534 



NETHERLANDS. 



NEVADA. 



meanderings, to its junction with theNiobrara 

 Eiver; thence down the middle of the channel 

 of said Niobrara River, and following the mean- 

 derings thereof, to its junction with the Mis- 

 souri River ; thence down the middle of the 

 channel of said Missouri Eiver, and following 

 the meanderings thereof, to the place of be- 

 ginning. 



NETHERLANDS, The, a kingdom in Eu- 

 rope. King, William III., born February 19, 

 1817; succeeded his father, March IT, 1849. 

 Area, 13,890 English square miles ; population, 

 in 1866, 3,552,665. The large cities are, Am- 

 sterdam, 264,498 ; Rotterdam, 115,277 ; The 

 Hague, 87,801. The population of the Dutch 

 colonies is as follows: East Indies (1865), 

 20,074,155 ; West Indies (1864), 86,703 ; coast of 

 Guinea (1863), about 12,000 ; total, 20,280,858. 

 In the Dutch East Indies there was, in 1865, a 

 European population of 34,824 (of whom 28,753 

 were born in the colonies) ; exclusive of 11,813 

 soldiers and their descendants (941). The num- 

 ber of Chinese in the same colonies was 236,682. 

 The budget for 1867 fixes the expenditures 

 at 102,220,158 guilders, and the receipts at 

 98,577,234 guilders. The draft of the budget 

 for 1868, which was laid before the Second 

 Chamber on September 21, 1867, estimates the 

 receipts at 100,082,217 guilders, and the ex- 

 penditures at 99,175,990 guilders ; probable 

 surplus, 906,227 guilders. The public debt, in 

 1867, was 969,450,913 guilders. The army, in 

 1867, consisted of 61,318 men; the army in the 

 East India colonies, of 27,617 men. The fleet, 

 on July 1, 1867, consisted of 134 vessels, with 

 1,670 guns. The imports, in 1865, amounted 

 to 500,528,378 guilders, and the exports to ' 

 438,991,127 guilders. The merchant navy, on 

 December 31, 1865, consisted of 2,203 vessels, 

 together of 509,048 tons. 



An offer made by the King of Holland, to sell 

 the grand-duchy of Luxemburg to France, led 

 in the early part of 1867 to a serious European 

 complication, which was, however, peaceably 

 terminated by the London Conference. (See 

 LUXEMBURG.) In order to save Holland in fu- 

 ture from becoming entangled in complications 

 arising out of the Luxemburg question, the 

 diplomatic agents of Holland were on April llth 

 instructed to interfere henceforth in no way in 

 the affairs of Luxemburg. On opening the 

 legislative session of 1867-'68 of the States- 

 General, the King announced that " the dissolu- 

 tion of the ties which united one of the Dutch 

 provinces (Limburg) to Germany, effected dur- 

 ing the past year (1866), had since obtained in- 

 ternational sanction by the London treaty of 

 May llth last." He also expressed the hope that, 

 " when experience shall have proved the harm- 

 lessness of the works executed in the Eastern 

 Scheldt, the relations with Belgium would more 

 and more acquire a character of reciprocal 

 friendship." The Second Chamber declared 

 itself dissatisfied with the conduct of the min- 

 istry in the Luxemburg question, and on No- 

 vember 26th rejected the foreign budget by 38 



against 36 votes. The ministry thereupon of- 

 fered their resignation, but a royal rescript of 

 December 22d informed the council of ministers 

 that the King, not having found reason to with- 

 draw his confidence from the present cabinet, 

 declined to accept the resignation. The legis- 

 lative session was closed on December 27th, when 

 it was announced that the King was about to 

 dissolve the States-General. 



NEVADA. This new State is located west 

 of the Rocky Mountains, and between California 

 and the Territory of Utah. The Legislature 

 chosen in November, 1866, assembled early in 

 the month of January ensuing. One of its 

 first measures was to pass the amendment to 

 the Federal Constitution, known as Section 14. 

 In the Lower House the vote was a strict 

 party one, being yeas thirty-four, nays four. A 

 resolution was also adopted by the Senate re- 

 questing Congress to adopt such measures as 

 will recognize belligerent rights on the part of 

 the struggling people of Ireland. 



By a report of the Surveyor-General of Ne- 

 vada to the Federal Commissioner of the Gen- 

 ral Land-Office, it appears that Humboldt, Para- 

 dise, and Quin's River Valleys, in Humboldt 

 County, in the northern part of Nevada, are 

 among the richest agricultural districts. Par- 

 adise Valley contains forty thousand acres, 

 producing wheat from thirty to sixty bushels 

 per acre, and barley from forty to eighty bush- 

 els. That valley has a large settlement, and is 

 rapidly increasing in population. A contract 

 has been made to extend the Humboldt guide 

 meridian to the Oregon line, so that from that 

 meridian subdivisional lines may be extended 

 over the best portion of the agricultural and 

 mineral lands of that part of the State. 



The most interesting developments in the 

 State during the year were made in the 

 south-eastern corner, which has been hith- 

 erto unexplored. It is known as the Pah- 

 Ranegat Valley, and derives its name from a 

 tribe of Indians. It is about four hundred 

 miles southeasterly from Salt Lake. The val- 

 ley is about forty-five miles long and from two 

 to six miles wide, with a strip of arable land, 

 about three-fourths of a mile in width, extend- 

 ing the entire length, and susceptible of a high 

 state of cultivation. On the east the valley 

 is skirted by a low range of mountains, which 

 are entirely barren. On the west is Quartz 

 Mountain, covered with timber suitable for 

 building purposes. This locality is embraced 

 in a mining district, and the Qjnartz Mountain 

 range, it is believed, affords the richest mineral 

 deposits in the State. The geological forma- 

 tion of the range consists of black aluminous 

 slates overlaid by rnetamorphic limestone, which 

 is covered by a peculiar formation of pure 

 quartz, and that again by metamorphosed lime- 

 stone. The ore of the district differs materially 

 from most kinds in the State, it being argen- 

 tiferous galena, showing a decomposed state; 

 carbonate and sulphate of lead near the sur- 

 face leads, deeper down gray copper ore, with 



