affiliated colleges, viz:-Otago University at Dunedin, with 8 professorial chairs and 4 lectureships; Canterbury College at Christchurch, with 6 professorial chairs and 1 lectureship; and University College at Auckland, with 4 professorial chairs. There are (December 1884) 25 incorporated or endowed secondary schools, with 121 teachers and 2,577 pupils. The colonial primary school system is administered by an education department under a minister, 13 education boards, and 840 school committees. There are 987 public primary schools with 2,447 teachers, and 97,238 pupils; 265 private schools with 614 teachers and 12,203 scholars; 10 reformatory schools and orphanages with 1,613 children, of whom 834 were in residence and 392 boarded out with foster parents; 71 native schools, with 123 teachers and 2,391 scholars; and a deaf and dumb institution with 4 teachers and 36 pupils. In 1884-85 the amount expended from the Colonial Treasury on education of all kinds was 416,1271. The Otago and Canterbury University Colleges are munificently endowed. Education is obligatory, and at the public primary schools is free and secular.

In 1881 the proportion above five years who could not read nor write (exclusive of Maoris and Chinese) was 7.91.

Revenue and Expenditure.

The revenue of the colony may be divided into ordinary and territorial revenues. The chief source of the ordinary revenue is from customs receipts on imports, 1,411,1027. in 1884-5; receipts from railways, 1,050,7427.; stamps, 510,018., property tax, 145,3791., telegraphs, 95,7871., and excise on beer, 55,7147. All property in excess of 5001. held by one person is subject to property tax. The average per head of taxation in 1884 was 3/. 78. 7d. (exclusive of Maories). The territorial revenue includes receipts from sales of crown lands, from depasturing licenses and assessments, and also from mining licenses and the duty on gold obtained in (viz. by mining or digging) the colony. The following table exhibits the ordinary and territorial revenues of the colony for the past five financial periods :

According to official statement, in the financial period ending March 31, 1880, the expenditure, exclusive of that out of loans, exceeded the revenue by an amount of 961,455l.; in 1880-81 the revenue yielded a surplus over the expenditure of 26,7067., in 1881-2 a surplus of 203,6831., in 1882-3, 35,5497., while in 1883-4 there was a deficit of 152,1127. In the year ending March 31, 1885, the total revenue of the Consolidated Fund was 3,569,4947., which, with the proceeds of debentures issued under the Consolidated Stock Act, 1884, equivalent to the accretions of sinking fund for the year, viz., 247,000l., and deficiency bills 350,000l., gave a total of 4,167,1947. After deducting the deficiency for the year 1883-4, 152,1127., and the expenditure of the year 1884-5, 3,795,1917., a balance of 219,8911. remained subject to payment of 200,000l., for redemption of Treasury bills, leaving a surplus of 19,8911. The chief items of expenditure were for public debt, 1,570,9887., public works, 714,8451., education, 334,1967., posts, 255,1607., defence, 182,5867.

The estimated expenditure out of revenue for 1885-6 amounts to 4,026,6337., and the revenue, including balances brought forward, to 4,045,791, leaving an anticipated surplus of 19,158.

There has been for years past a large special expenditure out of loan moneys for purposes of public works. The most important of these is a complete system of railways, but large sums have also been expended on the construction of roads, on immigration and public buildings, &c. The average amount spent annually on public works of all kinds for the last five years has been a little under 1,400,000l., and the total from 1870 to March 31, 1885, 21,800,3347.

The

The public debt of the colony, dating from 1856, amounted to 77,1747. in that year, and rose to 27,422,6117. in 1880; in 1882 it was 29,946,7117., and in March 1885 it was 33,691,0221. A portion of the debt is to be repaid gradually by a sinking fund, which is raised by an annual charge on the ordinary revenue. accrued sinking fund at that date amounted to 3,041,9227., and the net debt to 30,649,0997. But the provisions of the 'Consolidated Stock Act, 1884,' prevent any further decrease of the colonial indebtedness through the increase of the sinking fund, as the Government is empowered to issue debentures in every year equivalent to the annual increase of the sinking fund, the proceeds to be paid to the Consolidated Revenue. The total net debt per head of the population, exclusive of Maoris, on March 31, 1885, was 591. 48.

More than two-thirds of the total liabilities of the colony are made up of loans, granted by the legislature under the Immigration and Public Works Loan Acts, 1870, 1873, 1874, and other Acts,

for immigration and public works purposes, the amount of such loans having been on March 31, 1885, 2,345,000 Under the first of these Loan Acts, which created the Immigration and Public Works Loan of 1870, the sum of 1,000,000l. was guaranteed by the Imperial Parliament, sanctioned by 33 & 34 Vict. cap. 40. The loan was issued in England, at the price of 84 per cent., bearing interest at the rate of 4 per cent., and secured on the consolidated revenues of New Zealand.

Area and Population.

The colony of New Zealand, first visited by the Dutch navigator, Tasman, in 1642, and surveyed by Captain Cook in 1769, consists of two principal islands, known as the North and the Middle Islands. Besides these there are several small outlying islands, the chief being the Stewart or South Island and the Chatham Isles. The whole group is nearly 1,000 miles long, and 200 miles across at the broadest part, and its coast line extends over 3,000 miles. The area of New Zealand is estimated at 104,027 square miles, twothirds of which are fitted for agriculture and grazing. The North Island is estimated to embrace an area of 44,736 square miles, and the Middle Island 55,224, while Stewart's Island has an area of about 1,300 square miles. New Zealand was officially established as a colony in 1840. The total acreage of the colony is 66,779,092, and up to the end of 1884 17,692,511 acres had been alienated from the Crown.

The following table gives the population of New Zealand at various dates according to census returns, exclusive of aborigines:

In 1876, New Zealand, previously divided into ten provinces, was divided into 52 counties and boroughs. The first census of the colony by counties was taken March 3, 1878, and included Chinese and half-castes and persons on shipboard. Of the total ropulation,

247,617 belonged to counties, and 163,028 to boroughs, which by the Counties Act are not included in counties. The number of Chinese was 4,382, of whom only eight were females.

The census of April 3, 1881, gave the total population of 534,032, including 44,099 Maoris (24,370 males, 19,729 females). This includes 5,004 Chinese, of whom only nine were females. The average density of the population was 4.693 per square mile, and of the population outside towns 2-89. Of the total white population in 1881, 489,769 were British-born subjects. The population on January 1, 1885 was (exclusive of Maoris) 564,304 (306,667 males, and 257,637 females), and on June 30, 572,132, or, including Maoris, 616,229.

The number of births, deaths, and marriages was as follows in each of the five years from 1880 to 1884 :

In 1884 there were 587 illegitimate births, or 2.9 per cent. of the total births. The total number of persons convicted of crime before the supreme and district courts in 1884 was 241. Of the total population in 1881, 64.85 per cent. are returned as domestic (wives, children, servants, &c.); 11154 as agricultural; 13-148 industrial; 4 307 commercial; 2·096 professional.

At the census of 1881 there were four towns with upwards of 10,000 inhabitants in New Zealand-namely, Dunedin, 24,372, with suburbs, 42,802; Auckland, 16,664, with suburbs, 39,966; Wellington, 20,563; and Christchurch, 15,213, with suburbs, 30,719 inhabitants. All the towns largely increased in number of inhabitants between the enumerations of 1874 and 1881.

It appears that in 1858 there were a total of 43,595 Maoris in the whole colony. Although the Maoris have greatly decreased in numbers since the settlement of Europeans, their number now (51,925) is greater than that given in 1858, but the larger number in the later year was doubtless due to a better enumeration, not to an increase in the numbers of the race.

The total number of immigrants and of emigrants, and the surplus of immigrants over emigrants into the colony, was as follows in each of the five years from 1880 to 1881:

The population of New Zealand is increasing more rapidly than that of any of the other Australasian colonies, both by natural increment and immigration.

Trade and Industry.

The following table exhibits the value of the total imports and exports of the colony in each of the five years 1880 to 1884:

Of the total imports in 1884, 64 per cent. were from the United Kingdom, 21 per cent. from the Australian Colonies, 5 per cent. from the United States, 1 per cent. from India, 3 per cent. from Mauritius, 1 per cent. from the Pacific Islands, and 4 per cent. from Java, China, Japan, &c. Of the exports, 73 per cent. went to the United Kingdom, 22 per cent. to the Australian Colonies, 3 per cent. to the United States, and 1 per cent. to the Pacific Islands. The duty levied on imports amounted to 1,413,3937. in 1884. The leading imports in 1884 were: iron and steel goods, 1,215,4577.; apparel of all kinds and materials, 1,819,6781.; sugar, 705,6847.; wines, beer, and spirits, 386,4047.; tea, 180,3011. The leading export is wool, 81,139,028 lbs., valued in New Zealand at 3,267,5271. in1884; other native exports are grain and pulse and flour, 801,27 11. in 1884 (mainly oats and wheat); gold, 988,953; kauri gum, 342,151.; frozen meat, 345,0901.; tallow 234,8297.; timber, 152,3197.; skins (mainly sheep and rabbit) 151,6921.; live stock, 71,174; butter and cheese, 91,667; preserved meats, 59,2247.

The commercial intercourse between New Zealand and the United Kingdom is shown in the subjoined tabular statement,