ASIA. ADEN, PERIM, SOKOTRA, AND KURIA MURIA ISLANDS. ADEN is a volcanic peninsula on the Arabian coast, about 100 miles east of Bab-el-Mandeb. It forms an important coaling-station on the highway to the East, and is strongly fortified. The settlement includes Little Aden, a peninsula very similar to Aden itself, and the settlement and town of Shaikh Othman on the mainland with the villages of Imad, Hiswa, and Bir Jabir. In consequence of local disputes as to the boundary of the British area, an Anglo-Turkish commission was appointed in November, 1901, to demarcate the frontier. The settlement also includes the island of Perim at the entrance to the Red Sea, and is subject to the Bombay Government. The Government is administered by a Political Resident, who is also commander of the troops. The only Government revenue is from duty on liquor, opium, and salt; local taxes go to the Municipality. There is a Port Trust; the harbour is being dredged. Area 75 square miles, of Perim 5 square miles. Population, in 1901, 41,222 (28,180 males and 13,042 females), against 44,079 in 1891. Imports (19031904), by sea, 4,67,14,785 rupees; by land, 31,87,070 rupees; treasure 81,09,362, rupees. Exports, by sea, 3,74,96,390 rupees; by land, 11,88,859 rupees; treasure, 66,57,212 rupees. These statistics are exclusive of government stores and treasure. In 1903-1904, 1,369 merchant steamers of 2,842,997 tons (net) entered the port of Aden; of these, 857 were British ; local craft, 1,622, of 50,309 tons. At Perim 423 merchant vessels entered, of which 329 called for coal. Aden Chief exports: Coffee, gums, hides and skins, piece goods, tobacco. Chief imports: Cotton twist, piece goods, grain, hides and skins, tobacco. itself is non-productive, and the trade is a purely transhipment one, except that from the interior of Arabia. The island of Sokotra off the coast of Africa is under British protection, and the Kuria Muria islands, off the coast of Arabia, are attached to Aden. Area of former, 1,382 square miles. Population about 12,000, mostly pastoral and migratory inland, fishing on the coast. Religion, at one time Christian, Mohammedan since the end of the 17th century. The island came under British protection in 1876, by treaty with the Sultan. Chief products, dates and various gums; sheep, cattle, and goats are plentiful; butter is exported. The Kuria Muria Islands, five in number, were ceded by the Sultan of Muscat for the purpose of landing the Red Sea cable. The group is leased for the purpose of guano collection. REFERENCES.-Foreign Office Reports. Annual Series. London. Bent (J. Th.), Sokotra. In 'XIX Century' Magazine for June, 1897. Bent (J. Th. and Mrs.), Southern Arabia. London, 1900. Forbes (H. O.), The Natural History of Sokotra and Abd-el-Kuri. Liverpool, 1903. Kossmat (F.), Geologie der Inseln Sokotra, Semha, &c. Wien, 1902. BAHREIN ISLANDS. Group of islands in the Persian Gulf, 20 miles off the coast of El Hasa, in Arabia. Bahrein, the largest, is 27 miles long by 10 wide. Moharek, on the north of Bahrein, 4 miles long, mile wide. There are about half-adozen others, mere rocks. Manameh, the commercial capital, extends 3 miles along the shore; 25,000 inhabitants. The population is Mohammedan of the Sunni and Shiah sects. The seat of government is Moharek on the island of that name; population about 22,000. There are about 103 villages in the islands. The chief belongs to the ruling family of Al Kalifah; the present chief of Bahrein is Sheikh Esa, who owes the possession of his throne entirely to British protection, which was instituted in 1867. Sheikh Esa was again formally placed under British protection in 1870, when his rivals were deported to India. The great industry is pearl fishery, in which 900 boats, of from 8 to 40 men each, are engaged. In 1901, the pearl-fishing was unusually successful, and the export of pearls was the largest on record. The Bahrein Islands also produce dates and the remarkably fine breed of donkeys which are well known all over the Persian Gulf and Arabia. Sail cloth is also manufactured very extensively, and the reed mats of Bahrein are famous. In 1902 the values were: imports, 888,0417., exports, 736,9217. ; in 1903, imports, 1,027,5647.; exports, 865, 3347. The chief imports in 1903 were: cattle, 8.2007.; coffee, 24,495.; cottons, 60,7251.; dates, 28,8377.; grain and pulse, 154,9707.; pearls, 302,000l.; and specie, 286,3177. The chief exports were: coffee, 8,2381.; cottons, 21,9767.; dates, 22,7621.; grain and pulse, 41,9027.; pearls, 685,0207.; shells, 15,7467. ; and specie, 30,6367. The prohibition against the increasing trade in rifles and ammunition which was carried on with Persia has now been enforced by the Persian Government. Of the imports in 1903, 56 57 per cent. in value were from the British Empire; 33 72 per cent. from Turkey; and 5·14 per cent. from Persian ports. Of the exports, 82:46 per cent. in value were sent to the British Empire; 12.3 per cent. to Turkey; and 2:04 per cent. to Persian ports. In 1903, 99 British vessels of 107,586 tons entered the port of Bahrein. Coins in use are Indian rupees worth 16d., Austrian dollars worth from 19d. to 22d., and Turkish lire worth from 18s. 4d. to 19s. 4d. according to the rate of exchange. The measure employed in the bazaars is a yard of 18 inches. The weights are: the miscal shirazi of 72 grains; the miscal bar of 720 grains; the rubaa of 4 114 lbs. avoir.; the man of 576 lbs. avoir. ; and the refaa of 576 lbs. avoir. Political Resident, Persian Gulf (Bushire).—Major P. Z. Cox. C.I.E. Foreign Office Reports. Annual series. London. Bent (J. Th.), The Bahrein Islands in the Persian Gulf. Proc. R. G. Soc. (N. S. xii. 1. 8. London, 1890.) BORNEO (BRITISH). British North Borneo.-Acting Governor.-Edward Peregrine Gueritz. Consular Agent at Sandakan.-W. G. Darby. The territory of British North Borneo is a territory occupying the northern part of the island of Borneo. The interior is mountainous, Mount Kina Balu being 13,700 feet high, but most of the surface is jungle. Area, about 34,000 square miles, with a coast-line of over 900 miles. Population, 200,000, consisting mainly of Muhammadan settlers on the coast and aboriginal tribes inland, with some Chinese traders and artisans. Chief towns, Sandakan (population 6,000), on the east coast, and Jesselton, on the west coast. The territory is under the jurisdiction of the British North Borneo Company, being held under grants from the Sultans of Brunei and Sulu. The rights of the Company were confirmed by Royal Charter in 1882, and the territory is administered by a Governor in Borneo and a Court of Directors in London, appointed under the Charter. On May 12, 1888, the British Government proclaimed a formal protectorate over the State of North Borneo. The appointment of the Governor is subject to the approval of the Secretary of State. In 1898 certain border lands were acquired from the Sultan of Brunei, and more recently certain inland territories have been occupied. For administrative purposes the whole district is divided into nine provinces. In December, 1904, an area of about 200 square miles was transferred to Sarawak in exchange for rights over coal mines on Brunei Bay. A very large area of land has been alienated by the Government on leases for tobacco planting, tapioca, sago, cocoa-nuts, and coffee. There are 12 estates planting tobacco. Protestant and Catholic missions are established at Sandakan, Jesselton, and Kudat, and Roman Catholic missions in several places on the west coast. The laws are based on the Indian penal, criminal, and civil procedure codes, and local proclamations and ordinances. There is an Imaum's Court for Muhammadan law. The native military force contains 500 men under European officers. Dollars Dollars 546,129 587,226 568,347 1,316,055 1,337,159 1,693,137 1,978,654 3,439,560 3,336,621 3,382,387 3,283,447 4,212,151 2,456,998 3,178,929 3,262,763 3,807,621 3,229,310 Dollars 655,569 Dollars 824,152 Dollars 906,310 The revenue includes sums realised by land sales, and the expenditure from 1900 and onwards included sums spent on capital account for railways and telegraphs. Sources of revenue: Opium, spirit farms, birds'-nests, court fees, stamp duty, licences, import duties, royalties, land sales, &c. No public debt. Import duties are mostly either 5 or 10 per cent. ad valorem; on sugar, tobacco, spirituous liquors, and some other articles there are specific duties; machinery, rice, living animals, fresh meat and a few other imports are free. Most of the trade is carried on through Singapore and Hong Kong with Great Britain and the colonies. The chief products are timber, sago, rice, gums, coffee, many fruits, nutmegs, cinnamon, pepper, gambier, guttapercha, rubber, camphor, rattans, tapioca, sweet potatoes, and tobacco, which is being planted on a large scale. Coal, iron, gold, and mineral oil have been found. The exports comprise the products mentioned, with birds' nests, seed pearls, bêche-de-mer, &c. Exports of leaf tobacco in 1901, valued at 171,0637.; 1902, 163,0627.; 1903, 231,3617. Shipping entered (1902) 108,543 tons; cleared, 110,234 tons; 1903, entered 159,890 tons, cleared 159,192 tons, mostly under the German flag (North German Lloyd). A railway runs from Brunei Bay into the interior, and from there to Jesselton on Gaya Bay, the whole length being 110 miles. Borneo is now connected by cable with the outer world by a branch of the cable between Labuan and Singapore. A telegraph line has been constructed from Menumbok, where the cable reaches land, to Sandakan, where there is also a telephone exchange. There is a separate line from Beaufort along the railway to Jesselton and thence to Kudat; also a line from Darvel Bay to Sandakan. At Sandakan there are agencies of the Chartered Bank of India, Australia, and China, and of the National Bank of China, and the North Borneo Company transacts banking business. The Government issues its own copper coinage (cents and half-cents); nickel coinage of 24 and 5 cents; also notes of one, five, ten, and twenty-five dollars, and of 25 and 50 cents to the extent of 400,000 dollars. Accounts are kept in dollar currency. Brunei and Sarawak.-In 1888 the neighbouring territories on the north-west coast of Borneo, Brunei and Sarawak, were placed under British protection. Brunei is under a Sultan, Hassin Jalud Alam Akamadin, who is assisted in the Government by certain chiefs. The area is about 4,000 miles, and population about 10,000 of various origin. The chief town, where the Sultan lives, is built over the water on one of the upper reaches of the Brunei river. The revenue is small and there is little trade. A cutch factory was erected in 1900 by a London syndicate. The chief exports are cutch and sago. Brooketown, a settlement opposite Labuan, is a portion of Brunei, leased, with a coal-mining monop ly, to the Rajah of Sarawak. Sarawak has an area of about 50,000 square miles, with a coast line of about 400 miles, and has many rivers navigable for considerable distances inland. The government of part of the present territory was obtained in 1842 by Sir James Brooke from the Sultan of Brunei. Various accessions were made between 1861 and 1885, and the Limbang River district was annexed in 1890. The Rajah, H. H. Sir Charles Johnson Brooke, nephew of the late Rajah, born June 3, 1829, succeeded in 1868. The popu lation is about 600,000, consisting of native races, Malays, Dyaks, Kayans, Kenyahs, and Muruts, with Chinese and other settlers. The chief towns are the capital, Kuching, about 23 miles inland, on the Sarawak River, and Sibu, 90 miles up the Rejang River, which is navigable by large steamers. At Kuching are Church of England and Catholic missions with schools. The revenue is derived chiefly from the opium, gambling, arrack and pawn farms, exemption tax payable by Malays, and from Dyak and Kayan revenue. There are import duties on tobacco, salt, kerosine oil, wines, and spirits; export duties on sago, gambier, pepper, all jungle produce, dried fish, &c. revenue in 1903 was 1,391,612 dollars, and the expenditure 1,277,558 dollars; in 1902, revenue, 1,192,039 dollars; expenditure, 1:139,287 dollars. The produce in general resembles that of North Borneo. Coal exists in large quantities, as well as gold, silver, diamonds, antimony, and quicksilver. In 1903, in the foreign trade, the imports amounted to 5,849,629 dollars, and the exports, 7,512,440 dollars. The exports included gold, 1,784,600 dollars, and pepper, 2,733,301 dollars. There are military and police forces, the former consisting of 500 Dyaks under an English army officer. Round Kuching are about 45 miles of roads besides bridle paths. The Government offices have a telephone system extending over Kuching and Upper Sarawak, but no telegraph. The British Consul for Brunei, Sarawak, and British North Borneo.-Vacant. Books of Reference concerning Borneo. Handbook to British North Borneo. London, 1890. British North Borneo Herald [fortnightly newspaper, contains Government reports) Sandakan. Beccari (0.), Nelle Foreste di Borneo. Florence, 1902. (Eng. Trans. Wanderings in the Great Forests of Borneo. London, 1904.) Breitenstein (H.), Ein und zwanzig Jahre in Indien. P. and I. Borneo, 1899. Colonial Office List. Annual. London. Boyle (Frederiek), Adventures among the Dyaks of Borneo. 8. London, 1860. Clutterbuck (W. J.), About Ceylon and Borneo. 6. London, 1891. Codrington (B. H.), The Melanesians, their Anthropology and Folklore. London, 1856, Hatton (Frank), North Borneo. 8. London, 1886. Hation (Joseph), The New Ceylon, a Sketch of British North Borneo, & London, 1880, Low (Sir H.), Residence in Sarawak. London. Posewitz (Th.), Borneo: Its Geology and Mineral Resources. [Translation.] S. London, 1892. Pryer (Mrs. W. B.), A Decade in Borneo. 8. London. 1894. Roth (H. Ling), The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo. 2 vols. London, 1896 St. John (Sir S), Life in the Forests of the Far East. 2 vols. London, 1862.-Life of Sir Charles Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak. 8. London, 1879.-Rajah Brooke. London, 1899. Wallace (A. R.), The Malay Archipelago. London, 1869. Whitehead (J.) Exploration of Mount Kina Balu, North Borneo. London, 1893. CEYLON. Constitution and Government. THE island of Ceylon was first settled in 1505 by the Portuguese, who established colonies in the west and south, which were taken from them about the middle of the next century by the Dutch. In 1795-96 the British Government took possession of the foreign settlements in the island, which were annexed to the Presidency of Madras; but in 1798 Ceylon was erected into a separate colony. In 1815 war was declared against the native Government of the interior, and the whole island fell under British rule. The present form of government (representative) of Ceylon was established by Letters Patent of April 1831, and supplementary orders of March 1833. According to the terms of this Constitution, the administration is in the hands of a Governor, aided by an Executive Council of five members-viz. the Lieut.Governor and Colonial Secretary, the Officer commanding the Troops, the Attorney-General, the Auditor-General, and the Treasurer; and a Legislative Council of 17 members, including the members of the Executive Council, four other office-holders, and eight unofficial members, representative of different races and classes in the community. Governor-Sir Henry Arthur Blake, G.C.M.G. Appointed October, 1903. Has been successively Governor of the Bahamas, of Newfoundland, of Jamaica, and of Hong Kong. The Governor has a salary of 96,000 rupees, and the Colonial Secretary, 24,000 rupees. For purposes of general administration, the island is divided into nine provinces, presided over by Government Agents, who, with their assistants and subordinate headmen, are the channel of communication between the Government and the people. There are three municipalities and eighteen local boards mainly for sanitary purposes. Area and Population. At the decennial census held on March 1, 1901, the total population was 3,578,333, an increase of 18.8 per cent. on the population enumerated at the census of 1891. The estimated population was 3,740,562 at the end of 1903. The following table gives the area and population (including the immigrant population on the tea estates, the military, the shipping, and the Boer prisoners of war) of the provinces of Ceylon, according to the census of 1901: |