AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN MONARCHY. 



41 



protectorate over the islands. Up to 1846 a 

 small portion of the natives struggled against 

 this protectorate, but since the population have 

 caused no embarrassment to France, and vir- 

 tually it has been a French possession since 

 that year. 



Tahiti is about one hundred and eight miles 

 in circumference and thirty-two miles long, and 

 is described as an elongated range of highland, 

 which, being interrupted in one part, forms an 

 isthmus (submerged at low water) about three 

 miles broad, which connects the two peninsu- 

 las. The larger of these is Tahiti proper, while 

 the smaller is named Tairaboo, and both are 

 surrounded by coral reefs. The highest sum- 

 mit in the island is a mountain in the northern 

 part, 8,500 feet above sea-level ; another attain- 

 ing 6,979 feet. From these two peaks ridges 

 diverge to all parts of the coast, throwing off 

 spurs as they descend. The fertile portion of 

 the island lies in the valleys, which are of small 

 extent, and in the plain, which stretches from 

 the seashore to the spurs of the mountains. 

 These produce tropical plants in great abun- 

 dance and luxuriance. The climate is agreeable, 

 being warm, but not enervating. The natives 

 are a good-humored, gay, happy, and cheerful 

 people, and are further described as honest, 

 well-behaved, and obliging. They have been 

 converted to Christianity by the labors of mis- 

 sionaries, and there are few of them who can 

 not both read and write. The island is divided 

 into seven districts, and is the seat of a Su- 

 preme Court, consisting of seven Judges, two 

 of whom reside in Eimeo. Several vessels of 

 about one hundred and thirty tons burden 

 have been built there, which have been em- 

 ployed in the trade to New South Wales, whith- 

 er they carry sugar, cocoanut-oil, and arrow- 

 root, the principal productions of the island, 

 and whence they bring back in return hard- 

 ware, cloths, calicoes, etc. Most of the ves- 

 sels that visit Tahiti are whalers, though until 

 lately they only averaged less than one hun- 

 dred annually. Its principal town and port is 

 Papiete, and its estimated population is some- 

 what over nine thousand. 



The French now have the following posses- 

 sions in Oceania : 



AUSTRO-HOTGARIAN MONARCHY, an 

 empire in Central Europe. Emperor, Francis 

 Joseph I, born August 18, 1830; succeeded his 

 uncle, the Emperor Ferdinand I, December 2, 

 1848. Heir-apparent to the throne, Archduke 

 Rudolphus, born August 21, 1858; engaged on 



March 7, 1880, to Stephanie Clotilde, second 

 daughter of the King of Belgium, born May 

 21, 1864. The marriage was fixed to take 

 place in February, 1881. 



The Ministry for the Common Affairs of the 

 Empire consisted, toward the close of the 

 year 1880, of Karl Heinrich Baron von Hay- 

 merle, Minister of Foreign Affairs and of the 

 Imperial House (appointed October 9, 1879) ; 

 Joseph von Szlavy, Minister of the Finances 

 of the Empire (appointed April 8, 1880) ; and 

 Court Arthur Bylandt-Rheidt, Minister of War 

 (appointed 1876). 



The Ministry of Cisleithan Austria, at the 

 close of 1880, was composed of Count Eduard 

 Taaffe, President (appointed August 14, 1879) ; 

 Baron Moritz von Streit, Justice (1880) ; Baron 

 Sigmund von Conrad von Eybesfeldt, Public 

 Worship and Instruction (1880); Count Zeno 

 von Welsersheimb, Defense of the Country 

 (1880); Count Julius von Falkenhayn (August 

 14, 1879), Agriculture ; Alfred von Kremer von 

 Auenrode (1880), Commerce; Dr. Julian Dun- 

 ajewski (1880), Finance ; Florian Ziemialkow- 

 ski (April, 1873), and Dr. Alois Prajak (August 

 14, 1879), Minister without portfolio. 



The area of the entire monarchy is 622,837 

 square kilometres * ; population, according to 

 the last census of 1869, 35,901,435; according 

 to an official estimate, in 1880, about 38,000,000. 

 The area of Cisleithan Austria, or Austria Prop- 

 er, is 300,209 square miles ; the civil population 

 at the end of 1879 was officially estimated at 22,- 

 176,745, to which must be added the army, num- 

 bering about 177,500 persons, making a total 

 population of 22,354,245. The official estimate 

 is based upon the census of 1869, by adding 

 the average percentage of increase. The civil 

 population was distributed among the different 

 crown-lands as follows : 



COUNTRIES. Inhabitants, Dec. 31, 1879. 



Austria below the Enns 2,230,754 



Austria above the Enns 752,413 



Salzburg 155,388 



Styria 1.198,700 



Carinthia 339,698 



Carniola 472,903 



Trieste 220,966 



Goritz and Gradisca 142,150 



Istria 278,218 



Tyrol 798,864 



Vorarlberg 104,066 



Bohemia 5,474,864 



Moravia 2,115,960 



Silesia 579,456 



Galicia 6.268,811 



Bukowina 564,973 



Dalmatia 478,556 



Total 



Total at the end of 1878 



22,176,745 

 21,970,649 



From some observations made in the " Statis- 

 tical Monthly " (" Statistische Monatsschrift ") 

 of Vienna by Herr Schimmer, one of the best- 

 known statistical writers of Austria, we learn 

 that the movements of the population in Aus- 

 tria show, in a marked degree, the influence of 

 the bad times through which all European 

 states have been passing. The following table 



* One square kilometre = 0'886 English square mile. 



