The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1841-11-02
Mtseellaneous.
BRITISH COLONIES AND DEEPEN
DENCIES.

The real extent of the colonial possessions o
the British crown is known 10 but few and ap
preciated by none. Mr.. Montgomery Martin
IN his statistics of the Colonies Of the British
| Empire" calculates the area of the colonies a
2,ll9,7OS square miles, though $500, 900 would
| perhaps be truer estimate an extent twenty
times as large as the parent country, and NOR,
| than twice the size OF the settled States in on
own. These possessions lie in every zone, Dor
der on nearly every sea, include a portion o.
nearly every people, and the boast Of the Spani
ard, that "the sun never sets upon the domlnions
of Charles and Philip" has been the proud, ex
uiting language Of an English Statesman, in re
| ference 10 the extended power of his own mo
march.
Gibraltar, the nearest to England is remark
ably Interesting, not only for its classic and
Moorish associations, but for the fact, that il Is
the portion of once proud land, now held in
permanent security by foreign nation. Glib
raitar Is the corrupt pronunciation of the Arabic
words Gibei al Idrif-the rock Of Tariff, Ia
riff being the leader of the Moors, when they in
vaded Spain and took the town Of Heraclea, al
the base OF this promontory in the beginning OF
the 9Th century 1t was not fortified in the mo-
dern style, until the time of Charles the 9Th,
when Daniel Speckel, a German engineer, un-
dertook the task. II came into British hands in
l704, by the sudden attack upon it Of the Eng
ish fleet under the command of Sir George
Rookie and the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt, who,
unwilling TO return home without achieving
some signal exploit suddenly determined on
the capture OF this point, and after lombard
ment OF a few hours, succeeded. Many efforts
have been made to wrest il from its present pos
SCISSOR, but all have been unsuccessful. The
most prodigious Of these began in 1879, and
continued three years, when the place was be-
sieged by the joint feet and armies Of France
and Spain. The cost Of supporting the garr-
son is half hundred thousand pounds year.
The Notifications are on the west point, towards
the base OF the rock, which rises almost perpen-
dicularly 10 or 400 feet from the water. The
Strait across is Is miles wide and the passage
TO the Mediterranean is entirely commanded by
the works. The population of the town is about
10000. Numerically the smallest in practical
value, il is the most important of the British pos
sessions, and serves 10 hold in check the balance
OF power throughout Southern Europe.
Running up the Mediterranean, we soon come to
Malta, an island interesting as the scene of Paul's
shipwreck, and as the residence of the once eel
ebrated order Of the Knights of st. John. Like
Gibraltar, II IS strongly fortified, stronger in fact
in artificial defences, than almost any other place
in the world.
The principal city is Valetta, founded in
1866, by La Valette, grand master of the knights
of Malta, and the remains Of many of the old
buildings of the knights are still in good preser-
walton. Valetta contains population Of about
100000. In 1898 Buonaparte took possession Of
i, but two years after the garrison captulaled TO
the English, and the possession of it being con-
frmed TO them by the treaty of Paris, in 1914.
il has since remained in their hands, and is now
the great naval depot of the Mediterranean, In
military point of view, it is of the utmost i'm
portance, and while Gibralter has been aptly
termed the key of the Mediterranean, Malta
has been called the spring of the lock. The
whole population is about 100000.
The lonian islands, also in the Mediterranean,
though not part of the British possessions, are
still united as dependency under Britain's pro-
lection. The islands, seven in number, are sit
uated along the western shore of Greece, and
Albania and are mostly peopled BY Greeks
The present census numbers about 300,O0 AT
ter being under variety Of real, nominal mas
tiers, it was agreed in 1915, between Russia,
Austria, and Great Britain, that the islands
Corto, Paxos, Santa Maura Thiak or Ithaca,
and Cephalonia, should form Republic under
the name of the UNITED States of the Ionian
Islands, to be under the exclusive protection of
Great Britain. The commercial flag of these
Islands is recognized as the flag of an indepen-
dent nation. The Constitution provides for the
general and liberal education of the children In
d
and university, and about 5000 scholars. The
English high commissioner at Corfu is at the
head of affairs.
On the western coast of Afriaa, the English
have planted several colonies. The earliest
was begun in 1887, at Sierra Leone, for the ex
press purpose of laborng to civilize the natives.
This place at one time numbered $4,000 inhabi-
tants; 1t is however drain, rather than an ad-
vantage, to the mother country, and has only
been sustained, because it cannot honorably be
given up.
In Southern Africa, Great Britain has the
Cape of Good Hope, a colony extending 230
miles from north to south, and $50 from east to
west, with population Of about 10000. This
place was captured from the Hottentots and CO.
lonized by the Dutch in the middle of the sew
enteenth century. In 1895 it was taken from
them by the English restored at the peace of
Amiens in 1902; and again taken in 1906, since
which it has been retained by Great Britain.
Cape Town is the capital, situated about lhir-
ty miles from the Cape Of Good Hope, and con
tains between twenty and thirty thousand in
habitants. The principal export is wine, but
the value of the colony consists in the fact, that
1t is convenient stopping place for vessels
bound round the Cape, and forms good con
Meeting link with her East India possessions.
Sailing up the Indian Ocean, we soon come
upon the rich and vast possessions OF British In
dia. The ancient Ph9ncians, Carthagenians
and Egyptians maintained an extensive COM
merce with these countries. The moderns had
no direct intercourse with them, till Vasco de
Cana, doubling the Southern Cape Of Africa,
in 1893, took possession of many places and
founded there Portuguese settlements. The
Portuguese were long supplanted by the
Dutch the Dutch soon gave place to the Eng
lish, who have gone on possessing themselves
of one kingdom after another, until they have
acquired territory which an Alexander might
have envied
The first expedition Of the English TO the
East Indies, was feet Of four ships, fitted out
by some merchants in London, to whom, in
1900, Queen Elizabeth gave the exclusive right
of commerce with it for fifty years. The feet