i 



814 



REl'OUT — 1884. 



■ 



1^'m 



V 

 |[ ■; 



11 ! 



ailmliiislnilion. Tho ivmaiml- i- lias bet'ii (fur the most part ) oillicv jartlallv 

 8iirvt'yo(l or partially exp'.orcil. A .small portion, however, remains hm i,„". 

 ]ici-t'<'('tly explored, or e]-;e almost unexplored. 



As /nii^lit. Ite eK|iettod in an empire whereof tin' renl hasis of pnvcr j, 

 maritime, tho coii.-it line is of an t>xtraordinary lenii'th, to be measured by iiliont 

 ii8,r)()() miles, vhli 4S lar;.'e hailiours ; for llie whole of tliis lenfrth marine 'siir\(.\, 

 have heen iirepared. 



In ae. empire wliii'li lies on hoth sides of t]i(> lv|na1iir, and is scattered \.r 

 botii iiemisplierpd, lliere are varieties of climate lonchinfr the extremes of lient imj 

 cold. Of the whole ahout one-sixth is within the tropics, one-fhinl in the 

 antipodes, one-third in North America, and tiie remainin;,' one-sivtli in th. 

 temju-raie /one of l']iirope mid Asia. 



Bui i,'reatnes9 <loes not dejiend on area alone, and there is a vast raiiL'e in tlie 

 scale of value for lands, I'"or inslancr, it has heen comjiuted that the avenw 

 letting' value of l.md in the int.'vior of I'ln^rland is several hnndreci times as ffvcat 

 lis that in the interior of Siheria. So in tlu; Mritish Mmpire 'here art! wide tracts, 

 which may he important politi<ally and prospectively, hut of which the Viiliw 

 cannot he measured hy n statistical test. Out of the 10 millions of s(juaro miles 

 hardly one-lifth is cullixated or occupied in the widest use of the tei'm oociipatioii. 

 TIk^ urea, however, which is cajiahle of lieinj; hrou^-ht under cultivation, and of 

 sustaiuiiifi' the future increase of jiopulation, must be re^'arded as enormous. It I- 

 chiefly in Australia and Canada, in which two divisions it may be vecliunod at 

 upwards of 2 millions of .s'|uare miles, enouj.'h at the lowest compiil;ition 1- 

 support. 'JOO m'.Uions of .souls, liven in India, which is ])opularly, tlioiiL'b im! 

 (juite correctly, su])pos'd to ]uy thiclily populated, the cidtivahle waste is not li- 

 than a fpiarter of a million of stpiare miles. Then then; is a residue which is un- 

 cultivahle waste, and of which the dimensions cannot b'' jn'ecisely mcastu'cd. It 

 consists of mountains and forests, with some desert, in tho heart of Australia. 

 Thi'se UKumtains are anion;.' the ^rreatest ranij-es in the world. The forests are very 

 extensive, and tlieir extent cannot be precisely stated. They are inliiiitely varim- 

 hotli in respect of value and of condition ; some heinjr poor or half de.stvoyid. 

 others heinii' rich and well pre.served. ]{ut there are in the empire about lOO.dUd 

 .square miles of i'ore.sts which are hein;,'' f(H'mally and professionally preserved ti 

 hecome a nii,'4hty .smirce of national wealth. 



In the second ]dace, rcsjiectiiip- the inhabitants, tlie total population aiiioai'.lsi' 

 .'105 millions of .souls in those refrions which are included directly in the empiiv. 

 If the countries already mentioned as more or less under political control were to 

 be included, then about 10 millions more would have to be added, bringinj;; up tlio 

 total to .'ilo millions. 



This mass of humnnity is composed of many diverse nationalities, anim!; 

 whom the ])rimary distinction is that of race. There are i') millions of the fair 

 races ; amonj^ these about .'JO millions are An;.do-Saxons, includin;,' neriiiun 

 colonists. Three and a half millions are Celtic ("mainly Irish), \\ million nv' 

 French Canadians, half a million are Dutch in South Africa ; and there areacertain 

 number helon^'ing- to other nationalities, Scandinavians, Swiss, Creeks : Imttlinv 

 ai"e few from the Latin race in the South of JMirope, and hardly any lUissiuu.s. 



Airahi, of the .'ll.'j millions, ethnically there are 4.") millions of the fair or 

 Caucasian race, 254 of the Aryan, and r> of the .Moiifrolian, the remainder iHdinjriiifr 

 to aborifrinal races. 



A cardinal distinction between the several nationalities is that, of it'li;.'iim. 

 Christianity, the relin-ion of the dominant race, is professed by somewhat more than 

 the 4.5 millions of the fair races above mentioned, but tho total can hardly exceed 

 4G millions out of the -'{1 5 million.s, that is, one-seventh of the whole, Thi' 

 relif,no!i which includes the larjrest number is ITinduism, There are IS8 millions 

 of Hindus, and it may indeed be said that the whole Hindu race i.s subject to th: 

 Uritish crown. The Hindus then form more than a half of the total pojailation 

 in the empire. Under tho generic name of Hitidu, however, there are counted 

 many thousands of Jirahraos, who are really Thei.«ts, and there are .3 millions oi 

 Sikhs and Jaiii.«, ch)Sely connected with Hinduism. 



