulsion of India, in 1857, led to the dissolution of the Company altogether. At the beginning of the present century, Indian affairs were _ .. in a critical state. Under the Marquis of Wellesley, Dominion . . * ■ in the conquest had made rapid strides, and by the fall of Seringapatam, in 1799, English dominion was ex- tended over the south of India. But the wild Mahrattas were spreading over the north and west, either threatening our pos- sessions in alliance with the French, or involving the English in their mutual quarrels ; while in the north, beyond the Indus, attack was threatened by the Shah of Persia in conniv- ance with Buonaparte and the Emperor Alexander of Russia. For the protection of our frontiers, and to introduce British rule into those States which were as yet independent, Lord Subsidiary Wellesley devised his famous Subsidiary System, System. which was a system of permanent treaties with the petty States of India, by which England pledged herself to supply a military force to each, and to control all State affairs SUBSIDIARY SYSTEM. 253 through a Resident, while the State, thus assisted, bore the expense both of the Eesident Governor and the military. For the sake of gaining an opportunity of checking the Mahrattas and their French allies, who together _ . . 7 ° Dominion formed the most formidable foe that British troops in Central had ever encountered out of Europe, Lord Wellesley, in 1803, espoused the cause of the Peishwa of Poonah, the head of the Mahratta nation, who had been deposed by the rival chiefs, Holcar and Scindiah, in alliance with the French. And hereupon followed the Mahratta war ; and, by one of the most brilliant campaigns that modern history affords, the English were freed, once for ail, from their double foe, and gained dominion over the whole of Central India. The campaign was planned by Lord Wellesley and his brother, the Duke of Wellington (then General Wellesley), and carried out by four British armies, ^hratta who attacked the enemy from all sides. General Wellesley commanded the forces of the Deccan, and by the victory of Assaye (a small village in Berar), September 23, 1803, overcame the combined armies of Scindiah and the Eajah of Berar. Lord Lake led the Bengal army into Hin- dostan Proper, and by the battle of Laswaree, November 1, reinstated on the throne of Delhi the Mogul Emperor, Shah Aulum, who had been captured by Scindiah, and thus won to our allegiance the whole of the Mohammedan power in India ; at the same time that by the submission of the French com- mander, M. Perron, the French influence in India was annihi- lated. Colonel Murray crushed the Mahratta power in Guzerat on the west ; and Colonel Harcourt opened free com- munication between Calcutta and the two south presidencies by the conquest of Cuttack on the east. And thus, in five months, England not only gained immensely in territory, but extended protection to numerous states, which, released from Mahratta tyranny, gratefully placed themselves under the subsidiary system of the conquering ruler ; and by the final overthrow of the Mahrattas, in 1816, by the conquest of Poonah, our position was determined as sovereigns in Central 254 BKITISH INDIA. India, and many of the small states under British protection became subsequently annexed, either as a forfeit for mis- government, or non-fulfilment of conditions. While the East India Company was thus gaining strength as a political power, it had ceased to exist as a Mer- lractG to . . b India ciiant Corporation. Owing to the exertions of Mr. opene . William Eathbone and other influential persons in our chief manufacturing districts, the Company was deprived of its monopoly in 1814, and henceforth the trade to India was open to all British merchants. A time of peace succeeded to the Mahratta war ; and if the name of the Wellesleys stands foremost among conquerors, the name of Lord William Bentinck is conspicuous among those who have made English dominion a blessing to India. EefOTinL -^ e abolished the Suttee, or widow-burning — a custom, Avhich, although for ages it had been grafted on to the Hindoo faith, was probably a remnant of the darker superstitions of the aborigines. In 1829, he issued a regula- tion declaring the Suttee illegal, and punishable in criminal courts ; and first in Bengal, and then in the other presiden- cies, the j>ractice was put down by the police without difficulty. He carried on vigorously the extermination of the Thugs, or secret stranglers. He reinstated natives in public offices, from which the selfish policy of the English had excluded them. He encouraged native as well as English schools ; and during his time the excellent Bishop Heber did much to create a bond of sympathy between the Hindoo and Christian mind. While peace and internal reforms marked this period in the peninsula, a Burmese war was raging with the King War! 1656 °f Ava, which ended in the acquisition of provinces beyond the Bay of Bengal. And now in 1839 began a series of events in the extreme north, which led not only to a vast extension of territory in that direction, but also to a complete revolution in Indian affairs. Hitherto the river Sutlej had bounded our territory in the AFGHAN WAR. 255 north-west : we had friendly alliances with princes beyond it, but no dominion. But in that direction danger had long threatened us. Situated in the north-west corner of Hin- dostan, on the borders of Persia, is the mountainous country of the Afghans, a people whose origin has been the subject of much discussion. Although the Afghans compose only about a third of the dwellers in Afghanistan, they are the ruling nation there. They are a hardy race, of moderate stature, with high cheek-bones and prominent noses. They call them- selves Pustaneh, and their language, which they name Pushtoo, is composed of words partly Persian and partly derived from some unknown root, and is written in Arabic letters. Their religion is a liberal kind of Mohammedanism, and they re- semble the Arabs of the desert in many of their habits, such as their hospitality to strangers, and robbery of travellers. The state of Cabul, which forms the north-eastern portion of Afghanistan, was governed by Ameers, who were on friendly terms with the English, until an impolitic interference in their affairs on the part of the Calcutta government led to the Afghan war — the most ruinous campaign the English have known in India. The causes of the war were briefly these: — The Shah of Persia, aided by Eussian officers, laid siege to the fortress of Herat, which was regarded as the key ^fj lan to Afghanistan. In the spirit of an old Eastern proverb, that ' he who rules in Hindostan must first be lord of Cabul,' this movement excited great apprehension in the Calcutta government, and Dost Mahomet, the ruler of Cabul, was ordered to form no connection with Russia. His reply was unsatisfactory, and Lord Auckland, in concert with Runjeet Sing, sovereign of the Sikhs, immediately pro- ceeded to depose him, and to instal an exiled ruler, Shah Soojah, in his place. But the Afghans violently opposed this change of rulers, and a large English and native army had to be stationed at Cabul to maintain Shah Soojah on his throne. Then came the difficulty how to maintain this army ? The East India directors had been no party to 256 BEITISH INDIA. the affair, and the British Envoy, Sir William Macnaghten, knew that they would object to pay upwards of a million per annum for its support. He therefore tried to lessen expense by withdrawing from the allowances of some of the Khiljis, or native guard of the passes. This measure still more in- flamed the public feeling against the English. The murder of Sir Alexander Barnes, Macnaghten himself, and other officers, was an indication of danger ; and since neither reinforce- ments nor money arrived from Calcutta / the English deter- mined on retreat to India, after concluding a treaty by which Dost Mahomed was reinstated, and our forts surrendered. That retreat of the British army began on January 6, 1842. By the 12th, the whole of the army had perished. Afghan tribes, chief of all the offended Khiljis, treacherously poured down upon the ill-fated troops, as they passed through the narrow gorges of the valleys, or became hemmed in by the mountains, and hewed them to pieces with their knives, or shot them down with their long rifles. Including camp followers and women and children, no less than 26,000 fell in this massacre. Happily, the married officers, with their wives and children, were timely confided, at the first alarm, to the care of Akbar Khan, the son of Dost Mahomed, who generously protected and finally surrendered them ; and of the ladies who accom- panied the army, only Lady Sale was injured by a bullet in the arm. Besides loss of reputation, this war is said to have cost England 24,000,000/. The English protege, Shah Soojah, was murdered near his own capital, and Dost Mahomed regained the sovereignty. Lord Ellenborough, who succeeded Lord Auckland, acknowledged by manifesto the error of this invasion of Afghanistan ; nevertheless, an English ' army of retribution ' poured into the country, sacked Cabul, and destroyed its mosque and bazaar, and its celebrated ' Hundred Gardens.' Finally, in the December of 1842, the British forces were withdrawn from the country. In the September of that same year, 1842, Sir Charles Napier was sent out to Sinde to exercise a general control over WAR WITH THE SIKHS. 257 that province and Beloochistan. It had become highly im- portant to us to be on friendly relations with this Conquest State, since our dominion over Cutch had brought of sinde. us to its frontier, and the free navigation of the Indus would open a road for commerce with the north. Sinde was governed by its own Ameers, who were nominally allies of England ; but they were at feud with our Sikh ally, Eunjeet Sing, and their violation of treaties had shewn that they were little to be depended on. Lord Auckland, consequently, had stationed in Sinde subsidiary troops and a resident, according to the terms of a still more stringent treaty. The Ameers greeted Sir Charles Napier with a magnificent reception, but a quarrel aris- ing with respect to the navigation of the Indus, and the Ameers shewing signs of treachery, open rupture followed. The British Eesidency was attacked in February 1843, and within a few weeks the battles of Meeanee and Hyderabad had been fought, which left Sir Charles Napier the conqueror of Sinde. War in the Punjaub soon followed. Our faithful ally, Eunjeet Sing, was dead, and his son and heir murdered, and a strife about the succession among the Sikh fac- tions gave rise to suspicious military disturbances, in which was very evident a prevailing feeling of hostility against the English. As a precautionary measure, Sir Henry Hardinge, then governor-general, sent troops to the frontier, but the Sikhs took alarm at this movement, and crossed the Sutlej, in order to prevent the Eng-ish army from entering their boundary. Then followed that fearful struggle of 1845, when after several engagements the Sikhs were finally driven back over their own bridge of boats by Sir Henry Hardinge and Lord Gough, and about 8,000 were slaughtered or drowned in the river. Under the walls of Lahore, Lord Hardinge subsequently dictated his own terms. The Pun- jaub was made a subsidiary state, with British troops and a resident stationed at Lahore, and Dhuleep Sing, a young son of Eunjeet Sing's, was appointed Maharajah. In 1848 war again broke out. The mother of Dhuleep Simr conspired with the Sikh nobles against the English, and upon 5 258 BRITISH INDIA. the British authorities sending a governor of their own choos- ing to the town of Mooltan, the revolt became general, and two unfortunate young English officers, Vans Agnew and Lieutenant Anderson, who had acted as escort to the new governor, were cut down, and beheaded by a Sikh rabble. The campaign which followed was brought to an issue by Lord Gough's victory at Gujerat, 1849, when the Sikhs sur- rendered, the Punjaub was annexed, Dhuleep Sing and his mother were pensioned, and the Koh-i-noor diamond was sent to England as a trophy. This gem was traced back, as glitter- ing on the persons of chiefs and potentates, to the fourteenth century b. c. Nadir Shah, after his capture of Delhi, saw it sparkling over the brow of the conquered emperor, Mo- hammed Shah, and courteously exchanged turbans in token of friendship. From him it descended to Runjeet Sing and his sons; and whether or not it has exercised the baleful influence over its wearers which Hindoo tradition assigned it, the ' Mountain of Light ' now reposes harmless in the posses- sion of the British Queen. During succeeding years, under the rule of Lord Dalhousie, many minor states were annexed to the English empire on various grounds. This transference of old native principalities to a new and foreign rule has been regarded by some as an expedient highly politic and beneficial to the countries them- selves, and denounced by others as a gross violation of Hindoo rights and venerated institutions. Whichever view of the case be the more correct, the last and most important of Lord Dalhousie's annexations, that of the kingdom of Oude, in 1856, on the plea of misgovernment, was immediately fol- lowed by the great mutiny and rebellion of India, and in this province was concentrated the fellest spirit of hatred and revenge. The same year that Oude was appropriated, Lord Dalhousie returned to England to die, worn out by his labours in India. He had done much for internal improvements, in the establish- ment of railroads, cheap postage, telegraphs, &c. ; and besides this, he had conciliated the Sikhs and turned their chieftains THE MUTINY. 259 from formidable foes into valuable allies. Nevertheless, during his administration, bitter feelings had begun to smoulder in the minds of the native population. The expenses attend- ant on the acquisition of new provinces had left little means of aiding the vast peasant class, whom recent famines had reduced to extreme want ; the families of the nobles had been brought to poverty by the extinction of the native courts ; Hindoo feeling had been outraged by the annihilation of old hereditary titles, and disregard of some of their venerated laws, — for instance, their law of adoption, which always sup- plied an heir in their line of princes upon the failure of legal heirs; — and especially the Mohammedans of Delhi had been roused by the degradation of the ■ House of Timur.' The old king, Mirza Jewan Bakht, still sat on the throne of the Moguls, but Lord Dalhousie had decreed that at his death all show of sovereignty should pass away from Delhi. Within his palace- walls there were as many as 3,000 persons of the royal blood, degraded by their exclusion from all offices in the state and army and from the means of education, and who were even in want of sustenance from the smallness of the pension allowed them. And an element of danger was added to all this discontent in the large masses of native soldiery that had been disbanded and dispersed about the country, and in the fact that the native army at that time was more than six times as numerous as the British troops. Such was the state of things when Lord Canning assumed the administration in 1856. Hitherto there had been no reason to doubt the fidelity of the Sepoy troops ; but experience had shewn that The there was peril to any officer who dared to interfere Mutiny. with their religious customs or caste. Fifty years before a Sepoy mutiny had broken out at Vellore in consequence of an order requiring the Sepoys to shave their chins and lips, and to remove the mark of caste from their brow ; and now an alarm was spreading widely among the Bengal troops that their most sacred rites were about to be invaded, in consequence of an order from General Anson in 1856, c that recruits should s 2 260 BEITISH INDIA. swear to go by sea or land wherever their services might be required/ and a few other regulations, which the Sepoys con- sidered would endanger their faith. In the January of 1857 the use of the Minie rifle was intro- duced into the native army ; and hence a new source of fear was added, which roused the excited feelings of the Sepoys to their highest pitch. In spite of the warning which the Govern- ment had received, that ' in the greasing composition nothing should be used which could possibly offend the caste or religious prejudices of the natives,' the cartridge-grease was contracted for without any orders as to what animal fat should be used in its preparation. A rumour got abroad that hogs' fat had been used, to touch which with the lips would involve loss of caste to the Hindoo, and imperil the soul of both Hindoo and Mussulman. In vain experienced officers remonstrated with the Government, and urged that the Sepoys should be per- mitted to prepare their own cartridges ; the suspected grease was still forced upon them. The 19th Bengal Infantry first refused to bite these cart- ridges, and the regiment was disbanded ; but in the May of 1857, at Meerut, near Delhi, the first actual revolt took place, and the Sepoy troops rose in open mutiny. The panic now became general, and was increased by the report that the English mixed bone-dust in the flour sold at the bazaars. Insurrection rapidly spread to Delhi, and the city being in the power of the native troops, a British army encamped before it June 8, and General Nicholson finally stormed and carried the place, September 23, receiving his death-shot at the Lahore gate. The scenes which marked that fatal year cannot be detailed here ; — the devotion and sacrifice of England's heroes at the siege of Lucknow — the ghastly tragedies of Cawnpore — the horrible and brutal reprisals of the English upon native rebels, or supposed rebels. It is sufficient to add, that during the next year, insurrection was quelled in India mainly owing to the ability of Sir Colin Campbell as commander-in-chief, and the indomitable spirit of the soldiery ; and that order and confidence in British rule were again made possible by the INDIA TKANSFERRED TO THE ENGLISH CROWN. 261 administration of Lord Canning. A cool, unsympathising, but most capable ruler, Lord Canning had the rare power, in those exciting times, of looking beyond the smoke and the blood to the future of India, and earned the nickname of i Clemency Canning ' from the l Punch ' of the day, rather than satisfy the rabid cry for vengeance which rose around him on all sides. The war had left the East India Company in difficulties, financially and otherwise: and a discussion upon the close of state of India in the House of Commons led to the coSp 1 ^ close of the long reign of the East India Company, 1858 - and to the final transference of all political power to the Crown. On November 1, 1858, Queen Victoria was. declared Sovereign of India ; and Lord Canning, first Viceroy of India, with Her Majesty's proclamation in his hand, made the tour of the re-conquered empire, and announced to assembled multitudes that the i Maharanee ' of England was henceforth their mistress. The name of Lord Canning remains linked with measures of reform which have opened a new era for India. We now for the first time hear of voluntary colonisation, reclamation of waste lands, improvement of cultivation, extension of trade, and rise in wages. Government is spending its millions on public works instead of on wars, and many are now emerging from the poverty in which they have so long been pining, in consequence of the increased demand for their labour which these public works have created. The long-dis- puted land-assessment question has ended by the recognition of the great principle, that the cultivator is to enjoy the fruits of his labour. To this boon, the greatest, it is said, that could be conferred on India, another is added in the increased facili- ties given to the purchase and cultivation of waste lands. Native prejudices are quietly laying themselves down before the resistless force of material progress. Brahmin and Soodra crowd the railway-cars together, and barefoot pilgrimages to distant shrines are losing their prestige now that they can be performed comfortably in third-class trains. Better still, 262 BRITISH INDIA. slavery, infanticide, widow-burning, human sacrifice, and other revolting usages, are fast disappearing under the beneficent influence of a Christian Government. But the best guarantee for the future prosperity of British India is the tardy justice that is now at last being extended to the native population, by making them sharers with ourselves in the fruits of peace and progress, and by preparing them for taking part in the actual administration of the empire. As one indication that they are worthy of increased responsibility, it may be mentioned, that on the arrival of the present Governor- General, Lord Elgin, the native press of India pronounced, that national education, on a large scale, ought to be the measure by which the career of the new Viceroy should be distin- guished. 263 CHAPTER V. POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF INDIA. India consists of British India, the Native States, and Foreign Possessions. British India, or that portion of territory actually belong- ing to Great Britain, consists at the present time of the three Presidencies of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay ; of the four lately erected Lieutenant-Governorships of the Punjaub, North -West Provinces, Oude, and British Burmah ; and of the Chief Commissionership of the Central Provinces. The Native States are ruled by their native princes, but are all more or less under British control, and connected by treaty with the British Government. Some states are pro- tected and tributary ; some are protected but not tributary ; some are subsidiary. Under the subsidiary treaties, the British Government provides a military force for the protection of the state, the cost of which is defrayed by the native go- vernment. Under the protective treaties, allegiance is required in return for British protection. But almost all treaties bind the native chiefs to act in ' subordinate co-operation ' with the British power, to relinquish the right of self-defence, to enter into no diplomatic relations with other states, and to appeal to the British Government, as supreme arbiter in all disputes with other states ; and prohibit them from maintaining in their service Americans or Europeans.* The form of government varies much in these Native States. In general, the rajah, or chief, is hereditary, and exercises despotic power under the eye of a British resident stationed at the Court. In some, he is aided by a council of nobles ; in * Martin's British Colonies. 264 BRITISH INDIA. some, there are both temporal and spiritual rulers — as in Bhootan, where the Deb Rajah, or temporal ruler, is elected from among the officers of state, and the Dhurm Rajah, or spiritual chief, is regarded as an incarnation of the Deity, and miraculously invested with office from infancy, The only parts of the Indian continent wholly independent of England are the foreign territories, or few possessions which still remain to France and Portugal, viz. Chandernagore, on the Hooghly ; Pondicherrry and Karical, on the Coromandel Coast ; Yanon, on the Orissa Coast ; and Mahe, on the Malabar Coast, belonging to the French : — and Goa, on the West Coast ; Damaun, on the Concan Coast; and Dru, on the Kattywar Coast, belonging to the Portuguese. BENGAL. Bengal, although the last erected of the three Presidencies, holds the first rank, both for its greater extent, and from its capital of Calcutta having been constituted the seat of the supreme Government. The first English settlement in Bengal was made in the year 1652, at the town of Hooghly, which had been founded by the Portuguese on the banks of the river Hooghly, a branch of the Ganges ; the English being encou- raged to found a factory there, in consequence of the Mogul Emperor, Shah Jehan, having given the Company licence to trade to any extent throughout his dominions without payment of custom dues, in return for the skilful medical treatment of an English surgeon of Surat, a Mr. Gabriel Boughton, who had been recommended to the emperor by the Mohamme- dan merchants, and had cured his favourite daughter of a severe burn. In 1698, the English removed their factory to a small village in the midst of a jungle, 23 miles lower down the river, called Calcutta, or Calicotta, on account, it is sup- posed, of its containing a temple dedicated to Cali, the Hindoo Goddess of Time ; and Prince Azim, a grandson of the Em- peror Aurungzebe, and commander of the Mogul forces in BENGAL. 265 Bengal, permitted the English to buy this territory and two adjoining villages, and to erect fortifications, which were named Fort William after the reigning king. In 1707, the Fort William settlement, which had hitherto been subordinate to Madras, was made into a separate presidency, and the Company still further extended it by the purchase of fresh lands in the neighbourhood. Being exposed to attack from the French and their native allies, the English were obliged to make Calcutta a strong place of defence. It was neverthe- less captured by the Soubahdar of Bengal, Surajah Dowlah, of Black-Hole memory, in 1756. But the decisive victory of Lord Clive at Plassy, and defeat of the Nabob, so completely established English authority, that from this victory may be said to date the beginning of the absolute government of the English in Bengal. By cession and by conquest, district after district became added to the Presidency, until it stretched over nearly the whole of the country watered by the Ganges. Since the separation of the North-West Provinces, the Presidency has been reduced in dimensions to about twice the area of the United Kingdom, and its boundaries now are : Nepaul, Sik- him, and Bhotan on the north ; Benares and the North-West Provinces on the west ; Burmah and Siam on the east ; and the Bay of Bengal and Sumbulpoor, with some States on the Mahanuddy river, on the south. This political division of the Presidency must not be con- founded with the old native division of the province of Bengal, which is for the most part a level tract of pro^Sie. about 300 miles from north to south, and 350 from east to west, enclosed within the natural boundaries of the Himalayas on the north, a thick belt of jungle from ten to twenty miles broad on the east, impenetrable woods towards the coast on the south, and Behar on the west ; and of which old Bengal province Moorshedabad was the capital, and Ben- galee the language spoken throughout its whole extent. The whole of this province is included within the Presidency, but 266 BRITISH INDIA. the Presidency itself has been politically divided into the following districts : — Patna Chittagong Bhaugttlpoor NlJDDEA Eajshaye BUHDWAN Dacca CUTTACK. These are called the Eegulation Provinces of Bengal; but the Presidency also includes the Non-Regulation Provinces of Assam, Chota-Nagpoor, Darjeeling, and other small states: the term i regulation' being applied throughout India to those British possessions which have been always under one established system of government, as is the case wdth those belonging to the old presidencies ; and the term ' non-regula- tion ' to those usually more recently -acquired territories which are under separate, individual, and arbitrary management. But the distinction will soon cease to have any meaning, since the whole empire is fast becoming more or less subject to the same plan of jurisdiction. A large part of Western Bengal lies in the great Gangetic valley, and is chiefly an alluvial plain, where the n ants! " h°t damp climate stimulates vegetation as much as it depresses human energies. Owing to the great cities which have sprung up on the banks of the Ganges, this valley has been from earliest times the most thickly -peopled and civilised portion of India ; and now, although most of these old cities are mere heaps of scattered ruins, the people swarm in these districts or about Calcutta and the suburbs, and are reckoned at 972 to the square mile. Bengal is peopled by various races. Tribes of a Tartar origin inhabit the hilly districts of the north and east, and to- wards the west, Afghans and Mohammedans and Europeans and other races form a mixed population with the native Hin- doos, or Bengalese, who are supposed to bear a proportion of four-fifths to the whole. The Bengalese are of the pure Hin- doo type, and have all the native beauty, domestic virtues, and tendency towards intellectual pursuits belonging to the race ; BENGAL. 267 but, owing probably to the enervating climate, together with opium-eating and other indulgences, they are inferior in cou- rage, energy, and industrial skill ; they more easily fell a prey to the Moslem conquerors, and they have been more passive under British rule. Much has been said of the false, suspi- cious nature of the Bengalese. Among the lower classes, Mr. Charles Grant says, i the practices of cheating, pilfering, tricking, and imposing are so common, that the Hindoos look upon them as natural evi]s ; ' and it is cited as a curious evi- dence of their tendency to mistrust, that during the hundred years that the British Government held there the seat of em- pire, it never dared to take a census of the people, for fear of exciting suspicious fears; and consequently, the returns for Bengal were less to be relied on than those for any other district. It is certainly some evidence of their toleration of thievery in general, that for a long series of years the criminal jurisprudence of Bengal was principally employed in the sup- pression of a system of robbing in gangs called ' dakoity/ which was inherited as a regular profession by whole families, who were considered entitled by it to a higher rank in society than that of the mere ryot, or cultivator of the soil. These dakoits were often settled residents in the villages, possessed houses and lands, and mixed freely with the respectable inha- bitants, and it is only lately that the system has really de- creased through the vigilance of English officials. Nevertheless, we have abundant testimony from residents, that dishonesty, on the whole, is no more a peculiar growth of India than of Europe, and that judiciously kind treatment and just dealing will be found to go ev^en farther in India than elsewhere. Bengal has greatly increased in wealth during the last half centurv, and there is no part of India where there , t . . , . Condition is so much land m proportion under cultivation, or of the so large a native class of wealthy and influential per- eop e * sons. This prosperity dates from the time of Lord Cornwallis, who in 1793 made a change in the land-tenure which restored the rights of the soil to its native owners. Before this time, the East India Company, deriving its revenue from the land, 268 BRITISH INDIA. and the monopolies of salt and opium, had in effect kept all power over the soil in their own hands, and had made the land-tenure so uncertain to the holder that he could have no interest in the cultivation of his estate ; while oppressive tax- ation made it equally difficult for the zemindar or proprietor to acquire capital, and for the ryot or cultivator to provide a maintenance. By the ' Permanent Settlement Act ■ of Lord Cornwallis, the - Government gave up all claim to increased revenue, Permanent . ° .."*,- 7 settlement whatever might be the profit from the land : the zemindars (landowners and revenue-collectors) were made proprietors of estates at a fixed rate of assessment, under condition that the ryot should not be ejected so long as he paid a certain rent ; besides which, waste lands, which formed two-thirds of the province, were to be cultivated without any additional tax. From many causes, peculiar to the country, the scheme failed to work so well as might have been hoped for from the justness of its principle ; — as Earn- mohun Eoy said, ' it worked well for the Company, well for the zemindars, and most wretchedly for the ryots,' who still were subject to oppressive exactions, and to' all but starvation in case of a bad harvest. Nevertheless, Bengal prospered under this system as it had never prospered before ; cultivation of all kinds increased ; new trades sprang up ; the i lazy ' Hindoo peasant worked thirteen hours a day on his land ; the land- holders rose by their opulence to the rank of nobles, and the ' baboo,' or native trader, became proverbial for his magni- ficence ; the Government meanwhile finding its reward in this : that England gained by the immense increase in Bengal exports and imports. Under judicious administration,, it is trusted that the pros- i d' and P er ity °f Bengal may reach to the poorer classes ; Opium but there are still many causes existing which tend to their depression. For instance, in the indigo districts, the ryot is reported to fare no better than on the zemindar estates, owing to the system that prevails in India of European planters advancing money beforehand for the BENGAL. 269 cultivation, under the condition of a certain supply of indigo being forthcoming at a given time ; and constant evasion of the contract on the part of the ryot, and violent exaction of its fulfilment under all casualties on the part of the planter, give rise to endless disputes and hindrances to well-being on both sides. In the opium districts the evils of this system bear still more heavily on the ryot, from the Government itself being one of the contracting parties. The monopoly of the opium traffic is an important source of revenue, and the Government advances money to more than half a million cultivators of the poppy in Bengal. All the opium grown in Bengal is thus required to be sold by public auction ; and every ryot holding land that is favourable for the culture of the poppy, is bound to engage to grow a certain quantity and deliver it for sale at a price fixed upon by Government ; which price is usually about one-eighth less than its real market value, which is regulated by the quantity for sale and the demand for it in China. The profit at which Government sells the opium again, constitutes the opium revenue ; but the cultivator suffers from being compelled to use his land for an article which yields him but little profit, and from the trouble and expense of having to deliver it at the public auction, which is often far distant from the spot on which the opium is grown. Eastern Provinces of Bengal, The country of Assam, which forms the north-east portion of the Bengal Presidency, was ceded to the English at the close of the Burmese war in 1826. It is an enormous valley of about 43,000 square miles, lying at the base of the eastern range of the Himalayas, and subject to an annual inundation of the Brahmapootra, which converts a great part of its surface into small swampy islands. Old causeways, eight feet high, connect these islands, and are the only traces left of the earliest inhabitants. The alluvial soil formed by the inundations is exceedingly fertile, and although 270 BRITISH INDIA. Assam is north of the tropics, both climate and productions are of a tropical character. The prevalence of jungle, marsh, and forest, renders the district prolific in elephants, tigers, apes, &c. Sheep here are clothed in hair instead of wool. The Assamese, or inhabitants of the plains, are mostly of Hindoo extraction, but in a low grade of civilisation, living, from the nobles down to the pyke or peasant, in bamboo huts. They profess Brahminism, and practise it after a fashion, not scrupling, it is said, to flavour their rice with such animal food as rats, snakes, ants and grasshoppers, or even to cook a dog on festive occasions. In the parts near Bengal, there are many Mohammedans, and the hilly districts are peopled by many wild and aboriginal tribes. The poppy, which grows here without stint, is said to be the ruling influence, and even infants are regularly drugged with it. But Assam is chiefly known to us as a tea-producing country, and the tea-plant seems to be working as much good as the poppy is working evil. English companies are rapidly converting the wastes and jungles of Assam and Siihet into flourishing tea-plantations, and Chinese cultivators are em- ployed to instruct the natives in their management, while the Assamese themselves are fast acquiring a taste for the beverage. There are now in Assam 160 tea plantations, owned by 60 companies. More than 200 specimens of tea from Assam were sent to the International Exhibition, the produce of 50 plantations extending over 1,000 miles of country, and in the varieties of gunpowder, pekoe, hyson, souchong, and congou exhibited, Mr. Martin says the c theine' principle was very marked, and the leaf well prepared.* Government reports that, at no distant time, tea is likely to become one of the chief staples of India ; and since Suddya, a frontier-post in Assam on the Brahmapootra, is scarcely more than 300 miles from the great Chinese river, Yang-tse-Kiang, it has been suggested that these two rivers may one day form a highway between the two great commercial capitals of the east, Calcutta * Martin's British India. BENGAL. 271 and Shanghai, and the tea of China be thus brought by a short transit to India. Chittagong, the most southerly of the east provinces, was ceded to the English by the Nabob of Bengal in 1760. It is a well-water ed country, and in the valley of the l agong * chief river, the Kamaphuli, coffee, cotton, indigo and sugar, are cultivated by Bengalese. The majority of the inhabitants are Mughs of Aracan, who settled here when the country was conquered by the Burmese in 1783, and most of whom are traders or mechanics. In the hilly districts are wild and savage tribes, who give our Government much trouble by their predatory habits ; as for instance when, not long ago, a tribe of Kookies made a descent into the plain, set fire to 15 villages, carried off the women and children for slaves, and destroyed everything that they could not carry away, and had safely escaped back to their hills before the British police could arrive. Chief Towns of Bengal. Calcutta, which has been the capital of Bengal since the battle of Plassy, is the metropolis of British India and the seat of the supreme government. It stands on a low, unhealthy plain on the east bank of the Hooghly, about a hundred miles from the sea; but its position as a great city and military fortress is unusually commanding and secure. An enormous river system converges to it, and all the Indian railways branch from it, and it is thus the depot of boundless supplies of food, and of coal from inexhaustible mines. The river on which it stands is navigable even for seventy-gun frigates, but the sunderbunds would prevent any fleet ascending the Hooghly, unless they were aided by English pilots ; and, more- over, Calcutta contains the only great stores of gunpowder held by Europeans in Asia, and the only great collection of saltpetre throughout the world.* The town extends about six miles along the river, and was * Spectator, June 13, 1863. 272 BRITISH INDIA. laid out, according to its present plan, about the year 1813, when Lord Hastings was governor. A main street, 60 feet wide, was carried down the middle, handsome squares were made, with planted walks around, and tanks in the centre, and a quay was constructed leading down to the river by a flight of stone steps, where goods were landed, and the natives performed their ablutions. There are few towns that have so great a variety of in- habitants as Calcutta — the native Bengalese mingling with Arabs, Burmese, Chinese (who are mostly shoemakers), Jews, Mussulmans, Parsees, Armenians, Portuguese, French and English ; and this motley character of the population, which gives an unusually lively aspect to the streets, causes a corresponding variety in the buildings, so that a bird's-eye view of Calcutta shows a multifarious assemblage of Protestant and Eoman Catholic churches, Hindoo pagodas, Sikh temples, Mohammedan mosques, Jews' synagogues, Greek and Ar- menian churches, and Buddhist temples. The quarters in- habited by Europeans consist mostly of handsome detached villas, built of brick and stucco ; but in this ' city of palaces ' there is only one portion deemed respectable enough for the residence of 'gentlemen,' — that is, the nobility, civil and military officers, and chief merchants. This is the Chow- ringhee Eoad and the adjoining streets, where the houses are built only on one side of the way, and look pleasant with their bright green verandahs and blinds. The crowded quarter where the natives chiefly reside, lies to the north, and is a close assemblage of narrow streets, with tall houses having their backs to the street, shops and stores at the bottom, and loop-holes instead of windows in the upper stories. And here it may be mentioned that houses, properly speaking, with stories and stairs, belong only to the presiden- cies ; in the provinces, the bungalow is the usual dwelling — a building with only one floor, and which seems from the outside all roof. Calcutta has a municipality composed of commissioners, who levy rates for town purposes. The city is now lighted BENGAL. 273 by 600 gas-lights, and measures are being taken for better drainage and general improvement, especially in the European quarter ; but there is at present no sufficient water supply for the houses. About a quarter of a mile below the city, on the river bank, is the citadel of Fort William, the largest fortress in India, built by Lord Clive. The works mount 619 guns, and the citadel can accommodate 15,000 men. Between the for- tress and Calcutta is an esplanade, which forms the favourite promenade and drive in the cool of the evenings and mornings. Other towns of note in the province are : Moorshedahad, the old Mohammedan capital of Bengal ; a large populous town in the district of Rajshaye, but extremely unhealthy. Patna, capital of the Bahar province, has a large trade in opium, rice, cotton, and silk goods. Most of its houses are but mud huts. Mirzapoor, on the right bank of the Ganges, is the chief market for silk and cotton. Burdwan has iron and coal mines in its neighbourhood. Dacca, once cele- brated for its muslin manufacture, is now fast falling into ruins, in consequence of the introduction of cloths made by power - looms, which are cheaper than the native fabrics. JPumeahj in Bhaugulpoor, is a centre of the indigo trade. Bahar is a centre of the opium, sugar, and cotton trade. Sumbidpoor, in Chota Nagpoor, is celebrated for its diamonds. Juggernaut or Poorie is one of the chief strongholds of Hindoo superstition. Its great pagoda stands among the salt sands of Cuttack on the east coast, and is a beacon to travellers and a great centre of pilgrimage. It was built in 1198, and dedi- cated to Krishna under his title of Juggernaut, or ' Lord of the Universe.' The Bengal Presidency has a population estimated in 1862 at 41,898,608. It is ruled by a lieutenant-governor, aided by a Legislative Council, composed of eight Europeans and three natives. . Since the establishment of peace, an organised police has T 274 BRITISH INDIA. to a great extent taken the place of the regular troops. . , . . The old native army of Bengal was almost entirely trationand broken up during the mutiny, and the European force consists now of 44,916 men. The duty of suppressing riot, guarding life and property, and preserving peace in general, now devolves upon the military police, which is a curious melange of Hindoo Sepoys, Sikhs, Mughs, and hill tribes, numbering about 10,000, and commanded by 40 European officers ; and it speaks something for the power of discipline, that whole regiments of what were only the other day wild, plundering savages, are now placed on the frontiers to keep in check their brethren of the hills. Besides the military, there is a body of Civil Police for the detection of crime, and the village chokeydars or watchmen, who belong to it, have the duty of watching, on an average, forty houses each. Calcutta was made a bishopric in 1814, and the Church of Eeli 'ous England is represented in Bengal by a bishop, arch- Establish- deacon, and chaplains appointed to the different stations in Bengal, the North-West provinces and the Punjaub, besides about 100 missionaries and other clergy- men. Many other Christian denominations have their repre- sentatives and missionaries, but in a less proportion. About 80,000Z. is yearly expended for education in Bengal, that is, the State pays less than a halfpenny a head for educa- tion, while in England the State pays ninepence a head. The educational department is under a Director of Public Instruc- tion, aided by inspectors. Three hundred schools and colleges are supported by Government, and as many more are helped by Government funds, attended jointly by about 40,000 scholars. There are but about ten schools for girls, the Bengalese still opposing female education, and there not being much time for it when, as is often the case, girls are betrothed at four and five years old, and are mothers at thirteen and fourteen. Calcutta has a university which confers degrees, a medical college, and. a college for civil engineering ; the demand for native civil engineers being BOMBAY. 275 much on the increase. At the Madrissa College for Moham- medan youths, and at the Sanscrit College, oriental education is given, English and Persian being added at the Madrissa. The chief learned societies are the Asiatic Society, founded by Sir William Jones in 1784, and containing the forty-eight quarto volumes of ' Transactions ' and l Journals,' which are so invaluable to oriental students ; and the Dalhousie Institu- tion, for general science and literature. Besides which, Bengal has its horticultural societies, photographic societies, geolo- gical museums, mechanics' institutions, political associations, both European and Mohammedan, and various clubs and masonic lodges. At the beginning of the century one single newspaper, published at Calcutta, was for many years the only English journal in India. Bengal had in 1862 about fifty English and fifteen native journals. The East Indian Railway, begun in 1851, has been carried on at the rate of ninety miles a year, and is now nearly completed from Calcutta to Delhi. BOMBAY. In 1684, the western presidency of Surat was transferred to Bombay. Surat, on the river Taptee, the present capital of Gujerat, was an ancient trading port, called by the Moham- medans * one of the Gates of Mecca,' from the number of pilgrims who embarked there on their way to visit the tomb of the Prophet. It was here that in 1615 the English planted one of their first factories on the Indian continent, and Surat and Bantam, in Java, were for long the two chief centres of our commerce in the East. We have seen in the history of Bengal how, by a happy accident, arising from the high repu- tation the English physicians at Surat had gained among the Mohammedan merchants, the settlement at Surat became the means of extending the English territory at Bengal on the opposite side of the peninsula; and when, in 1653, Madras was raised to the rank of presidency for the east coast, Surat was constituted the presidency for the west. Fifteen years afterwards, Charles II., finding his marriage t 2 276 BRITISH INDIA. portion of the island of Bombay more expense than profit, transferred it to the Company, to whom it proved a most valuable acquisition, since Bombay was only 200 miles from Surat — an unusually short distance for our English settlements in those days — and its insular position rendered it a most convenient maritime port. The old Portuguese fortifications were strengthened by the English, houses were built and looms set up ; and according to the stipulation of the king, that their c laws should be consonant to reason,' a system of administra- tion was framed to suit the motley population of English, Hindoos, Germans, Mohammedans, and Parsees that con- gregated there. Nevertheless, Bombay suffered from mutinies and insurrections ; and for the sake of security it was found advisable to transfer to it the seat of government from Surat in 1684. Like Madras, the Presidency of Bombay was made in some sense subordinate to Bengal by the Eegulating Act of 1773, which first appointed a Governor- General to British India. The history of the Presidency was connected much with Mahratta warfare, from the time that Sevajee first attacked the English factory at Surat, until the downfall of the Mahratta nation by the conquest of Poonah, in 1816. By the conquest of Sinde, a large northern territory was added to Bombay, and the adjoining Sattara districts were annexed by Lord Dalhousie in 1843. The Rajah of Sattara had placed himself under British protection, after the defeat of the Mahrattas ; and the failure of male heirs was made by Lord Dalhousie the plea of annexation. The Bombay Presidency consists of two tracts of land bor- Bombay dering on the Arabian Sea, viz. Sinde and Bombay Districts. Proper. Sinde, the most northerly portion, com- prises the lower basin of the Indus ; and Bombay Proper is an irregular strip, extending from Gujerat to North Canara : the whole Presidency lying from south-east to north-west more than 650 miles. The Regulation Districts of Bombay com- prise an area of 74,013 square miles, and are — BOMBAY. 277 Bombay and Colaba Islands Candeish and Town of Bombay Poonah Ahmedabad Ahmedntggar Kalra Sholapoor Broach Kutnagherry SrRAT Belgatjm Tannah or North Concan Dharwar. Not included among these, but under the Bombay Government, are Sinde and the Sattara Jaghires ; and there are territories amounting in all to more than 56,000 square miles, which retain their native rulers, subject to the Bombay jurisdiction; such as Cutch, the dominions of the Guicowar, and many other small states in Gujerat, South Concan, and the South Mahratta country. Bombay Proper is entirely within the tropics, and traversed by the chain of the "Western Ghauts. Between these Bombay mountains and the sea on the western side, the Proper, climate is moist and sultry, and the surface rocky and rugged, except near the Gulf of Bombay, where it becomes flat and marshy. On the eastern side the mountain range supports the table-land of the Deccan, which in Bombay is from 1,000 to 2,000 miles above the sea level. The population is a very various and rapidly -increasing one, owing to the favourable mercantile position of the port of Bombay ; although there are large tracts within the Presidency still uninhabited, and covered with jungle. The Mahrattas largely predominate in Bombay, and Mussulmans are comparatively few. Wild tribes, low castes, Jains or Buddhists, and Jews, bear a large proportion, but the class who have contributed most to the prosperity of Bombay are the Parsees, who by their skill in trade and the mechanical arts, and especially by their reputa- tion for honest dealing, have raised themselves in many cases to the rank of merchant princes, and have added greatly to the wealth of the country. The town of Bombay, the capital of the Presidency, Bombay is situated on a neck of Bombay Island, and was Cit y> so called by the Portuguese on account of the excellent 278 BEITISH INDIA. harbourage afforded there, Bom - Bahai meaning good hay. The harbour, which is the safest in India, is enclosed by a group of small islands — Bombay, Salsette, and Colabba, or Old Wo- man's Island — and seems to have been the only advantage the place possessed, besides its convenient mercantile position; since these rocky and marshy islets in that sultry climate were so unhealthy that European life was said to average there only three years, and the salt soil grew scarcely anything but cocoa-nut trees. The fort is washed by the sea on three sides and encloses the town, which consists mostly of wooden houses with verandahs and sloping tiled roofs, and extensive shops and warehouses. In the north quarter of the fort are the Parsee dwellings, dirty and ill supplied with water. Outside the fort are the houses of the poorer classes, built of clay, and thatched with palmyra leaves. The chief buildings are the Protestant cathedral, Scotch, Portuguese, and Armenian churches, Jews' synagogues, mosques, and Hindoo temples ; the Government and custom-houses, and a large hospital, founded by Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy. Ship - building is extensively carried on at Bombay, since the forests of Malabar and Gujerat afford a ready supply of timber. The docks, although belonging to the British Government, are entirely under the management of Parsees, whose ships are so well built, that their old traders, after many years' service, have been bought by the Government for the navy, as being supe- rior to new-built European vessels. The export trade of the place is chiefly in cotton, received from Gujerat and the Concan, Malabar, Cutch, and Sinde ; also, Persian raw silk, gums, drugs, and spices. Its commerce is principally with Europe and China ; besides which it has a large coasting traffic with all the western ports of India : con- veying to them European manufactures, and the produce of Bengal and China, and receiving, in return from the northern ports, cotton-wool, cloths, timber, oil, and grain ; and from the south, cotton, hemp, timber, pepper, rice, and cocoa - nuts ; which merchandise is, in a great measure, re - exported to BOMBAY. 279 Europe, America, Canton, the Arabian and Persian Gulfs, and the Bay of Bengal. North of Bombay Proper is Gujerat and the Kattywar peninsula; a wild country, at present but little known ; rocky in the interior — which is traversed by the Aravulli mountains — and flat towards the coast ; and for the most part rich and productive, especially in cotton, which is the staple product. Various tribes inhabit this region; Parsees and Mohammedans chiefly in the towns, and in other parts Mahrattas and Eajpoots, and many aboriginal races — such as the Bheels and Coolies, who are supposed to have once been the same people, and the true aborigines of Gujerat; the Koombies, an agricultural tribe ; and the Katties or Cathies, a singular people, without caste, who worship the sun, live under the dominion of priests and bards, and who are supposed to be descended from an ancient people occupying a part of the Punjaub at the time of Alexander's invasion. Baroda is the principal town in Gujerat, and the residence of the Guicowar, or Mahratta chief; a certain Guicowar family having assumed the sovereignty early in the eighteenth cen- tury, and their name having descended as a sort of title. Cutch is a principality, lying between Sinde and Gujerat, and separated from them by an extensive salt morass, Cutch. called the Eunn of Cutch. It is mostly a sandy region, interspersed with rock, where cotton is largely culti- vated and exchanged for the grain of the neighbouring districts. In 1819, an earthquake in this region suddenly raised the country ten feet above its former level, and the raised portion now goes by the name of Ullah Bund, or God's Wall. The country is thinly peopled by Mohammedans, Hindoos, and a tribe of Eajpoots, who follow many Hindoo observances while believing in the Koran, and were so addicted to female infan- ticide, that they had to procure their wives from neighbour- ing tribes. Their ruler is the Eao of Cutch, under British protection. Sinde, or Scinde, annexed by Sir Charles Napier in 1843, is a rich agricultural country, about the size of England 280 BRITISH INDIA. and Wales, lying on both sides of the southern course of the Indus, and extending from the sea to near where that river joins the Chenaub. The climate, differs from the rest of India in the absence of periodical rains, and the great fertility is owing to the inundations of the Indus caused by the melting of the snows in the upper part of its course. The snow-line being 3,000 feet higher in summer than in winter, an immense volume is annually dissolved, which, flowing down, raises the level of the river, and spreads over the land. Sinde is but thinly peopled by Hindoos, Mohammedans, and other religious tribes; and the Sindians generally are a finer race than the Bengalese in the same latitude on the Ganges. Hyderabad, the capital, although fortified, is chiefly a town of mud huts. Tattah was the ancient capital, and Shirkapoor is now the most commercial and populous city. The population of the whole Bombay Presidency at the last Govern- return of 1862 was estimated at 11,939,512. Its ment, &c. legislation, like that of Madras, is vested in a Go- vernor and Council of Europeans and natives, whose measures are subject to the assent or non-assent of the Governor General, or may be disallowed by the Crown. The military strength of the presidency has lately been much reduced. The bishopric of Bombay was founded in 1837. The num- ber of clergy are fifty five. There are various missionaries of other denominations. The chief educational establishments are, the Bombay Uni- versity, Elphinstone College, Grant Medical College, Poona College, Poona Government Law School ; besides engineering and mechanical schools, and numerous common schools, both English and native. In Sinde there are several schools established at Hyderabad, Shirkapoor, and Kurrachee. Newspapers are numerous in the different spoken languages, and even Sinde had in 1862 its four weekly and bi-weekly journals. The railways of the Presidency are, the Bombay, Baroda 3 MADRAS. 281 and Central India Kailway, and the Sinde Railway, from Kurrachee to Hyderabad, opened in 1861. MADRAS. Madras became a presidency in 1653. About thirty years before, a Naig, or local chief, had granted to the English a piece of ground at Armegon, for a factory ; but this was found to be an inconvenient position for the conveyance of the woven goods and muslins which formed the chief export trade of the Coromandel coast, and consequently the factory was removed in 1640 to Madras, sixty miles lower south on the east coast, and Fort George was erected for its defence. Soon afterwards the seat of government for the east coast was transferred here from Bantam in Java ; the great distance of the Bantam settle- ment rendering it ineligible as a commercial centre. Madras, however, remained so insignificant, even after it was raised to the rank of a presidency, that at one period the garrison of the fort consisted of ten soldiers, and the civil establishment of but two factors. Together with Bombay it was long main- tained by the revenues of Bengal, and in 1773 it was first placed to a certain extent under the control of the Governor- General of Bengal ; nevertheless, from the stirring events of which Madras was the centre, it became the most important of the presidencies and the principal scene of British conquest, until the fall of Seringapatam and subjugation of the Mysore under Lord Wellesley in 1799. By successive annexations the Presidency has extended over the whole south portion of the peninsula of India, beginning on the east coast from Ganjam, in the 20th parallel, and stretching across to the western side so as to include Malabar and South Canara. According to the return for 1862, the Presidency is divided into^ eighteen regulation districts and two non-regulation districts, viz. : — Regulation Districts. Madras City Nellore South Canara Madras Bellary Malabar 282 BRITISH INDIA. CrODAVERY KoRTH ArCOT Trichinopoly KlSTNA South Arcot Tanjore KuRNOUL Salem Madura ClJDDAPAH COIMBATOOR TlNNEVELLY. Non-regulation Districts. GrANJAM VlZAGAPATAM. Besides these, there are other large territories, more recently annexed, subject to the jurisdiction of Madras, viz. : — Mysore : — an inland province, larger than Scotland, and forming the highest and most southern part of the table land of the Deccan, now ruled by a British Commissioner — the native Eajah having been deposed in 1832, on the plea of incompetency, and allowed a retiring pension of 35,000/. per annum and a fifth of the revenues of Mysore. Jeypoor and the Hill States of Orissa: — a wild country, mostly covered with thick jungle, to the north of the Godavery, inhabited by half-savage tribes, whose zemindars pay tribute to the British government, and are subject to the Madras authorities. Coorg : — an ancient Hindoo principality to the west of Mysore ; a fertile and wooded mountain region, whose Rajah was dethroned by Lord William Bentinck in 1834, under pretence of some personal accusation brought against him by his own family, and who died, a state prisoner in London in 1859, worn out, it is said, by a law-suit which he had carried on for nine years in the vain hope of recovering a sum of 85,000/., which the Coorg family had invested in the Govern- ment Funds. The two small States of Cochin and Travancore, at the extreme south of India, are ruled by native Rajahs entirely under the control of the English authorities. In climate and surface Madras differs much from Bengal. A large portion is occupied by the mountain ranges of the Eastern and Western Ghauts, which unite about fifty miles north-west of the town of Madras, and thence form the MADRAS. 283 magnificent buttress which supports the table-land of the Deccan. The climate varies with the varying surface ; com- paratively temperate on the highlands ; on the west coast moist, and on the east drier and hotter than in any part of India : the state of the atmosphere causing sometimes glass to crack and wood so to shrink that the nails fall out of doors and furniture. The inhabitants vary much according to the differences of climate ; but the Hindoos of Madras, who are about as twelve to one of the population, are in general a bolder, darker race than those of Bengal : a greater proportion are employed Social in manufactures, and fewer in agriculture. Never- Condition, theless, the natives of Madras have been in a more depressed state, partly owing to the selfish policy of the English in ex- cluding from all posts of honour and profit even the educated and capable among them ; and partly owing to the operation of the Ryotwary system — a plan of assessment devised by Sir Thomas Munroe as an improvement upon the Ze- Ryotwa ry mindary or Permanent Settlement system of Lord System. Cornwallis, but which has had the effect of sweeping away a large section of the native middle class, and of degrading the peasantry. By this system, the ryot or small cultivator paid his rent direct to the state ; the rent being fixed whether crops failed or not. But the Government rent- collectors proved far more rapacious and annoying than the zemindar had been, and it has been found that wherever the country has been deprived of its middle class of landholders, the land has sunk in cultivation, and the peasant in position and comfort. These evils are, however, disappearing. Assessments have been lightened ; and in Tanjore especially, where the old proprietors are still in possession, and the rate is moderate as well as fixed, the country has every sign of prosperity. According to Sir Charles Trevelyan, the late governor, houses and homesteads are well built and the people well clad and fed; high roads, shaded with fruitful trees, sometimes pass for miles through almost a continuous village, and the landlord class 284 BRITISH INDIA. are more like sturdy honest English yeomen than any other in India. In many of the minor principalities, where often a native prince of character and experience has been superseded by some incapable youth of the civil service, the condition of the people has suffered greatly by the change of rule. In Coorg, for instance, a fine, hardy race of mountaineers, cleanly and industrious, became demoralised in every way under the English. i Drunkenness, licentiousness, and lying, ' says a missionary, the Eev. Mr. Maegling, ' have greatly increased during the Company's reign. In former days, the native rulers suppressed drunkenness by summary and violent means ; now the government draws a large revenue from the sale of intoxicating liquors. In times past, the Eajah would now and then cut off a man's tongue or his head for having spoken a falsehood ; in these days, the man who lies most impudently and swears most fearlessly, often gains the cause.' On the other hand, in the far more important territory of Mysore, the people have greatly benefited by English rule. Delivered from their Moslem tyrants, Hyder Ali and Tippoo Saib, by Lord Wellesley, the country was again placed under its native Hindoo rulers and under British protection ; and Colonel Arthur Wellesley, aided by intelligent natives, ef- fected great improvements by encouraging agriculture, making roads, and preserving peace and order. And now, with our more modern appliances, and under the rule of its English commissioner, Mysore is said to be greatly prospering. Since, by the conquest of the Mysore in 1799, South India ceased to be the chief scene of warfare, and agitation was thenceforward transferred to the north - west, Madras has been comparatively quiet, and occupied with its own concerns ; but, although it has been called ' The Sleepy Hollow of India,' it has, in many directions, especially in the means of education and in public works, been in advance of the other presidencies. MADRAS. 285 Chief Towns of Madras. The city of Madras stands on an exposed part of the Coromandel coast, its fortress of Fort George being only a few yards from the sea. The furious surf and strong currents make landing dangerous, and the absence of any harbour renders it a most inconvenient trading port. The principal part of the town is built close to the shore, and is called Black Town, from being inhabited chiefly by natives, and, although it has good streets, is dirty in the extreme, and especially liable to cholera. The houses of the Europeans stand farther back from the beach, and are mostly pleasant detached resi- dences of one story high, surrounded by shady gardens and hedges of bamboo and prickly pear. There is less variety of race here than in Calcutta, although it is supposed to be the most populous city in India, the average density at the last census being 26,666 persons to a square mile. The number of Europeans, besides those employed officially or on the railways, is very small. Madras has a municipal association. Other towns of note in Madras are Calicut, the capital of Malabar, where Vasco -di Gania first touched. Tanjore, known chiefly for its great pagoda or pyramidal Hindoo temple. Arcot, former capital of the Carnatic, memorable from Lord Olive's victory over the Eajah Sahib in 1751. JSfellore, where Roman coins of the second century have been discovered beneath the ruins of a Hindoo temple. Trichinopoly, noted for its hardware, cutlery, jewellery, and cheroots. Chicali, for its muslin manufacture. The Madras Presidency had, in 1862, exclusive of the recently-annexed districts, a population of 23,127,855. It is ruled by a Lieutenant-Governor, aided by a Legis- g. overn . lative Council of Europeans and natives. Here,' as menfc > &c - in Bengal, the army is being reduced, and an organised native police is taking the place of the regular troops. The first English church in India was erected at Fort St. George, by the Governor of Madras, in 1680. The bishopric 286 BRITISH INDIA. of Madras was founded in 1835. The present number of clergy is 141. Madras is the chief station in South India for the Church Missionary Society. The chief educational establishments are the university, Madrissa College, medical and civil engineering colleges, a school of industrial art, with normal and village schools under government inspection. To encourage the farming class, cattle-shows have recently been established, while local news- papers and district printing-presses, botanic gardens, museums, asylums, and dispensaries, are the fruits of peace and a more settled rule. A line of railway has already been opened 410 miles from Madras to Bagpoor. PUNJAUB. The Punjaub, Punjab, or Country of the Five Eivers — an- nexed to British India in 1849, after the second Sikh war under Lord Gough, and until 1861 included in the Presidency of Bengal — is a large triangular region forming the northern plain of the Indus, and extending from the foot of the Hima- layas to the confluence of the Indus with the Chenaub. It is a rice-yielding, well-watered land, for the most part 1,000 feet above the sea-level ; producing wheat far more than enough for its own consumption, and favourable to the growth of the sugar-cane. The five rivers — the Pentapotamia of the Greeks — which drain the land, viz. : the Sutlej, Beas, Eavee, Chenaub and Jhilum, have all classic associations, and the longest of them, the Sutlej, has been made memorable in our own times by the struggle between Sikhs and English, which took place on its banks. Hindoos and Sikhs form the bulk of the population, and Mohammedans predominate in and about Delhi. The Sikhs, so lately our foes, are now peace- able and contented subjects of the British Queen. Under English rule, the country has been divided into ten districts, which in 1862 numbered a population of 14,794,611 ; viz. : — PUNJAUB. 287 Delhi Umritsur Hissar Rawal Plndee Trans- Sttteej States Peshawar Cis-Sutlej States Derajat Lahore Mooltan. Besides these, there are many small states near Delhi, and in the Cis and Trans- Sutlej territories, more or less under the control of the Lieutenant-Governor. Some of the chief- tains, although acknowledged British subjects, hold high rank as all but independent sovereigns. Thus the Eajah of Puttiala, in the Cis-Sutlej state, is a member of the Legislative Council at Calcutta, and takes his seat by order of precedence next to the Governor-General. $Chief Towns. Lahore, capital of the Punjaub, on the river Eavee, came into the hands of the British in 1849, after the final defeat of the Sikhs. It was long the seat of government of the suc- cessive dynasties that have ruled in the Punjaub — Arab, Tartar, and Hindoo- Sikhs. It is still a large town ; its many ancient tombs and mosques with their domes and minarets giving it an imposing appearance from a distance, although otherwise it is meanly built and with narrow streets. Many of the chieftains and nobles belonging to the old Sikh monarchy still reside at Lahore and the neighbourhood, and have become so ambitious of intellectual culture, that although their late great ruler and prince, Eunjeet Sing, was content to keep his royal accounts with a notched stick, they have pe- titioned the Governor-General to found a college at Lahore for the benefit of their children ; and accordingly, an institu- tion has been opened, consisting of a higher school for the sons of those who are eligible for presentation at the Gover- nor's durbar, or ceremonial court, and of a lower school open to all ranks. Delhi, the capital of the province of Delhi, was, according to tradition, founded by Delu 300 years B.C., and once stood on the left bank of the Jumna, covering an area of 20 square miles. The present city was founded by the Mogul Emperor, 288 BRITISH INDIA. Shah. Jehan, the grandson of Akbar, who in 1631 built the Mogul palace, and, among other useful works, excavated a well out of the solid rock, whence, by means of complicated machinery, water was raised from a great depth to a succes- sion of reservoirs, which filled a pond sufficient for the supply of the city. In 1738 Delhi was sacked by Nadir Shah, the Persian invader of Hindostan, who slaughtered 30,000 of its inhabitants, and carried off thirty millions in money, besides all the gold and jewels that could be wrung from the people by torture. The city was from early times a place of con- siderable trade, especially in Cashmere shawls, jewellery, and ivory - carved work, and it remained the residence of the Mogul emperors until 1788, when the town was captured by the Eohillas, a neighbouring tribe, and the Great Mogul was taken prisoner and blinded by one of their chiefs. In 1803, Lord Lake, commander of the Bengal army, took pos- session of Delhi and the territory, rescued and protected the emperor, and assigned him lands for his maintenance. From henceforth the Moguls became merely nominal sovereigns, and under the title of Kings of Delhi were pensioned and protected by the British Government, until the mutiny of 1857-8, when Delhi was besieged, captured, and pillaged by the English, and the last of the kings of the House of Tamer- lane, Mirza Jewan Bakht, was banished to British Burmah, and died at Eangoon, October 11, 1862. Mooltan has been a strongly-fortified place ever since the time of Alexander's invasion, and is now the third city in the Punjaub for commercial importance. It was taken by the British in 1849. Amritsw*, or Umritsur, was the sacred city of the Sikhs, and is now the richest trading city in Northern India, having large manufactures of cottons, shawls, and silks, and an extensive traffic with Central India. The population of the Punjaub in 1862 was about 15,000,000, averaging about 157 to the square mile. In trade and general advancement the Punjaub is said to be punjaub. 289 the most progressive of our recent acquisitions. So late as 1856, seven million quarters of wheat were rotting in the plains for want of the means of transit ; but now the railway has taken the place of the bullock-carts and open boats, and has made an outlet for the produce and merchandise of this rich district. The Punjaub Eailway was opened for traffic in March 1862, and runs through a thickly-peopled fertile Sikh country for 249 miles, thus connecting the great towns of Delhi, Umritsur, Lahore, and Moultan, and joining the river navigation which is to connect the Punjaub with the port of Kurrachee. Education is reported to be making satisfactory progress. The Government schools number 1,982, with an average daily attendance, in 1860, of 42,030 pupils. In the Delhi school, founded by Nawab Fuzl Ali, English is taught, and the instruction is sufficiently liberal to qualify students for University examination. Umritsur also has schools on a liberal plan. A Lieutenant-Governor administers the affairs of the Pun- jaub, and, to the great satisfaction of the native upper classes, many of the Punjaub chiefs have been invested with a share of the jurisdiction in the revenue and magisterial depart- ments. The police of the Punjaub consists of a mounted patrol of 3,400 men, and a well-organised urban force. Guarding as it does our most extensive and dangerous frontier, the Punjaub requires a large military force, and of late the chief strength of our Indian empire has been gravitating towards this pro- . vince. At Simlah, near the eastern boundary, there is a second English court, and a Calcutta in miniature ; and it has been a question whether the seat of supreme government may not ultimately be transferred from the east to this remote district in the north-west. NORTH-WEST PROVINCES. The British regulation districts, called the North- West Pro- vinces, are a semicircular region of precisely the area of the u 290 BRITISH INDIA. United Kingdom, extending from the Punjaub to the Bengal Presidency, and including the country of the Doab, which lies between the rivers Ganges and Jumna, and some other districts watered by these streams. These provinces were formerly part of the Bengal Presidency, and were sometimes called the Sub- Presidency of Agra ; but in 1861 they were erected into a separate presidency under a Lieutenant-Governor. They are divided into the five districts of Meerut, Eohilcund, Agra, Allahabad, and Benares, a densely-peopled region of about 418 persons to the square mile, and in which the Hindoos are as six to one of the Mohammedans and other classes. Besides these Provinces there are non-regulation districts under the same government : some, as Kumaon, at the foot of the Himalayas ; others, such as Ajmeer, Jubbulpoor, and Nemaur, in Central India. Chief Towns. The seat of government is Agra, once capital of the Mogul Empire, and taken by the English in the Mahratta war of 1803. It contains the beautiful mausoleum of Shah Jehan, the Taj Mahal, built of white marble and inlaid with gems, which is said to have employed 20,000 men for twenty-two years to erect. Benares is a large city on the Ganges, from earliest times the holy city of the Hindoos, and still considered by them the most sacred place in the world. It is now a busy commercial town, the residence of many rich diamond dealers and native bankers. Allahabad is another of the sacred cities of the Hindoos. It stands at the confluence of the Ganges and Jumna, and is said to be visited annually by as many as 200,000 pilgrims. It is a principal military depot of the English, and it was proposed after the mutinies to transfer to this town the seat of government. Meerut is the head-quarters of the Bengal Artillery, and is terribly memorable as the scene of the first outbreak of the mutiny of 1857. OUDE. 291 Hitherto (Eeport of 1860, 1861), none of the native chiefs in the North-West Provinces have been allowed a share in the administration, or have had any post of honour conceded to them ; which want of liberality, the Lieutenant-Governor con- siders, has placed the Provinces in a far worse position than Oude and the Punjaub, where a more generous policy towards the natives has been adopted with the greatest success. With respect to education, the Provinces contain about 10,000 Government schools, and more than 6,000 schools managed by natives, who, the Eeport states, seem anxious to secure to their children the means of learning English. Several of the large towns, Benares, Agra, and others, have colleges where students are prepared for the Calcutta University. The constabulary of the North-West Provinces consists of 23,000 men, that is, an average of three policemen to a square mile. OUDE. The kingdom of Oude lies to the north of the Ganges, and is encircled by the North-West Provinces, excepting on the north side, where it is bounded by Nepaul. It is a healthy, fertile district, rather larger than Scotland, and forms part of the great Gangetic plain. Oude was formerly a soubah, or subordinate province of the Mogul Empire, but by different treaties between its viziers and the East India Company, it became a British dependency, and retained only a nominal allegiance to the Emperor; this allegiance was renounced in 1819, and its reigning prince assumed the title of King of Oude. In 1856, the last King of Oude, Wagid Ali, was deposed by Lord Dalhousie, on account of his incapacity for governing, and his kingdom was annexed to Britain. The rebellion followed quickly upon this annexa- tion, and Oude became a frightful scene of Hindoo retaliation. Happily, those days of carnage and horror have now given place to a time of peace, in which a contented recognition of British rule is accompanied with much material benefit to the country. Oude is divided into the districts of Baraitch, Lucknow, 172 292 BRITISH INDIA. Khyrabad, and Bainswarra. It has a population of about 8.000,000, or about 282 to the square mile ; in which Hindoos largely predominate. Chief Towns. The former capital of Oude was the town of Oude, believed to be the most ancient city in India, having been founded about 2,000 years before Christ. The Hindoos regard it as a sacred city, and as the birth-place of their god Eamah. Lucknow, the present capital, is a large and populous city, extending four miles on the bank of the river Goomtie. It became a royal residence in 1775, and, after the deposition of the king by Lord Dalhousie, it was here that the keenest ven- geance was ready to manifest itself, after the outbreak of the mutiny, against the English, who had abolished the court upon which much of the trade of the place depended, degraded their native nobility, and loaded the citizens with taxes. And here it was that, in the fatal summer of 1857, the British garrison held its own for three months in the midst of a hostile popu- lation of about 1,000,000 in the town itself, of whom nearly half were soldiers or armed citizens. In the defence of the garrison, and subsequent capture of this place, Sir Henry Law- rence, General Havelock, Captain William Peel, and Major Hodson lost their lives, and to Sir Colin Campbell (Lord Clyde) belongs the glory of relieving Lucknow, and of finally sub- jugating it in March 1858. Cawnpore, about thirty miles south of Lucknow, also on the river bank, has become known to us chiefly through the horrors of the war, and its name is one from which English- men recoil with loathing, since, unlike Lucknow, it is less associated with heroic deeds than with the murder and agonies of the defenceless. Cawnpore was made a station for British subsidiary troops in 1775, who were maintained at the expense of the Oude Govern- ment. In the June of 1857 the native troops attacked their English officers, who, with their families, took refuge in two long barracks, which stood exposed on all sides in the midst oude. 293 of an extensive plain. Here for three weeks the assailants, headed by Nana Sahib, were kept at bay. This Nana Sahib was a native chief, who had been disappointed as to the con- tinuance of a pension by the English Government, and who was thus secretly our enemy, although so trusted by the Eng- lish authorities that they had placed him in charge of the local treasury. The miseries of that siege — in the midst of a summer heat so intense that it has been said muskets exploded of themselves, with no water except what could be drawn from an exposed well at the cost of many lives, with food none but flour and split peas, and horses and dogs procured by sallies of the garrison — ended by General Wheeler being induced to surrender, on the Nana's promise of safe conveyance of the besieged to Allahabad. As soon, however, as the boats were filled with the English, the troops of Nana Sahib fired upon them from the banks ; all the men were shot or drowned, and what women and children remained were carried off to a place of confinement, called the Sevada Kothee. The Sepoy guards of this place were ordered to fire upon them, but re- fused with horror ; whereupon an abandoned woman, who had influence with the Nana, enticed a few butchers and vil- lagers to do the fiendish work. Those widowed ladies and their children were all hewn to pieces, and their bodies thrown into a well. Over this well British soldiers have since erected a tablet to their memory. But this deed of blood, although the act of a single traitor and his wretched accomplices, became the signal for far more extensive deeds of blood on the part of the English, at which our nation ought to blush. The cry of ' the ladies and the babies ! ' was one of the watchwords which roused English soldiers to a retaliation which was nothing else than wholesale butchery ; Sepoys by thousands were wantonly hung, shot down, or blown from cannon, until the very executioners were disgusted with their office ; and even our soldiers were urged not to be too scrupulous in re- venging upon the women and children of India the wrongs of our countrywomen at Cawnpore. 294 BRITISH INDIA. After the restoration of peace in 1859-60, the British Go- Govern- vernment resumed the administration in Oude, which ment, &c. j^d been interrupted by the mutiny and war, and the first acts of the Queen's Viceroy, Lord Canning, were judicious and conciliatory. He held a Court, or Durbar, at which were present the chief talookdars, or native landowners of Oude, and distributed to them title-deeds of their estates, which confirmed to them their old landed rights, of which they had been deprived by the British Commissioners ; and at the same time he invested each talookdar with the function of a magistrate on his own estate, and so made them co-operators with the English authorities in the promotion of social order and improvement. Thus, c in Oude, for the first time in Anglo- Indian history,' says Mr. Martin,* in quoting from the Eeport of the Oude Commissioner for 1860, ' the administration is con- ducted on the great principle of recognising a powerful landed aristocracy as an important element of national prosperity. The conduct of the new magistrates has been almost without excep- tion exemplary, and this is no doubt attributable in a great de- gree to their having been treated with friendliness and confidence instead of with jealousy and distrust. The relations between the native aristocracy and the servants of Government are here on a freer and kindlier footing than in most parts of India.' The same right principle has been applied to the re-for- mation of the police system in Oude. From early times each village had its own rural police, its chokeydars, or watchmen, whose office was hereditary, and who patrolled the village night and day, and guarded the outlying crops. When the English came into possession, the chokeydars were deposed, and a well-salaried government official was placed over several villages together ; but he performed his office so ill that petty theft and other minor offences became vastly on the increase. The Government has now had the good sense to reinstate the old chokeydars, who are, as formerly, appointed and maintained by the talookdars. * British India, p. 182. CENTRAL PROVINCES. 295 The means adopted to introduce the Christian religion into Oude have been less judicious, since in Lucknow itself an Episcopalian church has been built in the heart of a Moham- medan population, and paid for by heavy fines imposed upon the conquered people, whose king we have supplanted. Good schools have been established in several of the towns, and a large college, the Martiniere, for the children of the aristocracy ; besides which horticultural gardens and cattle markets have been opened, and every inducement held out to the talookdars to cultivate cotton and other staples of agriculture. CENTRAL PROVINCES. The Central Provinces, lately placed under the separate rule of a Chief Commissioner, consist of Berar or Nagpore, and the Saugor and Nerbudda territories ; a large inland region of elevated, well-drained land, about equally dis- tant from Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, and one of the most healthy and fertile portions of India. Here are the famous black-soil districts so favourable to the growth of cotton. The soil is formed by the decomposition of trap- rock and basalt, and sometimes, as in North Berar, is 120 feet deep, and composed of a sort of adhesive mud, which has such an extraordinary attraction for water that it needs no irrigation. Nagpore was formerly included in the Berar province ; but a large portion of Berar was transferred to the Nizam of Hyderabad at the close of the Mahratta war, and the rajahs of the remaining part were called Maharajahs of Nagpore. The Berar districts being much desired by the Company on account of their cotton fields, Lord Dalhousie persuaded the Nizam into a temporary cession of them in 1853 in return for certain privileges. The temporary cession has been made a permanent one, and Nagpore was also annexed by Lord Dalhousie in 1854 on the plea of ' lapse of legal heirs.' The population are mostly Hindoos and aboriginal Ghonds, with a few Mohammedans, The capital, Nagpore {City of 296 BRITISH INDIA. Serpents), is a straggling town, about seven miles in circum- ference ; but contains silk and cotton manufactories, and has a large transit trade. The country, it is said, is now first beginning, after years of neglect, to nourish under good government. BRITISH BURMAH. British Burmah consists of the three provinces of Arracan, Pegu, and Tenasserim ; extending along the east coast of the Bay of Bengal for 900 miles, and having an area rather larger than Great Britain, and a scanty population of nearly 2,000,000. Arracan and Tenasserim were ceded to England by the King of Ava at the close of the first Burmese war under Lord Amherst in 1827, and Pegu was annexed by Lord Dalhousie after the second Burmese war in 1852. The Pro- vinces have been since united into a separate State under a Lieutenant-Governor. The country, watered by the Irawaddy, is abundant in rice and timber, cutch and petroleum, all which produce is exported largely from its three harbours of Eangoon, Moul- mein, and Akyab. At present it has the disadvantage of possessing no proper boundary, and of being exposed to con- stant attack from marauders in the hilly districts of the east ; and probably this is the only part of India where further con- quest may be achieved with advantage, until the wh5le of Burmah becomes English soil. In the natives of British Burmah, the English have first come into contact with the Indo-Chinese race and Buddhist faith. The bulk of the population are the Burmese, who appear to be an originally Chinese people changed from the pure type by intermarriage with the Hindoo mountain tribes. The Chinese themselves have settled here in great numbers, and carry on a brisk trade in Eangoon. There are more English settlers on the coast in proportion to the population than in any other part of India, except the presidency towns. Under its present rule, British Burmah is, next to the Pun- jaub, the most progressive of the non-regulation provinces. BRITISH BURMAH. 297 The Burmese in general are better educated than any other Asiatic race, being trained in the Buddhist monasteries, each of which has a school attached. They assimilate better with the European than the Hindustani races — are less cringing and more English in their habits. Christian education is in the hands of missionaries, who have been chiefly successful among the Karens, a wild race in the mountain districts, many thousands of whom have been civilised and converted, and who even support their Christian teachers, send their children to school, and take the temperance pledge. The capital of Rangoon extends for about two miles on the left bank of the Irawaddy, and is regularly laid out CMef in streets, the principal one being named after Lord Town. Dalhousie, the founder of the town. When first taken by the English, Rangoon was little more than a collection of wood huts thatched with leaves, and, in consequence of the readiness with which these huts catch fire, the town has been burnt down and rebuilt more than once since its occupation by the British, so that at last an order has been issued prohibiting the erection of any more wooden houses. About two miles from the Custom-house wharf is the small wooden house where the last of the Moguls, a bed-ridden old man, ended his troubled life. In the neighbourhood of the capital, pine-apple plantations cover hundreds of acres, unenclosed by any fence, since the fruit is too cheap to be worth stealing. But the glory of Rangoon is the great Shwe Dagon Pagoda, which stands about two miles from the town, and is one of the most celebrated objects of worship in all the Indo-Chinese countries. It is an enormous conical pyramid 820 feet high, partially gilt, with a rim round the base, and ascending in a slightly curved outline to the Tsein-phoo, or Dia?nond-bud, at the top. The Bhuddists believe it to have been built over the relics of the last Bhudd, the sage Gaudama, and among the relics are four hairs from his head. The date assigned to its foundation is 588 b. c. ; but it has gradually been enlarged by successive layers, marking different periods. 298 BRITISH INDIA. PROTECTED NATIVE STATES. No very precise information has hitherto been furnished respecting these States, which are ruled by native princes and chieftains, under the political supremacy and protection of the British Government, and which are estimated to contain a population of about 40,000,000. The States have been enumerated as follows : — NAME LOCALITY GrWALIOR ♦ . -\ Allee Mohtjn, and other small' States ." f Central India " Bhopal . . . . . ,J Rajpoot States, 15 in number . . Bajpootana. Dhar Malwa. _ ■.■-,! o., f Sauqor and Nerbudda Rewah, and 5 other States . . | Territory. Bttndelctjnd States, 32 . . . . Bundelcund. Dholpoor Near Chumbul River. Bhurtpoor Near Agra. Rampoor ....... Rohilcund. Cashmeer North of Punjaub. Nepatjl and Sikhim North of Bengal. Cooch Behar, Cossya, and G- arrow Hells N.E. of Bengal. Tipperah North of Chittagong. Hyderabad The Beccan. *Cl t ttack Mahals, &c Orissa. The whole area of British India is about 1,500,000 square miles. It extends about 1,800 miles from the north-east extremity of the Punjaub to Cape Comorin; and about 1,900 miles from Kurrachee at the mouth of the Indus, to Rangoon at the mouth of the Irawaddy ; and has a coast-line of nearly 4,500 miles. * Martin's British India. 299 CHAPTEE VI. GOVERNMENT, &C. The local government of British India, since 1859, has been vested in a Governor-G eneral or Viceroy of India, and G. overn _ Legislative Council, resident at Calcutta; and the ment - general administration in a Secretary of State for India, with a council of fifteen members, nominated by the Crown, in London. The Governor- General is appointed by the Crown ; his term of office is about six years ; his salary, 25,000/. per annum, with a palace and establishment at Calcutta. The Legislative Council, first brought into operation by Lord Canning in 1862, is composed of European and native gentlemen ; salary of each member being 5,000Z. per annum. They are nominated by the Governor- General for a term of two years. The Governors of Madras and Bombay, and Lieutenant- Governors of the other large provinces, are appointed by the Crown, and are empowered to nominate ^each their own Legis- lative Council : such assemblies being under regulations similar to those of the Supreme Council at Calcutta. It belongs to the duty of the Governor to make occasional official tours through his province ; to hold Durbars, or cere- monial courts for the presentation of natives of distinction, to inspect public works, visit schools, gaols, and other Government institutions, and to exercise a general supervision over all Government functionaries. The higher departments of the Government service are conducted by Europeans, who constitute what is called the Covenanted Civil Service, comprising about 800 members, at salaries from 300/. to 8,000/. per annum. These offices, which used to be monopolised by a few families belonging to the Company, are now open to all Her Majesty's natural-born subjects above eighteen and under twenty-three years old, l of 300 BBITISH INDIA. sound health and good moral character;' elections being decided by public examinations in English composition and literature, the Hindustani language and literature, Sanscrit and Arabic, natural and moral sciences, &c. There is also an l Uncovenanted Civil Service,' numbering many thousand members, who are not subject to the same rigid examination, and who consist of both natives and Europeans. The total revenue of India is (1863) 45,000,000Z. It is reckoned to be 60 per cent, more than it was ten years ago. The largest source of revenue is from land assessment ; other chief sources are, taxes on liquors, drugs, &c, customs, salt, opium, stamps, post-office, taxes on houses and trades. The average pressure of taxation is less than four-and-sixpence a head. The estimated population of India, according to the infor- mation received in London, March 1862, from the Calcutta Government, is about 156,000,000 British subjects, and about 40,000,000 under native rulers in the protected States ; thus making a total of nearly 200,000,000 people under British control. In 1862, the European army in India numbered 73,586, and the regular native troops 120,000. The chief strength of the army is now on the north-west fron- tier. The cost of the European force was about 8,000, 000Z. per annum. The annual cost of a European soldier in India is estimated at 110Z. ; that of a Sepoy, 10Z. Sikhs now form a large proportion of the native army. There is no State Church in India. Episcopalianism is the prevailing form of Christianity, but other sects are Ctoche" 1 equally protected by Government. Hindoo worship is subject to no restrictions, except in the cases of suttees, or human sacrifices, and other practices abhorrent to humanity. The number of nominal Christians is 106,000. Of these, Southern India contains above 80,000, most of whom are descendants of converts made in the last century by Schwartz and other zealous missionaries. There are now 420 GOVERNMENT. 301 European missionaries and 150 ordained native ministers in India connected with Protestant societies. English civilisation has made itself especially visible in the construction of roads in India, some of which are _, „ 7 . Railways, more than a thousand miles long. Eailways are Telegraphs, now taking their place. There are now (1863) 2,528 miles of railway open, and, by another year, the great triangular railway connecting Madras with Bombay, Bombay with Delhi, and Delhi with Calcutta, it is expected, will be completed. The telegraphic system extends over 11,000 miles, and 150 telegraphic offices are open. India has one General Post Office, and about 1,000 post offices and agencies. The postage of a single letter is lower than in any other country, being half an anna — less than a penny. 302 CHAPTER VII. CEYLON. Few spots upon the face of the earth have been the mark of such general admiration as the beautiful tropical island of Ceylon — that ' pearl upon the brow of India,' as the Hindoo poets call it. The various names which it has borne at dif- ferent periods show the extent to which the island has been known by the nations of the earth. Its native name was Sinhala (dwelling of lions), whence its present name of Ceylon ; to the Greeks and Eomans it was Taprobane (copper- coloured), to the Brahmins, Lanka (resplendent), to the Arabs Serendib, and to the Portuguese Selan. The first accounts of the island were brought to Europe by Onesicritus, Alexander's general, who commanded an explor- ing expedition from the Indus to the Persian Gulf; but from times far more remote than this, Ceylon appears to have formed the point where the merchants of the Eed Sea and Persian Gulf, meeting those of China and the Oriental Archi- pelago, effected the exchange of commodities between the East and the West. It is tolerably certain that Point de Galle, on the south-west, was the Tarshish of the Scriptures which supplied the Phoenicians with 'gold and silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks ; ' these three last being found in the island in great abundance, and the names by which they are designated in the Bible being identical with the native Tamil names which they bear at the present day. In ancient) records Ceylon is famous as a centre of trade to the Arabs and Eomans, of pilgrims' visits to the Chinese and Burmese, of geographical curiosity to mediaeval voyagers, before the series of adventurous expeditions began on the part of almost every civilised European nation, which ended with the settlements, first of the Portuguese, and finally of our own countrymen. NATUKAL FEATUKES OF CEYLON. 303 To the British Empire, with its present extent of colonies, the value of its central position remains as great as formerly to the world in general, since it is evidently adapted for the junction of telegraphic and commercial intercourse between the Red Sea, the Indian provinces, the Eastern Straits, and Australasia. Until lately it has been taken for granted that Ceylon was a geological continuation of the continent of India, structure of Between the island of Manaar, close to the north-west the Island ' coast of Ceylon, and the island of Rameseram, adjacent to India, there is a barrier or causeway, named Adam's Bridge, which crosses the whole channel in such a manner as to leave no means of transit between Palk's Bay on the right and the Gulf of Manaar, except the narrow passage of Paumbam, next to India ; and this passage is of such shallow and varying depth (being at present only 10 feet), as naturally to suggest the idea, also favoured by the traditions of the natives, that Ceylon has been rendered separate only by some violent natural convulsion. But the result of examination has been to show a contrary fact, highly corroborated by the very distinct character of both vegetable and animal species from those in India. It appears that the barrier of Adam's Bridge, although now existing as a sharpened ridge of parallel ledges of conglomerate and sandstone, where it has risen above the surface of the sea, rests beneath only upon a bank of soft sand, of the same character as the drifts that are heaped along the shore, consisting of alluvial deposits brought down by the impetuous current setting in southwards the greater part of the year from the Coromandel coast, arrested by the coral reefs at Point Pedro, and thence spreading till they accumulate at the ridge, where they are stopped by the oppo- site current. According to this geological correction, although Ceylon, in its present configuration, shaped like a pear, appears to hang from India by this barrier as its stalk, the true notion of it is as an originally circular mountainous region, of gneiss forma- tion, rising into peaks about 8,000 feet above the sea, of which Adam's Peak is the most famous : which region, having been 304 POSSESSIONS IN ASIA. heaved up by volcanic action out of the sea, has thence ex- tended itself, partly by the disintegration and diffusion of its own substance, and partly by the coral growths and alluvial accretions which now form the maritime belt of lowlands ; shelving out gradually on the north and north-west, but on the eastern coast worn into a bold and occasionally rocky line, by the current that sweeps round it from the Bay of Bengal. Successive layers of soil, composed of agglutinated sand in which marine shells are thickly imbedded, show that the land has been for ages, and probably still is, rising slowly out of the sea. Immediately inland from Point de Galle, the sur- face-soil rests on a stratum of decomposing coral ; and farther north at Madampe, the shells of pearl oysters and other bivalves are turned up by the plough more than ten miles from the sea. The minerals of Ceylon are iron, tin, copper, lead, quick- silver, nitre, plumbago, salt, and coal. The extreme length of Ceylon, from Point Pedro to Dondera Head, is 271-^- miles ; its greatest width, from Colombo to Sangemankande, 137J, making an area of 25,742 miles, or about one-sixth smaller than Ireland. Yet within this small compass there is a remarkable variety of climate. The heat consequent upon a latitude of from only 6 J — 9° N. of the equator, is modified by the action of two monsoons. The north-east monsoon, setting strongly from the Coromandel coast from November till February, varies by its refreshing cool- ness the hot and dry climate of the eastern side of the island, and especially of the northern peninsula of Jaffna, which has. a mean temperature of 90°. The south-west of the island, on the other hand, being subject to the monsoon that from April to September brings with it the humid vapours of the Indian Ocean, has a climate moist and enervating, and similar to that of the coast of Malabar. Just before the arrival of this monsoon, the heat in these lowlands becomes oppressive to a degree that is almost intolerable to Europeans. The flat ground opens in chinks, verdure dries up, and the hollows are filled with a floating mirage. And then, with the approach of TANKS OF CEYLON. 305 the monsoon, ushered in by overcast skies and rising banks of clouds, come terrific storms, whose overpowering grandeur can scarcely be conceived by the imagination. With sudden lightnings that flash among the hills, and sheet over the sea, and an explosion of crushing thunder, the monsoon bursts upon the thirsty land, not in showers or partial torrents, but in a wide deluge, that in the course of a few hours overtops the river banks, and spreads its inundations over every level plain.* But the part of the island where the climate is truly delicious is the country of the hills, the invaluable resource for Euro- peans, and now of easy access to them, since a practicable road has been opened, originally designed for military purposes, between Colombo and Kandy, by Sir Edward Barnes, in 1820. In this glorious region, where the grandeur of Alpine scenery is enhanced by the gorgeousness of tropical vegetation, there is found an invigorating freshness of atmosphere, that is said to have a magical effect in restoring constitutions enfeebled by the oppressiveness of life in the lowlands. Even in the latter, moreover, there has been found so great a sanitary effect from cultivation, that it is believed, when draining and clearing from jungle have been sufficiently carried out, the island gene- rally will be as healthy as England. At Colombo, Europeans sometimes live to the age of 100. Under these conditions of soil and climate, the great problem of existence to the inhabitants of Ceylon lies in the . Tanks. equalization of their supply of water, distributed by nature in a mode so capricious, that while on one side of the island, or even on one side of a mountain, the care required is to guard against inundations, on the other it is to hoard and distribute the remaining store of water which they have pre- served. For this purpose has been the construction of those enormous tanks, whose remains still attest the wonderful per- severance, if not the mechanical skill, of the ancient Singhalese. One of these tanks, now in ruins at Horra-bora, is thus * See Sir J. Emerson Tennent's Ceylon. X 306 POSSESSIONS IN ASIA. described : * — i It is a stupendous work ; a stream flowing between the spurs of two hills, about 3 or 4 miles apart, has been intercepted by an artificial dam drawn across the valley where the hills approach, and the water thus confined is thrown back till it forms a lake, 8 or 10 miles long, by 3 or 4 wide, exclusive of narrow branches running behind spurs of the hills. The embankment is from 50 to 70 feet high, and about 200 feet broad at the base. In order to form the sluices, they had the resolution to hollow out channels in the solid rock.' Still more astonishing, however, is the Kalaweva tank, between Anarajapoora and Dambool, taken by Pliny for a lake, 40 miles in circumference, with an embankment 12 miles in ex- tent. These monstrous contrivances for artificial irrigation, as well as similar works of art for fortification and religious pur- poses, akin in their character to the Egyptian pyramids, appear to have had the same source ; namely, the employment of the hordes of a subjugated race, who were in the power of the conquering invaders. Ceylon is singularly rich in its vegetation, which more re- sembles that of the Eastern archipelago than of India. For instance, the nutmeg, which cannot be cultivated in Bengal, is here one of the exports. Timber, dye-woods, tobacco, rice and pepper, grow abundantly, but the most pro- fitable growth to the natives are the cocoa-nut trees, which they say will not grow out of the sound of the human voice, and every part of which, fruit, leaves, sap, and stem, is all turned to account. Many thousand acres of these trees have been planted artificially, besides the native groves of them, and crushing-mills have lately been set up for pressing oil from the nuts. Chief among the cocoa-palms is the majestic talissat, 100 feet high, each leaf a semicircle of about 16 feet diameter ; and among the palm tribe are the areka, or betel-nut, con- stantly chewed by the natives, and the palmyra palm, yielding palm wine. In the north is the satin-wood tree, or Ceylon oak, the tamarind, and ebony. South and westward the * Tennent's Ceylon, vol. ii. p. 430. ANIMALS OF CEYLON. 307 timber is larger and foliage darker, from the greater moisture, and here are brilliant flowering shrubs, and the cinnamon, with its polished leaves. On the east, peaches and other European fruits grow freely ; on the hills are the rhododendrons and tree- ferns, and lower down the banyans and figs, and the Ficus Re- ligiosa, or sacred. Bo-tree of the Buddhists, planted close to every temple ; one specimen of which is the oldest historical tree in the world, and the planting of it, 288 years before Christ, forms an epoch in the national chronicles. The animals of Ceylon bear a general resemblance to those of Southern India ? with some remarkable excep- tions. Thus the majestic Gaur, which inhabits the great forests of India, from Cape Comorin to the Himalaya, the tiger and wolf, the hysena and cheetah of Hindostan, are here unknown, and although deer of various kinds are abundant, for instance, the elk and fallow deer, neither the antelope nor gazelle are to be found. Monkeys are very numerous ; but there is the greatest difference between the vicious and repul- sive monkey of India and the graceful wanderoo of Ceylon. Squirrels and bats abound. Elephants inhabit chiefly the forests of the north and eastern provinces, and are very nu- merous. Bears, leopards, jackals, and mongrel dogs, of Euro- pean descent, are the chief animals of the savage kind. The myriads of birds and waterfowl make one of the marvels of the island. The multitudes of peafowl in the jungle hap- pily keep down the serpents, which, together with mosquitos, ticks, and, above all, land leeches, are the pests of the country. But the strangest phenomena are those fresh-water fish which in Ceylon and some other tropical regions have the sin- gular habit of hiding themselves in the earth in the dry season, and waiting there in a torpid state until the return of the mon- soons renews the streams. It is supposed that they bury themselves in the mud of the rice-fields upon the approach of the dry season, and become torpid with the heat, as other ani^ mals do with cold, while the earth hardens around them. The natives are quite accustomed to dig for fish in certain parts of x2 308 POSSESSIONS IN ASIA. the island, and it is singular that the fish they turn up are invariably full grown.* The early history of Ceylon is gathered from chronicles of History of feared Buddhists, drawn up by royal command, Settlement. an d f great antiquity. The original inhabitants ap- pear to have been a simple race of foresters, probably demon- worshippers, a branch of the same stock which first peopled the Deccan, and belonging to the lowest human type; the descendants of whom are the existing outcast tribes of Rodiyas and Veddas. In 543 B.C. a Hindu adventurer, Wijazo, with a band of Bengalese, made a descent on the island, and this superior race eventually drove the aborigines into the fastnesses of the Kandyan hills, and formed petty kingdoms in various parts of the country. In 307 B.C. one of their kings was con- verted by the prophet Mahindo to the Buddhist faith, and thenceforth Buddhism became the dominant religion, and throve upon the soil of Ceylon more than in any other country to which it extended. The Singhalese kings seem to have vied with each other in Singhalese tw0 things — the construction of the gigantic tanks Kings, already described, and the erection of temples to the honour of Buddha. The remains, in various places, of hol- lowed rock-temples ; of dagohas, or bell-shaped edifices on an enormous scale, designed for the enshrining of relics ; and of wiharas, or monasteries, attest the magnificence with which the worship was carried on. As specimens of these may be men- tioned the caves of Mihintala; the Ruanivelli dagoba, 270 feet high, erected in the second century B.C., in the ancient capital of Anarajapoora; and the Brazen Palace, in the same place, with its 1,000 chambers, supported upon what has been aptly called a ' world of columns.' In 207 B.C., the island began to suffer from the invasion of Malabars from the opposite mainland, and the Singhalese kings retired gradually before these new usurpers, until, by the end of the sixth century, the Malabars established themselves in * Sir Emerson Tennent's Ceylon. SETTLEMENT OF CEYLON. 309 Ceylon, leaving little else than a nominal rule to the Singhalese kings. Meantime, another foreign race was becoming power- ful upon the coasts: the chief occupations of the people in the interior being the culture of rice and their religious rites, all the trade of the island was left to the Arabs or Moors, who exchanged the ivory and gems of Ceylon for foreign pro-' duce ; and these Moors increased so much in wealth and numbers, that probably Ceylon would have fallen under Islam sway if it had not been for the coming of the Portuguese in a.d. 1505. It was by accident that the Portuguese discovered the island. The Portuguese Viceroy of India despatched his son „ ± . J ■ i -i ■ Portuguese with a fleet to intercept the Moors with their cargoes Settlement, of spices from the Eastern Islands, and wandering in unknown seas, he was driven by a current into the harbour of Galle, where he found Moorish ships loading with elephants and cinnamon. He planted a cross on the shore, but the Moors prevented his gaining any footing in the island. Twelve years afterwards, however, w T hen the country was torn by internal wars, the Singhalese king purchased the military aid of the Portuguese for an annual tribute of 250,000 lbs. of cinnamon. Forthwith the Portuguese built a strong fort on the rocky beach of Colombo, and gradually subjected the whole of the maritime districts ; they joined in the contests of the interior, destroying native villages and Buddhist temples, until, in 1597, the native dominion was so weakened that the Emperor of Ceylon, on his deathbed, bequeathed his dominions to Pliilip II., and the Portuguese thus gained possession of the whole island, with the exception of Jaffna and Kandy, which still remained the capitals of independent states. The title of Don is still borne proudly by the descendants of many of the Singhalese, who were nominally converted to Christianity at this period, and received the title at their baptism. The Portuguese held possession 150 years, but their rule was marked by oppression and the most selfish ^ ll ^ h policy. For the benefit of the natives, they preached i602. Christ, sword in hand, and for their own benefit they kept 310 POSSESSIONS IN ASIA. up the price of cinnamon by annually burning all that was not wanted for their own trade; so that when the Dutch made their appearance as traders in Ceylon, in 1602, the King of Kandy joined in alliance with them, and after a fifty years' struggle, the Portuguese were expelled, and the Dutch remained masters of the sea-bord, and held a pacific though selfish sway over the island, until the invasion of the English in 1782. During the war with the French in India, the possession of ■ ,. , Ceylon had become a desideratum as a harbour of English n n i Settlement, refuge for our troops ; and since Holland at that 1782 • . time was joined with revolutionary France and Spain in 'the league of nations' against England, General Stuart, by order of the Government, attacked the Dutch in Ceylon, and wrested from them the sea-coast and the fortresses of Trinco- malee, Jaffhapatam, Colombo, and Galle ; which territory was ceded to the East India Company, and appended to the Madras Presidency. The Company's officials, however, excited the natives to revolt by their spirit of plunder and exaction, and Ceylon was therefore transferred to the Crown in 1798, and the Hon. F. North was sent out as first Governor. In 1815, the King of Kandy became so hateful to his sub- jects from his atrocious cruelties — such as compelling the wife of his prime minister to pound to death her own children in a mortar — that, at the invitation of the Kandian chiefs, the British joined them in dethroning him, and took possession of the whole island in 1815, and have retained it ever since. At first, both natives and British were joined in the administra- tion ; but a rebellion, which was crushed in a few months, having broken out against the English authority, the island was finally reduced to the rank of a British province, and all offices were henceforth filled by Englishmen. The period since 1815 has been peaceful, and has been devoted by the successive governors to the improvement of the country. Domestic slavery has been abolished, religious freedom secured, commerce encouraged, trading monopolies extinguished, and a legislative council established. Roads CEYLON. 311 have been made, and railways are projected, and the electric telegraph, connecting India with Ceylon, now pierces the dense forests and tangled scrub — apparently to the satisfaction of troops of monkeys, which may often be seen swinging on the wires, while the elephants approve highly of the posts for rubbing their heavy sides against. Ceylon is divided into five provinces : Eastern, Western, Northern, Southern, and Central ; these again are p resent divided into districts. Condition. The chief towns are — Colombo, the capital; Kandy, the former capital ; Point de Galle, the chief port ; Calpentyn, Caltura, Jaffnapatam, Newerra Ellia, and Trincomalee, which last will probably be chosen as the future capital and seat of government. The population numbered at the last census 1,876,000. The native Singhalese compose the great body of the people, and chiefly inhabit Kandy and the south and west coast; Malabars or Tamils occupy the north and east and peninsula of Jaffnapatam. The Veddahs, or aborigines, dwell in an almost savage state, without habitations or clothing, in the most inaccessible parts of the interior, and in the great forests to the east and north. Moors are dispersed in all the districts, and there is a small proportion of negroes, Malays, and Chinese. The Europeans are about 5,000 ; but there is a mixed race of white and native, called Burghers, from which class are selected almost exclusively the inferior officers of the state. The Governor and Commander-in-Chief resides at Colombo. Salary, 7,000Z. The Legislative Council consists of five mem- bers, and the Executive Council of fifteen. The defence of Ceylon is now being intrusted bj the Government to Sikh troops. Colombo was made a bishopric in 1845 (income, 2,000/.), and a college for the training of native ministers was founded in 1851, called St. Thomas, in consequence of a tradi- tion that St. Thomas the apostle first preached the Gospel in Ceylon. Christianity, however, seems really to have been originally introduced by Nestorian missionaries, .who came over with merchants from Persia 7 and to have been established 312 POSSESSIONS IN ASIA. permanently about 1544, by St. Francis Xavier, called the Apostle of the Indies, 600 of whose disciples fell martyrs to their faith. Soman Catholics form the great majority of Christians in the island. The Government supports many schools, in which it is said the natives are very eager to receive instruction ; and there are many village and temple schools conducted by ' Buddhist priests. Cinnamon and rice were formerly the staples of Ceylon, but staple now tne J aya cinnamon is sent in such large quan- Products, titles to the British market, that the growth of it in Ceylon has become of comparatively small importance, and has been greatly superseded by the coffee-plant, first introduced by General Fraser, and now cultivated to such a large extent, that of the 83,000,000 lbs. of coffee imported into the United Kingdom in 1861, no less than 53,000,000 lbs. came from Ceylon. Among minor articles of export is the Strychnos Nux Vomica, the fruit of a native tree growing in sandy places, from the seeds of which the medicine or deadly poison of strychnine is obtained. Besides the staples of coffee, cocoa- oil, and cinnamon, Ceylon exports ivory, ebony, tortoise-shell., gems, and pearls. The pearl-fisheries belong eminently to the west coast of Ceylon, and the business is carried on at Aripo, a small town on the north-west coast ; but the pearl-banks themselves are twelve miles from the shore, and extend about thirty miles from north to south, and twenty from east to west. The trade belongs to the Government, which either lets the banks or sells the oysters or pearls to the highest bidder. The fishery generally begins in March, if the weather is calm, and lasts for about thirty days, but each bank is only productive for about twenty days in every seven years. The divers are mostly stout, healthy Malabars or Tamils, who provide their own boats, and dive for about six hours in the day ; when one man is tired another taking his place. The diver descends by placing his feet on a sinking- stone, to which a rope is attached — taking no measures to close ears or nostrils — and the stone is drawn up by his comrade directly it touches the bottom, and CEYLON. 313 immediately afterwards the basket, filled with the diver and all the marine things he can clutch during the fiftj seconds that he usually remains under water — sea- slugs, hideous polypi, beautiful shells — all coming up in company with the true pearl oyster ; which is not, however, an oyster, but a species of mussel with a curious leg or sucker, by which it either moves along or attaches itself to any object it fancies. At the firing of a signal gun, the fishing ceases for the day, and then all the divers make a simultaneous plunge, and the little flotilla moves off for the shore, where a Government offi- cial receives the precious freight, and gives a fourth part to the divers as their remuneration. The rest of the oysters are sold by auction and are c washed ' by the purchasers in their own private yards. A more disgusting operation cannot be con- ceived than this washing for pearls. The oysters are left till they are decomposed, and the putrid mass is then placed in large tubs of water and the whole well stirred up by hand until the pearls are separated and sink to the bottom, where they lie disclosed when the liquid is poured off.* The pearls are mostly very small, and are found sometimes loose and sometimes adhering tightly to the shell, or enclosed in the body of the oyster. The largest pearl ever found at Aripo was about the size of a bullet used in a No. 14 rifle, and was perfectly round. It was found in March, 1860. The highest price at which the oysters have been sold is 161. per thousand, but of course it is quite a lottery what may be the prize of pearls to the buyer. We are told of a little brown girl who made a sixpenny speculation in an oyster and gained a pearl worth 71. or 81. The price of pearls varies exceed- ingly according to the demand, but it is not often that one is found of the value of 20/. The pearls of Ceylon are of a whiter tint than those found on the Arabian coasts and elsewhere, and are esteemed inferior in quality. * Eraser's Mag., 1860, p. 753. 314 CHAPTER VIII. EASTERN STRAITS SETTLEMENTS ! LABUAN, ADEN. In the Straits of Malacca, and upon that singular strip of land which stretches out from the Asiatic continent towards the equator, called the Malayan Peninsula, the English have four settlements, viz. : Pulo-Penang and Wellesley Province, Ma- lacca and Singapore. These settlements were detached from the Presidency of Bengal and formed into a separate province by the East India Company in 1851, and Pulo-Penang was made the seat of Government. PULO-PENANG. Pulo-Penang, or Prince of Wales' Island, is an island about sixteen miles long and eight broad, consisting of a mass of forest-clad mountains in the centre and tracts of alluvial soil, lying to the east and west. The island belonged to the small State of Quedah, on the opposite mainland of the peninsula, and in 1786 was given by the King of Quedah to an English- man, Captain Light, as a marriage portion with his daughter. During the wars in the Carnatic between the English and French, the East India Company felt the want of a harbour in that direction, and purchased Pulo-Penang for that purpose, making Captain Light its first governor. A few Malay fisher- men were then its only inhabitants. Soon after, the King of Quedah ceded to the Company a part of the opposite coast, since called Wellesley Province, on payment of a small rent ; and gradually there flocked into the new settlement Hindoos and Chinese and natives from the adjoining countries. George Town, the capital, built on the east coast, is a place of con- siderable trade, and its fine harbour is visited by most of the vessels sailing from Hindostan to China. The cultivatable EASTERN STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 315 part of the island is exceedingly fertile and abounds in the areka palm, or betel-nut, from which the island takes its name, and in plantains and bananas. No grain grows there but In- dian corn and rice. Its most valuable commercial products are peppers and spices; its nutmegs and cloves being considered the finest in the world. MALACCA. The British town and territory of Malacca are situated on the south-west coast of the peninsula, and cover a space of about 1,000 square miles, including the district of Naning, valuable for its tin mines. The country is mountainous, and rice is much cultivated in the swampy valleys. Other chief products are pepper, sago, sugar, nutmegs, and timber. The population are chiefly Malays and Chinese. The town of Ma- lacca was first built by a Malay king in 1250. Portuguese, Dutch, and English took possession of it by turns, and it was finally ceded to England by the Netherland Government in 1824, in exchange for some possessions in Sumatra. SINGAPORE. Singapore is an oval- shaped island, about 25 miles long, at the extreme of the Malay peninsula, and the settlement in- cludes about fifty islets in the Singapore Straits. The surface of the island is hilly, with low shores abounding with man- grove trees. When the English first settled here, about forty years ago, it was mostly covered with dense forest, and it is owing chiefly to the Chinese settlers that large tracts have since been cleared for cultivation. The country is much in- fested with tigers, which swim across from the mainland. The town of Singapore stands on the south shore on the site of an old Malay capital, the city of Singhapiira, or c Lion's Town,' the ancient boundaries of which are still visible. The English built here a factory in 1819, and in 1824 obtained the sover- eignty of the island from the princes of Lahore, in return for life -annuities. The colony has since rapidly increased, and although the island has little produce of its own, it has become 316 POSSESSIONS IN ASIA. exceedingly important as the emporium of Southern Asia and the Indian Archipelago. In consequence of its being a free port, exempt from dues of every kind, immense numbers of native vessels bring commodities from India and China and the adjacent countries to exchange for European goods. LABUAN. Labuan is a small wooded island off the west coast of Borneo, valuable to England as a coal-depot for steam-vessels in the eastern seas. The island was ceded to Great Britain in 1847, by the Sultan of Borneo, at the request of Sir James Brooke, who had won the gratitude of both sovereign and people by his efforts for the repression of piracy, and by other benefits, and who had long lived among them under the title of the Eajah of Sarawak, and as proprietor of a large territory on the coast of Borneo. Upon the cession of Labuan he was appointed Governor. The island has a mixed population of Hindoos, Chinese, and Malays, and a few Europeans, and is becoming more healthy from clearing and drainage. The coal-mines at the north-east point have been wrought by the Eastern Archipelago Company. The chief exports are coal, birds' nests, sago, pearls, and camphor. Labuan was created a bishopric in 1855. The income of the bishop is 360Z. ; that of the governor, 800/. ADEN. On the south coast of Arabia, at the entrance of the Straits of Babel-Man deb, England has one solitary settlement, the town and harbour of Aden, which, like another Gibraltar, is a rocky fortress projecting into the sea, and derives its great importance from its commanding position, standing about midway between Suez and the nearest port of India, Kurra- chee. Aden was in early times famous as^ seat of commerce for the merchants of the East, and was a l Eomanum Empo- rium ' in the days of Constantine. Portuguese and Turks disputed possession of it in the middle ages, but the place fell into decay when the route to India round the Cape of Good ADEN. 317 Hope was fairly opened. During the eighteenth century, the town is described as a mere heap of mud huts in a desolate region, supposed to be the crater of an extinct volcano. So valuable, however, did it appear to the Anglo-Indian Govern- ment as a harbour and coaling-station for steamers on the overland route, that a treaty for its transfer was concluded, partly by force of arms, with the native Sultan, in 1838. Since then it has rapidly become a flourishing place of trade, as well as chief station for the overland mails ; houses, gar- dens, and orchards have sprung up on the desert soil, and the inhabitants now number about 24,000. 318 CHAPTER IX. POSSESSIONS IN CHINA: HONG-KONG AND KOWTOON. England's relation with China formerly existed only through the medium of the East India Company, who possessed the monopoly of the tea- trade. In 1834, the monopoly ceased, and trade with China was thrown open ; but still the chief British export trade consisted of raw cotton and opium from India, and the only emporium for our commerce in China was the town of Canton, or Quang-tong. Chinese jealousy of foreigners had restricted all European Honw transactions in China to a small body of traders Merchants, called the Hong merchants (the word hong meaning factory or warehouse), whom they permitted to reside in one of the suburbs of Canton. The hongs were thirteen in number, and these warehouses, belonging to English, French, Dutch, Americans, and others, were crowded together in an incredibly small space, on the bank of the river Canton, each warehouse communicating with the water by wooden stairs, down which all the tea and other goods were shipped. In 1839, the Chinese authorities took alarm at the enormous quantities of opium introduced from India, the sale of which, although illegal, had hitherto been tacitly allowed ; and sum- marily seized upon and destroyed more than 20,000 chests be- longing to the British merchants. Compensation was demanded and refused; whereupon war was declared, and in 1841 Canton was taken by English troops. The city was ransomed for Treaty of 6,000,000 dollars, and in 1842 the dispute was settled Nanking. ^y the treaty of Nanking ; according to which, the island of Hong-Kong was ceded to England in perpetuity, a just tariff of duties was established, and four other ports besides Canton were opened to British ships and goods ; viz. Shanghai, England's relations with china. 319 Ningpo, Foo-chow-foo, and Amoy ; at all which ports a British consul and European merchants were to be allowed to reside. But friendly relations did not long continue. The Chinese evaded the conditions of the treaty, and English traders, although the sale of opium had been legalised by the Emperor in 1856, were not content with the increased facilities for lawful commerce, but carried on smuggling to an immense extent. Their armed merchant-vessels, or opium-clippers, defied the police of the empire, and shewed the Chinese how to evade the payment of all dues and customs. There were multitudes of lawless Cantonese ready to learn the lesson. Opium, as a con- traband article, yielded such enormous profits that the native traders formed themselves into guilds, or smuggling Assurance companies, leagued against the tax-gatherers of China; and the officers of English opium-clippers have been known to protect these ruffians, and to help beat off the government boats. It is said that the Taeping Eebellion, the worst scourge that has troubled the peace of the Chinese empire in latter times, had its rise in lawless smuggling bands, who, pretending to be converts to Christianity, pillaged and devastated the provinces under pretext of ' dealing justice on behalf of Heaven upon the heathen ; ' although these Taeping rebels were quite as ready to attack the English stations as the Chinese, when it suited their purpose. While thus the Chinese had their cause of complaint against the English, their own authorities continued to impede our lawful commerce by vexatious restrictions. Europeans were still denied entrance into Canton and other towns, and when, in 1857, Sir John Bowring, the then Governor of Hong-Kong, urged our right of admission into Canton, on the grounds of the treaty of Nanking, this claim was refused ; and an insult to a vessel bearing the British flag forming a definite cause of quarrel, Canton was again besieged and captured, this time by the allied French and English, and the Governor Yeh was banished to Calcutta. This campaign ended by the Treat f treaty of Tientsin, concluded by Lord Elgin in 1858, Tientsin. the chief points of which were — right of entry into China, and 320 POSSESSIONS IN ASIA. right of residence in Pekin ; freedom of trade ; toleration of Christianity ; a revised tariff; and that the term I (barbarian) be no longer applied to Europeans. Still peace was not secured. The next year, Mr. Bruce, the British Envoy, was stopped on his way to Pekin in the river Peiho, and Admiral Hope, in attempting to force a passage, was repulsed with loss of about eighty men. This act of treachery was revenged by an allied French and English force, of a most imposing character, advancing to Pekin itself in the autumn of 1860. The Celestial city was ravaged by the French troops, the palace of the Emperor was burnt by the English in retaliation for outrages committed on British prisoners, and the Emperor Hienfung fled to Zehul in Tartary. The following year • the sacred one,' in the words of the Pekin Gazette, ' took so severe a cold from the change of climate, that on August 22, 1861, he ascended upon the dragon to be a guest on high.' With his death ended a corrupt and imbecile dynasty, and henceforth a more liberal intercourse with the nations of Europe began to be possible in China. Prince Kung, who had always advocated an en- lightened policy, was appointed Eegent, and between him and Lord Elgin a convention was signed by which the treaty of Tientsin was ratified, and indemnity paid, and, in order to secure Europe against further retrograde policy, it was stipu- lated that England, France, and America should be represented by ambassadors at Pekin, who should reside there permanently and communicate freely with the Imperial ministers. Accordingly, in 1861, our British embassies were settled at Pekin, and the same year, the French and English Eeiations assisted the Government against the Taeping rebels CMna. wno Stocked Shanghai, and a small fleet of British gun-boats was organised to help the Imperialists to preserve order. The friendly relation thus begun and con- firmed between the English and the Chinese governments is bearing most satisfactory fruits. A British ambassador at Pekin is now becoming the influential adviser and controller in the executive administration in the capital of the empire, England's relations with china. 321 and the commerce of the ports is on a sounder basis than at any former period. Since the abolition of the Hong monopoly and the opening of other ports besides Canton, onr trade with China, mainly in the staples of tea and silk, has immensely increased. Shanghai, the most northerly of the ports, opens for us the navigation of the great river Yang-tse-Kiang, and so brings lis into imme- diate communication with the tea-producing districts, and with the trade of Central Asia : Ningpo, a little farther south, regarded by the Chinese as one of their most beautiful cities, is a place of great trade : Foo-chow-foo is within seventy miles of the black-tea districts, and has large manufactures of cotton goods : Amoy has great trade with Formosa and the maritime provinces of China, and exports chiefly congou tea. The British trade with these places now far exceeds that of Canton, and it is greatly by means of our intercourse with these ports that British influence is now acting upon the Chinese to an extent that it has never done before. Through our commerce with Shanghai alone, the revenue of the Celestial Empire gained in 1862 a million sterling, and similar facts are opening the eyes of the Pekin officials to the value of peaceful relations with England from a financial point of view. In 1854, His Excellency Woo, a Chinese official at Shanghai, weary of the fraudulent practices of the native col- Custom „> lectors of customs, agreed with Mr. Alcock, the English inspec- torate. consul-general, to appoint a European as inspector of British customs ; and accordingly, Mr. Lay, the vice-consul at Shanghai, was elected, and in 1855 was recognised by the Chinese government, and invested with all the powers of a great mandarin. In Asiatic fashion, however, the government tested Mr. Lay's integrity, by instigating the Taoutai of Shanghai to place 30,000/. in his hands, and then to try by many devices to make him embezzle the money. By their own confession, they kept two men to watch Mr. Lay and the money night and day for many years. Finding that the 30,000Z. remained intact in the bank, their trust in Mr. Lay became implicit, and in 1859 he was appointed i Inspector- Y 322 POSSESSIONS IN ASIA. General of all the open Ports,' with authority over all seaboard customs, foreign as well as British, and with power to form a complete administrative service. In 1861 this Inspectorate, managed by a combined board of Europeans and Chinese, was recognised by Prince Kung as a great department of state, and the integrity with which it has been conducted has so benefited the revenues and other interests of the empire, that it is hoped that this first establishment of the British govern- ment, as a protecting power in China, may be the basis of civilisation and reform throughout the country. HONG-KONG. Hong-kong is one of a group of barren, granite islands, named by the Spaniards the Ladrones, or Thieves, which lie off the east coast of China at the mouth of the Canton river, and are about 100 miles from Canton. Hong-kong itself is an irregular, broken ridge of rocks, stretching east and west about eight miles, its mountain peaks rising to nearly 2,000 feet, and its coast broken up into small bays and headlands. Only a small portion of the island in one of the valleys is cultivated. The climate is unhealthy, owing to the alternation of excessive heat and violent rains, which create a damp, fever-producing atmosphere. The island is separated from the mainland by a narrow strait called the Lymoon Pass, which forms an excellent anchorage for ships, since it lies sheltered between the mountains of Hong-kong and those of the mainland, and the water, within a cable's length from the shore, is deep enough to float a man-of-war. On account of its favourable position for commercial and poli- tical purposes, Hong-kong was fixed upon by Sir Henry Pot- tinger, who arranged the articles of the treaty of Nanking, as a permanent British settlement, and it was regularly constituted a crown colony in 1843. But the island is still essentially Chinese, although it is the head- quarters of all that concerns England in those seas. The bulk of the people are lower class Chinese, engaged in stone cutting, agriculture, trade or fishing, with a large vagrant class, and a floating population who live entirely HONG-KONG. 323 in boats, and until lately none of the wealthy or respectable Chinese lived in the island. But Hong-kong holds now a far more important relation than formerly to the Chinese con- tinent, in consequence of the insecurity felt by the wealthier classes of natives through the fear of rebels, and their depend- ence in some degree upon the protection of England ; and above 100,000 Chinese of the more respectable trading classes have lately thronged into Victoria. Europeans and Americans scarcely exceed 1,000. The towns are Victoria, Aberdeen, and Stanley. Victoria extends about three miles in front of the harbour. It contains regular streets and Chinese bazaars, with European hotels, billiard-rooms, &c. The chief public buildings are the Govern- ment Home, English episcopal and Catholic churches and dissenters' chapels, a Mohammedan mosque, and three Chinese temples. There are schools supported by government in this town, and in Stanley and Aberdeen. Victoria was created a bishopric in 1849, and includes Hong-kong and the congrega- tions of the English church in China. The governor is aided by a legislative and executive council, but there is no repre- sentative assembly, and the colony is subject to orders from the colonial office at home. The governor, as superintendent of trade, is head of the consular establishments at the ports opened at the treaty of Nanking. The opposite peninsula of Kowtoon was ceded to England by the treaty of 1861 between Lord Elgin and the Chinese government, and now belongs to Hong-kong. It is more a trading station than a colony, and is valuable to us chiefly as a factory for our. trade with China, and as a military and naval station for its protection. x2 324 PART V. POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. Our African possessions consist of the colonies at the Cape of Good Hope, and a few settlements on the west coast, viz., British Senegambia, Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast, and the island of Lagos : and in the surrounding seas, the islands of St. Helena, Ascension, Mauritius, and Seychelles. The coast of Africa, which includes our settlements, was apparently totally unknown to Europeans until the fifteenth century ; and although the nations that bordered the Mediter- ranean Sea, the Egyptian, the Carthaginian, the Phoenician, and the Saracen, played so conspicuous a part in the world's history, the rest of the vast African continent, with its savage races, its interminable plains and deserts, and its endless line of coast, all lay unexplored and extending indefinitely to the south ; and it was long the belief in western Europe that it must for ever remain unknown, since none could endure the fierce heat of those torrid regions and their vertical sun. To Prince Henry of Portugal, nephew of Henry IV. of England, is given the credit of being the first to begin the career of African discovery. His curiosity was so much stimulated by the accounts the Moors gave him of the country of Guinea and the neighbourhood, that at the age of twenty he took up his residence near Cape St. Yincent, in order that from that point he might direct exploring expeditions. The first vessels he sent out reached as far as Cape Bojador, but were scared back again by the furious waves which lashed round the promontory ; soon, however, his navigators made better acquaintance with this western coast, and in 1442 Gonzales onAoTi. ZoTurman & t AFRICAN SLAYE TRADE. 325 Baldesa returned with a first cargo from Africa, namely, ten negroes and some gold dust. And from this point of time begins a history of blood and treachery from which the heart recoils, but which must be glanced at, since it is closely con- nected with the history of British settlement in this part of Africa. The harmless negro races received the Portuguese adven- turers with unsuspicious kindness, and it appears to Beginning have been the intention of Prince Henry in the first si a ^ rican instance to open a fair commerce with them, and to Trade. introduce amongst them the Catholic faith. But their robust frames and docile nature soon tempted him to an infamous traffic in the natives themselves, and an association was formed for carrying on a trade in gold and slaves, in the profits of which he shared, and the name of this prince has thus descended to posterity as the originator of the African slave trade. Prom this time negroes from Africa became a regular article of merchandise in Portugal, and when the navigator Cadamosto visited the river Gambia in 1456, he found that the Portuguese were in the habit of landing at night and carrying off the inhabitants of the villages on its banks. The men-stealers were soon aided in their abominable traffic by the native chiefs, who, although at first they resisted them to the utmost, were at length bribed by the Portuguese to make war with their neighbours, in order that they might sell them their captives. After the discovery of America by the Spaniards in 1492, and when their settlements in the West Indies were found to require more labour than could be supplied by the weak and indolent native Indians, the idea first arose of tran- American sporting thither the African negroes ; and in 1503 the ^rade slave-trade to America was begun by the shipment 1503 - of a few negroes to the island of St. Domingo to supply the place of the wretched Indians who had been worked to death in the mines. The Portuguese found this new opening for the traffic only too profitable, since it was reckoned that one able-bodied negro was capable of as much work as four Indians, and by 326 POSSESSIONS IN AFKICA. the year 1539 as many as 12,000 negroes were annually sold in the Lisbon market. For many years the Portuguese retained the monopoly of the African settlements ; but towards the end of the sixteenth century other European nations, English, French, Dutch, and Danes, began to plant trading stations on different parts of the coast ; and Sir John Hawkins, notorious for being the first English slave-dealer, began operations in 1562 by conveying 300 slaves to St. Domingo, and pursued the traffic apparently with the sanction of Queen Elizabeth, since she gave him for his crest ' a demy-moor bound with a cord.' "With this ex- ception, the British traders do not seem at first to have joined in the traffic, and are said to have indignantly refused to buy ' any that had their own shapes.' But in 1641, when the want of labour in the British West Indies began to be urgently felt, the temptation was too strong, and in Charles II.'s reign the African Company undertook to supply the colonies with 3,000 slaves annually. Even so late as the reign of George III. slaves were advertised for sale in the London newspapers. For instance, in the l Gazetteer,' April 18, 1769, ' To be sold, at the Bull and Gate, Holborn, a chestnut gelding, a tim whiskey, and a well-made, good-tempered black boy. Also a mulatto girl, handy at her needle,' &c. To the honour of Britain, it can at the present time be said that the principal interest attaching to our settlements on the west African coast is that they exist for the protection of the negro and for the promotion of his freedom, both from the bondage of slavery and from that of his own superstition and barbarism. By opening ample markets for native produce, the settlers have proved to the African chiefs that it is far more profitable to keep labour on their own soil than to sell for slaves their able-bodied people ; and by guarding the coast against the shipment of slaves, and capturing slave vessels, these settlements have been instrumental to an im- mense extent in checking the traffic. The sum that England yearly expends in the prevention of the slave trade in GAMBIA. 327 Western Africa — in the conveyance, care, and maintenance of captured negroes — is rather more than 31,000Z. While the early history of these western settlements is thus connected with unlawful traffic to the New World, the history of our other and far more important colonies on the southern coast belongs to the brightest period of maritime discovery and opening of new fields of enterprise and commerce ; and since the day when Yasco de Gama sailed in triumph round the Cape of Good Hope, the European settlements there have owed their main importance to their prominent station on the ocean-path to India. CHAPTEE I. WEST AFRICAN COLONIES. GAMBIA COLONY. England's first direct intercourse with Africa appears to have been in 1588, when Queen Elizabeth granted a patent to some merchants of Exeter for obtaining gold, gums, ivory, Early ostrich-feathers, and other commodities from the Settiemeilt - tropical neighbourhood of the Gambia and Senegal rivers. The Company was not very successful ; nevertheless, in James I.'s reign, factories were erected on the banks of the Gambia, and a small islet at the mouth was especially fortified and named James's Fort. Disputes arising from time to time between the French and English settlers as to the right of position, it was finally agreed at the Peace of Paris, 1814, that England should have the exclusive trade of the Gambia river, and the French that of the Senegal : and this is the existing arrangement so far, that although the Senegal has since been opened to us by treaty, the French have prohibited the export of gum, a principal article of commerce, to anywhere but France or the French colonies. The river Gambia flows into the Atlantic in 13° 30' N. lat., 16° 40' W. long. For nearly 400 miles it is navigable into 328 POSSESSIONS IN AFKICA. the interior, and the English have trading establishments for many miles on both sides of its banks, the Government having bought tracts of land at various times of the native chiefs. The capital of the colony is the town of Bathurst, on the island of St. Mary, at the mouth of the river, where a settlement was founded in 1818, chiefly for the prevention of the slave trade. The next settlement of importance is Mac Carthy's Island, named after Sir Charles Mac Car thy, Governor of Sierra Leone, a small islet about three miles in area, situated 180 miles up the river, where there is a missionary station and a military fort, Fort George. These settlements are naturally unhealthy, both of them standing so low that the water inundates them in the rainy season, while in the dry season Mac Carthy's Island is little else than a mass of burnt clay; consequently tropical fever is the bane of European settlers. Bathurst is by far the more healthy site, from its exposure to land and sea-breezes, and much has been done of late years to lessen its mortality by sanitary measures. Only about fifty Europeans are resident there, although the place is visited by great numbers of sailors and other persons from Europe and America; but the town presents, nevertheless, something of an European aspect, with its market-place, court-house, and wharf; the African dwellings, clean and decent habitations, mingling with the handsome English houses, and warehouses, and public buildings. Gambia forms part of the bishopric of Sierra Leone. Large schools, belonging to the Wesley an s, and some Eoman Catholic schools, under the care of Sisters of Charity, are the chief means of instruction provided for the numerous coloured population, which belongs chiefly to the three great negro races which inhabit the northern part of Western Africa, viz. : the Toulahs, a gentle, hospitable people, of an olive complexion, and without the flat nose or thick lips of the true negro, most of whom are Mohamme- dans; the Mandingoes, an active, cheerful race, good traders and fishers, fond of improvising poetry, and of dancing for hours together to the beating of the ' tom-tom/ or drum ; GAMBIA. 329 and the Jollofs, a handsome but true negro race, clever in horsemanship, and in dyeing and manufacturing cotton cloths. Besides their intercourse with the tribes in their closer neigh- bourhood, the missionary stations on the Gambia are, by means of the river, more directly in connection with the really bar- barous races of the interior of Africa than is the case with the other settlements on this coast. But, owing to the deadly climate, the work of the missionary is too certainly a martyr- dom, and most of those who devote themselves to it in these regions, soon rest from their labours in an early grave, or return to England, broken in health, after a year or two's toil. Since the abolition of the slave-trade, there has been a rapid increase in the wealth and native produce of these settlements. So long as slave-carrying was the chief trade with the Euro- peans, the exports were limited to gold-dust and elephants' teeth, or such articles as required little labour and skill for their production. But, now the whole coast is alive with native industry. Probably the chief export is palm-oil, which is extracted by pounding and boiling from the rind of a hard nut that grows on a tree of the palm species, and resembles a miniature cocoa-nut. The trees which bear this nut are very numerous ; but as nine tons of palm-nut stones give only one ton of oil, it is not worth while to import them unhusked, and they are therefore imported as kernels ; the natives at present having to break the stones with their hands, as mills have not yet been introduced with success. Other articles of export are hides, ivory, gold, gum arabic, bees-wax, mahogany, the timber of the teak-tree, useful for ship-building, and ground- nuts. The trade in ground-nuts is comparatively a recent one, and the increasing demand for this little nut, or rather Ground . seed, has worked wonders in the condition and habits nuts - of the people. The ground-nut is the seed of a kind of vetch or pea, the pod of which, at a certain stage of its growth, turns downwards and buries itself in the soil, and so ripens under- ground. These pea-nuts were only known as food to the na- tives, who roasted them like chestnuts ; but upon trial in the 330 POSSESSIONS IN AFKICA. oil-mills of England, the seed was found to contain a large amount of oil, and henceforth as an oil-seed it has been exported in immense quantities to England, France, and Ame- rica. So profitable is the trade to the natives, that many of them, called Tilliebunkas, or men from the east, come many hundreds of miles from the interior, in order to hire of the na- tive chiefs little patches of land on the banks of the Gambia, where the soil is best suited to the ground-nuts, and where they stay for a year or two and cultivate them until they have ex- changed them for as much as they want of European goods ; they then return in parties of 20 or 100 to their homes in the interior, carrying with them their well-earned treasures, and a useful lesson or two as to the value of steady industry, the rights of property, and the advantages of trade over warfare. Cotton is grown extensively in the interior, but only for home use. The negroes manufacture it into cloth for themselves, and cannot be persuaded to grow cotton for ex- port, since they prefer the light labour and quick returns of the nut-farm. The government of the Gambia Colony is vested in a governor (salary, 1,200/.), aided by executive and legislative councils. The military defence is intrusted to detachments of the West India coloured regiments, of about 280 rank and file ; besides which there is a ' Eoyal Gambia Militia.' The total population at the census of 1851 was 5,693, of which the whites were 191. SIERRA LEONE. About 300 miles south of Bathurst is the British colony of Sierra Leone, or Lion Mountain, which takes its name from the peninsula on which it stands, and which is supposed to have been so named by its first discoverers, the Portuguese, Natural on account of the lions in the neighbourhood. The Features. settlement extends about forty miles along the shore of the Atlantic, and about thirty miles into the interior ; the northern boundary being the Mungo Kiver, in 8° 50' N. lati- tude, and the peninsula forming the chief part of the territory. SIEERA LEONE. 331 The surface of Sierra Leone is a vast alluvial plain, traversed in every direction by ranges of basaltic rocks, which rise in conical peaks, the highest of which are the Sugar-Loaf and Leicester Mountains, from 2,000 to 3,000 feet. Many streams descend from these hills, the principal being the Eokelle, which, thirty miles from its mouth, spreads out into an estuary seven miles wide, called the river of Sierra Leone. Iron mines are worked in the hilly parts, and when the English first came, the valleys were nearly covered with large forest trees, chief of which was the silk- cotton- tree, the trunk of which could be hollowed out into canoes capable of holding 100 men. Being less than 600 miles from the equator, and the place being visited by no trade winds, the climate is exceedingly hot, and during the wet season, which lasts from May to November, the vapour which loads the air, and the swampy state of the level tracts, where putrefaction of animal and vegetable substances goes on with inconceivable rapidity, generate fevers especially fatal to Europeans ; and the dry season, during December, January, and February, is hardly less trying, from the air being then filled by an impalpable sand, which enters nostrils, ears, and eyes, and causes pulmonary complaints. The hottest part of the year is just before the wet season, when terrific tor- nados usher in the period of perpetual rain and fog, and when the only relief to the oppressed atmosphere is from the sea- breeze, which blows every morning regularly from the north- west. In the valleys, the soil is rich and yields large crops of rice and ground-nuts, while the hills are clothed to their summits with palm-trees, and grass which keeps green all the year round. The chief food of the natives is yams, maize, mandisos, pumpkins, and plantains, and their chief fruit is the pine- " apple ; the orange, pomegranate, guava, and African plum are also indigenous, and many other fruits have been naturalised, such as the grape, cherry, tamarind, date, and almond. Vege- tables that have been introduced from England thrive well, especially French beans and cabbage, and more important stilly coffee, sugar, indigo, and cotton find here a congenial soil. 332 POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. The wild animals are elephants, buffalos, leopards, wolves, antelopes, and monkeys, some of which last are of the chim- panzee species. Of the domestic animals, goats are common, cattle and sheep less numerous, and horses are imported. The first intercourse between the English and Sierra Leone Settlement was disgraceful enough, since it was here that the first English slave-dealer, Sir John Hawkins, carried on the traffic, burning and pillaging the villages and kidnap- ping the natives. This bad beginning has, however, been nobly redeemed by the recent settlement which originated at the end of the last century in the desire of some philanthropists to provide a home in Africa for rescued slaves who had been brought to England and declared free by the decision of Chief Justice Mansfield ; and also in their wish to prove by experi- ment that colonial productions could be obtained without slave labour. The site of Sierra Leone was chosen because many of the negroes had been originally transported from those districts and would therefore be adapted to the climate. In 1787, four hundred and seventy liberated negroes, who had become rather a nuisance in the streets of London, were carried to the settlement, which at first consisted of about twenty square miles of land, purchased of a native chief who enjoyed the title of l King Tom.' At the close of the Ameri- can war, in 1790, their numbers were greatly increased by the disbanded negroes who had served in the British army and navy; and after the abolition of the slave-trade, in 1807, thou- sands of poor negroes, rescued by the English from slave-ships, w T ere added to the colony. In 1791, the project was formally sanctioned by Act of Parliament, and a Sierra Leone Company was formed under the direction of Granville Sharpe, Clarkson, and Wilberforce. Many disasters nearly ruined the infant colony at starting. First, a neighbouring chief set fire to their town in revenge for a similar injury inflicted on his own people by English seamen, and drove the colonists from the spot they had first chosen ; then a cargo of negroes from Nova Scotia brought a fever with them which killed half the Euro- peans ; then a French squadron burnt and pillaged the place. SIERRA LEONE. 333 But owing chiefly to the exertions of Granville Sharpe, the settlement rallied and prospered, and a new town was founded, called by the appropriate name of Free Town. Free Town, the capital of the colony, stands on the south margin of the estuary of Sierra Leone, on a gently- Present rising ground, overtopped with a fine semicircular Condltlon - sweep of wooded mountains. It has excellent roads and streets, shops well supplied with British goods, handsome public build- ings, and it especially abounds in stone houses, which mostly belong to liberated slaves, whose universal object of desire seems to be to possess a stone house as an undoubted mark of a respectable social position. The colony is divided into ^.re districts, and these again into villages and parishes, the total population of which is estimated at 45,000, of which scarcely a hundred are whites. The country population consists principally of liberated Afri- cans ; that in the town of a few European residents, the Nova Scotian negroes, the Maroons, or disbanded soldiers from the West Indies, and the Kroomen, or labourers who come for hire from the Grain Coast, and occupy a distinct quarter of Free Town. The administration of Sierra Leone consists of a governor (salary, 2,000/.) and a council of seven or more members. The military defence is intrusted to negro regiments officered by Europeans, whose head quarters are at Gambia. Sierra Leone, in 1850, was made the seat of a bishopric which comprises all the West African colonies (Bishop's in- come, 900/.). It may also be regarded as the head quarters of missionary operations in Western Africa, and the labours of the Church Mission Society and of the Wesleyan missions form, indeed, one of the most prominent features in the history of the settlement. So early as 1804, when the slave trade was at its height, the agents of the Church Mission first established themselves amongst the Susu tribes, about 100 miles from Sierra Leone ; and after the abolition, the captured slaves, to the number of many thousands yearly, were the especial care of the missionaries, who instructed them and transferred them to 334 POSSESSIONS IN AFKICA. the various settlements. The only government church is at Sierra Leone, but the Church Missionary Society has churches in almost every village in the settlement. The Wesleyans predominate as to numbers. The missionary labours are, however, much interfered with by Mohammedan tribes from the adjacent country, who live in the suburbs of Free Town ; and also they are rendered difficult by the almost universal belief in witchcraft and magic, which even conversion to Christianity does not always eradicate. Many of the native superstitions seem to have sprung naturally from the locality itself. Thus, a tribe called Akoos, worship the thunder and lightning as direct emanations from the Deity, and between the thunder-peals of the tropical night, their wild chants may be heard rising up to the honour of their gods. Some worship serpents and other reptiles, and feed and tend them with the greatest respect ; others openly worship the Evil One, from the motives of prudence which influence savages in other parts of the world. Education, however, is doing much to improve the mental condition of the colony, as sanitary measures are doing much to improve its physical state, and, according to recent reports, there are no less than fifty-eight schools belonging to Christian denominations, attended by nearly 7, 000. scholars. Constant intercourse with the West Indian colonies, to which many of the Sierra Leone negroes emigrate, and with the adjacent United States Free Eepublic of Liberia, together with the progress of trade and industrial occupations, are also gradually promoting the ad- vance and intelligence of the place, which seems likely to be- come more and more a nucleus of civilisation and commerce for Western Africa. The chief manufactures are those for crushing and extract- ing the oil from the ground-nut, boat-building, and leather- dressing. The chief exports to Great Britain are palm-oil, ground-nuts, pepper and ginger, ivory, copal, hides, coffee, bees- wax, arrow-root, timber, and to these is now added cotton, which promises to be an increasing article of commerce. The GOLD COAST. 335 imports from England are mostly white and printed cottons, hardware, spirits, ale and wine, and India goods. Between the Gambia settlement and Sierra Leone are two small dependencies of Great Britain, the island of Bulama and the isles de Loss. The former is unoccupied, and the latter too unhealthy to be eligible for colonisation. GOLD COAST. Within 300 miles from the equator, and in a region con- sidered one of the hottest on the face of the globe, Natural lie the British settlements in Upper Guinea, on a Features. portion of the coast called the Gold Coast, from the quantity of gold found in its alluvial soil, and in the channels of its streams. The district lies on horizontal strata of old red sand- stone, and vegetation is exuberant on its light, sandy surface. Near the coast, the land is gently undulated and wooded, but farther inland it rises in lofty mountains, which are inter- spersed with extensive plains, and thick, unexplored forests, where elephants, tigers, and venomous reptiles enjoy an un- disturbed freedom. So unhealthy is the climate to Europeans, that none can escape an attack of fever, or ' seasoning ' as it is called, upon first visiting the place. The most trying time of the year is from June to September, when the heat is greatest, and when the fogs have gathered after the rainy season, which lasts from March to June. The coolest and healthiest period is from December to March, when the atmosphere is dry and the wind blows from the north-east. To this uninviting coast, where there is scarcely any shelter or safe anchorage, no navigable rivers, and but little « , ^T n t -, Settlement. rresn water, Europeans were first attracted by the prospect of a traffic in gold and slaves ; and the capital of the British settlements there, Cape Coast Castle, is the original one that was first founded by the Portuguese in 1610, and was captured by the English in 1661. The fortress of Cape Coast Castle is built upon a rock close to the sea, in 50° 5' N. latitude, 1° 12' W. longitude. It has a town behind it, laid 336 POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. out in regular streets, but crowded with mud houses. Our other forts, viz. Accra, Annamabo, Dixcove, Christianborg and Friedenborg — which two last have been lately purchased from Denmark — also lie along the shore opposite the Gulf of Guinea, and between the Ivory and Slave coasts. These forts were at first placed under the management of the African Company, and until 1807 a regular supply was annually voted by parliament for their support, and for the encouragement of the slave-trade. They are still maintained at an enormous expense, but since the abolition the cost has been incurred for the express purpose of preventing the slave-trade and encour- aging lawful traffic. Strictly speaking, the British territory is limited to these forts and to the distance of a cannon-shot round them, but British jurisdiction, by the consent of the native population, extends over a space estimated at from 6,000 to 8,000 square miles. Close upon this region on the north dwells the powerful and intelligent African race of the Ashantees ; and our disputes Ashantee with the kings of this tribe form the main feature in Wars 1807 . to 1826. the history of the Gold Coast settlements. These Ashantees originally inhabited the Kong mountains, but were driven from their homes by Moors from the north of Africa upon their refusal to adopt the Mohammedan faith, and thence spread themselves over the immense region of Guinea, con- quering the various tribes that already occupied it. Our first quarrel with the King of Ashantee was in 1807, on account of his demanding rent for our territories on the strength of a certain old document which was said to have been given to the native chiefs by the English Company on their first settle- ment, and by which they agreed to hire instead of purchasing the land ; and also on account of the English governors attempting to protect the native chiefs of Fantee and Asim against their conqueror, the Ashantee king. The English gave way on both points after a fierce struggle, the rents were paid, and the two chiefs Chibbu and Apalui were surrendered. Chibbu was put to death with savage tortures, and his head served to decorate the drum of the victorious Ashantee chief. GOLD COAST — TRADE WITH ASHANTEE. 337 Again in 1822, the English took the part of the Fantees against their formidable enemy, and were defeated in a de- sperate engagement — our troops being cut to pieces, and the Governor himself, Sir Charles McCarthy, being amongst the slain. His secretary, Mr. Williams, who had been stunned by a ball and then roused to his senses again by the thrust of an Ashantee knife, was saved by the interference of an Ashantee captain, to whom he had once shown kindness ; but, with a refinement of cruelty, during a close confinement in the Ashantee camp, he was shut up every night with the decapi- tated head of his friend McCarthy, which by some process had been preserved so as to look as it did in life. The heart of the Governor is said to have been eaten by the native captains, in order that they might be inspired with his valour ; and, for the same purpose, his bones and flesh were dried, and distri- buted in little pieces amongst the chief warriors, to be worn as charms. The Ashantees, however, did not pursue their victory, but gave up Mr. Williams uninjured, although naked and with his hands tied behind him, as an earnest of their desire for peace. In 1826, the Fantees and their British allies encountered for the last time the Ashantee enemy ; and this time the English gained a decisive victory, chiefly from the fright and confusion occasioned by rockets, which were engines of war unknown before to the Ashantees. Since this defeat and the subsequent arrangements, our relations with the Ashantees have been perfectly amicable ; the king has abandoned his claim to the territory of the coast tribes ; a son and nephew of the king were sent to England to be educated, and, in 1848, Queen Victoria's embassy was entertained with magnificent hospitality by the present king, Quako Duah. The name of this king deserves to be remembered for his sensible rejoinder to an exaggerated charge of the prevalence of human sacrifices in his country, brought against him by the English. 1 1 re- member,' said he, ' that, when I was a little boy, I heard that the English came to the coast of Africa with their ships for cargoes of slaves, for the purpose of taking them to their own country z 338 POSSESSIONS IN AFEICA. and eating them ; but I have long since known that the report was false ; and so it will be proved in reference to many- reports which have gone forth against me.' Our commerce with Ashantee and the interior is carried on through the fort of Annamabo, ten miles from Cape Coast Castle. The exports of the colony are chiefly palm-oil, gold- dust, ivory, and grains ; the imports include British manufac- tured goods, arms, gunpowder, spirits, and wine. Signs of European civilisation are fast appearing in the villages along the coast, in neat cottages and good roads, made under the superintendence of the missionaries ; and, owing principally to the labours of the Wesleyans, chapels and schools and indus- trial establishments are gradually spreading their humanising influence over the savage tribes. The Government of the Gold Coast, which, until 1850, was under that of Sierra Leone, now consists of a Governor and Commander-in-chief (salary, 1,200Z.), with an Executive and Legislative Council. LAGOS. In 1862, a new West African colony was created by Her Majesty, namely, ' The Settlement of Lagos and its Dependen- cies,' situated on the Slave Coast, in the kingdom of Ardrah. The causes which have led to the annexation of this small island are as follows : — The line of shore, from the Gold Coast to the Bight of Benin, has always been the head-quarters of the slave-trade, and the kings of Dahomey and other frontier chiefs, the most inveterate slave-dealers ; so much so, that to the end of the last century, nine-tenths of all the slaves exported were from this coast. But, owing to our occupation of the Gold Coast, and the combined effect of our squadrons, missions, and trade, the traffic has now been abolished along the whole of the coast extending from Sierra Leone to the swampy Delta of the Niger, excepting upon one small strip of land between the sea and the kingdom of Dahomey, the king of which is a determined slave- dealer. Now, the island of Lagos overlooks LAGOS. 339 this strip ; and the present king of it, Aketoye, having imbibed an abhorrence of slave-dealing from the missionaries, and conceiving a desire to retire into private life, agreed to cede his kingdom to Queen Victoria in return for a pension equi- valent to the revenue he gained from the palm-oil and other produce. The treaty was accordingly concluded, the pension of i,000Z. per annum was agreed upon, and Mr. Freeman was sent out as first Governor of Lagos. Hence the English have gained possession of a station from which they will have the means of frustrating the slave-trade in its last remaining stronghold. z2 340 POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. CHAPTER II. SOUTH AFRICAN COLONIES. CAPE COLONY. f The chief British possession in South Africa is Cape Colony, which comprises a territory of about 250,000 square miles, extending in width 450 miles from the Orange and Nu Gariep rivers to the Southern Ocean, and in length 600 miles west and east from the Atlantic to the borders of Kafirland, with a coast line of 1,000 miles. The peninsula of Southern Africa, of which this quadran- Naturai g u l ar region forms the extremity, is one of the most Features, interesting geological districts in the world, from the evidence it bears of the mighty primeval forces to which it owes its origin ; of the subsidence of the surrounding seas, and the upheavings of the old primary rocks of granite and crys- talline gneiss through the overlying strata of sandstone and limestone, the broken edges of which are seen on the eastern and western coasts. The highest point in Cape Colony is Table Mountain — an insulated mass of rock, rising to 3,582 feet behind Cape Town ; but several mountain ranges traverse the country, the peculiarity of which is that the land lying between them rises in successive stages, like terraces, from south to north. The highest of these terraces is a vast barren plain, called the Great Karroo, which lies on the north 3,000 feet above the sea-level ; and which, from the fossil remains found in it, would appear to have been, at some remote period, a lake or marsh. The climate of the Cape, although in general temperate, varies according to the elevation of the district above the sea, both heat and cold being greater on the higher plateaux of the interior. Northwards, towards the tropics, earthquakes are occasionally felt, and violent thunder-storms are frequent. CAPE COLONY. 341 The seasons are nearly the opposite those of England ; June, July, and August being winter, and December, January, and February summer. The country is not inviting in its aspect. Northwards^ beyond the Great Karroo, there is excellent grazing country, and along the sea- coast is a fertile well- watered plain ; but the rivers are few and shallow, and navigable only for small craft; and the prevailing characteristics of the scenery are naked plains, bare rocks, and stony valleys, without grass or the shade of trees. Several trees have, however, been im- ported, such as the oak, stone-pine, and Australian gum-trees. But, although trees are scarce, wild flowers are in such variety, profusion, and beauty, that their discovery made a new era for botanists, and Linnaeus complained that it had thrown his whole system into disorder. South Africa is emphatically a region of Stapeliae, Mesembryanthema, and Ericaceae or heaths, of which last there are no less than 400 species. What adds to the interest of these wild flowers is that they grow more or less in distinct botanical districts throughout the colony. Thus, in the western province, the heaths, the proteas, the pelargoniums, stapelias, cactuses, and acacias abound ; in the eastern districts, the euphorbias, aloes, zamias, and strelitzias ; and fresh varieties are constantly being added to those already introduced into European gardens and conservatories. On the Table Mountain grows a splendid flowering plant, the Disa GrandifLora, not known to exist in any other locality.* The principal native tree near Cape Town is the Silver Tree or Witteboom. All the cereals thrive here, and fruits from all countries are readily acclimatised. The wild animals that for- merly abounded — the elephants, rhinoceroses, hyaenas, wolves, and leopards — have been driven into the remotest parts by the encroachments of civilisation, and have given place to the do- mestic animals that have been introduced from Europe and else- where ; all of which, especially horses and the fine-woolled sheep, form an important part of the wealth of the colony. * Mackay's Manual of Geography. 342 POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. The first settlement of the Dutch at the Cape of Good Hope, about 200 years ago, was the original germ of this large and thriving colony. It was in 1486 that the Portuguese navigator, Bartholomeo Diaz, at length found a southern ending to the enormous line of the west African coast ; and doubled, unperceived, the Cape of Storms — Cabo de los Tormentos — which indeed proved a stormy cape to Diaz, since he was drowned off the coast eleven years afterwards. His royal master, John II., gave, however, to the cape the more auspicious title of Cabo de Boa Esperanza — Good Hope — because its discovery gave a fair prospect of finding the long-desired sea route to India ; and for many years the cape and the bays in its immediate neighbourhood were used by the Portuguese as provision-stations for the ships that passed to and from the East Indies. The Dutch were the first to make a regular settlement at the Cape. In 1648, a vessel belonging to their East Settlement, India Company was wrecked on the coast : and two 1648 of the crew, having sought shelter on the shore, had an opportunity, while waiting for the arrival of some home- ward-bound ship, to find out the advantages of the place; and, in consequence of their representations, the Company sent out in 1651, about eighty persons, some of them convicts, who. laid the foundation of Cape Town on the shore of Table Bay and at the foot of Table Mountain ; and appropriated for their eolony the whole of the narrow peninsula, thirty miles long, of which the Cape of Good Hope forms the southern extremity. They found the country inhabited by wandering tribes called Quaiqua3, to whom the Dutch are said to have given the name of Hottentots, on account of the constant repetition in their dialect of the monosyllables hot and tot, uttered with a pecu- liar sort of guttural cluck. These Hottentots were a mild, inoffensive, diminutive race, lighter in complexion than the ordinary negroes, and with something of the Chinese character in their features. Those near the frontier — the wild Hotten- tots or Bushmen — seemed in their habits nearly related to the CAPE COLONY. 343 wild animals about them — living amongst rocks and woods, making nests to sleep in in the bushes, springing from rock to rock like the antelopes, and eating reptiles and insects, and, moreover, distinguished by being the ugliest people on the face of the globe. The Hottentots received the Dutch with unsuspicious friendliness; and in return, the Dutch stole and shot their cattle, and tempted them, by bribes of brandy and tobacco, to sell them their land for useless baubles. The accounts handed down to us of the way in which these harmless, docile people were hunted down by the so-called Christians, slaugh- tered by wholesale, enslaved and tortured, poisoned by the habits of intemperance which were purposely taught them to render them more helpless, form one of the most sickening pages of history ; but by these means, in little more than a century, the Dutch extended their settlement to nearly its present boundaries, and the Hottentots were either extermi- nated or reduced to the condition of slaves. But soon many causes were at work which led to the decline of the : Dutch power, and the transference of the colony into other hands. On attempting to carry on their practices of cattle- stealing and aggression beyond their eastern boundary, the Dutch farmers, or ' boors,' encountered a tribe very differ- ent from the Hottentots in their capacity for resistance. These were the Kafirs — a fine, athletic race, who occupied, in a kind of feudal communities, the country towards the Indian Ocean. A troublesome warfare arose between these Kafirs and the Dutch, in consequence of the boors persisting in making their predatory incursions into the Kafir territory, in spite of the prohibitions of the Dutch authorities. At the same time, the Cape population had become imbued with the principles of the French Eevolutionists, and were waiting to welcome a French force to depose their Government, and hoist the cap of liberty — a hope in which the poor Hottentot slaves eagerly joined. England, meanwhile, had become alive to the advantages of 344 POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. possessing such a station as the Cape of Good Hope, and Conquest by e( l lia % a ^ ve to tne great disadvantages of France England, obtaining such a stepping - stone to our Indian empire ; and, as Holland could no longer bear the expense of the colony, the British Government agreed to take it in the name of the Prince of Holland, then an exile in London. An expedition accordingly sailed under Sir James Craig, and Cape Town capitulated to the English in 1795. At the Peace of Amiens, 1803, it was again given up to the Dutch, much to the discontent of the inhabitants ; but, in 1806, it was finally invaded, and taken by the English on their own account, under Sir David Baird. The English authorities found a hard task before them on assuming the government. The turbulent and lawless Boors refused to submit, and incited the Kafirs against the English, in retaliation for the protection afforded by them to their Hot- tentot servants, who escaped from their cruel taskmasters and ran away in crowds to the English camps ; where, upon one oc- casion, one of the Hottentot leaders made this pathetic appeal: i Eestore the country of which our fathers have been despoiled by the Dutch, and we have nothing more to ask, We lived very contented before the Dutch plunderers came amongst us ; and why should we not do so again, if left to ourselves ? Has not the Groot Baas (the Great Master) given plenty of grass- roots and berries and grasshoppers for our use ? and, till the Dutch destroyed them, abundance of wild animals to hunt ? and will they not return and multiply when these destroyers are gone ? ' Instead of clearing the way for the return of the wild beasts and grasshoppers, the Governor (Lord Macartney) endeavoured to establish a policy by which whites and blacks should have equal rights. The Dutch missionaries and the better class of colonists were assisted in educating the Hottentots and in train- ing them as farm labourers ; Hottentot regiments were orga- nised, remarkable for their efficiency ; and even the little wild Bushmen were drilled into rank and file, and their chiefs were distinguished by metal-headed canes and brass gorgets, and KAEIK WAK. 345 were allowed to visit the Governor at Cape Town. So much improvement was effected in the colony during this period of British rule, that the public executioner claimed a pension, since he had none of his customary emoluments to live upon. In 1834, the Bill which passed for the abolition of slavery throughout the British dominions, released the natives from their long bondage; and 35,751 slaves, Negroes and Malays, were emancipated within the colony. This measure also re- leased the Cape Government from its most troublesome enemy, since the greater part of the Boors forthwith sold their farms and migrated, either to Natal or the Orange River. Partly, however, through the want of a sound and humane policy on the part of some of the English Governors, the Cape had become involved in a war with the 1847 to Kafirs. In order to preserve peace on the frontiers, a proclamation was issued in 1812, that all the Kafirs in the Zuurveld should migrate to the farther bank of the great Fish River, and that the colonists should keep to the left. By this measure about 20,000 Kafirs, who had become partially civilised by European intercourse, and many of whom belonged to European homes as domestic servants, were violently expa- triated ; and heavy penalties, and even death, were inflicted on those who were found on the forbidden side of the border. The hostile feeling thus engendered led to frequent inroads of Kafirs on the eastern frontier ; and, in 1847, the insulting policy of the Governor, Sir Harry Smith, towards the Kafir chiefs, tended to bring affairs to a crisis, and war began in earnest. Graham's Town was fortified, and all the colonists between the ages of 15 and 20 were ordered to rise en masse and defend the frontier. This i little war,' as it was called, lasted six years, and cost England a million and a half sterling, and ended in 1853 by the submission of the chief Sandilli. Since that time the colony has enjoyed tranquillity, and the British go- vernment and protection were extended over the large district called British Kaffraria, which subsequently was made a de- pendency of the Empire. The present boundaries of Cape Colony, as defined above. 346 POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. were fixed by proclamation of July 5, 1848. The whole Present territory is divided into 10 western and 10 eastern Condition. coun ti e s or divisions, the names of which show a curious mingling of English and Dutch. The western divisions are : The Cape, Stellenbosch, Zwellendam, Caledon, Worcester, Clanwilliam, Paarl, Malmsbury, George, and Beau- fort ; the eastern are : Witenhage, Port Elizabeth, Graaf Rey- net, Cradock, Colesbery, Somerset, Albany, Fort Beaufort, Victoria, and Albert. Cape Town is the capital of the colony, and Graham's Town in Albany the chief town of the eastern counties. The present population, which numbers 248,000, may be divided into three classes — the Africanders, or descendants of the old Dutch settlers ; the English, or people of English ex- traction ; and the coloured races : besides whom there are Ger- mans, Spaniards, and a few of other nations. The Dutch are chiefly agricultural; the British are mostly engaged in commerce or in official capacities. The coloured races, who form about half the population, are for the most part mixed breeds of Negro, Malay, and Dutch. There are but few left of the genuine Hottentots, and the Bushmen can now only be found roaming the desert along the northern boundary. Although the black people are now their own masters, they hold univer- sally a servile position ; and, lazy as they naturally are, find occupation as servants and labourers of all kinds, mainly be- cause they can live upon wages that would starve a European. The country is almost entirely an agricultural one, and the colony suffers from the settlers confining themselves almost exclusively to the production of the two staples of wool and wine— in the east wool, and in the west wool and wine. Thou- sands of acres of what might be splendid corn-land may be seen lying waste, or devoted to sheep-grazing and vine-grow- ing ; besides which, the agriculturists are of the sleepiest order of their class, content with bullock-wagons, and even slow to adopt artificial irrigation in a land where for months not a drop of rain falls. A further hindrance to progress is said to arise from the law of inheritance peculiar to the settlement, which CAPE TOWN. 347 requires the paternal estate to be divided into equal portions among the children : hence a number of small proprietors live, entirely upon the land, but in too limited a capacity to improve it. A railroad is now in process of construction, which, it is hoped, will stimulate all industrial pursuits. Cape Town is a populous city. Nearly all the houses are white-stuccoed, with flat roofs and verandahs. Except for its broad parallel streets, intersecting one another at right angles, which are the same as those originally laid out, the town re- tains little of its old Dutch aspect. The oaks and firs that were planted along the streets have been cut down by the practical English, as being very much in the way of business ; and the streams that ran down in babbling brooklets from Table Mountain, have been collected in reservoirs for the use of the town, and poison the air as they creep along open, filthy gutters. The town is exposed to extreme heat from its facing the noon-day sun on the north, and being backed by the naked Table Mountain ; while occasionally the south-east wind, laden with hot dust, literally smothers the place. With some physical disadvantages, there are indications of the town being intellectually on the advance. In 1852, a liberal Constitution was granted to the colony, consist- ing of a Governor (salary, 5,000Z.) and Legislative Council of 15 members, and House of Assembly of 46 members, represent- ing the town and country districts. These representative members are paid for their attendance in Parliament at the rate of about 50Z. each, and require no property qualification. The qualification for the members of the Legislative Council is the possession of unencumbered property of the value of 2,0001. Cape Town was made a bishopric in 1847 (income, 800Z.). Graham's Town, which at first was included in the Cape Town diocese, was made into a separate bishopric for the eastern pro- vinces in 1853 (income, 682Z. 10s.). Churches and chapels of most of the Christian denominations are supported by the colonial Government. Most of the natives are Mohammedans. Colleges and schools, both public and private, are conducted 348 POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. on the most liberal principles, and many of them maintained by Government ; and the late Governor (Sir George Grey), in presenting his magnificent private collection of books to the public library of Cape Town, pronounced his belief that South Africa was destined to become a great country, and Cape Town its chief centre of education. NATAL. Natal, so called from the coast having been first seen by Natural Vasco de Gama on Christmas-day, is a British colony Features. on ^ e south-east coast of Africa, lying between 29°20 / and30 o 50 , S.lat.,29 o 40'and31°25 / E.long.,andhaving an area of about 20,000 square miles, or nearly three times the size of Wales. It is bounded on the north-west by the Drachenburg, or Quathlamba mountains, which rise to the height of 5,000 feet, and from which the land slopes gradually south-east to the Indian Ocean. On the north-east is the river Umtacouna, and on the south-west the river Tugala. The rivers, which are numerous, all run eastward into the ocean. Several of them abound in hippopotamuses, and small croco- diles infest the Tugala. Lions and leopards are occasionally met with prowling about in the mountain ravines ; and hyaenas of a peculiarly ferocious aspect, jackals, wild dogs, the smaller antelopes, and porcupines are numerous. The elephant, which once was common, has now retired beyond the Gariep, or Orange River. The climate is healthy and pleasant, and less liable to drought than that of the Cape ; and the soil is generally more fertile. It is prolific in maize, but Natal does not otherwise rank high as a corn- grow ing country. Coffee is beginning to be grown, and tea is cultivated from plants brought from Assam. The first sample of sugar was made in 1850, and now 10,000 acres are planted with the cane, and forty mills, mostly steam, are employed in the manufacture. Great efforts are being made to grow cotton, for which the soil has been proved to be admirably adapted, and only capital seems to be needed to render it a staple product. The silk-worm thrives here. KAFIBS OF NATAL. 349 Arrow-root, tobacco, spices, and all kinds of vegetables abound. Of fruits, the banana, pine-apple, orange, citron, mulberry, peach, apricot, grape, pear, apple, and quince may be had in profusion. The colony was first founded by the Dutch boors, who threw up their farms in Cape Colony and emigrated north- t . t , . P .,. *\ -. D rn , Settlement. wards, with their families and cattle. The greater number of these established themselves at Port Natal in 1839, and proclaimed it an independent republic, hoisting there the tricolour nag. But the English Government did not recog- nise their independence ; and, by order of the Governor of the Cape (Sir George Napier), Port Natal was taken possession of by English troops in 1842. The British colony of Natal was established by proclamation in 1845. At first, Natal formed part of the Cape settlement ; but, in 1856, it was erected into a distinct colony, under a Lieutenant- Governor. It is said to be a solitary instance of a colony having been established by Great Britain without cost to Imperial funds ; since the original loan which started it has long since been repaid.* The population numbers about 157,000, of whom about 100,000 are natives, and other coloured races. The i . •♦-Mi t -r^ -i i • Inhabitants. whites are principally, the old Dutch settlers and their descendants, or English immigrants. The natives belong to the tribe of Amazoolu or Zulu Kafirs, whose own territory lies to the north of Natal. Kafir, or CafFre, is an Arabic word, meaning i infidel,' and was applied originally by the Arabian and other Mussulman traders of the Indian seas to the people dwelling on the east coast of Africa ; and was adopted after- wards by the Portuguese, Dutch, and English. But the general name of Kafir includes several distinct nations, originally of one stock, namely, the Amakosa, the Amatimba, the Ama- ponda, and the Zulus, who are supposed to extend as far north as the Zambesi Eiver. . Since the Kafirs have no records, and but few traditions, * Colonial Office Boole, 1862. 350 POSSESSIONS IN AFKICA. their origin remains obscure. Barrow supposed them to be derived from wandering Bedouin Arabs from the north-east ; others trace a resemblance to the Jews in their abhorrence of pork, their observance of the rite of circumcision, and freedom from idolatry. The Zulus themselves are a fine athletic race, who migrated not long since from the mountains in the north, and acquired great influence over the other tribes, under their chief Chaka. The Kafirs vary in complexion, from a yellowish-brown to a jet-black. Their hair is frizzled rather than woolly, the nose aquiline, the lips thick. The women are among the hand- somest in Africa. The Kafir government is a sort of clanship, each tribe being divided into Kraals, or villages, containing from ten to twenty families in separate huts, who are ruled over by a petty chief; these kraal chiefs being subject to the higher or district chiefs, who are again subject to the great chief of the whole tribe, the Umkumkani. This great chief is the nominal possessor of all the land and cattle of his tribe. All the land is in common, except a small patch for each family ; but no one can gather his first-fruits or kill his cattle without permission from the Umkumkani, who claims a portion as his right. The Kafir huts are hemispherical, made of boughs covered with thatch and plastered with (ilay ; and their furni- ture is generally a few mats and earthenware pots, a calabash, or a rush basket, woven so closely as to contain liquids. The Kafirs have no written laws, but recognise certain long-esta- blished principles, which even the great chief cannot infringe with impunity. They have no form of worship, but acknow- ledge the existence of a Supreme Being.* Much of their alle- giance they seem to have transferred to the British Governor, whom they regard as their sovereign protector ; and to the whites they make excellent servants. The Lieutenant-Governor of Natal (salary, 1,200Z.) is under the control of the Governor of the Cape. He is aided by a Council of Eepresentatives. Natal was erected into a bishopric * English Cyclopcedia. BRITISH KAFFRARIA. 351 in 1853 (bishop's income, 6821. 10s.), and contains several churches and chapels, Episcopal, Wesleyan, and Dutch, besides many missionary establishments supported by volun- tary aid. The only port of the colony is D' Urban, formerly Port Natal. It stands on the shore of a small inlet of the sea, nearly enclosed by land, but affording good anchorage ; and a thriving town has lately sprung up at the place. Exports and imports have rapidly increased of late years, and the prosperity of Natal is said to have been promoted by the settlement there of several hundred Coolies. BRITISH EAFFRARIA. British Kaffraria, a large district eastward of Cape Colony, although under the protection of England since the close of the Kafir war in 1847, was not erected into a British colony until 1860, when its boundaries were defined by letters patent under the great seal to lie, 'from the Windvogel Mountains and Kabousi Eiver to the Indian Ocean on the south, and from the Grand Kei Eiver on the east, to the Keiskamma and Chumi Eivers that separate it from Cape Colony on the west. 7 The land is fertile and well watered. The district is divided into counties ; military forts have been erected at several points, and harbour works are in progress. Its seaport, at the mouth of Buffalo river, has been named East London. The government is vested in the Governor of the Cape, together with an Executive Council ; the Governor being enti- tled to grant, subject to regulations, the waste lands of the Crown, and to appoint judges for the administration of the law. 352 POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. CHAPTEE III. ISLANDS IN THE SURROUNDING SEAS. ST. HELENA. In the midst of the South Atlantic, 1,200 miles from the near- Natural est ^ an( ^ on tne coast of South Africa, and 2,000 Features, miles from Brazil on the opposite continent, lies the small rocky island of St. Helena ; supposed either to be the topmost peak of some submarine mountain range, or, from the fantastic way in which its rocks have been rent to the base, to have owed its origin to some mighty volcanic action. The island is in S. latitude 15° 50', and W. longitude 5° 44'. It is about a third the size of the Isle of Wight, that is, 10J miles in length, and 6| in breadth ; and, from the sea, appears merely a small barren rock, girt with a range of precipitous cliffs, that render it inaccessible excepting at one point on the north-west. But, on entering it, rich forests and pleasant grassy plains are found to lie between the mountains ; cascades spring sparkling from the sides of the hills; and the climate is so delightful and temperate for an island in the tropics, that there seems cause for a sort of wondering regret, that, during the long ages, pro- bably no human eye had seen it, or any enjoyed possession of it, but the seals and sea-lions, the turtles and the wild-fowl, until the year 1502, when the Portuguese navigator, Juan di Nova Castella, caught the first glimpse of this spot in the ocean. Castella christened the island St. Helena, after the saint's day on which it was discovered. The first man that u ' inhabited it is believed to have been a Portuguese nobleman, Fernandez Lopez ; who, having been sent away from India in disgrace for some crime, dreaded so much to return to his native land as a culprit, that he prevailed upon the captain to put him on shore on this desert island, where he led a Eobinson Crusoe life for four years, cultivating the land and stocking it ST. HELENA. 353 with the supplies of poultry, goats, pigs, game, fruits and vegetables that his friends sent him from home, and such as he was able to import from elsewhere. The existence of this island was kept for many years a profound secret by the Portu- guese, and when Cavendish was on his return from circumna- vigating the globe in 1588, to his surprise he touched upon this little oasis in the great desert of waters, and found it well stocked, and a town and church already built upon it. Such a halting-place on the way to India, where fresh pro- visions could be obtained, was soon eagerly sought out by ships of various nations, and became the scene of fierce dis- putes between Spaniards, Dutch, and Portuguese, some of whom were not content with replenishing their own stores there, but destroyed the plantations, so that their rivals might not do the same after them. The Portuguese aban- doned the place upon obtaining other settlements on the east coast of Africa, and the Dutch took possession of it in 1645 ; but, six years afterwards, they also gave it up on finding the Cape of Good Hope a more convenient station ; and it was soon afterwards appropriated by a British fleet belonging to the East India Company. Charles II. granted the Company a charter by which the island was added to their territories ; a fort was erected by the first Governor, Captain Dutton, and named James Port after the Duke of York ; slaves were sent from Madagascar to work in the plantations ; and amongst the first English settlers were many who had lost house and home in the great fire of London. The island once again fell into the hands of the Dutch through the treachery of a planter ;. but it was quickly regained, and, in 1833, it was transferred from the Company to the British Crown. During the war-time at the beginning of this century, St. Helena was strongly fortified in order to render it a safe garrison for the protection of British commerce ; and its almost impregnable nature, joined to its remoteness, caused it to be selected by the allied sovereigns of Europe as the place of exile for Napoleon Buonaparte ; and here, at the country residence of the Governor at Longwood, he lived the last six A A 354 POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. years of his life as a prisoner of war, and here he died, May 6, 1821. At the present time the island is a valuable haven, open to the ships of all nations to recruit on their long voyage across the Atlantic ; and about a thousand ships annually touch there. Nature seems specially to have fitted the place for a provision store. Large supplies of live-stock are always in readiness, and fish abound on the coasts. The fertile soil produces abundance of vegetables of all kinds, and often three crops of potatoes in a year. In the sheltered valleys nearly all the tropical and European fruits thrive well ; and the common blackberry, introduced in 1780, spread itself so rapidly that an order had to be issued for rooting it up. The only town and port in the island is James Town, on the north-west coast, the seat of the Government establish- ment, and fortified with strong batteries. It stands in a valley, called James Valley, which opens on to the sea, and gradually slopes upwards towards the eastern part of the island until it ends in the table-land of Longwood, which con- sists of 1,500 acres of fine land at a height of 2,000 feet above the sea. The population, numbering at the last census about 8,000, is composed, besides the English residents, of the descendants of seamen of various nations who have landed from time to time ; and includes Chinese, Malays, British, Africans, and many liberated slaves from the West Indian colonies. Most of them live by supplying fresh provisions to ships. The Governor is a military officer, and is aided by Executive and Legislative Councils. The island used to form part of the diocese of the Cape of Good Hope ; but it was made a bishopric in 1859, and has six resident clergymen. Many schools are provided by the Government, the Baptist Mission, and the Benevolent Society. ASCENSION. Six hundred and eighty-five miles to the north-west of St. Helena there is a small island in the South Atlantic, of ASCENSION. 355 the volcanic origin of which there is no doubt. Of a triangular form, about seven miles long and six wide, it stands above the surface of the sea a mass of lava, rocks, scoriae, and gritty limestone, thrown together in a confused chaos, with many burnt-out craters distinct upon the summits of the hills. There is scarcely a trace of verdure on the surface. Never- theless, magnificent butterflies brighten up the barren scene with their fluttering spots of colour, and the rocks form a home for countless wild fowl. This desert island was first found by the Portuguese in 1501, on the day of Ascension; and was chiefly used in after times as a place of rendezvous for smuggling vessels from our American colonies, which met here the ships returning from India. When Napoleon was in confinement at St. Helena, the English Government thought it expedient, in order to render his custody more secure, to take possession of Ascen- sion as a military station. Accordingly barracks, and store- houses, and look-out stations were constructed out of the lava of the rocks, the pulverised coral of the beach serving for cement, and a detachment of marines with seventeen guns was left in charge of the place. This garrison so exerted them- selves that the island soon began to wear a habitable appear- ance. Eoads were constructed, the land was partially cultivated, shafts were sunk in the mountains, the water from the springs was conveyed in iron pipes to the fort, domestic animals were reared, and fruits and vegetables grown. The food which the island naturally supplies is the fish on the coasts, the eggs of the sea-swallow, which are considered ex- cellent eating and are collected by thousands, and enormous turtles, some of which weigh from 200 to 800 lbs. each. Ascension is now used as a coal depot for steamers on their way to the Cape, Indies, and Australia ; and also it is a vic- tualling station for the African squadron employed for the suppression of the slave-trade, and contains a hospital for sick seamen. Ascension forms part of the diocese of St. Helena. The officer in charge is the Governor for the time being. a a 2 356 POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. THE MAURITIUS. Mauritius is an island in the Indian Ocean, between 19° 45' and 20° 33' S. lat., and between 56° and 57° E. long. It has an area of about 676 square miles ; that is, it is nearly the same size as the county of Worcester. Fragments of lava, pumice, and other volcanic substances, and the nature of its irregular surface, prove it to be of volcanic origin. A sin- gular coral reef nearly encircles the island, running parallel to the shores at the distance of about a quarter of a mile, in which there are several breaks sufficiently wide to allow vessels of all sizes to approach. Mauritius was first discovered by the Portuguese in 1507, at which time it was covered with woods ; and it does not appear that any settlement was made upon it until about 1640, when the Dutch, after they had established themselves at the Cape, made it a recruiting station for vessels bound to the East Indies, having previously appropriated the island, and named it Mauritius in honour of Prince Maurice, stadtholder of the Netherlands. But the colony became troubled in con- sequence of the Dutch having transported there as slaves some negroes and maroons from Madagascar, who escaped from their masters and concealed themselves in the mountain forests of the interior, where they multiplied and annoyed so much the Dutch settlers on the coast that they abandoned the island to them in 1712. Shortly after this it was taken by the French, who formed a settlement at Port North -West, and changed its name to Isle of France ; merely using the place, however, for many years, as a ship station, the inhabitants being a disorderly mixture of maroons, pirates, and adven- turers of all nations. But, in 1746, a change came over the face of the settlement in consequence of the appointment of M. de la Bourdonnais as Governor, who so improved the colony that Bernarclin de St. Pierre, who went out as an engineer to the Isle of France and lived there for two years, selected it for his ideal of a happy moral society planted in one of Nature's most beautiful MAUKITIUS. 357 spots, and in his tale of 6 Paul and Virginia,' has made us familiar with its shaddoc groves and palm forests, and with the name of its energetic Governor, M. de la Bourdonnais. Towards the end of the century the revolutionary principles of the French Government led to fatal disunion in the settle- ment. A decree was issued by the Assembly at Paris for the instant and total abolition of slavery in all the French colonies ; and, since in the Isle of France the slaves amounted to about three-fourths of the population, the order was vehe- mently resisted by the master-classes. A long struggle con- sequently ensued between the masters and the far more numerous partisans of liberty and equality. In the midst of the contest the British Lion stepped in ; and, in two expeditions — the first of them headed by the Marquis Wellesley — com- pleted the capture of the place in 1810 ; and possession of the island and its dependencies was confirmed to England at the Treaty of Paris, 1814. The population, 307,000, still maintains its multifarious character. The whites are mostly descendants of the old French settlers, and there is a large miscellaneous class, amongst whom Chinese predominate. The freed negroes are either dying out or have left the island ; and their place has been supplied by Coolies, who come from India in great numbers, and return as soon as they have made a little money. Mauritius is said to be the place where Coolie labour has been most extensively tested ; and their presence has led to so great an increase in the sugar manufacture, that sugar is now the staple of the island. Chinese are also em- ployed largely in the cultivation. Mauritius was made a bishopric in 1854 (bishop's income, 1,000/. ; number of clergy, fourteen). The only town is Port Louis, built on the old French station on the north-west. It contains a citadel, barracks, court-house, bazaar, royal col- lege and Government schools, theatre, hospital, docks, and a public library of more than 60,000 volumes, chiefly French. The Legislature consists of Governor (salary 7,000/.), Executive and Legislative councils. It is a provision of the constitution 358 POSSESSIONS IN AFEICA. that the inhabitants should preserve their religion, laws, and customs. SEYCHELLES. The dependencies of the Mauritius, which also passed into the possession of the British in 1815, are the Seychelles group in the Indian Ocean, S. latitude 3° 40' and 4° 50', E. longitude 55° 10' and 56°. They are a cluster of about thirty small islands, lying upon a kind of platform of coral and sand which extends under the sea about 200 miles. The largest of the group, sixteen miles long, is called Mahe, after Mahe de la Bourdonnais, the Governor of Mauritius, who first ordered it to be explored; the next in size are Praisling, Silhouetta, Digne, and Curieuse ; the rest are uninhabited, and are visited merely for the sake of the turtles and cocoa-nuts. The surface of the islands is composed of granite rocks and ravines, with scarcely any level ground ; but wild fruits and vegetables grow luxuriantly in the thin soil. Amongst the natural productions are pine-apples, cocoa-nuts, and cucum- bers, and also a large nut of a singular kind, called coco-de- mar from its having once been supposed to grow at the bottom of the sea. It is an immense nut, weighing from 20 to 25 pounds; and contains in its thick shell a white jelly-like substance, eatable but tasteless. Eice and maize are the grains chiefly cultivated ; and cotton, coffee, tobacco, and the sugar-cane are also grown. Seychelles forms part of the diocese of Mauritius. The capital town is Mahe, on the north-east side of the island of Mahe, and the residence of the Government agent, who is subordinate to the Governor of Mauritius. The inhabitants of the whole group number about 7,000, of whom about 600 are whites. As our trading intercourse increases with the east coast of Africa, it is believed that this possession will become of considerable value. 359 PART VI. POSSESSIONS IN AMERICA. The British possessions in the western hemisphere are, British North America and the Bermudas ; the West Indian Colonies ; British Honduras ; British Guiana ; and the Talk- land Isles. CHAPTER I. BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. The British possessions in North America comprise a terri- tory of about 4,000,000 square miles, extending from the United States on the south to the indefinite regions of ice in the polar seas on the north ; and from the Pacific Ocean and Russian America on the west, to the shores of the Atlantic on the east. Of this immense region, larger than the whole of Europe by at least 200,000 square miles, the greater portion is rather a land of promise for British enterprise than of actual British occupation ; our settlements at present being almost entirely confined to portions on the east and west. On the east are Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the islands of Newfoundland, Prince Edward, and Cape Breton ; on the west are British Columbia and Vancouver's Island ; and the whole of the interlying region is the Hudson Bay Territory — a vast and savage domain, where a thinly-scattered 360 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. population of Esquimaux and Indians lead a wandering life, running down the reindeer, the bear, and the elk, trapping the beaver and the otter, spearing the seal on the coast, and haunting the streams for fish ; and where the only Europeans are a few thousand traders, who keep up establishments here and there for receiving furs and skins and other produce from the natives. The peculiarity of the surface of British North America is the large proportion that the water bears to the of the land, and the coast line to the country, in conse- quence of its inland seas and the magnitude of its lakes and rivers. Penetrating into the very heart of the continent is the sea called Hudson's Bay, nearly as large as the Mediterranean ; and to the west of this stretches an im- mense plain, which is traversed in the direction of its greatest length from south-east to north-west by a chain of lakes of unequalled number and magnitude. These lakes for the most part belong to the basin of the river St. Lawrence, which mighty stream fertilises the whole of Canada in its course of 1,800 miles, and, together with the lakes, forms one of the most magnificent water communications in the world. By means of it, vessels are able to traverse an extent of water equal to the distance between Europe and America. The plain in which these lakes and rivers are situated, rises gradually westward, until it culminates in the Eocky Mountains — a lofty chain increasing in height towards the south, and traversing on the west the elevated plateau of which British Columbia forms a part. North of the central plain and east of Hudson's Bay, in the district of Labrador, are chiefly barren and stony regions, where the scanty vege- tation and severe winter cold offer little temptation to the colonist to dispute possession with the native Esquimaux ; and where the number of inhabitants is so few that it reduces the population of the whole of British America to only about* the same as that of Scotland at the present time ; averaging in America about one person to every square mile. In geological structure, there is a striking analogy between CLIMATE AND VEGETATION. 361 British North America and the corresponding latitudes of Europe and Asia. In both, there is an extensive G- eo i og i Ca i formation of the granite and crystalline rocks ; and, Character. in the more northern latitudes, the fossiliferous rocks belong either to the old Silurian strata, or to those which contain shells only of recent species ; none of the intervening forma- tions being found throughout immense tracts. A large portion of Britain is exactly similar in structure to the lands on the opposite continent ; the Silurian rocks are in many cases the same, and are followed in ascending order by the Devonian and Carboniferous formations. The coal-fields of New Eng- land are precisely similar to those in Wales, 3,000 miles distant. Besides this, the general direction of the rocks is the same, that is, from north-east to south-west ; and, in the British Isles, North Europe, and North America, large lakes are formed along the junction of the strata. From these and other indications, it is supposed that, at some remote period, the two continents were united ; and that, when no ocean divided us from our sister-land in the west, the giant quadrupeds of the old world took advantage of the overland route, and made their way over ice or land until they found a suitably capacious home in the vast central plains of America. Some of them, such as the mastodon, a kind of elephant, and some species of horse and colossal rumi- nant animals, have probably roamed over the prairies since the existence of the Indians ; and their skeletons are left in the salt marshes or licks. There is also much similarity in the vegetation of the two continents, especially in the arctic regions, and most Climat e and of the trees and plants are common to both ; but Vegetation, peculiarities in the climate and conformation of the land in this part of America have, in some degree, given a speci- alty to its flora. Thus, there is a difference in climate and vegetation at the two extremities of British North America. On the eastern side, the summers are warmer and the winters colder than in the same latitudes in Europe, partly because the prevailing wind is the westerly, which blows from the 362 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. Atlantic, and brings damp to western Europe, but blows from the land in east America, and makes the atmosphere dry : while, on the west coast of America, the prevailing winds blow from the ocean, and thus render the climate much more like that of the Old World ; and, probably as a consequence of this, there are fewer species of plants that are not common to both, found on the east than on the west of America. Generally speaking, wooded regions occupy the east and west, and between them lies a vast prairie region of shrubs and grasses. Taking the region as a whole, it is characterised by the predominance of the conferee, that is, trees with needle-shaped leaves and rudimentary flowers, such as pine, fir, and larch ; and also of trees with true leaves and flowers, but still of a low order, and belonging, probably, to the eocene period, such as oak, birch, beech, poplar, chestnut. As regards shrubs and plants, it is distinguished by the preva- lence of the species belonging to the aster tribe, and by the numerous varieties of the whortleberry species, of which we only possess a few, such as bilberry, cowberry and cranberry. Also negatively it is characterised by the total absence of the heath tribes, and by the scarcity of cruciform and um- belliferous plants. And there is a certain gradation in these flora. Close upon the arctic regions are immense forests of black and white spruce, with an undergrowth of reindeer moss ; but, farther south, these conifers become mixed with the oak, birch, elm, maple, willow, and poplar ; while the countries below the 45th parallel, including the Canadas, are distin- guished by botanists as the region of asters and solidagos, from these being the plants in greatest predominance. In the zoology of the two continents, there is also the same analogy. The white and brown bear live in solitary state in their ice regions round the pole. Then, southward from the shores of the polar ocean, the lichens and mosses are pasture for the reindeer and polar hare; the southern limit of the reindeer being the latitude of Quebec in America, and the Baltic in Europe. The fur- bearing animals, the black bear, lynx, racoon, red fox, beaver, ANIMALS. 363 badger, ermine, and musk rat, are mostly the same as in Siberia, and live principally in the great northern forests — several species never passing the 65th degree of N. latitude. The elk, or moose deer, is only to be found in the regions of the "willow and aspen, upon which it feeds. The wapiti, the next largest of the elk tribe, lives in the prairies on both sides of the Eocky Mountains. The grizzly bear, the fiercest and most powerful of his species, inhabits the whole range of these mountains. The musk ox and bison are animals peculiar to America. The musk ox roams as far north as Parry Isles and Banks' Land, but is seldom seen below the 60th parallel ; while the range of the shaggy bison is entirely south of this latitude, and begins where that of the musk ox ends. Eick as America is in domestic animals, it has received nearly the whole of them from Europe; and has contributed in return scarcely any new species, excepting the turkey, the llama, and alpaca, and a few varieties of dogs. The multitude of our domestic species, nearly all of them belonging to the largest kinds of quadrupeds and birds, which have been propa- gated throughout the new continent within the short period that has elapsed since the discovery of America, has been ad- duced by Sir Charles Lyell as a striking instance of the extent to which man himself is instrumental in the distribution and modification of species, and of the amazing rapidity with which great changes may be brought about in the animal life of the globe, when the conditions are favourable. The extraordinary herds of wild cattle and horses which overrun many of the American plains had their origin in a few pairs first carried over by the early settlers. The black cattle, which are established over the whole continent, from Canada to Paraguay, date from the second voyage of Columbus to St. Domingo. Hogs, which were introduced by Columbus at the same time, in the space of fifty years had spread themselves from 25° N. latitude to 40° S. latitude. Sheep, goats, dogs, cats, and rats have multiplied enormously — the rats having been imported unintentionally in ships. The European dogs have in many cases become wild in America, and have taken 364 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. to hunting in packs, like wolves and jackals, and destroying the hogs and calves and foals of the wild cattle and horses ; while in return, it is said that these civilised canines have taught the Esquimaux dogs how to bark — the native dogs having been mute before the coming of these noisy foreigners. The aborigines of these regions are the Esquimaux and Indians. The Esquimaux are confined to the higher latitudes. The Indians, though of numerous tribes, belong all to the great American group which occupies the whole of the New Continent, from 62° N. latitude to the Straits of Magellan. They are generally reddish-brown or copper-colour, with handsome slender forms, long black hair, deep-set black eyes, high cheek-bones, and aquiline noses. They live by hunting and fishing, and are averse to steady labour, although generally intelligent and well-disposed. To their enemies they are ferocious and unsparing ; and, in com- mon with most Indian tribes, wear the scalps of the slain in token of victory. As a rule, the prairie Indians are the finest races, and the coast Indians the most dissolute and dirty. Slavery is common with all the tribes, and the greatest chief is he who possesses most slaves and most horses. i An Indian,' says Mrs. Jameson, ' is respectable in his own community in proportion as his wife and children look fat and well-fed ; this being proof of his prowess and success as a hunter, and his consequent riches.' 365 CHAPTEE II. CANADA. The Province of Canada, divided into Upper or West Canada, and Lower or East Canada, is a tract of country oc- _ . . . 1 . i t • Boundaries. cupymg the south-east of British America, and having an area of about 350,000 square miles — about four times the size of Great Britain. No precise boundaries have yet been affixed between this province and the other British possessions to the south and west of Hudson Bay ; but Canada is generally considered to include all that country north of the Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, which lies in the basin of the St. Lawrence, and is drained by the streams that flow into that river. According to this measurement the most northerly point of Canada is between 52° and 53° N. latitude, i. e., one degree higher than the latitude of London ; the most eastern point is Cape G-aspe, 64° 15' W. longitude ; its western extremity is Goose Lake, 48° 5' N. latitude, and 90° 14' W. longitude ; while the United States form the boundary on the south and partly on the east ; the average breadth from north to south being about 300 miles, and the length, from Lake Superior to the island of Anticosti, about 1,000 miles. Upper, or Canada West, is the portion lying north of the great lakes, about 100,000 square miles in area ; Lower, or Canada East, adjoins the United States on the south-east, and occu- pies both sides of the river St. Lawrence, after it issues from Lake Ontario ; area, 205,863 square miles. The latitude of the Canadas thus corresponds to that of the south of the British Isles, France, and the north of Spain ; but, owing to peculiarities in its surface and position, the climate has far greater fluctuations and ex- tremes of heat and cold than the climate of European countries under the same parallels, and not only ranges in annual tern- 366 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. perature from 36° below zero to a tropical summer heat, but the thermometer has been known to fall 59 degrees in 36 hours, and a change of 30 degrees in the course of a day is very common. But the extreme cold of winter is rendered endur- able by the usual absence of winds, and the intense summer heat is less trying and relaxing from the absence of vapour and the exceeding clearness of the atmosphere ; and the dry air and bright blue skies of Western Canada are delightful to the British emigrant, in comparison with the fogs and drizzling rain he leaves behind him. So dry, indeed, is the air, that metals seldom rust by exposure ; and this dryness is a remarkable circumstance in a district so abounding with water. Corresponding with the excessive temperature, atmospheric phenomena are of a marked character. Thunder-storms are frequent, and often terrifically violent ; water-spouts are some- times formed on the larger lakes ; the aurora borealis is more common and far more brilliant than it is ever seen in Europe ; and also there are many indications of former violent subter- ranean convulsion. In many places there are curious rents in the earth, now covered with underwood, which were supposed to have been left by the tremendous earthquake of 1663, which extended over 180,000 miles, and was felt almost with- out intermission for nearly half a year, overwhelming, we are told, a chain of mountains 300 miles long, and changing the tract into a plain. The rocks, which obtrude over every part of the surface except in the marshy districts, and the preva- lence of granite in inclined strata, bear evidence to volcanic action in remoter times. To Canada East, belong all the mountains that deserve the name. The Mealy Mountains, between Hudson Bay ' and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, rise to 1,500 feet, and are covered with perpetual snow ; and the land is traversed from north-east to south-west by the Green Mountains, and the Notre Dame, 3,768 feet high. But in Canada West, the rocks which rise from the shores of the lakes are as imposing as many mountain heights ; for instance, the Thunder Moun- NATURAL FEATURES OF CANADA. 367 tain, a rock standing so close upon Lake Superior as to form the margin of the lake, lifts up its bleak bold face perpendicu- larly to its full height of 1,200 feet, and is a stupendous object rather from its shape. and position than from its magnitude. To Canada West belongs the grand series of lakes which is the most striking feature of the countr y. Nearly a Lakes and third of the whole area of Canada is covered with the Rivers. waters of its five great lakes, Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. These lakes, threaded upon the St. Lawrence, are in fact enormous expansions of the stream, and follow the level of the river as it descends eastward from its source above Lake Superior to its outlet in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. And it is the different level of the lakes that gives rise to the magnificent phenomenon of the Niagara Falls. First, the river, under the name of St. Louis, enters Lake Superior, the most westerly of the lakes. This lake stands upon the highest level, 627 feet above the Atlantic, and is the largest fresh -water lake at present known in the world. It is 400 miles long and 160 broad, and is supposed to be 1,200 feet in depth ; and its waters rise during a storm in waves almost resembling those of the ocean. At the eastern end of the lake its accumulated waters rush out in the river which is here called St. Mary; and, after a course of 40 miles, in which they make a descent, partly by rapids, of 32 feet, they fall into Lake Huron ; thence the stream issues on the south, and, under the name of St. Clair and Detroit, descends to Lake Erie, making a further fall of 30 feet. Issuing from Lake Erie on the north, the river takes the name of the Niagara; and here the whole volume of water has to make a precipitous plunge of ^ iao - ara 160 feet down into the next lake, Ontario, which lies Fall s. only 234 feet above the Atlantic. And here it is that the pecu- liar nature of the rocky chasm through which the waters dash into the lake below, and the impetus they have gained in their long descent, render the Falls of Niagara so wonderfully striking. As it approaches the edge of the precipice, the torrent is about a mile wide ; and a small island, Goat's Island, divides the stream into two- — one branch of which, 375 yards wide, falls over the 368 BEITISH NORTH AMEBIC A. precipice 162 feet on the American side ; while the other, 700 yards broad, is carried over a crescent-shaped rock on the Ca- nadian side, and forms the Horse- Shoe Falls, 149 feet in depth. This vast body of water, rushing over at the rate of about 710,000 tons per minute, rebounds to a great height from the rocks below, converted into snowy foam, which appears in the far distance like a cloud or rainbow, according to the position of the sun ; while the roar of the cataract is heard to the extent of fifteen miles. Four miles beyond the whirl and turmoil of the cataract, the river, now called the Iroquois, is seen pursuing a quiet and placid course ; and, on reaching Montreal, first takes the name of St. Lawrence. Eeceiving on its way the great river Ottawa, which divides the two Canadas, the St. Maurice, and many other tributary streams, it meets the tide of the Atlantic, and its waters become brackish, near the town of Three Eivers, more than 400 miles from the ocean ; and a little below Quebec the river becomes so broad and deep that ships of the line were able to approach during the Canadian War and to help in the reduction of that city. Besides these five principal lakes, a number of smaller lakes lie in the basin of the St. Lawrence, and are drained by its tributaries. The chief of these are the St. Clair, between Lakes Huron and Erie ; the St. John, drained by the river Saguenay ; the Megantic, drained by the Chaudiere ; Lakes Kempt and Matawin, by the river St. Maurice ; Tenniscaming, by the Ottawa ; Simcoe, by the Severn ; Ni pissing, by the French Eiver ; and St. Ann, by the Neepigon.* NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF CANADA. Canada is rich in minerals. Iron abounds in all its forms — - magnetic, specular, and bog-iron ore, and the rare Minerals. silicate of iron. Immense deposits of copper are found near the great lakes ; and, at the Copper Mine Eiver, actual rocks of the metal exist in a pure and malleable state. Gold has been found in sufficient quantities to induce the * Mackay's Manual of Geography. NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OP CANADA* 369 formation of a gold-mining company. Silver, lead, tin, cobalt, manganese, and zinc are found in various districts. Coal has only recently been worked. Salt springs abound on the nortli and west shores of Ontario. The rocks yield limestone, millstones, grinding-stones, paving- stones, marble in all its varieties of white, green, and varie- gated ; and at Eama on Lake Simcoe has been found the lithographic stone of finest quality and in large supplies — a discovery the more valuable, as only one other place in the world has yielded it hitherto — Solenhofen on the Danube. A peculiar product, the rock-oil, or petroleum, has lately been added to the mineral treasures of Canada. • . , Petroleum. This oil exists in the cavities of limestone rocks, which are supposed to have been of marine origin from their containing myriads of the remains of marine animals ; and the oil is the result of the decomposition of the animal tissue. The oil-bearing limestone of Canada West is believed to extend over an area of 7,000 square miles ; and a single boring, carried to the depth of 200 feet, has been known to yield 2,000 barrels of oil of 40 gallons each, per day, for several days after being first opened. The soil lies at various depths ; but the oil is purer and more abundant at the lower depths. In some few cases it rises above the level of the ground and forms floating wells, and in some instances natural springs of it have been found. In November 1862, an Oil- Wells Com- 'pany was formed. The towns of Toronto, Niagara, and Kingston are now lighted by gas derived from this oil, as are railway carriages and many private houses. The gas is of great brilliancy. Six thousand cubic feet are obtained from a barrel of oil. In the enormous forests of Canada there is an unusual variety of trees, including most of those common to vegeta- our island, such as the oak, ash, beech, cedar, poplar, tl0n ' and pine ; and chiefly the white pine attains vast dimensions, and measures often 100 feet from the ground to its first branch. The maple, for its beauty and utility, has been adopted for the national emblem of the Canadas. The red elm is B B 370 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. another of the largest trees, and is hollowed out by the Indians into canoes, some of which will carry twenty persons ; and the hollow trunks often serve also as winter homes for the bears and wild cats, who take possession about November, and generally keep house there till about April. The wild animals are fast disappearing, especially the large beasts of the forest ; but still are to be found in diminished numbers the elk, bear, wolf, lynx, wild cat, racoon, fox, minx, and marten, and squirrels in great abun- dance ; the beaver is now rarely seen near the white set- tlements, and the persecution it has suffered has changed its nature from a gregarious to a solitary animal. Amongst the birds are wild swans, turkeys, geese, ducks, eagles, horned owls, kites, and most of the species belonging to Europe. Snakes abound, but the only venomous reptiles are the puff- adder and two kinds of rattlesnakes. HISTORY OF SETTLEMENT IN CANADA. At the end of the fifteenth century a native of Bristol of Venetian descent, John Gabotto or Cabot, undertook an ex- ploring expedition with the object of finding a north-west passage to the Pacific, and so opening commerce by a short route with Cathay, that is, Japan and China. A patent for ■ the discovery of new lands ' had been granted by Henry VII. to Cabot and his sons, and the Bristol merchants helped him to fit out a small fleet laden with merchandise. On June 24, 1497, Cabot first sighted Newfoundland or Labrador — the old documents render it uncertain which — and, sailing along the North American coast north and south, took possession of the country in the name of the king. Cabot does not seem to have penetrated far ; but brought home with him ten natives, and received the honour of knighthood, besides, as appears from an entry in the privy-purse expenses of Henry VII., a more substantial reward, — ' To hym that found the new Isle, 102.' The nominal possession of the new land by the English FRENCH SETTLEMENT OF CANADA. 371 king did not prevent the French also taking possession of it in 1525 in the name of their sovereign, Francis I., under the title of La Nouvelle France. The coun- settlement, try had previously been called Canada, from an Iroquois word Kanata, meaning a collection of huts ; and, like the rest of the American continent, was found thickly peopled by a race of red men,' to whom the general term of Indian was given by the first discoverers. In 1539, a French navi- gator, Jacques Cartier, explored the great river of Canada, and named it St. Lawrence, from having first entered it on St. Lawrence's Day. But no successful attempt was made at colonisation till the beginning of the seventeenth century, when Henri Quatre stimulated enterprise by granting exclu- sive trading patents to certain naval officers and merchants, one of whom was Samuel Champlain, who, in 1608, formed the first permanent settlement on the bank of the St. Lawrence at an Indian village, called by the natives Kebec, or narrow, because at that point the river suddenly contracts its channel, and thus laid the foundation of the future capital of Quebec. Owing to their injudicious treatment of the natives, kid- napping their chiefs, and taking part in their petty warfares, the settlers soon became in a difficult position ; to relieve them from which, Canada was transferred to a l Company of One Hundred Partners,' founded by Cardinal Richelieu, mainly for the purpose of converting the heathen and extending the fur trade. But the operations of the new company were frus- trated at the outset by one David Kirtch, a French Calvinist, who, having suffered persecution, fled to England and induced the Government to fit out an armament, with which he him- self entered Canada, and captured Quebec. The province was, however, restored to France at the treaty of St. Germain's in 1632, and Charles I. gave up to Louis XIII. the right which England had always maintained as first discoverers to the por- tion of territory included by Canada, Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton. In 1663, Louis XIV. abolished Eichelieu's Company and converted Canada into a colony of the Crown. But the colony enjoyed no tranquillity from the perpetual 372 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. warfare between the Canadians and the English settlers in New York and the neighbouring states ; and these feuds were not a little aggravated by the Indians being always ready with their tomahawks and scalping-knives to take part with one side or the other. Indeed, the contests were chiefly carried on through these savage allies, who fought desperately for the re- ward of a feast upon the slain, and a white man's scalp as a trophy ; and the constant fear in which the Canadians were kept by the attacks of the English allies, the Mohawks, explains a peculiarity in the position of the French Canadian towns, which all lie close together for mutual defence. For many years the French had the advantage in this struggle. They had the art of making themselves more popular with the Indians ; and, by their intermarriage, and, in many cases, adoption of their customs, readily gained them as allies, and a large force of Indian warriors was always at the command of the Governor of Quebec. Moreover, in 1683, M. De Salle explored the Mississippi to its outlet in the Gulf of Mexico, and claimed for France the whole region watered by its stream, calling it Louisiana, after Louis XIV. ; and the occupation of this river, together with that of St. Lawrence, gave the French the monopoly of the two chief sources of North American wealth — the fur trade, and fisheries ; and the British colonists at Albany and New England became so alarmed at their increas- ing strength, that they agreed to form a coalition for mutual defence and for the absolute destruction of the French settle- ments at Canada and Nova Scotia. The hostilities that ensued ended in no favourable result for the English, who finally failed in an advance on Montreal, and, together with their Iroquois allies, headed by their favourite chief, Black Cauldron, had to give way before the French commander, De Calliere, who had taken such pains to ingratiate himself with the Indians, even to the extent of joining in their war-dances, that they voluntarily flocked to his standard by hundreds. This campaign ended by the treaty of Eyswick, in 1697. But peace was of short continuance ; and, war having again broken out between France and England with regard to the WARS IN CANADA. 373 Stuart succession in Queen Anne's time, the English Govern- ment, elated by the successes of Marlborough, organised a plan for the conquest of Canada ; more especially as De Vau- dreuil, the Governor, had manifested a design to cut off the English from the advantages of the fur-trade and to hem them in between the highlands of Nova Scotia and the Alleghany Mountains, so as to prevent their access to the great lakes and rivers ; besides which, the intrigues of the Jesuits were rapidly detaching the Indians from their allegiance to England. It soon appeared that the English could expect but little aid from the natives in this new campaign. When called upon to join their old allies, they replied that they were not accustomed to make treaties of peace in order to break them directly, as the Europeans did ; and one chief expressed his plain opinion that ' both nations were drunk.' The desertion of the Iroquois, pestilential fever, and other misfortunes again defeated the designs of the English, and hostilities were suspended by the treaty of Utrecht, 1713, by which England again resigned her claim to Canada, and France her claim to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. An unusual period of tranquillity followed, during which the colonies on both sides made much progress. The English steadily accumulated wealth, and their French neighbours comforted themselves with the reflection that they did not know how to enjoy it ; and led gayer lives themselves with the large fortunes they made by the fur-trade. Threatening clouds, however, began again to appear above the horizon when the attempt of the young Pretender upon the throne of England, seconded by Louis XV., re-opened warfare between the two nations in 1745; and an overture to settle the boundaries be- tween French and English territory in America only led the way to those deadly jealousies which hastened the final struggle. The Canadian Governor, on his own authority, with much military pomp, had sunk in the ground, at stated distances, leaden plates bearing the royal arms of France, in order to mark the limits that he chose to assiorn to England; and, in 374 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 1752, a French fort, named, after the Governor, Du Quesne, Avas actually erected within the Virginian territory, with the view of keeping the English within the boundary of the Al- leghany Mountains — an insult not the less aggravating because an English rival fort, Necessity, built near it and held by a Virginian garrison under Lieutenant George Washington, was obliged to capitulate to Du Quesne. And now, in 1755, arrived the period of the famous Seven Seven Years' War, at the end of which England found her- Years'War. se ]f the first naval power in the world. This war had two distinct theatres — Prussia and the Colonies. In Prussia it was a general melee, in which French, Austrian s, Saxons, Eussians, and Swedes were held in check by one man, Frederick the Great ; in the Colonies it was a close fight be- tween English and French. Before the breaking out of this final war, the American provinces, which now belong to Queen Victoria, were, with a few exceptions, dependent upon France, from New Brunswick and Cape Breton on the east to Niagara on the west ; but, on the other hand, Nova Scotia, Massachu- setts, and other contiguous states belonged to England. Al- though a casus belli was scarcely needed, the encroachments of the French on the English hunting-grounds were made the occasion of an open quarrel, and General Braddock was sent from England, in 1755, with 2,000 regular troops to settle the question. Ignorant of Indian warfare, the unfortunate general led his army into one of the defiles of the Alleghany Moun- tains, where, without the possibility of escape, they were ex- posed to the deadly fire of the French and their Indian ?diies, who lay in ambuscade. Braddock fell, and a small remnant only of the army was saved by Colonel Washington, second in command. The arrival of chosen troops from France under the Marquis de Montcalm still further turned the tide of fortune against the English for the two following years. But the horror that was excited by the massacre of 2,000 English prisoners at the cap- ture of the forts of Oswego and William Henry, perpetrated by the native allies and the French, roused our statesmen to more vigo- BRITISH CAPTURE OF QUEBEC. 375 rous measures ; and Mr. Pitt, then prime minister, bent all his energies towards promoting an effectual plan for the reduction of Canada. Accordingly, it was arranged that three divisions were to attack Canada at different points ; and the principal division under General Wolfe was to be directed against Quebec. De Montcalm was ready to receive him, and opposed his landing; with an army of 13,000 men, ranged so as n t & J < 7 7 o Capture of to cover Quebec from the river St. Lawrence to the Quebec, 1759 Falls of Montmorenci. Wolfe was forced to retreat ; and, his feeble frame being exhausted by anxiety and a violent fever, he appears from his despatches home to have lost hope of being able to make way against the stronger force of the French, and the rocky walls of the citadel. He fortunately, however, listened to the bold suggestion of General Townsend to gain the heights of Abraham, which commanded the west point, where the city was least defended; and his courage and address rendered successful a scheme that was fraught with the most imminent peril. While feigning to direct all his efforts to the Montmorenci entrenchments, on the night of September 12, 1759, his troops silently landed at the spot now called Wolfe's Cove, and, climbing up the precipitous sides of the hill through the brushwood and rocks, suddenly ranged themselves in regular order on the summit. Eetreat to themselves was impossible ; and such was the consternation of Montcalm that he too hastily decided on giving battle at once as the only means of saving the town ; and the action took place on the Plains of Abraham, by which Canada was gained to Britain, but in which two heroic leaders received their death-wound. A fatal shot entered the breast of Wolfe ; and, as the life-blood ebbed fast, the cry of ' They run ! ' for a mo- ment roused him. ' Who run ? ' cried he. ' The French,' was the reply. i Then pray,' said he, ' do one of you run to Colo- nel Barton, and tell him to march Webb's regiment with all speed down to Charles Eiver, to cut off the retreat of the fugi- tives. Now, God be praised, I shall die happy.' The brave Montcalm fell at the foot of the rocks ; and, on being told that his wound was mortal, i So much the better ! ' said he : ' then I 376 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. shall not see the taking of Quebec.' Quebec surrendered six days after the battle ; and, at the end of the following year, the French being surrounded at Montreal without hope of succour, at length capitulated for the whole colony, which was formally ceded to Great Britain by the Treaty of Paris, 1763. Many years had not elapsed before the arms of those of our American countrymen in the United States who had aided us War * in the conquest of Canada, were turned against Great Britain. An attempt on the part of Mr. Grenville, prime minister of England, to impose a tax on the Americans in the shape of stamp-duties, chiefly to defray their share of the cost of the Canadian war, was the first of those causes of difference which involved the two nations in warfare. The Americans, being unrepresented in the Parliament of England, denied the right of that body to tax them, although they were willing to bear their share in the imperial expenses through the votes of their own provincial councils ; and this and other enactments relating to custom-duties gave such violent dissa- tisfaction, that, in spite of the efforts of the Earl of Chatham and of Dr. Franklin, colonial deputy, to effect a reconciliation, open hostilities commenced near Boston, about the year 1774; and the Declaration of Independence, by which the United States separated themselves from the mother-country, was signed July 4, 1776. It reflects high praise upon British rule in Canada, that in the Avar that followed between England and America, during which many attempts were made by the New Englanders to gain over the Canadians, these last remained throughout firm in their allegiance to England, although consisting for the most part of foreigners who, a few years back, had been at deadly enmity. The policy of the first English Governor of Canada, General Murray, had wisely been to conciliate the French population by retaining for them their own ancient system of civil government, called the Coutume de Paris ; but, in so mixed a community, the problem through many years was to find a general constitution that would be suitable to all. At the close of the American war in 1783, many of the ENGLISH SETTLEMENT OF CANADA. 377 royalists had left the United States and settled in Canada West, where land was freely granted them by the British Government ; while Canada East remained peopled mostly by the descendants of the old French settlers : thus the British greatly predominated in Canada West, and the French in Canada East. The French Canadians, although unflinching in their loyalty to England, naturally desired a form of government which should especially protect their own inter- ests, customs, and religion; and, principally to meet their wishes, the two statesmen, Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox, framed a constitution in 1790, by which the two provinces had each their own separate government, consisting of a Representative Assembly, elected by the forty shilling freeholders of the pro- vince, together with an Upper House, or Legislative Council, appointed by the king ; the executive power of both provinces being still vested in the Governor. By this measure the laws of England were introduced into West Canada, while those of France prevailed, and still prevail, in the lower province, except in criminal and commercial cases, which, in both pro- vinces, were adjudged according to the English code. Violent disputes, however, subsequently arose between the Representative Assemblies and the Executive, with regard to the nomination by the Crown of the members of the Upper House, and also with regard to the right of disposal of the public revenues; and these dissensions reached their climax in 1837, when serious insurrections and riots took place, which were not a little aggravated by bands of ' sympathisers,' as they called themselves, from the United States, being always ready with arms and money to help the insurgents. To reconcile these differences, Lord Durham was sent out in 1838, invested with high powers as Governor-General of all the Provinces of British North America. His proposed remedy was the union of the two provinces under a still more liberal constitution : but he met with opposition at home ; and died in 1840, without having succeeded in his object. The task of conciliation then devolved upon Mr. Poulett Thomp- son (afterwards Lord Sydenham), who, in 1839, was appointed 378 BRITISH NOETH AMERICA. Governor- General, and who bent his efforts towards carrying out the scheme of Lord Durham. He also died, worn out by his labours, in 1841, but had the satisfaction of seeing his Union of wor k so ^ ar accomplished that in that year the two the Pro- Canadas were rejoined under one administration, and a constitution was granted which conceded to them self-government and all its privileges. During the rule of his successor, Sir Charles Metcalfe, a knotty point arose between the French and British Canadians, as to which pro- vince should be the seat of government, whether Kingston in Canada West, or Montreal in Canada East. The question was ultimately referred to the Crown ; and Ottawa, situated on the border of the two provinces, has been chosen as the future capital of Canada. POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF CANADA I WEST CANADA. Canada West, or Upper Canada, is divided into forty-three counties ; the counties are divided into townships of about ten miles square each. The counties are : Brant Haldimand Middlesex Eussell Bruce Halton Norfolk SlMCOE Carleton Hastings Northumberland Stormont Dundas Huron Ontario Victoria Durham Kent Oxford Waterloo Elgin Lambton Peel Welland Essex Lanark Perth Wellington Erontenac Leeds Peterborough Wentworth Glengarry Lennox and Prescott York G-renville Addington Prince Edward Algoma District Grey Lincoln Kenfrew Klpissing District The townships are either actually inhabited, or surveyed and ready for settlement. The inhabited parts are principally in the flat open country ; but much of the land still lies in its primitive forest state, and new districts and townships are added as the progress of settlement requires. Most of the land already settled or surveyed has either been surrendered by the Indians, or purchased of them by the British Government, or POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF CANADA. 379 the Canada Company, incorporated in 1826 ; and, by way of payment, Parliament votes to the aborigines to the amount of 15,000Z. per annum, which is distributed either in annuities, or in the shape of presents, such as clothing, chieftains' equip- ments, muskets, powder and ball, blankets, brass kettles, combs, knives, tobacco, &c. In this province land is obtained by the emigrant on easy terms, and a custom even prevails with the Government of granting allotments of land without purchase, on condition that the settler can satisfy the Crown or Land Commissioner that he can support himself till the crop is raised ; since, in many woody districts, it will take from seven to nine years to clear away the timber and prepare the ground properly for tillage, during which time only a few scanty ^rops can be raised between the roots and decayed trunks. Besides its political divisions, West Canada is generally regarded in the three great natural sections of Eastern, Central, and Western. The Eastern is a rich and cultivated district, extending from the Ottawa Eiver to the St. Lawrence, and including the Eastern, Johnstown, Ottawa, and Bathurst dis- tricts. Much of the land has been granted to the descendants of the New England loyalists, some of it to discharged soldiers, and some portion belongs to the Canada Company. The Central division extends 120 miles along the shore of Ontario, comprising the districts once known as Newcastle and Home, and stretching as far north as the Ottawa Eiver. Here there is ample room for more settlers ; the soil is generally good, and the land well watered. The Western division is a vast triangular peninsula, enclosed within the waters of the Lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario, and including the Gore, Niagara, London, Western, and other dis- tricts. This is the most attractive section, with its ancient forests, wide-stretching prairies, rich alluvial soil, and Niagara cataract and scenery ; besides which, the climate is delicious, and in some parts the country is said to be more English in its character than any other in America ; while its London and Middlesex and river Thames in the centre, and the familiar 380 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. names of Chatham, Stratford, Preston, &c, give even to the map of it a home-like appearance. The healthy climate, the more level and eligible nature of the country for cultivation, the easy terms on which land is obtained, and the predomi- nance of British in the population, altogether render Canada West the more attractive of the two provinces to English emigrants. EAST CANADA. East Canada is divided into the districts of Montreal, St. Francis, Three Rivers, Quebec, and Gaspe, which are subdi- vided into sixty counties. A large proportion of land in East Canada consists of seignories, or property held according to the old feudal tenure that prevailed in Europe at the time of the first settlement of the province. By this tenure the Crown granted certain tracts of lands to nobles, officers, or respectable families, in return for the fealty, or homage, of these seignors, or proprietors, and the payment of a quint, or fifth, to the royal treasury on the sale of land. This land was re-granted at a fixed rent to small farmers, who were and still are called cen- sitaires, from censive, a feudal estate. The system, since the occupation of the English, has been abused so as to press hardly upon the tenant, and the Government has made many efforts to place the land on the free tenure that prevails in West Canada. Nearly 1,000,000 acres of these seignories belong to ecclesiastical institutions of the Eomish Church ; and the small allotments, with villages built upon them, give to those on the banks of the St. Lawrence the appearance of a never-ending street ; the peculiarity of these farms being that their length inland is often sixty times greater than their breadth on the river banks. Lying round the seignories are the townships, or free lands; and the whole country on both sides of the river is exceedingly beautiful with its variety of mountain, dale, forest, and waterfall, together with its cheerful aspect of cultivation and busy human life ; and there is scarcely a point from which the spire of one or more pretty parish churches may not be seen. But although there is a POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF CANADA. 381 prevailing appearance of comfort and prosperity throughout East Canada, there is a marked difference in the general state of advance and cultivation as compared with West Canada, where Anglo-Saxon energy has been chiefly exerted. Between the St. Lawrence and the United States frontier lie some peculiar settlements called the Eastern Townships, which consist almost exclusively of communities of English farmers, numbering now about 200,000 persons. Sherbrooke is their chief town, and the Grand Trunk Eailway affords them com- munication with the other Canadian towns. TOWNS OF CANADA. So long as the mighty stream and great lakes of the St. Lawrence formed the principal means of communication with the traffic of the ocean, the chief towns of Canada were naturally to be found close upon their shores : thus, Quebec, Three Eivers, and Montreal in East Canada, and Kingston, Toronto, Hamilton, and Niagara in West Canada, are so many port towns linked with one another and with the world beyond by the multitude of steamers that ply up and down the Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence. But, as canals and railroads have increased, other towns more inland have begun to rise into importance ; such as London in the middle of West Canada, and Ottawa the present capital. First and most northerly of the chief towns in East Canada stands Quebec, on a promontory situated at the confluence of the river St. Charles with the St. Lawrence ; and, although no longer the capital, it is still from its position the stronghold of Canada as well as the great entrepot for the trade of the province with Great Britain, the West Indies, &c. Few towns are more finely situated than this ' Gibraltar of the West.' The battlements of the citadel rise up from the ex- treme peak of the promontory of Cape Diamond 350 feet above the river, and, together with the town, which stands on an elevated plain about 100 feet lower down the cliff, form a magnificent amphitheatre, all the more imposing because the rock below the town descends almost perpendicularly to the 382 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. surface of the water. This upper town is encircled with strong fortifications, which connect it with the citadel above, and contains all the chief public buildings, the Protestant and Catholic cathedrals, the Governor's and Parliament house, post- office, and various institutions and educational establishments. The custom of roofing the buildings with tin plates gives a singular glistening effect to the place at a distance. De- scending from this upper town 200 feet down a steep and winding street, called appropriately Break-neck Stairs, and Mountain Street, the lower town is arrived at, built on a narrow space between the base of the promontory and the river, the rock having been cut away to make room for the houses. It is a close ill-ventilated place, on a level with the river at high tide ; but, being close to the shipping, all the commerce and most of the trade of the place is carried on here, and also the ship-building, which is the most important branch of industry. In front of the citadel on the Plains of Abraham, stands an obelisk in memory of Wolfe and Mont- calm, erected by the Earl of Dalhousie, with this inscription : ' Mortem virtus, communem famam historia, monumentum posteritas dedit.' About two-thirds of the population of Quebec are French Eoman Catholics, many of the institutions are Catholic, and the town has generally the appearance of a French rather than an English city. The Protestant diocese of Quebec is a narrow strip of land, 600 miles long, on both sides of the St. Lawrence. It is presided over by the Lord Bishop of Montreal, and an archdeacon resides at Quebec. Fifty-two miles above Quebec is Three Eivers, one of the oldest towns in Canada, and called so because the mouth of the St. Maurice is here divided into three channels as it enters the St. Lawrence. Iron ore being abundant in the neigh- bourhood, forges and iron works are chiefly carried on, together with a large trade in pot and pearl ashes. The town is one of the depots for the north-west traders, and is much frequented by Indians who come here to dispose of their furs. Ninety miles farther up the river is Montreal, the largest TOWNS OF CANADA. 383 and handsomest town in Canada, and also the most com- mercial from standing at the head of ship navigation in the river. It is built on the most southerly point of the island of Montreal, and was founded by the French in 1640 on the site of the Indian village of Hochelaga, and at the foot of a rock from which it derives its name of Mont-royal or Montreal. Like Quebec, it consists of an upper and lower town, the upper being inhabited by the merchants and richer classes, the lower standing on the river side, and built over with trading establishments. After the union of the provinces, Montreal was the capital. The architecture of the town is magnificent, and the chief edifice, the Roman Catholic cathedral, capable of holding 10,000 persons, is the finest ecclesiastical building in British North America. The streets are wide, the houses mostly built of grey stone and roofed with tin plates ; it has numerous Catholic establishments, besides Protestant and dissenting churches, banks, colleges, &c, and now it is the centre of a vast railway system as well as the natural depot for the produce of the extensive grain districts which lie on the borders of the great lakes. Ship-building, iron-founding, distilling, and brewing, with soap, candle, floorcloth, tobacco, and hardware factories, are the chief trading occupations. In West Canada, 199 miles south-west of Montreal, is Kingston, en the Lake Ontario, the strongest British post in America next to Halifax and Quebec, and considered to be the key of the central St. Lawrence, as Quebec is the key of its seaward extremity. For a short time, Kingston was the capital of the united provinces. By means of the Rideau canal, it is the trade entrepot between the two Canadas. Toronto, on the north-west shore of Ontario, 177 miles from Kingston, was the capital of Upper Canada before the union ; and, after 1849, was, alternately with Quebec, the seat of government for a period of four years. The rapidity of its growth of late years has been remarkable. Seventy years ago, where the town now stands, there was one solitary wigwam in the midst of a dense forest. General Simcoe made the first beginning of a town in 1794, and called it York : but, as late 384 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. as 1826, there were no brick houses in the place, the market stood in a bog, and the stumps of trees were left unremoved in the street. Now the town is the third in Canada, with respect to population ; it extends three miles along the shore, and a mile inland ; it has its churches, universities, mechanics 7 institutes, handsome rows of houses, gas-lighted well-paved streets, and, in its neighbourhood, villas, farms, and race- courses. The commercial importance of the town is chiefly owing to its being the emporium for the wheat of Canada, exported to Great Britain, United States, and the eastern provinces. Toronto stands first among the towns of West Canada as to population, which, in 1861, was 50,000. Hamilton, founded in 1813, stands at the western extremity of Lake Ontario. Its population is 20,000. It has an exten- sive trade in machinery, and an increasing commerce owing to its superior water and railway communication with other towns, and with the richest corn -growing districts. London is beautifully situated on the river Thames in the most fertile district in the province, and at an equal distance from the Lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario* Like Toronto, it is an instance of the rapid growth of towns. The land was only surveyed in 1826, and now it has all the requisites of an important central town. Ottawa, formerly Bytown, is the largest town on the river Ottawa, and stands at the head of the navigation of that river from Montreal. It stands on the Great Trunk Eailroad, and communicates with the great lakes by the Eideau canal. The land is fertile to the south, and there is abundance of iron in the neighbourhood. INHABITANTS OF CANADA. By the census of 1861, the population of Canada was 2,506,755. Of these, 1,110,664 belonged to Canada East, and 1,396,991 to Canada West. In Canada East, 847,320 were French Canadians ; 167,578 ada British Canadians, that is, descendants of the first East. British settlers; 76,490 were British emigrants, of INHABITANTS OF CANADA. 385 whom by far the larger portion were Irish, and the rest, set- tlers from other parts of Europe and the United States. Thus the French were more than three to one of the whole population. The French Canadians, or habitans, as they are called, who form the mass of the common people, are in many respects a distinct people, and exhibit a curious blending of the wild American with the old French stock. A constant out-door life has made many in complexion as dark as the Indians, and in person generally they are tall and thin, with aquiline noses, thin lips, and small bright eyes. The language commonly spoken is French, slightly corrupted, and the pre- vailing religion is Eoman Catholic. The houses of the peasantry resemble much those in Normandy, and are made of wood, of one story, with a chimney in the middle, whitewashed, and extremely clean ; the sleeping rooms are at each end, and the one dwelling-room is divided from the kitchen by a partition. Their diet, like that of the French peasant, consists chiefly of soup and vegetables, or fish. The dress of the women is like that worn in the south of France — dark-coloured jacket, stuff petticoat and French head-dress on week days, and the gayest colours for Sundays and holidays ; the men's dress is peculiar to themselves ; a grey cloth coat, close buttoned to the neck, and girt with a scarlet sash, leather moccasins, and the bonnet- bleu or light straw hat, and fur cap for winter. Lord Durham, in his report, laid before the Queen in 1839, describes them as a mild and kindly race, frugal, industrious and cheerful, and distinguished for a courtesy and real politeness which pervade all classes. Society amongst the upper classes is acknow- ledged by all to be unusually agreeable, owing to its easy politeness and freedom from conventional restraint. The habitans are mostly proprietors of the land they occupy, and are thus generally in comfortable circumstances, but they are, as a people, wanting in energy, averse to change, illiterate, and jealous of English rule. In West Canada, the great bulk of the population is British. Before 1770, the only white settlers were a few Canada Frenchmen in the neighbourhood of Detroit and West - c c 386 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. Kingston ; in 1861, the French formed about the fortieth part of the inhabitants, and the British numbered 1,273,905 ; a predominance which is rapidly increasing every year by emigration. The Irish compose nearly half of the recent settlers. In many districts there are settlements of Germans, and other European emigrants have settled here in much larger proportion than in East Canada. The Indians of Canada belong to two tribes — the Mohawks and the Chippeways, or Ojibbeways. By some ac- counts * they are a well-disposed and even highly interesting people, when not brutalised by the ' fire-water 7 of the Europeans, which has been their curse and ruin ; and in any case they are a harmless race, submissive to English rule, and leading a quiet life in their own villages in different parts of the province. Many of them have been converted to Christianity ; but they persist in loving best their own wild wigwam life, and resist all attempts to make them improve their condition by steady labour. In spearing a salmon, or tracking a bear, they excel all Europeans whatever, and specimens of the skill of their women are familiar to us in the baskets and bark-work, orna- mented with flowers in moose-hair. In the towns they mix more freely with the whites, begging alms or selling game, and acting as guides in all sporting expeditions ; and in every steamer, a few of them may be seen lying in some corner on the luggage near the engine, with their squaws and children. But their numbers are fast diminishing, and at the last census only amounted in the whole of Canada to 6,717. INTERNAL COMMUNICATION. The ample means of water communication with which Nature has furnished Canada, have been rendered almost perfect by the canal system, which is exten- sive in proportion to the needs of a country before the period of railways, and ingenious and splendid in proportion to the * See Mrs. Jameson's Winter Studies, INTERNAL COMMUNICATION IN CANADA. 387 difficulties to be overcome. There are scarcely any rivers or lakes, however distant from one another, that are not con- nected by means of some of the canals, which branch in all directions ; and when navigation comes naturally to a full stop at some great and sudden change of level, vessels are made to mount up hill, to an extent unheard of in our flat country, by a gigantic series of locks. Thus, in the great Welland canal, undertaken by a company in 1825, for the purpose of connecting Lake Ontario with Erie by a more eligible route than the Falls of Niagara, the formidable ascent of 330 feet is managed by 37 wooden locks, 22 feet wide and 100 feet long, and the canal is conducted 42 miles over the range of hills forming the boundary of Lake Erie. The Eideau canal, again, which opens a passage from Kingston to Ottawa, a distance of 132 miles, is a succession of waters raised by dams which unite together a series of lakes. But the great drawback to the inland navigation of Canada, which no canals can remedy, is the severity of the Biver winter, which renders icebound the passage along Nayi g atlon - the great lakes and rivers for a considerable part of the year. The Ottawa is frozen over for at least four months, beginning about October. The St. Lawrence, between Quebec and Mon- treal, is generally one mass of ice by Christmas, and although seldom frozen over below Quebec towards the sea, the large fragments of ice floating about are sufficient to break the strongest paddle-wheels to pieces. The Ontario, on which usually there are about 100 steamers, is unnavigable early in the winter, except for the iceboats, which sometimes ply the lake, speeding along at the rate of twenty-three miles an hour. But since business is thus in a great measure suspended during the winter season, holiday-making takes its turn; and the time for country excursions and pleasure-trips in Canada is ushered in by the terrific snow-storms of December, which, drifting rapidly one after another, transform the country into one uniform white plain, from which all animal life and all signs of human industry are withdrawn, and by an intense cold, that threatens danger to noses, fingers, ears, and every part of the c c 2 388 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. body that can be attacked by the frost. The Canadian then doffs his bonnet-bleu, and puts on his fur-cap, fur-gloves, and moccasins, or snow-shoes, consisting of a kind of net-work in the shape of a boy's kite so large that the foot cannot sink far into the snow. Then the carrioles appear on the lakes in all their varieties of sleigh, cutter, burline, and traineaux, and break the dead stillness of the snow season with their tinkling bells. Then gay picnic parties are planned, where each guest carries his dish to the house of entertainment, and literally flying visits are exchanged between friends whom the sum- mer heats have kept asunder. Sleigh- driving goes on in all directions for pure enjoyment's sake; an additional zest to the pleasure being the risk of being smothered in a snow-storm, or suddenly upset into the lake through a hole in the ice, or of having to leap the horse over a fissure, or drag him out with ropes. All these delights come to an end when the thaw begins, towards April, but it is not until about the second week in May that navigation is completely reopened. Although spring fairly commences in the middle of April at Montreal, the snow does not entirely vanish so far north as Quebec till three weeks after, and at that time a singular crowding of ice often takes place in the St. Lawrence, which delays the free passage, and seems, as it were, to wind up Nature's long winter performances with a grand frost-scene finale. The ice on the contiguous lakes and rivers, broken up by the thaw, rushes down the great stream in huge masses to the ocean, which are again dashed back by the waves, so as to choke up the river from side to side with ice-blocks, of sometimes 500 yards in diameter, which the tide and land-currents toss upon one another, group- ing them into heaps which rear themselves high above the surface of the water in the most fantastic shapes, and having a power of crushing vessels to pieces, during a storm, almost equal to that of the icebergs in the polar seas. Altogether it is for five months in the year, and often six, that the ice forms an obstacle to the wealth, trade, and postal communication of Canada, which only railways can remedy ; and these, although KAILWATS IN CANADA. 389 on a grand scale, are hardly yet advanced sufficiently to con- stitute a free outlet. The principal line now open is the Grand Trunk Railway, 856 miles long, beginning 30 miles below Quebec, crossing the St. Lawrence at Montreal, by means of the stupendous Victoria Tubular Bridge, 7,000 feet in length, thence running to Kingston and Toronto, and ending at Port Sarnia, at the south of Lake Huron. The next in importance is the Great Western, which runs from Toronto to Sandwich opposite Detroit, through Hamilton and London, from which a branch line connects Hamilton with Niagara. The Northern Railway runs 96 miles straight across the peninsula from Toronto to Collingwood in Georgian Bay. The Buffalo and Lake Huron runs from Fort Erie to Goderich; besides which there is the London and Port Stanley ; the Erie and Ontario; the Cobourg and Peterborough; the Prescott and Ottawa; the Montreal and Champlain ; the Grenville and Carillon ; the St. Lawrence and Industry; the Port Hope and Lindsay, with branches; the Brockville and Ottawa, to Perth and Almonte; the Stan- stead, Shefford, and Chambly, and the Welland; amounting in all to 1,876 miles. The absence of good common roads in Canada — many of them being merely clay roads, with ruts two feet deep — makes the extension of railways more important, and nothing would tend so directly to clevelope the resources of the land by encouraging the immigration of labourers. There is yet room in Canada for some mihions of the human race, and as soon as a railway is made through the wildernesses and unpeopled prairies, they quickly become settled and cultivated. Canada might thus be able to raise for itself provisions which now have to be obtained from the United States at an immense annual cost. Every town and almost every village in Canada is now con- nected by the telegraph, and the number of miles in Telegraph operation is 4,046. The post also extends to the andPost - most distant hamlets, and the total number of offices in Canada is about 1,720. 390 BKITISH NORTH AMERICA. STAPLE PRODUCTS OF CANADA. The chief staple product of Canada is, at present, timber, enormous quantities of which are annually exported, both of the common kind, such as oak, elm, white and red pines ; and also of the less common woods, such as the white ash, valuable for making oars; the prickly or black ash, an ornamental wood for furniture ; the butter-nut, a useful cabinet wood ; and the curled maple and black walnut, the last being the most beau- tiful cabinet wood grown in America. Another valuable article of export is also obtained from the ashes of the trees and plants burnt in clearing the land, and the pot and pearl- ash, thus produced, often help the settler to pay the first cost of his land. The Canadian ashes contain a larger propor- tion of real potash than those of Europe. Maple sugar is an important product, especially in West Canada, obtained from the maple tree, by tapping the bark in the spring-time ; 300 lbs. of sugar are procured on the average from 150 trees of from ten to fifteen years' growth, and the farmers of the eastern townships all make their own maple sugar. Grain of all kinds, especially wheat and maize, are becoming more and more important as export; although there are still vast regions in Canada where the sickle and plough have never reached ; the actual area under cultivation is as much as 10,000,000 acres, or about equal to the arable farms of Eng- land. In Canada West, where the soil has principally been formed by the decay of forests for thousands of years upon the swampy deposits from water, the fertility is so unusual that wheat can be raised in some parts without manure for twenty years in succession, and 100 bushels have been obtained from a single acre ; the highest average known in Europe being 40 bushels. Dairy and farm produce of all kinds are greatly on the increase for export. Canada East possesses in the river and gulf of St. Lawrence 1,000 miles of coast, where fisheries are carried on to a great extent. Cod-fishing is carried on along the whole shore; mackerel-fishing along the coast of Gaspe and the lower part GOVERNMENT OF CANADA. 391 of the St. Lawrence: and the Government are now fostering about seventy salmon fisheries in the province. Whale-fishing is carried on by vessels fitted out at the Port of Gaspe. GOVERNMENT OF CANADA. The existing Constitution of Canada is according to the Act of Union formed by Lord Sydenham, and secures to the colony all the political, social, and religious freedom of an indepen- dent nation. The Governor of Canada is appointed by the Crown, and is Governor- General of all the British possessions in North America. He nominates his own Cabinet or Privy Council, which must be composed of members of one of the Canadian Houses of Parliament, and must command a majority in Par- liament, as in England. There are two Legislative bodies — the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly, the members of which are elected by the people. The Legislative Council is summoned for life by the Governor in the name of the Crown, and is composed of not fewer than twenty-two members. The House of Assembly is convened for a term of four years, and meets once a year. It consists of forty-two representatives from each province. The elective suffrage is almost universal, the qualification for voting being the payment of a household rental of 61. in towns and 41. in the country. Aliens or foreigners can enjoy the rights and privileges of citizens after a residence of three years, upon taking the oath of allegiance. The laws of England prevail in Canada West ; the laws of France exist in Canada East ; but the laws in both provinces are subject to alteration by the local Parliament. The municipal system of Canada is considered admirably adapted to the requirements of a country that is constantly increasing the boundaries of its population. The inhabitants of each township annually elect five councillors ; the coun- cillors elect out of these a presiding officer, called the town- ship reeve; the reeves and deputy reeves of the different townships form the County Council ; this council elects their 392 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. presiding officer, styled the Warden. In each county there is a judge, a sheriff, one or more coroners, a clerk of the peace, a clerk of the county court, a registrar, and justices of the peace, which officers are appointed by the Governor in Council. All township reeves, wardens, mayors, and aldermen are, ex officio, justices of the peace. The County Councils are charged with the construction and repairs of gaols and court- houses, roads and bridges, houses of correction and grammar schools, under the provisions of the school law; they are empowered to grant moneys by loan to public works tending to the improvement of the country, and to levy taxes for the redemption of debts incurred. The British Government maintains a certain number of troops in Canada for protection against foreign invasion. The militia and volunteer system are in operation. The principal military stations are Quebec, Montreal, St. Helena, Kingston, Toronto, Niagara, London, Isle aux Noix, and Amherstburg. RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS. There is no State Church in Canada. The faith of the Church of Rome prevails in Canada East, and that of the Church of England in Canada West. The Canadian Catholic Church is exceedingly rich in lands and revenues, and has many excellent religious communities and charitable institutions. It has no temporal support from Eome. The Bishop of Quebec receives 1,000/. a year from Great Britain, and the clergy have for their maintenance a twenty-sixth part of all the grain produced on the lands of the Catholics ; besides which the priests of West Canada receive an annual allowance from the Government.* The establishment of the Church of England in Canada dates from 1793, when the whole province was formed into one enormous bishopric under the superintendence of Dr. Jacob Mountain, and called the Diocese of Quebec. The diocese was afterwards changed to that of Montreal, and in * Martin's British Colonies, RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS. 393 1839 the see was divided, and a Diocese of Toronto consti- tuted, comprising the province of West Canada. Further divisions have been made more recently, and at present the Church consists of: in Canada East, two dioceses, viz., Quebec, containing the districts of Gaspe, Quebec, the Three Rivers, and St. Francis — bishops' income by Government vote, 1,990/. ; number of clergy, 50 : and Montreal, founded 1850 — income from Colonial Bishoprics' Fund, 800/. ; clergy, 65. In Canada West, three dioceses, viz., Toronto, income from clergy revenues in West Canada, 1,250/. ; clergy, 137 : Ontario, founded 1861, including Ottawa district : Huron, including London district; clergy, 55. Some of the clergy are supported by the voluntary contributions of their parishioners, and some by the funds of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. The Church of Scotland and the Presbyterians also receive support from the public funds. With regard to other Christian denominations, West Canada exhibits an unusual variety, and about a twentieth of the population are of no denomination whatever. Both Catholics and Protestants have several missionary establishments. Canada is liberally supplied with educational establish- ments. West Canada has four universities, and the number of its schools of all classes amounted in 1855 to 3,710. Edu- cation is less advanced in Canada East, but the upper class schoo]s are of a superior order. The chief towns have their public libraries, mechanics' institutions, lyceums, scientific clubs, &c, and there is not a town or even village in West Canada without its own news- paper. 394 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. CHAPTER III. THE LOWER PROVINCES : NEWFOUNDLAND : BERMUDAS. The Lower Provinces of British North America comprise New Brunswick and Nova Scotia on the mainland, and the islands of Prince Edward and Cape Breton in the gulf of St. Lawrence. Of these regions, which were probably first visited by John and Sebastian Cabot during their voyage of discovery in 1497, Nova Scotia appears to have been the first that was colonised, and also claims primary notice on the ground of its capital of Halifax being the principal city belonging to the group. NOVA SCOTIA. Nova Scotia is a large peninsula of about 300 miles in Natural length, and about the area of Scotland, attached to Features, the continent of America by an isthmus eight miles wide. Although the latitude, 43° 25' and 46° N. corres- ponds with that of the south of France, the winter is far more severe than even in Great Britain, and showers and fogs are more prevalent ; but the climate altogether is milder than in the same latitude farther west on the American con- tinent. Fossil remains of the palm-tree, bamboo, and cactus, dug from the rocks and coal seams, indicate that the climate was at one time tropical. The surface is gently undulated, and none of the hills rise to more than 600 feet. The scenery here and there is beautiful, with wooded groves and rich meadows, and the country is so well watered by numberless small lakes and rivers, that there is no point in the province 30 miles beyond navigable water. Nova Scotia ranks high as a grazing and as a coal-pro- ducing country. The geological structure is granite, slate and greywacke, trap and old red sandstone; and the soil NOYA SCOTIA. 395 formed from the decomposition of these rocks makes three descriptions of land, known in the province as upland, intervale, and marsh. The uplands are sandy silicious districts, and barren, except where the stones have been removed ; the intervales are narrow strips of light alluvial soil, skirting the streams, and are of tolerable fertility ; but the most prolific soil is in the dyked marshes which have been formed along all the rivers that flow into the Basin of Mines and the Bay of Fundy, and which, lying below the tide, have been covered with successive deposits of rich mud. The extensive disintegration of the rocks from alluvial and atmospheric causes, may account for the many harbours sup- plied by the indented shores, which are unusually deep, and lie closer together than in any other country ; and also for the numerous caverns and grottoes on the coast. Some cf these caves in the old red sandstone, called ' ovens,' into which the sea rushes and bursts out again with a roar like the spouting of a great whale, are passed upon visitors as the • nests of the sea-serpents.' Coal is found in large deposits at Pictou. The main seam of the Albion mines worked there is 35 feet thick, and the field extends over an area of about 100 square miles. The coal is of good quality, and the relative extent of the deposit greater than in any other British colony. Iron and copper and other metals exist in the colony, but have not yet been largely worked ; also the rocks supply marble, alabaster, porphyry, and precious stones. But the discovery of gold near Tangier Harbour in 1861, has eclipsed the other mineral treasures, and has given a new impetus to the settlement. The gold is found in quartz-veins, principally along the southern coast, and in some of the mines there is a great singularity in the form of the auriferous quartz, the strata of which lie side by side like a series of small casks, and are called by the miners ' barrel quartz.' The Indians found inhabiting this region belonged chiefly to two tribes, the Mic-macs and the Eichibuctoos, differing 396 BEITISH NOETH AMERICA. from one another in dialect, but both of the usual North American type. Nova Scotia was one of the regions claimed from the first Settlement ^y England on tne ground of its discovery by the by the Cabots ; but the English made at first but little use of their claim, and Henry IV. of France, regardless of it, sent out his own explorers, and granted patents for the exclusive trade and government of all the territories between 40° and 50° north latitude, to which he gave the general name of La Nouvelle France ; Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and part of Maine being designated as Acadia. By way of making immediate use of his new possessions, the king com- missioned the Marquis de la Roche in 1598 to take out with him forty French convicts and find a place for them some- where in the New World. And accordingly, the marquis turned them ashore at the first island he came to, namely, Sable Island, a barren heap of sand, 85 miles south-east of Nova Scotia, while he pursued his explorations. But he was obliged by adverse winds to return to France withoift re- visiting Sable Island, and as the island produced nothing but briars, the convicts had no chance for their lives but by hunting the seals and catching the fish, and once were for- tunate in being supplied with provisions from a wreck. Seven years afterwards, Henri Quatre gave orders for their return, and only twelve were found alive. In the same reign, a Frenchman, named De Monti, who had obtained from the king the monopoly of the fur-trade in these districts, founded the first colony of Port Royal, on the west coast. But in 1614, all the French settlements were seized and destroyed by the Governor of Virginia, who claimed the provinces for England on the old ground of first discovery, and eight years afterwards James I. granted this province to a Scotch nobleman, Sir William Alexander, under the name of New Scotland, or Nova Scotia. On sending out emigrants to take possession, resistance was encountered from the re- sident French settlers, and Charles I., although he had con- firmed his father's grant, surrendered the place to Louis XIII. KOYA SCOTIA. 397 Betaken under Oliver Cromwell, and again ceded to France, Port Royal was besieged and captured by General Nicholson in Queen Anne's time, and henceforth was called Annapolis. At the Peace of Utrecht, 1713, all Nova Scotia was confirmed to England, and General Nicholson became the first governor. The English, however, found possession difficult, in con- sequence of the reluctance of the French settlers English either to become British subjects or to leave the 1748. place, and also in consequence of the attachment of the Indians to their old French leaders, and the colony suffered much from desultory internal warfare, and from various attempts of the French to regain possession after war had recommenced in 1744. But the place was of obvious im- portance to England ; and in order to strengthen it, the Earl of Halifax, then President of the Board of Trade and Planta- tions, adopted the plan of settling there the troops disbanded after the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, by granting land both to officers and privates. Other settlers were also en- couraged to emigrate at the government expense. For greater security in case of French invasion, the province was cleared of the Acadians, or old French settlers, by a summary act of treachery : the English authorities assembling the Acadians in their respective settlements under pretext of consulting with them on some question important to their interests, and then shipping them off by force to the United States. In 1762, at the Treaty of Paris, France resigned all claim to Nova Scotia and her other possessions in this part of America, and the Indians at length were brought to pledge themselves to • bury the hatchet,' and accept George III. as their ( Great Father.' Little reason had they, however, to rejoice in the paternal relation, since what with the wars between the rival nations, and the introduction amongst them of the small-pox and habits of intemperance, nearly the whole race has been destroyed, and only a few Mic-macs are now to be found. The population of this colony, including Cape Breton, was, in 1861, 330,857. The Nova Scotians are mostly p resen t descendants of English, Irish, and Scotch immigrants, Condition. 398 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. and of Royalists from New England. There are also a few settlements of French Acadians, Germans, and Swiss Protes- tants. Besides which, there is a dark-coloured race consisting of the descendants of runaway negroes, and of the Maroons from Jamaica. English is the prevailing language. The majority of the people are fishers and farmers, and many of those who live on the coast combine the two trades. The farmers of the midland counties often use their timber for ship-building, and make and man the ships themselves, and freight them with the produce of their lands. Since the colony has been settled under British rule, much progress has been made in farming, ship-building, and coal-mining, and now gold-digging has become an important occupation of the settlement. But manufactures are still very limited, and are chiefly of coarse cloths and flannels, paper, leather, straw hats and bonnets of bleached grass, agricultural implements, ropes, stoves, &c. ; British manufactures being largely imported. The settlement relies very much on its fisheries, and Nova Scotia is still a fur-producing country. The chief exports of the province are timber of all sorts, salted fish, seal-skins, oil, coal, gypsum, grindstones, live stock, and meat. For electoral purposes the colony was divided into fourteen counties, viz., Halifax, Colchester, Pictou, Hants, King's, Annapolis, Yarmouth, Shelburne, Queen's, Lunenburg, Guysborough, Digby, Sydney, Cumberland. The Scotch chiefly inhabit Pictou and the east districts ; the Irish Halifax ; and the American Royalists the west and midland counties. The counties are again divided into townships, among which the township of Clare in Annapolis is interest- ing as being the residence of the ill-treated Acadians, who were suffered to return from exile under Governor Franklin, and who, by their persevering industry, have converted a wilderness into a prosperous settlement. The chief towns in Nova Scotia are Halifax, Lunenburg, and Liverpool, on the south-west coast ; Yarmouth Towns and Annapolis on the Bay of Fundy ; Windsor on Minas Bay ; and Pictou and New Glasgow on the north coast. NOYA SCOTIA. 399 Halifax stands upon the same parallel of latitude as Venice. It is the nearest port to England on the American continent, and the principal station of the British army and navy in North America. The town is built chiefly of wood upon a narrow arm of the sea, which leads up to a capacious bay, called Bedford Basin, and which forms a splendid harbour of ten square miles in area, completely land-locked, although easily accessible, and capable of accommodating the whole British navy. The city rises from the shore on the slope of a hill, and is about two miles long and a mile broad. In the centre stands the Province Building, or Government Chambers, considered one of the handsomest structures in our North American colonies. The Military Hospital and other public buildings owed their foundation to the late Duke of Kent, when Commander-in-Chief of Nova Scotia in 1799 ; and it was His Eoyal Highness who first urged the formation of a road between Halifax and Quebec. According to the recommendation of Mr. Poulett Thomson, Govern- Governor- General of Canada in 1840, a liberal Con- ment, &c. stitution was granted to Nova Scotia, and the Govern- ment now consists of a Lieutenant-Governor, chosen by the Crown (salary, 3,000Z.), a Legislative Council of twenty-one members, and a House of Assembly of fifty-five members, who are elected for a term of four years from the counties and towns. Every natural- born or naturalised male person above the age of twenty-one, who has resided above a year in a county or town, is entitled to vote. Nova Scotia was made a bishop's see in 1787. The diocese includes Prince Edward's Island and Cape Breton. Income from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, 700Z. Clergy, 78. Although the Church of England is the recog- nised religion, the Dissenters largely predominate, and espe- cially Soman Catholics are numerous, in consequence of the many Irish and French in the province. Education is provided by a Board of Commissioners in each county. There are 1,000 common schools, 5 colleges, and 52 grammar schools. 400 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. Kailways have not made much progress in Nova Scotia. In 1862 there were only 92 miles completed. It is in contem- plation to connect the Nova Scotia line with that of New Brunswick, and thence with the Grand Trunk line at the mouth of the St. Lawrence. CAPE BRETON. The island of Cape Breton is scarcely detached from the north-east of Nova Scotia by a narrow strait, called the Gut of Canso. In length Cape Breton is about 300 miles, but of its breadth it is difficult to speak, since it is almost divided into two islands by a large inland sea, the Bras d'Or, the waters of which branch into all parts of the island, and which appears to have been formed by some earthquake or other convulsion, which tore asunder the land, and admitted the sea beyond its former limits. The portions thus divided are very different in character, that on the north being bold and rocky, and that on the south low and only slightly hilly. The shoals of cod and scale-fish around its coast first attracted to the uninhabited island a few French fishermen from Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in 1714, who settled themselves on such parts of the coast where they could best dry their cod-fish, and make small gardens. Soon, however, the French Government found out the value of the place ; for besides its fisheries and fine harbours, its position with rela- tion to the St. Lawrence would command a free passage to the French Canadian settlements; it was therefore rapidly colonised, the town of Louisburg was founded and named after Louis XIV., and immense sums were spent upon fortifications, which were well repaid by the profit from the fisheries. But since Cape Breton remained a French pos- session after Nova Scotia had surrendered to the English in 1710, perpetual warfare was carried on by the rival colonies, until, in 1758, the island was finally captured by a British fleet. In 1820, Cape Breton was united to the government of SABLE ISLAND-— MAGDALEN, BRION, AND BIRD ISLES. 401 Nova Scotia, and sends six members to its House of Kepre- sentatives. The original French Acadians, who are mostly employed in the fisheries, and who much resemble as a people the Canadian habitans, still form a large part of the population ; but the majority are emigrants from the Scotch Highlands, and the rest English and Irish settlers, New England loyalists, dis- banded soldiers, and about 300 Mic-macs. The English capital of Sydney is well situated at the end of a fine bay on the north-east, and in the neighbourhood of coal- mines; but although founded after the conclusion of the American war, it has made little progress as a town, and contains only about eighty houses ; and Cape Breton generally, although its capabilities are beginning now to be recognised, has not advanced equally with England's other colonies. Its chief products are fish, coal, gypsum, and timber ; and now railroads are beginning to appear from the coal-pits to the wharves, and saw-mills are springing up in the neighbourhood of the forest. The gypsum, or sulphate of lime, which the new red sandstone rocks plentifully supply, is becoming an important article of commerce, both in its form of lime for agricultural purposes, and as alabaster and selenite; and a valuable adjunct to the magnificent fisheries has been found in numerous salt-springs, which also have their source in the new red sandstone. No less than 90,000 acres of the primeval forest, which almost covered the land, have been cleared for cultivation. SABLE ISLAND, MAGDALEN ISLES, BRI0N AND BIRD ISLES. These small islands are appendages of Nova Scotia. Sable Island, where the French convicts were left to perish, is a thin strip of sand, about eighty miles long, where a small settle- ment, consisting of a Superintendent and some assistants, is maintained by the British Government, solely for the sake of supplying aid to the many vessels that are wrecked on the coast. A more dreary place of residence cannot be imagined, DD 402 BRITISH NOKTH AMERICA. Sea-storms dash the waves with terrific violence against this naked sand-ridge, exposing at every gale the fragments of wrecks and human skeletons that have lain buried, and are so rapidly washing away the land that the spot where the first Superintendent settled himself is now three miles in the ocean. Not a tree or shrub grows on the island, but only a coarse kind of grass, and some cranberry and whortleberry bushes. Nevertheless, animals have been introduced, which thrive well ; English rabbits, for instance, have burrowed innumer- able homes for themselves in the sandy soil, and are only kept from over-swarming the island by an equally numerous tribe of settlers — the progeny of the rats which had escaped from the wrecks. Herds of wild cattle also once found pasture here, but they have all been hirnted and exterminated, and now there is a race of wild horses of unknown origin, of a small and hardy breed, which multiply fast, and are often killed for food. In the centre of the island is a pond eighteen miles long, called Lake Wallace, and on its north side stands the house of the Superintendent, with two small kitchen gardens, in which it has been found possible to grow cabbages, and a small farm containing horses, cows, pigs, and poultry. On a hill adjoining is a fiag- staff, made out of the sail-yard of a French frigate, wrecked here in 1822, from which signals are made to dis- tressed vessels, and on each end of the lake is a hut, kept furnished with provisions and necessaries for the shipwrecked. Hunting the seals on the shore seems the chief diversion nature has provided for these isolated settlers, and is a sport which from early days attracted the New England fishermen to the coast. The Magdalen Isles lie about fifty miles north-west of Cape Breton, and rejoice in the pleasant names of Coffin Isle, Dead- man's Isle, Old Harry, &c. They are peopled chiefly by fishermen descended from the French Acadians. North of this group are the Brion and Bird Isles, where stands the great ' Gannet Eock,' the resort of such myriads of gannets that their white bodies give the summit the NEW BRUNSWICK. 403 appearance of being snow-clad, and their flight is described by Audubon as forming a magnificent floating veil of light grey, which causes a strange dimness in the air of those regions. NEW BRUNSWICK. New Brunswick is a quadrangular territory, on the east coast of North. America, of 210 miles long, and 180 miles broad, and of about the same area as Denmark. The limits of the settlement were determined at the Ashburton Treaty between England and the United States in 1842. East Canada and Chaleurs Bay bound it on the north, Nova Scotia and the Bay of Fundy on the south, the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the east, and the United States on the west. The greater part of its surface is still an uncultivated and beautiful wilderness, of dense forest and prairie, well Natural watered by lake and river, and with much diversity Features « of hill and dale. The climate, like that of Canada, is subject to extremes of heat and cold ; the aurora borealis is brilliant at all times of the year, earthquakes are occasionally felt, and the exceeding dryness of the air during the heat of summer occasions the widespread forest fires, which are a peculiarity of this region as well as of Nova Scotia. Pine is the prevailing forest tree, and, owing to its resinous nature, an accidental fire among the fallen leaves or dry underwood easily sets the tree in a blaze, and the fury and rapidity with which the flames spread over miles of forest are such that often the whole country is encircled with a fiery zone, which only contracts its circle as less and less remains to be destroyed. The land appears formerly to have been peopled by several different Indian tribes, but of these only two remain, the Mic-macs and Melicetes. Included during the early days of European colonization in the great French pro- vince of Acadia, very little was effected towards its settle- ment so long as it remained a French possession. A few military posts were formed, and a number of French emigrants planted themselves in different spots, hunting and fishing, and dd 2 404 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. attempting an export trade ; but famine, pestilence, and British cruisers rendered their efforts vain, and little sign of their existence is left on the soil, except a few traces of cultivation here and there, and their bones, which have been found pro- truding from graves that have been washed open on the river banks. After the conquest of Canada, New Brunswick was ceded to England by the Treaty of Paris (1763), and then colonisation began in good earnest. The first British settler was a Scotch- man,named Davidson, who, in 1764, obtained a grant of 100,000 acres on the banks of the Miramichi, and who, managing to live on friendly terms with the Indians, soon made a valuable traffic of the salmon fishery. But, during the subsequent years of the American Eevolution, the British settlers were in great jeopardy, in consequence of the savages taking part with the Americans, and more than once barely escaped a wholesale massacre. Gradually, however, the colony became strengthened by the arrival of 5,000 American loyalists, and after the con- clusion of the war in 1783, by thousands of the disbanded British troops; and when, in 1784, New Brunswick was sepa- rated from the government of Nova Scotia, and became an independent colony under the administration of a judicious governor (General Carleton) it rapidly improved in civilisation and increased its population. The population of New Brunswick is about 200,000, but present the province could contain ten times its present Condition, number The inhabitants have naturally congre- gated chiefly on the banks of the two great rivers of the pro- vince, the St. John and the Miramichi. An almost unbroken line of white settlements extends along the valley of the St. John, and the land is extensively cleared in the vale of the Miramichi. Several tracts of land have been reserved by the -Government for the use of the Mic-macs and Melicetes, and their encampments mingle strangely with the English settle- ments. They maintain that they are the rightful owners of the land, water, and sky, and that the 'Great Spirit' has only permitted the 'pale faces' to come into the country to kill the NEW brtjnswick:. 405 game, catch fish, and cut down trees; and they still hold their yearly grand councils, in which they pass laws for the regu- lation of their own hunting and fishing. The majestic pine forests of New Brunswick offer tmlimited extension to the timber, or, as it is here called, the lumber trade ; and this lumbering trade, or preparation of timber, has so engrossed the population that, until lately, little attention has been paid to the cultivation of the land. The same as in Nova Scotia, the most valuable soils for agriculture are the dyked marsh-lands at the mouths of rivers ; and here the English cereals, maize, and potatoes, grow well, and recently agricul- tural associations have been formed, encouraged by Govern- ment grants, by means of which improved methods have been introduced, and efforts made to raise in the province itself the needful supplies of grain, which have hitherto been imported from the United States. Timber and fish are the staple pro- ducts, but it has considerable coal-fields, and quarries and mines of iron, gypsum, copper, and limestone. New Brunswick contains thirteen counties, viz. Gloucester, Northumberland, Kent, Westmoreland, St. John, counties Charlotte, King's, Queen's, Sunbury, York, Carlton, ^ dTow ^ s - Eistigonche, and Albert. The capital of the province is Fre- dericton, on the banks of the St. John, built on both sides of the stream, and containing the Government House, a cathedral, colleges, and barracks. But a more important town is the com- mercial capital St. John, near the mouth of the river, built on a rocky peninsula overlooking the harbour of St. John, and defended by forts. St. John is the emporium for the timber, fish, fur, and lime trades; all the other towns are engrossed in the lumber trade. St. John owes its foundation to the American loyalists, who raised it amidst the cedar thickets, and with patient labour levelled into streets the rocky surface. It is an incorporated town, and has excellent houses and public buildings ; but the houses being mostly of wood, the town has suffered extremely from fires. The destruction by fire of Douglastown and Newcastle, and other small towns on the banks of the Miramichi, in 1826, 406 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. was one of the most awful catastrophes of the kind on record. The summer had been unusually hot, and the forest fires had raged with great violence, when, on the 7th of October, a tremendous hurricane convulsed the air, and c suddenly a lengthened and sullen roar came booming through the forest, driving a thousand massive and devouring flames before it. Then a distance of more than one hundred miles in length became enveloped* in an immense sheet of flame, that spread over nearly six thousand square miles.' Five hundred persons perished ; the wood-built settlements, with all their houses, stores, barns, were reduced to ashes ; thousands of wild beasts perished in the forests, and even the fish in the river were scorched or poisoned by the fumes of the alkali of the burning ashes. The towns have since been rebuilt. The government consists of a Lieutenant-Governor (salary, 3,000/.), a Legislative Council of twenty-one members, and a House of Assembly of forty-one members, elected by the male inhabitants who possess real estate to the amount of 25L, or annual income from property to the amount of 100Z. a year. Frederic ton was created a bishopric in 1845 ; the income (1,000/.) is supplied from the Colonial Bishoprics' Fund. Number of clergy, 55. Eoman Catholics and Dissenters form a large proportion of the community. In 1861 there were 500 places of worship open. Education is provided for under the Common School system, and in 1858 there were 762 schools for the people, besides several schools of a superior class. King's College at Freder- icton is the University for the province. It was founded in 1828, and is now under the patronage of Queen Victoria. A line of railway, 114 miles long, is now open, connecting St. John with the Gulf of St. Lawrence at Shediac. Another line is open for 95 miles to Woodstock, which it is intended to connect with the Grand Trunk Line of Canada. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. Prince Edward Island is an irregular crescent - shaped island lying parallel to the concave shores of New Brunswick PRINCE EDWAKD ISLAND. 407 and Nova Scotia, from which it is separated by Northumber- land Strait. It is about the size of Norfolk, and Natural extends about 135 miles east and west; and is so Features. intersected with bays and creeks, formed by the strong action of the tides in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, that there is no part of the island more than eight miles from the sea at high water. The surface is undulated throughout. Forests of large trees, especially pine, poplar, and beech, once completely covered the island, and although forest-fires and lumber-men have done so much to clear the ground that there is now no more timber than is needed for ship and house building and other necessary purposes, the land is still finely wooded with the rapid fresh growth of trees in the fertile soil. The climate is more equable than in the adjoining countries ; the air is dry and clear, the aurora borealis splendid in the autumn, and in the summer months the fire-flies produce what may be called an atmospheric effect, flashing through the air over whole acres near the sea, and mingling beauti- fully with the reflection of the stars in the water. Owing to the favourable climate and fertile soil, it is essentially an agricultural country, and almost the whole surface is capable of cultivation. Although discovered by the Cabots, the island was first claimed by the French under the name of St. John, _ J . . 1 French and was included m their vast territory of New Settlement, France. A small fishing settlement was first made upon it in 1663 by a French naval captain, named Doublet, who held this and the Magdalen Isles as a sort of feudal tenure, and it became afterwards the residence of many French families from Acadia. During the war between England and France in the middle of the last century, large numbers of Mic-macs and exiled Acadians congregated here, and directed hostilities against the English colonists of Nova Scotia, and agreed so well together in their mode of warfare that the scalps of Englishmen were found hung up as trophies in the French Governor's house. At the peace of 1763, the island finally passed into the possession of England with the rest of these 408 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. regions, and the hostile Acadians were shipped off either to France or the American continent. The plan adopted at first by the English for the settlement English °f tne l an d was singular. All regular survey and Settlement, settlement of it had been interrupted by the American war ; but at the conclusion of the Seven Years' War, in 1763, the island was made a means of paying the officers of the army and navy who, from their services, had claims upon the Government ; and accordingly the land was por- tioned out into townships, grants for which were drawn by ticket-holders in lottery fashion, and these tickets were distri- buted among the officers on condition that they should colonise their land within ten years, at the minimum rate of one settler to 200 acres. But few of the winners of the grants showed any intention of settling their land, and only re-sold their grants ; and consequently, when the first Governor, Mr. Paterson,: arrived in 1770, after the island had been separated from the Government of Nova Scotia and made an independent colony, only five proprietors and 150 families were found in the place. The first real steps in settlement are attributed to the influ- ence and exertions of the late Duke of Kent, who was for ten years Commander-in-Chief of the North American Colonies. He preserved the island from attack by the erection of bat- teries and the regular organisation of troops ; and, in grateful commemoration of his services, the name of the island was in 1800 changed from St. John to Prince Edward; the more especially as there were so many St. Johns in the neigh- bouring countries, that the name led to confusion. In 1803, 800 Highlanders were taken over by the Earl of Selkirk, and the descendants of these and other Scotchmen form now more than half the population. The rest are chiefly descendants from the old French peasantry, with some Americans from the United States. The population numbers about 100,000. litical The island is naturally divided by its deeply- DMsions, indented bays into three portions, and these portions have been constituted into three counties, viz. King's County, Queen's County,, and Prince's County,, which are NEWFOUNDLAND. 409 again divided into parishes. The capital, Charlotte Town, is in Queen's County, at the confluence of the three rivers, Hillsborough, York, and Elliott. The colony has its own Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and Representative Assembly. It belongs to the Protestant diocese of Nova Scotia ; but the members of the Church of Eome pre- dominate. The colonial Government spends about 1,000Z. a year in the support of district schools ; besides which there is a central academy at Charlotte Town, a national school, and several infant schools belonging to the Church of England. The home manufactures being very limited at present, the colony imports largely from Great Britain, and exports chiefly timber and fish. No minerals have yet been discovered, and at the present time a large proportion of the inhabitants are practical farmers, who supply provisions to ships' crews. NEWFOUNDLAND. Resting upon a huge sandbank of 600 miles long — the most extensive submarine elevation known to exist in any ocean — is the island of Newfoundland, which stretches like a triangular barrier across the entrance to the Gulf of St. Law- rence, and appears only just prevented from hanging on to the mainland of Labrador by the Strait of Belle Isle, only twelve miles across. Newfoundland is in size about equal to England and Wales, and measures 419 miles in length and 300 miles in breadth. It is the nearest land to Europe of any part of America ; the distance from Valentia, the most westerly port of Ireland, is 1,656 miles from St. John, the most easterly port of Newfoundland. There is a tradition that an Irish sea-king or pirate, Biorn, was the first European visitant to Newfoundland, and was driven there across the ocean by contrary winds in the year 1000 a.d. Some say that the island was first settled by Norwegians ; and certain remains of ancient buildings and old European coins, apparently Flemish, have furnished problems for antiquarians. Cabot made acquaintance with these shores 410 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. during his first voyage in 1497, and called the island, together with other lands in this region, New-found-land, and Britain laid claim to it from the first, on the ground of his discovery ; although its marvellously productive fisheries attracted many rivals from other nations to the coast. The first attempts at colonisation were disastrous. First, in Firgt Henry VIII. 's reign, ' Master Robert How, a Lon- Settiers. j on merchant, with divers other gentlemen,' tried to winter there, but only escaped starvation by plundering a French ship of its provisions ; for which freedom King Henry afterwards duly paid compensation. Next, the brave Sir Hum- phrey Gilbert, half-brother of Sir Walter Ealeigh, perished in an expedition to Newfoundland ; but not before he had esta- blished there the supremacy of his royal mistress, Queen Elizabeth, who had granted him a patent for i the discovering and peopling such remote, heathen, and barbarous countries as were not possessed by any Christian people/ and who as a mark of her confidence had presented him with an em- blematic jewel, which he always afterwards wore at his breast — a small golden anchor with a pearl on the peak. So devoted was Sir Humphrey Gilbert to his object, that he sold his own estates in England, as well as granted beforehand the lands he was to occupy in America, in order to fit out his fleet of five ships, manned by 250 men. On July 11, 1583, he arrived at Newfoundland, and anchored in St. John's Bay ; and, although there were then in the harbour no less than thirty- six ships belonging to other nations, he pitched a tent, and with due formality read aloud the Queen's com- mission, — repeating it in several languages for the benefit of those foreign ships' crews ; and, having been presented with a c turf and twig ' as the emblems of possession, he declared New- foundland henceforward to belong to the Crown of England. Whereupon a pillar was erected, bearing a leaden plate, on which were engraved the queen's arms ; a tax was levied on all ships ; and these three laws were promulgated : First, that public worship should be celebrated after the ritual of the Church of England ; second, that anything attempted preju- NEWFOUNDLAND. 411 dicial to the Queen of England should be counted high treason ; third, that any word spoken against her should be punished by the loss of ears and property. It is said that obedience to Sir Humphrey's proclamations was promised unanimously. But here his success ended. Some of his people deserted him, a hundred more were wrecked in an exploring expedition, and he himself prepared for re-crossing the ocean in his former vessel, the ' Little Squirrel,' which was a mere nut- shell, and refused to take the command of the stouter vessel, the i Golden Hind,' because, he said, ' he would not forsake his little company, with whom he had passed so many storms and perils.' Being distressed for provisions, he made for Sable Island, as some swine and cattle were reported to have been left there ; but he found none, and, on reaching the Azores, a tremendous storm overtook the two vessels. The ' Golden Hind ' kept as near as possible to the ' Little Squirrel,' and in the middle of the raging waves Sir Humphrey was seen calmly reading on deck, and was heard to ' bid his sailors be of good cheer, for we are as near to heaven by sea as by land.' In the middle of the night the lights in the i Squirrel ' suddenly disappeared ; and this is the last that is known of the fate of one of England's bravest adventurers. Although several attempts were made to colonise New- foundland, none succeeded until Sir George Calvert „ ' . ° English (afterwards Lord Baltimore) settled on the south-east settlement, coast with some of his followers in 1623, in order that he might profess unmolested his Roman Catholic faith, and fixed his head quarters at Ferry land, where he built a fort and a house, and lived there for twenty years. In 1635, Charles I. gave licence to the French to cure and dry fish on the coast, on the payment of five/per cent, on the produce ; and accord- ingly they established a colony for themselves in Placentia Bay. But this licence to fish proved a dangerous pretext for encroach- ment, and in 1708 the French attacked the town of St. John, and almost obtained possession of all the English settlements. At the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), Louis XIV. conceded the sovereignty of the island to Great Britain, but retained for 412 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. his own subjects the right to cure and dry fish on the coast between Cape Bonavista and Point Kiche, and to occupy the islands of Miquelon and Pierre, guaranteeing that they should not be fortified, or kept otherwise than as fishing places. But the subject of fishery rights in Newfoundland has been a con- stant source of dispute, not only between the English, French, and Americans, but also between the English settlers them- selves, some of whom endeavoured to secure the monopoly, and even to prevent immigration into the island. In 1729, Newfoundland was withdrawn from the adminis- tration of Nova Scotia, and formed into a separate English colony. The British settlements have been almost entirely confined to the coast, and it was not until 1823 that the in- Natural terior of the country was explored. It was found Features, to consist chiefly of rock and swamp, and with the soil so poor, and so covered up with moss and stunted shrubs, that cultivation in any case would be difficult. The land, how- ever, is well watered by many lakes and rivers, the banks of which are thinly wooded with birches, poplars, and spruce firs. Although the island is in the same latitude as France, the climate, except for a few months in summer, is cold, damp, and intensely foggy, owing to the cold currents from the polar regions mingling with the surrounding waters and keeping the temperature constantly below the dew-point. The remarkable longevity of the inhabitants proves, however, that the climate is not an unhealthy one ; many fishermen, it is said, plying their laborious .calling when more than a hundred years old. Of late years a large extent of land has been brought into cultivation, and grain of all sorts, vegetables, and fruit, have been made to grow well. Some English fruits are produced wild in abundance. After the first clearing of the land, raspberry bushes will often overspread the ground, and yield fruit as fine as those in our gardens, and currants and goose- berries grow wild in the woods. The native animals, black bears, wolves, and beavers, are becoming very scarce as the land is cleared, and are driven into the interior ; excepting NEWFOUNDLAND. 413 the dog, which is made much use of in drawing sledges and little carriages laden with wood and fish, and is usually a black, powerful animal, much smaller and less good-looking than the handsome mixed species which are here called New- foundland dogs. There are no venomous reptiles in the island, and neither toads, frogs, nor lizards. Seals and whales are exceedingly numerous round the shores : the seals are killed in thousands as they lie on the ice, and more than 400,000 have been an- nually caught in the English fisheries, either by means of nets along the shores, or by vessels going out to the fields of ice that drift from the arctic regions. This fishery is a most important one to the colony, since, besides employing about 11,000 men in catching the seals, the seal-manufacture — that is, preparing the skins and making oil from the fat — gives employ- ment to almost every class of labourer and mechanic. The whale fishery has also of late become an important branch of trade. But the cod fishery is the staple occupation, and forms the wealth of Newfoundland. This fishery opens in the beginning of June and lasts till the middle of October, and is carried on in an immense number of boats of all descriptions. The British share of the spoil is said to amount annually to 10,000,000 cod ; and the cod-liver oil, which is extracted by merely putting the livers into casks, and when they are decayed drawing off the oil, has had an annual value of 60,329/. During the last two centuries and a half in which the English have occupied Newfoundland, the fish and oil yielded by our fisheries alone have exceeded in value 120,000,000/. ; and yet the myriads of cod caught seem in no degree to have diminished the supply from the banks, and the fish is so prolific that it is calculated that the spawn of a single cod, if unmolested, would in a few years stock the ocean. The population, a fluctuating one of about 120,000, is mostly congregated on the peninsula of Avalon. The settlements stand on the deep broad bays with which the shore is indented, and are so entirely confined to the 414 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. margin of the island that no person can be found living more than five miles from the coast. The bulk of the inhabitants are divided into two large classes — namely, the fishermen, many of whom are planters and farmers as well; and the merchants, who supply the fishermen with the means of car- rying on their trade. The original inhabitants, Eed Indians and Esquimaux, are now almost extinct, having been killed off to a great extent in warfare with the Mic-macs, and by the diseases and ' fire-water ' of the Europeans. The chief trading-place, as well as capital, is St. John's, built on a spacious harbour on the east coast. It is ' a strongly -fortified place, and contains the Govern- ment House and some good public buildings, and, fronting the harbour, substantial warehouses and shops. Several disastrous fires, which at different periods have nearly destroyed the town, have cleared away its old wooden tenements, and the long straggling streets now contain stone houses. The present Constitution of Newfoundland was granted in Govern- 1832, and consists of a Governor and Commander - ment, &c. in- Chief ; a Legislative Council of nine members ; and a House of Assembly of fifteen members, who are returned from St. John's, Conception Bay, and other districts. Newfoundland and the Bermudas were formed into one diocese in 1839. Income, 1,200Z. Clergy, 51. The Eoman Catholics are the most numerous class; next to them, the mem- bers of the Church of England ; and the Wesleyans are the most numerous of the Dissenters. A large portion of the revenue has been lately devoted to the construction of roads and bridges. Elementary schools have been established in every district, and there are several grammar schools, and forty schools established by the British North American School Society. The attention paid of late years to religion and education, together with temperance societies, are said to have worked a great improvement in the once rough and disorderly population. BERMUDA. 415 BERMUDA OR SOMERS ISLES. The Bermudas are an isolated cluster of strangely-shaped islands in the midst of the North Atlantic, 32° 20' N'. latitude, 64° 30' W. longitude. They are equal in number to the days of the year, although most of them are mere specks in the ocean, and all the 365 lie within a space of twenty miles long and three wide. The rock which forms them, composed of minute shells and corals, is so soft that it is a common saying that Bermuda might be cut up with a hand-saw. But the isles have an unusual protection from the violence of the waves in coral reefs, which in some places stretch ten miles into the sea, and which would render navigation very perilous, if the water were not so wonderfully clear about them that they are distinctly visible in their ocean depths. All the islands are low and flat, and overgrown with small, stunted cedar trees, the dark monotonous hue of which, mingled with the bright blossoms of the oleander, which grows wild in great abundance, gives quite a peculiar character to the scenery. These cedars, being good for ship-building, have played a conspicuous part in the islands ever since their first settle- ment. Bermudez, a Spaniard, first saw the islands in 1527 ; and in 1593, an Englishman, Henry May, was cast on the shore after a shipwreck, with twenty-five others, who lived on the desert isle for five months, feeding on turtles and palmetto- berries, and who contrived to build themselves a bark of eighty tons, of the cedar wood, in which they sailed home. Sir George Somers followed their example when he was wrecked on the same coast in 1609, and built two vessels of the hard wood, with not a piece of iron about them except the bolt in the keel ; in which vessels he and his crew reached Virginia in safety, six hundred miles distant. Many distressed mariners saved themselves by the same means, and in after times ship- building came to be the chief trade of the place ; and the small, durable craft which are engaged in the transit trade between 416 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. Newfoundland, Halifax, and the West Indies, are built of this Bermuda timber. These little cedars, however, stand in the way at the present day of the more profitable cultivation of the island, since they have for so long formed the staple trade that the old owners are unwilling to clear their land of them. The Bermudas have always been English islands since James I. gave a charter of them to the Virginia Company, and their first Governor, Mr. More, planted his palmetto hut in the island of St. George. During the civil wars of Charles I.'s reign many Eoyalists fled to these islands for refuge; amongst others the poet Waller, who celebrated their beauty in his ' Battle of the Summer Isles.' In the time of the American War, they were a most important station for the British fleet ; and at the present time Bermuda is valuable to England as a colony, a fortress, a convict settlement, and as the key to our American territories. The only islands of importance are Bermuda, St. George, Somerset, Ireland, and St. David's. Bermuda is fifteen miles long, and is called c the Continent,' because it has the largest extent of connected land. It contains the town of Hamilton, the seat of government, which, however, is scarcely more than a small village on a dreary-looking hill. St. George is the military station. Its capital, St. George, is handsomely built of the dazzling white Bermuda stone, and forms a pretty con- trast with the dark cedar groves and pastures in the back- ground. This island commands the only entrance for large vessels, and is strongly fortified. Ireland is the chief naval and convict station, and has a dockyard, where about nine hundred convicts are lodged in two hulks. About six hundred other convicts are stationed at the small island of Boaz. Bermuda has been a penal settlement since 1824, when a thousand convicts were sent out to work at the breakwater and fortifications. Convict labour is now devoted to the dock- yard ; and the discipline is the mildest possible. Small wages are allowed, with good food and clothing, and ample leisure time ; and the prisoners selected for Bermuda are among the best behaved class, and whose term of transportation is short. BERMUDA. 417 In the days of slavery, cotton, coffee, and indigo were grown ; but now the chief exports are arrow-root (reckoned the best in the world), maize, potatoes and garden produce, and palmetto and straw hats. The soil is so extremely fertile that it will yield two crops of potatoes, and sometimes three of maize, barley, and oats in the year. The Bermudas are now generally included amongst the North American colonies. The Government consists of a Governor and Commander-in-Chief (salary, 2,746/.), Council, and House of Assembly. The islands are divided into parishes, each of which returns four members. The Church of England Establishment is included in the diocese of Newfoundland, The population is about 12,000. In education the coloured population are rapidly progressing, and are thus acquiring a respectable position ; but education among the whites is hindered by the repugnance of the parents to let their children mix with coloured children ; and there are comparatively too few whites to maintain separate schools. E E 418 CHAPTEE IV. HUDSON BAY TERRITORY I BRITISH COLUMBIA : VANCOUVER ISLAND. By far the largest portion of the British dominions in North America are the countries which enclose Hudson's Bay on all sides, extending east and west from Labrador to the Rocky- Mountains, and from Canada and the United States on the south as far towards the North Pole as the right of discovery may hereafter give us claim. To this immense region, roughly calculated at four million square miles, the general name of the Hudson Bay Territory is given. Natural The wn °l e country appears to embrace three great Features, natural divisions, which have been distinguished as the Barren, Prairie, and Woody Regions. The Barren Region extends northward from Lake Athabasca down the Mackenzie River to the Arctic Ocean, and includes the country above the Great Slave and Bear Lakes. Here there is little vegeta- tion besides lichens, mosses, and a few stunted plants ; and the inhabitants are the Copper Indians, the Hare and Dog-rib Indians, the Strong-Bow Indians, the Loucheux or Quarrellers, and the Chipewyans — tribes all speaking different languages, and apparently in a constant state of feud with one another. The Prairie is the middle region, stretching westward to the Rocky Mountains and eastward towards Canada, and consists for the most part of immense plains destitute of trees, but covered with rich grasses and sedges, where herds of deer and buffalo find pasture, and where the Blackfeet or Blood Indians are perpetually at war with the Stone Indians or Ojibways. Since all the tribes depend upon the chase for subsistence, inroads upon one another's hunting-grounds are the primary cause of almost all Indian warfare. The Woody Region is a HUDSON BAY TERRITORY. 419 vast swampy tract, mostly covered with magnificent forest- trees, lying on the south and west shores of Hudson's Bay : it is the home of numberless furred creatures — otters, beavers, racoons, and moose-deer. The Miskee-Goose or Swampy Indians inhabit the coasts about St. James's Bay, while Esquimaux and Chipewyans live in the colder latitudes of the York and Churchill districts. Of the immense region of Labrador, lying to the east of Hudson's Bay, only the western half belongs to the Hudson Bay Territory. The portion coasting the Atlantic is called Labrador Proper, and is a barren and desolate region, in the higher latitudes of which only the Esquimaux, rein-deer, and musk-ox can subsist, and where the subsoil is permanently frozen, and can barely sustain a scanty vegetation. Sebastian Cabot in 1517, and John Davis in 1587, were the first to penetrate into these extreme northern regions History of of America, in their effort to discover the North- settle- ment. West passage to India. They were followed in their researches by Henry Hudson in 1610, who, after enduring the severity of a winter on the shore of the great bay named after him, had the disappointment of finding that the vast watery expanse, which he had believed to be open sea, had no other outlet than the straits through which he had entered from the Atlantic ; and in these straits, which also bear his name, he was turned adrift to perish in an open boat by his mutinous crew. A few years after Hudson had met his fate, another English navigator, William Baffin, explored the great northern bay named after him. By degrees these desert regions became sufficiently known for their furry treasures to tempt trading adventurers. A Frenchman, named Grosseliez, first suggested to his own Government the idea of a settlement there, but receiving no encouragement he laid his plan before Prince Rupert, who warmly entered into the scheme, and in 1668 sent out an expedition to hunt for furs, which succeeded so well that he was able to induce several noblemen — Lord Ashley, Lord Craven, and others — to join him in a fur- trading company. EE 2 420 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. Charles II., who was always liberal in giving away what Hudson cost nmi nothing, chartered this company in 1670, Com an an( ^ g rante d them ' the sole trade of all the lands and territories that lie within the entrance of Hudson's Straits ; and of all the havens, bays, creeks, rivers, and lakes into which they shall find entrance by land or water out of said territories : yielding and paying yearly to us, our heirs and successors for the same, two elks and two black beavers, whensoever and as often as we, our heirs and successors, shall happen to enter into the said countries.' The first settlement was made on Eupert's Eiver in 1674 ; and soon there flocked into this splendid hunting-ground multitudes of hardy adventurers, chiefly from the Highlands, who, with their hired bands of Canadian hunters and Indian trappers, became naturalised to a half-savage life, and dotted the wilderness over with their log-huts and trading-posts. The profits of their trade soon tempted the French Government to enter into competition ; and the same Grosseliez^ being detached from the English service, was sent out to form a factory at Hayes Eiver. Henceforward the traffic was embarrassed by constant incursions from the French ; nevertheless, the Com- pany prospered greatly until 1782, when a rival Company was formed, called the North- West or Montreal Company, and endless jealousies arose which again impeded the trade. In 1821 the term of partnership of this last Company expired, and through the influence of their representatives in London, the Hon. Edward Ellice and the Messrs. Gillivry, it was merged in the Hudson's Bay Company, the privileges of which were further extended by a licence to trade over Indian and neutral grounds not originally included in the charter. By the treaty of Oregon between England and the United States in 1846, the parallel of 49° N. latitude was fixed upon as the boundary line of this British territory ; the free navigation, however, of the Columbia Eiver, which lies south of the boundary, being reserved to England. This last licence of 1 82 1 has been renewed at different periods until the present time ; and since the Com- pany have naturally desired to exclude all traders besides HUDSON BAY TEREITOKY. 421 themselves, all attempts at colonisation have been discouraged, and this vast region has thus been kept merely as a preserve of savage beasts, valuable only for their furs. A Company called the International Financial Society have now made arrangements for purchasing the entire property and rights of the Hudson's Bay Company, for the sum of 1,500,000/., with the intention of ojDening the land for emi- gration. There is a natural hindrance in the way of colonising this region, owing to the difficulty of navigation in the rivers and bays, and consequently of access to the different districts. The Company have nevertheless planted about 140 establishments, besides many hunting stations, over nearly the whole of the dis- trict. Nearly two million skins have through their agency been annually exported to England. The skins of the musk rat alone have amounted to half a million. One of the chief fur stations is Fort York, on the south-west coast of Hudson's Bay, in the neighbourhood of stunted pine forests, and where the winter cold is so severe that brandy will freeze in rooms with a con- stant fire. The most northerly factories are Fort Good Hope on the Mackenzie Eiver, within the Arctic circle, and Fort Macpherson on Pearl Eiver. The most southerly is the Eed Eiver settlement, founded by the Earl of Selkirk in 1813, and which is the only colony to be found in the immense Red Eiver middle region known as Eupert's Land. The Settlement, settlers at Eed Eiver are mostly emigrants from the Highlands and retired servants of the Company, with a few Indians and half-castes, and the Company have added to the importance of the colony by creating it their seat of government, and establishing there a governor, council, sheriffs, &c. No less than ten thousand Europeans are resident in this distant and isolated settlement, which appears to be not at all destitute of comforts or even of refinements. It has communication with England by way of Montreal, from which it is distant 1,800 miles. The country round about is described as well adapted for further colonisation ; the drier tracts are suitable for the growth of cereals and other farming operations ; sheep thrive 422 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. "well on the rich grass lands, and pigs get their own living in the stunted oak woods. At present, the only roads from the settlement lead into the American territory, from whence it derives its supplies ; but probably before long, roads will be made connecting this colony with Western Canada, and even with our new colonies in the extreme west. In 1849 the Eupert' s Land bishopric was founded, including the territory of the Hudson Bay Company. The income (700/.), is from the Colonial Bishoprics' Fund ; clergy, 20. In Labrador the chief forts are Eupert House and East Main House, in the district of Eupert Eiver and East Main. In Labrador Proper a few Moravian settlements are the only stations, and in that desolate region, where corn will not ripen, and only Esquimaux can thrive, fishing forms the staple occupation. About 20,000 British subjects are employed in the perilous seal and whale fisheries of these coasts, and in the safer but less valuable cod, herring, and salmon traffic. BRITISH COLUMBIA AND VANCOUVER ISLAND. The inhospitable regions lying to the east of the Eocky Mountains had been planted with European settlements for nearly two centuries, and yet hitherto no adventurer had crossed over the great barrier and explored the country on the western side, until about seventy years ago, when Sir Alexander Mackenzie, while tracing the source of the Peace and Fraser Eivers, passed over the range at the northern end, and was thus the first British subject to enter the land now called British Columbia. Scarcely a year afterwards, in 1791, Discovery f J and First George Vancouver, in exploring the west coast from emeu . ^ e p ac i nc Ocean, made a survey of the island which bears his name. This island was immediately claimed by England, and the history of the two settlements became closely connected. The Hudson Bay traders, finding that there were furred animals and fur-hunting Indians on the other side of the Eocky Mountains, soon planted settlements there, the first of which was Fort Fraser, established by Mr. Fraser in 1806, on BEITISH COLUMBIA. 423 the river that bears his name. In 1849, Vancouver Island was granted to the Company on condition that they should colonise it ; but it was not for the interest of the Company to invite competitors into their hunting-fields, and the only at- tempts they made at settlement was the establishment of some trading stations for the exportation of the furs collected on the west side of the mountains, the chief of which was Fort Victoria, at the south end of the island, In 1858, a new and sudden interest was given to these regions by the discovery of rich gold diggings on GoidDis- the Fraser Eiver. Multitudes of adventurers, first cover F- from California, and then from all quarters, were immediately attracted thither, who made use of Victoria as a halting station and provision depot, and who soon helped to make known and to develop the resources of the land. The next year (1859) the charter of the Hudson Bay Company expired, and with it their licence of exclusive trade over the territory ; and British Columbia and Vancouver Island were then constituted sepa- rate colonies and dependencies of the Home Government, and were placed under the direction of Mr. Douglas, a gentle- man whose service under the Company had made him familiar with the region. British Columbia is a quadrangular territory of about 200,000 square miles, or nearly twice the size of Great Britain; bounded on the north by Eussian America, on the south by the State of Oregon, on the east by the Eocky Mountains, and on the west by the North Pacific ; it in- cludes the island of Queen Charlotte and all other adjacent islands, except Vancouver. Although in the same latitude as the British Isles, the climate of British Columbia is more severe ; but the Natural average number of fine days to the year, 187, is Features. rather more than in England. The country is of a moun- tainous character, and wild and rugged in the extreme towards the east, where the spurs of the Eocky Mountains traverse the land in all directions, and form a confused maze of steep hill, 424 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. valley, and ravine. Dense forests almost entirely cover this wild and solitary region, through which the gold- seekers have to make their way northward to the Cariboo country ; and the difficulties in the way of clearing the bush in Columbia seem to be peculiar. ' Felling the trees,' says Commander Mayne, 1 forms but a small part. In forests such as these the roots of the giant trees have been spreading underground for ages, forming a close and perfect net-work some eight or ten feet beneath the surface. To dig this mass of interlaced roots up would defy the strength and patience of ordinary men ; and it is only the wonderful dexterity of the Canadian — and, indeed, of the Americans generally— in handling his axe that enables him to enter upon, far less accomplish, so difficult a task.' On the other hand, there are some clear districts which may well reward the agriculturist. The soil is very fertile, and European vegetables and other produce have been found to thrive abundantly. Wild fruits and flowers flourish every- where. Hitherto the attempts at settlement have been confined to Mining ^ ne far-trading districts and to the track and neigh- Districts, bourhood of the diggings ; and a large portion of the country that lies north, north-east, and westward, between the Eraser Eiver and the coast, has only been imperfectly explored. The coast itself is singular, from its numerous bays and inlets and the broken fringe of islands which border it ; of which islands Vancouver and Queen Charlotte are the largest. Several of these inlets of the sea, which are navigable for a long distance inland, such as Bentinck's Arms and Bute's Land, have been used as routes to Cariboo by means of trails or waggon- roads joining them at their farther end. The gold- diggings first discovered were those about the Forts Hope and Yale, on the Lower Fraser, and to these access was compara- tively easy by the river itself. But in 1861 followed the dis- covery of the Cariboo mines, 300 miles higher up, and the river route there was found difficult and expensive, and the journey by road and < trails,' or foot-paths of the Indians, scarcely better. Cariboo, or more properly i Cariboeuf.' or BRITISH COLUMBIA. 425 Eeindeer country, is a district in New Caledonia, lying to the north-east of the Fraser on the Kiver Thompson; and the mining localities are distinguished by the miners by such names as Grouse Creek, Goose Creek, Snowshoe, Jack of Clubs, Last Chance Creek — all of them being streams which issue from the Bald Mountains. From the yield of gold hitherto, and from the survey of the country by Dr. Forbes in 1860, there seems reason to believe that the whole region, extending to the other side of the Eocky Mountains, is rich in gold and argentiferous deposits. The value of the gold exports from the whole of the diggings was, in 1861, above a million sterling. In proportion to this yield, the miners, or rather washers, are but few. They are a rough, lawless race, belonging to all nations, including hundreds from China and thousands from San Francisco ; and it speaks well for the vigilance of Governor Douglas and his police that order has been tolerably well preserved among them, although it has been found expedient to station a small military force near the diggings, and British gunboats have occasionally been demanded up the Fraser. Since all the provisions at the diggings have to be imported, and the roads are imperfect, the miners are liable to changes from the utmost plenty to actual starvation ; and reports given in the winter-time may describe the condition of these men as most wretched, while those given in the summer-time will picture the miner as ' sitting down to his breakfast of eggs and milk/ and surrounded with every luxury. In the winter- time there must necessarily be privation and suffering. The roads are then impassable, the snow lies on 1hem often twenty feet deep ; and families, distant from all help, have perished from want, or fallen a prey to consump- tion and other diseases from cold which are common in that climate. The effects of frost there are said to be tremendous. The woodman's axe splinters like glass, the horses' hoofs crack, and the poor animals are sometimes stifled as they travel by the breath freezing till it becomes a cake of ice. The gloomy vastness and grandeur of the scenery, rendered more impres- 426 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. sive by the howling of beasts of prey, which make this colony so attractive to the artist or the huntsman, only then add to the desolation of the miserable miners, who, if they do not decamp, as the Chinese do, before the rigour of winter begins, often have to live through it in holes of snow, dug seven or eight feet deep. The number of emigrants who return wretched and penniless to Westminster, show that Cariboo is not a land of plenty to all, or indeed to any but those who can endure hardship as well as work hard ; and the average earnings at the mines, since 1858, are reported as not ex- ceeding 100Z. a-year, while the average cost of living has been 60/. The only place in British Columbia that can be called a town is New Westminster, near the mouth of the Fraser. It is the only port of entry to the colony ; and the whole business of the town is at present confined to the import of provisions and other necessaries for the miners up country. The other two chief centres of traffic are Hope and Yale, on the Fraser, formerly fur-trading stations, but now small town- ships with considerable trade. Yale is the head of the steamboat navigation of the Fraser, and is 102 miles from its mouth; Hope, 15 miles lower down, is likely to become im- portant as an outlet for the Similkameen district, a rich pastoral country along the Columbia Eiver. Vancouver is an island 290 miles long, with an average width of 55 miles, and in area nearly a quarter the size of England and Wales. It is separated by a narrow channel from the west coast of British Columbia ; and, from its couir manding position in the North Pacific, is fast becoming a place of importance. Some, indeed, have given the title of ' England in the West' to this narrow strip of land 5,000 miles distant; and there are a few points of resemblance — such as its tem- perature, climate, excellent harbours, probable mineral wealth and coal ; besides its maritime position, through which it bears about the same relation to the Pacific that England bears to the Atlantic. VANCOUVER. 427 But here the resemblance ends. The greater part of Vancou- ver consists of mountain, swamp, and land unfit for N atura i cultivation ; and its general aspect is that of a series Features. of lofty pine-clad hills, rising in irregular beauty one behind the other. But the soil on these hills is but barely sufficient for the stunted trees to take root, and in the intervening valleys only small patches of arable land are to be found ; and it is only apparently at the southern end of the island that farms or sheep stations are possible. Nevertheless, in what there is of soil, cereals and vegetables thrive freely. In its geological structure, the island consists of a central axis of igneous rocks, which are overtopped by carboniferous and other sedimentary strata extending to the shore ; and coal has already cropped out at so many different parts of the coast that it would seem to be widely distributed. At Nanaimo, on the south-east, a coal- exploring settlement has already sprung up. No metal has hitherto been found excepting copper, and there are no indications of gold in the island. Victoria, the capital, only a few years ago a small village station for the fur-traders, is now a busy, populous town, and is becoming, not merely a resort for the miners of British Columbia, but a great centre of trade for the west coast of America and for the islands of the Pacific. Already the town has its hotels, boarding-houses, schools, newspapers, theatre, gas-works, Government buildings, and churches. The harbour of Victoria is small and confined, and some- what unsafe, from a sand-bank and rocks near its Esqni- en trance ; but only three miles distant is the harbour mauit. of Esquimault, a magnificent haven, capable of sheltering a whole navy, and now the station of the British fleet for the North Pacific. With a direct ocean-route to Polynesia and Eastern Asia, the existence of this harbour may secure here- after to Vancouver some of the commerce which has hitherto belonged chiefly to Europe and the United States, especially if English capital and industry shall one day convert this island into a manufacturing centre ; and if the contemplated 428 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. railway communication from the lake district of West Canada should be opened, and should thus form a direct line of com- munication between British Columbia and Canada, and thence with England, Vancouver may prove the great emporium for the supply of the other hemisphere with British goods and manufactures. No regular census of the fluctuating population of these colonies has yet been possible. It consists of Europeans, Chinese, Americans, and native Indians. These last are a harmless, tractable race, who have long been trained by the Hudson Bay employes to fear and reverence 'King George's men.' They are excellent guides and huntsmen, with so extra- ordinary a power of locality, that it is said they can draw a map of any country they have once passed through. Their aptness in imitating the ' white man's ways' exhibits itself in gaming and drinking, and in the voluminous crinolines and hats that are now added to the red ochre and wampum. Although British Columbia and Vancouver are separate colonies, they are presided over by one Governor and Com- mander-in-Chief ; and at present there are no elements for a representative legislature, although a free municipal consti- tution has been granted to New Westminster, which is reported to work well. British Columbia became a bishopric in 1859, through the munificence of Miss Burdett Coutts, who gave 25,000Z. for a foundation. Near the town of Victoria, the first bishop, Dr. Hills, erected his episcopal palace, which consisted of a small wooden hut, with the outer door opening into his sitting-room. i If anybody knocks,' says the bishop, ' I open the door my- self From this modest centre, Dr. Hills appears to have extended the influence, not only of a true Christian teacher, but of a practical helper to all classes in the colony ; and it is a singular circumstance that he has found more to aid him in his work among the so-called heathen than among the Christian sects ; for example, one Mr. Quong-Hing, a Chinese merchant, has been especially zealous with respect to the foundation of an episcopal church in Victoria, and in otherwise aiding the cause. 429 CHAPTER V. WEST INDIES. On looking at a map of the western hemisphere, it at once strikes the eye that at one time the two Americas must have had a far broader connexion than the isthmus that begins at Panama and ends at Mexico, and that the West Indian Islands can be nothing else than the remains of the eastern rim of a vast intervening continent. The islands follow one another for the most part in an orderly series, like the tops of mountain ridges, and in such connected curves, that if joined together in a line united at one end to South America by Trinidad, and at the other end with North America by the Little Bahamas, they would enclose the two great seas of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. And this impression agrees with the theory held by geologists, that the land of Central America has in fact been submerged where these two seas now are, and that the West Indies are but the summits of the mountain ridges or highlands that lie beneath, and which the coral insect has helped to form into their present island state. The tremendous earthquakes to which this region is still liable, and the volcanic character of many of the islands, give probability to the idea that some such mighty convulsion may have sunk the earth to the great depth which is found to exist between the islands ; while the nature of the fossil remains seems to prove that South America and the archipelago once formed an unbroken continent, and that the subsidence took place at no distant geological period — even after the extinction of the large quadrupeds. The West Indies consist of nearly a thousand islands, which are usually arranged into three groups, viz. the Bahamas or 430 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. Lucayos ; the Greater Antilles, that is, Cuba, Jamaica, Hayti, and Porto Eico ; and the Lesser Antilles or Caribbee Isles. All are within the tropics, excepting the most northerly of the Bahamas. There is a marked difference between the general character of the northern and southern islands. The Bahamas, about five hundred in number, are flat, long, narrow isles, scarcely standing six feet above high-water mark, the shores formed of coral or madrepores, and the soil in the interior of calcareous rocks and sand mixed with shells ; with this peculiarity, that the isles rest upon sandbanks, which encircle them a few fathoms below the water, but which rise almost perpendicularly from hitherto unfathomable depths on the side against the sea. Cuba rests on a similar bank. The Caribbees are of a bolder character and of volcanic origin, and mostly have a solitary mountain or group of mountains in the centre, and slope precipitously towards the sea on the eastern side. These islands form a magnificent sweep, bounding the Caribbean Sea on the east ; and from Trinidad to Dominica are ranged in single line, and are called the Windwards. North of this the line divides into two, and this double range as far as the Virgin Isles is called the Leewards. The mountainous character continues through the whole of the Greater Antilles, which, indeed, seem one immense mountain- chain now broken by the intervention of the sea, and culminating at a height of 6,890 feet in the Montanos del Cobre in Cuba. Before the time of Columbus, European navigators had believed in the existence of unknowm lands beyond the western seas, and even visible signs of their fertility and inhabitants had, according to the reports of sailors, been wafted across the ocean. Huge pine-trunks and strange reeds and trees had been cast on to the shores of the Azores after a continuance of. westerly winds ; and at one time a curiously-fashioned canoe and two dead bodies of men, in feature and complexion of an unknown race, were drifted on to the coast ; also some hundred leagues west of Cape St. Vincent, the brother-in-law of Columbus, Pedro Correa, and other sailors, had picked up DISCOVERY OF THE WEST INDIES. 431 from the sea curiously-carved pieces of wood, evidently cut with tools unknown to Europeans. It is said that in old maps the name of Antilla was given to this imaginary country (supposed to be derived from Ante Illas, Forward Islands), and that consequently Antilles was the first name assigned by Columbus to the islands upon their actual discovery. But Columbus was under a wrong impres- sion as to the size of the world, and calculating it to be much smaller than it really is, believed that his newly-found islands were close upon India or the Asiatic continent, and, accord- ingly, applied the name of West Indies to the whole group, and gave the general name of Indians to all the inhabitants. Nearly all the islands were discovered by Columbus in the course of his four voyages ; but the first on which he _. J ° Discovered landed, October 12, 1492, was San Salvador, called byCoium- by the natives Guanahane, one of the Lucayos or Bahamas, and supposed to be the same as Cat Island ; a flat, thickly- wooded island, thronged with naked inhabitants, whose rights Columbus, according to the usage of discoverers, com- pletely ignored, as he unfurled the royal standard and took possession of their land in the name of their Spanish Majesties. These Indians, the Arrowawks, were a handsome copper- coloured race, with fine eyes, high foreheads, and long black hair, much embellished with paint and golden ornaments in their ears and noses, and who showed their excellent natural instincts by meeting the strangers with reverence and delight, and loading them with kindnesses. ' So loving, so tractable, so peaceable are these people,' writes Columbus, ' that I swear to your Majesties, there is not in the world a better nation nor a better land. They love their neighbours as themselves ; and their discourse is ever sweet and gentle, and accompanied with a smile ; and though it is true that they are naked, yet their manners are decorous and praiseworthy.' The same race of Arrowawks appears to have extended over the whole of the Bahamas and the Greater Antilles, and, until that unhappy day when the Europeans first landed amongst them, to have led a most peaceful and contented life, disturbed only by the 432 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. incursions of a ferocious tribe, called by the Spaniards ' Caribs,' who inhabited the more southern isles of the Carib- bean group. Between these two races there seems to have been an hereditary antipathy, owing to difference of language, customs, and traditions ; and while the Arrowawks welcomed the Spaniards as friends of a higher species, the Caribs in- variably received them with yells, and tomahawks, and all the means of resistance in their power. But both races were destined to the same fate — to be quickly exterminated, with the exception of a small remnant of Caribs, by a more powerful people, whom the lust of gold had degraded below humanity, and to whom a higher intellect had given the cunning and cruelty of demons to compass their ends. From the moment that the unsuspicious natives pointed out to Columbus and his followers the way to the gold districts in the south of their island, in reply to the eager signs of the Spaniards to tell them where their golden ornaments came from, the fate of the whole aboriginal population of the Columbian Archipelago was sealed. No charge of avarice or wanton cruelty can attach to the great name of Columbus, and the personal affection of the native chiefs to himself, and the protection they afforded him, show that at least he did not begin by abusing their confidence. But Columbus was himself driven by a hard master, Ferdinand II., whose ruling passion was the thirst for gold ; and gold was therefore to be got at any price. Columbus, consequently, enforced tribute from the natives, and compelled them to labour in the mines, for which their slender frames and vegetable diet rendered them unfit ; and even, contrary to the express commands of the gentle and pious Queen Isabella, distributed them as slaves amongst his countrymen ; and thus he began a system of oppression which, carried on by less scrupulous leaders, soon changed these fair islands into one vast arena of blood- shed and crime. Columbus died at Valladolid, in 1506, after the discovery and settlement of most of the larger islands, which he believed to the last to belong to the Asiatic Continent According to SETTLEMENT OF THE WEST INDIES. 433 Las Casas, a priest who accompanied Columbus in his second voyage, the islands at that time ' abounded with inhabitants as an ant-hill with ants ; ' but in less than fifty years no less than ' fifteen millions ' had been destroyed by the Spaniards, either by direct slaughter or by torture and overwork in the mines, or by diseases introduced by themselves. The atro- cities recorded as committed in sport upon the unhappy Indians by their so-called Christian invaders, are too de- moniacal to be described. Compared with a Spanish settler of those days, the cannibal, who merely kills] his fe*Llow-man for food, becomes a respectable animal. Las Casas and other missionaries laboured hard to protect the Indians, and, in order to save them from their wretched fate in the mines, Las Casas was the first to suggest the importation from Africa of the more robust negroes. As we have seen in the his - Negroes tory of the West African colonies, the plan sue- introduced, ceeded only too well for the colonists. The negro race was introduced, but this did not prevent the destruction of the native races, who, in little more than half a century, were swept away from the face of the earth. For many years the Spaniards had sole possession of the West Indies ; but by degrees other nations began to interfere with their monopoly. The first English vessels in those seas were two ships of Avar under Sebastian Cabot and Sir Thomas Pert, in 1516, and in 1536, Hawkins, Drake, and Kaleigh, and also French navigators, entered the field. Owing to the desperate and jealous resistance which the Spaniards opposed to all new-comers, a desultory warfare commenced in the archipelago, in which the Spaniards were the common enemy of French, English, and Dutch. This warfare was carried on quite irrespective of home authorities, and the barbarities inflicted by the Spaniards upon all mariners and settlers beside themselves, drove the more daring of the English and French adventurers to form themselves into privateering companies, called filibusters and buccaneers ; the last name, especially applied to the English, being derived from boucan, a Caribbee. word for dried meat, the native mode F F 434 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. of preparing which was adopted by the English pirates. These privateers effected a settlement in many of the islands, where they lived in log-huts, and hunted the wild cattle, and became regular trading communities, as well as a terror and a check to the Spaniards ; and in Charles IL's time the buccaneering system was publicly patronized by the British Government to save the cost of a regular fleet in the archipelago. Meanwhile, the English had begun to make permanent First acquisitions. Barbadoes first fell into their hands Settlement * n 1605, a ^ ter ** na ^ ^ een deserted by the Spaniards 1605. and all its inhabitants carried off to the mines of Cuba. Jamaica, in 1655, was their most important conquest, and by the year 1810, England had gained almost every European territory in the West Indies. Some of the more valuable possessions were afterwards restored to their former owners ; and the English settlements now are : — Jamaica and the Caymanas Nevis and Kedonda The Bahamas Angtjilla Virgin Isles St. Vincent Barbuda Barbadoes St. Christopher's St. Lucia Antigua Grenada and the Grenadines montserrat tobago Dominica Trinidad. The staple productions of the West Indies are sugar and coffee ; and the extracts from the sugar-cane, rum and molasses. The exports of less importance are, cotton, tobacco, pimento or Jamaica pepper, indigo, ginger, aloes, cochineal, dye-woods and medicinal herbs, mahogany and other orna- mental woods. The main staple of food is maize. Before the cultivation of the cane, first in Barbadoes, and then in our other West Indian colonies, sugar was a costly luxury in England, and all that was consumed in this country was obtained from the Portuguese territory of Brazil. The art of making sugar had been introduced into Spain by the Moors, and although there is some doubt whether the Spaniards PRODUCTIONS OF THE WEST INDIES. 435 found the plant indigenous to the New World, they established the manufacture there in the earliest days of settlement, and in 1518 no less than twenty-eight sugar-works were in opera- tion in St. Domingo. Sugar appears to have been an article of commerce in the East at least as early as the beginning of our era, and a writer in the time of Nero, Dioscorides, is the first who uses the word saccharum ((TaKx<*pov), or sugar, describing it as a sort of concreted honey, found upon canes in India and Arabia Felix. Pliny says that the ' white and brittle,' honey which was collected from canes, was used in medicine only. But it appears that the Crusaders first gave Western Europe a taste for sugar, and in one of the early histories of the crusades, dated 1108, it is said that c sweet honied reeds called zucra, were found in great quantity in the meadows of Tripoli, and that these reeds were sucked by the crusaders' army, who were much pleased with their sweet taste.' Also that, l The husbandmen cultivate this plant with great labour, and when ripe, bruise it in mortars and set by the strained juice in vessels till it concretes in the form of snow or white salt. This, when scraped, they mix with bread, or rub it with water and take it as pottage ; and it is to them more wholesome and pleasing than the honey of bees.' * This is the oldest known description of the extraction of sugar from the cane. About the same date, 1110, we hear of * camels laden with sugar,' as among the captured booty of the Crusaders ; and in the same century the King of Sicily is stated to have endowed the monastery of St. Bennet with a mill for grinding sugar-canes, and the manufacture seems to have extended to Spain, Madeira, and the Canaries, and thence in after years to the New World. The coffee plant, Coffea Arabica, is a native of the East, and the use of the berry is said to have been first introduced into England in 1652, by a Turkey merchant named Edwards, who brought home with him a Greek servant accustomed to make coffee, and whom he set up in a coffee-house in Cornhill. * Knight's Penny Cyclopcedia. FF 2 436 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. But the coffee -trade has been created entirely since the beginning of the last century, and all the coffee grown in the New World is the progeny of a single shrub grown in the Botanic Garden of Amsterdam from seed obtained from Mocha, plants from which were sent out to Dutch Guiana in 1718. The coffee grown in the West Indies never equals in quality the genuine Mocha grown in the Arabian plains. The perfection of the plant can only be attained in a climate where light pours down uninterrupted from cloudless skies, and where the heat of tropical plains is combined with an elevated posi- tion and abundance of water-supply. Since the abolition of slavery the staple produce has much diminished in the West Indian colonies, owing to the difficulty of procuring labour, and the embarrassed position of the planters, who, unable themselves to produce sugar at so low a rate as formerly, are beaten in price by the Spanish slave- holders of Cuba and Porto Eico. Those islands, however, in which the planters can pay fair wages and improve their cul- tivation, or in wdiich fresh labourers have been introduced from Hindostan, China, and Africa, are rapidly recovering their prosperity. The value of the West Indian colonies as markets for home produce has increased since emancipation, in con- sequence of the negro population being now comparatively respectable and prosperous, and requiring more and more of British clothing and manufactures. Each of these colonies, with one or two exceptions, has a representative government, similar in constitution to our king, lords, and commons, viz. governor, legislative council, and representative assembly, subordinate to a governor-in-chief appointed by the Crown. The negroes and mixed races generally speak the language and profess the religion of the white race dominant in each island. JAMAICA* 437 JAMAICA. Jamaica — so called from its native name of Xaymaca, which is supposed to mean, c abundance of wood and Natural water; ' and called by Columbus St. Jago — is an Features. island in the Caribbean Sea, about 143 miles long, and 45 broad in the centre or widest part ; N. latitude, 17° 40' to 18° 30' ; W. longitude, 76° 15' to 78° 25'. Like the other islands of the Great Antilles group, Jamaica seems to have had its origin in some upheaving force running east and west, of which the chief point of convulsion was in the east ; thus causing its longitudinal form in that direction, and the pre- ponderance of high mountain masses in the eastern portion, from which the land, although mostly hilly, slopes towards the west. It was probably the summits of the principal ridge in the east, the Blue Mountains, 7,150 feet at the highest peak, that Columbus first caught sight of during his second voyage, on the morning of May 3, 1494. This main range runs west for some distance, forming a high middle ridge, the mountain crests of which at some points are so sharp that the summits scarcely measure four feet across; and towards the centre of the island branch chains radiate from this chain and fill the whole of the eastern part. These highest mountains are flanked by lower ranges of wooded heights, and these again descend to green savannahs or open meadows, with occasional glimpses of scenery that almost equal that of Switzerland. For the beauty of its hills, forests, and pastures, this Queen of the Antilles has been thought even to rival Ceylon, in the opposite hemisphere. Owing to the inequalities of the surface, the climate is very various ; moderate and healthy in the mountains, but exceed- ingly hot in the lower plains, especially on the southern coast, where fever is often prevalent. The mean summer heat is 80°, and that of winter 75° ; and there is no place within the tropics so well adapted to Europeans, as well as to the natives of the torrid zone. Like most tropical countries, there are two rainy and two dry seasons. The rains in spring and 438 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. autumn pour down with little interruption for weeks together, and between the wet seasons the island is occasionally visited by tremendous hurricanes, which mostly set in from the north and north-west. The central districts, which lie upon lime- stone formations, are dependent upon the rain for water, which is collected in tanks, but the rest of the island is well supplied with rivers and springs. The forest -trees are in great variety, including cedar, Chief Pro- mahogany, satin-wood, bread-nut, and cocoa-nut- ductions. trees; and, largest of all, the magnificent cotton- tree, the trunk of which is supported by huge natural but- tresses, which, growing out from the base, join the roots with the trunk sometimes twenty feet above the ground. The natives made their canoes of the hollo wed-out trunk. Among the natural productions of the island are, maize, tobacco, pimento, indigo, arrow-root, ginger, cacao, guinea-corn, yams, cassava, and the castor-oil nut. The most fertile districts are on the northern side, in the parish of St. Ann, but this is chiefly a grazing country. By far the greater portion of the island is covered with jungle or bush, dotted here and there with the provision-grounds of the negroes, which are cultivated by themselves, and are exceed- ingly picturesque with their orange groves, bread-fruit and cocoa-trees, mangoes and limes, yam and potato-plots, and patches of the tobacco-plant, which is grown for their own special use. The chief produce of Jamaica is sugar and coffee. The coffee is principally cultivated on the lower hills and their declivities ; and in the hot plains below are the sugar-planta- tions, which occupy the greater part of the cultivated tracts, which compose about two-fifths of the whole island. In the extreme south-east, in the parish of St. George, is the largest unbroken expanse of cane-fields, where about 4,000 acres are under canes. Cotton was formerly grown in the island, but the colonists abandoned it when the sugar-trade began to prosper. Lately, however, the cultivation has been revived. No European fruits thrive except the vine. MAROONS OF JAMAICA. 439 European domestic animals nourish in Jamaica ; but, as in all the West Indies, the native animals are nearly extinct. Besides salt-springs, there is little mineral produce, and no metals at present are worked, excepting lead and copper. The aborigines of Jamaica were of the gentle race of Arrowawk Indians, and were found living in populous History f villages, in neatly-built huts, furnished with con- Settlement. siderable skill. When Admirals Penn and Venables made the conquest of the island in 1655, sixty years after its first occupation by the Spaniards, no trace of this native population was found, and in the interval more than 60,000 had perished. But the African race, which had supplied their place in the plantations, had thriven well, in spite of their hard task- masters. Sir Hans Sloane* says that a hundred years was no uncommon age for a negro to attain ; and so well the climate suited them, that it needed a fearful amount of cruelty to keep up their mortality to the most profitable point for the slave-holder, whose purpose it often answered better to buy negroes in the prime of life, at from 30Z. to 50/. each, than to rear and preserve them to old age. The condition of the slave was if anything worse under the English than it had been under the Spaniards ; and retribution came in constant negro insurrections and conspiracies, and a state of insecurity and disorganisation throughout the whole colony, which rendered futile most of the efforts made for its advancement during the governments of Oliver Cromwell and Charles II. Besides which there was another and most serious source of disturbance. Upon the invasion of the English, many Spaniards and blacks took refuge in the wooded moun- tains of the interior, where their descendants, called Maroons (a name supposed either to mean hog- hunters or monkeys, and given in derision to the runaways), * A physician and naturalist, who wrote ' A Natural History of Jamaica,' and whose vast collection of dried plants, curiosities and books, purchased by Government at his death, in 1753, for 20,000^., was the origin of the British Museum. 440 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. supported themselves for more than a century and a half; making constant predatory incursions into the villages, and rendering the ' bush' a secure refuge for runaway slaves. These Maroons became in time so formidable, that a large military force had to be added to the packs of bloodhounds* hitherto kept by the British Government for their extermina- tion. But the English soldiers were not adepts at bush-fight- ing, and the aid of the Mosquito Indians, from the coast of Central America, had to be called in, when the struggle reached its climax at the end of the last century ; at which time the Maroons made a final and desperate attempt to gain the mastery, in imitation of the negroes of Hayti, who in 1790 had overcome the French proprietors of the island, and had gained a recog- nised freedom and independence. The Maroons, although but a handful of men, made a manful stand against the English troops and militia, and were only at last induced to surrender by the promise that land should be portioned out to them to cultivate for themselves. To the disgrace of the English, this promise was broken when once the Maroons were in their power, and the last remnant of them, about six hundred, were shipped off to the cold deserts of Nova Scotia, from which, as we have seen in the history of the African colonies, they were humanely released, and con- veyed to the more congenial climate of Sierra Leone. Until the Eestoration, Jamaica was under military juris- diction : but Oliver Cromwell had granted to the Organised 7 . ,.*.'...■,". -, . Govern- settlers all the privileges of British citizens, and, m men ' ' 1660, a regular civil government was established, ivith a Governor-in-chief and elective council. Two years afterwards the island was first divided into parishes, local magistrates and judges were appointed, and a militia was or- ganised. But, although increasing from that time in trade * An order in the State Paper Office, dated August 1659, directs ' Mr. Peter Pugh, treasurer, to pay unto Mr. John Hoy the summe of 201. sterling out of the impost money, to pay for fifteen doggs, broughte by him for the hunting of the negros.' NEGRO INSURRECTION IN JAMAICA. 441 and population, so little had the island in reality become sub- ject to law and order, that privateers, slave-dealers, and slave- owners formed the upper classes, whose profligacy and cruelty towards the negro population were revenged by constant conspiracies and outbreaks ; and, in 1674, we find that the Lieutenant-Governor was Sir Henry Morgan, a notorious buccaneer, whose atrocities had made him the terror of the Spaniards, but whose exploits, together with the buccaneering system in general, were overlooked by the Government in order to save the expense of a regular fleet. In the midst of wealth, luxury, and wickedness on one hand, and misery on the other, Jamaica was, in 1692, visited by an appalling earthquake. Heralded by a tremendous un- derground roar, the sea suddenly rose above the tops of the houses, whole chains of hills were torn asunder, the mountains are said literally to have crumbled down and buried the villages in the plains, and the whole surface of the island was sunk and changed in outline. Besides an enormous loss of life, all the plantations and sugar- works were destroyed, and all the official records were lost. The tops of the submerged houses of Port Eoyal are still to be seen in calm weather under the sea, and at the harbour in Green Bay is a monument recording the escape of a Frenchman, Louis Caldy, who was swallowed up by the earthquake, and thrown up again by a second shock into the sea, and finally rescued by a boat. This earthquake is memorable as being the most terrible that has ever been known to visit Jamaica ; but it was only one amongst many disasters — hurricanes, conflagrations, pes- tilences, famines, and wars — which desolated the island at this period. The black population was now begin- ning to preponderate dangerously over the white ; insurrec- and the excessive rigour of the laws respecting negroes, called the Code Noir, and the tyranny of overseers on plantations where the masters were absent or inactive, often gave rise to formidable insurrections, which were mostly planned and carried into effect by the Coromantines, or war- like negroes of Ashantee, Fantee, or Akim origin, who, ac- cording to Ashantee custom, pledged themselves to fidelity 442 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. and secrecy by the ceremony of what was called the Great Draught Oath, and by certain incantations, such as are described in Miss Edgeworth's tale of ' The Grateful Negro/ The danger to the colony from these outbreaks might have been lessened through the influence of the missionaries, but the planters were so jealous of their interference, and of any attempt to raise the negro above the condition of a working animal, that the local government generally contrived to hinder their work, and to elude the decrees of the British Legislature for their support. The first missionaries were Moravians, in 1754 ; then fol- Mrst * lowed Baptists and Wesley ans, who, amidst vexatious Mission- persecution, persevered in gathering their little flocks about them, and preaching to the poor slaves the Gospel message of mercy and brotherhood ; and one proof of their influence is the fact, that in a great slave-conspiracy in 1760 to massacre all the whites in the island, in which almost every Coromantine in Jamaica was concerned, not one of the negroes belonging to their congregations took any part. But now, chiefly owing to the appeals of Mr. Wilberforce, seconded by such men as Thomas Clarkson, Richard Phillips, George Harrison, and William Allen — all of whom belonged to the Society of Friends — and Mr. Zachary Macaulay, Governor of Sierra Leone, the British public were becoming roused to a strong sense of the evil of slavery ; and measures were one by one adopted which led to the complete emancipation of the negro in 1834. First, in 1807, the slave- carrying trade was made illegal by Act of Parliament throughout the British dominions. Next, in 1811, the Felony Act was carried by Mr. Brougham, by which slave-trading was made a capital offence ; and from that time the traffic entirely ceased in the British colonies. But, to prevent slaves being smuggled in from foreign sources, a further provision was necessary, and consequently, in 1815, every negro in the West Indies was required to be registered. These measures, however, did not improve the condition of the slaves, who, being fewer in number, were worked the harder, and, from the now im- poverished state of the colony, were fed worse than formerly. NEGRO EMANCIPATION. 443 A light, however, now began to dawn upon the negroes themselves, that deliverance was a possibility. The names of Wilberforce, Clarkson, Sturge, became their watchwords of hope ■ — England would set them free if it were not for the Jamaica Assembly. And in the expectation that British troops would second them, another insurrection broke out in 1831, under the leadership of an intelligent negro — one Sharpe — who, contented himself with his lot and attached to his master, seems as nobly to have sacrificed himself for freedom as any of the world's more renowned heroes. This outbreak, like all others, ended in the defeat of the b]acks — 1,500 of whom were hung and slaughtered in cold blood after the insurrection had been quelled, and Sharpe amongst the rest ; while such had been the mild and forgiving spirit of the negroes them- selves, that only about a dozen whites perished, although the whole county of Cornwall, with hundreds of defenceless families, at one time lay entirely at their mercy.* The year 1834 is memorable in our history as the one in which the great measure of Negro Emancipation was Negro finally carried, and by which all slaves were ' abso- p^ 1 ^ 01 " lutely and for ever manumitted ' throughout the 1834 - British colonies, and by which 20,000,000/., that is, 19Z. per head, was voted to the owners, in compensation for their * human chattels.' Absolute freedom, however, was not to be granted until six years afterwards, during which time the slaves were to be apprenticed labourers. Lord Mulgrave, then Governor of Jamaica, had the pleasure of making the tour of the island in the spring of 1834, and of announcing to assemblages of negroes in all parts, that on the 1st of August next they would be free. And the Earl remarks, that the gratitude with which the tidings were re- ceived was mixed with an unexpected degree of intelligence with respect to the intermediate apprenticeship stage. To * To assist in putting down this insurrection of 1831, the British Government lent Jamaica 200,000/., which debt was repudiated in 1862, since the majority in the Jamaica House of Assembly then consisted of negroes and coloured men. 444 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. the planters the prospect was by no means so welcome ; and they seem to have dreaded that the 1st of August would be a day of riot, rapine, and excess. But the way in which these poor negroes bore their joy, as they had hitherto borne their sufferings, may be a lesson to many a civilised Christian. On the eve of that day all the places of worship were thrown 'open, excepting those belonging to the Established Church. Multitudes of slaves thronged in and fell upon their knees, and waited in breathless silence for the first stroke of the midnight bell. As soon as twelve sounded, all sprang to their feet — slaves no longer; and it is recorded that a loud and exultant hymn of praise rose up through the darkness to the Universal Father. In much the same way this great event was inaugurated in the other western colonies, and this peaceful beginning of a free life was followed by an equally peaceful line of conduct, which has continued on the part of the blacks from that time to this. No act of violence or flagrant treachery marked any disposition to avenge their cruel wrongs ; and perhaps the worst vices that can be charged to the negro, in his inde- pendent state, are idleness and vanity. The ' apprenticeship system ' being found unsatisfactory, the period of it was shortened, and in 1838 the Emancipation Act came into full operation. At the time of the emancipation there were 311,368 slaves in Jamaica, making nearly five-sixths of the adult population. As might be expected, many of these, when free, refused to work on any terms, and preferred t squatting' on the waste lands, and living on their own pumpkin patches ; while the ambition of a higher class was to save enough from their wages to buy freeholds of their own. The planters, on their side, did not meet their new position by offering fair wages or by improving their modes of cultivation ; and often the negro found that he could make more by working his own land than as a hired labourer. Thus the master and man being rival land -proprietors, the supply of labour on the large estates became precarious. EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION IN JAMAICA. 445 Moreover, at the time of the abolition, the island was all but bankrupt, owing to the reckless extravagance of the planters — most of whom left their estates to the care of over- seers, while they themselves squandered away more than the proceeds in England, or elsewhere ; so that estates were deeply mortgaged to supply lavish expenditure. Since the abolition, the planter has been unable to produce sugar at so cheap a rate by means of hired labour; while, owing to Free Trade, the price of sugar has been kept down by the unequal competition of the slave-holding planters of Cuba and Porto Eico ; besides which, the increased importation of coffee from Ceylon has greatly interfered with the Jamaica coffee trade. From these and other causes, the island is at present in a depressed state. Half the sugar, and more than half the coffee plantations have returned to a state of bush ; and it remains to be seen whether the land, being rid of its moral curse of slavery, will regain its former wealth — either by better management, and better ways and means ; by com- petition forcing the black to work as it does the white labourer in our own country ; by the introduction of more sturdy labourers from other tropical climes, such as the Chinese, the coolies from Hindostan, or again the negro from West Africa ; or, as some have suggested, by a change in the very staple of the island, by giving up the cultivation of the sugar-cane, and confining its chief produce to coffee, cotton, mahogany, ginger, arrow-root, pimento, and such articles as its generous soil can produce almost without labour, or, at any rate, without slave-labour. There are, however, already signs of better times. Im- proved machinery, and better modes of cultivation and manufacture, are beginning to compensate for the deficiency of labour ; and there is evidence that those j>roprietors who pay fair wages have no difficulty in working their estates. In 1860 and 1861, two thousand coolies arrived in the island, and are now helping especially to revive the cotton-trade. Meanwhile, the benefit of emancipation to the negro is undoubted. < Many of them/ says the Kev. C. B. Underhill, 446 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. one of a deputation to Jamaica, ' have become freeholders, on the average, of five acres each. They have built houses and mills, possess mules, and clothe and feed themselves better than ever they had done before.' Many coloured commu- nities support their own ministers, and provide for the educa- tion of their children ; many of both the coloured and negro race sit in the House of Assembly, and hold high offices ; many have become excellent artizans ; and it is found, as a rule, that in the common schools the mulatto children are as teachable as the white. These facts seem to answer the question whether freedom is a luxury that agrees with the negro constitution. Nevertheless, it is agreed that thriving habits, industry, and intelligence are more common to the half-caste than to the negro. In 1758 Jamaica was divided by the local government into three counties — Surrey, Middlesex, and Cornwall, which again are divided into parishes. Surrey is the eastern portion, and includes the whole region of the Blue Mountains, and part of the Plain of Liguanea, the most extensive plain in the island. Middlesex is the central portion, and includes the rest of this plain, and the grazing district of St. Ann's in the north, called the Park of Jamaica. Cornwall is the western portion, and comprises the Plains of Pedro and Savannah La Mar, and the hilly country lying north and between them. There are about thirty-three towns and villages, but only Chief two c ^ies — Spanish Town, the political capital, and Towns. Kingston, the emporium of commerce. Spanish Town, the oldest town in the island, is supposed to have been founded by Diego Columbus, the son of Chris- topher Columbus, in 1523, and was first called St. Jago de la Vega (St. James of the Plain). It occupies about a square mile, in the middle of a flat, in the parish of St. Catherine, Middlesex. The residence of the Governor (King's House), together with the House of Assembly and other official build- ings, gives an importance to the place ; otherwise, it is a JAMAICA. 447 wretchedly-built town. The houses are ruinous 'and one- floored, and closely contiguous to crowded and squalid negro habitations ; the streets are unpaved and choked with refuse ; in the wet season they are coated with mud, and in the dry season they are unbearable from dust and the absence of shade ; while report says that the only scavengers are the carrion crows and vultures. There are no pumps in the town, and only three wells for the richer classes. There is no local trade. Thirteen miles from Spanish Town is the commercial capital, Kingston, in Surrey, built in 1693, after the destruction of Port Eoyal. The state of this town also is a disgrace to the country that owns it. The houses are mostly of wood, and are fast going to ruin ; there is neither pavement, drainage, gaslight, nor decent inns. There are, says Mr. Trollope, ' articles called omnibuses, but they do not run from any given point to any other, but meander about through the slush and sand, and are as difficult to catch as the mosquitoes.' The oniy pleasant feature is the negro-market, which supplies meat, fish, fruit, and vegetables, of the best that the island affords. One cause of the decline of Kingston is that it is no longer now, as in former days, the great mart for the productions of Europe on their way to South and Central America. Steam communi- cation is now so rapid, that merchants have no need of a half- way stopping place ; besides which, the harbour of St. Thomas is now generally preferred. But the old wholesale warehouses are giving place to retail shops, which are springing up fast to meet the demands of an increasing home trade. The chief harbour, Kingston Harbour, is formed by a long sand-bank called the Palisades, running out into the sea for about six miles ; at the end of which is Port Eoyal, the seat of England's naval supremacy for Jamaica and the neigh- bouring islands. Here lies our flag-ship, and a dockyard is maintained. One of the results of emancipation in Jamaica has been the negro, or free villages. To escape from the exactions Free of their former masters, who often offered the lowest Villages, wages, and demanded enormous rents for mud cabins and 448 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. provision grounds, the more respectable class of negroes clubbed together, and out of their scanty earnings bought small lots of ground and laid them out as villages. Sometimes the resident missionary managed the purchase for them, and became the guardian of the community, and the names of these hamlets often show the grateful or religious sentiments of the occupiers ; for instance, Liberty, Happy, Salem, Bethany, and Standfast. Built on the slopes or summits of the hills, shaded by mangoes and bread-fruit trees, these neat little negro dwellings form a pleasant enough contrast to the kennels and pestilential holes which were too often the shelter of the slave. Almost every hamlet has its small chapel or class-room ; many have acquired the franchise ; many have small sugar-mills or pimento planta- tions, and all sorts of agricultural produce is cultivated for home use and the market. Sturge Town, founded by the late excellent Joseph Sturge of Birmingham, is said to be the best ordered of 'these settlements. Jamaica has a population of about 400,000. There has been an unusual mixture of races in the island. Of Inhabitants. .. the old Indian blood not a vestige is supposed to remain, and but a small tinge of the Spanish, except in the Maroons, a handsome people, resembling Spanish gipsies. The only unmixed races, besides, of course, the recent settlers, are the Creoles, or Criolles, so called from a corruption of a Spanish word, meaning native. The term is applied to those who are born in the West Indies of a race not indigenous to the islands. Thus, the white Creoles are born in the West Indies of European parents, and the black Creoles of West Indian negroes. But the union of blacks and whites have produced coloured races of almost endless gradations of shades, which, however, have been broadly classified thus : — Mulatto, the offspring of a white and a black : Quadroon, of a white and mulatto : Sambo, of a black and mulatto : Mestee, of a white and quadroon. The descendants of the Anglo-Saxon and the negro are about a fifth of the population. The pecu- liarities of other nations blend curiously with the African type ; for instance, black Jews are a common variety. The THE CAYMANAS. 449 white Creoles are usually fair, slender, good-looking and indolent ; the coloured races are mostly tall, athletic, and handsome, with more of the European than the negro type. The negro's highest ambition is to appear like a white man, and the worst term of reproach is to be called ' African ' or ' nigger/ The administration is composed of a Captain -General and Go vernor-in- Chief (salary, 5,000/.), of a Legislative £0^^. Council of seventeen, and a House of Assembly of ment > &c - forty-seven members, elected from the parishes and chief towns. All distinctions of creed and colour have been abolished, both in electors and representatives. Parliament sits at King- ston three months in the year. Since the abolition, Jamaica has needed but little military defence, and one European and one black regiment, with a small force of artillery, are sufficient. Jamaica was erected into a bishopric in 1824, and the diocese includes the Bahamas, Honduras, and Cayman. In- come, 3,000Z. Number of clergy, 108. Of other denomina- tions, the Wesleyans are the most numerous. Negroes attach themselves most to the Baptists, Wesleyans, and Roman Catholic churches, and generally favour the worship which affords the most excitement. Most of the religious bodies have their own schools, besides which there are Government and endowed free- schools. Besides English money, Spanish gold doubloons are current, — old Mexican, 31. 6 s. ; Columbian, 31. As. Jamaica is an enormous expense to England, but its value as a market for our goods has increased since emancipation, because the mass of the people are now better clothed, and require more of British manufactures. THE CAYMANAS. About 130 miles north-west of Jamaica are three small islands, viz. Grand Cayman, Cayman Brae, and Little Cayman, the inhabitants of which are said to be descended from the. GG 450 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. English buccaneers. The islands are dependencies of Jamaica, although the inhabitants make their own laws and choose their own governor. George Town is the capital. THE BAHAMAS. The Bahamas, or, as they were called by the natives, the Lucayos, are a chain of low islands, lying on two banks of sand and coral in 27° 31' N. lat., 79° 5' W. long., and extend diagonally for about 550 miles between East Florida and Hayti. They consist of countless rocks, islets or keys, and islands, of which twenty are inhabited, viz. : — New Providence Andros Harbour Island Grand Bahama Eleuthera Berry Island Bum Cay* Blmlnis Crooked Island Gun Cay St. Salvador Watling's Island Exuma Mariguana Long Island Green Cay Abaco Cay Sal Bagged Island Inagua. The islands were found uninhabited by the English in the beginning of the seventeenth century, all the gentle Settlement, Indian race that had welcomed Columbus having 1629. been forced away by the Spaniards to the mines of Hayti or the pearl fisheries of Cumana. New Providence was first settled by the English in 1629, but, except as they served as a nest for pirates, none of the other islands were colonised until nearly a century afterwards. The islands changed owners many times, and passed into the possession of Spaniards, French, and English, but the whole group was finally confirmed to England at the Peace of Versailles, 1783. Seen from the sea, all the islands appear low, fiat, and * Cay, or hey, is a term applied to small sandy islets in the West Indies. THE BAHAMAS. 451 green. In many parts they are very fertile, and even the most rocky islands are productive, owing to the porous nature of the stone, which retains the moisture. Mahogany-trees grow on the rocks to a great height and size. Taking the islands nearly in order from north to south, their chief charac- teristics are as follow : — Great Bahama : agricultural, growing chiefly maize. Abaco and Harbour Island : ship-building, wrecking, and fishing. Eleuthera : the principal fruit-growing island. New Providence ; contains Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, and the seat of Government, and one of the best Government residences in the West Indies. Andros : the largest island, about a hundred miles long. Produces excellent cedars. It is only inhabited at the coast, since the swamps, jungle, and mosquitoes of the interior scare away all settlers. St. Salvador ; has good anchorage and two settlements. There is a mark on a rock showing the spot where Columbus is supposed to have planted the cross. Exuma : salt-raking, cotton-growing, and agriculture. Long Island : salt, sponges, turtles, and conch-shells. Crooked Island, Rum Cay, and Ragged Island : chiefly salt. Berry Isles ; the inhabitants are licensed by Government as wreckers and guides to vessels among the rocks and shoals. They have an allowance on property saved. Mariguana : the most eastward and windward of the group, and the most fertile. Inagua : the most southerly island. It has an enormous salt-pond of 1,600 acres, now worked by a company. By the census of 1857 the population of the group was 27,519. The emancipated population appear to be Present especially well conducted, and it is reported that Condition. crime is fast diminishing through the good influence of the missionaries. At Nassau, negroes and former slaves, as well as mulattos, hold Government offices, and in this principal town less of the prejudice against the coloured race is shown GG 2 452 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. than in the smaller islands. The Government consists of Governor, Council, and Eepresentative Assembly. The Bahamas belong to the diocese of Jamaica, and are divided into thirteen parishes, presided over by an arch- deacon. Besides those of the Church of England, there are Wesleyans, Baptist, and Presbyterian places of worship, with mostly schools attached. There are also public schools con- ducted on the system of the British and. Foreign Society, and Governor Gregory remarked on the eagerness of the freed negroes to have their children educated : — ' Many very young children,' he says, l walk four or five miles a day in almost every island, through rocks and rugged paths, to and from school.' Nassau has a museum, reading-room, and library, and several local newspapers. The principal trade is with the United States, and the chief staple is salt. Sponges, pine-apples and oranges, mahogany, dye-woods, and turtles are also exported. Cotton used to be much grown, and now its production is again occupying attention. There are nine colonial custom-houses and ports of entry, viz. Nassau, Abaco, and Eleuthera for fruit ; Har- bour Island, Little Exuma, Kum Cay, Long Island, and Ragged Island, for salt. The Turks and Caicos Islands were, in 1848, detached from the Bahama Government at the request of the in- habitants, and made a separate presidency under the Governor of Jamaica. Salt is the chief produce. THE LEEWARDS. The islands belonging to England of this northern portion of the Caribbean group are — Antigua, Barbuda, Dominica, Montserrat, Nevis, St. Kitts, Anguilla, part of the Virgin Isles, and the uninhabited rock of Redonda. These are all under one Governor-in-chief (salary, 3,000/.), who resides at Antigua ; and form one diocese, under the Bishop of Antigua : income, 2.000Z. ; clergy, 33 ; bishopric founded, 1842. Each island has, however, its own President, Council, and Repre- sentative Assembly. THE LEEWARDS. 453 Antigua was discovered by Columbus in 1493, and was named by him after a. church in Seville, S. Maria la Antigua. It is about twenty-one miles long and nearly the same broad ; N. latitude, 19° ; W. longitude, 61 Q . The land is mostly level, but there are green valleys and gently- sloping hills in the interior, which resemble English scenery ; and its shores are rocky and deeply indented with creeks, which run into the plantations like canals. There are no rivers, and so few springs that the rain-water collected in tanks is the main supply. The island was first settled by a few English families in 1632, and Charles II. afterwards granted it to Lord Willoughby. In 1666, the tobacco plantations, which were then the chief produce, were laid waste by the French from Martinique, and all the negroes were carried away ; but by the Treaty of Breda, in the same year, it was recognised as a British possession, and again settled by the Governor of the Leewards, Colonel Codrington, who introduced the sugar-cane from Jamaica, and whose descendants still hold estates in the island. Antigua was the first of the colonies which of itself advo- cated abolition, and the only one where emancipation was at once adopted without any apprenticeship system. Here, also, the freed population thrive better, and their village commu- nities have made greater progress than in any other island. More than half the land in cultivation is occupied by sugar plantations ; the rest is provision ground.. Cotton used to be much grown, and its cultivation has now recommenced. The chief town is St. John, built on the side of a hill on the bay of St. John, which forms an excellent harbour. Exposed to the sea breezes on the north, the town is one of the most healthy in the West Indies. Barbuda is thirty miles north of Antigua, a low, flat, and fertile island, nineteen miles long, resting on a coral reef. It was first settled by some English from St. Kitts ; but they found a scarcity of water, and, being troubled by incursions from the Caribs, soon abandoned it. Afterwards, Colonel 454 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. Codrington obtained a grant of the island for the sake of rais- ing stock upon it for the supply of the other islands, and his descendants still hold possession, on condition of presenting the Governor-in-chief with a fat sheep whenever he chooses to visit the place. A turtle or buck, we are told, has often been made to do duty for the sheep. Barbuda is the only island in the West Indies held as private property. The owner, Sir William Codrington, built the church, and supported the clergyman and the schools. The negroes were fully emanci- pated in 1834. No sugar is grown, but the population, mostly coloured, are employed in breeding cattle, pigs, poultry, and other stock, and in cultivating corn, cotton, indigo, pepper, and tobacco on the provision grounds. St. Chkistophee or St. Kitts. — Some writers say that Columbus gave his own name to this island. Another sup- position is that he called it St. Christopher from the shape of its mountains, which, rising one above another, bear some likeness to the statues of the Saint carrying the Saviour on his shoulders, which were common in the church-porches in his time. The Carib inhabitants called it Liamuiga, the Fertile Isle. It was probably the first island in the West Indies colonised by English — Sir Thomas Warner and four- teen others settling there in 1623, and cultivating tobacco. In 1625 the island was conjointly occupied by English and French, and became one of the head-quarters of the buc- caneers. After many disputes for its possession between Spaniards, French, and English, it was finally ceded to Eng- land at the Treaty of Versailles, 1783. A mass of rugged mountains forms the centre of the island, topped by a gloomy crag, Mount Misery, which raises its black summit almost perpendicularly from a height of 3,711 feet, and overhangs an extinct volcano, at the bottom of the crater of which, more than 2,000 feet in depth, lies a level tract of fifty acres, partly lake, and partly grass and trees. From Mount Misery the land slopes to the sea on all sides, and most of the cultivated part is occupied by cane-planta- THE LEEWAEDS. 455 tions. Towards the south is Monkey Hill, whose green slopes are infested by a small but unusually mischievous kind of monkeys, * which,' says Mr. Sturge, ' assemble in troops, and make sad havoc among the sugar-canes, but are too cunning to be shot, always placing a sentinel in advance, who sets up a terrible screeching on the approach of danger.' Much of the country resembles English village scenery, with cottages embowered in trees, whirling wind-mills, and sugar-works, and the pleasant foreign variety of aloe hedges, and groves of the sea- side grape. Basseterre, the capital, is a low, dusty town, with an active trade and a fortified harbour. Although the island suffers in consequence of the largest estates belonging to absentees, the few resident planters are doing well, and gaining fair profits for their sugar, by wisely economising labour by the intro- duction of agricultural improvements. St. Kitts is divided into nine parishes, and has several churches and chapels. Education is provided by the Episcopalians, Wesley ans, and Moravians. A Lieutenant-governor presides over the island (salary, 1,3001.). Separated from St. Kitts by a narrow channel is the sin- gular and beautiful island of Nevis, formed of a single conical mountain, with a strip of fertile land bordering it round the coast. The top of the mountain is contantly enveloped in clouds ; and, probably from their fleecy appearance, Columbus chose the name of Nievis, or the Snows. The sides are covered with sugar-plantations, and round the rocky summit, where cultivation ceases, there grows a forest of evergreen trees, which encircle the neck of the mountain like a collar. Sir Thomas Warner made here a first settlement of emigrants in 1628, who grew tobacco and ginger; and, in spite of hurri- canes and French marauders from Martinique, the colony prospered, and sugar subsequently became the sole export. Charlestown is the capital. It has five parishes and five churches, and eleven public schools, besides seminaries be- longing to the Wesleyan mission. Sugar is on the increase, 456 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. and the island thriving. Most of the labourers work on the metayer or share system, since the planters have had no capital to pay wages with. Nevis is presided over by an Adminis- trator (salary, 500Z.). Anguilla or Snake Island is the most northerly of the Caribbees. It is about twenty miles long, and so low and flat that it cannot be seen farther off than four or five leagues. It has no rivers, and only about two or three tenths of the surface is cultivated. It was first colonised by English in 1650. There is no town. The island is a dependency of St. Kitts, and sends one member to its Assembly. It has one church, one Wesleyan chapel, and one school-house. The coloured population are of a superior class, and raise their own stock and provisions. Montserrat is about thirty miles north-west of Antigua, and was so called by Columbus from its likeness to a mountain of the same name, near Barcelona. It is about nine miles long, and as many broad. The interior is a mass of mountains covered with thick forests ; the shore is so beset with rocks and coral reefs that landing is difficult. About one-third is cultivated, chiefly with the sugar-cane. The island was settled first in 1632 by a party of Irish Catholics from St. Kitts, and was confirmed to Great Britain at the close of the last French war. In the Blue Books of 1851, Montserrat was reported a most orderly community, the prison was without an inmate, and the only constable had been dismissed as an unnecessary expense. The arrival of some monied planters from Bar- bados, who paid wages punctually, had given such confidence to the negroes, that there were more applicants for work than could be employed, even at b^d. per day for hard labour, and the sugar works were thriving in consequence. The only town, Plymouth, is built of grey-stone, and stands in the midst of trees on the south-west side. It has three churches, a small Wesleyan Mission, and several public schools. The island is governed by a President (salary, 500Z.). THE LEEWAKDS. 457 Between Nevis and Montserrat stands the uninhabited rock of Kedonda, named so by Columbus on account of its round form, which resembles a huge tower or haycock. Dominica is the most southerly of the Leewards, and is a mountainous island, about twenty-eight miles long. Colum- bus first caught sight of it on a Sunday morning, and hence its name. It was then so covered with forest, even to the tops of the highlands, nearly 6,000 feet, that scarcely a yard of bare ground was to be seen ; and Columbus endeavoured to give Queen Isabella an idea of its peculiar jagged appearance by crumpling up a sheet of paper in his hand. For many years the island was a sort of neutral ground, equally claimed by Spain, France, and England, but in 1759 a British force cap- tured it, and it was formally ceded to England at the Treaty of Paris, 1763. Seen from the sea, Dominica is the most picturesque of all the "West Indies. The country is curiously watered by a large fresh-water lake, which lies at the top of a mountain in the centre, said to be unfathomable, and which streams down to the plains below in three branches. The volcanic nature of the island still manifests itself in boiling springs and quarries of hot sand, and emissions of sulphureous vapours from the mountains. Most of the island is still wild bush-country, tenanted by monkeys, agouti, and boa- constrictors, which pay occasional visits to the poultry-yards ; while amongst the tall tree-ferns of the glens glitters the bright plumage of the humming-birds and parroquets. An enormous tree-frog, called crapaud — which Coleridge said ' was as large as ten fat toads ' — is found here, and is eaten by the inhabitants. Coffee is at the present time more cultivated than sugar. Excellent reports are given of the conduct and prosperity of the labourers, or freed blacks, many of whom are landed proprietors. The white population are chiefly French, and the common language is a French patois. Roseau, the chief town, is described as a wretched place- — its streets overgrown with grass, and without shops or any 458 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. signs of active industry. The prevailing religion is Eoman Catholic, but there is one small Protestant church and a Wesleyan mission. A ' Board of Instruction ' was appointed in 1851. Dominica has a Lieutenant-Governor (salary, 1,300Z.) The majority of the representatives are men of colour. Several of the aboriginal Caribs are still remaining in this island, and maintain themselves by basket-making, hunting, and fishing. North-west of the Caribbees are a group of about fifty small islands, named by Columbus the Virgin Islands, in honour of St. Ursula and her Eleven Thousand. Most of them are British, viz. Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada, Beef, Peter, Guana, Comanos, Ginger, Salt, Jost Van Dyke, and others of no importance : the rest belong to Denmark. Rugged moun- tain-heights, plains covered with guinea -grass, and coasts indented with many a bay and creek, are the prevailing natural features of the group. The Earl of Cumberland mentions them in 1596 as wholly uninhabited. Some Dutch buccaneers were the first settlers, in 1648; but they were expelled by the English, who succeeded in cultivating the craggy surface, and in raising sugar, cotton, indigo, and ginger. In Charles II. 's reign, Tortola and its dependencies were annexed to the Leeward Government. Tortola, the largest island, is about 12 miles long, and contains the highest mountain-peak — 1,758 feet ; and here is the chief town, Eoad Town, consisting of one large street. The islands are governed by an Administrator (salary, 800Z.) There are several churches and chapels, with schools attached. The production of sugar has diminished since the abolition, although the negroes are of an industrious and orderly class. Patches of cotton are grown all over the island. The soil is considered worn out for cultivation, but excellent pasture for cattle is found in the waste tracts, of which the freed blacks are the chief proprietors. BARBADOS. 459 BARBADOS. Barbados is situated about eighty miles to the east of the. Windwards, in 13°19'N. lat., 59° 37' W. long., and is about 21 miles long by 12 miles broad. It is the oldest of the British West India settlements, and has always been in British possession. The Portuguese are supposed to have been the first European visitors, and to have named the island Barbados, or bearded, from finding there abundance of a kind of fig-tree, with fibrous threads hanging down from its branches like beards. The crew of an English ship, the 1 Olive Blossom,' touched at the island in 1605, and took possession in the name of King James I. ; at which time it was uninhabited, except by some pigs, which probably had been left there to breed and multiply by the Portuguese. The island seems to have been neglected until twenty years afterwards, when reports of its fertility induced James I. to make a grant of it to the Earl of Marlborough, under whose protection forty Englishmen and a few negroes were conveyed there, and made a settlement on the spot where the crew of the ' Olive ' had planted their cross. Unfortunately, however, the Government of Charles I. granted the island to another nobleman — the Earl of Carlisle ; and the contests between the rival claimants and their heirs hindered the prosperity of the colony, until Charles II. settled the question by taking the sovereignty into his own hands, upon the payment of a tax of 4 J per cent, on all the native produce exported from the island. This heavy tax the Barbadians have only been relieved from in the present reign. Elat and unpicturesque in appearance, Barbados is the most thriving of any of the West India colonies, and, in proportion to its size, contains an unusual area of land under high culti- vation. Its black mould is especially suited to the sugar- cane, and consequently Barbados has always been prosperous as a sugar settlement ; and it was the first English West Indian colony where sugar was grown. In 1641 the only 460 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. produce of the island was a little ginger and cotton, and very bad tobacco ; but some planters procured in that year some sugar-canes from Brazil, which throve so well that they set up a mill, and in less than twenty years from that time large fortunes were made by the sugar trade of Barbados ; and by 1676 it had extended so far as to employ 400 ships. There is not a single rood of actual waste land in the island : hence there is no room for squatters, and the negroes are forced to work for their living. And since there is a large native population, labour is plentiful, sugar is made profitably, and, unlike the other colonies, Barbados pays its way. Bridgetown, the capital, built round Carlisle Bay on the south- west, is much like an inferior English town. The narrow and crooked streets meet in the centre in Trafalgar Square, where stands a statue of Nelson. It has good shops, libraries, and scientific societies ; many schools, churches, and chapels. The churches are all built without steeples, for fear of the hurricanes, which have occasionally visited the island with tremendous violence. Barbados has been remarkable, since its first settlement, for the rapid increase of its population. Since emancipation, this increase has been chiefly on the side of the coloured popula- tion, who are, as a mass, industrious and thriving ; but there is a large indigent population of whites, who form the pauper class, who in times of slavery were brought up in idleness on the former estates, and who are now apparently unfit for any occupation but breeding pigs and poultry. The population is very dense, and numbers about 150,000. The negroes, who live an easier and more independent life than most English labourers, are more intelligent, but less good-tempered and of heavier build, than those of other colonies. The white Creoles are larger and fairer than other West Indians. The government consists of the Governor and- Commander-in-Chief (salary, 4,000Z.) ; of a Council of 12, appointed by the Crown ; and an Assembly of 22, annually elected by the eleven parishes ; and, since no negroes have freeholds in Barbados, the electors and members are all whites. THE WINDWARDS. 461 A bishopric of Barbados was established in 1824, including the Windward Islands, Tobago and Trinidad — income, 2,500Z. ; clergy, 89. The chief educational establishment is Codrington College, founded in 1810 by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, by means of the income from two plantations bequeathed by Colonel Codrington, and yielding 2,000Z. per annum. The first regular newspaper in the Caribbees was issued at Barbados in 1731. THE WINDWARDS. The islands belonging to Great Britain of the Windward portion of the Caribbees are : St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Grenada. The respective governments of these islands and of Tobago are subordinate to the Government of Barbados. St. Lucia is an island about thirty miles long, and about seventy miles north-west of Barbados. It is an unhealthy island, swampy, and abounding with venomous reptiles, although with much beautiful scenery of mountain and vale, and excellent as a sugar-growing country. The French are supposed to have first seen it and named it after Sante Alouisa, but for many years both French and English found it impossible to wrest the island from its Carib proprietors, until in 1650 a powerful French adventurer, named Rousselau, married a Carib woman, and so gained their favour that they allowed him to make a settlement. After that date the island was taken and retaken by the English and French no less than eleven times, until finally Lord Hood captured it in 1804. It is, however, still chiefly French in its language, manners, and religion. St. Lucia is divided into five districts, and its chief town, Castries, stands in a plain surrounded by hills, and partly below the level of the sea. The English church is built in the middle of a swamp, as if, it has been said, ' for the express purpose of checking the growth of Protestantism in St. Lucia/ 462 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. while the substantial Catholic church stands in a square sur- rounded by trees. St. Lucia has no Representative Assembly, the government is vested in an Administrator (salary, 700Z.), whose residence, a sort of wooden pavilion, stands magnificently situated on the edge of a cliff. He is aided by a Legislative Council. Many of the freed negroes are small landed pro- prietors, as well as labourers in the cane-fields ; and the metayer system is here on the increase. About twenty-two miles south of St. Lucia is the beautiful and healthy island of St. Vincent. It is nearly twenty miles long ; its coast is bold and rocky, and its centre formed of a mountain ridge, of which the highest point, the Souffriere mountain, 3,000 feet, is an active volcano, with a crater half a mile in diameter, from the centre of which rises a conical hill of 300 feet. The last eruption took place in 1812, after a repose of nearly a century. The history of the settlement of St. Vincent is much the same as that of St. Lucia ; the powerful Carib inhabitants for many years holding their own against both French and English, so that it was to little purpose that Charles I. included this island in his grant to Lord Carlisle. At the end of the seventeenth century a slave-ship from Guinea ran ashore at the place, and the negroes escaping, settled and intermarried among the aborigines, and hence two races came to occupy the land — the red or yellow, and the black Caribs. In 1715, some French from Martinique made a forcible settlement, and the blacks in the island so much feared that their race should be confounded with that of the slaves introduced by the planters, that they adopted the Carib fashion of flattening the skulls of their infants, as a token of their free birth. After being taken by the English in 1763, and retaken by the French, St. Vincent was finally ceded to Britain at the peace of 1783, and almost all the Caribs, red and black, were transported to the island of Eattan, in the Bay of Honduras, since they had been incited to rebellion by the French planters. THE WINDWARDS. 463 St. Vincent is divided into five parishes. Kingstown is the capital. The administration is vested in a Lieutenant-governor, (salary, 1,300Z.) There are churches and chapels of various Christian denominations, and several schools. The free negro villages, which are numerous, are described as in good condition, houses neat and clean, gardens fruitful, men, women and children well dressed. Sugar, arrow-root, and cotton are cultivated, and the exports include cocoa-nuts and poz- zualano, a kind of manure, valuable also as a cement. South of St. Vincent are a pretty cluster of islands, about nine in number, called the Grenadines, of which Becquia and Cariacou are the principal. The more southerly of the islands, Cariacou and Eeclonda, belong to the Government of Grenada ; the more northerly are dependencies of St. Vincent. Coffee is the chief produce ; sugar is less successful. On the sea- shores of many of the islands grows luxuriantly the deadly upas-tree, whose sap, fruit, leaves, and touch are poison, and whose shade even is noxious. Grenada, the most southerly of the Windwards, is a healthy, fertile, and very beautiful island, of about twenty- four miles in length. It was discovered and named by Columbus in 1498. It has a soft Italian climate, and its fruits — mangoes, pine- apples, and oranges — are of the finest kind. Du Parquet, governor of Martinique, bought the island from its native Carib chief in 1650, in exchange for some knives and hatchets and glass beads, and two bottles of brandy for the chief himself. Within eight months of their occupation the French had, by order of Du Parquet, murdered every Carib in the place ; and returned from the massacre — their historian, Du Tertre, relates — l bien joyeux.' Grenada became ours at the Treaty of Paris, 1763, when all the French Caribbean islands were transferred to England. It was again taken by the French during the American war, and again ceded to England at the Treaty of Versailles, 1783. The settlement prospered but little at first, owing to the disputes between the French Catholics and English 464 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. Protestants; the British Government having broken faith with the French settlers, and withdrawn the toleration which had been promised. The negroes, stimulated by the French revolutionists of the day, took part in these disputes, and the island became the scene of frightful insurrection and blood- shed. But the greatest destruction to property was caused by a plague of sugar-ants, which suddenly made their appearance in 1770, and destroyed in succession every plantation within a space of twelve miles. The ' roads were covered with their red bodies for miles together, and so thickly in many places, that the print .of a horse's feet, in riding through them, would appear only for a moment or two, until filled up by the sur- rounding multitudes.' The Assembly offered a reward of 20,000/. for their destruction, but poison, fire, and all means failed, until in 1780 a tremendous hurricane uprooted their nests and swamped their broods, and so stayed the plague. Slavery is reported to have been of an unusually mild character in Grenada. Of late years, the colony has been recovering from the depression consequent at first on emanci- pation ; the trade is on a firmer basis, and the sugar produce has yearly increased. The chief produce is sugar and cocoa. St. Georges, the capital, is a good English-looking town, with busy shops and market-place, although the streets are built up and down such steep hills that it is hardly safe for any wheeled vehicle to go along them. Grenada is divided into six parishes. The churches and schools of the Church of England outnumber those of other denominations. Grenada has a Lieutenant- Governor (salary, 1,300/.) TOBAGO. Tobago, the most southerly of the Caribbees, is about thirty-two miles in length by twelve broad, and lies to the south-east of Grenada sixty miles. It is supposed to be the TOBAGO. 465 same island that Columbus called Assumption, but it gained its present name from the habit common among the native Caribs of smoking rolls of the herb ' kohiba,' in a pipe called ' a tabacca ; ' a practice first seen by Columbus at Cuba. Tobago has been called also i the Melancholy Isle,' from the sombre aspect of its gloomy mountains and dense forests when seen from the north. Only the lower grounds and a few patches on the hills are cultivated, and here its black mould is especially adapted to the sugar-cane. Although the climate has improved with the clearance of waste lands, the extreme heat, acting on the marshy soil, renders it so unhealthy, that for a series of years the mortality amongst the white troops was double that of any other of the West Indies. The early history of the island is obscure. At one time, the native Caribs appear to have been driven away by a more powerful race from the mainland ; and the description of the island when found in its deserted state is said to have suggested to De Foe his ' Eobinson Crusoe.' The various steps of its European settlement appear to have been similar to those which marked the settlement of the neighbouring isles, namely, long resistance from the Caribs, alternate possession by French and English, and final cession to England in 1814. The red ants which infested Grenada in 1775 appeared at the same time in Tobago, and so laid waste the sugar-lands that the cultivation of cotton was generally adopted for a time instead of sugar. Cotton and cocoa-nuts, and other articles besides the staple of sugar, are now being added to the exports. Steam- engines have been introduced on the sugar- estates, and the island is recovering from its financial embarrassments ; besides which, the free labourers are fast clearing the forest lands, making settlements on the coast, and extending cultivation into the interior, although still two-thirds of the island are covered with primitive forest. The chief town is Scarborough. There are nine parishes, and several Church-of-England, Wesleyan, and Moravian congregations. Public education has been neglected on the ground of expense, but the Moravians have formed industrial H H 466 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. schools, -where the pupils cultivate each their own small plots of land. A Lieutenant-Governor administers the affairs of Tobago (salary, 1,300/.), aided by a Legislative Council and House of Assembly. TRINIDAD. Trinidad, the southernmost of the West Indies, lies across the delta of the Orinoco, nine miles distant at the nearest point from the coast of South America. It is shaped like a stretched ox-hide, and is of an average length of fifty miles. On the west side two horns reach towards the mainland of Venezuela, and form an enclosed sea called the Gulf of Paria. Steering into this gulf, Columbus for the first time beheld the great South American continent ; but the low tract of coast was so bounded by the Orinoco, that he imagined it to be merely another small island, although he could not account for the fresh taste of the water in the gulf, caused by the many streams emptying into it. He entered by the south strait, and called it, from its dangerous appearance, Boca del Sierpe (Serpent's Mouth) ; but, on approaching the strait on the north, that passage seemed so much more alarming, from its many rocks and strong eastern currents, that he dared not venture through it, and named it Boca del Dragon. Never- theless, the ordinary entrance is now through this Dragon's Mouth, which is again divided into four other mouths by three small islands which lie across the strait. Columbus dedicated the island itself to the Trinity, in fulfilment of a vow he had made when in great distress for water ; and it is men- tioned as a curious coincidence, that the first land he caught sight of after making the vow was this trio of islands at the northern strait, which rear aloft their three mountain summits, the highest in Trinidad. The aborigines appear to have been of the peaceful race of the Leeward islanders, with, Humboldt supposes, a small TRINIDAD. 467 mixture of Caribs. The Spaniards, who long used the place merely as a station for wood and water, were in the habit of carrying off its inhabitants as slaves to their other colonies, and in 1532 established themselves in the island, and enslaved and exterminated the natives i for the extension of the Holy Faith.' In 1595 Sir Walter Ealeigh became the temporary deliverer of the persecuted natives. He burnt a Spanish town, and set many captives free, and among the rest five miserable caciques, who had been tortured and nearly starved, and whom he found bound together by one chain. The Spaniards held possession until the end of the last century, although, owing to a large immigration of French, the colony had become French rather than Spanish in its character ; but in 1797 the island yielded to a British fleet of ten vessels under Sir Ealph Abercrombie. Although now an English settlement, its French character still prevails. The dominant religion is Catholic, and the common language is a French patois. Port of Spain, the capital, on the west coast, and which is approached by one of the northern entrances of the Dragon's Mouth, called Boca di Mona (Monkey's Mouth), is a large and promising town, with a commercial activity about it unusual in the West Indies. The country around is very beautiful, composed of rocky cliffs clothed to the top with forest trees, open glades, and shady grassy nooks ; while more inland the savannahs (or plains covered with fox-tailed grass and dwarf trees) remain still in all their wild beauty. Owing to the want of roads, a large portion of the island is still but little known, and only com- paratively a small part is cultivated, although the soil is so prolific that in the days of slavery there were cotton-plantations up to the very hill-tops. Tfhe first sugar-plantation was made in 1787. Trinidad has a very small native population, and of late years the introduction of foreign labourers, chiefly coolies from Hindostan, to the number of 8,000, has so helped the sugar manufacture, that Trinidad is said from this cause to have escaped the distress of Jamaica and other colonies where such immigration has been resisted ; especially as the Hindoos H H 2 468 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. thrive well there, and are better paid, fed, and clothed than in their own country. Arrow-root, cocoa-nuts, hides, &c. are now being added to the exports ; and a recent survey of the island has shown the existence of coal in large quantities. Trinidad is a Crown colony. It has no Eepresentative Assembly, but the Governor is assisted by a Council nominated by the Crown. The Governor's salary is 3,500Z. The island is divided into eight districts, which are under the superin- tendence of magistrates. 469 CHAPTEE VI. SETTLEMENTS IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA. BRITISH HONDURAS. The only English possessions in Central America are British Honduras or Belize, and the Bay Islands. British Honduras is a tract about two hundred miles long, and one hundred miles broad, on the eastern coast of the Caribbean Sea, the limits of which have not been precisely determined. Low and marshy towards the shore, the country rises inland into bold highlands, covered with splendid forests of mahogany -trees and cedars. Columbus first saw the land in 1502. Its inhabitants, described as finely formed and pleasant in manners, were worked to death by the Spaniards in their native mines, and almost exterminated. The Spaniards and English long disputed for the possession of this territory, but the English were favoured by the Mosquito nation, and at the Treaty of Versailles, 1783, the British claim was recognised by European powers, and the place constituted a dependency of Jamaica. It was chiefly for its mahogany and log-wood trees that Honduras was coveted by Europeans. Mahogany had been first brought from Trinidad and Jamaica ; and the first men- tion made of the wood is that Sir Walter Ealeigh repaired some of his ships with it in 1579. At the beginning of the last century a West Indian captain of a vessel brought home some mahogany planks as ballast, and sent them to his brother in London, Dr. Gibbon, to use in the building of his house. The doctor sent the wood to a joiner to make into doors, but the joiner found the grain so hard that it spoilt his tools, and he rejected it as useless. A small piece was, however, afterwards 470 POSSESSIONS IN AMERICA. made into a coal-box, which, when finished and polished, out- shone all the doctor's other furniture, and the Duchess of Buckingham, admiring its fine grain, requested of Dr. Gibbon a piece of the wood sufficient to make into a bureau. From that time mahogany furniture became fashionable in England. The mahogany-tree is of immense size, and is supposed to require two hundred years to attain its full growth. The largest log known to have been cut in Honduras was seventeen feet long ; * and for many years the quantity exported has amounted to five or six million feet. The best mahogany is from Jamaica, but the supply there is now nearly exhausted. The log-wood, used both as an ornamental wood and for the deep red dye which it yields, is a low, crooked, prickly tree, which thrives best in low swampy ground. The cutting of mahogany and log-wood employs nearly all the labour in the district. Agriculture is entirely neglected, and the plough is never used. As soon as the land is exhausted by crop after crop of maize, yams, and plantains, the spot is abandoned, and a fresh clearance is made in the forest. Besides the two staples of mahogany and logwood, the exports consist of tortoise-shells, indigo, fustic, cochineal, and sarsaparilla. Honduras is rather a protectorate than a British colony, and is maintained principally in order to uphold some degree of British influence in Central America. The hot, moist, and fever-producing climate is unsuited to Europeans ; there are, consequently, very few English residents among the 200,000 inhabitants, and those few are nearly all employed in superin- tending the trade in mahogany, log-wood, and cocoa-nuts. * Messrs. Broadwood, the piano-forte makers, are stated to have given 3,000£. for three logs of mahogany, the produce of a single tree; they were each about thirteen feet long by thirty-eight inches square, and were cut into veneers of eight to an inch. The grain of this tree was par- ticularly beautiful. When highly polished it reflected the light like the surface of a crystal, and from the wavy form of the pores presented a different figure in whatever direction it was viewed. — Martin's British Colonies. BEITISH HONDUKAS. 471 The Honduras negroes are little inferior in intelligence to the whites; and there is a race here, who seem to be a cross between the negro and the Indian, remarkable for their fine muscular forms. A few of the aborigines still remain, and are a quiet, harmless people. The capital, Belize, is on the river Belize, and was founded in 1638 by an English buccaneer named Willis, who settled on the banks, and gave his name to both town and river, Willis becoming changed by the Spaniards into Belize or Balise. The river divides the town into two portions, which are con- nected by a bridge. The houses are mostly made of wood, and stand raised from the ground on pillars of mahogany. The English Superintendent (salary, 1,800Z.) is subordinate to the Governor of Jamaica, and is assisted by a Council and Eepresentative Assembly. The territory is included in the diocese of Jamaica ; and besides the Church of England esta- blishment there are several Wesleyan and Baptist chapels. The Mosquito Territory, on the coast of the Caribbean Sea, to the east of British Honduras, is an independent state, under the protection of England. It is peopled by the descendants of the aboriginal Indians, who have maintained - their independence since the downfall of Montezuma, and who, in their dread and aversion to Spain, volunteered in 1687 allegiance to the British Crown in return for British protection. The country is governed by an Indian chief, styled the King of the Mosquitos, aided by an English Consul- General, who resides at the capital, Grey-town ; and this State affords the only instance in America of a regularly-organised constitution among the aborigines. The kings, who are here- ditary, usually adopt English names. For instance, in February 1840, E. C. Frederick, king of the Mosquitos, made his will at Belize, and devised that in case of his death during the minority of his heir, English commissioners should form a regency, and should cause his royal children, Princes George, William, Clarence, and Alexander, and Princesses Agnes and Victoria, to be educated in the doctrine of the Church of England. 472 POSSESSIONS IN AMERICA. The Bay Islands, Buatan, Bonacea, Utila, and other islets in the eastern part of the Gulf of Honduras, have been for the last hundred years in the occupation of England, and are now chiefly peopled by emigrants from the Caymans, an industrious, strong, well-conducted race, although mostly descended from the old buccaneers and African women. They cultivate the Bay Islands to good purpose, exporting to the mainland cocoa- nut oil and fruit in exchange for necessaries. At their own request the islands now form a dependency of British Hon- duras. Their Legislative Assembly is convened and prorogued by and subject to the guidance of the Honduras Superintend- ent, while a magistrate from England manages their local affairs. BRITISH GUIANA. Early Dutch settlers gave the name of Guiana, or the ' Wild Coast,' to that part of the South American Main which lies between the Amazon and Orinoco rivers. Many nations now divide this region between them : the north-west portion, Spanish Guayana, belongs to the republic of Venezuela ; the south-west portion, Portuguese Guianna, to the Emperor of Brazil ; and between these two large divisions lie the three small colonies of British Guiana, Dutch Guiana, or Surinam, and French Guiana, or Cayenne. British Guiana is the only English settlement in South America. It is a tract extending about 200 miles east and west on the North Atlantic coast, on the north side of the continent, and includes the three settlements or counties of Berbice, Demerara, and Essequibo, named after the three great rivers that water the land, and which indeed have formed it, since it is composed entirely of the mud brought down from the upland countries by these mighty streams, deposited in an enormous flat of boundless fertility. The colony is divided from Dutch Guiana on the east by the river Corentyn, and from Venezuela on the west by the Essequibo. Its extent BRITISH GUIANA. 473 into the interior is not very well defined, and seems to be open to any owner who may choose to cultivate it. Sir Walter Ealeigh described the primitive inhabitants as a bold and hardy race, who escaped from the overflowing of the river in the rainy season by making their huts in the trees. To convert these people to the Catholic religion seems to have been the object of the first European visitors, some Jesuit mis- sionaries, who stayed several years, preaching amongst them, until they were expelled by the Dutch in 1579. The Dutch occupied the land for two hundred years, cultivated sugar, indigo, and cocoa, formed the present settlement, and introduced the slave system. But the Dutch having taken part with the Americans in the War of Independence, the British admiral, Lord Eodney, seized upon their settlement in 1780 ; and although it was again restored, it became finally a British possession in 1803. There are two towns in Guiana, George Town, the capital and seat of Government, on the right bank of the Demerara, and New Amsterdam, in Berbice. In both, the streets are intersected by canals, and the houses built of wood in the Dutch fashion, each with its verandahs and garden round it, and mostly raised from the ground on supports, to escape the damp. As is generally the plan in the West Indies, the houses have no halls, but the outer door leads direct into some sitting-room. Sometimes even there are no outer doors, but all entrance is by the windows ; and all the sitting-rooms in George Town open into each other, so that whatever wind there is may blow through the whole house. Owing to extensive clearing and drainage, this hot and marshy region is now as healthy as any other in the tropics ; and so rich is the soil and so thriving the trade, that Guiana may be reckoned one of the most prosperous of our western colonies in a commercial sense. In the country districts are found the wretched huts of the few remaining Indians, and the free negro villages show little evidence of industry in the black population ; for although they purchased their freeholds so rapidly and readily that ' the dollars had to be taken to the 474 POSSESSIONS IN AMERICA. bank in wheelbarrows/ their houses are built with no regard to order, and with scarcely a path to any of them ; and since negroes have little idea of working for the common good, the land about them is undrained, and each little estate stands in its own swamp, where the negro children crawl about in the mud. But here, as in Trinidad, coolies have been brought in to do the work which the negroes refuse ; and partly owing to this and the better machines and management of the planters, Guiana now produces more sugar (and consequently rum and molasses) than any of the neighbouring British colonies ; that is, it exports annually 70,000 hogsheads, each hogshead containing a ton of sugar,* while Barbados exports about 50,000, Trinidad and Jamaica less than 40,000, and the other colonies under 15,000. There seems, indeed, scarcely a limit to the sugar-producing power of the colony, if only labourers can be supplied ; for although at present sugar-plantations are confined to a comparatively small portion on the coast, back- wards, up to the very Andes, the owner is free to clear the forest and cultivate the canes. With the Governor it rests to regulate the immigration of foreign labourers, and Chinamen have lately been introduced, in addition to the coolies and Africans, who have obtained great favour with the planters. The Constitution was framed by the Dutch, and consists of a Governor (salary, 5,000Z.), a Court of Policy, and a Chamber of Financial Eepresentatives. In 1827 the three provinces were divided into seventeen parishes, and in 1842 the colony was erected into a bishopric : income, 2,000Z. ; clergy, 33. In 1851 there were 112 churches and chapels, those of the Establishment greatly predominating ; of other sects, Hindoos and Mohammedans form a large proportion. About 3,000 of the native Indians were receiving religious instruction at the various missions; and the Bishop of Guiana describes them as < a painfully interesting race, desirous of Christian instruction.' * In Demerara an acre of canes yields on an average "one ton and a half of sugar, there being about two crops in three years. FALKLAND ISLES. 475 FALKLAND ISLES. In the South Pacific Ocean, about 300 miles north-east of Terra del Fuego, England possesses a group of singular islands, which nevertheless, at this distance of 7,000 miles^ may in some respects be regarded as sister isles in miniature. They consist of two principal islands, with many surrounding islets. They lie in nearly the same latitude as England, in the opposite hemisphere, viz. between 51° and 53° S. latitude. Their climate, although more equable, is similar to that of England ; but there is no further likeness. In the Falklands there are but few rivers and no trees. Black bog and moor- land, intersected by streamlets and pools of yellowish -brown water, chiefly compose the surface, and low bushes and coarse gigantic sedges and grasses are the most important vegetation. No wheat will thrive there. There are no aborigines, and only one native quadruped, the wolf-fox, a species only found in these islands. With regard to their primeval origin, Dr. Darwin, who was present at the first survey of these islands, declares that not even in the Cordilleras of the Andes had he seen such evident signs of violent subterranean convulsion. In East Falkland there are what are called i streams of stones,' some of them a mile wide, composed of angular blocks of quartz, sloping down the hill- sides, or apparently flowing through the plains ; supposed either to have been hurled from the rocks down the nearest slopes, or to have been shattered in their original position by some prodigious vibratory motion which has shaken them into these continuous levels. One fragment of many tons' weight lies on its convex or upper surface on the summit of a mountain, as if it had been pitched into the air and then turned over. The islands were first seen by an Englishman, Dr. John Davis, who went out with Cavendish in 1592 ; but no claim was made to them until 1764, when Commodore Byron hoisted there the British flag, and two years later a small settlement 476 POSSESSIONS IN AMERICA. was made at Port Egmont. This claim was disputed by Spain, and the English were for a time expelled ; and also an attempt was made by the Argentine Eepublic of Buenos Ayres to obtain possession ; but in 1833 the place was finally captured by a British force. The islands were for a long time of such doubtful value, except as a station for whale- fishers, that more than once they were abandoned. But meanwhile a few settlers which the French had left behind them in 1764 were in their own way improving the land and creating in it a source of future wealth and trade. These settlers were some tame cattle and horses, which when left to themselves so luxuriated in the rich grassy pastures and unbounded freedom, that they multiplied rapidly into wild herds, which overspread the country ; the cattle becoming magnificent beasts, with necks and heads like those in ancient sculpture, and ferociously asserting their right as first occu- piers by attacking any man whom they encountered un- mounted. The present herds are estimated at 80,000 head, and consist of nearly an equal number of bulls and cows. The horses have also become wild troops, and for no visible reason keep themselves to the north of the island ; but, unlike the cattle, they have degenerated in size and breed, although they are no less dangerous to encounter, since they fight in a body, and attack with their teeth and fore feet. Wherever these animals have pastured, the brown peat of the moor has given place to green meadow grass, and the soil has been rendered fit for cultivation. At the beginning of the present century the increase of the commerce round Cape Horn, and also of the whale-fishery in the antarctic seas, made the Falklands assume more import- ance as a provision station, stocked as they now were with cattle, hogs, sheep, and goats, besides their native fish and game. Accordingly, the English re-settled there in 1817, and in 1842, a Governor was sent out, and a regular colony formed ; and a Falkland Islands Company has been organised, having for its object to tame and capture the wild cattle and turn them to profitable account. The inhabitants, who in FALKLAND ISLES. 477 1860 numbered about 1,000, are chiefly British colonists from Buenos Ayres, and are confined to East Falkland, an island 100 miles long. West Falkland is still uninhabitable. For this small population a Government establishment is provided at an annual cost which was estimated in 1850 at 2,550/., besides a chaplain at 400Z. per annum, who ministered to about forty persons in a school-room, and a schoolmaster at 50/. who had twenty- eight pupils. The present Governor's salary is 900/. Some idea has been entertained of converting the Falklands into a penal settlement, for which the cheapness of pro- visions, especially meat, and the difficulty of escape, would seem to adapt them. Meanwhile, they are increasing in value as a naval re-fitting station and port of refuge. The exports are chiefly hides, hair, seal-skins, oil, and whalebone. 478 PART VII. POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. The British possessions in Austral, or Eastern Asia, comprise a territory nearly as large as Europe, and consist of the islands of Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, the Aucklands, Norfolk, and other lesser islands. CHAPTER I. AUSTKALIA. Australia, or New Holland, is the largest island in the world, or rather it forms the sixth of the great continents of the globe. Its greatest length, from Cape Byron on the east to Steep Point on the west, is 2,227 miles ; its greatest breadth, from Cape York on the north to Cape Wilson on the south, is 1,680 miles. In its configuration the island appears to show the action of N t l the great seas which surround it. The tremendous Features, effect of the unbroken swell of the ocean from the south pole exhibits itself in the deep concave or bight of the south coast, except where it is protected by Van Dieman's Land ; while the mighty roll of the Indian Ocean causes a corresponding slope on the north-west : the direction of the north-east coast shows the sweep of the Pacific from the American continent, and on the north the unequal action of the monsoons has been still more broken by the Asiatic islands. SURFACE OF AUSTRALIA. 479 So far as it is yet known, the geological structure of Australia is strikingly uniform, the whole interior appearing to be of tertiary formation. The mountain ranges of the coast belong to the primary and paleozoic series, and all have a general incline north and south. It was the close similarity between the structure and direction of these mountains and those of the Ural Mountains inEussia that led Sir Eoderick Murchison, in 1845, to predict that they would prove to be gold-yielding, six years before any deposit of the precious metal had been found. New Guinea and Tasmania are so perfectly similar in structure to Australia, that they are considered to be detached portions of the continent. Thus the chief mountain range of Australia, the Australian Alps, traverses the east coast from north to south, and thence is continued by a chain of moun- tainous islands across Bass's Strait to Cape Portland in Tas- mania, dividing the drainage of both countries into eastern and western rivers ; while a connecting link between Australia and New Guinea is seen in the Great Barrier Eeef, a sub- marine wall of coral, stretching 1,200 miles from Sandy Cape in Queensland to the shores of New Guinea. The reef now lies 2,000 feet under water ; but the coral-insect cannot live at a greater depth than about fifteen fathoms ; and the reef is therefore supposed to have been formed when the bottom of the sea was only that depth below the surface, and the land to have slowly subsided since its formation. The highest point in Australia is Mount Kosciusko, 6,500 feet, one of the Alpine series in the west, and the summit of this and other heights of the same chain are perpetually covered with snow. The aspect of these mountains is rugged and savage in the extreme. Although their tops and flanks are in some cases covered with forests, the greater number are crested with terrific granite peaks and needles, and are ren- dered so inapproachable by precipices, foaming torrents, and dark gullies and ravines, that they form, especially in New South Wales, an almost impracticable barrier between the coast and the interior. Although indented with deep bays and harbours, there is 480 AUSTRALIA. perhaps no other equal line of coast in the world with so few navigable rivers. Since the chief mountains lie near the coast on the east and west, the rivers that fall into the sea in those directions are necessarily short, and the only great river hitherto explored is the Murray, which, with its affluents, the Murrumbidjee and the Darling, rises on the west side of the eastern range, and takes a south-west direction to Encounter Bay. This river is nearly 2,000 miles long, and by clearing away the decaying stems and stumps of trees which had choked its course, it has been laid open, together with its affluents, for 2,500 miles. It is said that everything is reversed in Australia, and this is especially the case with the rivers, which are often deep and broad near their source, but become smaller as they run ; the level plains through which they flow render their course sluggish, and the evaporation in a dry warm climate so takes up the water before it reaches the ocean, that the rivers in a dry season are some- times merely a series of pools. The land is deficient in lakes as well as rivers. Excepting Lake Torrens, an immense salt marsh north of Spencer's Gulf, and another large salt lake dis- covered by Stuart in 1860, there are few real lakes, although many extensive marshes formed by the rains. Since the Tropic of Capricorn intersects the land, Australia has both a tropical and a temperate climate, but the prevailing characteristic of the atmosphere is absence of moisture. The natural productions of Australia are so new and strange, and there is so much that is unique in the conformation Produc- of the land, that it is little to be wondered at that pecu- liar theories have been broached to account for its origin — such, for instance, as that of Professor Blumenbach, who conjectured this isolated continent to have been a comet or small planet, which, having lost its proper centre of attraction, had been drawn towards our globe and plunged into its waters. Cuvier said of the vegetation and animals of Australia that ' they defy all rules, and break through all systems,' and many entire natural orders are absolutely unknown beyond its shores. Aus- tralia is not rich in vegetation, but out of 5,710 native plants already discovered, no less than 5,440 are peculiar to the region. NATUEAL PKODUCTIONS. 481 These strictly Australian forms are chiefly confined to the smaller plants, to the common weeds and grasses, and to the orchids and umbelliferous tribes, of which a specimen now and then in our greenhouses startles us by its fantastic con- formation. But most of the forest trees, although belonging to species common to other countries, here grow in so curious a fashion, with their functions inverted, that they have often the appearance of new tribes. Thus, the gigantic Eucalyptus, or gum-tree, which is the monarch of the forest, and clothes with a stupendous mantle the surface both of Australia and Tasmania, holds its leaves vertically to the light so as to pre- sent both surfaces, and has a strange habit of throwing off its bark in long white strips, which, hanging down from the branches, give a most singular aspect to the woods ; and the Acacia, another gum-tribe which grows there in great abun- dance, is remarkable for its transformed and dilated leaf-stalks, which perform the office of leaves. What are mere meadow plants or lowly shrubs in Europe, there take rank among the trees. Thus, nettles attain a height of from fifteen to twenty feet ; giant weeds choke up the morasses ; the singular Zamais exhibit the leaves of a fern upon the trunk of a palm ; the uncouth grass-tree rises solitary upon the sandy plains, with its scorched and cylindrical stems crowned with tufts of long grassy leaves ; and the splendid Banksia, or wild honey- suckle, the ' most Australian of Australian plants,' rises to the height of fifty feet, with a trunk of two feet and a half in diameter. These curious growths are concentred chiefly in the southern parts of Australia. In the tropical regions of the north, Australian forms begin to blend with Malayan. Banksias disappear ; palms, and araucarias, and spice trees become common, and the enormous and dumpy form of the caper-tree of Senegal is a prevalent feature. No native eatable fruits have yet been discovered, excepting a kind of chestnut, the cranberry, and a few other berries. Wild tobacco has been found, and a tuber resembling the 1 1 482 AUSTRALIA. potato. All exotic fruits, cereals, and vegetables, thrive abundantly when introduced. The fauna of Australia is as singular as its flora. Nearly Native all of its 150 species of mammals are peculiar to Animals, the region. Buminants, pachydermata, and the quadrumana, or monkey-tribes, are entirely wanting. The marsupial or pouched animals, of which the kangaroo and opossum are the best known specimens, are by far the most prevalent, there being no less than 105 species of this tribe alone. Two genera of the opossum kind, only found here and in Tasmania, appear to be a link between the marsupial and the carnivorous tribes : these are, the Hairy-tails (Dasyurus), small animals resembling in their habits martens and pole- cats, of which a special variety, called by the colonists the Native Devil, is about the ugliest and most disgusting quad- ruped in nature. The rodents, of which there are twenty-one species, belong mostly to the rat kind, and nineteen are pecu- liar to the country. But the most anomalous animals are the Australian Edentata, or toothless tribes, which, although un- doubtedly quadrupeds, have organs of mastication resembling those of birds ; one of the genera, the duck-bill, has not only webbed feet and a bill like a duck, but mostly gets its living like a duck, by searching for insects and seeds at the muddy bottom of rivers. Professor Owen has proved that these creatures are not oviparous, as was supposed, but are allied in many respects to the marsupials. The only beast of prey is the dingo, or native dog, of the wolf species. The most common among the birds are the parrot tribe and honey-suckers ; eagles, falcons, hawks, and owls are also common, but all the singing birds and gallinaceous tribes are wanting. So numerous are the black swans, that above 300 of them have been seen swimming near Tasmania within a quarter of a mile square. All the common animals useful to man have been intro- imported duced mto Australia, and are quickly naturalised. Animals. The Australian soil improves with wonderful rapidity when stock are once turned upon it, so that lands which seem ABOKIGINES. 483 at first quite unfit for pasturage, are soon converted into sheep- runs by the mere grazing and stamping of the feet of the sheep upon the soil. But, although sheep have hitherto formed the principal source of wealth, there is a great impedi- ment to sheep-breeding in the scanty pasturage and constant droughts. The grass only grows in tufts, and never forms a continuous turf, so that it often requires from three to four acres to feed a single sheep. This renders the late intro- duction of the alpaca into Australia of extreme importance. The alpaca, a native of Peru, is a species of llama, with a long and silky fleece ; capable of doing without water for an un- usual length of time, and satisfied with the coarse grass which the sheep rejects. In spite of the prohibition of the Peruvian Government, some years ago, Mr. Ledger, a dariDg colonist, smuggled a whole fiock of 800 llamas from Peru to New South Wales, with infinite difficulty transporting the animals over the Andes to Chili, and thence embarking them. Many perished on the way, and out of the 800 that he set out with, he only succeeded in landing 300. But these have prospered exceedingly, and the Peruvian Government has now conceded to a South American house the licence to export 1,500 pure alpacas into Australia, a first instalment of 500 to be landed there this autumn (1863). By means of this animal, most valuable for its flesh and wool, it is anticipated that the vast arid lands in Central Australia may be rendered as profitable as the green plains near the coast. The aborigines, or Austra] -negroes, belong to the lowest type of the Malay family. Short in stature, skin of a sooty brown, they differ from the African negro n m< in the limbs being slight and agile, the nose more projecting, and the lips less thick. They live either in holes in the ground, or under the shelter of bark screens ; practise canni- balism occasionally ; and will eat snakes, grubs, and vermin. The men wear no clothes, and the women wrap themselves in opossum skins. Their arts and manufactures consist in throwing the boomerang and spear, and wielding the club and tomahawk, and in cutting these weapons out of wood and II 2 484 AUSTRALIA. stone. They believe in a good spirit, Koyan — and in an evil one. Potoyan ; but they have no chiefs, and no idea of property. In their language, which is divided into many dialects, some affinity has been imagined to the Tamil and other languages of the Deccan. The settlers have made many efforts to civi- lise them, and, since they are good-humoured and acute, the men are sometimes useful as hut-keepers and shepherds, and a few girls become house-servants ; but all attempts to train the children in schools generally end in their throwing off their clothes and returning to their native haunts and habits. In West Australia, where white emigrants have been com- paratively few, and the settlers have thus been obliged to train and make use of the natives, there is some superiority in intelligence : they have learned to appreciate their rights as English subjects, and prefer mutton to kangaroo- But it is a singular fact, that although the children often greatly surpass the whites in the ease with which they learn reading, writing, and arithmetic, and are generally bright and intelligent, no sooner have they passed childhood than they relapse into the savage state, and have no ambition beyond eating till they are stupid, and basking under a gum-tree. No training can make them like hard work. ' White fellow,' they say, ' fool, too much. Work, work — always work ! Black fellow play, plenty play ! ' * The race is rapidly diminishing. Belief in the Terra Austral, or land lying west of America, First long preceded its actual discovery. From a manu- Expiorers. script lately found in the British Museum, it would appear that the earliest authenticated discovery was made in 1601, by a Portuguese named Manoel Godinho di Eredia ; but the Dutch have generally laid claim to th*e honour, and from them the island received its first name of New Holland. In 1606, two Spaniards, Quiros and Torres, sailed from Peru in search of the unknown land, but apparently saw only the islands in Torres Strait. The same year a Dutch vessel from * Martin's Colonies, p. 738. THE FIRST EXPLORERS. 485 Bantam touched upon the north coast, to the east of the Gulf of Carpentaria ; and subsequently Dutch navigators explored nearly half the coast. Towards the end of the century, English navigators entered the field, and chief among them, Captain Cook, in 1770, sur- veyed the east coast, which he named New South Wales, and proved that the new continent was an island. Between the vears 1798 and 1805, Grant, Bass, and Flinders surveyed the whole south coast, and in less than fifty years nearly all those parts of the coast that had been unseen by the Dutch were explored by the English. The most distinguished among these English explorers are — Captain Oxley, Surveyor- General of New South Wales ; Captain Sturt, Colonial Secretary of South Australia ; Sir Thomas Mitchell, Surveyor- General of New South Wales ; and Captain Grey (now Sir George Grey, the present Governor of New Zealand, and former Governor of West Australia and the Cape of Good Hope). The regions they discovered are now nearly all occupied by British settlers. » But still the vast interior remained a mystery, and has only become partially known through the daring of such men as Leichardt, Stewart, Burke, and Wills. Dr. rior Ex- Leichardt was a German Doctor of Philosophy, and p or had resolved upon traversing the whole Australian continent from east to west. The Governor at Sydney, Sir George Gipps, refused to aid him ; but, by means of his own re- sources and some private subscriptions, he headed a small party of whites and natives, and started from Sydney on August 13, 1844. He managed to cross over to York's Peninsula in this first expedition, and in a second, in 1847, it is supposed that he succeeded in penetrating through Central Australia ; but he never returned, and bones of white men, found by Gregory, a subsequent explorer, near the northern outskirts of West Australia, were imagined to be those of Leichardt and his party. Ten years elapsed before any further attempt was made to search the interior — the gold discovery having absorbed ail 486 AUSTRALIA. the time and energies of the colonists. But the rapid settle- ment of the country that followed gave a fresh interest to the discovery of new territory ; and hence several important expeditions have recently been made. Mr. Stewart, a former companion of Captain Sturt, started from Adelaide with only two attendants, in March 1860, and explored 1,600 miles in a north-west direction. He planted a flag in the centre of Australia, but found no central desert, as had been supposed to exist, but generally grassy and fertile country, interspersed between enormous tracts of impenetrable scrub, and also a large salt lake that extended northward about a hundred miles. He pronounced the interior to be practicable for land transit and telegraphic communication from one coast to the other. Before Mr. Stewart returned, another exploring party started from Melbourne, August 20, 1860, .under the leadership of Mr. Eobert O'Hara Burke and Mr. William John Wills, the astronomer of the expedition. This party took a northern direction, and Burke and Wills and two others, separating from tiie rest, crossed the whole continent to Carpentaria. On their return they missed the remainder of the party, who had been left in charge of the provisions ; and, in making a vain effort to reach the borders of South Australia, Burke and Wills perished with hunger. Happily, their i field books,' containing the description of the country they traversed, have all been found, and report favourably of that portion of the interior. And thus the daring and the suffer- ings of these and other heroic adventurers have led the way to the further colonization of the new continent, by gaining for us the knowledge that the middle region is a country possessing districts fit for pasture to an almost boundless extent. 487 CHAPTEE II. AUSTRALIAN COLONIES. Although the whole of the Australian continent belongs to Great Britain, the English settlements are at present limited to five colonies on the eastern, southern, and south-western coasts, viz. New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, West Australia, and Queensland. In 1855 the Australian colonies, including Tasmania, were constituted self-governing states, each having its own Governor and Colonial Parliament, customs, tariffs, &c. In the autumn of 1861 the capitals of ^.ve of these colonies, viz. Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Bris- bane, and Hobart Town, were connected by 2,000 miles of electric telegraph. NEW SOUTH WALES. The province of New South Wales forms the south-eastern portion of Australia, and, according to the limits assigned it in 1859, occupies an area about ten times that of England, and is bounded on the north by Queensland, on the west by South Australia, on the south by the river Murray, which separates it from Victoria, and on the east by the Pacific. The country consists for the most part of wide plains, in- terrupted by short ranges of mountains or high hills. Natural These mountains are part of the great belt which Features. traverses the east coast of the continent, and which are known as the Liverpool Range in the north of the province, as the Blue Mountains near Sydney, and as the Australian Alps in the south. The waters which collect in the plains from these heights unite in the chief river, the Murray, but the number of flowing streams is very small, and the land is watered chiefly by a series of water-holes. The peculiarity of the climate is the liability to long droughts, followed generally by excessive rains. 488 AUSTKALIA. New South "Wales is the oldest of the Australian colonies, Origin of an ^ owe & lts origin to the crowded state of the English the Colony, j ails at the end of the last century, which rendered some fresh penal settlement necessary, as a substitute for those in the United States, which had been lost to us in 1776. To meet this necessity, Captain Arthur Phillip was sent out in 1787 with eleven ships of convicts, male and female, to found a settlement at Botany Bay, which, from Captain Cook's First description, was judged an eligible spot. He found, Settlement, however, a more convenient place at Port Jackson, a little farther north ; and there, on the site of the present capital of Sydney, the convicts were turned out in gangs to work upon the new soil. Sheep as well as convicts were introduced from England ; and rearing these proved to be so profitable an occupation of the land, that free settlers from England and elsewhere were soon attracted to the colony, and entered largely into sheep speculation. Naturally, an infant settlement of this kind had much dif- ficulty to struggle with. Want of provisions and the long droughts peculiar to the climate, together with the constant influx of fresh convict gangs, were sources of misery and con- fusion during many years, especially as the only government practicable was a sort of despotism under the governor for the time being and a few assistant officers. Education and religious instruction had been almost unprovided for ; divine service was performed in the open air for want of any place of worship, in some districts monthly, in others half-yearly ; and Dr. Ullathorne, the Catholic chaplain at Norfolk Island, stated in his evidence before the House of Commons so late as 1838, that the method by which the local government secured the peaceable observance of the Sabbath was by packing the convicts in l a series of boxes, 7 and locking them up there during the whole of the Sunday. By degrees, improvements were introduced. In 1823 a Legislative Council was appointed to assist the Governor. In 1836 this Council passed an Act to provide for the building of churches and religious instruction ; in accordance with which, NEW SOUTH WALES. 489 clergymen of several denominations were sent out at the ex- pense of the colonists, who also in the same year, 1837, defrayed the cost of conveying from England respectable school- masters and mistresses ; and in 1838 the colony was reported to be greatly advancing in l rural, commercial, and financial prosperity.' But, owing to the increasing excess of convicts over the free emigrants, a vast amount of crime and dis- organisation continued ; and in 1839, at the urgent desire of the settlers, transportation to New South Wales ceased, with the exception of a few convicts from Pentonville and other prisons. The total number of convicts transported there since the beginning was estimated at about 60,000. In 1849 a new era opened for the colony by the discovery of gold in the rocks about Bathrust and Turon. The Gold gold was first found by washing the earth from the Discovery, beds of creeks or shores ; but it was soon ascertained that the richest deposits were embedded in the quartz rocks, and were to be obtained by crushing the rock ; and in the early days of discovery washers and crushers worked for the treasure without control or licence. In 1851 the Government issued licences to dig at 1/. 10s. per month, and police and escorts were provided for each digging. In a short time the towns and villages were deserted ; all who were able to work repaired to the diggings, and the Port of Sydney became one of the great centres of the gold harvest. The excessive gold excitement and desertion of other occupations were, however, only temporary ; and since it has ceased to be a penal settle- ment, the colony has greatly prospered in all the regular branches of industry, and has now a wealthy, respectable, and settled population of about 360,000. Wool is still the great staple ; and New South Wales stands first among these colonies as regards both sheep and cattle. Stock-keeping is altogether more in favoiu' than farming in the colony. Maize is grown abundantly, but the bread-stuffs raised are scarcely sufficient for the colonists. Cotton-growing has been attempted, but the cotton, although good, is too costly. Wine is made in considerable quantities, similar in 490 AUSTRALIA. character to Khenish. The most important mineral is coal, which is sent to India and China, after supplying the home demand. The settlement has been divided into twenty-two counties, . but, excepting in official documents, these divisions are scarcely recognised ; and the colonists themselves only make use of the great natural divisions, such as the dis- tricts of Hunter's Eiver, Hawkesbury, Bathurst, Argyle, and Port Macquarie. A large extent of the country is portioned out into Commissioners' Districts or Squatting Stations, where sheep and cattle-owners have licences to pasture their flocks, and these squatting stations, as population increases, gradually become converted into counties. Sydney, the capital, was named, after Viscount Sydney, Chief Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1788. It Towns. stands on the shore of Port Jackson, and with its large and land-locked haven is well fitted for a great com- mercial centre. The town is laid out with streets mostly at right angles, now well paved, and lighted with gas, and con- stantly plied with omnibuses and cabs. It is well supplied with water by means of wells and subterraneous aqueducts. Sydney was incorporated in 1842, and the mayor and corpo- ration have direction in all local affairs excepting the police, which is under the control of Government. The Governor's residence is an Elizabethan mansion, built on a rock overlooking Sydney Cove ; his summer residence is at Paramatta, at the head of Port Jackson, a name known to us through the soft woollen cloth manufactured there. Other chief towns are, Bathurst, in the Macquarie district, nearly 200 miles from Sydney, chiefly important now from its vicinity to the gold diggings of Ophir ; Newcastle, at the mouth of the river Hunter, so named from its collieries ; Campbellton, twenty miles south of Sydney, famous for its leather trade ; Windsor, on the Hawkesbury, has its grinding mills, breweries, and tanneries ; and Liverpool, on the St. George, its large retail trade. VICTORIA. 491 The administration of New South Wales is vested in a Captain-general and Governor-in-chief (salary, 7,000Z.) ; aided | by a Council, appointed by the Crown ; and a Legislative J Assembly, of fifty-four members, chosen by the electors. The I bishopric of Sydney was founded in 1836, and consists of the southern part of New South Wales: income, 1,500/. ; clergy, i 69. A cathedral (St. Andrew) is now in course of erection i| at Sydney, which will be the first English cathedral that has been founded in the colonies. VICTORIA. Victoria, or Port Phillip, lies between New South Wales and South Australia, at the south-eastern point of Natura i | the Australian continent, and extends about 500 Features. miles in length east and west, and in breadth about 300 miles. I The recognised northern boundary of the settlement is a straight line from Cape Howe to the nearest source of the Eiver Murray, and thence the course of the river itself to the eastern limit of South Australia. The main feature of the district is the great proportion of 1 level accessible land. Towards the south the soil is composed of the dark chocolate -coloured earth, formed of decomposed I lava, and peculiar to volcanic regions, which is remarkable for its fertility. The land is but scantily watered by the ; Murray and its tributaries ; but the surplus waters of these streams often collect in large lagoons, and form natural reser- voirs in the dry surface ; and it was the great beauty of the rich grassy plains on the south, with their fresh pools ready prepared, it would seem, for the boundless flocks and herds that were hereafter to overrun them, that led Sir Thomas Mitchell, who surveyed the coast in 1836, to name this part Australia Felix. Large tracts in the interior are still but partially explored, and covered with the thick ' mallee ' scrub. The principal mountain range of the province is a continuation of the Australian Alps, or Warragong chain, which traverses New South Wales. 492 AUSTRALIA. Captain Cook first touched on this coast in 1770 ; and nearly History of thirty years afterwards, Mr. Bass, a ship surgeon, Settlement. an( j Captain Flinders, were employed by the Go- vernor of New South Wales to explore it farther. Bass passed through the straits, now named after himself, and anchored in a harbour which he called Western Port, because it lay west of Sydney ; and Flinders afterwards entered the fine haven to the west of this port, which was called Port Phillip, in honour of the first Governor of New South Wales. But Flinders found that a portion of the coast previously explored by himself had been visited subsequently by a French naval officer, and christened Terre Napoleon ; and this circum- stance causing alarm in the English Government lest the French should colonise it, Colonel Collins was sent out from England in 1803 to forestall them by planting there a penal settlement. As soon as Collins landed his convicts, many of them tried to escape to the woods, and the place appeared to him so unsuitable that he re-embarked and proceeded to Van Dieman's Land, and founded the settlement now known as Hobart's Town ; and it was mainly from the English settlers in Van Dieman's Land that Port Phillip was ultimately colonised, about thirty years afterwards. The rapid growth of the colony of Victoria is a marvel even in the history of modern settlement, and it is only by looking at its history somewhat in detail that we can understand the quick transformation of a desert waste into a province that now ranks among England's most advanced colonial offspring. F . It was in April, 1835, that six settlers in Van Settlement, Dieman's Land formed themselves into an associa- tion, under the leadership of a Mr. John Batman, to proceed with their families and stock to the opposite shore of Port Phillip, with the view of finding better pasture for their sheep, and for themselves less close neighbourhood with a convict population ; and in the May of that year Batman made the first trial of the new country with his wife and seven daughters. The family so far won the favour of the natives that they agreed to cede them 100,000 acres of land, extend- VICTORIA. 493 ing from Geelong Harbour to the head of Port Phillip, in return for a yearly tribute of 50 pairs of blankets, 50 toma- hawks, 50 knives and pairs of scissors, 50 looking-glasses, 20 suits of clothes, and 2 tons of flour ; the native chiefs Jaga-Jaga, Cooloolach, and Bangaree, signing the deed of assignment with their crosses. In the following August the other six Launceston settlers came over with their families ; and their leader, Fawkner, took up a position of great beauty on the bank of the Yarra-Yarra — the site of the future Melbourne — and opened there a sort of public-house, while Batman opened a provision-store in the neighbourhood. But this private Van Dieman's Land Association closed the next year, in consequence of the decision of the Home Govern- ment that the right to the new soil was vested in the Crown. The compact with the natives was therefore declared invalid, and Port Phillip was made a Crown colony under the Govern- ment of New South Wales. In the March of 1837, Sir Eichard Bourke, Governor of New South Wales, made an official visit to the new settlement, and fixed the sites of three of its future towns. He gave the premier's name of Melbourne to the future metropolis which was to overshadow the log-hut refreshment-stores of Fawkner and Batman ; the king's name to Williamstown ; and retained the native name of Geelong for the third. Subsequently the surrounding districts were divided into the counties of Bourke, Grant, and Normanby, and the rest of the located portions of the colony into the Pastoral or Commissioner's Districts of Western Port and Portland Bay. From this time the colony rapidly increased. Millions of acres of lightly-timbered soil lay before the new comers, who poured into this land of plenty in a continuous stream from Tasmania and New South Wales, and the readiest way to wealth was by dividing the land into runs, on which each squatter pastured his sheep and cattle. On one of these runs, belonging to Mr. Cameron at Clunes, was made the Gold first discovery of gold in Port Phillip, but the Discovery. owner long concealed the fact from the fear that it would injure 494 AUSTRALIA. his sheep-pasture. The existence of gold in the colony had long been suspected by the scientific, on the ground that the silurian rocks in the district belonged to the same range as those in New South Wales, where the Bathurst and Turon workings were already in operation ; and it became important that the fact of its existence should be confirmed, since the mi- gration of the population to the South Wales diggings, and an anticipated migration to California, had begun to create a panic at Melbourne. Exploring parties were therefore organised, and owing to their researches, and those of residents who were keenly on the look-out within their own territories, several small diggings were speedily disclosed and worked, until all other discoveries were eclipsed by the revelation of the inex- haustible treasures of Mount Alexander and Ballarat, in 1851. In these districts the largest masses of gold ever seen have been brought to light; and the finest nugget on record, naively christened the ' Welcome,' was found at Ballarat in 1858. This nugget weighed 148 lbs., and was sold at Mel- bourne for 10,500/. The year 1851 was an important one in the history of the colony. At the urgent request of the settlers, Port Phillip ceased to be a dependency of New South Wales, &nd assumed its separate colonial existence under the name of Victoria ; and, on September 1st, the Victorian Government issued licences to dig for gold : from which time a marvellous change took place in the social condition of the people. No sooner were the licences issued, than nearly half the male population rushed to the gold-fields. Houses were left half built, ware- houses, law courts, and even pulpits, were deserted, and agricultural pursuits were checked in nearly every part of the colony. But whatever amount of disorganisation was the immediate consequence, after the first paroxysm of the gold fever had subsided, the gold discovery itself tended to pro- mote the real advance of the colony. Mr. Knight's gilt pyramid under the eastern dome of the International Exhibition of 1862, representing the entire amount of gold exported from Victoria between October 1851 VICTORIA. 495 and October 1361, equalling in value 100,000,000/. — that is, about one-eighth of the National Debt of Great Britain — gained much in interest when regarded in connection with the changes effected over a whole country b j the quarrying of it within those ten years. Only four small towns in Victoria owe their rise to agriculture, but no less than ten principal towns have sprung up in the neighbourhood of the diggings, and have derived their origin from the requirements of the mining population. The ' Gold Commission,' established in the first year of the discovery, for the protection of the miners, followed after the excited crowds with its magistrates, police, and ministers of religion, and thus helped to prepare the savage wilderness for the growth of orderly communities. For the first three years the gold-seekers were content with their calico tents and bark huts, and even the bank officials transacted business in little canvas houses, ( where the bank manager of the present day would hardly trust his horse.' But soon a large proportion of the miners found that there was a better chance of sure and steady profit from supplying the needs of the gold-diggers than in digging for themselves ; and presently these mining districts became so many fresh centres of trade and civilisation. As early as 1858, railways began to connect the more important of the gold-fields with the sea-board ; and the old camps were in a marvellously short time replaced by stone and brick dwellings, public buildings, busy markets, and miles of paved and gas-lighted streets. The town of Ballarat, for instance, which in 1851 consisted of a single shepherd's hut, now has 25,000 inhabitants, and its weekly and daily newspapers. Since the gold discovery, the population has increased more than six- fold, and, in 1861, numbered 540,000. Most of them are British emigrants. It has been the practice of the Government to encourage the influx of the working-classes by annual pecuniary grants, and by this means nearly 117,000 persons have been introduced ; but there has likewise been a concurrent stream of about 600,000 middle-class emi- grants, to whose superior capabilities and pecuniary resources 496 AUSTRALIA. it is mainly owing that Victoria now holds so high a position among the colonies. The present settlers are mostly congregated in a district less than the area of Scotland, within about a hundred miles from the coast, at an average density of less than eighteen to the square mile. This district includes the four most po- pulous counties of Bourke, Grant, Grenville, and Talbot, which contain the metropolis of Melbourne, and the gold- fields of Ballarat and Mount Alexander. Of course the mining classes predominate over all others, and include a large wandering population of Chinese. But gold-mining in Victoria is no longer an ephemeral fortune-hunting specu- lation. The gold-fields, long since stripped of their richer deposits, now present openings where only real industry, combined with ample appliances of machinery, will make them productive ; and the 20,000 square miles of surface in which there is reckoned to be a possibility of remunerative gold- deposits, may prove as permanent a source of occupation and wealth to the colony as the tin and lead mines are to Great Britain. The staple exports are, at present, chiefly those connected with stock ; wool, hides, skins, and tallow ; but there are indigenous products in the colony which it is expected will form the basis of important manufactures. The colony has been divided into twenty-four counties ; and beyond these settled portions lie the Wimmera Districts and Murray squatting districts, which are now among the most valuable stock districts in Australia. In 1861, there were forty-six towns in the settlement to which municipal government had been granted. Melbourne, the capital, in the county of Bourke, is by far Chief tne l ar o est town, in Australia. It stands on the Towns* Yarra-Yarra, eight miles from its mouth at Port Phillip, and is the emporium for all the foreign trade of the colony. It has great extent of wharf accommodation, and has immensely developed since the gold discovery, but the VICTORIA. 497 plan of the town is much too confined for its present require- ments. The principal street is rather ironically named Collins, after the colonel who declared Port Phillip unfit for settle- ment in 1803. The streets are so narrow that many of them used to be impassable in the days of bullock-waggons, and were so full of deep ruts and muddy gullies, that a visitor in 1842 remarked that he was startled by seeing a newspaper paragraph headed, L Another child drowned in the streets of Melbourne.' Mortality among children from other causes than this is now an unfortunate characteristic of Melbourne, and such is the unhealthiness of the place that during the summer months the deaths nearly equal the births. The excessive dryness of the air, which renders the town un- healthy, makes bush-fires very prevalent in the neighbourhood. On the last day of the year 1862 nearly the whole line of country from Melbourne to Castlemaine was reported to be on fire, with a raging hot wind, and the thermometer 114° in the shade. Geelong, the capital of Grant, is the next town in im- portance to Melbourne, and is the chief port for wool. Williamstown, the sea-port town of Melbourne, has become a mere village. The Go vernor-in- Chief resides at Melbourne, and receives a salary of 10,000Z. per annum — the largest sum Q. overn . awarded to any of the colonial rulers. The Legis- ment. lative Council is composed of 30 members ; the Assembly of 60 members, returned from three electoral districts. Mel- bourne was created the bishopric for the province in 1847 : Income, 1,333/. 6s. 8d. ; number of Clergy, 70. In 1861, there were 874 places of worship in the colony, 880 schools, and an endowed university at Melbourne, 30 institutions for the sick and destitute, and a public library of 30,000 volumes. Melbourne has now railway, steam-packet, and telegraphic communication with the other towns in the settlement. KK 498 AUSTRALIA. SOUTH AUSTRALIA. South Australia is a territory of about 300,000 square miles in area ; bounded eastward by New South Wales and Victoria, westward by the unoccupied district which divides it from West Australia, and extending northwards to the 26° parallel ! S. lat. The general aspect of the country is tame, in consequence Natural of the absence of mountains of any great height, I Features. Qr Q f r i vers f an y importance ; but the climate is exceedingly fine, and some of the scenery is not deficient in beauty. The Adelaide Hills, or Mount Lofty range, which approach the coast about 12 miles south of Adelaide, and trend northwards for about 30 miles, culminating in Mount Lofty, a wooded mountain of 2,412 feet, form the main feature of the scenery. The principal river is the Murray, which waters a small portion of the settlement at the south-east. The greater part of the country is unproductive, and the west portion is a mere waste ; but in the settled districts of the south-east there are fertile tracts of the brown loamy volcanic soil, in which vegetation is most abundant, and finely- wooded country with large timber trees. The coast-line is marked by the two deep inlets of the sea at Spencer Gulf and St. Vincent's Bay, and the smaller curve of Encounter Bay, and by the Kangaroo Island, which is an appendage of the i settlement. These regions remained but little known until, as we have seen, a long and severe drought at New South Wales led the colonists to consider whether the coast open to the south winds of the Pacific might not be better supplied with rain, ( and in other respects more suitable for settlement. An i officer of a New South Wales regiment, Captain Sturt, volun- : teered to ascertain the fact, and in a small boat threaded his i way along the Murray for nearly a thousand miles, and reached i ~he Pacific at Encounter Bay in 1830. He reported well of the i region, and other explorers followed. Captain Barker went out \ \ SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 499 in 1831, but was murdered by the natives while surveying Lake Victoria : his companion, Mr. Kent, returned and con- firmed Sturt's favourable opinion. Accordingly, in 1834, through the exertions of Messrs. Grote, Wakefield, Rowland Hill, and others, aided Colon by the Duke of Wellington, an Act was passed Established, for the formation of the colony of South Aus- tralia, and its limits were defined. But the commissioners appointed for the management, with Colonel Torrens for their chairman, did not succeed in raising the needful sum for its foundation by the sale of land-lots, until a few spirited persons formed themselves into a South Australian Company and bought a sufficient number of acres to begin with. Captain Hindmarsh was appointed first Governor of the new colony, and in 1836 a number of emigrants started. They first landed at Kangaroo Island, whence their surveyor, Captain Light, made an examination of the coast round St. Vincent's Gulf, and fixed the site of the future capital of Adelaide. Owing apparently to great mismanagement and want of harmony between the authorities, the colony did not thrive during the first years ; it became burdened with debt, and the sale of land had almost ceased. Two events, however, occurred which relieved the settlement from its difficulties. The first was the appointment of Captain Grey as Governor in 1841, who, by rigid retrenchments and prudent policy, restored financial credit : the second was, a fortunate discovery in the land itself, which gave a new stimulus to enterprise. Among the settlers was a Mr. Dutton, who had been educated at the institute of M. de Fellenberp;, at ^. # & > Discovery Hofwyl in Switzerland, where, says Mr. Martin, he of Copper, had acquired some knowledge of mineralogy during the annual pedestrian tours of the pupils in the mountain regions. l One day, when in search of one of his flocks of sheep, which had been dispersed during a thunder-storm, he ascended a hill and pulled up his horse beside a rock which at first sight he supposed to be covered with a beautiful green KI 2 500 AUSTRALIA. moss. The habit acquired in Switzerland of examining any rocks or stones which presented a curious appearance, induced Mr. Dutton to dismount, when he found a large protruding mass of clay slate, strongly tinged and impregnated with a mineral which he supposed must be copper, from the close resemblance of the colour to verdigris.' He communicated his discovery to his friend Captain Bagot, whose son had also found a fine specimen of the green carbonate of copper while gathering wild flowers in the plain. The two friends i immediately bid for eighty acres of this land, which had been advertised for a month past in the Government ' Gazette,' and - obtained it at 11. per acre. Some Cornish miners, who had turned their hands to field labour in the new country, were quickly set to work. This first discovery of copper ore was soon followed by I others. A heavy dray passing along the road and grinding | the soil aside with its wheels, revealed some brilliant frag- ments beneath the surface, and so brought to light a silver lead mine. In 1845, the Burra Burra copper mines were discovered, about 90 miles from Adelaide, which yield the finest copper ore known, and return an average of about 200,000Z. per annum. South Australia now stands pre- eminent as a copper-producing colony, as well as a flourishing agricultural country, and rich in pastoral wealth. The staples are wool and copper. The population is nearly 130,000, and consists in a large proportion of small freeholders, who form a very independent and comfortable class of colonists. About 5,000 of the in- Districts na ^i tants are Germans. The settled parts of the and chief colony have been divided into counties : viz. Sturt, Hindmarsh, Eussel, Adelaide, Gawler, Eyre, Stanley, and Flinders ; all of which lie to the east of the Gulfs of Spencer and St. Vincent, except the county of Flinders, which lies on the south-west shore of Spencer Gulf. The capital of Adelaide stands on a finely -wooded sloping ground on the banks of the Torrens, about seven miles from its port. Unlike Melbourne, the town was laid out at first on so extensive a scale, that the accommodation still far exceeds WEST AUSTRALIA. 50l the population. It lias fine large public squares, and thirty- principal streets intersecting each other at right angles. The part of the city built on the left bank of the river is called South Adelaide, and contains the Governor's residence, and is the chief trading quarter ; it is connected with North Adelaide on the opposite bank by four wooden bridges. Adelaide was erected into a bishopric for South Australia in 1847 (income, 800/.); Clergy, 31. It is also the seat of a Eoman Catholic episcopate. The Wesley ans predominate among the dissenters, and Christian churches and chapels were founded with unusual rapidity in this settlement. A numerous class are the German Lutherans, who fled here from religious persecution in their own land. Schools also are numerous : a Church -of-England collegiate school was founded in 1849, and Adekide has a large grammar school, chiefly for the labouring classes. The present Parliament was framed in 1856. The Captain- General and Governor-in- Chief (salary, 7,000Z.) is aided by a ministry of five, all of whom require to be members of the Parliament. The Legislative Council is composed of 18 members, elected by the whole colony voting as one district. The House of Assembly consists of 36 members, elected for three years by seventeen districts. WEST AUSTRALIA. Western Australia, or the Swan Eiver Settlement, extends over that portion of Australia which lies westward of the 129th degree of E. long., and, according to the affixed area, is a country larger than Eussia ; but, although the largest of the Australian provinces, it has the fewest white settlers, and has hitherto been the least prosperous of the colonies. Like the other provinces, the settled districts occupy only a very small proportion, and in this colony they lie at the extreme south-west corner of the settlement. The country has neither lofty mountains nor fine rivers. 502 AUSTRALIA. The Swan Eiver, so called from the black swans seen on its Natural banks by Vlaming, its Dutch discoverer, is only Features, navigable for boats for about forty miles, and the chief feature of the district is a rocky wooded range, called the Darling Hills, which runs nearly parallel with the west coast, at an average distance of about 20 miles, and presents the appearance of a mighty forest dividing the land into two districts ; the tract near the sea is called the Plain of Quar- tiana, the other to the east is vaguely termed the ' Country over the Hills.' The geological structure and incline of the mountains would indicate great mineral wealth : iron, coal, copper, lead, and silver, have already been found. There is great diversity of soil ; with much waste land, there are large alluvial districts where vines, olives, and tobacco flourish, and near Perth there is a forest of mahogany trees 300 miles in extent. The climate is warm, but not subject to the droughts of the east coast, and English labourers can work all day in the open air in summer-time without inconvenience. The beginning of colonisation on this coast was so dis- astrous, that until of late years the Swan Eiver Settlement, attempt was cited as an instance of complete failure in British settlement. Fear lest the French should be beforehand with us in colonising this region was the primary motive that stimulated the English Government to take possession of it in 1829, and to hoist the British flag at the mouth of the Swan Eiver ; but it was left to private enterprise to supply the funds and organise the future settle- ment. Mr. Thomas Peel, Captain Latour, and others, under- took to send out emigrants, receiving in compensation certain grants of land ; and Captain Stirling was appointed Superin- tendent, with authority to select for himself 100,000 acres. But as these grants of land were made conditional upon the settlement being formed within a certain time, the emigrants were hurried off without due preparation, and arrived at the Swan Eiver in July, that is, mid-winter, at a most tempes- tuous season. Some of the ships were dashed to pieces on the beach, and, without a hut or a shed to take refuge in, the WEST AUSTRALIA. 503 unfortunate emigrants were landed on that strange shore — ladies and children, soldiers and farmers, horses, pigs, piano- fortes, mills, casks, and bedding — all huddled together pell- mell amidst drenching rain. And since most of the land that had been granted had still to be explored, and not an acre of it had been surveyed, none of the settlers knew where to plant themselves ; and thus the misery was not merely temporary. Many lost their property in the confusion — many died from exposure and want — some managed to get away with what little they could save ; and among those who re- mained there were so many disputes as to the pick of the land, that it was fifteen years before boundary fences could be put up. This unfortunate beginning tended to create a prejudice against the colony, and having no Government support or strong party at home interested in its success, the Swan River settlement failed to attract emigrants and capital ; although, considering the scarcity of labour, a surprising amount of land was actually brought under cultivation, and the little community showed in their reports an unusually small amount of crime. In 1849 the settlement was much helped by the formation in London, by Earl Grey, of a Colonisation Assurance Com- pany, for the promotion of colonisation, which began its opera- tions first in West Australia by sending out emigrants and providing funds for churches. After the transportation of convicts to Tasmania had ceased, the Swan River colonists petitioned that theirs might be made a penal settlement, as a means of obtaining a sufficient supply of labour for the con- struction of roads and harbours, and for the felling of timber. The request was granted, and West Australia is now the only place on the Australian continent to which convicts are sent, and these convicts are selected from among the better class, who when their term is expired are likely to become useful settlers. The white population numbers only about 17,000. The staple exports are wool, timber, oil, and fish. The settlement has been divided into twenty-six counties ; 504 AUSTKALIA. the capital is Perth, a large straggling town, situated on the Swan Eiver, about eleven miles from its mouth. The town gives proof of the progress of late years : it has good houses of brick and stone, various churches and chapels, a Govern- ment-house, Court-house, bank, barracks, and hospital. Farms and homesteads have sprung up in the country around, and land allotments in the neighbourhood, which twenty years ago were sold ' for a bottle of grog,' are now worth from 500/. to 1,000/. The sea -port of Perth is the town of Freemantle, which is now a convict station. The colony is ruled by a Governor (salary, 1,800Z.), aided by an Executive and Legislative Council ; but at present the popular and elective principle has not come into operation, as has been the case in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, where mining and other occupations have con- gregated together great masses of the trading and working classes, and have thus given a strong democratic bias to the settlements. Perth was constituted the bishopric for part of West Australia in 1857. Clergy, 18. QUEENSLAND. Queensland, or Moreton Bay, formerly a part of New South Wales, is a territory about nine times the size of England and Wales, occupying the north-east portion of Australia. Point Danger, in latitude 28° 8', marks the southern boundary line that separates it from New South Wales, from which its ex- treme northern limit, Cape York, is more than 1,000 miles distant; washed by the Pacific on the east, its boundary westward is still indefinite. Queensland is described as pre-eminently a fair land for Natural settlement. Its mountains are the northern con- Features, tinuation of the Australian Alps — the metal-bearing range of New South Wales and Victoria ; the country west- ward stretches out for hundreds of miles into well-watered, lightly- timbered plains, with pasture ready for flocks and herds innumerable; while the tract between the mountains and QUEENSLAND. 505 the coast on the east abounds in forest trees, and is nearly all fit for cultivation. The streams are numerous, and some of them navigable for many miles. The two chief rivers are the Brisbane, which, with its tributary, the Bremer, is navigable for fifty miles ; and the Condamine, a large river which drains the downs in the west. The climate, though warm, is healthy for Europeans : it is more free from drought than the southern colony, and the sea-breezes perpetually temper the powerful summer heat. Captain Cook anchored in the bay at the mouth of the Brisbane in 1770, and named it Moreton Bay after the Earl of Moreton, then President of the Royal Society ; but no thorough examination was made of the coast until 1823, when the crowded state of the penal establishment at Sydney made it necessary to find another convict station. Already had Van Dieroan's Land, Norfolk Island, and Port Macquarie been made use of to relieve the parent colony, but still there needed some secure place beyond the limits of the free population for the more abandoned and desperate of the criminals, and such a place, it was hoped, might be found in the unexplored regions to the north. Mr. Oxley, the Surveyor- General, with some others, under- took the search. Upon anchoring in a small creek x . G Moreton near Moreton Bay, they perceived some savages Bay Settie- approaching their cutter, one of whom had a skin lighter in colour than the rest, and, to their surprise, hailed them in English. This man proved to be one Thomas Pamphlet, who had left Sydney some months before, with his comrades, to fetch cedar, but who had been driven out to sea and cast ashore at Moreton Bay. The blacks of that part happily proved well disposed, and Pamphlet and his mates lived among them, daubed their bodies with white and red paint, and turned savages for a time. But, the narrative tells us, the Englishmen did not find aboriginal society agreeable, even 'when most friendly, and they accordingly tried to make their way back to Sydney on foot — a distance of fiye hundred miles— their only guide, over bush and swamp and river, 506 AUSTRALIA. being the direction of the shadows at noonday, and the pointer- star of the Southern Cross by night. After traversing some miles, Pamphlet and Finnigan lost courage, and returned to the friendly blacks ; their companion, Parsons, went on alone, and was never heard of more. But Pamphlet, in telling his story to Mr. Oxley, spoke of a large and deep river which they had crossed, and which emptied its waters into the bay not far from where their cutter was anchored. This river Mr. Oxley explored, under the guidance of Finnigan, and named it the Brisbane, after the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Thomas Brisbane ; and upon its banks, ten miles from Moreton Bay, he fixed the site for the convict settlement. For eighteen years this pleasant spot — with its winding river and wooded heights, which seemed specially intended by nature for the abode of the peaceful and happy — was made the receptacle for the refuse of Port Jackson, until, as the colony grew, the nuisance of the convict population became so intolerable that the Government yielded to the petition of the settlers, and, in 1842, Moreton Bay was declared a free settle- ment. As soon as it was released from its penal incubus, the colony rose rapidly ; squatters soon began to lead their nocks and herds into the grassy downs beyond the mountains ; and in 1843 Moreton Bay may be said to have begun its political existence by returning one member to the House of Assembly at Sydney. When, in 1851, the colony at Port Phillip effected its separation from New South Wales, the settlers at Queens- Moreton Bay were stimulated also to try and land, 1859. achieve independence, and kept up an agitation to this end for many years ; and at length, in 1859, Her Majesty graciously gave consent to its independent existence, and adopted a new name for the settlement ; in consequence of which, on the 10th of December, Moreton Bay, with all the region north of Point Danger, was proclaimed as the new colony of Queensland. On the same day the first Governor, Sir George Bowen, arrived from Sydney, and was welcomed by thousands of his countrymen, in their gayest holiday attire, as his steamer approached the green banks of his future domain. QUEENSLAND. 507 Queensland has been divided into seven districts, viz. Moreton, Darling Downs, Maranoa, Leichardt, Port Digits Curtis District, The Burnett, and Kennedy. Of and Towns, these, Moreton is the most accessible, the most densely peopled, and the first in importance from containing the two principal towns of Brisbane and Ipswich. Brisbane, the capital and chief seaport, stands on the site of the old convict establishment, in a most beautiful and healthy situation on the river bank, and already exhibits all the cheerful bustle of a new trading community. At present, it has but a straggling, unfinished appearance, but some of its central streets contain good buildings. It has many churches and chapels, a national school, a school of art, and several hotels; and in the high grounds adjacent there are pleasant villa residences. The handsomest buildings are the new gaol and the Government-house. Ipswich is the largest inland town, but there are many other trading centres, which are beginning to claim to be ranked as towns and the capitals of districts. At present, Queensland is eminently a pastoral colony : the great squatting interest is that which attracts most men and capital, and millions of sheep and thousands of cattle and horses are now depasturing the western plains. Farming is still in its infancy, and but few are en^a^ed in „ J ' . . Kesources agriculture, and the great desideratum is a large of the influx of industrious working men and their families, who will develope the resources of the country. The soil is equal to the produce of any species of grain and root, and in that half-tropical, half-temperate latitude nearly all the vegetables and fruits can be matured. Thus, while po- tatoes, cabbages, turnips, beans, peas, and other homely crops, flourish in the south — pine-apples, bananas, sugar-canes, cinchona, spices, oranges, grapes, tea, coffee, and tobacco grow in the north. The most profitable fruits are the pine and banana, and whole acres of pine-plantations may now be seen in the low districts. But a great hope for the future of Queensland is the 508 AUSTRALIA. admirable fitness of its soil for the production of cotton of the Sea-Island and other finer species. The cotton-plant in these districts is not an annual, as in America, but a perennial, which, with proper treatment, may last and produce cotton- down during several years ; consequently, the labour of its production will be diminished, and the climate, moreover, is one in which Europeans can be cotton-field labourers. Another valuable article of commerce is likely to be derived from a singular inhabitant of the Indian seas, which visits these coasts during seven months in the year, viz. the Dugong- fish, an enormous creature, something between a seal and a whale, with a head like that of a fat calf. To this animal has been awarded the honour of being the true behemoth, or water-ox, of the Book of Job. Its flesh is said to be excellent food ; but its commercial value is in the oil, which is reported by medical men to possess all and more than the virtues of cod-liver oil, without its disagreeable qualities. The dugongs are caught from the island of St. Helena in Moreton Bay, and during the season a large boiler is constantly steaming down one of these monsters, the oil from which runs out from a tap in the upper part.* The exports of the colony at present are principally con- nected with stock, such as wool, hides, tallow, &c. The Government consists of a Governor, a Council of 14, at Govern- present nominated by the Governor, and an Assembly ment, &c. of 26 mem bers elected by the people. The district of Moreton Bay was formed into the diocese of Brisbane in 1859 by the division of the large diocese of Newcastle : Clergy, 16. The Church of England is the most numerous section, the Eoman Catholic next, and the four sec- tions of Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists, and Wesleyans are about equal. The education provided by Act of Parlia- ment for the colony is based on the National System. Already Queensland has seven newspapers, all professing liberal prin- ciples. Steamers ply regularly between Brisbane and Ipswich * Queensland, by Greorge Wight. QUEENSLAND. 509 and the chief coast stations, and roads and tramroads have begun to connect the inland towns and the capital with the Downs. The population of the province is about 31,000. Since Queensland stretches nearer to the tropics than any Inhabi . other colony at present in Australia, there is more tants - need of labourers suited to a warm climate, and consequently less jealousy of the immigration of Asiatics — Coolies and China- men — than in the other settlements. A Queensland newspaper even announced that a Chinaman had been elected alderman for Maryborough, one of the new towns, and that Alderman Chiam returned thanks to the ' worthy and independent electors in a very sensible speech.' Nevertheless, the European labourers always dread competition with the plodding, patient industry, and low scale of diet of the Chinamen ; and the question of the policy of their introduction into Australia is in much the same position as the question of the introduction of Coolies into the West Indian colonies. The Chinamen always throng most into the countries where gold is to be found ; the Hindoos are always willing to work, for fair wages, in agri- cultural districts. 510 CHAPTER III. TASMANIA. Tasmania, formerly Van Dieman's Land, lies about 120 miles south of the south-eastern coast of Australia, from which it is separated by Bass's Strait. The island is in shape something like a heart or an escutcheon, and is nearly as large as Ireland ; its greatest length, from South Cape to Cape Grim, is about 230 miles, and its greatest width, from Eddy stone Point on the east to West Point, about 200 miles. The general character of the country is mountainous and Natural undulating, and bears evidence throughout of vol- Features, canic action. The mountains, evidently a continua- tion of the Australian Alps, are not arranged in distinct chains, but are disposed in irregular groups or solitary peaks over nearly the whole surface, and their rugged and distorted shapes make their proportions seem more colossal than they really are. The highest points are Cradle Mountain in the west, 5,069 feet, and Ben Lomond in the east, 5,010 feet, and from whatever quarter the island is approached, the green- stone and basaltic peaks of these mountains, usually capped with snow, form the most striking objects. In the centre of the island is a table-land, averaging 3,000 feet above the sea-level, on which are seven lakes, which form the source of some of the chief rivers. The Derwent runs 120 miles, and its estuary is navigable to and above Hobart Town, where it is two miles wide, for forty miles from the open sea. The Tamar is navigable from the north coast to Launceston for forty miles; and the Huon, 110 miles in length, is navigable for steamers for nearly thirty miles. Several smaller streams also water the land, while thousands of springs and cascades glide and dash through the mountain ravines, TASMANIA. 511 and preserve the country fresh and green long after the neigh- bouring colonies are parched with drought. The vegetation, although similar to that of Australia, is on a still more magnificent scale, and the gigantic gum-trees {Eucalpytce) clothe the hills from their summits down to the water's edge. For an island so thickly wooded there is an unusual amount of pasture, owing to the gum-trees casting so slight a shade that grass grows freely beneath them. In the valleys the turf is of exceeding luxuriance, and the plains glow with the warm bright blossoms of the Silver Wattle, a sort of acacia, which has been made the emblem of the island ; while the browner verdure of the hills is enlivened with buttercups, blue speedwell, and little white flowers like English daisies. Only about two-fifths of the island are considered available for cultivation, and of these three-fourths are pasture- ground. The coast is mostly high and rocky, excepting on the north, and on all sides it forms into bays and capes in which safe anchorage may be found. On the south-east there is a singular fringe of deep inlets and tortuous harbours, with islands and island-like peninsulas. Much of the early history of the settlement is so connected with crime and disaster, that the name of Van Dieman's Land formerly bore a dark significance, byTasman, which now happily the more commonly adopted name of Tasmania is rapidly losing. Abel Jansen Tasman first sighted this land in 1642, and paid compliment to his employer Van Dieman, Governor of the Dutch East Com- pany, by naming it after him ; and from that time more than a century elapsed before Captain Cook again saw it, when on his way to Otaheite to observe the transit of Yenus. Cook judged the land to be a part of New Holland, and its in- sularity was not proved until 1797, when Mr. Bass and Captain Flinders were sent out by the Governor of New South Wales to explore the coast. They made a dangerous and difficult voyage completely round the island in a small sloop, and Flinders generously requested that his companion's name should be given to the newly-discovered intervening strait. 512 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALIA. Bass and Flinders made a favourable report of the land so far as they had seen, and as provisions were scarce Convicts, at Sydney Cove, Governor King resolved to plant a branch convict settlement in the new island, and in 1803 sent out Lieutenant Bowen with some convicts and a guard of soldiers to the Derwent. Bowen made choice of Eestdown Cove on the east bank, and began clearing the land and building huts; but exposure to constant attack from the natives, and the want of supplies, reduced the settlers to great distress, from which, however, they were opportunely relieved by the arrival of Colonel Collins from England, after his fruitless attempt to colonise Port Phillip. Collins, being invested with supreme authority in the new colony, removed the settlement to Sullivan's Cove, and named it Hobart Town, in honour of Lord Hobart, then Secretary of State for the Colonies. During the first years the settlement suffered greatly from want of provisions, although supplies were sent from New South Wales with each fresh detachment of convicts. Sheep, now the staple of the island, then sold for ten guineas a-piece, and the chief food was kangaroo, fish, and a sort of sea-weed called l Botany Bay greens.' After a time, however, the soil began to yield abundantly ; merchant ships began to trade at the ports, and free emigrants to settle in the island. Some officers in the Marines, and many Crown prisoners at the expiration of their term, became landed proprietors, and a scarcity of provisions at Norfolk Island drove there many farmers and their families, who planted themselves in the district now called New Norfolk. The convicts also were made especially serviceable to the colony in road and bridge making, and the easy terms on which their labour was made obtainable was an encouragement to free settlers. But, since the convicts of Van Dieman's Land belonged Bush- to the most abandoned class of criminals, an evil ranging. g p ran g n p which proved in the end fatal to the aboriginal population, and most injurious to the colony. Many of the convicts, contriving to escape, and being joined TASMANIA. 513 by runaways from Australia, took to the woods, and formed themselves into desperate gangs of ' bush-rangers,' who dis- persed themselves over the whole country, and not only made all life and property unsafe beyond the neighbourhood of the towns, but carried on a constant and brutal warfare with the natives, shooting them down like wild beasts, and murdering whole tribes in order to carry off their women captive. The daring exploits told of some of these bush-rangers sound more like tales of romance than incidents of real life, and the mutual distrust with which these wretches regarded one another — in some terrible extremities turning cannibal, and killing and eating their comrades — adds unusual horror to the accounts of these ruffian gangs. The names of some locali- ties in the island, such as Murderers' Plains and Hell Gate, are reminders of some of their deeds of outrage and blood- shed. The infuriated natives naturally could make no distinction between friend and foe, but turned their revenge against every white man, woman, or child, that they could waylay, kill, or torture, and against every white man's stack or farm that they could fire or* pillage. At length the very safety of the colony seemed threatened, and in 1830 the Government systematically interfered, and a singular plan was organised for the purpose of exterminating or capturing the aborigines. A line of troops was formed across the island, and precisely after the fashion of an elephant hunt, gradually moved in an unbroken chain towards Tasman's Peninsula, firing and making a great noise in order to drive the savages before them and then hem them in. But the savages were not to be so caught. The broken and rugged nature of the country made it easy for them to escape to the rear, and when, after a two months' march, at a cost of 30,000/., the troops closed in at the narrow neck of the peninsula, the only captive found is said to have been one little half-starved boy. A better experiment was afterwards made by a Mr. Eobin- son, who undertook to conciliate the savages and bring them under control by fair means. With Mr. Batman and some LL 514 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. others, he ventured into their retreats, % and by presents and promises induced tribe after tribe, to the number of about 200, to return with him to Hobart Town, where they were placed under the charge of the Government, and from whence they were finally shipped off to Flinders' Island, leaving, it would appear, only a very few of their race behind them in the woods of Tasmania. In 1842 a small party of savages were taken off the western coast by some sealers, and were treacherously conveyed also to Flinders' Island ; and these were supposed to be the very last remnant of the Tasmanian race. These poor exiles were afterwards removed to Oyster Bay, near Hobart Town, where they were placed under the the care of an officer, and fed and tended at the ongines. annua j yearly cost of 50Z. a-head. At the last report there were but fourteen left ; one of the women had married an English sawyer, and upon the birth of a son the Government gave to this dark lady (Mrs. Cochrane Smith) an annuity of 25Z. ; but it is doubted whether at the present time there is a single living specimen remaining of the Tas- manian aborigines, who with unusual rapidity have followed the fate of extermination and decay which seems to be the destiny of the savage tribes upon the introduction of the white races and civilisation. The Tasmanians appear to have been a similar race to the Australians, but with more of the negro type, having woolly hair and blacker skins. In 1825, Van Dieman's Land was made an independent colonv, having until then been subject to New South Made a Free - J ' , & . . . . J . Settlement, Wales ; and it is interesting to notice among its Governors the name of Sir John Franklin, the arctic explorer. After transportation to the parent-colony of New South Wales had ceased in 1840, this island became the largest and almost the only receptacle for the banished criminals of the United Kingdom. But, as a consequence, the whole colony was thrown into disorder, owing to the number of convicts far exceeding the work to be done ; free labourers were thrown out of employment, and the idle convicts sank TASMANIA. 515 into depths of depravity which had a demoralising influence on the whole community. At length the respectable in- habitants petitioned Parliament for the removal of this great evil, and in 1852 Tasmania ceased to be a penal settlement, except for the convicts already in the island, who are now confined to Tasman Peninsula, Maria Island, and Macquarie Harbour. Tasmania was formerly divided into two counties — Buck- ingham in the north, and Cornwall in the south. p resent In 1836 a re-division was made into 11 counties; Condition. but the divisions commonly recognised are the 19 police districts into which the settled parts have been portioned out, most of which contain a town or village of the same name. Hobart Town, the capital, in the district of Hobarton, is beautifully situated on the Derwent, overshadowed by Mount Wellington, and is a clean, well-built town. The churches and chapels are the most handsome of the public buildings. The Government House is an irregular pile, in the midst of shrubberies. A new house, commenced by Sir John Franklin, has never been completed. Launceston, on the Tamar, is the second town of importance, and is well adapted for a commercial port. Campbell Town, Longford, Eoss, and Carrick are the chief towns in the north ; and Eichmond, Brighton, Pontville, and Oaklands are thriving townships. Tasmania has now a settled population of about 90,000, many of whom are wealthy cattle-breeders. The present Constitution was framed in 1859, and consists of the Governor (salary, 6,500/.), and of a Legislative Council and Assembly of Eepresentatives. A bishop of Tasmania was appointed in 1842, and the diocese includes Norfolk Island : income, 1,400Z. ; clergy, 56. Eeligious and charitable institutions are numerous; the Government support good schools in Hobart Town and Launceston ; and there are various literary and scientific institutions. li 2 516 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTKALASIA. The chief exports are wool, hides, tallow, bark, oil, sper- maceti, grain, fruits, and timber. Coal is known to exist in large quantities, and in the hills of the interior have been found iron, copper, and lead ; but these minerals have been hitherto undeveloped. 017 CHAPTER IV. NEW ZEALAND. More than two centuries ago the name of New Zealand was given by the Dutch navigator Tasman to a narrow chain of islands lying nearly at our antipodes in the South Pacific Ocean, about 1,200 miles to the south-east of Australia. At the present time there are few of our Sovereign's dominions abroad which bear a closer relation to England than these three islands, separated from us by the whole diameter of the globe. There is no authentic record of the discovery of New Zealand before Abel Tasman anchored in a small _ . Discovered bav on the west coast of the middle island m 1642. by Tasman, . 1642 A promontory, Abel Head, and a place still called Massacre Bay, where four of his crew were killed by the natives, preserve the memory of his visit. But Tasman was not aware that he had discovered a group of islands, and imagined the new coast to be part of the Australian continent ; and such it was believed to be until Cook sailed round the land 120 years afterwards, and proved its insularity. Cook stayed many months on the islands, establishing a friendly in- tercourse with the natives, whom he found to be a fine and intel- ligent although ferocious race of savages, and introduced pigs and potatoes and many European seeds and vegetables. The account he gave of the beauty and capabilities of the country excited great interest ; and, among others, Benjamin Franklin was so attracted by it that he published in America a plan for the colonisation of New Zealand. But no steps were taken towards its settlement, and the place remained unvisited ? except by an occasional trading vessel, until the colony at Port Jackson was fairly established ; and, as we have seen in the introductory sketch, New South Wales became, in some 518 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. sense, the parent colony to this as to most of the other Australasian settlements. The New Zealand group consists of two large islands and Natural one sma ll er island, which lie together in a curved Features. ii ne f 1 ? 200 miles in length, broken by two passages of the sea. The mean breadth of the land is 142 miles, and the area of the whole is nearly equal to the British Isles. The most northerly island is New Ulster or North Island, called by the natives Eaheinomauwe ; this is separated by Cook's Strait from New Munster or Middle Island, or Tavai-Poena- moo ; this is separated by Foveaux Strait from the small island of New Leinster, or Stewart's, or South Island. The irregular shape of the outline, especially in the north island, where peninsulas stretch out in every direction, affords abundance of harbours, and gives an extent of coast unusually large in proportion to the area. In the north the interior is excessively mountainous. The mountains are mostly of the igneous class of trap, basalt, and greywacke ; the principal chain traverses the two larger isles in the direction of their greatest length, that is, north-east and then north-west ; and in Ulster, lateral ranges contain lofty volcanic peaks which rise to nearly 10,000 feet high, and are covered for two-thirds of their height by perpetual snow and glaciers. One of these mountains is the active volcano of Tongariro, supposed to be the centre of volcanic action in the north, which pours forth deluges of boiling water, but has so rich a soil on its flanks that plants grow well beneath streams of water of this ex- cessive temperature. The rivers are chiefly mountain streams, which, rising from the eastern and western slopes, run their short distance to the sea, and are seldom navigable. The largest rivers have their source in extensive lakes which lie in the interior of both islands, such as the Hokeanga, the Manawatu, the Thames, the Courtenay, the Eakaia, the Waipa, the Wairoa, the Waikato, and the Waitangi — the syllable wai meaning water. The Manawatu is an especially tortuous stream, and the natives have a legend that it was formed by an evil spirit, NEW ZEALAND. 519 in the shape of a huge totari-tree, worming himself along like an eel from the east coast to Cook Strait. Being in nearly the same latitude south as England is north, the climate has much similarity as to tempe- rature, but as a rule, the seasons are less marked, and the climate is more humid ; rain falls in every month of the year, and the land abounds in streams. This excess of moisture is not, however, injurious to health, owing to the excellent natural drainage of the country, the absence of fogs and swamps, and the constant winds. Every part of New Zealand is subject to frequent winds and heavy gales. The vegetation of New Zealand appears to form a connect- ing* link between the Floras of South America, . Vegetation. Australia, and the Cape Colony ; but of 632 species of New Zealand plants already known to botanists, a large proportion are ] peculiar to the region. The mountain ridges are clothed with giant forests of the Australian pine, the tree- fern, and the kauri, a species of pine peculiar to New Zealand, and especially valuable for its timber ; but there are extended table-lands and hilly tracts, where not a tree is to be seen, and which are overrun by enormous ferns and a sort of myrtle. The New Zealand flax grows abundantly both on mountain and plain. Almost the only native edible vegetable is the root of one of the most common of the fern species, Pteris esculenta ; but European fruits and vegetables flourish well, besides tobacco and the sugar-cane. The most valuable of the plants introduced is the potato, which is used exten- sively as food by the natives, and is grown for exportation. A peculiarity of the islands is the absence of animal life. With the exception of a few lizards, a small dog « , . ,. ,. . , Animals. of the Australian dingo species was apparently the only four-footed animal in the country at the first arrival of the Europeans ; but hogs, dogs, rats and mice had found their way there by the time that the first colonists came, and had probably been brought by runaway convicts, or had escaped from merchant vessels. The pig has in some remote districts become a wild animal, and our European cattle, and 520 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. even domestic cats, have strayed away into the thick forests, and become progenitors of wild races. The other domestic animals introduced by white settlers succeed well, especially sheep. Of native birds there are scarcely any besides small parrots and pigeons ; also a wingless bird, the apteryx, the smallest living representation of the ostrich kind; and a sort of mocking owl, called by the settlers < More Pork,' from the sound resembling these two words, which it repeats for half an hour together before dawn. Numerous fossil bones of gigantic birds have been found in the beds and banks of streams ; for instance, the bones of the gigantic Moa, a bird from ten to fourteen feet high, which the natives believe to have existed at no very remote period, and to have served as food for their ancestors, as well as supplying their ancient chiefs with magnificent ornamental plumes from the feathers of their head and tail. Some of the largest species of moa are even supposed to be living at the present time in the inaccessible woods of the interior, and a reported appari- tion of one has lately caused some excitement. Another of these giant fossil birds is the dinornis giganteus, which approaches the lizard type in the shape of its skull; and also the palaperyx, which appears allied to the emu of Australia. Fossil egg-shells of these birds have also been found, so large that ' a hat would have served as an egg-cup for one of them.' The aborigines are a tall, well-made, muscular, copper- coloured race, with glossy curling black hair, and the form of the head approaching the European type. They are generous and hospitable, but ferocious in the extreme when their passions are roused, and formerly they were addicted to cannibalism. They are readily civilised, show great talent for the mechanical arts, make good farmers and seamen, and succeed in various trades. They call them- selves Maori, as distinguished from Pakeha (strangers) ; their language is a dialect of the Malayan, resembling that spoken in the Society and Sandwich Islands, and their own account of their origin is that their ancestors, being defeated by another NEW ZEALAND. 521 tribe, fled here from an island called Hawiki (probably Owhyee), and brought their dogs with them, and the two roots — kumara and taro — which constitute their chief food. But the Maori chiefs and the inferior slave class appear to belong to two different races. The former are lighter in com- plexion, their handsome tattooed faces have even an intellectual cast, and the dignified deportment of a New Zealand chieftain, as he folds his red blanket around him, may bear comparison with that of a Eoman senator with his toga ; whereas the slave-class are darker, clumsier in form, and approach much nearer to the negro type. The Maori women have commonly the charms of symmetry, bright eyes, fine teeth, and sweet musical voices; and in tattooing their faces, they take great pains to hide wrinkles and blemishes rather than to obscure their beauty ; consequently, the elder ladies, especially, persist in the fashion of tattooing. The women possess property ot their own, and hold a higher position than is usual among savage tribes. The native religion of New Zealand was fanciful and gloomy, rather than idolatrous. Although many of the Maori are highly faithful and trustworthy, they appear to have but little natural sense of the rights of property, and this creates addi- tional difficulty with respect to all questions of sale and pur- chase between them and the whites. ' Before honesty was invented,' they say, 'they had much less trouble in managing their affairs.' As a substitute for all laws for the protection of property among themselves, the Maori have a singular custom, in common with many other of the South Pacific islanders, of pronouncing things to be ' tapu,' or ' taboo,' that is, not to be touched; and by attaching the heaviest penalties to the infringement of this taboo, they preserve their houses, canoes, and plantations from pillage. The superiority of the Maories over the usual savage tribes has created a peculiar difficulty in the colonisation of New Zealand. Elsewhere the natives have rapidly disappeared before the ad- vance of the whites ; here the natives possess in themselves the elements of a great people, and settlement among them has 522 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. consequently not been a simple taking possession by right of the strongest, and in no other colony has there been so remarkable a balance of power between the white and the aboriginal races. Before the arrival of the Europeans, the natives were divided into many tribes, each having their own separate territories, and governed by their own chiefs. They cultivated the land, and built villages on the hills, fortifying them with ditches and fences. They had large war-canoes, and the wars between the tribes were carried on with excessive ferocity; they ate their prisoners ; and when they had learned the use of fire-arms from the whites, the slaughter among themselves was so great that it is thought probable that the influence of the missionaries alone saved the whole race from extermination. In the introductory sketch the steps have been traced by Early which New Zealand became a British colony in Settlement. 1840. The whale fishery first attracted vessels from New South Wales to the Bay of Islands on the east coast; while the native flax attracted settlers to the west coast. Then came sealers, chiefly to the middle island ; and, mean- while, escaped convicts and runaway sailors took refuge in the country, and formed a white population of the lowest kind, who seized what land they could lay hands on, and lived in perpetual conflict with the natives. Then followed mission- aries, who gained great influence over the Maori, and paved the way for a better class of settlers. Soon regular trade was opened with New South Wales, and, at the request of the native chiefs — as some safeguard from the outrages of the vagabond class of whites — the island, in 1833, was "placed in some sort under British protection, and a consul was sent out, with magisterial powers subordinate to the Sydney Government. In 1835 the North island was disturbed by the pro- ceedings of a French adventurer, one Baron de Thierry, who established himself in Hokianga with a few followers, and announced himself as King of Nuhuwah, one of the Marquesas Islands, and sovereign chief of New Zealand. The Baron was soon deserted by his comrades, and left the country ; but this NEW ZEALAND. 523 French intrusion, together with the disorderly state of the settlement, first induced the colonists to petition William IV. that the place should be constituted a British colony under regular government. Meantime, an English settler arrived in London who had bought an immense tract of land in North Island, and _ T _ & ? New Zea- now wished to dispose of it. This circumstance led land Com- to the formation of a New Zealand Company, under pa ' the auspices of the Earl of Durham and the great houses of Baring, Goldsmid, and other leading merchants, who pur- chased the land, and, in 1839, sent out 5,000 emigrants, and founded first Wellington, and then many other settlements in Ulster and Munster — buying additional tracts of the native chiefs. But the purchase of these additional lands involved the company in endless difficulty, in consequence of its not being at all clear who had the right to sell the land. The native wars had in many cases violently transferred lands from one tribe to another, and after the conquerors had sold the land, the conquered disputed their title, and were perfectly wi]ling to fight for their own over again. Besides which, the chiefs were very apt to sell their land twice over, and, after they had received from the company a fair price for their acres, were often proved by former settlers to have already sold the same piece to themselves for a few tobacco pipes or blankets. It was no wonder, therefore, that the company could give little satisfaction either to natives or colonists, and Trans- in 1840 a formal compact, known as the Treaty of thlfcrown Waitangi, was made between the Maori chiefs and 184 °- the British Government, by which the sovereignty of the islands was transferred to Queen Victoria, and the land dif- ficulty was adjusted by the Crown assuming as its own property the middle and larger island, which was but thinly peopled, and recognising the native ownership in the northern isle, where the aborigines were the most numerous ; at the same time, reserving to itself sole power of selling land to the colonists, and allowing the native chiefs only to sell land to 524 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. the Government. Captain Hobson was sent out as first Governor, and fixed the site of the future capital of Auckland on a neck of land between the harbours of Waitemata and Manukao. But violent disputes arose between the natives, the company, and the Governor ; and the New Zealanders being always on the alert to break out into open warfare whenever they saw any symptoms of strife among the Eu- ropeans, the country again became the scene of confusion and conflict — until order and security were restored by Sir George Grey, formerly Governor of the Cape and of South Australia, who assumed the administration of New Zealand in 1845. In 1852 the New Zealand Company resigned its claims, re- ceiving compensation for their outlay. From that time the colony greatly prospered. The natives mixed freely with the English, lived among them, founded towns, built churches, adopted European improvements, had newspapers of their own , and put money in the bank ; and there was scarcely a Maori to be found who could not read and write. But the very prosperity of the colony unhappily gave rise to fresh land dis- . . putes. The value of land rose as immigration in- of present creased and roads and building made progress, and ispu ^ e chiefs were jealous at the Government ' receiving sovereigns for the acres which they themselves had sold for shillings,' not perceiving that the increased profit was due to those who had created the increased value, This jealousy, con- sequent upon the Government being an intermediate party in the sale of land, and acting with more or less justice to native claims, has been a main cause of conflict in New Zealand up to the present time. Added to this source of discontent, intercourse with Europe- ans had aroused a strong sentiment of nationality in the Maories, and they longed to be an independent people under a monarch of their own. Accordingly, a ' king party ' rapidly ' gained ground amongst them, and made their first demonstration by hoisting a national flag, and proclaiming Te Whero Whero sovereign of New Zealand, under the title of King Potatau. This Te Whero had formerly been a turbulent chief of the NEW ZEALAND. 525 tribe of Waikatos, who by his conquests and wholesale slaughters had spread such devastation among other native tribes that they had been forced to seek European protection from his violence. In I860, another insurrection 'of the natives, headed by a chief named William King, or Wirrimu Kingi, arising out of disputes respecting the sale of land, ended in open warfare in the district of Taranaki, and a force of 5,000 English troops were stationed in the island for its defence. In 1861 the war was quelled ; but a discontented party remained, and a native sovereign was proclaimed ; and this disaffected l king party/ who refuse either to return to British allegiance, or to allow the land to be farther opened for roads or useful purposes, are the source of the greatest embarrassment to the present governor, Sir George Grey. Notwithstanding hostilities, how- ever, our nation's grief at the loss of the Prince- Consort had its sympathisers among these most remote of our fellow- subjects, and the Maori chiefs drew up a poetical address of condolence to the Queen in 1862. New Zealand is at present divided into nine provinces, viz. : Sew Ulster. New Muxster. Counties and Towns. Auckland, Nelson, Taranaki, Marlborough, Wellington, Hawke's Bay. Canterbury, Otago, Southlands. Auckland, 400 miles in length and 200 miles in breadth, is the most northerly and the largest of the provinces, and was the most populous until the late discovery of gold in Otago diverted the chief tide of emigration to that district. From its northerly position the climate of Auckland is the warmest in New Zealand, and is well suited for agricultural and farm- ing operations. The land is rich and fertile in parts, but is still much covered with fern and shrubs. It has extensive pine forests and numerous rivers. The capital, Auckland, is 526 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. a thriving town on the estuary of the small river Thames, and was made the seat of government for the colony in 1840. Ke- cently Auckland has been constituted the head-quarters of the troops for all the Australasian settlements. Taranaki, or New Plymouth, the western province of New Ulster, has been called the Devonshire of New Zealand, from the picturesque beauty of the country, and its fine soil and climate. Coal and iron are reported to abound in the dis- trict. New Plymouth, the capital, stands on the west coast, near the mountain of Taranaki or Mount Egmont. The set- tlement was founded in 1841. Hawke's Bay, the eastern province of the north island, offers especial advantages for sheep-farming from its extensive plains and genial climate. The capital is Napier, on Hawke's Bay. Wellington, the southerly province of New Ulster, is a large wool-producing country. Shocks of earthquake are occasionally felt in this district. The chief town, Wellington, stands on the harbour of Port Nicholson on Cook Strait. Wellington is the oldest of the settlements, and was founded by the New Zealand Company in 1839. Nelson is the most northerly province of New Munster. Only a small proportion of the land is fit for cultivation, and sheep-farming has hitherto been the staple occupation. It has the advantage of numerous deep harbours, and mines of coal, copper, and iron. Nelson, the capital, stands on Blind Bay, an arm of Cook Strait. Settlement founded 1841. Marlborough, on the north-east of New Munster, is a wild and thinly-peopled country, and has been settled chiefly by sheep-farmers. On the north it is densely wooded, and the coast is indented with harbours of remarkable depth ; one of them, Queen Charlotte's Sound, being twenty-five miles long. The capital is Picton. Canterbury is the centre province of the Middle Island. The settlement was founded in 1849 by Lord Lyttelton and other influential persons as a Church -of- England colony. The land is well watered and traversed by a range of moun- NEW ZEALAND. 527 tains, between which and the sea lie the Canterbury Plains. Sheep are extensively pastured. Christchurch is the chief inland town ; and Lyttelton, on Pegasus Bay, is the shipping port. Otago was founded in 1846 by several members of the Free* Church of Scotland. The province until lately occupied the whole of the southern part of the Middle Island. A discovery of gold mines in 1861 led to a great immigration from England and all the Australian colonies, and, as in Victoria, has tended to the rapid advance of the settlement, although injurious for a time to its pastoral interests. The little village capital of Dunedin, which is about seventy miles from the diggings, has been converted into a bustling, prosperous town. Southlands is enclosed on all sides, except its coast-line, by the province of Otago, and was formed out of that settlement in 1861. The capital is Invercargill. By the last census of 1862, the European population of New Zealand was 109,209, including 1,128 half-castes; , ./.a,? n . n -, Population. the aborigines were only 50,049, and are evidently on the decrease. When the Maories first became known to Captain Cook they were a peculiarly healthy and vigorous race ; but many European maladies have now become pre- valent among them, which are attributed to the introduction of ardent spirits and tobacco, and to their partial adoption of English clothing and blankets. The present Constitution came into operation in 1853. The Government is composed of a Governor (salary, Govern . 3,500Z.), and three Judges, nominated by the ment - Crown, with a Legislative Council of twenty leading colonists, nominated by the Governor, for life. The House of Eepre- sentatives consists of forty members, elected by the people for five years — qualification for voting being the possession of a freehold worth 50Z., or the payment of house-rent of 61. per annum in the country, or 10Z. per annum in the town. Each province has, besides, its own Superintendent and Provincial Council, whose functions are to frame laws relating to immi- gration, sale of lands, making roads, levying taxes, &c. 528 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. The bishopric of New Zealand was founded in 1841 : Religion mcome > 6007.; clergy, sixty-five. The Establish- and ment is represented by fire bishops, of whom the Bishops of Christ Church, Nelson, Wellington, and Whaiapua, are suffragan to the metropolitan of New Zealand. The adherents of the Church of England are by far the most numerous class; next, the Scotch Presbyterians; next, the Soman Catholics ; and last, the Wesleyans. New Zealand is a solitary instance of a heathen race having been rapidly brought under the influence of Christianity ; and that their conversion is not merely nominal is proved by the abolition of infanticide, polygamy, and many barbarous observances, by their erection of churches, attendance at public worship, and study of the Scriptures, which have been printed in the Maori language. There are numerous schools belonging to the different denominations, some industrial and others educa- tional, both for European and Maori children. The chief exports are wool, hides, oil, whalebone, flax, and staple hemp. Eecently, fresh gold discoveries have been Exports, made in the Coromandel district of Auckland, said to be of enormous extent and value ; and the gold of New Zealand is now pouring into Melbourne for transhipment to London, and into the Australian Mint at Sydney for coinage. Besides gold, the islands furnish coal, copper, iron, and other minerals; and lately has been discovered a new and valuable article of export in the steel sand at the foot of Mount Egmont, which is reported to be more perfect than the steel manufactured by human art. 529 CHAPTER Y. ISLANDS IN THE SOUTHERN SEAS. NORFOLK ISLAND. Amidst the crowd of small islands scattered over the South Pacific is a group lying 1,200 miles east of Sydney. These islands were first seen by Captain Cook in 1774, and the largest of them he named Norfolk Island, in honour of the Howard family, descendants of the Duke of Norfolk. The island was uninhabited and entirely covered with trees ; and Cook says, ( Undoubtedly we were the first men that ever set foot upon it.' Norfolk Island is only 7 miles long and 3 or 4 miles broad ; its surface is undulated like the sea in a storm, long Natura i narrow ranges of hills alternating with long narrow Features. gullies; its shores are steep and rugged, and the Pacific thunders unceasingly against their abrupt barrier ; no objects are in sight but two barren rocks, Nepean Island and Philip Island. But within these desolate shores the land is a perfect garden of beauty, where orange and lemon groves mingle their bright green with the softer hues of the tree-fern, and with endless flowering shrubs and graceful parasitic plants, which twine and luxuriate in the warm fertile soil ; the whole being crowned by forests of the stately Norfolk pine (araucaria excelsa), which here lifts its dark foliage to a height of 200 feet. This desolate and beautiful spot was selected by the British Government as an ultra-penal settlement, banish- ment to which was the severest punishment, short of death, that could be inflicted on any criminal. The place was first settled in 1788. Captain Cook had observed that the New Zealand flax grew there abundantly ; accordingly, the Governor of New South Wales received orders to form a settlement for the M M 530 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. cultivation of the plant, and several convicts and free settlers were sent out with, implements for flax-dressing; besides which an attempt was afterwards made to convert the island into a food-producing settlement for the supply of Sydney Cove. But it was found that the produce was barely sufficient for its own population — who at one time were only saved from perishing by a flight of aquatic birds, which alighted on the island to lay their eggs ; and finally, the settlers were removed to Van Dieman's Land. In 1831 the island was again occupied as a place of punishment for the most desperate class of offenders, such as appeared irre- claimable and were dangerous to their overseers; and the extreme rigour of the discipline, the solitude of the place, and the hopelessness of escape, made servitude in Norfolk Island a more dreaded penalty to most criminals than death itself. It was here that Captain Maconochie tried his benevolent system of mitigated punishment, by allowing prisoners to work out their own pardon by earning a certain number of good marks ; but this system was abandoned, and the rigid discipline resumed. The island is still the seat of a convict establish- ment for the worst class of criminals, who were sentenced there for life, although the transportation of fresh convicts has ceased for many years. The administration of the island is intrusted to the Governor of Tasmania, and the prisoners are under the same supervision as those at Hobart Town. The chief residents in the place are the civil and military officers, who live in white cottages with lawns and shrubberies. The chief buildings are the prisoners' and military barracks, the Government House, and a Protestant and Eoman Catholic chapel. A few farms are scattered about the island. CHATHAM ISLANDS. When Captain Vancouver in H.M.S. Discovery was on his way to explore the north-west coast of America in ' 1791, his companion, Lieutenant Broughton, who commanded the ship Chatham, discovered a group of islands CHATHAM ISLES. 531 about 386 miles to the east of New Zealand, to which he gave the name of his ship, and anchoring in a small bay, proclaimed them to be British territory in the name of George III. The natives did not admire this proceeding, and an affray ensued, in which one native was killed and two Englishmen wounded, and Broughton re-embarked, leaving behind him a few presents by way of reconciliation. From that time the islands were frequently visited by whalers, and in 1840 the New Zealand Company made a whaling station on the coast, and in the following year announced that they had purchased the islands of the natives, and intended to resell them to i parties officially connected with Hamburg and other free cities of Germany.' But the claim of the Company was disallowed by Government, and the islands were soon afterwards constituted a dependency of the Crown, under charge of the Governor of New Zealand. The Chatham group consists of one large island, Chatham or Warekauri, two smaller islands, Pyramid and Natural Cornwallis, and several islets. Chatham is some- Features, thing in the form of a hammer with a short handle, and is about thirty-six miles long from east to west. A large salt- water lake occupies about a sixth of the island, and the country, slightly hilly, has a pleasant aspect. The climate, although stormy, is mild and healthy. The vegetation is similar to that of New Zealand ; the swampy soil yields abundance of pumpkins, which compose the chief food of the natives ; and when drained is well suited to wheat, pota- toes, and other vegetables. There is no native quadruped but the Norwegian rat, but birds are numerous, and the black and spermaceti whales swarm about the shores. The aborigines were a harmless race of Malays, called Paraiwhara. They and their islands were un- inhabitants. known to the New Zealanders until a European ship brought tidings of them in 1838 ; upon which a band of Maories at Port Nicholson seized an English brig and per- suaded the captain to convey them to Chatham, where they soon overcame the inhabitants, killing some and making mm 2 532 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. slaves of others. The language of the natives was perfectly intelligible to the New Zealanders, and, except for the absence of the tattooing, there was much similarity between the two people. This first race is now almost extinct, and the usurping tribe compose the inhabitants, who cultivate wheat, and export it to New Zealand. The islands are of value to Eng- land as whaling and sealing stations. Even here missionaries have planted themselves in the interior and show good fruits from their labours. The islands form part of the diocese of New Zealand, and Maori converts have been sent over, who are reported to succeed well in the instruction of the natives ; besides which there is a German missionary station established on the east side, where a wind- mill as well as small chapel are visible signs of civilisation. AUCKLAND ISLANDS. In the stormy ocean south of New Zealand, at the distance of about 180 miles, there is a small volcanic group consisting of one large island and several islets, all of them densely covered with thickets of stunted shrubs. These Settlement. n .. islands were first touched upon by a Captain Briscoe, agent of Mr. Enderby, when coursing the South Seas on a whaling expedition in 1806. He found them uninhabited, took possession in the name of the Crown, naming them after Lord Auckland, President of the Board of Trade, and left- there a few pigs. In 1847 the islands were granted by Government for a term of thirty years to the Messrs. Enderby, a^London firm then engaged in the whale and seal fisheries, in^ponsideration of the services of their father, Mr. Enderby, and-ihe further discoveries of their agent, Captain Briscoe, in the South Seas. The islands were afterwards sub -let to the Southern Whale Fishing Company, who made a first settle- ment upon them in 1849, and appointed Mr. Charles Enderby Lieutenant-Governor and commissioner for the Company. When Mr. Enderby arrived to take possession, he found that about seventy New Zealanders had already been settled AUCKLAND ISLANDS. 533 there for about eight years under two of their chiefs, who had come from Chatham Island in a colonial vessel, and had paid 150 pigs for their passage. Fifty more pigs had been brought by them into the island, and these, added to the stock which Captain Briscoe had left more than thirty years before, had multiplied exceedingly. Some plots also of the shrubby ground the Maories had managed to clear and cultivate ; and they found the climate pleasant, even with their scanty amount of clothing. These settlers, however, made no hesitation about surrendering their land-plots and pigs to the English Governor, in return for a small sum of money and the liberty of gathering their crops, and became exceedingly useful as labourers and boatmen. The two chiefs were made into constables, and were so vigilant in preserving order, that when a complaint was brought against one of them that his dogs had killed a sheep, he immediately hung seven of them. The principal island, Auckland, is about 30 miles long, and has a sombre aspect from the prevalence of a dark- Natural evergreen shrub, veronica elliptica, to which there Features. is nothing analogous in the northern hemisphere. It grows to the height of 20 or 30 feet, and then, probably gnarled by the gales, bends its head to the ground and again shoots upwards, rendering the woods impassable with its looped branches. Most of the flowers are natives of the New Zealand mountains, and, except that there are no beeches or pines, the vegetation is a continuation of that of New Zealand, with an approach in its smaller plants to that of antarctic regions. Although in a corresponding latitude to England, only three of our native plants are found there, viz. the water- star wort, water chickweed, and hairy ladies' smock. There appear to be no native animals ; but rabbits and goats abound, and cattle and horses pasture well on the natural grasses. At present the wealth of the islands is in the black and hump-backed whales, and the hairy and lurry seals which frequent the bays. The white population includes only the Governor, surgeon, and servants of the Company. Nevertheless, Auckland has 534 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. already its semi- detached cottages, warehouse, gaol, wharf, and even savings' bank. The bold enterprise of English merchants and captains of whalers have contributed much of late years to our knowledge of the other islands in the southern seas ; and several of them, unappropriated by other nations and some of them unin- habited, lie so contiguous to British possessions that England claims a sort of right over them as fishing and whaling stations. Such are the Campbell Isles, to the south-east of the Aucklands ; Macquarie Isle, the most southerly of the Australasian groups ; the Bounty Isles, discovered by Captain Bligh ; and Antipodes Isle, so called from its position with regard to London. LANDS OF VICTORIA BEYOND THE POLAR CIRCLES. Within the Antarctic Ocean lies a land to which the name of our Sovereign has been given, and which forms the extreme limit of southern discovery. On the 12th of January, 1841, Sir James Eoss first landed upon a shore of the Polar Sea, near 70° 41' S. lat., and took possession of the land in the name of the Queen, calling it South Victoria. In the distance he beheld the fire and smoke issuing from the volcano of Mount Erebus, 12,400 feet high, and the stupendous crystallised peaks of the Parry Mountains, which, standing about 760 miles from the Pole, are the most southerly objects that have hitherto met the human eye. The land thus discovered probably forms the northern boundary of that vast unknown volcanic region of perpetual ice which apparently lies at the centre of the southern hemisphere. On the 20th of June, 1854, Dr. Kane stood on the north coast of Greenland, about 520 miles from the North Pole, upon the shore of an iceless sea, which, from the swell of its waves and the ebb and flow of its tides, apparently rolls its waters in one unbroken expanse from the Pole. Beyond him stood LANDS OF VICTORIA BEYOND THE POLAR CIRCLE. 535 Mount Parry, in the Victoria range, the most remote northern land known upon our globe. Thus the names of England's Queen and of the great pioneer of arctic discovery have been coupled together at the two ends of the earth; and it remains to be seen whether Anglo-Saxon enterprise will plant the British flag, or extend even nominally British dominion still farther, either into the lifeless continent of the South, or into the yet unexplored seas of the North. INDEX. ABA ABACO, 451 Aberdeen, 123, 145, 152, 163 — University of, 148 Aberdovey, 172 Abergele, 172 Aberystwith, 171 Abolition of slavery, 443 Acacia, 481 Acadia, 396 Acadians, 397, 401 Accra, 336 Achil Isle, 87 Adelaide, 500 Aden, 29, 317 Afghans, 255 Afghan war, 255 African Colonies, 324 — Slave trade, 325 Agra, 290 Ahmedabad, 11, 277 Ahmednuggar, 277 Aire, river, 55 Akbar, Emperor, 224, 248 Alban, St., 110 Albion, 88 Aldermen, 129 Alderney, 83, 126 Alexander's invasion of India, 220 Alfred the Great, 3 Alice Holt Forest, 65 Allahabad, 290 Allen, bog of, 61 Alpaca, 483 Alum Bay, 81 ARK America, discovery of, 8 American Colonies, 359 — war, 376 Amoy, 321 Andros, 451 Anglesea, 78 Anglo-Saxons, 94 — chronicles, 94 — language, 101 Anguilla, 456 Angus, 124 Annamabo, 338 Annapolis, 397 Antigua, 453 Antilles, 431 Antipodes Isle, 534 Antonine Itinerary, 93 Antrim, 124 Appleby, 120 Apples, 66 Aracan, 27, 295 Arbutus, 62 Archbishops, 137 Archbishoprics, 138 Arcot, 285, 282 Arden, forest of, 64 Argyle, 124, 145 Arkwright, 154 Armagh, 124 Army of England, 195 — India, 300 Arran Isles, 87, 40 Arrowawks, 431 Arrowroot, 417, 445, 468 538 INDEX. ASC Ascension, 354 Ashantees, 336 Ashburton treaty, 403 Ashby-de-la-Zouch, 178 Ashton, 153 Asia, possessions in, 217 Asiatic Society, 275 Assam, 269 Assize courts, 118 Athelstan, King, 3 Attar of roses, 228 Auckland Isles, 31, 532 — New Zealand, 525 Augustin, St., Ill Australasia, 23, 478 Australia, 478 Australian Alps, 479 Australia Felix, 491 Austral negroes, 483 Avon, 121, 175 Axminster, 152 Ayrshire, 123, 156 BAFFIN, William, 419 Bahamas, 430, 450 Bahar, 273 Bala, lake, 57 Ballarat, 495 Banff, 123 Bangor, 143, 172 Banksia, 481 Bann, river, 60 Bantam, 11, 275 Barbados, 13, 459 Barbuda, 453 Bardsey Isle, 86 Barker, Captain, 498 Barmouth, 172 Barrier Eeef, 479 Barrow, river, 60 Bass, Mr., 492, 511 Bassenthwaite, 57 Basseterre, 455 Bath, 140, 175 Bathurst, Africa, 328 — Australia, 490 Battle, 168 Bay Islands, 472 Bayeux tapestry, 97 BOR Beachy Head, 169 Bear Isle, 87 Beaumaris, 79, 121 Bede, 94 Bedford, 121 Bees-wax, 334 Belfast, 163 Belgse, 91 Belize, 471 Bell Rock, 77 Bellary, 281 Benares, 23, 290 Bengal, 22, 264 Ben Nevis, 57 Bentinck, Lord William, 254 Berar, 295 Berbice, 472 Berkshire, 119 Bermudas, 14, 415 Berry Isles, 451 Berwick, 123 Betel-nut, 306, 316 Bhangulpoor, 266 Bhats, 240 Bhils, 239 Bhootan, 264 Bhopal, 298 Bhurtpoor, 298 Bilston, 156 Bird Isles, 402 Birds' nests, 316 Birmingham, 115 Bishops, 137 Bishoprics, 139 Bishop Blaize, 151 Blackburn, 153 Black Hole, Calcutta, 21 Blackpool, 173 Blackwater River, 60 Blasket Isles, 87 Blue Mountains, 437 Bogragh Mountains, 60 Bogs, Irish, 61 Bolton, 153 Bombay, 12, 234, 275 — Proper, 277 — City, 277 Borneo, 316 Boroughs, 128 INDEX. 539 EOT Botany Bay, 24 Bounty Isles, 534 Bournemouth, 170 Boyne, river, 60 Bradford, 152 Brahminism, 246 Brahmapootra, 232 Brechin, 145 Brecknock, 122 Bridgwater Canal, 188 Bridgetown, 460 Bridlington, 174 Brigantes, 114 Brighton, 169 Brion Isles, 402 Brisbane, 507 Bristol, 159 Britain, 88 — early divisions of, 114 — Eoman occupancy of, 93 — Eoman divisions of, 114 British Empire, area and popula- tion, 33 British Isles, 36 ; climate, 37 ; area, 38 ; geology of, 41 ; minerals, E47 ; vegetation, 62 ; animals, 69 ; inhabitants, 88; languages, 100; religious beliefs, 104 ; govern- ment, 192 ; population, 197; re- venue, 195 British Columbia, 423 — Kafraria, 32, 351 — G-uiana, 472 — Honduras, 469 — India, 250 ; area, 298 ; popula- tion, 300 ; divisions, 263 ; go- vernment, 299 ; income, 300 ; army, 300 ; transferred to the Crown, 261 — Museum, origin, 439 — North America, extent, 359 ; surface, 360 ; flora, 361 ; ani- mals, 362; aborigines, 364 Broach, 277 Bryher Isle, 80 Buccaneers, 433 Buckingham, 121, 127 Buddhism, 222, 247, 296 Bundelcund States, 298 CAN Burdwan, 273 Burke, E. O'Hara, 486 Burmah, British, 295 Burmese war, 255 Burslem, 157 Bury, 153 Bushmen, 342 Bushrangers, 512 Bute, 77, 123 Buttermere, 57 Butter-nut, 390 Buxton, 177 pABOT, John and Sebastian, 7, \J 370 Cabul, 255 Caermarthen, 122 Caernarvon, 121 Caesar, invasion by, 92 Caithness, 58 Calcutta, 12, 264, 271, 274 Caldy Isle, 86 Caledonian Canal, 189 Calf of Man, 78 Calicut, 285 Calvert, Sir G-eorge, 15 Cambaya, 11 Cambrian language, 100 — Mountains, 42, 55 Cambridge, 121 — University, 159 Campbell, Sir Colin, 260, 292 — Isles, 534 Campbellton, 490 Camphor, 316 Canada, 365 ; area, 365 ; climate, 365 ; mountains, 366 ; lakes and rivers, 367; productions, 368 ; population, 384 ; govern- ment, 391 ; railways, 389 ; sta- ple products, 390 — West, 365, 367 counties, 378 — East, 365, 366 districts, 380 Canals, English, 189 — Canadian, 386 Canara, 281 Candeish, 277 540 IJSDEX. CAN Canning, Lord, 259, 261 Canterbury, 111, 138, 139 — New Zealand, 526 Canvey Isle, 86 Cape Breton, 400 — Coast Castle, 335 — Colony, 340 ; counties, 346 ; population, 346 ; government, 347 — Comorin, 226 — of Good Hope, 26 — Town, 347 Carboniferous strata, 42 Cardiff, 122 Cardigan, 121 Caribs, 432 Caribbees, 430 Cariboo, 424 Carlisle, 120, 144 Carlow, 125 Carnatic, 251 Carolina, North, 13 Carolina, South, 16 Carrick, 125 Carteret, Sir George, 17 Cashel, 144 Cashmere, 228, 231, 298 Caskets, the, 84 Cassiterides, 48 Caste, system of, 246 Castlebar, 125 Castleton, 78 Castor-oil- nut, 438 Castries, 481 Catholic Church, 144 — emancipation, 113 Cavan, 124 Cavendish, Sir T., 8 Cawnpore, 292 Caymanas, 449 Cedars of Bermuda, 415 Celtic races in England, 90 — worship, 104 — languages. 100 Census of 1861, 197 Central America, 469 Central Provinces, 295 Cephalonia, 214 Ceylon, 27, 302 COA Chalk, 44 Channel Isles, 4, 83 Charity schools, origin, 149 Charlemagne, treaty with Offa, 3 Charlestown, 16 Charlestown, Nevis, 455 Charlotte Town, 409 Chatham, 165 Chatham Isles, 530 Chelmsford, 119 Cheltenham, 176 Cherries, 66 Cheshire, 52 Cheshunt College, 149 Chester, 120, 144 Cheviot Hills, 55 Chicali, 285 Chichester, 119, 141 China, British relations with, 318 Chippeways, 386 Chittagong. 271 Chorley, 153 Chota Nagpore, 273 Christianity, first introduced into England, 110; Scotland, 111; Ireland, 111 Christchurch, 147 Christchurch, New Zealand, 527 Church of England, 137 — Ireland, 144 — Scotland, 145 Cinchona, 230, 507 Cinnamon, 312 Cinque Ports, 166 Circars, 23 Cis-Sutlej States, 286 City, term when applied, 128 Civita Vecchia, 211 Clackmannan, 123 Clare, 49, 125 Clevedon, 171 Clevedon Hill, 44 Clifton, 176 Clive, Eobert, 20 Clonmell, 125 Cloves, 315 Clyde, river, 59 Coaches introduced, 183 INDEX. 541 COA Coal, 42, 50, 160, 227, 395 — districts of England, 43 : — districts of Scotland. 46 Coalbrooke Dale, 43 Coast towns of England, 165 Cochin, 282 Cocoa, 229, 306 Cod fishery, 413 Cod-liver oil, 413 Code Noir, 441 Codrington, Colonel, 453 Coffee, 312, 435 Coimbatore, 282 Coinage. British, 196 Colaba Islands, 277 Colombo, 311 Colonies, value to England, 34 Colmnba, St., Ill Columbus, 6, 431 Commeragh mountains, 60 Commerce, beginning of, 3 Compass, mariner's, 6 Concan, 277 Coniston Water, 57 Connaught, 124 Connemara Mountains, 60 Constitution, British, 192 Convict transportation, 14, 24 — settlements, 416, 503 Convocation of clergy, 138 Cook, Captain, 23 Coolies. 239 Coorg, 282, 284 Copper, 49, 226, 368 Coquet Isle. 86 Corfu. 214 Cork, 125, 144, 164 Cornelians, 226 Cornwall, 120 — Jamaica, 446 Cornwallis, Lord, 24, 267 Cornwallis, 531 Coromantines, 441 Coroner, 117 Corporations, municipal, 128 Corporation and Test Acts, repeal of, 113 Cotswold Hills, 55 Cotton, 19, 229, 334, 348, 508 DEM Cotton trade, 153. 234 — mills, first, 154 Counties, origin of. 115 — English, 119 — Welsh, 121 — Scotch, 123 — Irish, 124 County government, 116 — towns, 129 Coventry, 155, 157 Creoles, 448 Cromarty, 123 Crooked Isle. 451 Crummock Water, 57 Crusades, 5, 435 Cuddapah, 282 Culdees, 111 Culver Cliff, 81 Cumberland, 56, 120 Cumbrian Mountains, 55 Cupar, 123 Curran Eual Mountain, 60 Currant vines, 214 Customs Inspectorate, 321 Cutch, 233, 279 Cuttack, 266 — Mahals, 298 Cymri, 90 p.ACCA, 273 J > Dagobas, 305 Dahomey, King of, 338 Dalhousie, Lord. 258 Danes, 2, 91, 96 Danish elements, 103 Danelagh, 96 Darjeeling, 230 Darling, river, 480 Dawlish, 170 Dean Forest, 64 Deccan, 229, 277 Declaration of Independence, 22 376 Dee, river, 56 — , in Scotland, 5S Delaware, 16 Delhi, 26, 287 Demerara, 472 542 INDEX. DEN Denbigh, 121 Deodar Pine, 228 Deptford,. 165 Derajat, 286 Derby, 155, 120, 43 Derry, 144 Derries, 64 Derwent, 55 Derwent, Tasmania, 510 Derwentwater, 57 Devonian System, 42 Devonshire, 120 Devonport, 165 Dhuleep Sing, 257 Dhar, 228 Dharwar, 230 Dholpoor, 298 Diamonds, 229, 273 Diaz Bartolomeo, 6, 342 Dingo, 482 Dingwall,. 123 Diodorus Siculus, 92 Dissenters, Protestant, 112, 145 Doab, 229 DolgeUy, 121, 152 Dominica, 22, 457 Don, river, 55, 58 Donegal, 124 Dorchester, 12 Dornoch, 123 Dorset, 120 Dove, river, 56 Dover, 167 Down, 124, 144 Downs, the, 56 Drake, Sir Francis, 8 Drogheda, 164 Druids, 105 Dublin, 125, 136 — University, 148 Duck-bill, 482 Dudley, 156 Dugong Fish, 508 Dulwich College, 149 Dumbarton, 124 Dumfries, 123 Duncansby Head, 58 Dundalk, 124, 164 Dundee, 162 ERE Dunnet Head, 58, 36 Dunse, 123 DUrban, 351 Durbars, 299 Durham, 119, 144, 43 — University, 147 — Lord, 377 I7AGLE ISLE, 87 J East Anglia, 115 Eastbourne, 169 East Indies, first voyages to, 8 East India Company, origin of, 11 — home government, 252 — cessation of monopoly, 254 — close of, 261 East Main, 422 Eastern Straits settlements, 314 Ebony, 306 Eddy stone Eock, 86 Edinburgh, 123, 135, 145 — University of, 147 Eig Isle, 77 Elephants' teeth, 329 Eleuthera Isle, 451 Elgin, 123 Ellenborough, Lord, 256 Ely, 140 Emigration, 34, 199 Enderby, Mr., 532 England, a kingdom, 4 ; mountains and rivers, 54 ; lakes, 56 ; islands, 78 ; counties, 119 ; ec- clesiastical centres, 137; educa- tional centres, 146 ; manufac- turing centres, 150; trading ports, 158 ; naval ports, 164 coast towns, 165 ; spas. 174 railways, 188 ; canals, 188 population, 197 English Channel, 39 Ennerdale Water, 57 Ennis, 125 Enniskillen, 124 Eocene strata, 44 Episcopacy, 137 Epping Forest, 65 Erebus, mount, 534 INDEX. 543 ERE Erie, lake, 367 Ermyn Street, 181 Errigal, mount, 60 Esquimault, 427 Esquimaux, 419 Essequibo, 472 Essex, 119 Eton, 149 Exeter, 120, 141 Exmouth, 170 Exuma, 451 FACTOBIES, first Indian, 11 Fair Isle, 75 Falkland Isles, 30, 475 Fenham Flats, 84 Fens, 119 Feme Isle, 86 Festus Avienus, 93 Fetlar Isle, 75 Fife, 123 Fig-tree, sacred, 307 File j, 174 Filibusters, 433 Firth of Forth, 58 Flax, 68 Flax, New Zealand, 519, 529 Flinders, Captain, 492, 511 Flint, 121 Folkestone, 168 Foo-chow-foo, 321 Forfar, 59, 124 Fosse- way, 181 Fort William, 265, 273 — St. George, 12, 284, 416 — St. David, 416 — York, 421 — Good Hope, 121 — Macpherson, 421 Foula Isle, 75 Foyle, river, 60 France, English dominions in, 5 Eraser Eiver, 422 Fredericton, 405 Free Town, 333 — villages, 447 French Canadians, 385 Fresco Isle, 80 GRO Fullers' earth, 44 a Fur-trade, 419, 421 pAELS, 90 *T Gaelic languages, 100 Galashiels, 152 Galway, 125, 164 Gama De, 7 Gambia, 12, 327 Ganges, 225, 232 Gaspe, 380 Geelong, 497 George Town, Guiana, 473 Caymanas, 450 Georgia, 20 German Ocean, 39 Ghauts, 226, 282 Ghonds, 289 Giant's Causeway, 47 Gibraltar, 18, 200 Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 410 Ginger, 445 Glamorgan, 122 Glasgow, 145, 154, 162 — University, 148 Glenmore, Vale of, 59 Gloucester, 121, 142, 151, 162 Golconda, 229 Gold, 48, 226, 395 — in British Columbia, 423, 425 — New South Wales, 489 — Victoria, 493 — New Zealand, 528 Gold Coast, 335 Gondwarra, 238 Goodwin Sands, 86 Government, British, 192 — Indian, 299 Goza, 11 Gozo, 206 Grampians, 57 Grassmere, 57 Greenock, 162 Grenada, 22, 463 Grenadines, 463 Gresham College, 149 Grey Coat School, 149 Ground-nuts, 329, 334 544 INDEX. GUE Guernsey, 83, 126 Guiana, 26, 472 Guildford, 119 Guilds, 131 Guisborough, 179 Gujerat, 279 Gum-tree, 481, 511 Guntoon, 23 HADDINGTON, 123 Hairy-tails, 482 Halifax, 152 Halifax, Nova Scotia, 399 Hamilton, Canada, 384 — Bermuda, 416 Hamilton Patrick, 112 Hampshire, 92, 119 Handa Isle, 77 Hanningtons, 127 Harbour Isle, 451 Hardin ge, Sir Henry, 257 Hargreaves, James, 154 Hartlepool, 173 Harris Island, 77 Harrowgate, 178 Harrow School, 149 Hawes Water, 57 Hawke's Bay, 526 Hebrides, 4, 76 Helena, St., 12, 352 Heligoland, 26, 212 Hereford, 42, 120, 142 Herm Isle, 84 Heme Bay, 85 Hertford. 121 High Sheriff, 117 Highbury College, 149 Highgate School, 149 Hill tribes of India, 238 Himalayas, 225 Hinckley, 157 Hindoos, 219, 235 Hindostan, 219, 221 Hindustani, 243 Hissar, 286 Hobart Town, 25 Holy Island, 84 Honduras, British, 17, 469 IRE Hong Kong, 30, 322 Hong merchants, 318 Hooghly, 264 — river, 232, 234 Hops, 69 Hottentots, 342 Hoy Islands, 76 Huddersfield, 152 Hudson, Henry, 419 — Bay, 360 Territory, 17, 418 Company, 420 Huguenots, 97, 155 Humber, 65 Huntingdon, 121 Huon, river, 510 Huron, 367 Hyder AH, 23, 284 Hyderabad, 280, 298 TCKNIELD STEEET, 181 JL Igneous rocks, 41 Inagua, 451 Inchcape or Bell Eock, 77 India, first intercourse with England, 9 ; early history, 217 ; natural features, 225 ; inhabitants, 235 ; languages, 242 ; religions, 245 ; literature, 245 Indians, American, 364, 418 Indigo, 228, 268, 417, 438 Indore, 298 Indo-Chinese, 296 Indus, 225, 232 Industrial schools, 150 Infant schools, 150 Innisbofin, 87 Inverary, 124 Inverness, 123 Ionian Isles, 27, 214 Iona, or Icolmkill, 77 Ipswich, 119 — Queensland, 507 Irawaddy, 233 Ireland, conquest of, 4 — area, 38; geology, 47; moun- tains, 59 ; rivers, loughs, 60 ; INDEX. 545 IRE bogs, 61 ; islands, 86 ; types of men, 98; language, 100; early divisions, 124 ; counties, 124 ; Church, 144 ; population, 197 Ireland, Bermuda, 416 Iron, 50, 227, 384 Iron manufacture, 155 Islay Isle, 77 JAMAICA, 437; counties and towns, 446 ; government, &c. 449 James Town, 14 St. Helena, 354 Java cinnamon, 312 Jedburgh, 123 Jersey, 83, .126 Jeypoor, 282 John o' Groat's, 58. Jollofs, 328 Judge's' circuits, 118 Juggernaut, 273 Jura Isle, 77 KAFIKS, 349 Kafir war, 345 Kafraria, British, 32, 351 Kam; phuli, river, 271 Kandy, 311 Kangaroos, 482 Karens, 296 Katties, 240 Kauri Pine, 519 Kelp, 76 Kent, 115, 119 Kent, Duke of, 408 Kerry, 61, 125 Kidderminster, 152 Kildare, 125 Kilkenny, 125 Killaloe, 144 Killarney, lakes, 60, 62 Kilmarnock, 152 Kilmore, 144 Kincardine, 124 King's County, 125 LIG King's College, 149 Kingston, Canada, 383 Kingston, Jamaica, 447 Kingstown, Ireland, 164 — St. Vincent, 463 Kinross, 123 Kirkcudbright, 123 Kirk of Scotland, 145 Kirkwall, 123 Knights of the Shire, 118 Knockmeledown, 60 Knox, John, 112 Koh-i-noor diamond, 258 Kookies, 271 Kowtoon, 323 Kurrachee, 289 T ABKADOK, 419, 422 JU Labuan, 31, 316 Lagos, 32, 338 Lahore, 287 Lake Torrens, 480 Lambeth, 135, 157 Lammermoor Hills, 57 Lanark, 123 Lancashire, 120, 43 Lancaster, 120 Lancasterian Schools, 149 Las Casas, 435 Launceston, 120 Launceston, Tasmania, 515 Lead, 49, 226 Learn, river, 177 Leamington, 177 Leeds, 152 Leeward Isles, 430, 452 Leicester, 120, 157 Leichardt, Dr., 485 Leinster, 124 Leith, 162 Leitrim, 125 Lerwick, 123 Lewes, 128 Lewis Isle, 77 Lias, 43 Lichfield, 142 Lifford, 124 Liguanea Plain, 446 N N 546 INDEX LIM Limerick, 164 Lincoln, 119, 140 Lindisfarne, 84 Linen trade, 152 Linlithgow, 123 Linnhe, river, 58 Lithographic stone, 369 Liverpool, 159 — Australia, 490 — Nova Scotia, 398 Lizard Point, 38 Llandaff, 143 Llandudno, 172 Loch Lomond, 58 — Ness, 58 Logwood, 470 London, 130, 139, 158 — University, 147 — 'Adventurers,' 14 — Canada, 384 -— East, Natal,' 351 Londonderry, 164 Longford, 125 Long Isle, 451 — Bahamas, 451 Lothian, East and "West, 123 Loughborough, 157 Louth, 124 Lowestoff Ness, 38 Lowes "Water, 57 Lucknow, 292 Lunenburg, 398 Lyttleton, New Zealand, 527 M'ADAM, 186 Macclesfield, 155 Macgillicuddy Keeks, 60 Mackenzie River, 421 Macquarie Isle, 534 Madras, 12, 281 Madura, 282 Magdalen Isles, 402 Magellan, Fernando di, 8 Magistrates, 117, 129 Mahe, 358 Mahogany, 451, 469 Mahrattas, 26, 240, 250, 277 Mahratta war, 253 MOH Mainland, Orkneys, 76 Maize, 434 Malabar, 281 Malabars, 308, 311 Malacca, 27, 315 Malta, 25, 206 Malvern, 176 Malvern Hills, 55 Man, Isle of, 4, 78, 125 Manchester, 144, 153, 155 Mandingoes, 328 Maple, 369 Maple, sugar, 390 Maories, 520 Margate, 167 Mariahs, 239 Mariguana, 451 Marlborough, New Zealand, Maroons, 439 Maryborough, 125 Maryland, 16 Matlock, 154, 178 Mauritius, 26, 356 Maynooth College, 149 Mayo, 125 Mayors, first, 129 Meath, 124, 144 Medina, river, 82 Meerut, 290 Melbourne, 496 Menai Straits, 78 Mercator, G-erard, 8 Mercia, 115 Merioneth, 121 Mersey, river, 56 Merthyr Tydvil, 155 Mestees, 448 Metamorphic rocks, 46 Mic-Macs, 395 Michigan, lake, 367 Middlesex, 121 Middlesex, Jamaica, 446 Minsh, the, 77 Miramichi, river, 404 Mirzapoor, 273 Missionaries, 29, 329, 442 Moa, the, 520 Mogul Empire, 223, 250 Mohammedans, 237 526 INDEX. 547 MOH Mohawks, 386, 372 1 Mona, 78 ! Monaghan, 124 : Monkey Hill, 455 J Monks, trading, 3 Monmouth, 120, 42 Montcalm, De, 374 I Montgomery, 121 Montreal, 382, 380 Montrose, 163 Montserrat, 456 I Moors, 309 ! Moorshedabad, 273 Moray, 123 ! — and Ross, 145 Moreton Bay, 505 Mosquito territory, 471 Moultan, 288 Moy, river, 60 Mughs, 274 Mulattos, 448 Mull, 77 Municipal Institutions, origin, 129 Mullingar, 124 Murray, river, 480 Murrumbidjee, 480 Muskerry Mountains, 60 Mutiny, Indian, 259 Mysore, 25, 229, 282, 284 "VTAGPORE, 229, 295 ±1 Nairn, 123 Nanking, treaty of, 318 Napier, 526 — Sir Charles, 256 Nassau, 451 Natal, 31, 348 National debt, 195 National Schools, origin, 149 Native States, India, 263 Navy, English, 195 Needles, the, 81 Negros, 328 Negro slavery, 325, 433 — emancipation, 443 Nellore, 281, 285 Nenn, river, 56 Nepaul, 298 OJI Nephin Beg, 60 Nerbudda, 226, 295 Nevis, 455 New Amsterdam, 473 — Brighton, 172 — Brunswick, 403 counties of, 405 Newcastle, 160 — Australia, 490 New England, 15 Newfoundland, 7, 15, 409 New Holland, 478 — Jersey, 17 — Leinster, 518, 30 — Netherlands, 16 — Munster, 30, 518 — Norfolk, 512 — Providence, 451 — Plymouth, 526 — South Wales, 24, 487 — Ulster, 30, 518 — "Westminster, 426 — ■ Red -Sandstone, 43 — Zealand, 29, 517 counties and towns, 525 — ■ — Company, 523 Newry, 164 Niagara Falls, 367 Nilgherry Mountains, 226 Ningpo, 321 Norfolk, 119 — Isle, 24, 529 — Pine, 529 Normans, 2, 4, 96 Northampton, 121 Northumberland, 43, 119, 115 North West Provinces, 289 Norwegians, 91, 96 Norwich, 119, 142, 152 Notitia Imperii, 93 Nottingham, 120, 157 Nova Scotia, 15, 394 counties and towns, 398 Nuddea, 266 Nutmegs, 306, 315 OAKHAM, 121 Ochil Hills, 57 Ojibbeways, 306 2 548 INDEX. OLD Oldham, 153 Old Sarum, 140 Omagh, 124 Ontario, lake, 367 Oolite, 44 Opium, 228, 269, 318 Opossums, 482 Orcades, 76 Oregon, treaty of, 420 Orissa, 282 Orkneys, 5, 76 Ossory, 144 Otago, 527 Ottawa, 384 — river, 368 Oude, 32, 258, 291 Ouse, river, 55 — Great, 56 Oxford, 121, 141 — University, 146 PAGODA of Kangoon, 297 Paisley, 154 Palm oil, 329, 334 Palmetto, 417 Pariahs, 236 Parishes, 116, 137 Parliament, first, 193 Parry Mountains, 534 Parsees, 237, 277 Parys Mountains, 79 Patna, 273 Peak of Derbyshire, 55 Pearls, 226, 316 Pearl fishery, 312 Pearl, river, 421 Peebles, 123 Pegu, 32, 295 Pembroke, 121, 165 Penmanmaur, 172 Pennine Kange, 55 Pennsylvania, 17 Pepper, 11, 306 Permanent Settlement Act, 268 Perth, 124 — West Australia, 504 Peshawar, 286 Peterborough, 142 QUI Petroleum, 369 Phillip, Captain A., 24 Phoenicians, 48 Picton, 526 Picts, 91 Plassy, battle of, 21 Pleistocene, 45 Pleiocene, 45 Plymouth, 161, 165 — Montserrat, 456 Plynlimmon, 55 Point de Galle, 311 Pomona, 76 Poonah, 277 Ports, trading, of England, 158 — naval, of England, 164 — of Scotland, 162 — of Ireland, 163 Port Jackson, 24 — Louis, 357 — Phillip, 28, 492 — Eoyal, 447 — of Spain, 467 Portsea, 164 Portsmouth, 164 Post, 189 — of India, 301 — of Canada, 389 Potatoes, 67 Potteries, 156 Pozzualano, 463 Preston, 153 Prince Edward Isle, 24, 406 Protestantism, origin, 112 Pulo-penang, 23, 314 Punjaub, 32, 286 Puritans, 112 Purneah, 273 Pyramid Isle, 531 QUEBEC, 371, 375, 380, 381 Queen's County, 125 Queen's College, 149 Queensland, 504 — districts of, 507 Queen's University, 148 Quinine, 230 1NT>EX. 549 EAD EADNOB, 122 Eagged Isle, 451 — Schools, origin, 150 Baggi, 228 Bailways, 187 — of India, 275, 280, 286, 288, 301 — Canada, 389 — Nova Scotia, 400 — New Brunswick, 406 — Australia, 497 — Cape Colony, 347 Ealeigh, Sir W., 13, 467 Earns ey Isle, 86 Eamseymere, 56 Eamsgate, 167 Eangoon, 297 Eathlin Isle, 87 Eeading, 119 Beculver, 85 Eedonda Isle, 457 Eed Biver Settlement, 421 Eeformation, the, 112 Beformatories, origin, 150 Eegulation Provinces, 266 Benfrew, 156 Bevenue, British, 195 — Indian, 300 Ehododendron, 228 Ehyl, 172 Bibble, river, 173 Eice, 228, 306, 312, 315 Bichibuctoos, 395 Eideau Canal, 387 Eig Veda, 246 Bipon, 144 Eoads of England, 180 ' — Eoman, 180 Eoad Town, 458 Eochdale, 152, 153 Eochester, 141 Eocky Mountains, 423 Eoman occupancy of Britain, 93; remains, 93 ; elements in the language, 103 ; divinities, 107 ; provinces, 114 Eomanism, first introduced into England, 111 Eoscommon, 125 SED Eoseau, 457 Boss, 58, 123 Eothsay, 123 Eound Towers, 105 Eoxburgh, 123 Eubies, 226 Eugby, 149 Eum Isle, 77 Rum Cay, 451 Eunjeet Sing, 257 Eupert's Land, 421 Eupert's Eiver, 420 Bussian Company, 7 Bydal, 57 By otwary System, 283 ^ABLE Isle, 396, 401 t i Sago, 315, 316 Salisbury, 140 Salt, 52, 369, 451 Saltpetre, 271 Sambo, 448 Sandal wood, 229 Sandrock, 179 San Salvador, 451,431 Sankey Brook Canal, 189 Sanscrit, 244 Sapplewiek, 154 Sark, 84, 126 Satin wood, 306, 438 Sattara, 276 Saxons, 94 — remains, 95 — worship, 108 ■ — kingdoms, 115 Scandinavian, 96 Scarborough, 173 — Tobago, 465 Schyremotes. 116 Scilly Isles, 79, 92, 125 Scotland, geology, 46 ; mountains and rivers, 58 ; lochs and firths, 59 ; islands, 74 ; races of men, 98 ; language, 100 ; divisions and counties, 122; Church, 145 : population, 197 Seal fisheries, 79, 413 Secondary rocks, 43 Sedimentary rocks, 41 550 INDEX. SEL Selkirk, 12$ Senegal, 327 Sepoys, 251 Sessions Courts, 118 Seven Years' War, 37'4 Severn, 55 Seychelles, 358 Shannon, 60 Shawl Plateaux, 231 Sheerness, 165 Sheppy Isle, 85 Sherwood Forest, 64 Shetland Isles, 74 Ships, first merchant, 3 Shipbuilding, 157 Shire, 115 Shirkapoor, 28 Shrewsbury, 120 Sidlaw Hills, 57 Sidmouth, 170 Sierra Leone, 24, 33 Q Sikhs, 236, 286 Sikh war, 257 Silhet, 270 Silk, 228, 321 Silk trade, 154 Silures, 42 Silver, 48, 226 Simlah, 289 Sinde, 31, 258, 279 Singapore, 27, 315 Singhalese, 308, 311 Sivajee, 240 Skomer, isle, 86 Skye, isle, 77 Skyths or Scots, 91 Slate, 53 Slave trade, 325 — — abolition of, 443 Slaves in India, 241 Sligo, 125 Sloane, Sir Hans, 439 Snowdon, 54 Sodor and Man, 144 Solway, 58 Somerset, 120, 142, 151 Southampton, 161 South Australia, 29, 498 South East Passage, 6 SUT Southlands, 527 Southport, 173 South West Passage, 8 South Victoria, 534 Spanish Town, 446 Spas of England, 174 Spitalfields, 155 Sponges, 451 Staffa, 77 Stafford, 120, 156 Staple, origin of, 150 Sterling, origin of, 196 Stirling, 156 Stewart, Mr., 486 Stockport, 153 Stonehaven, 124 Stonehenge, 106 Stourbridge, 157 Strathmore, vale of, 59 Stroud, 152 Strutt, Messrs. 154 Strychnine, 312 Sturt, Captain, 28 St. Andrew, 145 — University, 148 St. Asaph, 143 — Christopher, 454 — Davids, 143 — Francis, 380 — Helena, 352 — John, Antigua, 453 — Lawrence, 360, 368 — Lucia, 25, 461 — John, New Brunswick, 405 — John, river, 404 — Vincent, 462 Subsidiary System, 252 Suddya, 270 Suffolk, 119 Sugar, 229, 315, 434, 460 — Ants, 464, 465 Sumbulpoor, 273 Sunday Schools, origin, 149 Superior, lake, 367 Surat, 11, 275 Surrey, 119 — Jamaica, 446 Sussex, 119, 115 Sutherland, 58 1 INDEX. 551 SUT Sutlej, river, 286 — States, 286 Suttee, 254 Swan Kiver, 28, 502 Sydenham, Lord, 377 Sydney, 490 Sydney, C. Breton, 401 Syenite, 83 fT ABACCA, 465 1 Table Mountain, 340 Taeping Eebellion, 319 Tamar, river, 510 Tamarinds, 306 Tamil, 243, 311 Tanjore, 285 Tanks, 233, 305 Tannah, 277 Tapu, 521 Taranaki, 526 Tasmania, 25, 510 — counties and towns, 515 Tattah, 280 Tea, 270, 321 — trade, 13, 318 Tees, 56 Teignmouth, 171 Telegraphs, 190, 301, 389 Telford, 186 Tenasserim, 27, 295 Tenby, 171 Tertiary rocks, 44 Teutonic races in England, 91 ; divinities, 107 ; languages, 101 Thames, 55 — Canada, 384 Thanet, isle of, 85 Three Eivers, 380, 382 Thugs, 241 "Tientsin, treaty of, 319 Timber, 64, 390 Tin, 48, 226 Tipperah, 298 Tipperary, 125 Tippoo Saib, 23 Tiree Isle, 77 Tobacco, 18, 228, 306 VIR Tobago, 22, 464 Toronto, 384 Torbay, 171 Torquay, 171 Tortoise shell, 312 Tortola, 458, 470 Tory Isle, 87 Toulahs, 328 Towns, origin of, 126 — government of, 128 Tralee, 125 Travancore, 282 Tree-fern, 481, 519 Trent, river, 55 Trichinopoly, 285 Trim, 124 Trincomalee, 311 Trinidad, 24, 466 Trowbridge, 152 Tuam, 144 Tullamore, 125 Tunbridge Wells, 171 Turnpike Act, first, 182 Tweed, 58 Tynemouth, 173 Tyrone, 124 UIST, North and South, 77 Ulleswater, 57 Ulster, 124 Umritsur, 288 United States, 14 Unst Isle, 75 Upas tree, 463 T^ALENCIA Island, 87 V Valetta, 209 Vancouver Isle, 423, 426 Veddahs, 311 Venetian trade, 5, 8 Victoria, colony, 28, 491 Victoria, Vancouver, 427 Victoria, Hong Kong, 323 Victoria Mountains, 534 Vincent, St., 22, 462 Vindhya Mountains, 226 Virgin Isles, 458 552 INDEX. VIR Virginia, 14 Volunteer force, 195 JTT AITANGI, congress of, 30, Wales, annexation of, 4 ; geology of, 42; language, 100, 102; counties, 121 ; bishoprics, 143 Walsall, 156 Warren Hastings, 252 Warwick, 121 Washington, George, 374 W T ash, the, 55 Wast Water, 57 Waterford, 164 Water-shed, 55 Watling Street, 181 Watt, James, 156, 187 Wattle, silver, 511 Wedgewood, Josiah, 157 Welland, river, 56 — canal, 387 Wellesley, Marquis, 252 Wellington, New Zealand, 526 — Duke of, 25, 26, 253 WeUs, 140 Welshpool, 152 West Indies, 429 Western Australia, 27, 501 Westminster, 132 — Abbey, 131 — school, 149 Westmoreland, 56 Weston-super-Mare, 171 Weymouth, 170 Wexford. 164 Whales, 76, 413 Whale Fishing Company, 532 Whalsey Isle, 75 Whichwood Forest, 65 Whitby, 173 Whitehaven, 161 Whittlebury Forest, 65 ZUL Whittlesea Mere, 56 Wick, 123 Wickliffe, John, 112 Wicklow, 125 Wigan, 153 Wight, Isle of, 80, 119 Wigtown, 123 William the Conqueror, 4 Williams Town, 497 Willoughby, Sir Hugh, 7 Wills, W. J., 486 Wiltshire, 120 Winchester, 119, 131, 140 — College, 149 Windermere, 57 Windsor Forest, 65 — Australia, 490 — Nova Scotia, 398 Windwards, the, 430, 461 Wishart, 112 Witham, 56 Witney, 152 Wold Hills, 44 Wolfe, General, 375 Wolf-fox, 475 Wolverhampton, 156 Wool, 150, 346, 489 Woolmer Forest, 65 Woolwich, 165 Worcester, 121, 142, 157 Worsted, 152 Worthing, 169 T7ANGTSEKIANG river, I 321 Yarmouth, 161 — Nova Scotia, 398 Yew-trees, oldest, 65 York, 119, 138, 143, 151 7AMIAS, 281 /j Zante, 214 Zulu Kafirs, 349 f£ 270 PKINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-SIEEET SQUAEE, LONDON".