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 296 BRITISH COLUMBIA BRITISH EMPIRE lighter than Welsh coal, and its consumption is so much move rapid. The anthracite con- tains TO per cent, of carbon, and is of supe- rior quality. A large area of the N. W. portion of the island is mainly of the bitumi- nous coal formation. Similar beds exist also on Queen Charlotte island. The annual .ex- portation of coal, chiefly to San Francisco, amounts to about $200,000. The chief port and commercial town is Victoria, the capital, on Vancouver island, containing about 4,000 inhabitants. New Westminster is on Fraser river, about 15 m. from its mouth, and has about 1,000 inhabitants. The other principal points are Langley, Fort Hope, Fort Yale, and Lilloeet on Fraser river, and Douglas on Har- rison lake. Most of these places are connected with the United States by telegraph. The ex- ports are gold, coal, furs, spars, lumber, fish, fish oil, wool, and cranberries; the imports are provisions, clothing, furniture, and tools. Large numbers of spars, unequalled in length and quality, are exported. The exports of lumber amount to about $120,000 annually. The aggregate value of imports which passed into the colony through the port of Victoria in 1869 was $1,776,623, and of exports, including gold, $719,203. In 1870 the exports, exclusive of gold, amounted to $208,364. The entrances in 1869 were 864 vessels, of 199,634 tons, and the clearances 896 vessels, of 202,551 tons. The next year, 835 vessels of 173,209 tons entered, and 804 of 170,624 tons cleared. The total exports from British Columbia and Vancouver island to the United Kingdom amounted to 68,681 in 1867, 76,614 in 1868, 51,490 in 1869, 60,751 in 1870, and 76,644 in 1871. The chief articles of export in 1871 were train or blubber oil, to the value of 9,651 ; seal skins, 6,850; other skins and furs, 41,472; hewn wood and timber, 16,819 ; wool, 268 ; other articles, 1,584. The imports from Great Britain amounted to 103,206 in 1869, 73,581 in 1870, and 78,431 in 1871. The total revenue raised throughout the colony in 1869 amounted to $530,470, and the expendi- tures to $517,332. British Columbia is repre- sented in the parliament of the Dominion of Canada. The territorial officers are a gov- ernor, appointed by the English crown, a sec- retary, a commissioner of lands and public works, and a collector of customs. The law officers are two judges, an attorney general, a registrar, and a high sheriff. The legislative council consists of 15 members, 5 of whom are public officers, 5 are selected by the governor, and 5 are elected by the people subject to the approval of the governor. The elected assem- bly of Vancouver has been discontinued, and that island is represented in the legislative council of British Columbia. Four newspa- pers, of which two are daily, are published in the province, and there are three libraries with 4,000 volumes. British Columbia, com- prising the territories formerly known as New Caledonia, New Georgia, New Norfolk, and New Cornwall, was prior to 1858 entirely un- der the control of the Hudson Bay company, whose trading posts were stationed at various points on the coast and in the interior. The discovery of gold in that year caused an influx of population and the formation of a colony. It is estimated that the number of immigrants in 1858, chiefly from California, was not less than 20,000. On the first influx, the gover- nor of Vancouver island took prompt measures to secure to the British government the royalty of the minerals by imposing a license tax, and to maintain the Hudson Bay company's mo- nopoly by forbidding the importation of goods other than through the company's agencies. He also forbade to foreign ships the naviga- tion of Fraser river. By an act of parliament passed Aug. 2, 1858, British Columbia was created a distinct colonial government, com- prising the territory as far N. as Simpson riv- er and the Finlay branch of Peace river. In 1863 the N. boundary was extended from about lat. 66 to 60 N. The colony included all the adjacent islands except Vancouver, which was incorporated with British Columbia under one government in 1866. In 1871 British Colum- bia was admitted into the Dominion of Canada. The leading condition of the union was an agreement on the part of the Dominion gov- ernment to construct a railroad connecting the Pacific coast with the eastern provinces. This railroad, the Canadian Pacific, is to be not less than 2,500, and may be 2,700 ra. long, ex- tending from Victoria to some point in the province of Ontario, possibly to Lake Nipissing, about 200 m. N. of Toronto. It is to be com- pleted by 1881. It is expected to develop the valuable mineral districts of the province, and divert the China and Japan trade from its present channel. BRITISH EMPIRE, a vast complex of states in various parts of the world, subject to the crown of England. Its different portions will be treated under their several names. We here present a condensed view of them all together : IN EUROPE. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with the adjacent islands in the British seas, includ- ing the Shetlands, Orkneys, Hebrides, Scillies, Man, the Chan- nel islands, and the Isle of Wight ; area 121,115 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 81,817,108. Wales was incorporated into the king- dom of England in the reign of Edward I. Scotland, whose sovereign became king of England in 1603, long continued dis- tinct for administrative and legislative purposes. It was fully joined to England by the act of union in 1707, by which the Scottish legislature was dissolved, and the Scotch were ad- mitted to representation in the British houses of lords and commons. The Scotch still maintain their own peculiar laws, customs, and national churoh. Ireland was nominally an- nexed to the crown of England in 1172 : hut for centuries it resisted the invader, and can scarcely be said to have been subjugated until it was reduced by Cromwell. It was gov- erned by its own parliament till 1800, when by an act of union it was united to England, and. like Scotland, admitted to the rights of representation both by peers and commoners in the British parliament. Its laws are essentially the same as those of Kngland. though passed specially for Ireland. The Anglican church was imposed upon Ireland as a state church, with alt the endowments of the ancient Catholic church, although leas than one eighth of the population are members of its com- munion ; but it was finally disestablished in 1871. Heligo- land, a small island in the German ocean, inhabited chiefly by fishermen, taken from the Danes in 1807 ; area. 0-21 sq. m. ; pop. in 1860, 2,172. Gibraltar, taken from the Spaniards in 1704, consisting of a lofty steep rock, bristling with guns, and