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 THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS 16X

acres of cleared land and 156 square miles of reserved forest. There were in 1912, 11,228 convicts (including 600 women) in the place, of whom some 2,100 were on ticket-of-leave in the settlement supporting them- selves. Of the women, about half are on ticket-of-leave, and married to convicts. The Andaman Islands are under the Government of India and the Officer in Charge is the Superintendent of Port Blair. The Civil' Military and convict population of Port Blair in 1912 was 15,613.

The Nicobar Islands ai-e situated to the South of the Andanians, 75 miles from Little Andaman. There are nineteen islands, seven uninhabited ; gross area, 635 square miles. The islands are usually divided into three groups', Southern, Central and Northern, the chief islands in each being respectively,' Great Nicobar, Camorta with Nancowry, and Car Nicobar. There is a fine land-locked harbour between the islands of Camorta and Nancowry, known as Nancowry Harbour. The Nicobarese inhabitants, numbering 6,310 (3,336 males and 2,974 females) in 1901, are a variety of the Malay race° This i^e'cple are known to have eagerly pursued the cocoanut trade for at least 1,500 years. English and Hindustani are understood in most villages. The cocoanut production is estimated at 15 million nuts per annum, of which some 5 million are sold by barter and exported in small native craft and Chinese junks in the form of copra. The climate is tropical and unhealthy for Europeans. A permanent agent, a native of India, is maintained as sole representative of Government in the Nicobar Islands. The islands are attached to the Chief Commissionership of the Andamans and Nicobars.

Chief Commissioner and Superintendent at Fort Blair. — Lieut. -Col. H. A. Browning, LA.

Annual Administration Reports by the Chief Comiuissioner.— Selections from the Records of the Government of India (Home Department) Nos. XXV. and LXXVH. Kloss (C. B.), In the Andamans and Nicobars. London, 1903.

LACCADIVE ISLANDS.

A group of 14 islands (9 inhabited), about 200 miles oil' the west or Malabar coast of the Madras Presidency. The northern portion is attached to the collectorate of South Kanara, the remainder to the administrative district of Malabar. Population (1901), 10,274 (4,971 male and 5,303 female), all Muhammadans, excej)t 9 Hindus and 2 Buddhists. The language is either Malay alam or Mahl. The staple product is the fibre known as coir.

Keeling Islands. See Straits Settlements. Kuria Muria Island. See Aden.

THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. Constitution and Government.

The Straits Settlements, a Crown colony, which comprises Singapore (with which is incorpoiated Labuan), Tenang (including Province Wellesley and the Bindings), and Malacca, were transferred from the control of the Indian Government to that of the Secretary of State for the Colonies on April 1, 1867. The Cocos Islands were placed under the Straits Settle- ments in 1886, and Christmas Island in 1889. Christmas Island Mas annexed to the Settlement of Singapore in 1900, and the Cocos Islands in 1903.

By a proclamation dated October 30, 1906, the boundaries of the Colony were extended so as to include the Colohy of Labuan, with effect from January 1, 1907. Labuan has been incorporated for administrative purposes in the Settlement of Singapore.

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