282 
GEOGRAPHIC NOTES 
lieves tliat it will eventually be made accessible by railway and occupied 
by a large white population. 
EUROPK. 
t 
Gkrm.\xy. During May 1,360 ships, aggregating 139,787 tons, passed 
through the Baltic canal, the tolls amounting to 78,206 marks. Both the 
traffic and the receipts continue to fall far short of original e.xpectations. 
SwiTZERn.Axr). Tlie foreign trade of Switzerland in 1895 showed a con- 
siderable increase upon that of the preceding j'ear, the imports increasing 
from $165,000,000 to $183,000,000 and the exports from $124,000,000 to 
$132,500,000, in round numbers. The exports to the United States showed 
a large increase. 
KrssiA. The annual fair at Nijni Nov’gorod has been opened this j’ear 
at an earlier date than usual, in order to secure visits from the foreigners 
who attended the czar’s coronation at ^loscow. The exhibition covers 
over 200 acres, and while still possessing those unique features which 
have made this great Russian fair so famous, it is this year demonstrating 
in a most striking manner the enormous strides the various mechanical 
industries are making in the Russian empire. 
United Kingdom. During the year ending .July 1, 1896, 23,695 vessels 
l>aid harbor dues at the port of Liverpool. While the number was 248 
fewer than in the preceding year, the aggregate tonnage (11,046,459) 
showed an increase of 269,313. 
The total output of coal in the United Kingdom in 1895 has just been 
officially announced as 189,661,362 tons, which exceeds by 1,383,837 tons 
the output of 1S94, the highest previous record. The total recorded out- 
jnit of minerals was 201,738,.351 tons, an increase of 2,287,000 tons over 
the previous year. The number of mines worked was 3,512 and the 
number of persons employed therein 700,284. The number of quarries 
worked was 8,062, the i>roduct, mostly stone, amounting to 29,813,734 
tons. The number of employes in tliis branch of industry was 104,625, 
and the total number of persons employed in the entire mineral industry 
838,282. 
ASIA 
China. Russia is stated by the St. Petersburg NovoMi to have obtained 
absolute freedom of trade in northern China. 
Tonkin. Official notice is given that the English commissioner has 
handed over to the French authorities the district of Mongsin with the 
de])endent territories as being on the left bank of the Mekong. 
Burma. A preliminary survey has been made for a railway from the 
5Iu valley line to the Chindwin river, a distance of 70 miles. The route 
presents no serious engineering difficulties and the country to be traversed 
is densely poi)ulated. 
Afghanistan. The Amir has issued orders that none of his subjects 
sliall lie allowed to keep Kafirs as slaves, and strictly forbidding all .slave 
dealing. The Kafirs, moreover, are not to be compelled to become Mo- 
hammedans against their will. 
