The foreign commerce of Venezuela quadrupled within the last five years, through the development of the country's vast agricultural and mineral resources. During the year ending June 30, 1877, the total imports were of the value of 15,043,373 venezolanos, or 3,008,6741., and the total exports of the value of 16,112,635 venezolanos, or 3,222,5071. The imports of 1876-77 came to the extent of nearly one-fourth from Great Britain, and the remainder chiefly from the United States, France, and Germany. The exports of 1876-77 were sent chiefly to Germany, the United States, and France. The staple article of export from Venezuela consists in coffee, valued at 11,409,506 venezolanos, or 2,481,901., in the year ending June 30, 1877.

The total value of the exports of Venezuela to Great Britain, and of the imports of British produce and manufactures, was as follows in each of the five years 1873 to 1877 :

The chief articles of export from Venezuela to Great Britain in 1876 were copper ore and coffee. The exports of copper ore in 1877 were of the value of 32,2351., while the exports of coffee were valued at 9,0107. The imports from Great Britain comprise mainly cotton and linen manufactures, the former of the value of 420,8647., and the latter of 72,8557., in the year 1877.

A line of railway from Tucácas to the mines of Aroà, 70 English miles in length, was opened February 7, 1877.

Diplomatic and Consular Representatives.

1. OF VENEZUELA IN GREAT BRITAIN.

Minister Resident.-Don José M. Rojas, accredited Feb. 7, 1877. 2. OF GREAT BRITAIN IN VENEZUELA.

Minister and Consul-General.-Robert Bunch, formerly Minister and Consul-General in Colombia, 1872-78; appointed Minister July 1, 1878.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

The money, weights, and measures of Venezuela, and the British equivalents, are:

MONEY.

The above are the old weights and measures in general use, but the legal ones are those of the French metric system.

Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning Venezuela. 1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Report by Mr. R. T. C. Middleton on the commerce of Venezuela for the year 1875, dated Carácas Dec. 6, 1875; in Reports by H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy and Legation.' Part I. 1876. 8. London, 1876.

Report by Mr. R. T. C. Middleton on the commerce of Venezuela, for 1876-77, dated Carácas December 1, 1877; in Reports from H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy and Legation.' Part II, 1878. 8. London, 1878. Report by Mr. R. T. C. Middleton on the commerce of Venezuela, dated Carácas, December 6, 1876; in Reports by H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy and Legation.' Part I. 1877. 8. London, 1877.

Report by Mr. Vice-Consul Mathison on the commerce of Ciudad Bolivar; by Mr. Vice-Consul Akers Cage on the commerce of La Guaira; and by Mr. Vice-Consul Conn on the commerce of Puerto Caballo, dated May-June 1876; in Reports from H.M.'s Consuls.' No. VI. 1876. 8. London, 1876.

Reports by Mr. Vice-Consul Mathison on the trade of Ciudad Bolivar; by Mr. Vice-Consul Akers Cage on the trade of La Guaira; and by Mr. ViceConsul Conn on the trade of Puerto Caballo, dated January-June 1876; in 'Reports from H.M.'s Consuls.' Part VI. 1876. 8. London, 1876.

Reports by Mr. Vice-Consul Cage on the trade of La Guaira; and by Mr. Vice-Consul Conn on the trade of Puerto Caballo, dated January-March 1877; in Reports from H.M.'s Consuls.' Part V. 1877. 8. London, 1877. Trade of Venezuela with Great Britain; in ‘Annual Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries for the year 1877. 4. London, 1878.

2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Appun (C. F.), Unter den Tropen. Vol. I. Venezuela. 8. Jena, 1871. Dance (C. D.), Four Years in Venezuela. 8. London, 1876.

Eastwick (Edward), Venezuela, or Sketches of Life in a South American Republic; with a history of the Loan of 1864. 8. London, 1868. Ernst (Dr. A.), Les produits de Vénézuela. 8. Bremen, 1874. Meulemans (Auguste), La république de Venezuela. 8. Bruxelles, 1872. Spence (J. M.), The Land of Bolivar: Adventures in Venezuela. 2 vols. 8. London, 1878.

Thirion (C.), Les états-unis de Venezuela. 8. Paris, 1867.

Tejera (Miguel), Venezuela pintoresca é illustrada. 8. Paris, 1875. Tejera (Miguel), Mappá fisico y politico de los Estados Unidos de Venezuela. 8. Paris, 1877.

II. AFRICA.

ALGERIA.

(L'ALGÉRIE.)

Government, Revenue, and Army.

ALGERIA, the largest and most important of the colonial possessions of France, was entirely under military rule till the year 1871, when, after the extinction of a widespread rebellion among the natives, various reforms, tending to organised civil administration, were introduced by the French Government. In place of the former military governor, a civil Governor-General at present administers the government of the colony, directing the action of both the civil and military authorities. But the new civil government extends only over the settled districts, and the territory of the Sahara and adjoining districts, inhabited chiefly by nomade tribes, remain under exclusively military rule. The country under civil government is divided into three provinces, Algiers, Constantine, and Oran, which are subdivided into twelve departments, at the head of which is a Prefect.

Governor-General of Algeria.-General Auguste Chanzy, born 1822, entered the army 1839, and served in Africa till 1870; commander of the Army of the Loire in the war against Germany, 1870-71; appointed Governor-General of Algeria March 1873.

The Governor-General is invested with legislative powers in civil affairs. In all important cases he has to take advice from a Colonial Council, appointed by the French Government.

The revenue of Algeria in 1831, the first year after its conquest, was only 250,000 francs, or 10,0007., but in recent years it averaged 60,000,000 francs, or 2,400,000l. The cost of the colony to France has always been far greater than its revenues.

The receipts of the government are derived chiefly from indirect taxes, licences, and customs duties on imports. The cost of maintenance of the army, the expenditure for public works, and other large sums disbursed by the Government are not included in the expenditure, being provided out of the French budget. In the French financial estimates for 1878, the home expenditure for Algeria, forming part of the budget of the Minister of the Interior, was set down at 25,717,866 francs, or 1,028,714., and the revenue derived from

the colony at 25,891,400 francs, or 1,035,6567.-(See Budget of France for the years 1876 and 1878, pp. 61-62.)

The French troops in Algeria consist of one corps d'armée,' the 7th, numbering about 60,000 men. The troops in Algeria are divided into two classes, namely, French corps, which remain there in garrison for a certain number of years and then return to France, and the so-called native troops, which never quit the colony except on extraordinary occasions, as in the war against Germany, at the outset of which, in July 1870, a division of them was incorporated with the French army, forming part of the vanguard in Alsace. The native troops consist of three regiments of Zouaves, three of Turcos, or 'Tirailleurs algériens,' three of' Chasseurs d'Afrique,' and three of Spahis.' Only a moiety of these troops is composed of natives of Africa, the rest consisting of natives of Europe of all nations.

Population, Trade, and Industry.

The boundaries of Algeria are not very well defined, large por tions of the territory in the outlying districts being claimed both by the French Government and the nomade tribes who inhabit it, and hold themselves unconquered. The colony is divided officially into a Territoire civil,' and a ' Territoire de commandement,' the first in three departments, and the latter in three divisions. According to returns published in the Journal Officiel de la République Française,' of December 8, 1877, the area of the colony embraces 318,334 square kilomètres, or 198,960 English square miles, with a population, exclusive of wandering Arab tribes, of 2,867,626 souls. The following table gives the area of each of the three civil departments and the three military divisions of Algeria, according to the returns of 1877 :

The number of French settlers was given at 127,321, and the total population of European descent at 302,576 in the returns of 1877.

In 1872 there were 5,139,136 acres of land under cultivation in Algeria, of which 413,112 acres, or on an average 8 per cent., were

cultivated by the European colonists, and 4,726,024 acres, or 92 per cent., were cultivated by the natives.

The total commerce of Algeria was as follows in each of the seven years from 1869 to 1876:

About two-thirds of the total commerce of Algeria is with France. Besides with the mother-country, the colony has commercial intercourse chiefly with Spain, Turkey, and Great Britain. The subjoined tabular statement shows the total value of the exports from Algeria to Great Britain and Ireland, and of the imports of British and Irish produce and manufactures into Algeria, in each of the five years 1873 to 1877 :

The most important article of export to Great Britain in 1877 was 'Esparto grass,' for making paper, of the value of 369,4761., the quantity shipped being 49,200 tons. Among the other exports of 1877 were barley and beans, of the value of 52,5751., and copper ore, of the value of 44,335l. The British imports consist principally of cotton fabrics and coals, the former of the value of 148,9467., and the latter of 31,6167. in the year 1877.

At the end of the year 1877 there were 543 kilomètres, or 340 English miles, of railways open for traffic in Algeria. The railways consisted of three lines, namely, from the town of Algiers to Oran, 426 kilomètres, or 226 miles, in length; from Philippeville to Constantine, 87 kilomètres, or 55 miles long; and from Bône to the mines of Aïn Mokra, with branches, 95 kilomètres, or 59 miles, in