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.

Estadistica Mercantil. 8. Caracas, 1880.

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 2, 1878; in Reports by H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy and Legation.' Part I. 1879. 8. London, 1879.

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.

Report by Mr. Robert Bunch on the Foreign Trade and on the Gold Mines of Venezuela, dated Caracas, May 10, 1880; in Reports of H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy and Legation.' Part IV. 1880. 8. London, 1880.

4.

Trade of Venezuela with Great Britain; in 'Annual Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries for the year 1880.' London, 1881.

2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Appun (C. F.), Unter den Tropen. Vol. I. Venezuela. S. 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), Mappa 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.

Governor-General of Algeria.-M. Louis Tirman, Conseiller d'etat, and formerly Prefect of the Bouches du Rhone. Appointed November 26, 1881.

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 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 1882, the revenue of Algeria was estimated at 26,990,100 francs, and the total expenditure at 29,974,599 francs.

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.

6

Population, Trade, and Industry.

.

The boundaries of Algeria are not very well defined, large portions 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 430,000 square kilomètres, or 165,500 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 1880 the civil territory had been increased to 738,388 square kilomètres, with a population of 1,884,124. The French settlers then numbered 198,092, and English 6,513.

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 eight from 1872 to 1879:

years

:

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 1876 to 1880:

The most important article of export to Great Britain in 1880 was 'Esparto grass, for making paper, of the value of 421,343., and barley of the value of 119,4987. Among the other exports of 1880 were iron ore, of the value of 86,8841., and zinc ore, of the value of 49,660l. The British imports consist principally of cotton fabrics and coals, the former of the value of 150,2647., and the latter of 39,2597. in the year 1880.

At the end of the year 1880 there were 1,153 kilomètres, or 714 English miles, of railways open for traffic in Algeria. This does not include the prolongation of the line from Bone to the frontier station at Guelma, into the territory of Tunis.

The telegraph of Algeria, including branches into Tunis, consisted, at the end of 1878, of 5,850 miles of line, and 9,860 miles

of wire. The 'réseau algéro-tunésien' of telegraphs is worked by a private company subventioned by the French Government and the Bey of Tunis.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

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

The money, weights, and measures of France are in general use among the settled population in the towns.

Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning Algeria, 1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Annuaire administratif de l'Algérie. 16. Alger, 1881.

Annuaire général de l'Algérie, sur des documents officiels. 8. Paris, 1881. Etat actuel de l'Algérie, publié d'après les documents officiels sous la direction du direct. général des services civils. 8. Paris, 1881.

Statistique générale de l'Algérie. 8. Paris, 1878-81.

Tableau de la situation des établissements français. 4. Paris, 1881. Report by Consul-General Lieut.-Colonel R. L. Playfair, on the trade and agriculture of Algeria, for the years 1868-69; in Commercial Reports received at the Foreign Office.' No. III. 1870. 8. London, 1870.

Report by Consul-General Lieut.-Colonel R. L. Playfair, on the general condition and trade of Algeria, in the years 1869, 1870, and 1871; dated Algiers, Feb. 1, 1872; in Reports from H.M.'s Consuls.' No. I. 1872. London, 1872.

Reports by Consul-General Lieut.-Colonel Playfair on the trade and commerce of Algeria, for the years 1874 and 1875, dated Algiers, Oct. 22 and Dec. 3, 1875; in 'Reports from H.M.'s Consuls.' Part I. 1876. 8. London, 1876.

Report of a Consular Tour made by Consul-General Lieut. Col. Playfair, during March and April 1876; in 'Reports from H.M.'s Consuls.' Part V. 1876. 8. London, 1876.

Reports by Mr. Consul-General Playfair on the trade and agriculture of Algeria; dated May 9, 1877; in Reports from H.M.'s Consuls. Part III, 1877. 8. London, 1877.