COLOMBIA. 



137 



Collins now demanded her surrender, and, as 

 the captain and half his crew were ashore, 

 the lieutenant in command deemed it best to 

 comply. In an instant the Florida was boarded 

 from the Wachusett, a hawser was made fast 

 to -her, and the captor, crowding all steam, put 

 out to sea, making no reply to a challenge from 

 the Brazilian fleet, and unharmed by three 

 shots fired at her from the fort. The Wachu- 

 sett and her prize soon appeared in Hampton 

 Eoads, where the latter was sunk by a collision 

 a few days afterward. Brazil having com- 

 plained, that her neutrality had been violated 

 in this affair, Secretary Seward disavowed the 

 act of Commander Collins and ordered him to 

 be tried by court-martial. Public sentiment 

 was, however, in favor of the officer. In July, 

 1866, Commander Collins was commissioned 

 captain and placed in command of the steam- 

 sloop Sacramento. In August, 1874, he was 

 raised to the rank of rear-admiral and placed 

 in command of the South Pacific squadron. 

 His death promoted Commodore Trenchard to 

 be rear-admiral and Commodore Murray to be 

 the head of active commodores. 



COLOMBIA (ESTADOS UNIDOS DE COLOMBIA), 

 an independent state of South America.* 



The President of the republic is Sefior San- 

 tiago Perez, inaugurated on April 1, 1874, for 

 two years. 



The cabinet is composed of the following 

 ministers : of Interior and Foreign Affairs, 

 Sefior Justo Arosemena ; of Finance and Pub- 

 lic Works, Sefior A. Parra ; of the Treasury 

 and of Credit, Sefior N. Ezquerra ; and of War 

 and Marine, Sefior R. S. Vila. 



The chief magistrates of the nine States of 

 the Union, all of whom have the title of gov- 

 ernor, except him of Panama, whose title is 

 that of president, were as follows in 1875 : 



STATES. 



Antioquia Senor J. M. Berrio. 



Bolivar 



Boyac& 



Cauca 



Cundinamarca 



Magdalena 



Panama 



Santander 



Tolima... 



K. Sn. D. Vila. 



V. Eueda. 



T. C. Mosquera. 



J. Barriga, 



J. M. Campo Serrano. 



G. Neira. 



N. Cadena. 



J. N. Leiva. 



The Colombian consul-general in New York 

 is Sefior Miguel Salgar. 



The several branches of the national reve- 

 nue are: customs, salt-works, Panama Railway, 

 postal service, State property, mint, telegraphs, 

 and public lands. 



The revenue for the fiscal year 1873-'74 

 amounted to $5,091,605, of which $1,177,624 

 constituted the balance from the previous 

 year ; and $2,775,000, the yield of the custom- 

 house. This last branch doubled its yield in the 

 eight years 1865-'73, the amount thereof for the 

 first of these having been $1,300,000. At the 

 same rate of increase, the Colombian custom- 

 house would yield about $7,500,000 in 1885. 



* For full official statistics concerning territorial divisions, 

 commerce, finances, inland communication, and public in- 

 struction, see ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA for 1873 and 1874. 



The public debt stood as exhibited below, on 

 February 1, 1875 : 



BRANCHES. Amounts 

 Consolidated debt, at 4J- per cent., comprising 

 those contracted during the War of Indepen- 

 dence $10,000,000 



Bonds due to Eobinpon & Fleming 105,500 



British loan of 1868 (balance due at the beginning 

 of 1875) 600,000 



Total foreign debt 



The home debt (real value) 



$10,705,500 



5,006,674 



Total national debt $15,712,174 



The interest on the four and a half per cent, 

 debt, consolidated as above in 1873, has been 

 punctually paid since that time. 



The Colombian Congress was opened on 

 February 1, 1875. 



On the subject of the contract between the 

 Government and the National Company of the 

 Northern Railway, we transcribe the following 

 statement from a Bogota journal: 



The line is calculated to cost $15,000,000, and the 

 interest of this sum is $1,050,000, or one-fourth of 

 the national income. Added to this, there will be 

 the interest guaranteed on other projected railways, 

 the subvention to that of Antioquia, and the pay- 

 ment of the foreign and domestic debts, which will 

 leave but very little to carry on the Government 

 with. 



Certain important improvements were re- 

 ported to be in contemplation, such as the 

 opening up "free communication and active 

 commerce " between Northern Antioquia and 

 Southern Bolivar. This once accomplished, a 

 desirable opportunity in a convenient region 

 would be offered for new colonists, as may be 

 gathered from the following sketch from a na- 

 tional publication : 



In this territory, which begins in Ituango and-.ex- 

 tends to San Jorge and the Sinu, in the State of 

 Cauca, mines and fertile land abound, and that suffi- 

 cient for all the miners and farmers of Antioquia, 

 Cauca, and Bolivar. The mine of Ceritave, though 

 imperfectly worked, has yielded many quintals of 

 gold of the finest quality. There are also pasture- 

 grounds sufficient for a million cattle. Caucho (In- 

 dia-rubber) and balsam of copaiba are extracted in 

 abundance from the forests. There the vegetation 

 is perpetually green. Flowers and fruit abound 

 in a climate whose temperature is from 50 to 60 

 Fahr. The ravines are auriferous and the rivers 

 navigable. Every foreigner who lias visited those 

 regions agrees that they_ form a promised land re- 

 served for a future immigration. As it is, any one 

 can go there and occupy land by merely fencing it in 

 and building a house thereon, while the establish- 

 ment of plantations of coffee, cocao, or sugar-cane, 

 etc., gives a right to land double that of the planta- 

 tion. 



A bill was laid before the Legislature for 

 the exploration of an interoceanic canal-route 

 across the Isthmus of Panama. The following 

 extract from the report of the Minister of the 

 Interior and of Foreign Affairs may be found 

 interesting : 



The relations of Colombia with the other Ameri- 

 can and European nations have been much improved 

 during the past year. 



The republic maintains two first-class legations 

 one in France and Great Britain, and the other in the 

 United States of Venezuela. The former is at pres- 



