Star.
London, England, 1831-05-23 00:00:00

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THE BRITISH COLONIES.
Of the empire of Great Britain it may be said, what
has never yet • been true of another nation, that on its
territories the sun never sets. Every breeze that blows,
whether north, south, east, or west, is impelling its richly
freighted barks to every part of the habitable globe ;
while, as if hastening to the grand emporium of the
world, the bosom of the mighty ocean is overspread with
thousands of deeply-laden ships, with tea from China,
indigo from Bengal, sugar from Jamaica, furs from
Canada, gold and silver from Mexico, cotton from Egypt,
wool from Australasia, copper from Peru, wine from Por-
tugal, cinnamon from Ceylon, corn from •Poland, soars
from New Zealand, fruits from Greece, coffee from
Arabia, hemp from Russia, spices from Sumatra, ivory
from Africa, iron from Sweden, cochineal from Guatemala,
brandy from France, dyes from Persia, gums from Sene-
gal, olives from Spain, firs from Norway, pearls from
Omar, silk from Italy, tobacco from America, porcelain
from Dresden, mnslins from Dacca, mahogany from the
Honduras, rice from India, aloes from Socotra, carpets
item Turkey, marble from Pit.-os ; and in fine, with each
erode( t of the earth and sea, and 'very article of bird, beast,
:•rd fish, that can minister to the laNuries, or supply the
multifarious wants, of civilized man !
Our colonies may be considered in a political or commer-
cial point of view, or in both. The Canada. rank high po-
litically as regards our settlement on the American conti-
nent, and consequently as a channel for the diffusion of
our manufactures, not only among the Yankees them-
selves, but by means of the North-west and Hudson's
Bay Companies, through the various tribes that inhabit
the country, as far even as the northern Pacific. Nova
Scotia is chiefly valuable, as a resort for our shipping.
Newfoundland is of considerable advantage politically, as
well es affording protection to our lucrative fisheries on
its banks. The Bermudas are a most important maritime
station, whence our fleets can at all times issue for the as-
sistance of Jamaica, Barbadoes, Antigua, Nevis, Tortola,
ttc. which are, strictly speaking, commercial colonies. The
island of Trinidad is both a political and commercial station,'
and equally advantageous, whether as a safeguard to the
before-mentioned islands, or as an entrepot for our manufac-
tures, whence they may be conveyed throughout the increas-
ingly prosperous South American continent.
Gibraltar, as a military post, requires no comment.—
Malta, and our other possessions in the Mediterranean,
must be considered principally as affording strong holds of
protection for our commerce along the coasts of Italy,Greece,
Asia Minor, and Egypt; in these points of view they are
invaluable.

The islands of Jersey and Guernsey, on the coast of
France, are very, useful, at a time of war, for the fitting
out of our Privateers, and also for the rendezvous of our
shipping.
The coast of Africa next claims our attention. Sierra
Leone, our largest settlement on the western coast, has long
been cried out against in England, on account of the many
deaths that have occurred among its civil and military
officers.

The trade of Sierra Leone is rapidly increasing, and thence
our manufactures are extending to the gold, grain, and
ivory costs—among the Fouliths, Jaloofe, Ashantees. &c.
and along the great desert of Zatira to the immense and far-
famed city of Timbnctoo, by which means we are diffusing
our language and a knowledge of the arts of civilized life
among millions who have hitherto known the white men in
no other light than that of harsh task-masters--avaricious
slave merchants—and murderous tyrants.
The preceding remarks would be found applicable to our
colony of Fernando Po, in the Bight of Benin, the sugges-
tion and formation of which we owe to the most talented
naval officer in the service, William Fitzwilliam Owen, Esq.
whose sagacity and unwearied perseverance no person who
has ever visited these coasts would deny. The utility of St.
Helena and Ascension as watering-places for our merchant
vessels, and cruising stations for our ships of war against
pirates, is sufficiently obvious.
The southern promontory of Africa next presents itself.
This colony partakes of the political and commercial cha-
racter—of the former, as the key to our eastern posses-
sions; of the latter, as consuming a considerable portion
of our manufactures; and in the event of the odious corn
laws being abolished, it promises fair to be one of the
most valuable granaries of Great Britain, and its fisheries
are by no means contemptible.—Notwithstanding the
immense trade that might be carried on along the eastern
coast from Point Natal to Cape Guardafui, and in the
Mozambique Channel, on the Madagascar coast; yet we
have no settlement along a territory of several thousand
miles. The Gunder of Fernando Po, Captain Owen, did
accept the possession of the fertile island and strong fortress
of Mombaz, in fat 4 deg. south, which vi as ceded to us by
the Arabs in 1844, and on whose turrets our flag floated for
a few months ; but, through ignorance and a blind policy it
was resigned by the home government, and is now a strong
Arab settlement, which the French and Portuguese are
squally deshous of possessing.
Mauritius is advantageously situated in the track of our
India, China, and Australasian ships ; its exportation of
sugar is very considerable, and rapidly increasing ; it does
not, however, consume much of our alinufactuses, the in-
habitants being plentifully supplied from France. The Sey-
chelles are useful to us on account of our whaling ships,
which obtain an abundant supply of sperm oil to the north-
ward of these romantic and extraordinary islands.
Ceylon, from its locality, admirable forts, and extensive
havens, is one of the most commanding positions in the
Indian Ocean. Its exports of cinnamon, coffee, cocoa nut
oil, rice, arrack, choir rope, pearls, timber. &c. are
fast rising, and this most beautiful and magnificent isle
promises to be one of the brightest appendages of the
British crown.

The Australasian colonies, comprising the settlements,
of New South Wades. Van Dieman's Land, and Swan
River, are the last to which we shall advert. As an
asylum for outlawed man, no place could have been more
appropriately chosen than the eastern coast of this sterile
and swampy continent. Neither the settlements of New
South Wales or Van Dieman's Land can be said to pos-
sess, at the present period, much political importance ;
in the event, however, of a war with America, they would
prove of considerable advantage. Their consumption of the
mother country manufactures is considerable, and their sta-
ple export of fine wool promises to be of the greatest
benefit to both parties. Their remoteness and the want
of large navigable rivers are serious detriments to the
rapid rising of the colony. The Swan River location
we must however regard solely in a political light.—
A s a healthy station for our ships of war, as a seasoning
place for European soldiers proceeding ro India, whither
they might be conveyed in steam-boats at a very short no-
tice, and as affording an excellent watering place for the
China and Eastern Archipelago ships. It will require, how-
ever, several years of privation before the settlers can hold
Gut an inducement for Indian invalid officers to visit them.
The Australasian colonies may be anticipated to form an in-
dependent empire in about thirty years.
• We say present, because any place may be made healthy by clear.
ing it of its foul awamta. draining the marshes, ate. a
The shortness of the late parliament is not unprecedented.
There was one in the reign of Chaeles the Second, which only lasted
14-yen days, it having met on the 21st of March, 1881, and was dis-
solved on the 28th of the same month.

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