ECUADOR. 



259 



the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy- 

 eight. 



An annex to this convention was signed on 

 the same day, and contained the following pro- 

 visions : 



Annex. It is understood between the two high 

 contracting parties that England agrees to the fol- 

 lowing conditions relating to her occupation and ad- 

 ministration of the island of Cyprus : 



I. That a Mussulman religious tribunal (Mehke"- 

 me"i Sheri) shall continue to exist in the island, which 

 will take exclusive cognizance of religious matters, 

 and of no others, concerning the Mussulman popula- 

 tion of the island. 



II. That a Mussulman resident in the island shall 

 be named by the Board of Pious Foundations in 

 Turkey (Evkaf) to superintend, in conjunction with 

 a delegate to be appointed by the British authori- 

 ties, the administration of the property, funds, and 

 lands belonging to mosques, cemeteries, Mussulman 

 schools, and other religious establishments existing 

 in Cyprus. 



III. That England will pay to the Porte whatever 

 is the present excess of revenue over expenditure in 

 the island ; this excess to be calculated upon and de- 

 termined by the average of the last five years, stated 

 to be 22,936 purses, to be duly verified hereafter, and 

 to the exclusion of the produce of state and crown 

 lands let or sold during that period. 



IV. That the Sublime Porte may freely sell and 

 lease lands and other property in Cyprus belonging 

 to the Ottoman crown and state (Arazii Miriye v6 

 Einlaki Houmayoun), the produce of which does not 

 form part of the revenue of the island referred to in 

 Article III. 



V. That the English Government, through their 

 competent authorities, may purchase compulsorily, 

 at a fair price, land required for public improvements, 

 or for other public purposes, and land which is not 

 cultivated. 



VI. That if Russia restores to Turkey Kars and 

 the other conquests made by her in Armenia during 

 the last war, the island of Cyprus will be evacuated 

 by England, and the convention of the 4th of June, 

 1878, will be at an end. 



ECUADOR (REpfjBLioA DEL EOTIADOE), an 

 independent state of South America, lying be- 

 tween 1 5' north and 5 30' south latitude, 

 and 69 52' and 80 35' west longitude. Its 

 boundaries are : on the north, the United 

 States of Colombia and Brazil; on the east, 

 Brazil ; on the south, Peru ; on the west, the 

 Pacific Ocean. The territory of the republic, 

 with an estimated area of 249,000 square miles, 

 is divided into thirteen provinces, which, with 

 their capitals and the population of eleven of 

 them, are as follows : 



To the foregoing figures, from an official 

 report presented by order of the Government 

 to the Convention, and which would show an 

 increase of 79,896, as compared with the official 

 return published in 1875,* should be added some 

 200,000 uncivilized Indians. The total popula- 

 tion of Ecuador would thus be 1,146,033. In 

 the report just referred to, the population of 

 Quito, the capital of the republic, was set down 

 at 80,000, and that of Guayaquil, the chief sea- 

 port, at 26,000, 



Tne President of Ecuador is General de.Vein- 

 ternilla, inaugurated in December, 1876. The 

 Ministers of the Interior and of Finance and 

 other members of the Cabinet resigned their 

 portfolios, in order to take their seats in the 

 Constitutional Convention which met in Am- 

 bato soon after the commencement of the year 

 1878, and continued in session until May 31st. 



The armed force, according to the meager 

 information to be obtained on the subject, 

 would appear to be increased from the former 

 strength of 1,200 to 5,000. 



The national revenue, about one half of 

 which is derived from custom-house receipts, 

 amounted in 1876 to 2,317,000 pesos,t and the 

 expenditure to 3,360,000 pesos, constituting a 

 deficit of 1,043,000, or little less than one half 

 the revenue. Official statistics of the finances 

 of the country, published in the last quarter of 

 1878, showed the revenue for the year, from 

 September 1, 1876, to August 31, 1877, to have 

 been 2,228,000 pesos; but of the expenditure 

 two items only were mentioned: 115,590 pesos 

 for the "Government's own expenses,'' states 

 a British writer, and 1,213,000 for the " Min- 

 istry of War, the army, etc." The President's 

 salary is 24,000 pesos per annum. The custom- 

 house duties to the end of 1877 somewhat ex- 

 ceeded those of the preceding year, notwith- 

 standing a decrease of 129,000 pesos in the 

 value of the exports. The improvement here 

 referred to in the yield of the customs depart- 

 ment is attributable in part to increased rates 

 of duty on some of the more important staples 

 of export, and in part to exceptionally large 

 imports from Great Britain. The fiscal year 

 1877-'78 was also marked by the lay ing of an 

 additional specific export duty on some of the 

 commodities shipped from the country, as re- 

 ferred to in the subjoined extract from a gen- 

 erally well-informed Colombian publication, 

 bearing date of May, 1878 : 



A decree has been issued by the President provid- 

 ing for the improvement and cleaning of the streets 

 of Guayaquil and for the canalization of the Esteros. 

 The work is to be done by contract. To provide a 

 fund for the payment of the cost, etc., a special im- 

 post has been levied as follows : On each 46 kilo- 

 grammes of India-rubber, cofi'ee, quina, sarsaparilla 

 bark, and hides, exported from the country, 20 cents 

 shall be paid, 10 cents for each 46 kilogrammes of 

 orchilla, and 25 cents for each hundred bamboo canes. 

 These latter are shipped in considerable quantities 

 to Peru. It is calculated that this extraordinary tax 



* See "American Cyclopaedia" for 1876, p. 241. 

 t The Ecuadorian peso is equivalent to about 71 cents ot 

 United States money. 



