A Crown colony on the Caribbean Sea, south of Yucatan, and 660 miles west from Jamaica, noted for its production of mahogany and logwood. Area, 7,562 square miles. Population in 1891 31,471; estimated in 1897 at 34,277 (white 462, coloured 33,815). Births (1897) 1,410; deaths, 1,013; marriages, 309. Schools (1897), 46; children enrolled, 3,693; Government grant, 14,162 dollars.

Chief sources of revenue: Customs duties (166,618 dollars in 1897); excise, licenses, land-tax, &c.; also sale and letting of Crown lands. Expenditure mainly administrative and the various services. Debt 168,815 dollars in 1896.

Value of imports subject to duty (1896), 1,060,065 dollars; duty free, 362,032 dollars. Chief exports, mahogany (6,777,382 superficial feet in 1897), logwood, fruit (chiefly to New Orleans), sugar. The transit trade somewhat increases the traffic of the ports, especially in india-rubber, sarsaparilla, coffee, &c. Besides the staple products, mahogany and logwood, there are coffee, bananas, plantains, coco-nuts, &c. The higher parts afford good pasturage for cattle. Exports to United Kingdom in 1897, 769,867 dollars; imports from the United Kingdom, 486,463 dollars.

In 1897 641 vessels of 194, 144 tons entered, and 633 of 196,189 tons cleared. British vessels, 249 of 79,802 tons entered, and 249 of 80,231 tons cleared. The registered shipping of the colony in 1898 consisted of 220 sailing vessels of 4,906 tons and 5 steamers of 748 tons; total tonnage, 5, 654.

Savings banks at Belize with five branches-deposits, 23,464 dollars, December 31, 1897. United States gold was adopted as the standard of currency on October 15, 1894. There is (1896) a paper currency of 118,973 dollars in Government notes and a subsidiary silver coinage of 200,000 dollars in circulation.

REFERENCES: Colonial Reports. Annual. London.

Bristowe (L. W.) and Wright (P. B.), Handbook of British Honduras. S. Annual. Edinburgh.

Bellamy (J.), Expedition to the Cockscomb Mountains, British Honduras.

R G. Soc. (N.S.) XI. 542. 8. London, 1889.

Gibbs (A. R.), History of British Honduras. London, 1883.

Morris (D.), The Colony of British Honduras. 16. London, 1883.

In Proc.

Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Montserrat, Nevis. See WEST INDIES.

NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR.

Governor.-Sir Henry Edward McCallum, R. E., K. C. M. G., appointed 1898; salary 7,000 dollars.

Newfoundland is an island at the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, between 46° 37′ and 51° 39′ N., 52° 35′ and 59° 25′ W.; and Labrador, its dependency, is the most easterly part of the continent of North America.

R

On December 31, 1896, the registered shipping of Canada, including vessels for inland navigation, comprised (according to Board of Trade statistics) 1,755 steamers of 145,900 tons net, and 4,824 sailing vessels of 562,254 tons net; total 6,579 vessels of 708,154 tons net. The tonnage that entered and cleared during the year 1897 at Canadian ports was as follows:

Canada has a system of canal, river, and lake navigation over 2,700 miles in length, and vessels from the lake ports reach the Atlantic without breaking bulk. Up to 1897, 71,750,000 dollars had been spent on canals for construction alone. In 1896, 25,622 vessels, of 4,677,826 tons, passed through the Canadian canals, carrying 151,342 passengers and 3,413,674 tons of freight, chiefly grain, timber, and coal.

The Dominion of Canada had a network of railways of a total length of 16,687 miles completed at the end of June 1897, being an increase of 300 miles over that of 1896. The number of miles in operation was 16,550. The Canadian Pacific Railway main line from Montreal to Vancouver is 2,906 miles in length. By means of this railway and a line of Pacific steamers subsidised by the Imperial and Dominion Governments, Montreal and Yokohama have been brought within 14 days of one another. There is a monthly steam service between Australia and British Columbia, for which the Dominion Government gives 25,000l. a year and the Australian 12,000l. a year.

The traffic on Canadian railways in the last two years was :

In 1897, of the capital paid up, 149,939,386 dollars represented Federal Government aid, and 46,782,254 dollars aid from Provincial Governments and Municipalities.

The number of electric railways in Canada in 1897 was 35, with a mileage of 535; the number of passengers carried during the year was 83,811,306; the total paid up capital was 18,727,355 dollars, and the bonded debt, 9,894,452 dollars.

On June 30, 1897, there were 9,191 post offices in the Dominion. During the year ended on the foregoing date the number of letters sent through the post-office was 123,830,000, of postcards 26,140,000, of newspapers, books, &c., 26,640,000, and of parcels 369,570. Newspapers sent from the office of publication are carried free. Their number in 1897 was estimated at upwards of 74,319,976. The letters and postcards posted amounted to 28.88 per head, and the other articles to 19 54 per head. Revenue, 4,311,243 dollars; expenditure, 4,897,783 dollars. A uniform rate of postage of three cents has been established over the whole Dominion. The number of money order offices in Canada in 1897 was 1,349 and of orders issued 1,162,209, their value having been 13,081,860 dollars.

There were 29,318 miles (2,786 being Government) of telegraph lines in Canada in 1897 and 70,761 miles of wire, with 2,572 offices, and the number of messages sent, as nearly as could be ascertained, 4,313,925. There were in 1894, 44,000 miles of telephone wire, and 33,500 sets of instruments; 72,500,000 messages were sent. The returns for 1897 do not vary greatly

from those of 1894.

Money and Credit.

The Bank Acts of Canada impose stringent conditions as to capital, notes in circulation, limit of dividend, returns to the Dominion Government, and other points in all chartered and incorporated banks. In making payments every bank is compelled if required to pay a certain proportion in Dominion Government notes, and must hold not less than 40 per cent. of its cash reserve in Dominion Government notes. In 1897 there were 37 incorporated banks making returns to the Government, with 575 branches all over the Dominion. The following are some particulars of the banks :

1888

1893

1894

1895

1896

1897

Dollars Dollars Dollars Dollars Dollars
60,168,010 30,444,643 128,725,529 166,344,852 244,975,223
61,954,314 33,483,413 174,320,991 219,666,666 304,363,580
62,063,371 31,166,003 181,743,890 221,066,724 307,520,020
61,800,700 30,807,041 190,916,939 229,794,322 316,536,527
62,043,175 31,456,297 193,616,049 232,338,086 320,937,643
62,027,703 34,350,118 211,788,096 252,660,708 341,163,505

67.90

72.17

71.87

72.50

72.39

74.06

Post-office savings-banks under charge of the Government have been in operation in Canada since 1868; there are also Government savings-banks, under the management of the Finance Department, in the Maritime Provinces, Manitoba, and British Columbia. In 1897 there were 779 offices of the former and 28 of the latter. In 1897 the post-office savings-banks had 135,737 depositors and 32,380,829 dollars on deposit. The following is a statement of the transactions of the post-office and Government savings-banks for two years in dollars :

:

The deposits in special savings-banks amounted in 1896 to 14,459,833 dollars, and in 1897 to 15,025,564 dollars.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

The Dollar of 100 cents. The value of the money of the United Kingdom is fixed by law as follows:-The sovereign, 486 dollars; the crown piece, 12 dollars; and the half-crown, the florin, the shilling, and the sixpence at proportionate values. Canada has no gold coinage of its own, but the English sovereign and the United States gold eagle of 10 dollars, with its multiples and halves, are legal. Notes are issued exclusively by the Government for 4, 2, and 1 dollar, and 25 cents; no bank being allowed to issue notes for a less sum than 5 dollars.

The legal weights and measures are the Imperial yard, Imperial pound avoirdupois, Imperial gallon, and the Imperial bushel. By Act 42 Vict. cap. 16, the hundredweight was declared to be 100 pounds and the ton 2,000 pounds avoirdupois, as in the United States.

High Commissioner for the Dominion of Canada in Great Britain.Rt. Hon. Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal, G. C. M.G. Secretary.-Joseph G. Colmer, C.M.G.

Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning Canada and British North America.

1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Annual Reports of the various Government Departments, Ottawa.

Census of Canada, 1891. Ottawa.

Estimates of Canada for the fiscal year ending June 30. Annual. Ottawa.
Fisheries Statements. Annual. Ottawa.

General Report of the Minister of Public Works from June 30, 1867, to July 1, 1885. With Maps. Ottawa, 1887.

Public Accounts of Canada, for the fiscal year ended June 30. Annual. Ottawa.
Report of the Department of the Interior. Annual. Ottawa.

Reports on Canadian Archives, by Douglas Brymner, LL.D., F.R.S.C.

Report of the Auditor-General on Appropriation Accounts for the year ending June 30. Annual. Ottawa.

Report on the State of the Militia. Annual. Ottawa.
Reports (Annual) of the Geological Survey of Canada.

Ottawa.

Report on the Forest Wealth of Canada, by George Johnson, F.S.S. (hon.) Ottawa,

Report, Returns, and Statistics of the Inland Revenues of the Dominion of Canada, for the fiscal year ending June 30. Annual. Ottawa.

Statistical Year Book of Canada, prepared by George Johnson, F.S.S. (hon.), Government Statistician. Ottawa, 1898.

Statistical Abstract for the several Colonial and other Possessions of the United Kingdom. Annual. London.

Tables of the Trade and Navigation of the Dominion of Canada, for the fiscal year ending June 30. Annual. Ottawa.

Annual Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdoin with Foreign Countries and British Possessions. Imp. 4. London.

2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Adam (G. M. The Canadian North-West: its History and its Troubles, with the Narrative of Three Insurrections. Toronto, 1885.

Baedeker's Handbook for Canada. 8. Leipzig, 1894.

Bourinot (J. G.), Manual of the Constitutional History of Canada. 8. Montreal, 1888. How Canada is governed. 8. London, 1895. Historical and Descriptive Account of Cape Breton. 4. Montreal, 1892. Canada. [In 'Story of the Nations' Series]. 8. London, 1896. Bryce (G.), Manitoba: its Infancy, Growth, and Present Position. London, 1882. Canadian Almanack for 1898. 8. Toronto, 1897.

Chalmers (R.), A History of Currency in the British Colonies. London, 1893.
Chapais (J. C.), Guide Illustré du Sylviculture Canadien.

Montreal, 1883.

Chapleau (Hon. J. A.), Report on the Constitution of the Dominion of Canada. Ottawa, 1891.-Constitution and Government of Canada. 16. Montreal, 1894.

Colmer (J. G.), Recent Developments in Canada. London, 1887.
Cumberland (Stuart), The Queen's Highway. 2nd ed., London, 1888.

Dawson (S. E.), North America. Vol. I. [In Stanford's Compendium of Geography and Travel.] London, 1897.

Dilke (Sir Charles), Problems of Greater Britain. London, 1890.

Edgar (J. D.), Canada and its Capital. London, 1898.

Faillion (Abbé), Histoire de la Colonie française en Canada. 2 vols. Fol. Montreal, 1865. Gagnon (P.), Essai de Bibliographie canadienne. Quebec, 1895.

Garland (N. S.), Banks, Bankers, and Banking, and Financial Directory of Canada. 2nd ed., Ottawa, 1895.

Garneau (F. X.), Histoire du Canada depuis sa découverte jusqu'à nos jours. Montreal,

1882.

Gemmel (J. A.), The Canadian Parliamentary Companion for 1898.

Glossop (Lady Howard of), Journal of a Tour in Canada, the United States and Mexico. London, 1897.

Gosnell (R. E.), Year Book of British Columbia. London, 1898.
Grant (Very Rev. Principal), Picturesque Canada.

2 vols. Toronto, 1884.

Greswell (W. P.), History of the Dominion of Canada. London.-Geography of the Dominion of Canada. London, 1891.

Hopkins (J. C.), Canada: an Encyclopædia, 1897.

Johnson (G.), Alphabet of First Things: a Ready Reference Book of Canadian Events. Ottawa, 1897.

Kingsford (W.), History of Canada. 10 vols. London, 1887-98.

Langtry (J.) History of the Church of England in Eastern Canada. London. 1892.
Legge (A. O.), Sunny Manitoba, its Peoples and its Industries. London, 1893.
Leonard (J. W.), The Gold Fields of Klondyke. London, 1897.

Maclennan (W.), Montreal and some of the Makers thereof. Montreal, 1893.

Macpherson (Lieut.-Col. J. P.), Life of Sir John A. Macdonald, G.C.B. Toronto, 1892. Mockridge (Canon), The Bishops of the Church of England in Canada and Newfoundland. Toronto, 1897.

Morgan (H. J.), Bibliotheca Canadensis. Ottawa, 1898.-Canadian Men and Women of the Time. Ottawa, 1898,

Munro (J. E. C.), The Constitution of Canada. 8. Cambridge, 1889.

Newton (W.), Twenty Years on the Saskatchewan, North-west Canada. London, 1897. Parkin (G. R.), The Great Dominion. London, 1895.

Parkman (F.) Pioneers of France in the New World, 1512-1635. 23rd ed. London, 1885. ---The Old Régime in Canada, 1653-1763. 14th ed. London, 1885.-Montcalm and Wolfe, 1710-1763. 6th ed. 2 vols. London, 1885.-The Jesuits in North America in the 17th Century. 20th ed. London, 1885.-Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV. London, 1885.

Pike (Warburton), The Barren Grounds of Northern Canada. 8. London, 1896.-Through the Sub-Arctic Forest. [British Columbia and Alaska.] London, 1896. Pope (J.), Memoirs of the Rt. Hon. Sir J. A. Macdonald. 2 vols. London, 1894. Rae (W. Fraser), Columbia and Canada. 8. London, 1878. Newfoundland to Manitoba. London, 1881.