mother-country, while in the jurisdiction of the latter their own customs and institutions are considered. The division of the whole population into two classes is a fundamental principle in the policy of the administration, and enacted in the code specifying the limits and conditions for legislation in Netherlands India. The GovernorGeneral is, however, in agreement with the Council, authorised to make individual exceptions on this rule.

Trade and Commerce.

The greater part of the trade of Dutch India is with the Netherlands, and the commercial intercourse with other countries is comparatively small. On the average of the three years 1880 to 1882, the total imports amounted in value to 150,000,000 guilders, or 12,500,000l., and the total exports to 180,000,000 guilders, or 15,000,000l. About two-thirds of the imports came from the Netherlands, and not far from three-fourths of the exports were shipped to the mother country. The principal foreign countries trading with Dutch India are Great Britain, France, the United States, and Germany.

The principal articles of export are sugar, coffee, rice, indigo, and tobacco. With the exception of rice, about one-half of which is shipped for Borneo and China, nearly four-fifths of these exports go to the Netherlands.

The subjoined table shows the value of the trade of Java with the United Kingdom in each of the five years 1879 to 1883:—

The chief and almost sole article of export from Java to the United Kingdom is sugar in an unrefined state. In the year 1879 the exports of sugar were of the value of 1,766,285l.; in 1880 of 2,226,2251.; in 1881 of 2,550,9897.; in 1882 of 3,579,1197.; and in 1883 of 3,879,9231. The staple article of British home produce imported is manufactured cotton, including cotton yarns, of the value of 1,574,8487., in the year 1883.

The whole of the exports to the Netherlands, on account of the Government, are carried by the 'Nederlandsche Handel Maat

schappij.' This trading society was established at Amsterdam in 1824, with a capital of 37,000,000 guilders, or upwards of three millions sterling, but which was subsequently reduced to 24,000,000 guilders, or 2,000,000l. The King of the Netherlands, Willem I., was one of the principal shareholders, and to create confidence in the company, he promised a guarantee of 4 per cent. per annum to his associates. His Majesty had to pay this interest from his own purse up to the year 1832, when the introduction of the 'culture system in Java laid the foundation for the prosperity of the company, which has since been uninterrupted. The capital to start and work the 'culture system' was advanced by the 'Nederlandsche Handel Maatschappij,' on an interest of 4 per cent. guaranteed by the State; and the company, at the same time, was appointed sole agent for buying and importing into Java all Government supplies, and for exporting the produce of the colony and selling it in Europe.

In 1882, 1,841 vessels of 1,581,874 tons entered, and 1,698 of 1,522,412 tons cleared, the various ports of Java.

At the end of 1882, the total length of railways opened for traffic was 707 kilomètres, or 442 Engl. miles, the total comprising a main line, 203 kilomètres long, from the port of Samarang, on the northern coast of the island, to Jokjokarta. There are also local

lines 25 miles in length.

A bill for the construction of a network of railways in Java, at the cost of the Government, was adopted in the session of 1875 by the States-General of the Netherlands, and the immediate execution of thein was ordered by royal decree of July 4, 1878. These state railways were designed partly for military purposes, and their management was vested in a special staff, under the Governor-General. The part in operation had at the end of 1883 a length of 268 miles.

There were 3,682 miles of telegraph lines in the Dutch Indies in 1882, with 84 offices; the number of messages was 412,837. There are 221 post-offices, the number of letters carried in 1882 being 4,729,655, and newspapers, samples, &c., for the interior 2,031,302.

British Consular Representative,

Consul at Batavia.-Alexander P. Cameron.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

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

The only legal coins, as well as weights and measures, of Dutch India are those of the Netherlands.

Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning Dutch India.

1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Koloniaal Verslag van 1884. 8. s'Gravenhage, 1884.

Jaarboek van het mijnwezen in Nederlandsch Oost-Indië. Uitgegeven op last van Z. Exc. den Minister van Koloniën. 1884. 8. Amsterdam, 1884. Naamregister van Nederlandsch-Indië voor 1884. Batavia, 1884.

Regeerings-Almanak voor Nederlandsch-Indië. 1884. 8. Batavia, 1884. Résumé van het onderzoek naar de rechten van den inlander op den grond op Java en Madoera. Batavia, 1880.

Statistiek van den Handel, de Scheepvaart en de inkomende en uitgaande Regten op Java en Madoera. 8. Batavia, 1884.

Statistiek van de Regtsbedeeling in N. Indië. Batavia, 1881.

Verslag over het jaar 1883, Samengesteld door de Kamer van koophandel en nijverheid te Batavia. 8. Batavia, 1883.

Report by Mr. Ward, British Secretary of Legation, on the progress of the Netherlands' East India possessions since 1857, dated January 17, 1863; in 'Reports of H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy and Legation.' No. VI. London, 1863.

Report by Mr. Fenton, on the Finances of the Dutch East Indian Possessions, in Reports of H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy and Legation.' Part III. 1882. Report by Mr. Fenton on the Finances of the Netherlands and Netherlands India, in Reports of H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy.' 1883.

Report by Mr. Consul Cameron on the trade, commerce, and general matters relating to Java for 1881, in 'Reports from H.M.'s Consuls.' XIV. London, 1882.

Part

Report by Mr. Consul Cameron on Java in 1882, in 'Reports of H.M.'s Consuls.' Part VI.

1883.

Report by Mr. Consul H. G. Kennedy on the province of Acheen in 1882, in Reports of H.M.'s Consuls.' Part IV. 1883.

Reports on Java, in Part VI. and on Sumatra in Part VII. of Reports of H.M.'s Consuls, 1884. London, 1884.

Trade of Java with Great Britain; in 'Annual Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdom for the year 1883.' Imp. 4. London, 1884.

2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Aardrijkskundig en statistisch woordenboek van Ned. Indië. Amsterdam,

1861.

Bickmore (H. S.), Travels in the East Indian Archipelago. 8. London, 1868. Bleeker (P.), Nieuwe bijdragen tot de kennis der bevolkingsstatistiek van Java. Uitgegeven door het koninklijk instituut voor taal-, land- en volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië. 8. s' Gravenhage, 1880.

De Jonge (Jhr. M. J. K. J.), De Opkomst van het Nederlandsch gezag over Java. IÏ.—VII. The Hague, 1869–75.

Deventer (JSz., S. van), Bijdragen tot de kennis van het Landelijk Stelsel op Java, op last van Z. Exc. den Minister van Kolonien J. D. Fransen van de Putte, bijeenverzameld. 8. Zalt-Bommel, 1865.

Goeverneur (J. J. A.), Nederlandsch Indië of de bewoners dezer streken, geschetst in tafereelen uit hun dagelijks leven, zeden en gebruiken. 8. Leiden, 1870.

Gorkom (van), De Oost-Indische Cultures in betrekking tot handel en nijverheid. Amsterdam, 1881.

Hellwald (Fr. Von), Das Colonialsystem der Niederländer in Ostindien. 8. Leipzig, 1873.

Hollander (Dr. J. J. de), Handleiding bij de beoefening van de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Ned. Indie. Breda, 1882.

De Louter, Handleiding tot de kennis van het staats- en administratiefrecht van Ned. Indie. s' Gravenhage, 1884.

Moens, de Kinacultuur in Asie van 1854-1882. Batavia, 1883.

Money (J. W. B.), Java, or, How to Manage a Colony; showing a practical solution of the questions now affecting British India. 2 vols. 8. London, 1861.

Müller (Joh.), Beschreibung der Insel Java. 8. Berlin, 1860.

Veth (Prof. P. J.), Java: Geographisch, Ethnologisch, Historisch. Haarlem. 3 vols. 1875-84.

Vliet (L. van Woudrichem van), Over Grondeigendom en heeredienstpligtigheid op Java. 8. Amsterdam, 1864.

Wallace (Alfred Russel), The Malay Archipelago 8. London, 1869. Wenzelburger (Theodor), Niederländisch-Ostindien. In 'Unsere Zeit.' Vol. IX. 8. Leipzig, 1873.

Wullings (H. E.), Neêrlandsch Indië, met een kort overzicht onzer bezittingen in andere werelddeelen. 8. Zalt-Bommel, 1870.

HONG KONG.

Constitution and Government.

THE Colony of Hong Kong, formerly an integral part of China, was ceded to Great Britain in January 1841; the cession was confirmed by the treaty of Nanking, in August 1842; and the charter bears date April 5, 1843. Hong Kong is a factory for British commerce with China and Japan, and a military and naval station of first class importance.

The administration of the colony is in the hands of a Governor, aided by an Executive Council, composed of the Colonial Secretary, the officer commanding the troops, the Attorney-General; the Treasurer; the Surveyor-General; and the Registrar-General. There is also a Legislative Council, presided over by the Governor, and composed of the Chief Justice, the Colonial Secretary, the Attorney-General, the Treasurer, the Surveyor-General, the Regis trar-General, and five unofficial members nominated by the Crown.

Governor of Hong Kong.—Sir George Ferguson Bowen, G.C.M.G.: born 1821; graduated at Trinity College, Oxford, 1844; admitted at Lincoln's Inn, 1844; Secretary of Government in the Ionian Islands, 1854-9; first Governor of Queensland, 1859-68; Governor of New Zealand, 1868-73; Governor of Victoria, 1873-79; Governor of Mauritius, 1879-83; assumed the Governorship of Hong Kong, March 30, 1883.

The Governor has a salary of 6,000l. per annum.

The occupation of Hong Kong at its outset was effected at considerable cost to Imperial funds, the vote from Parliament in the year 1845 being nearly 50,000l. in addition to military expenditure. The colony has paid its local establishments since 1855, since which year it has held generally a surplus of revenue over and above its fixed expenditure. Hong Kong at present pays 20,000l. a-year the British Government as military contribution.

The public revenue and expenditure of the colony were as follow: in each of the years from 1879 to 1883:

Years

Expenditure

1879

1880

1881

1882

1883

Revenue

£

£