The following table shows the shares of the leading countries in the commerce of Spain in 1887 and 1888, in pesetas : The commercial intercourse between Spain and the United Kingdom is shown in the following table from the Board of Trade Returns: One of the principal articles of export from Spain to the United Kingdom is wine, although there has been a considerable falling off in recent years. The quantities and value of wine exported to the United Kingdom were as follows in each of the years from 1884 to 1888: For the years 1882-88 Spain has contributed about one-fifth of the total value of wines imported by Great Britain. Besides wine, the following were the leading exports from Spain to the United Kingdom in 1887 and 1888: The chief British imports into Spain are linen yarn and linens, of the value of 237,5407.; iron, wrought and unwrought, of the value of 406,9207.; coals, of the value of 693,3287.; machinery, 367,0581.; cotton goods, of the value of 296,2647.; and woollen, 267,2917. in 1888. Shipping and Navigation. The merchant navy of the Kingdom consisted, on Jan. 1, 1888, of 968 vessels (of 100 tons and over), of a total burthen of 531,269 tons, comprising 380 steamers, of 388,074 gross tonnage. In 1888 there entered 18,755 vessels of 2,983,039 tons, of which 8,589 of 661,972 tons carried the Spanish flag, and cleared 17,231 of 7,022,079 tons, of which 7,389 of 970,181 tons carried the Spanish flag. In the coasting trade 39,462 vessels of 5,661,952 tons entered, and 43,287 c 5,237,227 tons cleared in 1885. Internal Communications. The length of railways in Spain on January 1, 1888, was 9,470 kil metros, or 5,920 English miles; and 2,000 kilometros, or 1,250 English miles, were in course of construction or had been conceded. ་ The whole of the Spanish railways belong to private companies, bo nearly all have obtained guarantees or subventions from the Governmen The concessions, when a subvention' is attached to them, are given by public adjudication. Any one who has made the stipulated deposit c caution money' may apply for a concession in sealed tenders, and whe ever offers to make the railway with the lowest subvention becomes legally entitled to the concession. The total subventions to the railway companies by the State up to the end of 1884 amounted to 641,917,235 pesetas. The Post Office carried 102,617,849 letters, 381,571 post-cards, 89,800 registered letters of a declared value of 174,285,807 pesetas, and 20,539,320 papers, samples, &c., in the year 1887. There were 3,072 post-offices it 1887. The length of lines of telegraphs in Spain on January 1, 1887, was 18,419 kilometros, or 11,512 English miles; and the length of wire 46,187 kilometros, or 28,870 English miles. In the year 1886 the total number of telegraph messages was 3,549,860, one-fourth of the whole in ternational, and one-fifth of the remaining number administrative de spatches. The number of telegraph offices in 1887 was 952. Money, Weights, and Measures. The money, weights, and measures of Spain, and the British equi valents, are as follows: Since January 1, 1859, the French metric system of weights and measures has been introduced in Spain, with no other change than a slight one of names, the metre becoming the metro, the litre the litro, the granme the grammo, and the are the area. But, besides these, the old weights and measures are still largely used. They are: Diplomatic and Consular Representatives. 1. OF SPAIN IN GREAT BRITAIN. Ambassador.-Don José Luis Albareda; accredited Feb. 19, 1889. · Military Attaché.-Colonel F. Bermuder Reina. Naval Attaché.-Lieut.-Col. Antonio Garcia. There are Consular representatives at London (C.G.), Cardiff, Dublin, Glasgow, Liverpool, Newcastle; Adelaide, Bombay, Calcutta, Cape Town, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Malta, Melbourne, Quebec (C.G.), Singapore, Sydney. 2. OF GREAT BRITAIN IN SPAIN. Ambassador-Sir Francis Clare Ford, G.C.M.G., G.C.B., Envoy and Minister to Brazil 1879-81; to Greece 1881-84. Appointed Envoy and Minister to Madrid December 15, 1884; Ambassador December 8, 1887. Secretary.-Hon. W. Barrington. There are Consular representatives at Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Coruña, Fernando Po, Havana (C.G.), Malaga, Manila, Palma (Balearic Islands), Porto Rico, Cuba, Teneriffe. Colonies. The area and population of the various possessions claimed by Spain are as follows: For administrative purposes the Canary Islands are considered part of Spain. The sovereignty of Spain over the Caroline Islands was formally decided by the Pope in 1885, and admitted by Germany and Great Britain. Rio de Oro and Aorar are on the west coast of Africa between Capes Bojador and Blanco, a stretch of about 500 miles, extending about 150 miles to the interior; it is under the governorship of the Canary Islands, with a sub-governor resident at Rio de Oro. The district of Ifni, near Cape Nun, is opposite the Canary Islands. The country on the banks of the rivers Muni and Campo is claimed by Spain, but disputed by France; it has an area of 69,000 square miles and a population of 500,000. The extent of the Sulu Archipelago under Spanish protection is defined, in a protocol signed at Madrid, March 7, 1885, by representatives of Great Britain, Germany, and Spain, as including all the islands lying between the western extremity of the island of Mindanao on the one side, and the islands of Borneo and Aragua on the other; excluding all parts of Borneo, and the islands within a zone of three maritime leagues of the coast. CUBA AND PORTO RICO. Cuba is divided into three provinces, the south-east and central being the richest and most populous, containing 22 cities and towns and 204 villages and hamlets. Ten per cent. of the area is cultivated, 7 per cent. is unreclaimed, and 4 per cent. is under forests. There are large tracts of country still unexplored. The population of the island in 1877 was made up as follows: Spaniards, 977,992; foreign whites, 10,632; Chinese, 43,811; negroes, 489,249. The number of slaves from 1870 to 1877 decreased by 136,000; but the total number of inhabitants also decreased by 20,500 during the same period. A law for the gradual abolition of slavery was passed by the Cortes on November 5, 1879; but a law passed in 1886 abolished slavery absolutely. The capital, Havana, has (December 1887) 198,271 inhabitants, and the other most important towns are Matanzas, 87,760; Santiago de Cuba, 71,307; Cienfuegos, 65,067; Porte Principe, 46,641; Holguin, 34,767; Sancti Spiritu, 32,608. Education was made obligatory in Cuba in 1880, and in 1882 there were 34,813 children attending schools. The Cuban armed forces, which consist of infantry, cavalry, and artillery (including a black militia battalion), are restricted on a peace footing to 19,000 men. As regards Cuban finances, an English consular report stated that in August 1889 the public debt amounted to some 37,200,000l., which absorbed 1,800,000l. to meet the annual interest. The same authority estimates the annual income of the inhabitants of the island at 16,000,0007., and states that in 1888 the taxes, direct and indirect, amounted to 5,000,000l., to which must be added a sum of 1,600,000Z. levied in local taxation by the 153 municipalities of the island. There was a deficit for the year of more than 600,000l. There is great difficulty in collecting the taxes. The estimated budget for 1888-89 placed the receipts for the year at 25,622,967 pesos, of which 11,833,000 was put down to customs; and the expenditure at 25,614,494 pesos, of which 11,640,599 pesos were required for the Ministry of Finance, 6,500,818 pesos for the Ministry of War, and 4,251,949 pesos for the Ministry of the Interior. The actual custom house receipts for 1885 were 2,879,7417.; for 1886, 3,185,3771.; for 1887, 2,324,2167.; for 1888, 2,430,6647. Sugar is the chief export from Cuba. It is estimated that the quantity produced was 670,225 tons in 1879, 460,397 tons in 1883, 731,723 tons in 1886, 646,578 tons in 1887, and 656,719 tons in 1888. In the last two years the production of molasses was 153,015 and 157,791 tons. The yearly produce of tobacco in |