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 except in cases where the exercise of religious rites leads to practices foreign to accepted laws of humanity. It is perhaps interesting to state that the number of persons in the empire nominally professing the Christian religion is 58,000,000, of Mahommedans 94,000,000, of Buddhists 12,000,000, of Hindus 208,000,000, of pagans and others 25,000,000. Systems of instruction, of which the aim is generally similar in the white portions of the empire and is directed towards giving to every individual the basis of a liberal education, are governed wholly by local requirements. Native schools are established in all settled communities under British rule.

.—In recent years the subject of British imperialism has inspired a growing literature, and it is only possible here to name a selected number of the more important works which may usefully be consulted on different topics: Sir C. P. Lucas, Historical Geography of the British Colonies (1888, et seq.); H. E. Egerton, Short History of British Colonial Policy (1897); H. J. Mackinder, Britain and the British Seas (1902); Sir J. R. Seeley, Expansion of England (1883); Growth of British Policy (1895); Sir Charles Dilke, Greater Britain (1869), Problems of Greater Britain (1890), The British Empire (1899); G. R. Parkin, Imperial Federation (1892); Sir John Colomb, Imperial Federation, Naval and Military (1886); Sir G. S. Clarke, Imperial Defence (1897); Sidney Goldmann and others, The Empire and the Century (1905); J. L. Garvin, Imperial Reciprocity (1903); J. W. Welsford, The Strength of a Nation (1907); Compatriots Club Essays (1906); Sir H. Jenkyns, British Rule and Jurisdiction beyond the Seas (1902); Bernard Holland, Imperium et libertas (1901); (for an anti-imperialist view) J. A. Hobson, Imperialism (1902). See also the Reports of the various colonial conferences, especially that of the Imperial Conference of 1907; and for trade statistics, J. Holt Schooling’s British Trade Book. For the tariff reform movement in England see the articles and.

BRITISH HONDURAS, formerly called, or , a British crown colony in Central America; bounded on the N. and N.W. by the Mexican province of Yucatan, N.E. and E. by the Bay of Honduras, an inlet of the Caribbean Sea, and S. and W. by Guatemala. (For map, see .) Pop. (1905) 40,372; area, 7562 sq. m. The frontier of British Honduras, as defined by the conventions of 1859 and 1893 between Great Britain and Guatemala, begins at the mouth of the river Sarstoon or Sarstun, in the Bay of Honduras; ascends that river as far as the rapids of Gracias à Dios; and thence, turning to the right, runs in a straight line to Garbutt’s Rapids, on the Belize river. From this point it proceeds due north to the Mexican frontier, where it follows the river Hondo to its mouth in Chetumal Bay.

British Honduras differs little from the rest of the Yucatan peninsula. The approach to the coast is through the islets known as cays, and through coral reefs. It is both difficult and dangerous. For some miles inland the ground is low and swampy, thickly covered with mangroves and tropical jungle. Next succeeds a narrow belt of rich alluvial land, not exceeding a mile in width, beyond which, and parallel to the rivers, are vast tracts of sandy, arid land, called “pine ridges,” from the red pines with which they are covered. Farther inland these give place, first, to the less elevated “broken ridges,” and then to what are called “cahoon ridges,” with a deep rich soil covered with myriads of palm trees. Next come broad savannas, studded with clumps of, trees, through which the streams descending from the mountains wind in every direction. The mountains themselves rise in a succession of ridges parallel to the coast. The first are the Manatee Hills, from 800 to 1000 ft. high; and beyond these are the Cockscomb Mountains, which are about 4000 ft. high. No less than sixteen streams, large enough to be called rivers, descend from these mountains to the sea, between the Hondo and Sarstoon. The uninhabited country between Garbutt’s Rapids and the coast south of Deep river was first explored in 1879, by Henry Fowler, the colonial secretary of British Honduras; it was then found to consist of open and undulating grasslands, affording fine pasturage in the west and of forests full of valuable timber in the east. Its elevation varies from 1200 to 3300 ft. Auriferous quartz and traces of other minerals have been discovered, but not in sufficient quantity to repay the cost of mining. The geology, fauna and flora of British Honduras do not materially differ from those of the neighbouring regions (see ).

Although the colony is in the tropics, its climate is subtropical. The highest shade temperature recorded is 98° F., the lowest 50°. Easterly sea-winds prevail during the greater part of the year. The dry season lasts from the middle of February to the middle of May; rain occurs at intervals during the other months, and almost continuously in October, November and December. The annual rainfall averages about 81 in., but rises in some districts to 150 in. or more. Cholera, yellow fever and other tropical diseases occur sporadically, but, on the whole, the country is not unhealthy by comparison with the West Indies or Central American states.

Inhabitants.—British Honduras is a little larger than Wales, and has a population smaller than that of Chester (England). In 1904 the inhabitants of European descent numbered 1500, the Europeans 253, and the white Americans 118. The majority belong to the hybrid race descended from negro slaves, aboriginal Indians and white settlers. At least six distinct racial groups can be traced. These consist of (1) native Indians, to be found chiefly in forest villages in the west and north of the colony away from the sea coast; (2) descendants of the English buccaneers, mixed with Scottish and German traders; (3) the woodcutting class known as “Belize Creoles,” of more or less pure descent from African negroes imported, as slaves or as labourers, from the West Indies; (4) the Caribs of the southern districts, descendants of the population deported in 1796 from St Vincent, who were of mixed African and Carib origin; (5) a mixed population in the south, of Spanish-Indian origin, from Guatemala and Honduras; and (6) in the north another Spanish-Indian group which came from Yucatan in 1848. The population tends slowly to increase; about 45% of the births are illegitimate, and males are more numerous than females. Many tracts of fallow land and forest were once thickly populated, for British Honduras has its ruined cities, and other traces of a lost Indian civilization, in common with the rest of Central America.

Natural Products.—For more than two centuries British Honduras has been supported by its trade in timber, especially in mahogany, logwood, cedar and other dye-woods and cabinet-woods, such as lignum-vitae, fustic, bullet-wood, santa-maria, ironwood, rosewood, &c. The coloured inhabitants are unsurpassed as woodmen, and averse from agriculture; so that there are only about 90 sq. m. of tilled land. Sugar-cane, bananas, cocoanut-palms, plantains, and various other fruits are cultivated; vanilla, sarsaparilla, sapodilla or chewing-gum, rubber, and the cahoon or coyol palm, valuable for its oil, grow wild in large quantities. In September 1903 all the pine trees on crown lands were sold to Mr B. Chipley, a citizen of the United States, at one cent (d.) per tree; the object of the sale being to secure the opening up of undeveloped territory. Unsuccessful attempts have been made to establish sponge fisheries on a large scale.

Chief Towns and Communications.—Belize (pop. in 1904, 9969), the capital and principal seaport, is described in a separate article. Other towns are Stann Creek (2459), Corosal (1696), Orange Walk (1244), Punta Gorda (706), the Cayo (421), Monkey River (384) and Mullins River (243). All these are administered by local boards, whose aggregate revenue amounts to some £7000. Telegraph and telephone lines connect the capital with Corosal in the north, and Punta Gorda in the south; but there are no railways, and few good roads beyond municipal limits. Thus the principal means of communication are the steamers which ply along the coast. Mail steamers from New Orleans, Liverpool, Colon and Puerto Cortes in Honduras, regularly visit Belize.

Commerce and Finance.—Between 1901 and 1905 the tonnage of vessels accommodated at the ports of British Honduras rose from 300,000 to 496,465; the imports rose from £252,500 to £386,123; the exports from £285,500 to £377,623. The exports consist of the timber, fruit and other vegetable products already mentioned, besides rum, deerskins, tortoiseshell, turtles and sponges, while the principal imports are cotton goods, hardware, beer, wine, spirits, groceries and specie. The sea-borne trade is mainly shared by Great Britain and the United States. On the 14th of October 1894, the American gold dollar was adopted as the standard coin, in place of the Guatemalan dollar; and the silver of North, South and Central America ceased to be legal tender. Government notes are issued to the value of 1, 2, 5, 10, 50 and 100 dollars, and there is a local currency of one cent bronze pieces, and of 5, 10, 25 and 50 cent silver pieces. The British sovereign and half sovereign are legal tender. In 1846 the government savings bank was founded in Belize; branches were afterwards opened in the principal towns; and in 1903 the British Bank of Honduras was established at Belize. The revenue, chiefly derived from customs, rose from £60,150 in 1901 to £68,335 in 1905. The expenditure, in which the cost of police