clergy in charge of dioceses and parishes are subsidised by State. There is one archbishop and three bishops. Civil marri is the only form acknowledged by law.

Education is gratuitous and at the cost of the State. It is divi into superior or professional, medium or secondary, and primary elementary instruction. Professional and secondary instruction provided in the University and the National Institute of Santis: and in the lyceums and colleges established in the capitals of p vinces. The branches included are law, mathematics, medicine, fine arts. The number of students inscribed for the stud these branches at the beginning of 1888 was 1,074. The number of students under superior and secondary instruction 1887, including those of the University section and the provin lyceums, was 4,452. There are besides normal, agricultural, other special schools. There were 950 public primary schools the country, with 81,362 pupils in 1887, and an average attenda of 55,813; and 501 private schools, with an inscription of 26,922 At the census of 1885 there were 600,634 children between 6 ± 15 years of age. At the census of 1875 more than half the popl tion (including children) could neither read nor write.

Revenue and Expenditure.

The public revenue is mainly derived from customs duties, wh the chief branches of expenditure are for the national debt public works and salaries.

The following, according to official statement, shows the income Chile, with balance at end of year, from 1880 to 1887 :—

The ordinary revenue for 1887 was 45,888,954 pesos, and the

State

traordinary 22,260.460 pesos, and the expenditure in the same year
4,633,930 pesos. The ordinary income for 1888 is estimated at
16,000,000, and the ordinary expenditure at $40,234,685. The
timated revenue for 1889 is 46,000,000 pesos, and expenditure
3,000,000 pesos; the latter includes 7,000,000 pesos for the con-
ruction of new railways, and the sum necessary for the substitution
specie for
paper currency.

The following table shows the public debt of Chile on January 1, 388:

External.

Lean of 1843 at 3% interest and 1% amortisation

of 1885 at 44%

of 1886 at

and 1%
and

Pesos. 397,000 4,002,500 29,899,500

5,801,000

By the law of December 30, 1887, the strength of the army must not exceed 5,885 men, distributed between 2 regiments of artillery, 1 battalion of coast artillery, 1 of sappers, 8 of infantry, and 3 regiments of cavalry. There are (1888) 5 generals of division, 7 of brigade, 29 colonels, 76 lieut.-colonels, and 824 inferior officers. Besides the regular army there is a National Guard, composed of citizens, the strength of which at the same date was 47,774 men.

Two

In January 1888 the Chilian war-fleet included 3 ironclads, 2 cruisers, 3 corvettes, 2 gunboats, 1 transport, 10 torpedo-boats, besides a number of small paddle-wheel and screw steamers. of the ironclads, the Almirante Cochrane and Blanco Encalada, were built at Hull in 1874-75 from the designs of Sir E. J. Reed. They are of 3,500 tons displacement, 2,900 horse-power, have 9-inch armour at the water-line, and are armed, one with four 18-ton and two 7-ton, the other with six 12-ton guns carried in a central battery. Their speed is about 12 knots, and they are powerful specimens of the class of smaller ironclads. The third ironclad, the Huascar, was captured from the Peruvians in 1879 by the two broadside

ships just described, after having achieved a great reputation for her exploits along the coast. She was built by Messrs. Laird in 1865, and was one of the earliest turret-ships constructed on Captain Cowper Coles's principle. She is of 2,000 tons displacement, of 1,050 horse-power, has 4-inch armour at the water-line, and 5inch and 8-inch on the turret, and is armed with two 12-ton Armstrong guns carried in a single turret, and two 40-pounders. The protected cruiser, Esmeralda, was launched in June 1883, at the works of Sir W. G. Armstrong & Co., by whom she was designed and constructed. Her engines and boilers are protected by a steel deck, one inch thick, the remainder of this deck is half an inch thick. She carries two 25-ton breech-loading guns, one as bow-chase and the other as stern-chase, and has six 4-ton guns on the broadsides, besides machine-guns. Her engine-power is very great in proportion to her displacement of 3,000 tons; she carries a very large coal-supply, and can steam more than 18 knots an hour. The remaining vessels of the fleet do not require any special description, being of small size and power. In 1888 there were 5 rear-admirals, 56 captains of various grades, 20 lieutenants, 43 midshipmen, and 137 other officers, with 1,456 sailors and 600 soldiers. There is a naval college at Valparaiso, with 90 cadets in 1888.

Area and Population.

The area of the republic was estimated to embrace 196,785 English square miles, with a population numbering 2,183,434 in 1880; since then there has been an increase of territory and population. The republic is divided (according to rearrangement of 1887) into 22 provinces, subdivided into 68 departments and 2 territories. Departments and territories are subdivided into 855 sub-legations and 3,068 districts.

In 1885 there were in Chile 1,262,640 males and 1,263,680 females. The average density between 24° and 44° is estimated at 160 per square mile, the rest of the country being very thinly peopled. At the last census (1885) the foreign population amounted to 87,077 persons, of whom 34,901 were Peruvians, 13,146 Bolivians, 9,835 Argentines, 6,808 Germans, 5,303 English, 4,198 French, 4,114 Italians, 2,508 Spanish, 1,275 Swiss, 1,164 Chinese, 924 Anglo-American, 674 Austrian, 434 Swedish and Norwegian, and the rest from other countries of Europe and of America. In 1886 there were 82,623 births and 82,529 deaths, giving a surplus of only 94. By the treaty (1881) with the Argentine Republic, the latter retains all Patagonia, except a small strip on the west coast and Magellan Straits, ceding to that country all except the eastern part of Tierra del Fuego. The following are the area and population

of the provinces and territories, according to the census of November 26, 1885, going from south to north :

The territory of Antofagasta was taken from Bolivia during the last war, and Tarapaca ceded by Peru in terms of the peace of Oct. 20, 1883. The Peruvian province of Tacna is to continue in the possession of Chile for ten years, at the end of which time a plébiscite is to decide to which country it shall belong.

The two largest towns of Chile are Santiago, the capital, and Valparaiso; the first of which had 200,000, and the second 105,000 inhabitants in 1885; other towns are Talca, 24,000; Concepcion, 24,000; Chillan, 21,000; Serena, 17,000; Iquique, 16,000; Tacna, 14,000; San Felipe, 12,000; Copiapó, 10,000; Curicó, 11,000; Angeles, 9,000; Quillotu, 9,000; Linares, 8,000; Cauquenes, 7,000; Angol, 7,000; Valdivia, 6,000.

* Created by law of March 12, 1887.

† Created a province by law of July 12, 1888.

Trade and Industry.

The imports in 1885 were 40,096,629 pesos, and in 1886 44,170,147, while the corresponding exports were 51,259,623, and 51,240,149 pesos.

The following table gives the leading imports and exports for 1886 and 1887:

The revenues from customs was in 1886 $23,370,862 and in 1887 $29,883,852.

The value of the nitre exported in 1886 was 19,230,047 pesos, in 1887. 28,690,970; of copper in 1886, 8,477,857 pesos, in 1887, 7,471,752; of silver in 1886, 6,570,585, in 1887, 8,293,597; of guano in 1886, 2,129,642, in 1887, 38,462; of iodine in 1886, 1,756,800, in 1887,771,960; of wheat in 1887, 5,663,333. The export transit trade in 1887 was valued at 3,163,539 pesos.

The trade of Chile was divided among the leading countries as follows in 1887: