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The colonies of Ceylon, the Straits Settlements, Hong Kong, Mauritius, and the Seychelles, and the Protected State of North Borneo, are all in the tropics.
Their area and population is as follows :--
Ceylon
Name.
Area
Population
(in Square Miles).
(at last Census).
5
The Seychelles, a dependency of Mauritius, are a cluster of islands lying about 900 miles due north of Mauritius in the direction of Aden. The climate is very healthy for the tropics. The products are chiefly coconut oil and vanilla.
The British colonies on the West Coast of Africa are the Gambia, Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast, and Lagos, with which should be grouped also the Niger Protectorate, being the district alministered by the Royal Niger Company. [Address, Surrey House, Victoria Embankment, S.W.]
The approximate area and population of the four colonies is as follows:-
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The Straits Settlements
Hong Kong
Mauritius -
Seychelles -
North Borneo
25,365
1,472)
2,764,000
423,000
30
160,000
708
360,000
100*
*14,000
31,000*
*150,000
* These figures are very uncertain.
Owing to the heat of the climate all the outdoor work in these countries is done by coloured labour, either native or im- ported, and therefore there is no opening for any Europeans unless they have capital or go out to take up public, professional, or commercial appointments.
In Ceylon tea-growing is the main industry, supplemental by coffee, cinchona, vanilla, &c.
In the colony of the Straits Settlements, of which the capital is Singapore, there is no large area for planting or mining, but in the neighbouring states of the Malay peninsula, which are under British protection [Perak, Selangor, Sungei Ujong, the Negri Sembilan, and Pahang], there is a very large output of tin, while precious metals have also been found in considerable quantities, and the country is in parts well suited for the growth of all tropical products.
Hong Kong is a small island overcrowded with Chinese, and depending entirely on the enormous transit trade which passes through its harbour.
North Borneo, belonging to and administered by the British North Borneo Company [address, 15, Leadenhall Street, E.C.], is not yet developed to any very large extent; tobacco, however, and other tropical products are being successfully grown, and various kinds of minerals have been found.
Mauritius is a sugar-growing colony in the Indian Ocean, 1,550 miles to the north-east of Natal. It is richly cultivated and thickly populated, and there is no room in it for any European immigration.
Gambia
Sierra Leone
Gold Coast -
Lagos
Arca.
Population.
69
14,000
3,000
60,000
29,401
1,071
400,000
75,000
All these places are tropical, unhealthy, and utterly unsuited for European settlement.
The trade is mainly with Liverpool, and the principal products are palm oil and kernels, gold dust, india-rubber, hides, ivory, &c. On the East Coast of Africa, North of Zanzibar, is the territory under the administration of the British Imperial East African Company [address, 2, Pall Mall East, S.W.]; and in the South of Africa, inland beyond the borders of British Bechuanaland, is the "field"" of " operations" of the British South Africa Com- pany [address, 19, St. Swithin Lane, E.C.].
In neither case has the country yet been fully explored or opened up. The East African Coast north of Natal is, as a rulo, unhealthy.
St. Helena, a small island in the South Atlantic, with an area of 47 square miles and a population of about 5,000, has a very healthy climate, well suited for delicate constitutions; but there is very little trade in the island, and practically no opening in it for emigrants, agricultural or otherwise. It is about four- teen days distant by steamer from Plymouth and five from Cape -Town.
Of the islands on the American side of the Atlantic, other than Newfoundland and the West Indies, the Bermudas have an area of 19 square miles and a population of over 15,000; in great measure engaged in raising vegetables for the American market. The islands are very healthy, and are reached in about three days from New York or Halifax, but as their area is very
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