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ADERNO — A DMIRALTY

on a peninsula near the entrance to the Red Sea. It was first occupied by the British in January 1839. From time to time additional land on the mainland has been acquired by cession or purchase, and the adjoining island of Perim, lying in the actual mouth of the strait, was permanently occupied in 1857. Further inland, and along the coast, most of the Arab chiefs are under the political control of the British Government, which pays them regular allowances. The area of the peninsula is only 15 square miles, but the total area of British territory is returned at 80 square miles, including Perim (5 square miles). In 1891 the population was 44,079, of whom no less than 30,914 were males. In 1901 the population was 41,222, showing a decrease of 6 per cent. The average density is 515 persons per square mile. The gross revenue in 1897-98 was Rs.38,07,539, and the municipal income Rs. 1,93,922. There are 42 schools, with 1949 pupils, being 5‘6 per cent, of the population. There are three printing presses, of which one is in the jail, and the other two belong to a European and a Parsi firm of merchants. In 1900 Aden suffered from an epidemic outbreak of plague. Aden is strongly fortified, with a permanent garrison of one British and one native regiment, two batteries of artillery, and one company of engineers. The administration is conducted by a political resident, who is also the military commandant. All food requires to be imported, and the water-supply is largely derived from condensation. A little water is obtained from wells, and some from an aqueduct 7 miles long, constructed in 1867 at a cost of £30,000, besides an irregular supply from the old reservoirs. The importance of Aden as a port of call for steamers and a coaling station has grown immensely since the opening of the Suez Canal, It also conducts a considerable trade with the interior of Arabia, and with the Somali coast of Africa on the opposite side of the Red Sea. The submarine cables of the Eastern Telegraph Company here diverge—on the one hand to India, the Far East, and Australia, and on the other hand to Zanzibar and the Cape. The number of steamers visiting the port rose from 535 in 1871-72 to 1214 in 1881-82. In 1897-98 the total number of merchant vessels that entered and cleared was 2496, of which 1080 with a tonnage of 2,124,043 were steamers. The number that called to discharge or take cargo was 816. In addition, 129 British and foreign men-of-war and troopships called at the port. In 1897-98, the total volume of trade amounted, in tens of rupees, to 8,188,393, which is classified into foreign, Indian, and inland. Of the foreign, the imports amounted to Rx. 2,851,193, and the exports to Rx. 3,345,028. Of the Indian, the imports were Rx. 1,250,054, and the exports Rx. 258,800. Of the inland, the imports were Rx. 337,640, and the exports Rx. 145,678. The principal articles of import are coffee, cotton-piece goods, &c., grain, hides, coal, opium, cotton-twist and yarn. The exports are, in the main, a repetition of the imports. Of the total imports, nearly one-third come from the east coast of Africa, and another third from Arabia. ADMIRALTY

Of the total exports, nearly one-third again go to the east coast of Africa. In 1897-98 the share of the United Kingdom was only 13 per cent, of the total imports, and 6 per cent, of the total exports. In that year the receipts of the port trust amounted to Rs.2,48,975, and the expenditure to Rs.2,70,511. The number of vessels that called at Perim was 556, of which 396 were British. (j. S. Co.) Ademo, a town of Italy, Sicily, prov. Catania, situated at the S.W. foot of Mount Etna, 22 miles N.W. from Catania by the circum-Etna railway. It has a square Norman tower (now converted into a prison) and a monastery (1157), both built by the Norman count Roger of Sicily; some slight remains survive of the ancient Sikelian city of Hadranum, and of its famous temple to Hadranus. Aderno is famous for its oranges, and has. flour-mills. Population (1871), 14,613; (1881), 19,180;. (1901), 25,873. Adiquala. See Eritrea. AdifOndackS, a group of mountains in northeastern New York, U.S.A., a portion of the Appalachian system of eastern North America, occupying the eastern part of the region between Lake Champlain and Lake Ontario, north of the Mohawk Valley. They do not form a connected range, but consist of many summits, isolated or in groups, arranged with little appearance of system. The highest peak, Mount Marcy, altitude 5344 feet, is near the eastern part of the group, and about it are many summits exceeding 4000 in height. These mountains, consisting mainly of somewhat homogeneous granite rocks, are the of long-continued erosion, carried on in a greatly j result elevated region, by which the softer areas have suffered the most and the harder the least. In recent geologic times this area, with the exception of the higher summits, was covered by the Laurentian glacier, whose erosion, while perhaps having little effect on the larger features of the country, has greatly modified it in details, producing many lakes and ponds, together with rapids and falls in the streams. The region is heavily forested with spruce, pine, and broad-leaved trees, forming the only continuous forest area remaining in the state. In order to preserve these forests from destruction the state withholds its lands from sale, and as opportunity offers, increases its holdings by purchase. In 1900 the area of state lands comprised 1,250,000 acres. The Adirondack region, with its mountains, lakes, and forests, presents much beautiful, and even grand, scenery, and is greatly frequented in summer as a resort and sanatorium. Adi-Ugri. See Eritrea.

ADMINISTRATION. of Admiralty, and the function of that board is the mainBritish Empire. tenance and expansion of the fleet in accordance I. rriHE Administrative System.—That the navy is the with the policy of the Government, and the g^rd of I only real defence of the British islands has been supplying of it with trained officers and men; Admiralty. recognized by English people ever since the days of King its distribution throughout the world; and its Offa, who died in 796, leaving to his successors the admir- preservation in readiness and efficiency in all material and able lesson that “ he who would be secure on land must be personal respects. The character of the Admiralty Board supreme at sea.” The truth of the lesson thus learnt is is peculiar to the British constitution, and it possesses sanctioned by all the experience of English history, and certain features which distinguish it from other departParliament has repeatedly enforced the fact. The navy is ments of the State. The business it conducts is very the only force that can safeguard the British islands from great and complex, and the machinery by which its work hostile descents; it is the only force that can protect is done has grown with the expansion of that business. their vast sea-borne commerce and food supplies; by The whole system of naval administration has been giving safety to the home country it sets British troops developed historically, and is not the product of the free for operations abroad, and makes their passage secure ; organizing skill of one or a few individuals, but an organic and thus, as also by giving command of the sea, the fleet growth possessing marked and special characteristics. The is the means by which the empire is guarded and has Admiralty Board derives its character from the fact that become a true imperial bond. I it represents the Lord High Admiral, and that its powers British naval administration is conducted by the Board I and operation depend much more upon usage than upon