III. OCCUPATIONS OF THE POPULATION. The following table shows, in thousands, for 1891, the distribution of the total population, male and female, according to the occupations by which they live, whether as workers or dependents : The registration of vital statistics among the general population is still very imperfect. The following table shows for 1896 the mean ratio of births and deaths per thousand of the population for the provinces of British India as officially recorded. It is admitted by the local authorities that the returns for more than one are defective : The number of coolie emigrants from India in 1889 was 15,706; in 1890, 18,298; in 1891, 17,185; in 1892, 13,751; in 1893, 12,636; in 1894, 17,932; in 1895, 13, 103; and in 1896, 12,390. The bulk of these emigrants go to British Colonies, mainly to Demerara, Trinidad, and Mauritius. V. PRINCIPAL TOWNS. There are in India 75 towns with over 50,000 inhabitants, as follows, according to the results of the census of 1891 :— After these towns there are 40 of between 35,000 and 50,000 inhabitants, and 109 between 20,000 and 35,000. Of the so-called villages, as many as 343,052 in 1891, contained less than 200 inhabitants each; and 222,996 con. tained a population varying between 200 and 500. Religion. The most prevalent religion in India is that of the Hindus, their number being nearly three-fourths of the total population; together with the Muhammadans, who number 57,321,164, they comprise over 92 per cent. of the whole community. The Buddhists are mostly in Burma, as will be seen from the following table, which also shows that the number of Christians is a little over 2,250,000 ;— The following Table shows the Distribution of the Population of India according to Religion, at the 6,888,075 1,036 198 74,265 2,683 71 1 16,844 5 969,765 25 192,484 1,447 2,753,061 11,430 542,358 1,359 2 137,108 N.W. P.1 40,951,803 11,348 84,803 1,494 342 6,589,183 58,518 60 25 47,697,576 Punjab1. 10,237,700 1,870,481 45,683 6,236 412 12,915,643 53,909 33 30 25,130,127 Quetta, &c. 11,699 1,129 39 11,368 3,008 23 4 27,270 Of the Christians enumerated above (2,284,380) the following are the chief sub-divisions as given in the official returns : The following statistics are those of the census of 1891 : In 1896-97 the total expenditure on public instruction in India was Rx. 3,524,490, against Rx. 67,100 in 1865, and Rx. 39,400 in 1858. Of the sum spent in 1896-97, Rx. 574,715 came from local rates and cesses; Rx. 149,672 from municipal funds; Rx. 786,711 from subscriptions, endow. ments, &c.; Rx. 1,061,093 from fees; and Rx. 952, 299 from provincial revenues. The following was the educational expenditure (in tens of rupees) for five years: At the head of the national system of education in India there are the five Universities of Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Allahábád, and the Punjab, which, though merely examining bodies, have numerous affiliated colleges in which a prescribed higher education is given than at the schools. Normal schools have been established in every province for training teachers; and a staff of inspecting officers visit all schools on the departmental lists. Medical colleges furnish a limited number of graduates and a larger number of certificated practitioners who do duty at hospitals and dispensaries, or serve in the military medical department. Engineering and other technical schools have also increased, and there are a few art schools. The following table shows the number of students who matriculated at the five Universities for the years quoted : The following table embraces the principal statistics compiled up to 31st March, 1897, as to the number of the various classes of schools and the pupils: Of the total number of educational institutions in India (viz., 152,025), 22,286 are public, 63,955 are aided, and 65,784 are private and unaided. Since the appointment of a commission, in 1883, to investigate the whole. system of education in India, the results have been to place public instruction on a broader and more popular basis, to encourage private enterprise in teaching, to give a more adequate recognition to indigenous schools, and to provide that the education of the people shall advance at a more equal pace along with the instruction of the higher classes. Female education and the instruction of certain backward classes of the community, such as Muhammadans, received special attention. Notwithstanding the progress of education, the proportion of the total population able to read and write is still very small. It is estimated that in British India only 22.29 per cent. of the boys of a school-going age attend school; the percentage in the case of girls being 2.34. In 1896 there were 598 vernacular newspapers published regularly in 17 different languages. Only one daily vernacular newspaper circulates as many as 5,000 copies, only one weekly as many as 20,000. During the year, 7,185 books and magazines appeared, about seventeen-twentieths being in native languages. Justice and Crime. The Presidencies of Madras and Bombay, and the Lieutenant-Governorships of Bengal and the N. W. Provinces have each a high court, supreme both in civil and criminal business, but with an ultimate appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in England. Of the minor provinces, the Punjab has a chief court, with five judges; the Central Provinces, Oudh and Sind, have each one judicial commissioner. Burma has a judicial commissioner and a recorder. For Assam, the high court at Calcutta is the highest judicial authority, except in the three hill districts, where the chief commissioner of Assam is judge without appeal in civil and criminal cases. In each district the collector-magistrate' is judge both of first instance and appeal. Appellate and original jurisdiction is exercised in the superior courts by about 450 judges. During 1890, about 5,600 magistrates, of whom one-half |