In that year, however, a British Political Residen! was placed at Khatmandu, the capital, which is connected by important trade routes with Bengal. The natural products of Nepal are rich and varied, and there are some manufactures of coarse woollen cloth and metal wares. The Maharajah is merely the nominal sovereign-the real power is in the hands of the head of the dominant people, the Ghurkas. Recruits are obtained from Nepal for the Indian Ghurka regiments.

BHUTAN.

BHUTAN extends east of Sikkim, and comprises the mountainous region lying between the main ridge of the Himalayas and the British provinces of Bengal and Assam.

The inhabitants, who number about 200,000, apparently of Mongolian origin, profess Buddhism, and are under the rule of the Deb Raja, or the secular head, and the Dharma Raja, or the spiritual head. The Deb Raja has only a nominal power, the great chieftains being practically independent. The capital is Punakha, a place of great natural strength. There is no standing army, and the trade with the British provinces is not very large.

Two other European nations-the French and the Portuguesepossess a few stations in India, but they are of little importance either in extent or commercial value.

To the FRENCH belong-Pondicherry, a seaport town lying to the south of Madras: Mahé, a few miles north of Calicut, on the Malabar Coast; Chandarnagar, a small town on the river Hugli, north of Calcutta; and Karikal and Yanaon. These are the remains of a power which long contested with Britain the sovereignty of India. Their total area is but 205 square miles, while the population is under 300,000.

The PORTUGUESE Possessions, which together have an area of about 1,510 square miles, and a population of over half-a-million, consist of Goa, a small territory lying on the west coast of India, between the limits of the Bombay and the Madras Presidencies; the port of Daman, to the north of Bombay; and the town and port of Diu, situated on an island off the south coast of Gujarat. The city of Goa was long a splendid emporium of commerce and the chief mart of the Eastern world, but its importance has wholly passed away.

CEYLON.

CEYLON, the "Garden of India," is a Crown Colony, entirely independent of British India. It lies to the south-east of India, from which it is separated by the Gulf of Manaar and Palk Strait, and is one of the most valuable of the British Possessions in the East.1

Ceylon has an area of 25.332 square miles, and is therefore about threefourths the size of Ireland. The population is now upwards of 31⁄4 millions, two-thirds of whom are Singhalese; the rest being Tamils, Moormen, or de

1. Ceylon was first settled by the l'ortuguese in 1505, but they were dispossessed by the Dutch 150 years later. The Dutch settlements were taken by the British in 1796 and annexed to the Presi

dency of Madras, and two years later Ceylon was formed into a separate Colony. In 1815, the interior districts, which had remained independent under the King of Kandi, were occupied and annexed.

scendants of Arab immigrants, Malays, Veddahs--probably the aboriginal inhabitants-and Europeans, 4,000 of whom are British.

The interior of the island is a high mountain region, culminating in Pidirutalagala, 8,296 feet, and Adam's Peak, 7,420 feet. A broad belt of lowland extends around the coast. Numerous rivers water the fertile valleys and productive plains, and the climate, though tropical, is on the whole much healthier and more pleasant than that of the adjoining mainland.

The natural productions of Ceylon are varied and valuable. No part of our Eastern Empire is more richly endowed than this "pearl of the Indian Seas.' Heber used no poetic licence when he wrote-'What though the spicy breezes blow soft o'er Ceylon's Isle, and every prospect pleases; and the natives, under the stimulating influence of European energy, skill, and capital, the labour of devoted missionaries, and the attention paid by he Government to education, are prosperous and contented. Nearly one-half of the people are Buddhists; the Hindus number about 929,000, and there are 362,000 Mohammidans, and 248,000 Christians.

The characteristic plant-products of the island are tea, coffee, cɔcoa, rice, cinchona, cinnamon, and tobacco.. Elephant-hunting is a favourite sport in Ceylon. The most abundant mineral products are plumbago, and precious stones, especially rubies and cats' eyes. Fine pearls are obtained from the pearlfishery in the Gulf of Manaar..

The trade of Ceylon is carried on mainly with the United Kingdom and India. Annual value about 16 millions sterlingImports, 8 millions; Exports, about 8 millions.

The principal articles of export in order of value, are tea, plumbago, coco-nut products, coffee, aneca nuts, and cinchona. Tea forms half the exports.

The chief articles of import are rice and other grain, coals, cotton goods, salt fish, wines and spirits, meta s and machinery.

The trade with the United Kingdom-value, 5%1⁄2 millions sterling in 1904-consists chiefly in the export of tea, oil, plumbago and cocoa, and in the import of metals, cotton goo.is, coal, and machinery. Disease has in recent years greatly reduced the production of coffee, the export of which was very considerable 20 years ago, but the export of tea from the island has correspondingly increased, nearly 158,000,000 pounds being exported in 1904.

The Government of Ceylon is in the hands of a Governor, aided by an Executive Council and a Legislative Council-the latter including representatives of the different races and interests in the Colony.

The political and commercial capital of the Colony is COLOMBO (159), a flourishing port on the western coast. Now that its harbours are protected by breakwaters, the "letter-box of the East," as Colombo is called, has superceded the south coast port of Galle as a coaling and steamship station. It is connected by rail with Kandi, the old native capital, in the interior. Adam's Peak, a lofty mountain (7,420 feet), with a Buddhist Temp'e on its summit, is to the south west of Kandi. Trincomali, a busy port with an excellent harbour and naval station, is on the north-eastern coast of the island. The ancient capital -Anuradhapura-is now in ruins, in the midst of dense jungle.

FURTHER INDIA..

FURTHER INDIA (or the Indo-Chinese Peninsula) forms the southeasterly division of the Asiatic continent. It embraces the vast peninsula which extends from the Bay of Bengal on the west to the China Sea on the east, and which stretches to the southward into the smaller and more elongated Malay Peninsula.

With the exception of Siam-the only Native State now independent--the peninsula is divided between Great Britain and France. The British Possessions are on the western side of the main peninsula, and the French Possessions are on the eastern side. Siam lies between them.

British Indo-China includes the province of BURMA (which forms politically, part of British India), the STRAITS SETTLEMENTS, and the Protected MALAY STATES.

French Indo-China includes the colonies of COCHIN-CHINA and TONGKING, and the Protectorates of CAMBODIA and ANNAM, together with the territory taken from Siam in 1893-6, and ceded by treaties in 1906 and 1907. That portion of Siam which falls within the basin of the Mekong is nominally within the French "Sphere of Influence."

The smaller Malay Peninsula is divided between Siam and Great Britain. EXTENT: The total area of these territories is about 648,400 square miles, or about 11 times the size of England and Wales.

The Native Kingdom of Siam has an area of 200,000 square miles; the French Colonies and Protectorates, 196,400 square miles; and the British Possessions and Protectorates, about 252,000 square miles.

COASTS: The coast-line of the peninsula is very extensive, and many of its numerous inlets, and the deep delta-mouths of its chief rivers form magnificent harbours.

The most noticeable features along the coasts of the Indo-Chinese Peninsula are the Gulf of Tongking (Tonquin) and the Gulf of Siam, both arms of the China Sea, on the east; and the Gulf of Martaban, opening into the Bay of Bengal, on the west. The two principal headlands are Cape Negrais, on the west, and Cape Romania, on the south. The latter is not only the southernmost point of the Malay Peninsula, but also of the Asiatic continent. The Strait of Malacca divides the Peninsula of Malay from the island of Sumatra, and forms the main channel of communication between the Bay of Bengal and the China Sea.

NATURAL FEATURES: Ranges of high ground, lying in the general direction of north and south, with long river-valleys between, form the characteristic features of the Indo-Chinese Peninsula. These are connected, to the northward, with the high region that adjoins the eastern extremity of the Himalayas and the neighbouring provinces of China.

Of the mountain-ranges the best known are the Yoma Mountains, which form the natural boundary between Upper Burma and the coast district of Aracan in Lower Burma. The Tipperah Hills to the south, and the Patkoi Range to the north, of the Manipur Uplands, are on the western borders of Burma. An irregular line of elevations extends southwards from the mountains of Siam, which form the boundary between Siam and Lower Burma, to the south of the Malay Peninsula.

There are three extensive plains in this region-the Plain of Pegu, the Plain of Siam, and the Plain of Tongking. The Plain of Pegu adjoins the Gulf of Martaban, an off-set of the Bay of Bengal; the Plain of Siam lies at the head of the Gulf of Siam, which is an arm of the China Sea; and the Plain of Tongking adjoins the Gulf of Tongking, which is a more northerly arm of the China Sea.

The Indo-Chinese Peninsula has four great rivers-the Irawadi, Salwin, Menam, and Mekong. The Irawadi and Salwin flow into the Gulf of Martaban; the Menam into the Gulf of Siam; and the Mekong into the China Sea. The Irawadi rises in the north of Burma, flows south through Burma, and has a total length of over 800 miles; it is regularly traversed by British steamers as far as BHAMO, 700 miles from the sea. The Salwin rises in the mountains of Tibet, and has a course of at least 1,200 miles, the greater portion of which is navigable. The Mekong rises in Tibet and flows through Yunnan, in Western China, not far from the Yang-tsze-kiang; from thence it flows through Upper Burma and Siam, its lower course being through Cambodia and Cochin-China. It has a total length of 1,600 miles, but its navigation is rendered difficult by rocks and sandbanks. The course of the Menam (900 miles) is entirely within the Kingdom of Siam. The Menam, like the Nile, annually overflows its banks, and thus fertilises the country through which it flows.

CLIMATE: Throughout Indo-China the climate is hot, especially so in the low grounds near the coast, where the air is often unhealthy. The rains are very abundant, but are confined to a brief season of the year.

As in India Proper, the changes of the seasons depend upon the monsoons. In the long and narrow region of the Malay Peninsula, the heat of the Torrid Zone is tempered by the influence of the seas on either side, and the climate of Singapore, at its southward extremity, is not so hot as that of Madras.

PRODUCTIONS: In all these countries the productions of the vegetable kingdom are of the highest value. The forests comprehend many valuable kinds of wood, and various drugs, spices, and gums are native to this region. The mineral wealth is also considerable, and gold is extensively employed in Siam for purposes of architectural adornment and numerous other uses.

INHABITANTS: The entire region is estimated to contain about 38 millions of inhabitants, of which about 6 millions are in Siam, 22 millions in French Indo-China, and not less than 11 millions in the British portion of the peninsula.

Race and Language: The Indo-Chinese are a race bearing more resemblance to the Chinese than to the people of India. They are more robust in frame than the Hindus, but are short in stature, compared to the European type. Their skin is of a dark sallow brown or olive colour. The various languages spoken are monosyllabic, and are closely allied to the Chinese and Tibetan tongues. The smaller people of the Malay Peninsula are chiefly Malays and Negritos, but at Singapore and other Malayan ports, large numbers of Chinese have settled, and there are many British and Hindu traders, &c., in Burma, and French soldiers and traders in the eastern part of the peninsula.

1. Hence its name "Me-Nam," "Mother of Waters."

Religion: The Buddhist worship uniformly prevails, and its rites are cele brated with great pomp and display. The temples are gorgeously decorated, and there is much of barbaric wealth and splendour in the palaces of the Native Princes and of the chief nobles.

INDUSTRIES: The industry of these countries is principally agricultural, but there are skilful workers in metal in the towns, and the foreign trade is very large.

Rice is the prime article of food. The sugar-cane is extensively grown, especially in Siam. The mulberry is also an object of extensive culture, for the sake of the silkworm, which is largely reared in Cochin-China and Tonquin. Cotton, indigo, and tobacco are grown; but, until recently, the produce of these and other articles of tropical growth has been due rather to the spontaneous fertility of the soil than to any labour or skill bestowed upon their culture.

COMMERCE : The bulk of the over-sea trade of Burma and the Straits Settlements is carried on with the United Kingdom, and there are regular lines of British steamers to Rangoon and Singapore. French steamers call at Saigon and the chief ports of Annam and Tongking.

Great numbers of Chinese are settled in the cities of Siam and Annam, and the local trade of South-Eastern Asia (both insular and continental) is chiefly in their hands. The over-sea trade of all these countries with the United Kingdom and France is rapidly increasing: the trade of the free port of SINGAPORE alone now amounts to 58 millions sterling a year, while the commerce of SAIGON is so flourishing that Cochin-China is the only French colony that costs nothing to the mother country.1

GOVERNMENT: The only independent Native Government in the Peninsula is that of Siam. Burma is placed under a LieutenantGovernor, and, politically, forms one of the great Provinces of British India, and is therefore under the direct control of the Supreme Government at Calcutta. The Straits Settlements forms a Crown Colony, and its Governor controls the British Residents in the Native Protected States of the Malay Peninsula.

The Government of the French Possessions and Protectorates is carried on by native officials under the direction of the GovernorGeneral of French Indo-China at Saigon, with Residents at the capitals and chief towns of these countries. The native Sovereigns of Annam and Cambodia have not been deposed, but their power is little more than nominal.

DIVISIONS: The three main divisions are (1) British IndoChina, (2) Siam, (3) French Indo-China.

The political and commercial capitals of British Indo-China are Rangoon and Singapore; of Siam, Bangkok; of French Indo-China, Saigon and Hué.

1. Foncin says of the French colonial possessions, "Saigon est la seule de nos colonies qui ne coûte rien et rappo. te à la métropole."