MAURITIUS.

Constitution and Government.

THE government of the British colony of Mauritius, with its dependencies, Rodrigues, Diego Garcia, and the Seychelles Islands, is vested in a Governor, aided by an Executive Council, of which the officer in command of Her Majesty's Troops, the Colonial Secretary, the Procureur-General, the Receiver-General, and the Auditor-General, are ex-officio members. There is also a Council of Government, consisting of the Governor and twenty-seven members, ten being elected, eight ex-officio, and nine nominated by the Governor. The official councillors comprise the five Executive members, the Collector of Customs, the Protector of Immigrants. and the Surveyor-General. The constitution was altered by letters patent dated September 16, 1885, which introduced an elective element into the Legislature. Under a moderate franchise ten members are now elected, one for each of the following districts: Moka, Plaines Wilhems, Grand Port, Flacq, Savanne, Rivière Noire, Pamplemousses, Rivière du Rempart; and two for Port Louis.

Governor of Mauritius.-Sir John Pope Hennessy, K.C.M.G., born 1834; Governor of Labuan, 1868-71; of the West African Settlements, 1872-73; of the Bahamas, 1873-75; of the Windward Islands, 1875-76; of Hong Kong, 1876-82. Appointed Governor of Mauritius, December 1882.

The Governor has a salary of 60,000 rupees, and the Colonial Secretary 13,500 rupees per annum.

The troops in the colony at the beginning of 1887 numbered 443 officers and men. The total military expenditure for 1886 was 44,6137., of which about one-half was paid by the colony.

Revenue and Expenditure.

The revenue and expenditure of the colony, in each of the years from 1882 to 1886, were as follows:

The whole debenture debt of the Colony in 1886 was :

The island of Mauritius, lying in the Indian Ocean, 500 miles east of Madagascar, comprises an area of 708 English square miles. The island was discovered by the Portuguese in 1507, but the first who made any settlement in it were the Dutch in 1598, who named it Mauritius, in honour of their Prince Maurice. It was abandoned by them in 1710, and afterwards taken possession of by the French. The British Government captured it in 1810, and its possession was ratified by the Treaty of Paris, 1814. The French laws, customs, and religion were guaranteed.

The Seychelles, Rodrigues, and Diego Garcia, are the principal dependencies of Mauritius. Mahé, the most important of the Seychelles group, is situated at a distance of 940 miles from Mauritius. The following were the numbers of the population of Mauritius, according to the census taken in 1881

The population on the 1st of January, 1887, was: Males, 208,401; females, 159,744; total, 368,415. Of this number, 251,721 belonged to the Indian population, and 116,424 to the general population, showing a decrease of over 3,000 on the previous year, the total decrease being 1,989. The birth rate in 1886 was 36.1 per 1,000, and death rate 28.8 per 1,000. The total number of immigrants (coolies, men, women, and children) in 1886 was 747, and the total number of coolies who left the colony 2,320. The general population includes natives of African race, Chinese, mixed races, and whites. No official figures exist as to the relative proportions of these sections. As regards religion, there were in 1880, 108,000 Roman Catholics and 8,000 Protestants.

State aid is granted to both Churches, the Roman Catholics receiving 116,403 rupees in 1886, and the Protestants 48,179 rupees; the Indians are mostly Hindoos.

The capital of the colony, Port Louis, had, with its suburbs, an estimated population of 70,000 in 1881.

Primary education is conducted partly in government, and partly in State-aided schools, 140 in 1886. The total government expenditure on education in 1886, including the Royal College, was 429,432 rupees. In 1886 the average number of pupils on the roll in primary schools was 15,792, and the average attendance 10,783. At the Royal College in 1886 the attendance was 145, and at the Royal College schools, 352.

The total number of convictions at the inferior courts in 1886 was 14,560, and at the Supreme Court, 112.

Trade and Industry.

The declared value of the total imports and exports of the colony (exclusive of specie and bullion) was as follows in each of the five years from 1882 to 1886 :

The exports from the colony comprise, as staple article, unrefined Sugar (29,126,169 rupees in 1886), and, besides, rum, 415,287 rupees; vanilla, 312,049 rupees; aloe fibre, 189,503; cocoa-nut oil, 174,120 rupees. A large portion of the trade is with the British colonies of South Africa, Australia, and India.

The commercial intercourse of Mauritius with the United Kingdom is shown in the subjoined table, according to the Board of Trade Returns, for each of the five years from 1882 to 1886 ::

The staple article of export from Mauritius to the United Kingdom is unrefined sugar, the value being 181,2157. in 1886. The other exports comprise drugs, of the value of 22,6571.; hemp

and other fibres, 36,1861.; raw hides, 10,0297.; cocoa-nut oil, 12,9897.; caoutchouc, 6,9717. in 1886. The British imports in 1886 consisted principally of cotton goods, valued 68,6847.; coals, 20,9447.; machinery, 9,7197.; iron, 26,3637.; manure, 28,773l. ; apparel and haberdashery, 9,9457.

The number of vessels entered in 1886 was 468 of 347,916 tons, and cleared 454 of 344,354 tons.

The colony has two lines of railways with two branches, of a total length of 92 miles, the revenue from which in 1886 was 1,447,448 rupees, and expenditure 1,100,347 rupees.

There exists a complete system of telegraphs throughout the island of Mauritius. The number of letters, post-cards, and newspapers which passed through the post office in 1886 was 1,767,143.

SEYCHELLES.-Population, January 1887, 15,456 (7,845 males, 7,611 females). Revenue 1886, 152,838 rupees; expenditure, 112,853 rupees; imports, 409,326 rupees; exports, 246,470 rupees. Principal exports: cocoa-nut oil, soap, vanilla, tortoise-shell. Ships entered 1886, 68, including 16 men-of-war. There are 20 Government schools, with 1,711 pupils.

RODRIGUES.-Population, January 1886, 1,769; revenue, 1886, 6,069 rupees; expenditure, 18,606 rupees; imports, 59,167 rupees; exports, 44,678 rupees.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

The standard coin of Mauritius is the India rupee, with its subdivisions (see p. 855). All accounts are kept in rupees.

The metric system decreed by the Government of India in 1871 (see p. 855), came into force in Mauritius on May 1, 1878. Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning Mauritius. 1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Despatch of Governor Sir John Pope Hennessy enclosing Report of Mr. H. N. D. Beyts, C.M.G., in 'Papers relating to H.M.'s Colonial Possessions.' London, 1885.

Correspondence relating to the Constitution of the Council of Government of Mauritius. London, 1884.

Correspondence on ecclesiastical and educational questions in Mauritius. London, 1884.

Annual Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries and British Possessions in the year 1886. Imp. 4. London, 1887.

Report on Blue Book for 1886.

Colonial Office List. 1887.

Statistical Abstract for the several colonial and other possessions of the United Kingdom in each year from 1871 to 1886. No. XXIV. London, 1887. 2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

The Mauritius Almanac and Colonial Reporter for 1887. Mauritius, 1887. Flemyng (M.), Mauritius, or the Isle of France. 8. London, 1862.

Martin (R. Montgomery), The British Possessions in Africa. History of the British Colonies. S. London, 1834.

Vol. IV.

MOROCCO.

(MAGHRIB-EL-AKSA.-EL GHARB.)

Reigning Sultan.

Muley-Hassan, born 1831, eldest son of Sultan Sidi-Mohamed; ascended the throne at the death of his father, September 17, 1873. The present Sultan of Morocco-known to his subjects under the title of Emir-al-Mumenin,' or Prince of True Believersis the fourteenth of the dynasty of the Alides, founded by MuleyAchmet, and the thirty-fifth lineal descendant of Ali, uncle and sonin-law of the Prophet. His three predecessors were :—

The crown is hereditary in the family of the Sharifs of Fileli, or Tafilet. Each Sultan has the right to choose his own successor among the members of his family, and, if not exercising this privilege, the custom of succession is that obeyed in the Ottoman empire (see p. 521), under which the crown falls, at the demise of the sovereign, to the eldest member of the reigning family.

Government and Religion.

The form of government of the Sultanate, or Empire of Morocco. was formerly an absolute despotism, unrestricted by any laws, civil or religious. The Sultan is chief of the State as well as head of the religion. As spiritual ruler, the Sultan stands quite alone, his authority not being limited, as in Turkey and other countries following the religion of Mahomet, by the expounders of the Koran, the class of 'Ulema,' under the 'Sheïk-ul-Islam." The Sultan has six ministers, from whom he receives advice and by whom he carries on the executive. They are the Vizier, the Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs, Chief Chamberlain, Chief Treasurer, and Chief Administrator of Customs. The Sultan's revenue is estimated at 500,000l. per annum.

The Sultan's army, which is quartered at the capital where he may happen to reside, is composed of about 10,000 Askar or disciplined infantry, under the command of an Englishman, and 400 disciplined cavalry; a few batteries of field guns commanded by three French officers, and 2,000 irregular cavalry. In addition